Raj Joshua Thomas
Singapore
“I hope the Minister will consider eventually extending the obligations and penalties under the Bill to buyers of outsourced services. One way, Sir, that we can immediately deal with this would be to issue tripartite guidelines or amend existing guidelines to specifically proscribe such practices by service buyers.”
“I ask this because there are news reports that the deal is already off. But the reason for today’s Bill is precisely because MAS does not have a basis to reject the deal for reasons other than prudential aspects. I would just like to ask the Minister for clarity on the process.”
“Mr Sapari championed and led the implementation of the earlier PWMs and Ms Lim continues to lead the secretariats. It is without exaggeration to say that these two people are probably the two people, in Singapore who have contributed the most to the success of the PWMs, and through the PWMs, the uplifting of the lives and livelihoods of t…”
“Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister of State how will FWAs interface with the Progressive Wage Model (PWM)? For flexi-load, for example, where a worker in one of these sectors requests to work less days, that may bring his gross wage to below the PWM prescribed wage floor.”
“In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister what efforts MCCY makes and will be making to educate co-op members of their rights under the Act, what they will be doing to educate COM members on their duties, including efforts taken in cooperation with the Singapore National Co-operative Federation.”
“Sir, no, that is not what I was saying. I was, essentially, asking why is it that the Member stopped at a certain point, because in the example that he used, the UK, it was not only Ministers who declared their assets, but all members of parliament had to declare their assets. So, that was the point that I was making.”
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“In a decision in 2020, in which the Court of Appeal considered a matter where the convicted party sought to vary his sentence from a fine of $5,000 to a jail term so that he would not be disqualified from running in the next elections, the Court of Appeal held: “…it would bring the Judiciary and the administration of justice into disrepute if we were to impose sentences with an eye towards the political process. After all, a Court that chooses to impose an inappropriate sentence in order to avoid disqualifying a candidate from standing for election as a Member of Parliament could just as easily do the same thing to achieve the opposite end. In truth, both outcomes are equally abhorrent and impermissible”. The Court of Appeal added that: “the only guide for a sentencing Court is that it must strive to impose a condign sentence”. "Condign", of course, meaning "appropriate". Sir, I have seen some online chatter that it is a foregone conclusion that Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap will be convicted and lose their seats. I do not think, Sir, that it is a foregone conclusion. There had been instances in which the Courts have decided against the Government, even in favour of an opposition political party. Members may recall that in an October 2021 decision, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal, in part, by the Singapore Democratic Party challenging a Correction Direction by MOM. In its grounds of decision, the Court of Appeal set out its reasons in extent as to why it allowed the appeal. We can expect that the Court will undertake a similarly rigorous examination of the facts and the law in these matters, as it does on all matters. I am heartened that Mr Singh had also said earlier that he expected that he would get a fair hearing if it went to that.”
“In this regard, my view is that it is the correct thing to do, as recommended by the COP, to refer these two matters to the PP and, if the PP deems necessary for these matters to go to the Court, then for them to go to the Court. In fact, Sir, I would be extremely uncomfortable if the COP’s recommendations were the opposite, that is, for Parliament itself to take action against Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap based on the facts that arose from the COP's inquiry. In fact, referring the matter to the PP affords Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap what may be seen as a second, even third bite of the cherry, because both the PP and the Courts, if it proceeds to the Courts, would consider all the facts anew. If the matter goes to Court, Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap would also be able to avail themselves of the adversarial process in criminal proceedings, with all the protections of the Criminal Procedure Code and the application of the higher evidentiary threshold of beyond reasonable doubt for criminal matters. In this regard, I am glad that Mr Singh has said that he intends to cooperate fully with the PP, and the points that he and Mr Faisal Manap and, in fact, that Ms Lim made earlier as well are relevant and can be raised in these proceedings. This should be a position that sits well with all parties in this House. Both the Government and the Opposition have expressed in this House and recognised that the Courts should be the impartial arbiters of truth in matters where there may be political consequences or overtones. An example is the debate on POFMA. In fact, this was precisely one of the positions taken by the Workers’ Party as regards FICA last year. The Courts are also alive to this role as an independent arbiter in matters that may have a political hue.”
“Sir, I support the Motions. As regards the first Motion, the conclusions of the COP and the recommendations flowing from these conclusions are obvious as Ms Raeesah Khan had admitted to making the untruth. I will elaborate on my support of the second Motion, that is, the Motion to refer the conduct of Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Faisal Manap to the PP. The facts underlying the second Motion arose in the course of the COP’s inquiry into the untruth. In order for the COP to have come to its conclusions, it must have inadvertently formed its mind on the testimony given by the persons who had appeared before it. As regards Mr Singh’s testimony, the COP has said that it has disbelieved several parts of it, thus giving rise to the possibility that the serious criminal offence of perjury had been committed. As regards Mr Faisal Manap’s testimony, he had declined to answer several questions that the COP had posed to him, which may amount to contempt of Parliament. As set out by the COP, and as mentioned by the hon Leader of the House earlier, Parliament is perfectly equipped and empowered by law to deal with these two matters itself. However, the conclusions and recommendations of a fresh set of COP procedures considering these two matters are highly unlikely to depart from the conclusions already reached in the present proceedings. Furthermore, the potential punishment that may flow from a finding of guilt may have political consequences, in particular, affecting the make-up of Parliament and would, inevitably, suffer from the mien of being politically motivated. This was also mentioned by the Prime Minister. The gravity of the offences, if made out, would then be lost in such circumstance.”
“As such, it would also be important for the Ministry and MAS to monitor how AEIs are being offered, and whether it is necessary to introduce regulations on such insurance schemes to ensure that insurance companies do not occupy a gatekeeping position in the civil justice system. Finally , Sir, the new section 115B(7) will empower the Minister to make regulations on CFAs. These include that the Minister may prescribe, amongst other things, the form, the terms and conditions of CFAs, the maximum limits on remuneration or costs including the uplift fee, information a solicitor must provide to a client before a CFA is entered into, and requirements as regards parties to a CFA. I would urge the Ministry to regulate the market with a light touch to allow lawyers to negotiate terms appropriate to the complexion of each case, for example, providing for the payment of basic or interim fees, or fees arising from ancillary proceedings that were not originally envisioned when the CFA was entered into. Sir, on the whole, CFAs will support the development of the legal sector in Singapore and provide an avenue for litigants with limited means, as long as the ethical and commercial implications are addressed, through regulation where necessary. Provisions to make these regulations are also included in the amendments and will be rolled out by the Ministry accordingly. Sir, notwithstanding my clarifications and suggestions, I support the Bill.”
“In this regard, I would also like to suggest that some training be provided, including in the Continuous Professional Development programme, for lawyers to pick up the knowledge required to undertake this type of risk assessment and how this risk will be translated into the terms of the CFA they offer including the quantum of uplift. CFAs have been allowed in the United Kingdom since 1998, and I am moving on now to my next point on After-the-Event insurance. One feature that has emerged is the dependence of the CFA market on the existence of After-the-Event insurance or AEIs. AEIs are designed to assist litigants by allowing them to offset some of their legal costs in litigation, in particular, the costs of the other party’s lawyers if they lose their case. AEIs also allow a litigant who may have a perfectly viable case but limited financial means to obtain access to justice. Several insurers in Singapore already offer AEIs, not only for arbitration but for civil and commercial litigation as well. I am, however, unable to find statistics on how prevalent the use of AEIs are. Nonetheless, AEIs are a useful feature for litigants to consider, as CFAs only ameliorate the risk of bearing their own lawyer’s fees if they lose their case, but not the opposing party’s costs. This will further the objective of access to justice, and the Ministry and the Law Society may wish to consider increasing public knowledge and understanding of this insurance. In this regard, the use of AEIs may increase with the introduction of CFAs.”
