S. Vasoo
Singapore
“I would like to ask DPM whether the public as well as the Government-linked companies would be looking at some ways in which jobs could be created to absorb some of the older workers. In the longer term, I think job creation will become an issue, especially when many of the industries in the manufacturing sector are going to hollow out.”
“Our recruitment has been excellent over this past period and our attrition has been relatively low. But I am realistic enough to know that it is not just because of the Ministry of Education, the economy has helped a lot. I believe that I have answered most of the questions posed by Members.”
“Can I ask the Minister of State, when he claims that the LRT is of world-class standards, but the Member for Sembawang is complaining that there are so many frequent breakdowns, what world-class standard are we talking about?”
“May I ask the Minister whether the viewpoints of the commuters and the private bus operators will be solicited in his review? Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, we are in touch with the private bus operators and we would definitely take the views of the public into consideration in the context of the overall framework of the public transport system.”
“It would be the last resort, as the Minister has put it, to institutionalise persons because, by institutionalising them, one breaks them up from the family, and family dynamics are disrupted. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that we have other means of rehabilitating young persons and juveniles within a community setting.”
“All the time, we emphasise on marriage as a partnership. We also accept, as one of our core values, the family as a basic unit. It is, therefore, desirable that the wording, at the beginning of this Bill, should reinforce this value. Under clause 13, the Minister will have powers to exclude certain classes of persons.”
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“I would like to ask DPM whether the public as well as the Government-linked companies would be looking at some ways in which jobs could be created to absorb some of the older workers. In the longer term, I think job creation will become an issue, especially when many of the industries in the manufacturing sector are going to hollow out. I would like to find out whether the Government has any long-term plans to look at how we could create more jobs for people who are coming on stream. Sir, those are some of the issues that I would like to bring up. The other issue that I would like to raise is the waiver of income tax on retrenchment benefits. Workers who are retrenched or given a golden handshake have to pay tax on their benefits. It will be indeed helpful if tax on these benefits could be waived. I would like to ask DPM if the waiver of income tax on benefits given to workers upon golden handshake or retrenchment could be considered, and this will be indeed helpful for the workers.”
“With the hollowing of the manufacturing sector, the older workers and perhaps even younger workers - professionals, semi-professionals and technical persons - will all be affected. It will be for the first time that we will see more long-term unemployed workers in Singapore. I think this is likely to happen and I would like to find out from DPM what are the long-term contingency measures that we will take should there be long-term unemployment faced by workers. I think this is a very important issue that we need to look at. Sir, I feel that the Economic Downturn Relief Scheme, which has been introduced, would provide temporary relief to workers who are currently unemployed. I feel that the scheme should be a bit more generous than the $200 monthly assistance provided. It could be reviewed and I hope that DPM could look at whether the public assistance scheme, which is based on the number of persons in the household, could be applied. It could be calculated on the basis of up to four persons per household. In fact, the public assistance scheme is a bit more generous than the $200 which is at the moment set aside to help the unemployed. Sir, I think we need to look at the longer term measures to deal with prolonged unemployment affecting workers. This needs to be addressed and I would like to ask DPM whether Government has thought of long-term measures to tackle this problem. Sir, the other issue we need to look at is the issue of job creation. With the economic recession, jobs are very unlikely to be created in the next one year or so. But there is a need to look at how we can absorb some of the older workers into the job sector.”
“If Singaporeans are going to be divisive and to hear the Opposition say that this is a vote buying ploy that we are doing, then I think they are seriously wrong. This is a very serious problem that we are all facing in Singapore. So I would urge Singaporeans to stand united in tackling this problem in a most cohesive way, because if we do not do this, then we will fall apart and Singapore will crack up. And who will lose at the end of the day? Singaporeans themselves will be the losers. So I would urge Singaporeans to stand behind the Government and tackle this problem concertedly. And with the will that we have, I am sure we will be able to brave the storm. So I hope the Government would encourage voluntary organisations and other community groups to join the CCCs to tackle the problem at the grassroots level. Because this is a problem of the community and everybody has a role to play, and if they can join hands and funding support can be given to these organisations to also tackle the problems of the unemployed, then I think we will take a concerted approach to deal with the issues at the local level. Sir, I hope that we could look at it from the point of social cohesion, and in the Singapore context, this is very crucial for the survival of Singapore. And in hard times like this, we must stand united and look forward to tackling various complex problems and challenges that we are facing at this juncture. Sir, the other issue that I would like to bring up is that the number of unemployed people will increase. And for them, unemployment may be prolonged, because it will take some time for the economy to pick up.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to join in the debate. Sir, the economic measures taken to deal with the downturn are indeed a booster to our economy. There are also measures that are taken to deal with the across-the-board problems and challenges that we will be facing. I would have thought that the DPM would try and see whether we can put a bit more money into the pockets of individuals, so that they will be able to boost the economy. I would have thought that he would have considered, say, rebate on maid levy, rebate on child care and other indirect taxes, which would have given an immediate boost to the economy. I hope that he could tell us why he has not considered giving rebate on other indirect taxes. Sir, what is really important in the prolonged recession that we are going to face is the question of social strains, and I think this is a very important issue that we must bear in mind because, in economic recessions, a lot of people are going to be affected. It will cut across ethnic, religious and class lines. Therefore, I think it is very important that we have to watch out for these strains. Especially in Singapore's multi-racial society, we will have to be sensitive and to respond effectively to deal with such issues that could be played up by the Opposition parties. I thought Mr Chiam would be around, but he is not around. As an Opposition leader, together with other Opposition party leaders, I hope they will join the Government to look at it from a united way in tackling this problem. It is not a problem of the PAP itself, the Government in power today. It is the problem of Singaporeans, and I think this is very important because we are all in the same boat, and we cannot afford to rock the boat.”
