R Dhinakaran
Singapore
“With a strong Singapore Core that is economically resilient, we will build a strong and cohesive Singapore body. Singapore has come a long way in these near 50 years with the right fundamentals and conditions.”
“We wish to commend ACRA for its time and efforts in obtaining comments from the public, as well as holding dialogue sessions with professional bodies, including the Singapore Association of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (SAICSA), the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and the Law Society of Singa…”
“I would like to propose that we should look at the transport companies like healthcare institutions which operate not on profit or loss basis and receive support from Government. This way, at least, it is neat and clean and is not torn between the objectives as a private company and obligations of a national service provider.”
“Further, I would like to suggest that for such an assistance scheme, which could become a national initiative to grow our population, we should award it universally to all young couples and, like in the Pioneer Generation Package, not base it on any form of Page: 66 means-testing. We need Singapore children, rich and not rich alike.”
“The Government should help them in this regard to give them grants and the expertise from our Government agencies on developing R&D, commercialising it and also to develop and market their own brands on the global market. This will also help SMEs build their revenue streams so that they can better cope with the costs.”
“Thank you, Madam. I thank the Acting Minister for the explanation. I wish to ask a supplementary question on whether the Ministry was going to moderate the recruitments in the other source countries which MOM had been concentrating on in the past, besides China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh.”
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“Madam, I thank the Minister. I would like to ask a supplementary question. How do you plan to structure the subsidies for various bus route segments, and whether this kind of subsidy system will be transparent before the tender takes place?”
“With a strong Singapore Core that is economically resilient, we will build a strong and cohesive Singapore body. Singapore has come a long way in these near 50 years with the right fundamentals and conditions. For the next 50 years, the Government will have to now lay the foundations of a Singapore comprising a heart, soul, spirit, mind and body. With all of these elements, there is no reason why the next 50 years cannot be better than the last. 5.53 pm”
“This will give Singaporeans a fair chance to evaluate policies from a more informed perspective rather than relying on inaccurate sources of information to shape their perceptions. I find that sometimes a lot of the cynicism is due to misinformation and so if that can be addressed, then we help fix this problem. There is after all nothing wrong with an informed and more involved society. That will help create a society with the right mind. A lot of thought and work would also have to be put into our population problem – low birth rates. It seems that it is a challenge that is becoming very difficult to solve and so the Government may really need to step up the game and perhaps try a new approach, with a more out-of-the-box strategy. To maintain our social compact, our birth rates are going to play an important role as we entrench the Singapore Core in our population here. Along with that core comes economic resilience within our society as the Government needs to make sure that Singaporeans get good quality jobs and good incomes to enjoy a certain standard of living. We cannot argue that economic resilience is a central thread in this social fabric and if we take that away, the entire fabric could come undone. Here is where the Government needs to make sure that it takes care of our SMEs. Even as we restructure and look at the wider macro picture, we cannot underestimate the importance of our SMEs to the economy as they provide jobs to nearly 70% of our workforce. So, SMEs play a crucial role in building economic resilience here and we must ensure that we maintain them as the significant core in our economy or we risk having a demoralised society due to Page: 86 unemployment.”
“Sadly, many of them I speak to these days consider NS as a liability. Some say it is a waste of time and others say it is too long. Some have even told me that NS exists as a product of the Government's paranoia of our security. Clearly, such young people do not have an idea of the challenges we face or the various episodes in our history. Page: 85 I feel that we do not talk much about Singapore and our evolution, policies and its need besides virtues with our young. I understand that it is better to look forward than to constantly gaze over one's shoulder into the past. That may have worked in the past where Singaporeans had first-hand accounts and experiences of these challenging times and difficult periods in our history. But that is no longer the case and today's generations do not have such recollection. So, there must be every effort to teach our kids about the past. That is how we can create a Singapore with a soul. We can all agree that many of the changes in the first half of this term revolved around the Government's greater engagement and listening of the people and their concerns. Our Singapore Conversation is one such instance. I am encouraged by this and I hope that the Government will continue with this approach in the future. Clearly, policy-making in Singapore has evolved into a two-way process and I encourage the Government to create as many platforms and mechanisms as possible to include more Singaporeans in this process. Involving more of the public would not only allow policy-makers to better understand ground sentiments and concerns on certain policies, it will also give Singaporeans a chance to better understand the challenges, limitations and constraints faced with each policy.”
“The change has to come from within and that has to start now so that it will, hopefully, be achieved with the younger generations. The Government can certainly take some steps to catalyse these changes. I feel that our school syllabus has to be reviewed to see how we can impart to our children as much civic and moral education as we teach about other academic subjects. I know the Education Minister and his team have made some sweeping changes in the last couple of years to try and phase in more holistic elements into our education system and I thank him for this. But I hope that this process will not stop and, in fact, increase in momentum so that maybe by the time our Golden Jubilee year babies start primary school, it will be ingrained into the system. What better gift can we give our jubilee babies than making sure they become caring and compassionate Singaporeans with a heart and the right spirit? This will help create a Singapore with a heart. We have so much to be proud about being Singaporeans and we must instil this national pride in all Singaporeans, too. If the Americans can be proud of the US being the land of dreams, then why should we also not celebrate the many success and rags-to-riches stories that Singapore has created? After all, Singapore too has the right ecosystem and fundamentals to help those with the capability and willingness to succeed, make their dreams come true. We too should celebrate these stories, including those of migrants', who have used the help of Singapore to make it big. If we embrace them and their successes, they will embrace Singapore too. That will help create a Singapore spirit. One of the key demonstrations of national pride in Singapore is the approach and attitudes our young have towards National Service.”