“Another area of concern would be how the concept of CFAs are communicated by law firms to clients, including on their websites and advertisements. The use of the term "no win, no fee" may technically be correct as regards fees, but it obfuscates the fact that there would still be some cost incurred by the client, for example, filing fees and other disbursements. For arbitration, there would also be the costs of the tribunal. In this regard, lawyers must be careful not to inadvertently mislead members of the public or clients that there is absolutely nothing to be paid if the litigant is not successful. Guidelines could be drawn up by the Ministry in this regard. Clients are also unlikely to fully understand how a CFA works, especially the terms and conditions of what constitutes a "success" and when an uplift would apply. It is, therefore, essential that the Ministry sets out clearly the information that a lawyer would need to furnish its client when it is considering to engage a lawyer under the terms of a CFA. The Ministry could, therefore, consider drawing up pro forma documents or templates in a form that would be easily understood by members of the public, that could be mandated for use by lawyers when they discuss CFAs with clients. The hon Minister mentioned earlier that MinLaw will be drawing up guidance together with the Law Society and I hope that my suggestions above can be taken into consideration when drafting this guide. Another area is the risk assessment that lawyers will themselves have to do when considering whether to offer a CFA to clients and on what terms.”
“Aside from these, there are ancillary dimensions that the relevant authorities and lawyers should consider once CFAs are allowed. I will cover three areas. First, the ethical considerations in structuring and offering CFAs; second, After-the-Event Insurance; and third, ensuring that lawyers retain reasonable latitude to determine the terms of their CFAs. As regards ethical considerations, lawyers are bound by duties owed to their client. These duties may sometimes create tension with the financial pressures of running the business of a law firm. CFAs may exacerbate these tensions as they give the lawyer a more pronounced financial interest in the outcome of the matter underlying the CFA. For example, depending on the terms of the CFA, a lawyer may find himself in a situation where although it may be in the client’s interests to accept a settlement offer, it may not be in his, because he may not get paid anything. The converse could also be true if a particular CFA treats a settlement essentially as a win – it may lead to the lawyer advising the client to take the settlement and to forego proceedings because there is a guaranteed fee to be earned as compared to going to trial or the arbitration hearing, which would still bear some risk. This could lead to undersettling, which is an issue that has been identified in the UK’s implementation of CFAs. Ultimately, these approaches may lead to outcomes that are not the most advantageous to clients. Practice guidelines could be introduced to guide lawyers, for example, to reduce to writing their advice to clients as regards any settlement under a CFA, so that it is unambiguous as to what exactly was the advice provided by the lawyer in the event of a possible future lawyer-client dispute.”
“Sir, I declare my interest as a practising litigation lawyer. And as a litigation lawyer, I have, from time to time, come across a situation in which a client with a genuine and reasonable commercial claim shies away from pursuing their claim due to the potential legal costs they could face if they were not successful in their action. Of course, all cases, regardless of the merit of the claim, have the potential of not succeeding due to various factors like the performance of witnesses or the introduction of new evidence or counterclaims. So, there is always a risk that a litigant could ultimately lose and be saddled with the costs of both its own lawyers and that of the other parties. In this regard, conditional fee arrangements, or CFAs, will provide some comfort to potential litigants to pursue their claims as their lawyers fees will be contingent on them winning their case. A typical CFA in the UK, for example, stipulates that a lawyer acts on the basis that he will be paid nothing in fees if his client loses his case. In the event that the client succeeds, he would be paid his normal fees, and may also earn an uplift agreed in advance, over and above the normal fees. Importantly, the fee uplift must be based on lawyer’s normal fees, not the quantum of damages awarded. This same type of arrangement will now be allowed by the amendments to the LPA. I support the amendment of the Act to allow for CFAs. As stated by the Minister, the amendments will help enhance access to justice, level the playing field for Singapore lawyers vis-à-vis other jurisdictions that already allow such arrangements and discourage lawyers from pursuing weak and frivolous claims, as they run the risk of not being paid in the event they do not win.”
“A study by the Singapore After-Care Association published in December 2018 found that elderly ex-offenders had difficulties finding employment upon their release. One of the reasons highlighted was their loss of motivation to go for courses or to upgrade their skills. One of the study participants was quoted as saying and I read the quote verbatim, "I don't have any skills, no qualifications, no license. Now, most classes are in English." Another thought is that "I'm already at this age, just pass each day as it is, no motivation to upgrade." In this connection, I urge the SPS and its partners to consider older inmates as a distinct group under the EmPS that may need to develop skills and have employment preparation specific to their age group. This could help avoid the sense of helplessness some of them feel once they are released, when they are faced with the real pressures of getting a job, being financially independent and, for some of them, having to support members of their family. Finally, I would also like to suggest that another distinct group that ought to be administered in a differentiated manner – and this was also mentioned by the hon Member Melvin Yong – are offenders who have been in prison for an extended period of time. These inmates may need to be on such schemes for a longer period to catch up with skills and to be mentally prepared to return to the workplace. Madam, to conclude, I am glad that MHA and SPS are taking further measures to assist offenders to rehabilitate and reintegrate. Our ex-offenders are also part of our Singapore core and we need to make this all-of-society effort to make sure none of us is left behind or left out. Notwithstanding my clarifications and suggestions, I support the Bill.”
“In particular, part 6B section 59K of the amended Act makes provision for inmates "to participate, in any place outside the limits of the prison in which the prisoner is detained, in any educational or occupational training programme, or any other activity for the purpose of facilitating the prisoner to be gainfully employed, that may be specified in the order" and follows with conditions stipulated in the Bill. Madam, while recognising the relevance and the importance of the new EmPS, I have three points as regards the implementation of the programme. First, section 59L of the amended Act sets out the Commissioner's considerations as regards whether an offender is suitable for employment preparation. On this, I hope that the SPS will adopt a liberal interpretation to the stipulations and that eventually, all but the most recalcitrant or unresponsive of offenders would be eligible for the EmPS and other reintegration schemes. The reason for this is that incarceration terms inevitably end at some point and effort ought to be made for the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders even if they have shown themselves to be unresponsive at first. In fact, it may well be that the offenders who need these schemes most are precisely those who appear less responsive as they may have the most difficulty reintegrating and the highest risk of re-offending. Second, given our ageing population, the number of elderly ex-offenders returning to society will increase. Already, we can see based on data from the SPS that the number of convicted inmates aged 51 and above in the period 2012 to 2017 has increased by 70% and the number of inmates aged 60 years and above tripled over the same period. Older offenders returning to society may face greater challenges trying to find employment.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, the Prisons (Amendment) Bill will introduce, amongst other things, the Employment Preparation Scheme, or EmPS, which would allow offenders in prison to be released for employment or to participate in educational or occupational training programmes. This will supplement the current Community-based Programmes framework or CBPs and help ex-offenders improve their employability and facilitate their reintegration into society. Madam, the statistics show that CBPs and similar reintegration efforts have played a big part in lowering the likelihood of re-offending. As reported by The Straits Times, offenders placed on CBPs in the period 2016 to 2018 had a 16% recidivism rate as compared to 26% for offenders who were not on such programmes. Therefore, we can expect that the new EmPS, together with the CBPs, will lead to a further reduction in recidivism. Of course, it also bears stating that – as mentioned by the Minister of State and several hon Members who spoke before me – Singapore already has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world and the current two-year recidivism rate of 22% is one of the lowest we have ever had, although the five-year rates are higher. So, MHA and the Singapore Prisons Service really should be commended for not just sitting on their laurels but working to continually improve the system, including with this new EmPS, to try to further lower recidivism rates.”