“Our recruitment has been excellent over this past period and our attrition has been relatively low. But I am realistic enough to know that it is not just because of the Ministry of Education, the economy has helped a lot. I believe that I have answered most of the questions posed by Members. And I would just like to thank Members for giving me this extra weapon in the arsenal to build a good teaching force. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [RAdm Teo Chee Hean]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn to Friday, 12th October 2001." - [Mr Wong Kan Seng]. Adjourned accordingly at Twenty-eight minutes past Six o'clock pm to Friday, 12th October, 2001.”
“But what we will make sure of in the CONNECT Plan in the design of the pay-outs is that those who have been longer in service will see their pay-outs earlier than those who have been shorter in the service. We will stagger it that way so that the first people to get pay-outs from the CONNECT fund will be the older teachers. And then we will schedule the younger teachers to receive their pay-outs later. They will all receive their pay-in into their own little accounts at the same time. But the older teachers will be the first ones to be able to draw on their CONNECT fund, and I think that is quite fair. Staff appraisal system is also a very important part of the system. We have to be able to appraise our staff well in order to put in place bonuses, and so on. Staff appraisal is probably more important for bonuses and promotions than for the CONNECT Plan because the CONNECT Plan applies to everybody. But we are putting in place quite a new staff appraisal system and we are going to introduce some revisions to that also at the end of this year. And this is important so that the teachers will be incentivised to perform well and will not have, as Mr Noris Ong said, a "pension mentality". So bonuses, appraisal systems, promotions, are the kinds of things which we will make sure that teachers will remain motivated if they do well. On special education teachers, I cannot apply the CONNECT Plan to special education teachers because special education teachers are not employed by the Ministry of Education and we will not be able to pay them. I would have no standing to pay them. There have been some suggestions about making use of the recession to employ more people. Yes, certainly, we are doing that.”
“On independent schools, independent school teachers are not covered under the CONNECT Plan because the Ministry of Education does not employ them. The independent schools employ them directly. What we would do is that, in our subvention to the independent schools, we would increase the subvention to include what we would have given under the CONNECT Plan. So it is up to the independent schools to devise their own structures in order to reward the teachers in the way that they feel is necessary. Why do we have all these exclusions in the Bill for the pay-out from the CONNECT fund? The reason that we have to do so is basically because we want to make sure that these CONNECT pay-outs do not become an entitlement, and that we do have provisions in the Act to allow us to withhold payments for good reasons. So we include all the reasons that we think may arise which would result in us saying, "Well, perhaps it is not such a good idea to pay out these monies from the CONNECT fund to this particular teacher because it would reflect badly on the service if we were to do so." So all these exclusions are there for that purpose. Are we taking care of the older teachers? The principle under which we will do the pay-outs is this. First of all, this is new money. So I do not have funds basically to go back and reward teachers for the last 20, 30, or 40 years of service. But in any case, those teachers would have received their fair remuneration for those periods of time. Teachers who are longer in the service would also be generally on higher salary scales because they have had more increments.”
“In fact, we want to see much more initiative and creativity being exercised by the school leadership in the middle management as well as giving teachers more room in order to make use of new strategies in the classrooms. These are all the things which we want to encourage, and which we want to see, and which we believe would also give the teachers a lot more satisfaction in the kind of work that they do. In terms of workload, this is also an area which we are very concerned about, and we watch that carefully. One of the ways in which we can reduce the workload of teachers is really to have more teachers so that there are more shoulders in which to spread the load. Edu-Pac, I believe, will help to ensure that we have more teachers in the schools. In fact, I am happy to report to this House that, over the last four to five years, we have actually been able to fill most of the vacancies in the schools. There are of course always some frictional issues because teachers may leave at a particular point in time and there will be some vacancies. But we have managed to fill most of the vacancies in the schools. Not only that, we have managed to add to the establishments of the schools so that, today, compared to five years ago, I would say that, on average, each school has between five and seven more teachers than they used to have. And each school has three more support staff than they used to have, compared to five years ago. So the situation of workload and support staff is improving. But there are no magical solutions. I cannot click my fingers and suddenly produce tens of thousands of people who will meet the quality standard that I am sure this House will demand.”
