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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“So, the practice of merit-based rewards and the public good approach in our public policy must continue to be pursued by us without compromise. This is fundamental for us and merit is the basis by which we work. We are subjected to this tremendous pull and push from various quarters in the community and pandering to group and racial sentiments would lead to a divided society. Finally, Sir, the question of race, language and religion. Failure could be fudged in the context of race, language and religion. We must be mindful and always be on the guard from time to time on the question of race, language, and religion as this will always be used as an excuse for one's or a group's failure. This is also very relevant to Singapore itself because we are a multi-racial society, and hence we will have to appreciate the underpinnings of these problems. As I see it, one's ethnic background, be it Chinese, Indian or Malay, could be advanced as the cause of one's low station in life and poor performance, and that is a danger that I see. This is a very tempting reason, especially in Singapore's multi-racial society where Indians and Malays are the minorities. Once primordial sentiments are excited, it could lead to racial prejudice and dissension. That will spell trouble for all of us. Therefore, it is fundamental that we make sure that every Singaporean, irrespective of his background, be given equal access and opportunity to social provisions which will help him to develop his potentials to his fullest. I think this is very important for Singapore, particularly in a multi-racial society.”
“We should seriously look at this to see what we can do to ensure that there is an opportunity for upward mobility for people at the lower rung of the society. They will remain economically trapped. In short, the glass ceiling effect would be prevalent and this will make our society less permeable to those at the bottom of the ladder. This can become the social virus which can affect the social health of our society. If we are not careful, the gaps between the better-off and less better-off can widen and such a state will not be helpful to community building. I feel that in such a circumstance, the Government must intercede and mediate to deploy resources for them so that they would have a chance to make progress in their life. This is tremendously important, particularly where we have a large working-class base. On the question of the effects of individualism versus collectivism, I would like to make the following observations. We have witnessed the consequences of the promotion of extreme individualism in some developed countries. In these places, individual needs override group needs. The collective interest of the group is set aside. The `me first and others second' type of mentality has created serious problems for their societies. Many self-interest groups are formed with each having their own agenda and jockeying for power and resources. The law of the jungle prevails and the fittest survive. Decision-making becomes too problematic and in the end, societies suffer because of protracted conflicts. People are afraid to do the right things that work. I am sure we do not want Singapore to move in this direction, for if we do, our society will be easily fractured, as we are more vulnerable to the pulls of multi-racial sentiments.”
“Fifth, the emergence of a new under-class who may feel that they have problems of access to education, health and housing and our related provisions. Sixth, under-achievement can be wrongly tied up with language, religion and race. I would like to take three major critical issues for us to ponder and to see how we can find new strategies to meet these challenges. First, the danger of a growing social gap. In the last decade, we have witnessed the restructuring of social service provisions. Although the whole objective is to make services more efficient and to reduce waste, such a policy direction will be effective only if the provisions remain affordable and accessible. Sir, the danger is that these basic provisions will become more expensive and hence may be out of reach to the working-class. It is therefore important that such a run-away increase can be moderated and public service monopolies should be checked to ensure that their charges are reasonable. In this respect, Sir, the move towards knowledge-based economy must be planned in such a way that the adults and children of working-class families can also benefit from it. Educational facilities and training should be both accessible. Various steps must be taken by Government and other bodies to ensure that they have an opportunity, like others who are better off, to take advantage of the knowledge-based training right from a young age. To leave the training and education of the young working-class to the dictates of the market will in the long run cause social divide and thus marginalise the less well-off sector of our society. Translated in real economic terms, the less better off sector will have less opportunity to move up the economic ladder.”