“There were many good things that were achieved in this first half and the legacy of these achievements – the quick fixes to the housing policy, the transportation issues, the Pioneer Generation Package and others – will stay with generations of Singaporeans for a long while. These were some of the strengths for the first half. For the second half, the Government should carry on with this momentum but also work on the areas where improvements can be made. As the President had alluded to, there are areas where the Government will have to accord more attention to in the coming years. No matter how much economic progress we make, we need to ensure that Singapore is a caring society. Otherwise, we will develop into a self-centred society where care, compassion, graciousness and the spirit of humanity exist merely in our vocabulary. It pains Page: 84 me to see that we are moving towards greater cynicism and scepticism. Why? We are after all in a better place than many other countries in the world. We are after all in a far better position than many others around the world. Then, what drove our society down this path? I can speculate but those would, at best, be my assumptions. Rather, I would like to focus on how we can perhaps reverse this trend. There are already several Government policies, like the Pioneer Generation Package, for example, that are trying to inculcate values in our society of care and respect for our elderly. There is also the Baby Bonus, for example, to encourage our younger couples to go down the beautiful path of starting a family. However, I feel that at some point in time we are going to face a wall with how much more incentives we can use to encourage such behaviour and attitudes.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak. Today is an important chapter in Singapore's political history. As we mark the reopening of Parliament, it gives us the fresh mandate to plan for the remaining of this Twelfth term of Parliament. Most of my colleagues will serve their term until the next General Elections are called with renewed vigour and gusto, after this short break. But this half-time break also gives us the chance to reflect on what has been achieved in the first half of this term. Much like a football coach, who at half time, gives his players the game plan for the second half with respect to strategy and deliverables. But that half time talk is also spent reflecting on how the team performed in the first half, where the team did well and where they can do better in the next half. So, as I sat here 10 days ago on 16 May listening to our President Dr Tony Tan, it was to me as much a chance to reflect on what has been achieved so far in the first half of this term. That is why I describe this as an important period in our political history, for so much has been achieved and done in just these couple of years alone. So much so that it corrected and fixed problems or gaps, and reversed or amended policies and that even signalled a shift in the style of governance. I believe never before has so much political change happened in Singapore in such a short span of time. And for that, I applaud this Government for its proactiveness, for its foresight and for its leadership and accountability.”
“We wish to commend ACRA for its time and efforts in obtaining comments from the public, as well as holding dialogue sessions with professional bodies, including the Singapore Association of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (SAICSA), the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and the Law Society of Singapore. As one of the representatives in the ACRA's Corporate Service Provider Working Group, ISCA will continue to provide feedback on the guidelines to be issued by ACRA for Corporate Service Providers in future. But we also hope that our other proposals will be taken into account as it will help strengthen the regulations and the industry, to the betterment of Singapore. Mdm Speaker, on the whole, I support the Bill. 4.39 pm”
“It is also important that a central database be maintained which lists all foreign countries that have deficient anti-money laundering or anti-financing of terrorism measures, and any changes to this list be communicated to all registered filing agents. The registered filing agents also need to establish and maintain appropriate internal policies, procedures and controls. We propose that examples of appropriate policies and procedures or templates be provided to help registered filing agents to implement. We have submitted our feedback and comments to ACRA during the public consultation exercise in November 2013 and ACRA has responded to the feedback. Some of the comments raised by ISCA which were accepted by ACRA include the following: We suggested that guidelines be issued to help the Corporate Service Providers implement and determine the extent of work, namely, the qualifying criteria and customer due diligence measures; and We proposed that a list of foreign countries that have deficient anti-money laundering or anti-financing of terrorism measures be maintained centrally and any new addition or removal of the list be communicated to Corporate Service Providers. Page: 75 ACRA's response to these recommendations was that it will issue a set of guidelines to assist registered filing agents in their compliance with the terms and conditions on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. Where possible, links to the public lists of terrorists, politically exposed persons, or countries with deficient anti-money laundering or counter-terrorism financing measures will be published online so that registered filing agents may refer to them when doing their necessary due diligence.”
“The competency and experience of an applicant will also be considered as the Regulations state that only advocates and solicitors, public accountants registered under the Accountants Act, members of the various professional bodies and those with relevant experience as corporate secretarial agents are eligible to register as qualified individuals. Due diligence. Section 28F (9)(a) states that every registered filing agent should perform such customer due diligence measures to detect and prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. Page: 74 This calls for the requirement to apply customer due diligence matters when establishing business relationships with the customer, when there is a suspicion of money laundering or terrorism financing or when the identification or documentation involved appears dubious. Although registered filing agents already conduct due diligence procedures of their own with respect to clients, these may vary. So, it is important to provide specific guidance to registered filing agents to help them determine the extent of the customer due diligence to perform for different categories of customers, including foreign entities. Due diligence procedures need to be enhanced when dealing with politically exposed persons. Besides providing specific guidance on this, we further suggest that assistance be extended to smaller firms, that is, who may not have sufficient resources to maintain or subscribe to a list of politically exposed persons on the identification of politically exposed person when dealing with foreign customers.”
“Whilst it is good to name the institutions to be included in the categories of the people who may apply to be the QI, we recommend that the background of these institutions be evaluated from time to time to ensure that only institutions which are recognised internationally be included. Madam, sections 28F and 28G call for the introduction of the fit and proper consideration for applications to be filing agents and QI. This is to ascertain if the applicant's previous conduct in either of these two roles had been satisfactory and, in the case of applications for filing agent, an additional assessment of whether the conduct of their directors or management members was satisfactory. While it is agreed that fit and proper consideration is appropriate, such consideration could be judgemental from both the business and regulatory points of view. Instead, we suggest that the following factors be taken into consideration: the competency of the applicant; the relevant and number of years of experience the applicant possesses; and appropriateness of experience and type of exposure the applicant has. In addition, specific requirements for each of these factors should also be set out in the regulations. This will allow for more objective and relevant assessment of the applicant. ACRA has responded that the fit and proper requirements are that the applicant must not have been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty punishable with the imprisonment of three months or more and must not be an undischarged bankrupt.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this topic that is pertinent to the accountancy profession as well as to corporate governance in Singapore. It is also a Bill that I take great interest in professionally. As Members of the House may know, I am a member of the accountancy profession in Singapore and I also wish to declare my interest as Vice-President of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), one of the bodies that have played an important role in the formulation of this Bill. As the national accountancy body, ISCA has studied the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) (Amendment) Bill and is supportive of ACRA's decision on the new regulation governing Company Service Providers, or CSPs in short. Professionalism of Industry. We believe that the revised licensing and supervisory regime will help ensure all CSPs are regulated according to the same standards, thereby raising the professionalism of CSPs and the quality of services provided in the industry. Similarly, this will raise the standard and image of ISCA members who are service providers in this field. The revised regime will also assist in addressing the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing matters. This is vital in helping to maintain Singapore's reputation as an international financial centre. Page: 73 Whilst we are supportive of the revised regime, we have some feedback on the Bill and key policies, including those received from our members. Qualified Individuals (QI) Applications. Firstly, point 2 (a) of the Key Policies in the ACRA (Service Providers) Regulations proposes the categories of people who may apply to be "Qualified Individuals" (QI).”