“There is a large number of teachers who have been contributing to the education of special children and they have spent many dedicated years of service. I hope that this CONNECT Plan will be extended to them. What I would like to ask the Minister is whether he is looking at the needs of these teachers who deserve attention. Finally, I would also like to find out from the Minister whether teachers from independent schools would benefit from this CONNECT Plan too. With that note, I would like to support the Bill. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank all the Members who spoke for their support of the Bill. This is an important Bill. But as the Members have pointed out, this is only part of the whole range of weapons, if you like, in the arsenal to try to deal with the issue of making sure that we have enough teachers and that we have good teachers. As I explained earlier, we have done a fundamental review of the teaching career under Edu-Pac. The recognition system is part of Edu-Pac and this CONNECT Plan is also only one part of the recognition scheme. In Edu-Pac, there has also been a revision in the whole career structure of teachers to have different tracks - the teaching track, the professional track and the leadership track. This would go some way to address some of the concerns that have been raised by Dr Wang and some of the other Members who have spoken. Some specific questions have been raised: whether monetary incentives are enough and whether we have to do many other things to retain our teachers. Certainly, we have to do many other things to retain our teachers. And under Edu-Pac and in the revision of the way that we manage our schools, we intend to do that. We are giving a lot more autonomy to our schools.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to join in the debate. Sir, I rise to support the CONNECT Plan because it is an innovative and radical scheme. Unless we try and test this out, we would not be able to know the results. I support this because it is a radical departure from all other efforts that have been undertaken. However, I feel that incentives alone are not sufficient because there is a need to look at other efforts to try and improve the whole education system. What I would like to see is a need to review the organisational structure, both at the middle, the administrative level and at the school level. I would like to ask the Minister whether there will be more efforts to allow teachers to make decisions, to be able to take more charge at the school level and whether we are also looking at providing more autonomy to various schools to manage and direct themselves because these are issues which will address the organisational culture and the structure at the implementation level. So I hope that these issues which have a direct bearing on the sustenance of teachers, to improve their morale, to allow more creativity and innovation to take place, to me, are equally important. What I want to find out from the Minister is, since he has introduced a number of changes to the teaching service, whether the attrition of teachers has been arrested over the last five years. Is he able to retain more teachers and, if so, is he satisfied that the earlier incentives and changes have in fact addressed some of the attrition problems? The other issue that I would also like to point out is that we should not neglect teachers who are providing support to the special education sector.”
“Can I ask the Minister of State, when he claims that the LRT is of world-class standards, but the Member for Sembawang is complaining that there are so many frequent breakdowns, what world-class standard are we talking about? Secondly, can I find out from the Minister of State, besides the penalty that he is imposing, whether it would be better if we allow some competition by other operators to the system, like allowing supplementary bus services, Scheme B buses, to run to meet with such contingency?”
“But after a while, they decided that car radios were not a product they were good at, because we were too expensive here in Singapore and there were tariff barriers to surmount. But they have been thriving and still growing. Making what? They now make small electronic sensors for motorcar air bags. You may use this sensor only once in 10 years and when you need it, it had better work. Otherwise, you may die. So when it comes to very high value added products, we are trusted, we are reliable, we are able to create a system discipline. They make the little electronic components that are now in every spark plug. I did not realise this. When I was in engineering school years ago, for me, a spark plug was just a physical device and if the gap was too big, you just hammered it to the right gap, and it was okay. Now you open the car, you cannot tinker with your carburetor, your spark plug, because they are all electronic. These components for spark plugs, for carburetors, for air bags are high value added. Delphi sells to auto companies all over the world, and their products are shipped by air. This is the only way for our manufacturing to go where we weigh value not by kilogrammes but by knowledge intensity that goes into every little piece. Capacitors which are so small that they look like grains of sand. You visit our wafer fab, each is a $2 billion investment, does not occupy a lot of land, but the knowledge, the system that is in it is fantastic, and you cannot just plonk it somewhere in the jungle and expect it to work. You need people, you need a certain discipline, you need a culture of learning, of upgrading and group effort. So this is the way we are going to solve the hollowing out problem.”
“Sir, can I ask the Minister that in the light that the manufacturing sector is employing a large number of manpower, what steps are being taken to deal with the hollowing out effects of the manufacturing sector, because this has long-term implications for our manpower deployment? Second, I want to know that if the downturn gets worse, what plans will be put in place to reduce the livelihood problems of workers affected by prolonged unemployment. Third, why can we not be more generous in our training allowance? We are only giving $600 training allowance which is not enough to meet the meals and transport costs of these workers. It requires more than $3 a day to get to the training places. I am curious to know whether the Ministry could be a bit more generous in providing incentives to train older workers. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Sir, this problem of hollowing out is a very serious one, and the challenge here is China. In Taiwan now, from Taichung southwards, for the last six months, there has been disinvestment and unemployment is climbing rapidly. The mood is grey. Hordes of Taiwanese companies have been shifting operations to the mainland. Years ago, George Perot talked about a great hissing sound because of NAFTA. I think Taiwan is hearing a great hissing sound now from mainland China. We anticipated this. We have been telling our people that the only way for us to earn high wages is to keep on upgrading, which means going up the value chain, product design, value adding services, knowledge intensity, R&D, high-tech. Two months ago, I went to Delphi. Delphi is the auto electronic spinoff from General Motors. They used to make car radios.”
“Sir, would the Minister extend the voluntary retirement scheme to all shopkeepers in the older housing estates?”
“Can I ask the Minister whether he foresees there would be more private bus operators in the scene? In short, what I am asking the Minister is whether he foresees that there would be additional bus operators coming to the scene.”
“May I ask the Minister whether the viewpoints of the commuters and the private bus operators will be solicited in his review? Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, we are in touch with the private bus operators and we would definitely take the views of the public into consideration in the context of the overall framework of the public transport system.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister whether there are any changes in Government policies in relation to the sale of Government-linked companies?”