“There are, of course, many benefits to outcome-based contracts: more efficient and effective security solutions, job redesign for security officers as well as the possibility to move towards more reasonable working hours, a fairer contracting regime. This is why outcome-based contracts are in and of themselves another pillar of the Industry Transformation Map. But in order to make that move towards outcome-based contracts, we need to have a core of security consultants to carry out the first steps. Madam, next year, SAS will launch an online-based tender generator and repository called OBX, which will provide an easy-to-use platform that will help security buyers make that jump to outcome-based contracting. We are glad to have gotten strong support from SPF and Enterprise Singapore for this initiative. But we will also need to ensure that as this platform provides that big push towards OBCs, that there is a sufficient number of consultants to service these new contracts. In this regard, SCAP is working hard to accredit consultants and ensure that they have a high level of competence and the technical expertise to provide the best holistic solutions to clients. Madam, please allow me to conclude by coming back to the amendments introducing protections for security officers. In my maiden speech earlier this year, I urged that we make it a priority to ensure that all our workers have a working environment that affords them respect and dignity. I urged that we take steps to make sure that we take care of those who take care of us. The amendments introduced today will go a long way to bring us towards that aspiration. Mdm Deputy Speaker, I support the Bill.”
“Most importantly, the removal of security consultants from a statutory licensing regime in favour of an industry-led initiative is an important move towards self-regulation for this particular profession. This ensures that the security consultants profession develops in a manner that is relevant to the industry and to clients’ needs without unnecessary Government bureaucracy and administration. As President of SAS, I am thankful for the trust and confidence that MHA has in the industry to allow us to lead this self-regulation and I assure Members of this House that the industry will step up and do well. Hopefully, this can serve as an example, a model and, perhaps, an inspiration for other industries to self-regulate in appropriate areas. What then is the role that security consultants play in the transformation of the security industry? It is important to note that the development of a core of security consultants is one pillar out of four pillars in the Security Industry Transformation Map. As Members know, and as mentioned by Member Mohd Fahmi Aliman, one of the biggest drives in the PWM sectors is to move away from headcount-based contracts to outcome-based contracts. In headcount-based contracts, buyers stipulate the number of security officers they require. In outcome-based contracts, buyers stipulate only the expected outcomes and leave it to vendors to propose solutions that optimise manpower and technology resources. In order for a vendor to propose such holistic solutions, it would first need to conduct a security risk assessment – and the person who carries this out is the security consultant.”
“The SCAP adopted the structure of SAS’ long running Certified Security Professional certification, which SAS discontinued in favour of SCAP. SCAP also adopted the existing Continuous Professional Development framework, which aims to ensure that accredited persons remain current and well-acquainted with developments in the industry, in particular, with regard to emerging and evolving technologies. In order for a consultant to be able to renew his accreditation, he would need to meet the CPD requirements for the previous year. In order to further ensure professionalism and standards, as well as give the public an avenue to report errant consultants, the SCAP Board will introduce a Code of Conduct to guide how consultants should carry out their work, including ethical considerations. As I mentioned, I chair the SCAP Board, which also includes representatives from the other security trade association, SUSS, the Security Industry Institute and experienced security consultants. MHA and the SPF’s Centre for Protective Security attend as observers, and the Board consults closely with them on all decisions. Admission is either by experience or by experience and passing an examination. To directly address Member Mariam Jaafar’s concern about standards, the examination is set and marked by SPF. In the first examination that was held in July, we had a one-third failure rate, so the bar is set very high, and intentionally so, because we only want truly competent and qualified persons to be accredited. To-date, the Board has accredited 17 consultants. There are 10 persons who have applied as of today for the next examination scheduled in December 2021. And we expect to have accredited around 50 to 70 consultants by the end of next year.”
“Agencies that merely chase contracts without regard for the working conditions of security officers on the ground and how they are treated by managing agents and buyers will ultimately gain the reputation as poor employers and will not be able to attract good or eventually any officers. I would also like to urge security agencies that are responsible and that reject such unfair contracts to publicly declare their commitment to fair employment and fair consideration in outsourced services contracts. This will make it easier for our security officers to identify responsible employers, and to shun security agencies that sacrifice the welfare and dignity of their officers for the sake of just getting more business. Industry needs to be committed and to work together to make things better for our officers. The status quo is unacceptable. Security agencies need to do our part to clean up our own industry, to wipe out unfair employment practices, unfair working conditions and to end the exploitation of our officers. Madam, I will move on now to speak about the removal of the requirement for security consultants to be licensed under the PSIA. I hope I will be able to address some of the questions and concerns raised by, in particular, Member Mariam Jaafar. Again, Madam, I had been intimately involved in initiatives surrounding this amendment. The Minister of State had mentioned that security consultants will now be encouraged to seek accreditation under the Security Consultants Accreditation Programme or SCAP, which I chair. By way of background, the SCAP was formed pursuant to an MOU between MHA, the Association of Certified Security Agencies and the SAS.”
“While we agreed that there was indeed a gap and that something ought to be done, the recent announcement that the TAFEP Guidelines would be enshrined in legislation now provides an ideal platform for these issues to be addressed as well. In this regard, I urge that MOM includes in the new legislation measures that prevent managing agents and buyers from demanding the immediate removal of outsourced workers at site; that if they do request a change, that they are required to provide reasons in writing and that there should be a mechanism for appeal and review against such requests. Of course, discriminatory stipulations in service contracts like those on age, gender and race should also be proscribed by the new law and should not be allowed in outsourced services tender documents and service contracts. Separately, I was happy to read that pursuant to our feedback to TAFEP, that TAFEP has strongly recommended to MOM to review the offending managing agent's work pass privileges. In this regard, I am heartened that there is current recourse for security officers and security agencies subject to unfair and discriminatory clauses in that they can head to TAFEP for assistance. I thank TAFEP for its proactiveness in acting to address unfair practices and to protect our officers. MOM has also confirmed in the Minister’s written answer to Miss Cheng Li Hui's Parliamentary Question yesterday that investigations are ongoing against the managing agent and that MOM takes a serious view of workplace discrimination. In addition to this, I would also like to urge security agencies not to just accept any contractual terms just to secure a contract, especially when these terms are detrimental to our officers.”
“Madam, it bears reading out an immediate removal clause ad verbatim to illustrate to the House the truly awesome powers that buyers and managing agents have over the employment and employability of security officers. I quote: "The MCST or its appointed Managing Agent shall be at liberty to require the Contractor to remove forthwith from the Estate any person employed by the Contractor who, in the opinion of the MCST or its appointed Managing Agent, has misconduct himself, or is incompetent and/or negligent in the performance of his duties, or whose employment is considered by the MCST or its appointed Managing Agent to be undesirable." As can be seen, Madam, the right to dismiss is absolute, it is arbitrary, with no due process or right of appeal or review. These types of clauses, therefore, empower managing agents and buyers to hold security officers and other outsourced workers at site in terrorem, or in terror, in fear. Officers who are beholden to these managing agents are often asked to take on non-security functions which they do carry out because of the fear that they may be dismissed by the managing agent if they refuse. The USE has called this out many times before, giving the examples of security officers being asked, on a routine basis, to buy food for the managing agents, clear notice boards or clean animal poo. Member Yip Hon Weng also mentioned earlier some other examples of errands that officers are asked to perform. All of these are quite clearly not security functions under the PSIA and are unlikely to be services that the officers or the security agencies are contracted to do in the first place. Madam, I had raised this lacuna of application of the fair employment and fair consideration guidelines last year with MOM and TAFEP.”