“Thank you, Madam. We have made significant commitments in our recent Budget to ensure more affordable healthcare for our elders, especially to our Pioneer Generation citizens, who deserve to be helped in their twilight years. While we are ensuring financial incentives are given for the patients to get the healthcare needed, it is a matter of concern that our hospitals are ill-equipped to handle the large number of elderly citizens we have. The acute shortage of beds in our hospitals and the long queues to get the attention of doctors at A&E departments are worrying. It is necessary to have at least one or two senior doctors in the A&E department at all times to ensure immediate and right attention is given to our patients. In the absence of beds, it is important that we establish tie-ups with private hospitals that may have facilities so that the patients can move to the private hospitals with beds. This is important to save critical patients. The Government has to come up with schemes to allow the tie-ups with private hospitals and subsidise the differential costs. It is quite possible that immediate attention can make the cure easier and avert casualties in critical cases. The immediate steps will help while the current plans to increase 11,000 beds by 2020 are realised. With an ageing population, it is better that we run surplus beds at any point in time than wait for demand to catch up and have periods of shortage. Our aim should be to ensure that affordable healthcare is available and long waiting times for doctors and facilities do not come in the way of speedy attention and recovery ever. Community Hospitals”
“Despite trying hard for several years, our ability to ensure that taxis are available easily at most places leaves a lot more to be desired. It is a common grouse for many waiting passengers in key places like Orchard Road and this has affected businesses along such stretches in Page: 71 Singapore, especially during peak hours. It is a common sight to see long queues for taxis, with most desperately trying to call for a taxi, but in vain. We have built a lot of rules, surcharges and minimum standards to ensure that we get better service. But things have not improved as these rules are sometimes counter-productive. Taxi companies are private operators with profit maximisation as their sole motive. The taxi driver is also an individual businessman with fixed costs to foot daily. He is paying the rentals and has a limited risk taking ability. He likes to conserve every bit he can and will not enter the CBD area and pay ERP without a passenger inside. Whenever taxi drivers find that earnings are insignificant due to higher rentals, we have more surcharges to help increase their daily earnings. But the rentals catch up and, yet again, the same thing happens. It becomes a vicious circle and the passengers are left in the lurch. While taxis are arguably not a public transport service, a significant portion of our public uses it as a substitute for high-costing private vehicles. Moreover, it is also our desire to restrict car ownership, so, like public transport, taxis should also be made more available. I urge the Transport Ministry to look at improving the availability of taxis, which affects businesses and tourists in our small economy, besides Singaporeans who view it as a more affordable alternative to cars.”
“I would like to propose that we should look at the transport companies like healthcare institutions which operate not on profit or loss basis and receive support from Government. This way, at least, it is neat and clean and is not torn between the objectives as a private company and obligations of a national service provider.”
“Our public transport operators exist as private profit-making companies, while being in the business of Page: 49 providing essential services. With an eye on their profits, these companies are perhaps less keen to invest and operate on less profitable routes and greater frequency. But the Government on its side has to ensure reasonably priced, efficient, frequent and convenient transportation to the public as a part of its social objectives. The Government last year for the first time made an intervention by financing the assets needed to provide better and more frequent services and, thereby, helped the operating companies. The infusion of public and budgetary funds to a private operator also forced the need to have some governance and their accounting aspects to be kept in view. While ring-fencing the investment from the other profit-producing investments of the shareholders in those companies is being done, I feel that this approach confuses and leads to lots of misconception amongst people which can be avoided. The companies are private entities and therefore only a select set of citizens who hold shares benefit from its profits. While ring-fencing ensures that public money accountability is ensured, there is a cost to it, too. Besides, there is a question of why the transport companies should continue to increase profits and not invest more liberally to improve the services. It appears that the transport companies can continue to work on their profitability motive with a fall-back that, eventually, the Government will step into the area where marginal returns on investment is less than adequate to their shareholders.”
“Madam, our property prices have been soaring over the past decade. Singapore has also become a very important destination for foreign investment, buoyed by our stable and predictable economy, besides a strong currency. The influx of foreign money to Singapore fuelling our property prices is one of the significant reasons for the high property prices today. The Government has done well to clamp down on this with several rounds of measures, especially the recent total debt service Page: 101 ratio (TDSR) and, today, prices are in check. The series of measures by MND has helped to ensure that young Singaporeans are able to afford and gain access to their first home. I thank the Minister for that. But we need to help them a bit more. Our younger Singaporeans aspire to someday own a private property and there is nothing wrong with that. They should dare to dream. However, with the influx of foreign money in private property, this has become more difficult. As a result, many of our younger Singaporeans head overseas to fulfil some of these aspirations as they realise it becomes increasingly difficult here to do so. I think we should ensure that the younger and future generations of Singaporeans are able to achieve their aspirations with hard work and determination. Therefore, I would like to propose efforts to protect properties with prices up to $3 million or $5 million from foreign investment and local speculative play. It is essential to take a firm and hard decision to prevent foreign investment on our real estate if we want to preserve opportunities for our younger generation in our land-scarce country. Failure to act now may prove very costly for our future generations. Future Value of Housing Assets”
“In addition, non-graduate teachers, who graduate from UniSIM, should be emplaced on the graduate scale. By doing so, we can raise the standard of Tamil language in Singapore.”
“Therefore, in order to assist as many of these Tamil students as possible, it would be indeed better if Tamil lessons are held in their own schools within their curriculum time. Both the students and parents would not only benefit but would also be happy about this. For historical reasons, the Umar Pular Tamil Page: 185 Language Centre could continue to function. Tamil Degree at UniSIM and Opportunities (In English): Sir, I declare my interest as one of the trustees of the SIM University Education Fund and Chairman of SIM University Audit Committee. Mr Chairman, let me continue in Tamil. (In Tamil): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] To overcome the shortcoming of not having a Tamil Language Department at the National University of Singapore, a BA degree in Tamil Language and Literature was introduced at UniSIM. This degree programme became a boon to those who only studied Tamil language under the old Tamil medium schools and to those who, for one reason or another, were unable to continue their higher studies and had to work. This particularly was of great help to those Tamil teachers who would otherwise have to travel to Tamil Nadu and spend thousands of dollars to obtain a degree. Though Tamil teachers form, more or less, the majority in number among those who study at UniSIM, others who are passionate about the language also pursue their studies there. Since this degree course is conducted in collaboration with the Kamaraj Tamil University in Tamil Nadu, its standard is at par with other reputable universities. Mr Chairman, may I suggest that priority be given to these UniSIM graduates to be employed as Tamil teachers? By doing so, we can avoid the situation of continuing to bring Tamil teachers from Tamil Nadu.”