“Sir, we have just heard a sobering and challenging speech from the Prime Minister. I agree fully with PM that for Singapore, it is fundamental that we have racial harmony, for without racial harmony, we could not have many of the things that we aspire in Singapore 21. Racial harmony is crucial and all Singaporeans will have to work towards this in the years ahead. As we enter the next millennium, we will be facing more complex issues which would require us to work together as a cohesive people to meet tougher competition from various societies which also want to make progress just like us. And with limited resources available, competition will get tougher and we will have to find a place within this arena. Unless we concertedly work as one people, it will be difficult to improve our quality of life. What are some of the crucial issues we will be confronting? I will name a few of them. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 3.35 pm First, we will have to meet increasing aspirations of the younger generation of Singaporeans whose life expectations have changed, and it is understandable that they aspire higher and through these aspirations, we hope to meet their needs. Second, the decline in population growth which can slow down our productivity, and with the greying of our population, we are bound to face a slowing down of Singapore and we need to find ways to address this. Third, the value conflicts between individual needs and collective interests leading to individualism is one of the issues which we need to take note of and to find ways to tackle. Fourth, the displacement of the less skilled and able from the job market because of relocation of the labour intensive industries.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister why the stallholders must install chillers now and not before, and could chillers solve the problem of Japanese Encephalitis (JE)?”
“Sir, underlying all these appeals is that it is not no money but we do not have new money. My GPC members will press on to request for more funds for the Ministry to carry out its strategic plans to deal with the new problems. With that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $346,644,620 for Head J ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $138,648,200 for Head J ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head L -”
“Sir, the problem of juvenile delinquency has been recently highlighted, and there are concerns in the community about the increasing number of young juvenile delinquents. The problem has to be tackled from various fronts: the family's participation, the Police will have to play a role; the schools, the community and the rehabilitation agencies. If all these frontiers could work together, then there will be a possibility to reduce the problem. In view of that, many young delinquents are placed in institutions for rehabilitation, how are they prevented from being polluted by hardened delinquents? I note that some of them who are very young are sent for rehabilitation. There is a need to implement rehabilitation measures which take into consideration how to deal with these younger persons who are sent for rehabilitation. The other area of concern is recidivism. It is common after these juvenile delinquents have been discharged from institutions. The success of rehabilitation depends on follow-up measures carried out. What I would like to find out from the Minister is: what is the recidivism rate like and what measures are taken to deal with the problem?”
“Perhaps may I suggest that a social support fund be made available to provide temporary assistance to them for a period of time so that they would be able to get through their difficulties until they find alternative employment through further training. This would be one solution to a problem like this. Sir, on a longer term measure, this issue is likely to recur when we run into another economic problem in future. It is therefore necessary for MCD, the Ministry of Manpower and Singapore Employers' Federation to work out a scheme to follow through retrenched workers, particularly older retrenched workers, who are unlikely to find employment, or would have difficulty in finding employment. This group of people would perhaps require closer attention of the various Ministries concerned, including NTUC, which together with its members could work on a concerted effort to tackle the problems of these older workers. I would like to find out from the Minister what are the plans it has to deal with these special problems.”
“Sir, I would like to speak on the need for a review of public assistance rates. I have two issues of concern to raise. First, public assistance rates for the poor have not been revised for the past few years. The cost of living has been very tight for the unsupported poor. Their source of assistance has thinned out, because of the current economic problems. There are less people providing the necessary support. In the light of this, there is a need to see what the Ministry of Community Development would be able to do in revising the public assistance rates. The other issue that I would like to raise is a more pressing problem. This is in connection with the unskilled and unsupported retrenched workers. There are quite a number of them that I have been noticing this trend in the meet-the-people sessions and other community organisations. I feel that this group, for the first time, have run into difficulties. For many years since the last recession or even close to the 1950s, this phenomenon has not come about. The problems of older, unskilled retrenched workers probably need closer attention, because many of them have families. Some of them are in their late 40s and below 50, who have found great difficulty in getting employment over a period. Because, in the first place, they are unskilled and that many of the companies that they are working with are relocating to other economies. 1.00 pm Sir, in the short term, there is a need for PA rules to be made flexible to provide temporary financial assistance for this group of retrenched older workers. Would MCD be prepared to look into helping these unemployed retrenched workers and their families?”