“SAS recently called out some of these discriminatory and unfair clauses in a tender document that was put out by managing agent Savills Property Management on behalf of its client, Hillview Heights condominium. We identified three specific clauses of concern: an immediate removal clause allowing the managing agent to essentially, summarily dismiss security officers, a clause that appeared to discriminate on race and a clause that appeared to discriminate on age. But these types of contractual stipulations, Madam, are, in fact, not only found in security contracts, but also in other outsourced services contracts and are actually quite ubiquitous. I do not exaggerate when I say that most, if not all, outsourced services contracts contain some form of discriminatory clauses or immediate removal clauses. These are accompanied with unfettered discretion given to managing agents or security buyers to decide to reject officers deployed to a site or to demand that they be removed immediately. Madam, many officers apply for security officer jobs based on particular sites or locales. This is because, given that they work 12-hour shifts, they prefer to have a work site near their home so that they can reduce their commuting time to as low as possible. So, imagine, Madam, when that officer arrives at site, and is told that he has been rejected and no reason needs to be given to him. Or he is told that he has been rejected after working at a site for some time, again with no reason needing to be provided to him. An employer, Madam, would not be able to do that. There are processes that need to be abided by for such summary dismissal. But the managing agents and buyers have been able to do this with impunity.”
“Madam, there are also other initiatives to uplift the wages and working conditions of our security officers. Chief amongst these is the Progressive Wage Model that the Security Tripartite Cluster will announce soon. Another important initiative was launched by Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad in July this year: the Security Industry Workplace Safety and Health Guidelines, which was drafted by a committee co-chaired by SAS and USE. Third, MOM also launched the Workcare Grant in May this year, which was mentioned by Members earlier. These initiatives go a long way to build workplaces and working conditions that are reasonable, fair and that empower officers to do their best at work. However, Madam, given that the nature of the industry is one of an outsourced service, there is another dimension to the exploitation of security officers that has been unaddressed for decades, and which may well be the most prevalent and yet also, perhaps, the most insidious and difficult to tackle. Current legislation looks at protecting employees vis-à-vis their employers. However, security officers are engaged not to work at their employer’s offices, but to work at a third party’s premises to provide specific services. The services that are to be provided and their incumbent terms and conditions are, therefore, the subject of a separate service contract between the security agency and the security buyer. Often, where a service buyer engages a managing agent to manage its site, these service contracts are proposed by the managing agent based on their existing templates. The problem arises because many of these service contracts contain clauses that directly affect security officers’ employment and employability.”
“Teo punched SO Chew in the chest and SO Chew fell backwards and suffered injury to his cervical spine. Sadly, SO Chew died from his injuries six weeks later. Of course, causing grievous hurt as in this case is not part of the amendments to the PSIA, and will still fall under the Penal Code, but my point is that security officers, as frontline workers and as enforcers of rules, are often subject to physical abuse, which has caused injury and has even been fatal on occasion. As regards incidents of verbal abuse and harassment, these are abundant and a simple search on Google will pull up numerous media articles, videos and accounts of such behaviour. Madam, I have often found it ironic that the security officers’ uniform, ostensibly a symbol of authority, has instead become looked at by members of the public as a lightning rod for abuse. Today’s amendments will change this. So, I would like to say to all our security officers: your uniform, your PLRD ID are now symbols of the protection that you now have. In the course of your duties, if you are verbally abused, if you are harassed, assaulted or hurt, you are now protected by law. So, carry out your duties proudly, responsibly, professionally and if you are subject to any form of abuse, report it and action will be taken. There are various ways for reporting to be done. As these are now statutory offences, ultimately at some point, the abused officer will have to make a Police report. But as mentioned by several speakers earlier, the USE is rolling out an easy-to-use app, where officers can now report abuse that they have faced and they can seek advice on how they can proceed to commence the process. This app will be launched by the end of the year.”
“Those amendments introduced penalties, including fines and jail terms, for security officers caught being remiss in the conduct of their duties. The rationale for those amendments was to hold security officers up to a high level of conduct, if they were remiss while on duty, precisely because of their critical functions. It is, therefore, fair and fitting that even as we underscore with those amendments the importance of security officers’ duties, that we also move the current amendments to afford greater protections for them. The urgency for these new provisions is apparent. The Union of Security Employees (USE) and the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) conducted two surveys that had been referred to by several speakers today. Madam, the findings are nothing short of appalling. Last year’s findings showed that a third of security officers faced abuse and this year’s findings found that the frequency had increased to 40%, with the increase being attributed to the greater role that security officers were required to undertake due to the pandemic measures. Older officers were found to face abuse on a more frequent basis. The media has reported on specific cases. The Minister of State mentioned in his speech the incident in 2019 where Mr Andrew Lim, a security supervisor at Roxy Square, was punched in the face by one Stuart Boyd Mills. Madam, the footage of the incident is chilling. The sheer force of the punch knocked SS Andrew to the ground. Mills was later convicted and sentenced to a week’s jail under POHA. In another even more unfortunate incident, 74-year-old Security Officer Chew Choo Chian caught and reprimanded one Teo Chin Lai for urinating behind a door of a Bukit Panjang shopping centre.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I declare my interest as President of the Security Association Singapore (SAS) and a member of the board of directors of a security company. At the outset, Madam, I would like to register my strong and wholehearted support for the Bill. The Bill introduces two key amendments. First, three new offences will be enacted to protect security officers while they are executing their duties. Second, it will no longer be required for security consultants to be licensed under the Act. By way of background to the first set of amendments, the security industry associations and union had lobbied MHA for some years to consider amending the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) to include security officers in the definition of "public service officers". This had also been raised by Mr Patrick Tay in this House, as well as Mr Zainal Sapari. So, clearly the stakeholders were delighted when MHA suggested that we instead introduce protections for security officers under the PSIA. The new sections 17A to 17C will make it offences to assault, hurt or harass security officers whilst they are carrying out their duties. Section 17D provides for circumstances where enhanced penalties may apply. What is significant is that the penalties prescribed in each section are higher than that stipulated for similar offences under the POHA. This is an important recognition that it is particularly egregious to harass, or to assault or to hurt a security officer while he is carrying out his functions, because the role that he plays is essential and critical to the orderly functioning of society. To a certain extent, these provisions are a corollary to the amendments made to the Private Security Industry (Conduct) Regulations in 2019.”
“Hence, they may also need some time to implement internal standard operational procedures (SOPs) for both governance and reporting, given that they were hitherto unregulated. In this regard, the Government may wish to consider a gradated approach where regulations kick in over some years so that CMOs are able to cope. Further, I would also urge that regulations are not so onerous as to be prohibitive for new entrants into the market and should not stifle new, different and potentially more efficient ways of operating a CMO. Finally, Sir, looking ahead, the Bill does not directly address the copyright ownership of AI-generated works. While this is a fairly new area of technology and a complex category of intellectual property rights, the Government may wish to start considering legislation that can definitely fix the ownership of AI-generated works. Sir, I am confident that the new Copyright Act will support our local creators, improve access to copyright works and create a fairer content management regime in Singapore. In this regard, notwithstanding my clarifications and suggestions, I support the Bill.”