“Sir, I will speak in Tamil. (In Tamil): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Chairman, due to the Government's consistent bilingual education policy, Tamil language continues to be a living language in Singapore. Dedicated Tamil teachers in Primary, Secondary and Junior Colleges teach our students in Tamil language. As a student studies Tamil for 12 years, he becomes proficient in the language. However, it has been a disadvantage for a long time that Tamil language is not being taught in all the schools during curriculum time. Tamil language centres were set up to overcome this setback. Today, we have about 13 Tamil language centres throughout the island. About 10% of our Tamil students learn Tamil at these centres. Though these centres give these students the opportunity to learn Tamil language, these centres do, in fact, put them at a disadvantage. Mr Chairman, we do know that all Secondary schools finish their sessions between 1.30 pm and 2.00 pm. Tamil-speaking students, like all others, learn all their English lessons from morning till afternoon. Tamil-speaking students are not able to attend, like other students, the science and mathematics remedial classes and other ECA activities that are held later in the afternoon, the reason being that they have to travel to the Tamil language centre to attend one of the classes held between 2.45 pm and 6.30pm. As a result of this arrangement, the overall educational performance of the Tamil students is affected. They are not able to attend the science and mathematics remedial classes which they really need. Unlike other students, they are required to be in the Tamil classrooms until 6.30 pm and that makes them become mentally exhausted.”
“I would like to seek a study to rationalise the grouping of the service sector businesses, keeping the practical differences between the businesses in mind so that we do not inflict damage unknowingly with heavy curbs on quota and levy. Singaporean Core”
“Thank you, Madam, for allowing me to raise the issue that is affecting the reliability and reputation of our services sector. I would like to declare my interest on this subject. In the bid to reduce the dependency on manpower, particularly foreign manpower, we have tightened the foreign manpower quota and raised the levy. This has been applied across all sectors, with the different types of businesses grouped together. While this approach may have helped some industries, I would like to highlight the significant inconvenience and loss of business to some service sectors, like retail and F&B. These businesses are very heavily dependent on labour. Setting up a retail store is a function of people who sell the product, organise and maintain thousands of products you choose from in a store. But, today, the services sector is a broad classification in which retail, F&B, financial, insurance, real estate, transport, storage, and so on are all lumped together. It is apparent that the level of automation possible and the human customary interaction needed Page: 38 are not the same in all the listed industries. I would like to request that a study to afford to segmentise the service sector businesses, based on the dependency on human labour, be done so that labour-intensive businesses like retail are not punished unduly. Today, with the severe staff crunch, we are losing businesses with inadequate services and opportunities to service our customers. Further, the severe drop in quota is already hitting the businesses so hard that the increased levy is an additional blow. The quota, in itself, is sufficient to reduce the foreigner influx, if that is the motive, and the additional levy may not be needed.”
“Sir, I want to speak on a very real issue that is affecting businesses here, similar to what Mr Inderjit Singh and Mr Zaqy said just now. I am going to reiterate more or less the same points. Rental is today one of the biggest cost items. Rental has risen at rates which no industry has grown over the past decade. JTC offers affordable property for rentals which help the businesses. But with the JTC and other landlords moving their assets to REITs, whose sole motive is to enhance the returns for REIT holders, the increase in rental has been their only objective. With the limited land supply, rents have been soaring, making businesses unviable over the decade. Every business has grown and given almost all or more of their gains from growth to their landlords as rent, literally working for the landlords. I would like to question if it is worthy to emulate the practice of REITs in a land-scare country like ours. Are REITs sustainable? Or should I ask, should businesses be sustainable if REITs are, indeed, a necessity? Another issue is regarding landlords. With no check on unfair practices by landlords, and complete access to tenants' sales by landlords, we are providing the landlords an infinite ability to increase the rents, thereby making the tenants work for the profitability of the landlords only. As an example, food retail space rents have a variable component linked to traffic. With the closing of the Budget Terminal, and the traffic moving to Terminal 2, rents have increased suddenly. Is it fair to equate the Budget Terminal passenger purchasing power with other terminals and seeking higher rentals? Is there a mechanism to rationalise or put a check on what yield a landlord is justified to ask? Supporting SMEs”
“Further, I would like to suggest that for such an assistance scheme, which could become a national initiative to grow our population, we should award it universally to all young couples and, like in the Pioneer Generation Package, not base it on any form of Page: 66 means-testing. We need Singapore children, rich and not rich alike. Review of Criteria for Citizenship”
“I would like to speak on a topic of great national significance – Singapore's population and our birth rates. I would like to draw our attention to the impact of low birth rates on our population policy and other implications, and suggest measures to help encourage more births in Singapore. Our local population is shrinking but for Singapore to thrive economically and socially, we need to have a critical population mass so that there are enough employment opportunities, investments and consumption levels to make the entire economy work well. In the long run, the most sustainable solution to this problem will be to encourage Singaporeans to have more children and to help them do this without having substantial financial strain on their resources. The Government, over several years, has already made significant efforts to make education very affordable. With this Budget, even pre-school education becomes more affordable to many Singaporeans. It is, indeed, a great effort. I would like to further this initiative by proposing to the Government to help to meet the medical expenses for an expectant mother, right from the point of conception until the child enters Primary school. This can be supported through vouchers for the number of routine visits to doctors as it will help ensure that the costs of healthcare for the child and the conceiving of the child do not weigh down on the young couple who wants to start a family. This will certainly help Singaporeans to have more children and not be deterred by the costs involved in raising their children.”