“I am sure you all agree with me that this is the thrust that we should take. It is necessary to revise the funding formula for government grants because the Ministry of Health has a different formula. The Ministry of Community Development gives a different funding formula to the Community Development Councils and it gives another funding formula to the voluntary sector. There are a number of funding formulas. But, none of these help the voluntary organisations at this juncture. We should look at the revision of the funding formula seriously. By doing so, we can generate more enthusiasm for the voluntary organisations to improve and extend their services. I suggest that a 75% grant for programme cost would be reasonable and realistic. In granting more support to the social and voluntary organisations, we can prevent social divide amongst various ethnic groups and the community. We can reduce ethnic tensions from surfacing in future when we have more voluntary welfare organisations to mediate and solve problems faced by various disadvantaged groups. I foresee this can be a serious issue that we should avoid. There are other new issues and challenges and we do not want to have a wider social divide in the community in our society. And therefore, the support to voluntary organisations would be useful and important. Social abrasions can be reduced with some generosity from the Government. We should not be just seen as taking, but also giving where and when necessary. This should be the thrust, both giving and taking, and it is essential. I am sure through this process, we will be able to build a more cohesive and progressive community.”
“But too much effort spent on fund-raising during a very competitive period means that there is less time for people who manage organisations to plan ahead in terms of what needs to be done. The fundamental question that we should ask is: do we want more voluntary welfare organisations to be established and to take on additional functions? If it is positive towards this question, then the answer is how do we go about to enable them to take on additional responsibilities? At this juncture, the Ministry of Health wants these organisations to do more with the new health care programmes for the elderly. The Ministry of Home Affairs, on the other hand, has started programmes of neighbourhood policing and community focus programmes. This would also require the mobilisation of help from various social organisations, and this is also demanding. Finally, the Ministry of Community Development is moving towards more neighbourhood care and programmes. This will also require the participation and efforts of many social and voluntary organisations. I must say that we need to examine this question of providing grants to voluntary organisations more seriously. I would like to state that it is no fun not to be given more funds, and yet asked to do more by Government. I state that fund raising is trying, competitive and time-consuming and I hope that the Deputy Prime Minister would be able to persuade the Ministry of Finance to release more funds to the people care sector because we could be more proactive and be able to meet the needs of the families, the aging population and the older unskilled workers that were retrenched. We want our voluntary organisations to be viable and responsive to the emerging needs of the neighbourhood.”
“When we do this, in the long run, we will be able to promote the social help of our community and we would be able to enhance more effective problem-solving in the various neighbourhoods of our housing estates. The second issue is related to the grants to voluntary organisations. Many requests have been made to the Government to review grants to voluntary welfare organisations. The appeals are loud and clear and I am sure many of you have heard this in the course of your work with the various voluntary bodies in your own constituency. We should send a message to the Ministry of Finance to see whether more funds could be allocated to this aspect of work. I am afraid that it has not been heard for some time and I hope that this time round, the Government will hear and accede to the appeals. We cannot expect voluntary organisations to do more without additional financial grants. To do more they will, if they are persuaded, encouraged, but you cannot do anything without funding and other related support, both capital and operational costs. And I feel this is essential if you are going to encourage more voluntary organisations to be formed and to take an active interest in community problem-solving. More time is spent by volunteers and staff on fund-raising and by doing so at the sacrifice of managing the service delivery of organisations and be able to think ahead on how to respond more effectively. Although they may be able to know the new problems, they are unable to respond as quickly as possible because of the limitation of funds. At times, the efficient running of the organisations is sacrificed at the expense of spending a lot of time on fund-raising, which is necessary.”
“Failing to do this may have unintended consequences in terms of social division, tensions and other related problems that we may meet. 5.00 pm I suggest that the establishment of a central body, where we can mobilise volunteers to participate, is crucial and important to us. At the same time, this central body is able to involve people and strengthen the bonds among people living in the various neighbourhoods. People bonding is critical and therefore we should try, through this central body, to enhance it. We can encourage self-help and community problem-solving. I see we are always being accused that by providing funding support to the people care sector, we are moving towards welfarism. I do not think so. By encouraging people to play a role to organise themselves, to participate in community problem-solving, in fact, helps prevent social problems from arising. I feel prevention is better than cure and I hope that we all believe in it, and if we believe in it, we should deploy resources to the very area that we can build participation of people to be involved in building a caring community. In short, by having such a central body, it will reduce human barriers and human barriers can be broken down by encouraging more people to volunteer and help one another. And this is what we want of Singapore and I hope that we can help to promote it. There are many calls by voluntary organisations for the establishment of such a central body because at the moment the mobilisation and recruitment of volunteers, and the information to people about where to volunteer are very much segmented. The need for a central body is very crucial and important in trying to get more people to be involved in the people care sector.”