“It would be the last resort, as the Minister has put it, to institutionalise persons because, by institutionalising them, one breaks them up from the family, and family dynamics are disrupted. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that we have other means of rehabilitating young persons and juveniles within a community setting. So what I want to ask the Minister is what new steps and initiatives are being undertaken to ensure that we have in place more community rehabilitation programmes to assist delinquent juveniles and young persons in the community.”
“It is very crucial, Sir, that at times of marital discord between parents we are able to ensure that services to protect their interests are available too. So what I would like to ask the Ministry is whether there are services that are going to be developed further to ensure that the needs of these children are being looked into. Sir, unlike physical abuse, psychological abuse is an area which is very contentious and very difficult to establish. Therefore, I think there are likely to be disputes between the Ministry and the parents in terms of what and how one establishes psychological abuse. This issue has to be looked into very carefully, and I want to ask the Ministry what steps it would take to ensure that a case of psychological abuse is appropriately established, and what rehabilitation measures will be taken to deal with psychologically abusing parents. Sir, in the rehabilitation of delinquent children and young persons, it is important to ensure that the less hardcore juvenile delinquents and young persons are separated from the hardcore in institutional care and treatment. This is necessary because we want to ensure that there will be less social contamination of those who are affected. I would like to ask the Ministry what steps it has taken to ensure that delinquents who are less hardcore are being treated differently and in different institution. Sir, in the area of mobilisation of community support and implementation of community rehabilitation programmes for juvenile delinquents and young persons, I would like to find out from the Ministry whether there are new initiatives that are being undertaken, because institutional care, as we all know, is very costly, and it is very disruptive to the juveniles and young persons.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we have had two days of long debate. I am sure you would appreciate Members to be short and precise. I hope that my other Members would also get to the point as I will be doing so. Sir, the amendments in the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill will make the Act more comprehensive. The provisions to deal with psychological abuse and to prescribe other forms of rehabilitation measures for the protection of children and young persons are indeed useful. This brings it in line with the provisions in many developed countries. It also meets the UN conventions on the rights of children. With these amendments, we have indeed moved to a very good milestone of development in terms of the protection of children and young persons in the context of Singapore. Sir, whatever the rehabilitation measures, I think it is very important to ensure that families and individuals take responsibility for their behaviour. Unless we ensure this, then all these rehabilitation measures which the Bill has provided for will come to nought. I think that objective is indeed very critical and very important in the whole rehabilitation procedures that we are going to implement. Sir, the protection of children against psychological abuse is indeed important. This is also timely in view of the increase in marital discords and divorces. Sir, the divorce rate has increased from 4.5% per thousand in 1989 to 7.1% per thousand in 1999. There is an increase, though not significant. But what is most important is that many of these children are caught between disputes of parents. Many of these children are innocent and they are in the line of crossfires of discords between parents, and they might suffer psychological abuse in these cases.”
“All the time, we emphasise on marriage as a partnership. We also accept, as one of our core values, the family as a basic unit. It is, therefore, desirable that the wording, at the beginning of this Bill, should reinforce this value. Under clause 13, the Minister will have powers to exclude certain classes of persons. We hope that in using these powers, the Minister would exercise caution to ensure that exclusions do not create further divisiveness amongst families, but we will find various means to promote social cohesion. This is very important, as children have been our resource, and we should not discriminate in the longer term. It is essentially necessary to help us to make a society which is supportive and more cohesive. I would like to ask the Minister to identify some major social implications of the Bill on families and children, and the steps to be taken to deal with them.”
“Sir, I support the Bill as it provides further opportunities for the development of our children. The provisions in the Bill are very generous and we are committing substantial public funds to support children in their development, and this is an investment in our human resources. It is expected that more than $250 million would be spent in this area and in future, we expect that more funds would be released if we are going to re-generate ourselves. Sir, as I see it, the better-off families will take advantage of the provisions. I hope steps will be taken for some funding top-ups for the less better-off families. This will help the less well-off children to benefit as much as possible. Would the Minister look into this issue in the process of implementing this Bill? It would also be useful if we monitor the profiles of families that would be participating in the Scheme so that the Ministry will be able to take corrective actions and other related interventions to enable all children to benefit from this Bill itself. The Bill is intended to strengthen the family and be pro-family. But from the start, on page 1 of the Bill, it is conceptualised to encourage married women to have more children. Is this a mistake or an oversight by the Ministry itself? It is, I believe, more politically correct if it should be to encourage married couples. I think that would be more appropriate because it takes married couples to have children in order to regenerate. This is an important issue and it is essential that we provide the right perspective right from the start. Without married couples, the Bill would not achieve its objectives. Decisions on family size are usually the decisions of couples, not of one partner to the marriage.”
“Sir, the increase in the number of dual-career families would pose problems for the care of the elderly who are frail, because this will become a tremendous burden in terms of care by such families. About 82% of our households are one-family nuclear families. It is therefore expected that many of these families will be facing tremendous stress in having to care for the elderly who are frail. Sir, there is a need to review what comprehensive support network will be available to these families. It is very important that we develop as quickly as possible some support system within the neighbourhood or the locality where there are more elderly persons living, to provide support for such families. I would like to ask the Minister what comprehensive plans are there to provide programmes at the neighbourhood level to support families which have frail elderly.”