“The Government should help them in this regard to give them grants and the expertise from our Government agencies on developing R&D, commercialising it and also to develop and market their own brands on the global market. This will also help SMEs build their revenue streams so that they can better cope with the costs. It will also deepen Singapore's position on the global corporate landscape as it helps build Singapore brands and globally competitive companies. On the whole, Mdm Speaker, I support the Budget. 4.51 pm”
“It would have been nice even if a majority of the total outlay, say, 75% is provided in the current year while the rest over the immediate next few years. Even if only in the good years we have the ability to bear futuristic expenses, it could have been covered within five years. Such an exercise may have allowed more leeway for the Government to propose and direct initiatives to help SMEs and businesses, particularly mitigating their concerns of rising business costs and labour shortage. I hope the Government will seriously consider my suggestions for these areas as we aim to make the lives of Singaporeans better, and help build a strong Singapore Core. Most importantly was the survival of businesses. Many SMEs I know are facing problems with cost and even cash flow and the Budget really should have addressed these. We need to save our businesses and help them cope with these pressures. The business environment is already tight and the outlook is also uncertain. In this aspect, businesses need a lot of help from the Government. If we do not give them some hope for survival, they will not even Page: 109 look at making productivity improvements for the long run. We should also take this opportunity to help grow our local brands. I like that the Government allocated funds for internationalisation and to help the start-up community. These are very useful in building Singapore brands and taking them globally as well as improving Singapore's visibility on the entrepreneurship and business map globally. In this regard, we should incentivise companies to build their own brands. At present, we provide grants for them to acquire brands. But with enough R&D and guidance, SMEs here can and should develop their own brands.”
“As younger Singaporeans shun SMEs for MNCs or to be entrepreneurs, SMEs are today left employing the bulk of the older workers. With these increased CPF costs, it is again the SMEs who are silently bearing the brunt of all cost increases with little options. All these additional costs hurt the businesses further at a time when companies are already struggling. Page: 108 Today, under a tight labour market, we are having more people back into our Singapore workforce. With more people contributing to the growth of the nation, it is important that we do everything for the good health, which is a prerequisite for being economically productive. In Singapore, we have always cherished and prided ourselves on our spirit of tripartite cooperation at all times for growth and well-being. Historically, through the tripartite arrangement, employees (unions), employers and Government get together to join hands on matters of common interest. The MediSave account contribution is one such case where the contributions are made in the future interest of all three parties. I would like to suggest and propose that we should look at having equal contributions from all the three parties for the MediSave account. At this moment, all and every increase is being borne only by employee or employer and it will be good to have the Government join in as a concerned partner for the welfare of the people. This generous and kind effort towards our Pioneer Generation will cost us $8 billion over the next 20-plus years. Out of $9 billion total projected expenses, a $8 billion fund has been created. The Budget conservatively has taken the entire burden in the current year. While it is a prudent effort, the amount is a very significant proportion of our revenues, almost 12%-13%.”
“Singapore has always prided itself in offering excellent service quality levels in service sectors like retail and F&B over the decades. Our wave of efforts in the 1990s and early 2000s to improve productivity and service levels with schemes like "Go the extra mile" had helped the local firms a lot. Today, with severe labour shortage and cost concerns adding to it, we have fewer staff servicing customers and more lost opportunities in business. In pursuit of the national objective, I can speak from my own organisation's viewpoint, which is likely to be echoed by others, that we have hired lots of Singaporeans at work from the mature age group as well. This programme, called the "Golden Girls", was tailored to suit the abilities of older Singaporean employees. Working just five hours a day and ensuring a minimum salary of $1,000 a month we thought would bring back people to work and address the labour shortage. However, we find that even this short five-hour work schedule is unbearable for many and they leave the job abruptly. Such is the challenge today in the labour market, especially in service sectors like retail. With such sudden drop-outs, our situation comes back to the same place where we began several months ago – with efforts, time and money invested in training gone to waste. The Budget, with a clear thought on helping Singaporeans with the increased costs of healthcare and so on, has recommended an increase of employer's contribution to CPF of between 1% and 2% for various age groups. Since the usage is likely to be intended to improve the social standards and defray essential medical expenses, it would have been better if these were offset by budgetary grants to the companies.”
“We still need several simple businesses to be existent to cater to our basic necessities, such as provisions, F&B and other personal services, such as hair-cutting, laundry and shoe smiths, for instance. There are barely enough choices for labour within the local pool for businesses, such as F&B and retail. The curtailing of foreign worker quotas and increase in levy over the recent years has choked all labour and service-intensive businesses like retail and F&B. With more educated youths having expectations and interests to work in more office-related jobs and in big-name MNCs, SMEs are really left out in the cold. Their ability to do better for their employees and, thus, attract talent, is restricted by the high business costs like rents and so on. Labour costs are not only rising because of the shortage of local talent but also contributing to it. This is because, with rising cost of living in Singapore, retaining labour is harder as incremental increases in salary make a lot of difference in the labour market. However, SMEs, already pushed to the corner with rising business costs, cannot afford to push the wages higher. They have nowhere else to look to except the Government and the Budget for some relief. On the subject of increased business costs for SMEs, I would like to bring to the attention of the House the findings of an MTI study, which states that labour, rental and utility costs alone account for 78% of business costs for Page: 107 manufacturing SMEs. The case is no better in other sectors, including retail. While labour tightening efforts may have reduced the foreign population, besides the severe effect on SMEs, it has inflicted damages on the service quality levels in many service businesses as well.”
“The uncertain economic conditions globally and the unbearable costs of doing business, combined with severe shortage of labour, have forced many SMEs to wind down in Singapore. Madam, I would have liked to see more focus and attention to help the plight of the SMEs which are absent in the Budget. Among the chief costs of doing business for SMEs is the rental cost. It is shocking to hear rental costs being increased by as much as threefold for renewals, as mentioned during The Business Time's Budget Roundtable discussions by ASME President Mr Kurt Wee. In this economic climate where existence is a struggle for SMEs, rental Page: 106 increase of this magnitude will be fatal for a large number of SMEs. With REITs taking over most industrial/commercial premises, the cushioning effort provided by JTC in the past is totally vanished. While REITs may offer financial returns which are attractive, an asset value being pushed higher by several times makes little sense with no significant underlying change to the value offered to tenant. For instance, if it is a retail space, the tenant is interested in seeing its value only by the amount of traffic it can bring year-on-year and offer rents. If the asset value is fuelled high by trading on a speculative basis without any underlying benefit changing traffic, it is bound to disrupt economics for the operating businesses. Labour shortage is another area where SMEs are struggling over the recent years. Our economy has changed significantly over the past decade or two. So have our population skillsets and expectations, especially within the new generation. While we are all conscious of moving up the value chain, not all SMEs operate in high-tech and new-age businesses where value-add is significantly higher.”