“Sir, it is time to set up a central body to mobilise more volunteer manpower to be involved in our social and welfare service organisations. Such a central body can help to coordinate, inform and promote volunteerism in Singapore, especially to meet future demands for volunteers and to help run many social programmes in the neighbourhood of various housing estates. Sir, as you know, the profiles of our neighbourhood are changing. Some are ageing and there are mobility and transitions in these neighbourhoods. We need to examine and study them in greater detail to see what we can do to respond to the new service needs in these areas and the types of programmes that we can get people to organise and tackle them. As you know, Sir, your neighbourhood is also ageing as well as mine. It is very important that we appreciate and understand this so that we will be able to persuade more people to join in the volunteer work for the care of the people sector. Our volunteer participation, at this moment, is only 1:10. We should try to increase this participation level to at least 2:10 in the next five years. In many advanced countries, the participation rate is about 3:10. So we have a long way to go. A central body to mobilise people of various social, ethnic and religious backgrounds to volunteer helps to achieve a few objectives. First, it promotes social integration and prevents social division. This is very important in the context of Singapore. We are living in a multi-racial society. We have different social classes living in different housing estates, and therefore it is very important that we examine this issue very carefully and see how we can manage these challenges.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head J of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, at the outset, I would like to state that the Ministry of Community Development has been given less budget than other Ministries. I hope that the Minister for Finance can be persuaded next year to allocate more budget to the Ministry so that it could carry out more programmes in the people care sector. This is very important because, in the new millennium, we will be meeting new challenges related to the dual career families, the aging population and the immediate concern is the problems of the older retrenched workers. So I hope that my parliamentary colleagues will be able to join me to persuade the Ministry of Finance to allocate more funds to the Ministry of Community Development. Sir, may I take the two cuts?”
“Substitute care can be implemented and other alternative forms of support can be mobilised in order that they can be looked after within the community. So I hope that the Minister would be able to look at the few suggestions that I have given. It is not going to cost too much outlay. But it will cost some outlay. I hope that he will be able to extend assistance to these groups of people who I have requested him to help. With that note, I would like to support the Budget Statement, Sir.”
“I see that these pensioners are stretched, if they have no other means of support. They are, in fact, no better than those who are on public assistance. Sir, surely this group of pensioners deserves a better deal as they have given sterling services to the Government and many of them served their best for over 30 years. I see that there is justification for a base-up revision of their pensions to meet at least a minimum requirement for their living. These low income pensioners deserve a review - I have been making pleas on their behalf over the years - and I hope that this will touch the Finance Minister's heart and he would be able to do something for them. Sir, another group is the 1- and 2-room families who have been given PUB rebates from $50 to $100. Many of these people are in seasonal employment and they are also hit by the economic recession. They do deserve a review in terms of the PUB rebates and perhaps the PUB rebates for 1-, 2- and 3-rooms could be standardised to $200. This, I think, will help to alleviate some of their problems. The last group which requires our attention is those families which have to look after their aged sick parents. I am glad that the Ministry of Health is planning to subsidise these families. However, this move would not be able to reduce the burden of those families in the sandwich income group who faces financial burden in the increasing cost of nursing care. The number of families with aged sick parents will increase steeply in the near future. In this case, we have to try and find ways in which we could relieve the burden through more tax rebates, so that their aged sick parents need not be institutionalised.”