“In an instance where a couple engages a photographer to take their wedding or pre-wedding photos or videos, they need to ensure that the engagement agreements specifically mention that the copyright would vest in them instead of the photographer or videographer if they wish to own the copyrights. Otherwise, they may be in for a rude surprise that they do not even own the rights to their own photographs and may have to pay further sums to have the rights transferred to them. So, in this regard, I urge that efforts be made to educate the public of the change of position and what they should do if they wish to own the copyrights to works that they commission. Second, the Bill will introduce a regulatory framework on collective management organisations (CMOs). In MinLaw's report on the public consultation on proposed licensing of CMOs, members of CMOs and users identified several concerns, including, inter alia, the lack of transparency on how CMOs determined the usage of licensed works to calculate the distribution of fees collected. This has engendered significant suspicion of CMOs by the industry. In this regard, it is timely that the Ministry imposes a regulatory framework to enhance transparency, good governance and accountability in CMOs, which will go a long way in addressing members', users' and indeed, the public's apprehension of how CMOs operate. However, with regulation, naturally comes increases in costs. I urge that the Government balances effective regulation with cost control such that increased cost of operation of the CMO is not passed on to creators, in that they receive less royalties for the use of their works. CMOs' transactions are voluminous.”
“I highlight this, in particular, because digital material is now increasingly utilised in academic work and the existing Act does not adequately deal with what are the permitted or fair uses of such works. This update is important to keep our copyright regime current and relevant in light of the changing sources and mediums of works. I am also particularly heartened by clause 214 of the Bill, which will allow for conversions of works into formats accessible by print-disabled users without having to pay licence fees to the copyright owner. I hope that this will encourage more conversions of works into formats accessible by print-disabled users. This provision is forward-looking and inclusive and I commend the Government for taking this very specific step in legislating support for the print-disabled members of our society. Sir, I have three further points to make on particular provisions in the Bill. First, the Copyright Bill will now standardise the position that the creators of works will be the default owners of the copyrights to these works. This default position is now extended to photographs, portraits, engravings, sound recordings and so on. Hence, where the contract commissioning the particular work is silent on copyright ownership, the creator will own the copyright by default. Sir, I submit that there needs to be particular effort made in drawing public attention to this reversal in position. It is currently taken for granted when commissioning photographs or films, for example, that the commissioner of the works would own the copyright to the works. This change in position has a very real on-the-ground implication.”
“Sir, copyright, as an intellectual property right, is, by definition, very wide because it includes all works that persons and entities create. In this regard, we are constantly generating new works and new copyrights at a rate that we may not even be aware of. Because of its wide-ranging application, it is timely that the Government is seeking to simplify and update the existing Copyright Act and to draft it in plain English to make it easier to understand for the laymen. An important aspect of the Bill is the enhanced clarity on the permitted uses of copyright works. For example, the Bill makes it explicit that it is permitted to make copies and use copyright works for the purposes of computational data analysis, subject to certain conditions and safeguards. This will allow for aggregation and analysis of data for such purposes as sentiment analysis or machine learning. These, ultimately, have a public interest aspect to synthesise data for better understanding of, for example, social or economic trends. Importantly, this will support the development of technologies in machine learning and deep learning, which, by their very nature, require the input of a voracious volume of data. The permitted use will allow access to this data without having to seek approval or licensing from each copyright owner, which may be a significant obstacle. The Bill also now makes clear that non-profit schools and their students may use digital resources that are freely available for educational uses without having to seek permission from each copyright owner as long as they are cited with the date of access of the said material.”
“The Minister for Law has addressed this matter in extent in May, in response to a Parliamentary Question by my fellow Nominated Member of Parliament colleague Dr Tan Yia Swam, in which he said that the Ministry will keep, and I quote, "under review" its current position where the accused is named at the onset of proceedings. I hope the Minister will consider a formal review and a formal consideration of the pros and cons of introducing protections for persons accused of sexual crimes and under what circumstances. Notwithstanding these clarifications and suggestions, Sir, I support the Bill.”
“The first is with regard to the Sentencing Advisory Panel that the Minister for Law announced in March 2021 and whether the Ministry has any updates on the timeline for the setting up of the panel, the terms of reference and the composition of the panel. Second, I would like to urge the Government to commence a study of whether the identities of persons accused of sexual crimes should be published until they have been convicted and exhausted all avenues of appeal. The recent case of Dr Yeo Sow Nam who obtained a discharge amounting to acquittal illustrates how an innocent person can have his name sullied and suffer public and long-term stigma, which affects not only his professional life, but also his personal life. To quote Dr Yeo: "It was humiliating, a lot of ignominy, public shame, a feeling of persecution by the country I love when I have not done anything wrong". Sir, I ask for this review to be done, in particular, for persons accused of sexual crimes because this category of crimes leaves a particular stain on how a person is viewed by the public, even if that person is ultimately found not guilty or discharged. Furthermore, such crimes, because they often occur in private, tend to have a "he-said-she-said" character. The Courts themselves have acknowledged this in how they assess the evidence adduced, in requiring that testimony be "unusually convincing" for a conviction. I also urge that the study consider whether such protection should be provided until all avenues of appeal are exhausted. This follows from the case of Ong Ming Wee, who was convicted for rape in the first instance, but acquitted on appeal.”
“My humble submission is that this does not provide sufficient clarity as what exactly is included in this new term “genital region” which could extend to the upper thigh, pelvis, pubis or lower stomach. In this regard, I would urge that the Minister consider including a definition or illustrations to make clear what “genital region” refers to. Second, I refer to clause 12 which seeks to amend the current section 182 of the Penal Code. Clause 12 adds the words "or would not" after the words "ought not to". Sir, the Minister of State expounded earlier on the recently decided case of Public Prosecutor v Chua Wen Hao and another appeal in the High Court, where Chief Justice Menon drew a distinction between an offence under section 182 of the Penal Code and section 177 of the Penal Code. CJ Menon observed in that case that there was a distinction that had to be drawn between a "misuse" of Police powers, where an officer ought not to have done something, which is the wording of section 182 in the current Penal Code and an "inefficient" use of Police powers, that is, something the officer would not or might not have done. This same clause and section was raised just before me by Ms Sylvia Lim. My question, Sir, is whether section 182 is now being expanded by clause 12 to cover the same ground as section 177, seeing as section 177 remains untouched. Would it also mean that an accused person may end up being charged for a more serious offence under section 182 instead of a lesser offence with lower penalties under section 177? Separately, Sir, I would like to seek updates on two matters related to today’s Bill and the wider criminal law framework.”
“Thank you, Sir. Sir, this Bill introduces increased penalties for outrage of modesty and offences in which minors are involved, as well as expanding the scope of certain offences and defences. I support these increases in penalties to act as a greater deterrent against such offending behaviour and to allow the Courts to mete out harsher sentences for perpetrators of these offences. Separately, we also need to look at how to ensure that victims have avenues to seek support and assistance to make Police reports if crimes are committed against them. This is particularly so for minors who are victims of such offences. In this regard, I am heartened by the various efforts made by the Government to make it easier and less straining on minor victims to describe what they had gone through. For example, the multi-disciplinary interview model for children who have been sexually abused by their family members consolidates interviews from various parties into just one interview, so that child victims do not need to repeat accounts of traumatic experiences multiple times. I note also that the National Institute of Early Childhood includes in its curriculum for teachers, concepts of body safety, such as identifying good or bad touches and how to teach children protective skills to prevent sexual abuse. Separately, I look forward to the findings of the review on whether screening should be implemented for persons who work with children. I turn now to seek clarification on specific clauses in the Bill. Before I go on, I declare my interest, Sir, as a practising lawyer. First, clauses 30, 31 and 34 seek to replace the term “genitals” with “genital region”.”