“Education is a primary way to bring people up the social ladder as a means of mobility and I am glad that the Government is using this approach. The Government has also not forgotten the disabled group as well as it has allocated a significant sum in this Budget to improve their lives and make it that much more comfortable. Even in the Pioneer Generation Package, the Government, which normally uses criteria, such as type of housing or household income, has taken a more liberal and comprehensive approach by including everyone from 65 years old and above. This is a good thing as the Government ensured that everyone who contributed to Singapore's early development, rich or otherwise, get recognised and honoured for their contributions. The Budget is also steadfast as it stands its ground on long-term economic restructuring plans. It sets out to continue with what it started two years ago – to restructure the economy to be more productive and innovative and to move it up the value-chain of activities. So, measures like extending the PIC, for example, and even the PIC+ is very good in this regard as it helps give the productivity push a longer and broader runway. But here is where, as an SME-leader, I have a few points to make. We can all acknowledge that this Budget was more social than economic and, in fact, there was not much in it for businesses to cheer about. Whereas the Budget targeted to solve social issues, there were also business issues that it should have targeted to solve. Our SMEs have played a crucial part in the shaping of the economy over the decades. They have been a big source of employment for Singaporeans. The SMEs have been at cross roads for some years now.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on the 2014 Budget. It is a Budget that is visionary, compassionate and steadfast. Visionary because it focuses on long-term problems that Singapore faces, like ageing and higher healthcare costs. In this aspect, the $8 billion Pioneer Package helps solve some of these problems. By subsidising healthcare costs, the Government has made older Singaporeans better able to cope with rising medical costs. It also makes ageing a more manageable trend for Singapore as, with healthcare costs subsidised, the economic and social costs of ageing on the younger generation are reduced. Moreover, it is also a visionary Budget in the way in which it is aimed to create a fair and equal society. In many countries, like in the US, calls have been made to reduce inequality in the society by taxing the rich and bringing down the ceiling, instead of raising the floor. I am glad that the Government has taken a more enlightened approach in this regard and instead of penalising the rich it has chosen to uplift the lower income. Through targeted subsidies in housing, healthcare and education, the Government has given them a leg up. I applaud the Government and the Finance Minister for this visionary approach. The Budget is compassionate as it is aimed at improving the lives of Singaporeans. A considerable amount of this Budget has been allocated to help lower income Singaporeans to cope with rising costs of healthcare. At the same time, there were also subsidies for education at pre-school and tertiary levels that created a level playing ground for children from the lower Page: 105 income segments and that will see them through higher education.”
“Thank you, Madam. I thank the Acting Minister for the explanation. I wish to ask a supplementary question on whether the Ministry was going to moderate the recruitments in the other source countries which MOM had been concentrating on in the past, besides China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh. Are we going to slow down in these source countries? Another question is: in this Budget, Deputy Prime Minister mentioned the other day that the maximum period of employment has been extended from 18 years to 22 years, or something like that. So, in that direction, we are already extending the employment period of the people who have got long experience in construction. Thus, is there a need to explore other source countries where high cost of labour is prevailing?”
“Are we not literally jumping the gun by taking such strong measures that will hurt businesses there and even perhaps tourism in the Little India area? After all, we should not punish everyone else, including businesses, for the folly of some. Secondly, if it is determined that alcohol is, indeed, the main threat to security in the area, then it should be asked if the bans are the best way to handle alcohol consumption in the localised area. There are other ways – investing in public education, partnerships with groups and governance over the issuance of licences to sell alcohol. To maintain calm and order in the area, a longer term and more sustainable approach would be more appropriate and perhaps more effective. I would like to say that while we have witnessed an unfortunate and severe incident, our efforts should not even inadvertently harm the very people we are trying to help and protect. Today, with a tough economy and high costs, every business is struggling to keep itself afloat. The small businesses in the area are bystanders of this unfortunate incident but are paying a very heavy penalty with the clampdown and ban on alcohol sales and restrictions on movement which are affecting their livelihoods. In conclusion, Mdm Speaker, we all understand that foreign workers are an important part of our workforce and we must put in more efforts in making their lives here better, and to better integrate them with our ways, culture and law and order practices of our country.”
“They do not have enough time to run their errands and shop within such a short span of time, also bearing in mind that it takes about 30 minutes to queue for the transport. Therefore, the foreign workers leaving Little India by 9.00 pm has affected 95% of Little India's businesses drastically these days. Further, the ban on sales of liquor from 8.00 pm to 6.00 am within the Little India boundary seems to be a double whammy to the liquor businesses as there is already a ban on consumption of liquor in public areas within Little India Zone. It affects residents who prefer to buy liquor and consume it within their premises. They are unable to do so now. The restriction of sales should be lifted as the patrons purchasing liquor automatically have to consume within their residences or outside the Little India boundary. Without the ban on sales of liquor, customers will still be able to buy alcohol but the consumption of liquor must be outside Little India or within the restaurants or coffee shops with permits. The ban will affect the businesses in the precinct and will lead to severe financial losses and loss of jobs which is currently unwelcome for all the parties involved. Madam, I fully agree with the principle of having the ban on alcohol sales and alcohol consumption in public areas in Little India, in the weeks after the riot as it was a necessary step, to calm things down. But at this point, I am not Page: 67 sure if it is the best decision to continue with the ban on the sale of alcohol. First and foremost, while alcohol may be a contributing factor to the riot in December, whether it was the most important factor remains to be seen. We have vested that responsibility with the Committee of Inquiry (COI) to determine the root causes for the riot.”