“Sir, I share the viewpoints expressed by Mr Charles Chong. With the restructuring of the economy, low-income families with semi-skilled and unskilled backgrounds are more likely to be affected and they will also face economic setbacks. The unemployment rate has increased, more older-person households have been affected and they are the ones who are likely to face various difficulties. It can be seen that low-income families with dependent children are, particularly, the ones having low skills and unskilled backgrounds, and are most vulnerable to problems. 4.45 pm Sir, in view of this situation, it is important that the Ministry takes a more pro-active step by taking a comprehensive review of various issues that are likely to affect the low-income families. By doing so, the Ministry would be able to come up with a more comprehensive plan to deal with the problems of these vulnerable families, in the light of various economic restructuring and changes that are likely to take place. I would like to ask the Minister what new plans and programmes the Ministry will put in place to particularly help low-income families.”
“The other thing is to draw people together. We can have a new national stadium that people can be proud of, that is not something that we are ashamed to boast about because it is grey, and greying even more. When we have a status symbol, an icon that all can aim for, we can then both do the sports for all programme; and a programme for those who are inspired and have great dreams to be the Michael Jordans and be the great stars of track and field that we want them to aspire to be. Other than importing talent, we should also be developing our local talent. I do, however, support the programme to import talents and I hope that the Ministry could do it more proactively by going out into the world to look for the talents and bringing them or their parents to Singapore.”
“It goes puttering on slowly. We know that it will get somewhere, we just do not know when. Sir, it is important for us now to look at some of the ways of grooming champions so that we can inspire a whole generation of youths to bond together to say, "This is my nation. I am proud of it." Sports, of course, is just one of those many things that we can do to do this. For example, we have got some very attractive programmes to encourage champions to be involved in sports. We give a million dollars, for example, if we can have an Olympic champion. Unfortunately, we are doing it wrongly because we are giving a million dollars' reward to the person after he wins an Olympic medal. The correct approach should be to take that one million dollars and develop the potentials that we spot until they become champions. Perhaps after that, if we still want to reward them, that is another story. If we do not develop these champions over a number of years and we leave them to struggle until they accidentally become champions, this is not the correct approach. One of the most focused ways of doing something will be to set up a national school for sports. My daughter has been selected to run track and field in her school. She does not do it for a profession. It is just a co-curricular activity but she has to spend four days a week running and training, because nationals are coming up. Sometimes, we have to realise that people, like my daughter, do not need to do this as a profession. They do it in a less intensive way. But for those who are spotted, and are real talents, they should then be put into a special school where they can do both their studies and sports in a balanced way. Otherwise, they would end up like my daughter, too tired to do her studies when national training is on.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. Sir, have we run out of steam in producing sportsmen and sportswomen to increase our medal tally in the SEA and Asian games? I hope not, Sir. Based on records, we have not produced respectable numbers of champions in the last 10 years. Gone are the heydays when we hear of household names such as C Kunalan, Jayamani, Ang Peng Siong, Patricia Chan and others. We are so lean now that we also have to import sporting talents. Is the Ministry actively scouting for talents from outside? What would be the outcomes of the sports schools that we have set up which are supposed to nurture local talents? Are public funds for promotion of sports effectively used? Sir, I have another point. In order that we can bring more innovations to promote sports, what new policy directions and targets are being set by the Ministry? May I suggest, for a start, that we invite various capable sporting associations and country clubs to manage our sports complexes, obviously with grants from the Ministry? This will bring more innovations and competition in the promotion of sports. Assoc. Prof. Toh See Kiat: Sir, many countries in the world know the value of sporting champions to bond the nation together, to bring glory to the nation. In many countries, there are sports ministries which actively fund the development of sports. Until recently, Singapore did not have such. And now that we have a Sports Minister, we can re-look at some of the policies that we have. The importance of sports in drawing people together cannot be too little emphasised. The policy that Singapore had in the past has been Sports for All, let everybody enjoy the sports, and it is a rather lukewarm programme. It is a programme like a bus going up Fraser's Hill.”
“Sir, when you speak to young couples who have applied for new HDB flats, you will hear complaints that they continue to face difficulties in meeting the downpayment, even with the present arrangements of two instalment payments of 10% each. To make it easier for them, could the Minister reduce the downpayment to 10% and in two instalments? This will encourage them to get access to housing much earlier and that would also be enhancing our family policy of more than two children, if they can. Turning to young couples who want to live near to their parents in mature estates, we have encouraged them to do so. Yet, we are not making it easier for them. It should not be seen as a lip service to them. It is important to find ways to enhance the capacity to live near their parents. The cash upfront and downpayment are major hindrances. Could the Minister consider reducing the downpayment to 10% and provide an additional housing loan to enable young couples to meet some part of the cash upfront payment? That seems to be the problems of young couples who want to live near parents in mature estates.”
“On a point of clarification, Sir. Can I ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether the Ministry would allow it, if no stitching, cutting, etc, are involved?”