“Thank you, Sir. Sir, I have one supplementary question for the Minister and that is coming back to my original Question No 20: whether NUS will be prepared to provide refunds to newly matriculated students of Yale-NUS College and for existing students, whether they will be allowed to look at alternatives, like transfers to other courses or to other programmes.”
“While some APFs provide extremely specialised services, as private entities, they are freed from various obligations and restrictions and can operate flexibly and competitively. This is precisely why, Sir, it is extremely important that we ensure that there are sufficient controls over the employers of APFs or the controllers of APFs. Sir, as front-facing personnel on the ground, our APOs sometimes face abuse from members of the public. In December last year, an APO was headbutted several times by a member of the public. In January this year, another APO was punched on the head while carrying out safe distancing checks. I am heartened that swift action was taken and, appropriately, heavy punishment meted out. In this regard, Sir, I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all our APOs for carrying out their duties diligently and professionally during this pandemic and, even before that, to keep Singapore secure and orderly. I trust we will see our APOs and, for that matter, our security officers, increasingly not just as partners of the Home Team but as part of the Home Team. Sir, our APFs are an armed and highly recognisable form of authority in Singapore. Due to their professionalism and hard work over the decades, our APFs and APOs are respected and trusted by Singaporeans. We must not take this for granted. In this regard, today's amendments to strengthen control over the APFs to ensure their continued operations as going concerns and that they stay true to their mission are timely and welcomed. I also welcome the other amendments that strengthen our Police Force. Sir, I support the Bill. 7.07 pm”
“Sir, our APOs have worked hard to transition and learn new skills to take on these new COVID-19-specific tasks and it is important that we acknowledge the difficulty of carrying out, at short notice, what can be accurately described as a herculean task. I thus urge Singaporeans to be empathetic when interacting with our officers as they go about carrying out their duties in this regard. I was also happy to read in that same Yahoo article that MOH acknowledged the concerns raised and said it would continue to improve communications between the various agencies involved, including Certis. Alongside Certis, AETOS and SATS, APOs also stepped up in our battle against COVID-19, being deployed at various locations across the island, including Government quarantine facilities, floating hotels under the Maritime and Port Authority, airports, military camps and high-risk areas like the red migrant worker dormitories last year. Such high-risk locations meant that officers had to don full personal protective equipment for their entire 12-hour shifts, as they assisted with temperature checks, social distancing measures and escorting workers who had tested positive. Sir, in peacetime, our APFs are equally busy keeping us safe and secure. They are part of the private security industry and have been situated on the frontlines, engaging in traffic and crowd control, event security, providing remote surveillance and enforcing security rules and regulations. Furthermore, they are strategically relied on to provide protective security for many important and sensitive Government and civilian institutions, such as at our airports, naval installations and checkpoints.”
“In this regard, APFs must exercise caution in how they advertise and hold out their non-APF businesses in such manner that there is no conflation between their APF business and non-APF business. MHA and the Commissioner may wish to consider how to ensure this, perhaps through the promulgation of guidelines or further regulations. The third set of amendments introduces under the New Division 1C of Part IX, a Special Administration Order or other order to transfer management of an APF from an employer to the Commissioner or anyone appointed by the Minister. This can be done in situations where the employer is unable to pay its debts, during a public emergency, or when the Minister deems it in the public interest. This new proviso ensures that the provision of essential security services remains unhindered and coordinated across employers of APFs, especially in view of the central role that our APFs have played in our COVID-19 response, which I will elaborate on. Sir, these amendments proposed in the Bill are timely and important to ensure our APFs' continued ability to contribute to the safety and security of Singapore and Singaporeans. The utility of our APFs was made apparent recently, as Certis took up duties urgently needed for the issuance, enforcement and execution of quarantine orders and quarantine operations of the Ministry of Health (MOH). These services included administration of quarantine orders to Persons under Quarantine (PUQs) and the enforcement of such orders as directed by MOH. In a recent article in June 2021 by Yahoo, several persons affected by such orders described the effort as "disorganised" and officers as "unhelpful" and who caused frustration and confusion amidst PUQs.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Police Force (Amendment) Bill introduces, inter alia, new provisions as regards our APFs. I will cover three areas as regards these provisions. The first is the provisions to do with tightening control over the controllers of APFs. The second is with regards to advertising for security services by APFs. The third is the introduction of a special administrative order or other order that the Minister may make under certain circumstances. Sir, I declare at this juncture my interest as the President of the Security Association Singapore. Sir, the first set of amendments are in the new section 88 and tightens controls over the controllers of APFs such that any person who comes in, between 5% and 25% control of an APF must notify the Minister, and a controller above 25% control of an APF must seek prior approval from the Minister. Sir, I support these changes. Our APFs are an extension of the Singapore Police Force and it is critical to ensure that there is accountability to the Minister for Home Affairs as regards control, so as to ensure that our APFs are not diverted from their missions. A second area is the introduction as a new section 86A of restrictions on advertising, where only an APF may carry on the functions of an APF and advertise or, in any other way, hold out that it carries on or is willing to carry on the functions of an APF. This is an important new section, which also provides sufficiently heavy penalties for offenders. On this particular amendment, Sir, I have a point of clarification. Some of our APFs, like Certis and AETOS are both employers of armed APFs and owners of security agencies that carry out unarmed services, but which bear their same logo and same name.”
“Sir, after the recent incidents, Minister Shanmugam commented that he was not so sure that racial relations were moving in the correct direction. And I think, Sir, when Minister Shanmugam is not so sure about something, we should at least be a little concerned. And in fact, the recent IPS World Value Survey showed that although Singapore has the second lowest proportion of respondents perceiving racism as occurring frequently, that the frequency of racist behaviour has been going up since 2012. So we still have work to do, to engage, to communicate, to calibrate and to strengthen our racial harmony. Sir, I conclude, with a quote from a recent Facebook post by one Mr Vishnu Anandh. After describing several positive experiences with people of other races, he wrote and I quote, “I understand the frustration and anger when a lot of people are currently sharing videos that call out racism or racial disharmony. But along with that, let’s not forget the good stuff as well. It may seem like small things. Yet, in such tumultuous times, it is small episodes that assure us of our togetherness and that we are one people in this nation…United we stand. Majulah”. [Applause.]”
“This is, however, quite different from saying that a particular group of Singaporeans may not be ready for a minority Prime Minister, and that a decision should be made based on this group's sentiment. Sir, I am glad that Minister Wong expressed what I thought was perhaps a more calibrated, a more refined position on this. To quote Minister Wong, "A minority who wants to be Prime Minister should be aware of these attitudes. It does not mean that he or she cannot be Prime Minister. But these are the realities on the ground". I think this position gives a very timely and needed assurance to Singaporeans of all races. In fact, Sir, if we look at the 2016 CNA-IPS Survey, which showed that while Singaporeans preferred a Prime Minister of the same race, the same survey also showed that Singaporeans were accepting – all above 50% – of a Prime Minister of another race. So, I would say that the results show that a minority Prime Minister could actually have a chance of leading a party to win the elections and I am encouraged by this. Sir, as regards calibration of the law, I suggest that whilst keeping our harsh penalties for race-based crime, we could also introduce a rehabilitative regime similar to the Communal Remedial Initiative enacted in the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act. This will help to avoid hardening of views by offenders by building their understanding of other races and cultures. Ultimately, Sir, we must look at policies and laws as a whole. If we just pluck out individual policies and critique them on their own, of course there will be much to say. But policies and laws do not exist in vacuo. The correct approach is to look at the whole, to identify gaps or inconsistencies, and to plug those.”