“Allow me to share with you some of their thoughts. The Little India Precinct in Singapore has been catering to the foreign workers for the past 30 years with regular visitorship of about 100,000 workers over the weekends. Of these numbers, only a fraction, about 1%, of the foreign Page: 66 workers consumes alcohol there. The remaining 99% are there to visit relatives and friends, run errands and also purchase their necessities. Little India is considered their home away from home. Approximately 95% of businesses in Little India cater to the foreign workers market which takes place during the weekends on Saturdays and Sundays. Apart from the liquor shops, which only form about less than 5% of these businesses in Little India, there are provision shops, remittance centres, prepaid cards and mobile shops, barbers, restaurants, eating outlets, medicine shops, ayurvedic treatments, homeopathy centres and so on, all of which depend solely on foreign workers as their customers. All these businesses are very dependent on revenue from the foreign workers on Saturdays and Sundays. Almost 70% of the revenue during the weekend is generated from 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm from the sales to the foreign workers. These businesses pay very high rentals and are affected due to liquor sales and consumption ban and also limited timing of the transport arrangement from Little India back to the respective dormitories of the workers. The current transport timing ends at 9.00 pm to encourage the foreign workers to return to their dormitories earlier. However, the foreign workers prefer to work on weekends due to extra revenue from overtime on weekends and public holidays. Thus, they are most likely to visit Little India after 7.00 pm.”
“The swift actions taken by our police force in handling the investigations and arresting the suspects, did send a strong signal to others that such incidents will not be tolerated in Singapore. Mdm Speaker, just because of one incident, it does not mean that people who visit Little India, be they foreigners or Singaporeans, pose a high risk. Mdm Speaker, I am afraid that the situation could worsen because of some of the ambiguity in this Bill and the powers it accords to the Police. For instance, the Bill gives the police the powers of strip-search anyone based entirely on the suspicion of the police officer. These are violations of the privacy of a person and not to mention a blow to his self-respect and dignity. I fail to see how giving Police officers such powers would help cool things down and mitigate risks in this area. Further, the Bill also empowers Auxiliary Police Force, indirectly, to perform random and judgemental searches as per sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Bill. With the delegation of powers all the way to Auxiliary forces on matters which require caution and informed judgement, it may cause emotions to influence judgements across a wide variety of people who visit this area and have nothing else but looks common. This may also affect genuine tourists who come to visit or stay in this special zone. An inadvertent action on a tourist with no bad intent will also result in loss of collective goodwill for Singapore. Impact on businesses. Mdm Speaker, I declare my interest as a businessman as well as the Vice President of Singapore Retailers Association. I am concerned about the businesses in this area. I have consulted the Little India Shopkeepers Association (LISHA) and they have shared their concerns and sentiments with me.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this Bill, which I believe is in response to an unfortunate incident in Singapore's short history. The riot that took place last December came as a shock to all of us, and elicited all sorts of responses from Singaporeans – from empathy to rage. The response from Government leaders, authorities and workers' groups was extremely important and necessary to calm down the situation and emotions. In this respect, I wish to commend the initial measures taken in Little India to ensure that the matter did not escalate or spill over to the days after. The Public Order (Preservation) Act (POPA) rolled out then alongside the ban on alcohol sales and consumption in the immediate week after, helped to bring calm and stability to Little India. We can all agree that that move was necessary then. The Bill we are discussing today addresses how the Little India area will be characterised moving forward – one which is deemed as a high-risk security area and, therefore, this Bill is designed to deal with that threat. In fact, the rationale given in the Explanatory Note explains that Little India poses a security risk and that Page: 65 more powers are needed for the officers to maintain public order. However, in reality, the Little India area is just like any other area in Singapore where members of Singapore's South Asian community shop, dine and do business. It is also a home for many Singaporeans as well as foreigners. I think it is fair to say that the riot in December was an unfortunate but isolated incident. The people who were responsible for that and who participated in it, whether actively or passively, have been taken to task and dealt with.”
“This will help build the safety capabilities in their companies while updating the knowledge of the seafarer and keeping it relevant. In fact, I would even say that it should be mandated that each vessel have a safety officer on board whose main duty is to oversee all safety standards on board and to take measures to promote them and ensure that they are adhered to. In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I applaud the MPA for adopting the Maritime Labour Convention and using it as a guide to help elevate our maritime sector to a higher level. With steps taken to ensure that the welfare of our seafarers is taken care of, including wages, fair employment practices and health and safety standards, we will help ensure that our maritime sector truly becomes world-class. With that, I support the Bill, Sir. 5.43 pm”
“Rest for the seafarer is another area where we cannot compromise as this affects the welfare of the seafarer and could also affect the quality of his work. So, while the Bill specifies that no person shall cause or permit payment to be made in lieu of hours of rest, it should also stipulate that no person shall receive Page: 93 payment in lieu of hours of rest. This rest period should also extend to the seafarer when he is unwell. It should be mandated that every vessel has a doctor on board, the violation of which will result in a heavy penalty. This will allow a seafarer who is unwell to be attended to urgently and not wait until they reach a port. If the doctor feels that the seafarer should be allowed medical leave of rest to recover, then the employer should be mandated to approve and ensure that the seafarer gets that prescribed rest. Any contravention of both of these rules should then be liable to conviction with a strong penalty as a deterrent. Some of the medical attention needed by seafarers may arise out of work accidents. Therefore, employers will need to pay great attention to safety standards on board ships and help ensure that these are adhered to. Hence, employers should be mandated to send all seafarers on their payroll, especially new ones, for safety and training courses. I would like to urge the MPA to consider that seafarers be allowed employment only upon satisfactory completion of the mandated health and safety courses as is currently done in the construction industry. This will help ensure that seafarers entering the industry already go in with the requisite knowledge and skills on safety standards. MPA may also consider ensuring that all maritime companies mandate that their seafarers spend some pre-assigned hours per year on safety courses.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak on this Bill that will have a significant impact on those who work in our maritime sector. The seafarers' employment agreement is an important document that will help protect the welfare and interests of those employed in the industry. I fully agree with clause 14 of the Bill that the seafarer must be familiarised with the agreement, understand it fully and even be allowed to seek advice on it before signing the same. In order to facilitate this to ensure that the seafarer has been given sufficient time to do all of these, especially if the seafarer's native language is not English or if he does not understand English well, then it is important that we mandate through this Bill that the seafarer be given at least a week to study the agreement and seek advice before he is required to sign on it. I feel this is important as it ensures that the seafarer is not forced to sign the agreement before he is given ample time to understand it. While the Bill helps protect the interests of seafarers, it must also ensure that the employers, too, must be protected. Firstly, any seafarer found furnishing his employer with fake, inaccurate or misleading information or documentation prior to or during the signing of the employment agreement should also be found to contravene this Act and be liable to conviction. Since Singapore's maritime industry is world-class and world-renowned, it is important to protect the integrity in all parts of the sector, including its manpower force. We cannot compromise on the quality of the workforce in the maritime sector, and, therefore, it is important to have a strong deterrent to make sure that the seafarer hired is suitably qualified.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the reply. It is a good effort that you have met up with so many SMEs within the short period of four months, around 700 SMEs. How long do you think it will be before we can see progress in terms of productivity and capability building exercises by these SME Centres? Because of the tightening of the current labour quotas and labour issues, how do you plan to help them? Every SME faces only two problems – high cost of doing business and the labour crunch. Are there any special solutions which you are offering at this moment for all the SMEs?”