“And referrals of these to specialist care and others land them with having to be in B1 class ward or A class ward. This costs quite a lot for many of them, particularly, those with chronic ill health conditions. The second issue is the adequacy of step-down healthcare provisions. I would like to find out what active plans are going to be implemented to help the chronically ill elderly as quickly as possible. The third area is the more flexible usage of Medisave funds, particularly for those with chronic illness because it is going to be a long-term healthcare cost for them. There is a need to review this as that would in a way reduce the burden for healthcare cost. Finally, Sir, there is a need to revise the current income criterion of $2,000 and below for subsidy because many families are within this sandwiched group. Therefore, it becomes quite difficult for these families to meet the healthcare cost if any of its members are chronically ill.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. Sir, like the demographic changes to Singapore, some of us here are elderly, including myself. Others are going to be elderly and some, in due course, will become one. So there is no escape from this. I am glad to hear that the Minister in fact is going to reposition the hospitals to be not-for-profit organisations. This is indeed enlightening. And I hope that the hospitals will be more patient-centred and be able to render more help and more support for the growing elderly population. Sir, healthcare cost for the elderly is and will be an increasing burden to families. All families with elderly members are likely to be affected, most of all, those with elderly who are chronically ill. Sir, prolonged hospitalisation of these elderly is costly. And as you know, they are likely to remain in hospital for a long time and there will be difficulties to discharge them. It is obviously not a cost effective solution. Sir, admission to private nursing home is also not affordable, particularly to the lower middle income families because they do not have the funding to be able to do so. Many do not qualify to get into the nursing homes run by voluntary welfare organisations. Care in community hospitals is equally costly. Sir, there are indeed a few issues for healthcare of the elderly that we need to urgently review. First, the referral system by general medical practitioners. For medical care of the frail and the elderly, we need to relook at the issue because many frail elderly are unable to get to the polyclinic. As they are quite familiar with their general practitioner, therefore, their first line of defence is to go to see their private medical practitioners.”
“Sir, I would like to seek a clarification from the Minister of State as to why we are so keen in protecting the interest of these two bus companies which have made respectable profits. He has mentioned that other private operators have come in to tender for routes. Can we not open the doors wider?”
“My answer to this whole question will be: three or more, if we decide in the interest of the commuters. I hope they do not stick to the old population policy style that two is enough.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. Sir, why should the present duopoly system on bus operations be maintained? That is a pertinent question. Could an additional player make bus services more efficient? I feel that there is room for another bus operator in Singapore. Sir, there are a few good reasons why a third bus operator should be encouraged. First, the commuter's travel time could be reduced with better realignment of routes. The more frequent changeover between feeder bus system and from feeder bus system to MRT could be avoided and better reorganised. This would, in a way, help commuters to get to their destination on time. The second reason is that about 40% of the commuters travel by bus or by bus and MRT. It is expected that the MRT-bus type of commuters are going to increase dramatically in future as more new towns will be built and there will be more commuters travelling in bus as well as MRT. Third, with an additional bus operator, the present two bus companies would be pushed to become more efficient and cost-effective. That, I think, prevents these two companies to monopolise the routes that have been carved out between the two companies. We can change the present status by allowing Comfort Holdings or others to participate as the third operator. The question is whether the Ministry would want to change its mindset and think of a more dynamic policy. The issue is that if you are looking for excellence in a world-class transport system, why not look at these issues more closely? The question is whether the commuters would eventually benefit from this exercise and I think they will. I can anticipate that the Ministry's answer will be: two is enough.”
“The last issue that I would like to raise is that aside from the status of pensioners, there have been recent views to compare the position of MPs with board of directors of private companies. Such a comparison and viewpoint, to me, is not only erroneous but misplaced. It is just like comparing apples with oranges. Would my parliamentary colleagues want to equate their public office with company directors? Surely not. I am sure Members do not want to demean their MP's office by comparing themselves to a board of directors. I am sure Members agree with me that they do not want their MP's office to be associated with board of directors, would they? On their behalf, I will say surely not. MPs are elected lawmakers to public office by popular mandate and in the case of board of directors, they are appointed by a group of shareholders to private office. MPs are elected to public office and a board of directors is elected to private office. There is a mile of difference on this issue. Sir, I am sure you will agree with me that we should not allow anyone to demean the status of MPs and the public office should be held in high esteem. And I am sure all my parliamentary colleagues would agree with me on this viewpoint. On that note, I support the motion, Sir.”
“Sir, I would also like to talk about low-income pensioners, because I have been discussing this issue year in and year out, and I hope that this year the Minister for Finance will be able to hear me out this time again. The increase of the Singapore allowance by $10 is really so meagre, and I would say that it is paltry. Surely the Government can be bigger-hearted by demonstrating that it still cares for the pensioners. I know Government cares for the pensioners. It can care a bit more, by demonstrating that it can make the adjustment by more than $10. An increase is deserving, Sir. Perhaps a $30 increase would be a more positive gesture. More particularly, those low-income pensioners, who get less than the public assistance rate of $200 per month, should deserve attention, as they have given sterling services to our society. They cannot be treated worse off than our public assistance recipients. The Minister should redress this anomaly. Sir, the other matter that I would like to bring up is that I was listening to Mr Chng Hee Kok who talked about the Ministry of Manpower's website, and the need for people to check on the status or the validity of the work permit of workers. I was quite interested in this issue and I wanted to know whether the Ministry is keeping an update on this. I went to the website and I was able to see that we can check not only on the validity of the work permits but all other information which are required can be obtained. I think good progress has been made, because now people who are concerned about illegal workers will be able to do this check through the Ministry's website itself.”