“My view is that the GRC system has worked well in ensuring minority representation and the renewal of minority candidates in the elections. It has ensured diversity not only in the Parliament but also within political parties. Furthermore, in a multi-racial country, the perception of bias in voting along racial lines is as dangerous as the reality. It is too easy for a losing minority candidate to claim that she or he had lost due to race bias. If so much heat and noise can be generated from an incident involving a standee and, recently, in the news, about a waffle – and I say this without trivialising those incidents – just imagine how much more divisiveness will be generated from claims of racism affecting elections or the electability of a minority candidate? The GRC system removes the possibility of this being claimed post-elections. The importance of this cannot be downplayed and is a uniquely Singaporean feature of our elections. We must also take care to segmentise criticisms of a political nature from criticisms of the GRC system's function of ensuring minority representation. If there is a political concern about the GRC, then we should raise it as a political criticism. Let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. The next question is whether we will one day see a minority Prime Minister, which has been a long running topic. The way I see it, Sir, the selection of a candidate to lead a political party to become the Prime Minister is quite obviously a practical decision. This person must be able to hold the confidence of Singaporeans of all the races and religions in Singapore and must be able to lead the country and, importantly, to win elections.”
“In this regard, we should avoid a "you have it, therefore I must have it too" approach when looking at ethnic or ethnic-based policies. Each of the communities in Singapore is different and policies must be designed accordingly to take into consideration these differences. The pragmatic purpose of the SAP schools aside, it is, however, a legitimate and valid concern that these students may become an insular lot. My colleague, a SAP school graduand, told me that not only did she have little exposure to people of other races while schooling, but that she also did not feel any motivation to seek out, engage or befriend them outside of school as they did not feature in her own lived experience. She said that she only made friends from other races when she went to University. This SAP school experience was echoed by one Mr Lee Young Kai in a letter in The Straits Times Forum published just a few hours ago. Sir, this is troubling. SAP school graduates may be expected to engage China but they are still Singaporean and they are still part of our multi-racial society. Last year, Minister Lawrence Wong updated the House that all SAP schools will eventually offer conversational Malay programmes. He also elaborated on Dunman High School's Diversity and Inclusivity programme, which paired students with peers from other schools, including the madrasahs. Minister Maliki also spoke about such initiatives this afternoon. These are good programmes and I urge MOE to expand on these programmes, to make them compulsory as far as possible and to ensure that SAP school students have exposure and can build meaningful relationships with all minority groups in Singapore. I also urge, Sir, for more transparency on what is being done in this regard. Sir, moving on to GRCs.”
“Let me just be clear on this point, Sir, that madrasahs should not be considered the minority's equivalent of SAP schools. Madrasahs are religion-based, they are not race-based, and they exist for entirely different purposes. Second, Sir, there is a fear that SAP school students are an insular Chinese elite, aloof from the other races. SAP schools have origins in the Chinese-education schools of old but their contemporary purpose is to build a group of Singaporeans well versed in Chinese culture and language to engage China, the world's second superpower and second largest economy. Language and cultural competency grant us a competitive edge. For example, my colleague who studied Higher Chinese, is able to read, draft and negotiate contracts in Mandarin. This has enabled her to compete with Chinese lawyers in the Chinese market for legal work. As former Member of Parliament Low Thia Khiang said in this House, "the learning of Mandarin should be part of the overall strategy of anchoring Singapore as a Global-Asian node as it will help us to connect to 1.3 billion Chinese" and it is "a tool of soft power". There is therefore a practical and pragmatic purpose to the SAP schools. So, let us take a step back and ask ourselves whether Malay SAP schools or Tamil SAP schools would fulfill the same purposes. Will such schools give their graduates a similar edge to compete in, presumably, India or Malaysia? My view is that it would be unlikely. India and Malaysia are very different economies and societies as compared to China. For example, business is more easily conducted in English in these countries and we also have the common language of the common law.”
“They must be careful about assuming the mantle of a community spokesperson too easily. If they say, "My view is not just my view but the view of the community; my voice is the voice of the community and I will meet you and discuss with you on this basis", then, I think it is untenable. If indeed this was Ms Bagharib's intention, then I think that the PA probably made the correct decision to disengage at that point. But this having been said, it was still an unfortunate outcome and I still hold out hope for an ultimate happy resolution. Ms Bagharib has since made private the account that she used to first raise this issue and put out her statements. I was saddened by this. I watched her online interview and I found her articulate and passionate. She said her motivation of raising this issue was to build a better home for her daughter, which I think that this is the correct spirit, even if her approach could have been different. I hope she will not self-cancel and I certainly hope no one attempts to cancel her. I invite her to return to the marketplace of discourse, even if not with the PA – perhaps, one day with the PA – but generally as well. The third thrust of this unending project of building racial harmony is the ongoing calibration of policies, policy positions and the law. How should we look at policies? How can they be calibrated and what should we expect to be calibrated? I look at some examples. Let us start with Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools. What is it that bugs some people about the SAP schools? First, it is the impression that one of our constituent races, the Chinese, has an entire educational programme unto itself that benefits from state resources. I have seen comments online in response that, in return, minorities have madrasahs.”
“When I first saw Ms Bagharib's Instagram post about PA using her photo as a standee without her consent, I thought that she had a genuine and legitimate complaint primarily rooted in intellectual property rights. PA apologised quickly, as did Member Melvin Yong. Minister Edwin Tong sent his unreserved apology and expressed dismay at the standee being used as a caricature. I had the impression that PA was quite ready to engage with Ms Bagharib, including on her concerns regarding larger issues she had raised, like the lack of understanding of the Malay culture. But I thought that things took a different turn when Ms Bagharib made a call for feedback before her meeting with the PA and when her statements started looking like they were intended to be on behalf of the whole Malay community and on matters unrelated to the originating incident. Sir, it is invariably more complex to engage with a self-appointed standard bearer because even within a community, people have diverse experiences and views. In fact, members of the Malay community did express disagreement with Ms Bagharib's reading of the incident. One Hanafi Ahmad wrote in The Straits Times Forum that he or she found Ms Bagharib's comments "unsettling". Former Member of Parliament Zainal Sapari said that the incident was not racist and that the PA was true to its mission of promoting racial harmony. Other minority commentators like Mr Devadas Krishnadas opined that "these pinpoint instances should not be used as opportunities to generalise loosely or to appeal or rally minority groups into some coalition of resistance". Sir, in a multi-racial society, it is essential that individuals raise issues that affect them based on race. But these are an individual's views and experiences.”
“While they may be hopping onto legitimate concerns, opportunists do not work towards resolution because they want to extract the maximum benefit from the situation and may therefore seek to exacerbate it and prolong it. This is why they can be dangerous. This, of course, does not mean that we should be too quick to label people as bad actors or opportunists. In particular, for those who raise awareness on real issues and incidents they have encountered, commentators should not turn the tables on them and victim shame or accuse them of inciting racial disharmony. I do not think this accords with the law and it is a cruel and unfair way to treat the original poster. It may also lead to a chilling effect that may prevent future genuine cases from emerging. Second, on information that we post, public figures like politicians, community leaders, even influencers and artistes, have a distinct responsibility when posting about race. I agree with fellow Member Raeesah Khan that, and I quote, "as leaders, we have the power to start difficult conversations and that it is vital to frame these conversations in a considerate and accountable manner". I was also heartened today to see that both Senior Minister Teo and the hon Leader of the Opposition Mr Pritam Singh affirmed their commitment not to politicise race issues. The amplifying nature of social media can propel ordinary individuals who raise issues into the national spotlight. More of these will inevitably emerge. These individuals would then also have to exercise responsibility and, in particular, must be careful about writing large their personal experiences on their whole community. The recent incident between Ms Sarah Bagharib and the People's Association (PA) is a case in point.”