“Madam, on the COI, I see that the Chairman is a legal expert but there is one Police Officer, then there is a Unionist and there is a grassroots leader, but I see there is a missing link. Would it have been better to have a businessman from SBF or Chambers of Commerce who would understand the business needs, because all the other areas you are well covered but that one is a missing link. Deputy Prime Minister, would you like to comment on that?”
“In doing so though, we may often overlook certain claims in lieu of speed. Hence, when internal processes are subsequently completed, we do at times find that a gross overpayment has been made. This provision to lawfully deduct such overpayments should be included in the Act. Besides these, I would also like to emphasise that the measures in the Bill to protect the pro-family leave allowance are timely. Although these measures were announced earlier this year, intricate details had to be worked upon so that both employees and employers are clear of their respective obligations and privileges in this context. This would reduce the probability of friction and misunderstandings between the employers and the employees in the future. While enforcement and the legislation help to protect rights, we must also pay attention to reducing the incidences or causes of misunderstandings in the workplace so that our work environment is a conducive and healthy one for our economy and society to prosper. Mdm Speaker, I support this Bill on the whole. 5.22 pm Page: 89”
“I note that there is a provision in the Act and the Bill for the Minister to prescribe a substitution, it may be useful to already do that revision now since we are undertaking this exercise to review this Employment Act. This brings me to the enforcement clauses in the Bill which states that any employer who is guilty of contravening section 21, 22 and 23 of the Act, for not paying salaries on time, payment on dismissal or payment on termination by Page: 88 employee, shall be liable to a minimum fine of $3,000 and not more than $15,000 or a maximum of six months' imprisonment or both. I feel that the minimum fine level should be raised to at least $4,500 since this is commensurate with the salary of $4,500 provided for in the description in the Act. Next, on protection of employers. As an employer, personally, I would like to contribute my opinion on how we should also provide better protection for employers. I am aware that being an employer has its own set of challenges, and these are sometimes not as recognised or made aware. Employers, too, can be exploited and not just employees. So, we must ensure that our legislation provide adequate cover to employers as this complements Singapore's reputation as a business hub and its ability to attract investments and businesses from all over the world. The Bill provides for an amendment to section 27 of the Employment Act on Authorized Deductions by removing subsection (g). I would like to propose an addition to this list, which would allow employers to make an authorised deduction from their employees, past or present, of overpayment of work claims. As employers, we are mindful to be quick in reimbursing our staff on expenses they may have incurred as part of their job so as to not disrupt their monthly cash flow.”
“While this protects the employers from habitual errant employees who may job hop from one company to another exploiting them, I feel that there is a serious group of job market participants who may lose out from this one-year stipulated minimum time period. Madam, these are the workers who are in contracts that include a minimum probationary period of, say, three or six months. Quite often, these contracts include a clause that allows for a salary increment should the person satisfactorily complete the probation period and be confirmed in the position. Anecdotally, I have heard of companies who are more liberal with terminating employees during their probationary periods, or rather not continuing with their employment once their probationary periods are over, without obvious or justifiable reasons. I am not definite of what their motives are for doing so but it could possibly be that such companies find it a useful part of their model to continuously employ staff on lower or probationary salaries. No doubt that such companies may not be prevalent throughout the economy and that they are not serious or credible business players in the first place, but as firms here look towards more alternatives of cutting costs and remaining profitable, I worry that it may become a trend. Hence, it is important that we provide some protection for employees who are still serving their probationary periods to also be able to lodge a complaint should he be unfairly dismissed. Moreover, the section in the Act already specifies that such an employee should not receive more than $4,500 of salary per month. As incomes increase and are likely to continue to do so in the future as part of our national economic restructuring plans, I feel that this figure should be revised upwards.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this important Bill, which seeks to enshrine the rights of employees and employers in a legislation that is reflective of the current updated environment. As we are widely regarded now as an advanced economy, with the key characteristics that are among the best in the world, we must also ensure that our employment legislations are sophisticated and developed enough to reflect this. After all, as an advanced economy, we want to better protect the rights of our employees here. This is important for Singaporeans now and in the future. As the Government aims to restructure the economy, built up upon productivity, higher value-added, better quality and better paying jobs for Singaporeans, we must ensure that they are also well-protected and fairly treated at the workplace. What is the use of better quality and better paying jobs, if they are not protected well or be subject to unfair treatment by employers? So, I applaud this timely Bill to strengthen our employment legislation. Next, on protecting employees' rights. Let me first touch on protecting the rights of employees, which the Bill accords significant attention to. There are a few points I wish to make that I feel will further strengthen what the Government has set out to do here today. Page: 87 Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to make changes to section 14 of the Employment Act to stipulate that an employee must have been in service for at least a year with that employer before he may, if considered to have been dismissed without just cause or excuse by his employer, make the representations in writing to the Minister within one month of the dismissal.”
“Madam, I would like to ask the Acting Minister whether MOM has received any complaints from MNCs which are engaged in this kind of industries because of the tight labour market; whether they are complaining saying that they want to move out of Singapore which may adversely affect our citizens' employment opportunities.”
“We can all agree that a man should act in this manner on goodwill and humanity. I feel that this should then be reflected as a consideration as well under section 10: by reflecting goodwill by non-biological parent as a factor that the court may use to consider the welfare of the child to determine the child's parent. This is especially when the child's biological relationship with any of the parties has been listed and could prejudice a decision in favour of the biological parent. It is not always true that a biological parent may ensure that the child's welfare is maximised and therefore the goodwill of the non-biological parent should also be considered. All in all, Sir, I support the Bill for being comprehensive in its consideration of a sensitive and important topic. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. 5.34 pm”