“With better educational support and opportunities, it is envisaged that, in future, the income gap can be mediated or reduced. There is always an income gap but the question is how wide that gap is going to be, and various efforts need to be made to intervene, re-distribute or to make transfers so that the less better off would have an equal opportunity to be in the race and to be able to make it. However, in the meanwhile, we should be a bit more generous by way of transfers and rebates to help the 36% of HDB families living in 1-, 2- and 3-room flats. These families, whose incomes have not increased significantly because of economic restructuring and economic slowdown in the past, have an increased burden to cope with their livelihood. The Utilities Save of $350 could be increased to $480 as the power bill has gone up by about 70-90% since its revision. The SC&CC charges and rental rebates could be revised and increased between $10-$25 for 3- to 1-room HDB households. For the elderly who are more concerned for healthcare, a higher top-up of their Medisave account with a wider range of usage other than hospitalisation cost, would be helpful. I think there is a need to look at Medisave usage and whether this usage could be applied more flexibly. This would be most helpful to the elderly who are retired and who have less savings in their CPF. As for CPF top-ups, we should find ways to reach out to the 210,000 persons who did not top up for one reason or another, and help them to benefit from the share of our nation's progress. Community groups can help to provide them with assistance for the top-up and perhaps CPF can work with community organisations to see how we could reach out to these people who have not benefitted from such a scheme.”
“The consequences would be that these services can become less affordable and accessible to the ordinary working class families. It is now more urgent for the Ministry of Finance to examine the cost-effectiveness of the public services provided and to monitor the overcharging for public services delivered by restructured Government organisations. I would like to find out if there is a monitoring and control mechanism put in place by the Ministry of Finance or other related Ministries. Such a monitoring and control system can, when necessary, apply brakes on runaway increases imposed by restructured Government agencies and I feel that it is time that we looked at this issue more seriously and that there should be a control board to examine the cost-effectiveness of these services. Are they really cost-effective or are they spending in areas which do not produce any direct benefit to the consumers, or are the consumers themselves getting their dollars worth in terms of the services which are provided by these corporatised Government agencies? The other issue of concern is inflation. With the recent price increases in goods and services, is inflation kept under control? Would there be an inflationary trend in the near future? All these price inflations can affect the purchasing power of our working class. I want to find out from the Minister if he would be able to let us know whether inflation would be expected this year and by how much. The next point is on higher transfer of Utilities Save and rebates for low-income families. There is a concern about widening income gap. This has been addressed through education and skills training of young Singaporeans and older workers.”
“Sir, I would like to commend the Minister for Finance, Dr Richard Hu, for the pro-active Budget for year 2001. I have heard him since I was a parliamentarian in this House in 1984 and since then, he has presented very sound financial policies which have helped Singapore to weather some of the turbulent economic storms. Sir, I must say this year's Budget is both pro-people and pro-business. Many Singaporeans and small businesses have benefited in big and small ways from the tax changes and other provisions. I hope the Minister would have been more generous towards the low-income families and the elderly who are and still will be most affected by the economic restructuring and transition. As can be noted, the unemployment rate last year has increased from 1.5% to 3.5% and retrenchments, although lower by about 1,700 in the second quarter of the year 2000, are still looming. As more labour-intensive industries are expected to relocate, there would be more job losses and because of relocation, I expect the semi-skilled and unskilled workers would likely be affected most. It is not too late for the Minister to consider further reliefs and rebates for them. I would urge him to look into a number of areas seriously. First, in terms of the monitoring and control mechanism for increase of charges of public services. There have been increases in charges of public services, such as healthcare, education, transport and utilities. Some of these increases are necessary. But because most of the public services have been restructured or corporatised, there is a potential danger that profit motives can become an overriding factor and this, I think, we have to be on the watch out. We have to monitor and look at the impact, particularly on the average working class families.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. I shall be precise in terms of what I have to say. Sir, listening to what my parliamentary colleagues have to say over two days, I must say that many of them have made suggestions to improve the budget, and some of them have, in fact, asked for additional provisions for the budget. All this seems very interesting. I would also join them to suggest some improvements to the budget. Sir, all this is possible because we are making a surplus and we are able to improve the provisions. But then, I was thinking aloud that if we are not able to have additional surpluses, what should we all be talking about? I think that is equally important because we may not be able to ask for all these provisions which we have articulated. I see that this is the first time that I am hearing the NCMP was not asking for welfarism because all the time, he has been asking for welfarism, but now he has changed his tune. He is not here. I think we have to understand basic economics in the sense that unless we are able to generate wealth, there is nothing to distribute, there is nothing to give away. And in many governments, they are not able to generate wealth and one would be lucky if they do not ask you to come up with more money and empty your pockets. And in many places, this has happened and we should thank the Minister for Finance for having maintained a very positive budget, a very sound economic policy over the last number of years that I know of. He has, in fact, presented very sound budget policies. It is a fundamental fact that we cannot detract from. Unless we are able to generate a surplus, then all the suggestions and what we have will come to nought.”
“Sir, I want to ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether there will be an increase of charges as a result of this frill that has been introduced. Because if you introduce more frills in future, it is not only a distraction from the basic core services, but I would like to ask him whether there will be an increased cost. Assoc. Prof. Yaacob Ibrahim: No.”