“As its President Mr Sarabjeet Singh noted, "Ms Phua demonstrated humility, kindness, curiosity and sincerity, and that is more important to us…and all of us have walked away as better people." Some might say that this is putting the burden of engagement on minorities and minority groups. But I would like to urge my fellow minorities not to see this as a burden but as a unique opportunity to help strengthen our racial harmony. Like the YSA has demonstrated, if we all choose to take this up, we will emerge as a kinder, more gracious and more caring Singapore – the new glue that will bind us together that Minister Edwin Tong mentioned on Saturday. The second thrust, Sir, is communication, which entails having responsible, mature dialogue, a willingness to speak up without fear, to share lived experiences, to propose how we can do things better and an openness to listen. Communication is about both what we receive and accept and believe and what we put out. A lot of communication is now done online. There is a multiplicity of sources from independent talk shows to analytical Instagram slideshows and confessional websites. This has enriched discourse but also spread thin the locus of public attention. Navigating these multifarious sources can be tricky. First, as regards what we receive and accept online, I would urge Singaporeans to be wary of bad actors and opportunists. Bad actors are malicious characters who seek to sow dissent between our communities and opportunists may not be malicious but they seek to exploit certain incidents for personal gain – perhaps some attention, perhaps a few more likes or a few more clicks.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I relied on a number of people to help with this Motion – a "Chindian" woman, a Malay colleague, an Indian Muslim who wears the hijab, a Chinese Special Assistance Plan school graduand, something of a microcosm of Singapore. Even amongst the few of us, there were heated debates, passionate arguments and some very emotional sharing. Sir, multiracialism is difficult and race issues will never go away. Racial harmony is an aspiration and a project that we must consistently and unendingly work towards. And because racial harmony is about people, about relationships, all of us have a part to play and we must do so with sensitivity, responsibility and in good faith. As Minister Edwin Tong said here earlier today, we need a whole-of-society approach. This unending project of building racial harmony in Singapore is an unending project of engagement, communication and calibration. And these are three thrusts that I will speak on today which are especially relevant, given the recent incidents in Singapore. The first thrust, engagement, is about the willingness to reach out, to teach, to understand and to build understanding. Government bodies have played a big part in this regard and organisations like OnePeople.sg and the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) have done great work. In addition to the efforts of Government and Government-related bodies, community groups and leaders also have a role that they can play. An example is the Young Sikh Association, or the YSA, reaching out to influencer Ms Sheena Phua after she made an Instagram post describing Sikh turbans as "obstructions" obstructing her view of the Singapore Grand Prix race. The YSA's actions helped turn a divisive post into something positive for all Singaporeans.”
“However, given that travel restrictions due to COVID-19 are likely to affect these programmes, which typically saw Singapore lawyers making overseas trips, we may have to find new ways to support our firms' internationalisation aspirations and activities. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister for Law, how does the Ministry of Law intend to support law firms to internationalise and capture more work from the region? Support for Small- and Medium-sized Firms”
“Sir, I declare my interest as a practicing lawyer. Sir, when law firms adopt technology, they will increase their efficiency of processes and cut costs, improve accessibility and transparency for users of legal services and strengthen the resilience of legal service providers. The Ministry of Law had set overall vision and blueprint for technology and innovation for law firms with the launch of the Technology and Innovation Roadmap in October 2020. The Ministry of Law has also introduced technology adoption initiatives such as Tech Start for Law and Tech-celerate for Law. However, law firms have generally been quite slow to adopt technology, preferring to rely on traditional means of work and a manpower heavy modus operandi. I would like to ask what is the progress made so far by law firms in adopting technology, pursuant to the Ministry of Law's initiatives like Tech Start for Law and Tech-celerate for Law, and what more is the Ministry of Law planning in 2021 to further encourage adoption of technology by law firms? Separately, Sir, with Singapore's stellar reputation as a legal hub, it would be prudent for us to encourage our law firms to expand overseas. Our larger local firms like Allen & Gledhill and Rajah & Tann, already have a well-established presence overseas. Our SME law firms should also be looking at expanding especially because they are located in an international arbitration and mediation hub. In particular, our law firm SMEs should look at least in the first instance, at doing work in our region. The Ministry of Law has been proactive with programmes like Lawyers Go Global, and the China Ready Programme for lawyers.”
“Chairman, criminal legal aid is available through the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) administered by the Law Society Pro Bono Services (LSPBS), which is co-funded by MinLaw. The legal fraternity has been supportive of this scheme, with many volunteer lawyers participating actively. Notwithstanding, there is still a need to enhance access to justice and to improve the provision of criminal legal aid for deserving accused persons who do not have the means to afford their own lawyers. I note that the Minister for Law said in Parliament last year that MinLaw was conducting a review of criminal legal aid, including the possibility of setting up a Public Defender's Office. Various measures had been rolled out in the past year to assist businesses with their legal troubles amidst the pandemic. However, individuals who may have lost their jobs or had their livelihoods affected by the pandemic will also need help with legal representation if they inadvertently fall afoul of the law. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister for Law how does MinLaw intend to provide more support for enhancing access to justice for vulnerable groups, especially given the impact of COVID-19, and if there is an update on MinLaw’s review of criminal legal aid, including when MinLaw expects the review to be completed?”
“Sir, I have been involved as part of the task force to review the grading and the new requirements, is in my view, is the correct step forward. It will further hone the capabilities of an industry that performs functions and ancillary to the Home Team and a close partner of the Home Team. Sir, in regard of the new competency assessment, I would like to ask the Minister for Home Affairs, how does MHA intend to use the new Security Agencies Competency Evaluation to encourage transformation and the adoption of technology for the private security industry? Protection for Security Officers My second cut, Sir. A survey conducted last year by the Union of Security Employees and the Singapore University of Social Sciences found that one in three security officers had experienced physical or verbal abuse or both in their course of work. This is a disturbingly high frequency and it is clearly an unacceptable situation. The security industry therefore welcomed MHA's commitment, announced last year, to amend the Private Security Industry Act to include safeguards for our security officers against abuse, as announced last year. I would like to ask the Minister for Home Affairs what supplementary strategies MHA intends to implement to further protect security officers from verbal and physical abuse, other than through the impending amendments to the Private Security Industry Act? Drug Abuse and Youths”
“Thank you, Sir. I declare my interest as President of the Security Association Singapore, and director of a security company. My first cut. The Security Industry Digital Plan launched in 2018 outlined a digital roadmap that identified three stages of technology that security agencies can adopt. There has been enthusiastic adoption of stage one technologies, that is technologies that assist security officers in carrying out their roles better. Stage two and three technologies are focused more on reducing the reliance of the industry on manpower, and these have generally seen slower adoption. As we promote outcome-based contracting in the facilities management and security sectors, security agencies must adopt technology by either building their own in-house capabilities or, for smaller companies that find it difficult to build their own capabilities, to work with partners and to hunt in packs for contracts, comprising security consultants, manpower providers and technology companies. I am heartened that MHA and the Police Licensing Regulatory Department (PLRD) that regulates the security industry have taken a serious and consultative approach in converting the existing grading exercise for security agencies into a new competency assessment. I thank MHA and PLRD for their effort and their close collaboration with industry on this. The previous grading exercise played an important role in kickstarting security agencies towards having better operational capabilities, proper manpower management processes and adopting technology. The industry is far more responsible and mature now as compared to when the grading exercise first started.”