“Sir, in the light of the fact that there will be changes in power supply and power companies in the context of Singapore, can I ask the Minister whether there are any measures to protect the interests of the consumers, particularly from profiteering? Because I see that there will be few power companies which will have a monopoly in future. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Sir, Dr Vasoo raised a very important point of ensuring competition at the supply end. In fact, this is a major exercise for the regulators to make sure that there will be no cartel behaviour, that there will be no unethical gaming, for instance, in order to restrict supply at critical moments to jack up prices. This will be the key challenge to regulators. We have had many discussions with consultants and we are confident that the new regulatory structure will not allow such behaviour.”
“May I ask the Minister whether he would be prepared to review the staggered instalment payment further because the time span now is one year and they may not accumulate enough money by then. Secondly, I am also thinking of young couples who want to live in older housing estates. Is the Minister prepared to look at the whole issue of cash outlay by younger couples who want to stay near to their parents in older housing estates?”
“Sir, the Minister of State has given a very interesting viewpoint on this missing train. I was trying to find out whether he has a system to deal with a missing operator, because human errors accounted for all these problems.”
“Sir, can I ask the Minister when does he expect us to be able to be self-sufficient in water? And what other contingency measures do we have to meet the water problems? BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Sir, our objective is not to become self sufficient in water. We have good water from Malaysia, which we expect will continue for a long, long time to come. Of course, we supplement those sources with local supply by various technological means. FALUNGONG MEMBERS 9. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will inform the House as to the actions taken, and the reasons for the actions, against Falungong members in the recent public demonstration on New Year's Eve. 10. Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs what view the Government takes, and the Government's policy, on the followers of the Falungong living in Singapore and whether the Government considers them a threat to the peace and security of Singapore.”
“Sir, would the Minister be reviewing the PUB charges and other related charges in the light of oil prices coming down? BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Mr Speaker, Sir, I will answer the question about PUB charges later on because there are other questions pertaining to this subject.”
“All I need to know is that we want to reduce bureaucracy. We do not want to have too many funds where the poor, the disabled and others would not know where to go. But all we want is the ability to administer a more efficient service and therefore as I see, the whole proposal is to try and bring these two funds together so that the poor, the disabled and others who need the fund can get it as quickly as possible. It is done in a very concerted manner, and that is the basic objective that we have to look at. The Member is trying to keep something which is already out of date. The crux of the issue is: would the poor get help as quickly as possible? Are there adequate funds that would be available to help them? This is the basic issue that we have to address. The repeal of the Act, Sir, is one way to address too many set-ups where it can be very confusing for the poor to get the help required. Sir, I support the Bill to repeal the Silver Jubilee Fund Act. I see that there is little fund left for it to continue. But with the amalgamation of this fund of $44 million, many poor and disabled and those who need help could be given the necessary support. What I would like to know is the fate of these 190 individuals who are now getting support from the Silver Jubilee Fund. How is help going to be extended to this group of people? Will the proposed fund be open to families and individuals who do not qualify for public assistance and would help be accorded to this group of people? With that note, I support the proposal to repeal the Act.”
“I do not need to know the law fully. But all I know is just ---”
“For example, in land-scarce Singapore, especially within the Central Business District, a strong pro-family signal can be sent via a combination of, firstly, an exclusion of childcare resources from the computation of plot ratios, which Dr Lee and Dr Vasoo have mentioned, or a similar preferential treatment be given. And secondly, a generous tax deduction for childcare-related operating cost as an incentive for property owners and employers. Another strong signal could be to allow young couples with new-borns to be granted an earlier allocation of a flat. Besides helping out with the down-payment, the Government can also enhance the ability to afford a new flat through balloon payment schemes, where necessary. Sir, many suggestions have been made by hon. Members in this House, not least by Dr Lily Neo, on how to promote family. The sceptics would argue that the measures are not quite enough. But with more concerted efforts by the Government and the community at large, I believe a strong unified message can and will emerge. I would therefore like to urge the Government to continue to set the pace and example by implementing pro-family measures in the public sector as far as is possible. On that note, Sir, I would like to register my full support for the motion standing in the name of Dr Lily Neo.”
“On the way to the airport, she rings her mother on her mobile phone to make sure that she has kept her appointment with the physiotherapist. She next rings her husband to remind him of his dental appointment. By the time she sinks into her seat on the plane, she is already thinking about the various marketing strategies for the Hong Kong-based clients. She is keenly aware that competition is intensifying. But as she dozes off momentarily, she could not be more satisfied at work for the adrenaline keeps her going. Sir, this one act play describes the multiple roles that many Singaporean women and, to a similar extent, Singaporean men assume, namely, as a parent, a spouse, a child and an employee or economic contributor, all at the same time. There is a constant juggling of roles and competing demands for our finite time and resources. As such, social norms are strong guiding principles that will dictate the performance of each of these roles. Sir, there is no turning back to the stereotypes of the past where the woman has to remain at home, especially after having children and regardless of her ability and preferences. In fact, I believe Singapore would be the poorer for it if these stereotypes were to persist as our competitive strength will lie in our human resources, men and women alike. This is not to say that we should actively discourage women or mothers who wish to remain at home from doing so. However, we should actively help them re-enter the workforce when they would like to. From this perspective, policies and measures will hopefully have their desired impact although they do have the limitations. As such, to have a sustaining effect, the Government should send strong signals to help shape social norms.”