“In this respect, it would be desirable to provide more tax rebates and incentives for companies that are more prepared to employ and retain older workers. If we can do that, we will be able to provide a wider opportunity for our unskilled and older workers. Older workers who are unskilled are also vulnerable to lose their jobs through relocation of companies to cheaper economies. It is therefore necessary at this point to try and create employment to tap some of these semi-skilled and unskilled workers who otherwise find great difficulty in employment. So I hope that there could be greater public sector creation of employment for this group of workers, because in the private sector the jobs are shrinking quite dramatically. Therefore, I hope that one would be able to look at this group of workers and see how they can be helped. I also would like to urge that the training grant be reviewed, particularly the tax rebate of $2,500 which is given for workers. We need to be more generous. Perhaps I would suggest that the Minister for Finance increase this tax rebate to $5,000 so that the older workers can take advantage of retraining, as some of the courses which enhance their skills would cost more than $2,500. Some generosity in this respect would be useful. Sir, in this connection too, I urge that the training allowance for older workers at $500 could be reviewed, because it is very difficult to encourage workers to go into training if the allowances are marginal and are not attractive enough to sustain them. Sir, the next group of people who deserve attention are the pensioners who draw very low pension of less than $200. Monthly pensions of less than $200 might make it difficult for them to manage under trying times.”
“And unless and until we have people with good integrity and honesty to manage these institutions and to be able to prepare ahead, to have good social and economic plans, I feel good lives cannot be achieved. Many democracies have that empty talks and not fulfilling the dreams and aspirations that the people are aspiring for. We know that democracy cannot just depend on empty stomachs. We cannot do that, because democracy on empty stomach means nothing. We will first have to try and meet the basic needs of the people, and it is very critical that we try to find different ways to generate economic growth. If we can do that, then we will be able to promote better life for the people. Sir, in this respect, I must say that our Government is doing the best it can, given the constraints that Singapore is facing. We must admit that we are facing trying and difficult times. There is no easy answer to the problems. But what I hope is that Singaporeans can rally around, work together, think of new innovative and creative ways, and find new opportunities ahead, to help us tackle the difficult and challenging times that we are facing. Sir, I feel that we need to look at the Budget more closely and I would like to pick up a few pockets of people whose needs have not been looked at more closely. The first group is the employability of older workers, ie, people who are less skilled. I see that the problems are real, and some of them have been retrenched. We need to look at their needs more closely and pay attention in terms of how this group could be helped. Many older workers are likely to find difficulty in getting jobs and it is a pity that their contributions are not tapped.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Budget announcement has been well received by the business and industrial sectors and the community. The Minister for Finance and his colleagues must be commended for the efforts to steer Singapore's economy through trying times. I must say that the Minister does not have an easy task nor does he have a magic wand to wish the problem away. He is indeed trying his best and we must commend him for his efforts, because many of the problems are outside his control. Because it is a problem of the region I therefore feel that what is most important is for Singaporeans - workers, employers, entrepreneurs and all that - to work together and not bicker about the problems and issues and blame one another for them. In doing so, we are not going to do good for Singapore. What is most important for us is to brace and face the challenges ahead. I see that is most important. Sir, Mr Chiam, who is not around here now, has argued that democracy would provide economic growth and promote good life. But from what I know many democracies have not produced good life. And democracy without economic growth would not provide a good life and promote better livelihood. I assert it is fundamental that we have good economic growth in order that democracy can survive. I would also like to state that it is very important that we have our fundamentals right in the sense that we will have to generate economic growth in order to increase the pie, so that this could be redistributed in the interest of the community to achieve a better life. We know that in many places, if you look around, eg, in Asia, what is important is not just democracy itself. What is crucial is to have good social institutions and good leaders to manage them.”
“But there are lots of workers who are not unionised and one needs to look at how their interest could be protected. Secondly, there would be a lot of employers who might take advantage of this Bill and try and find a leverage to retire off people earlier than they should. So there will be to some extent older workers who would be got rid off because they are either not really productive or found not to be suitable, or some excuses could be given to terminate them from their work world. I want to find out what protection or recourse would be available to ensure that older workers would not be unjustifiably retired off earlier than they should by the employers. Looking at the Bill as a whole, I agree with it because it is going to help us meet the challenges of the aging population of Singapore. On that note, Sir, I support the Bill.”
“Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this interesting Bill. I fully support this Bill. I feel that the picture painted by the Minister is indeed a very challenging one for all of us in Singapore because demographic transition will be very dramatic in the years ahead. By the Year 2010, as the Minister has stated, the population of the aged could become quite dramatic and grave for us. It is a issue well thought of, because we would have to think about how we need to deal with this challenging issue of the future, ie, the greying of Singapore. The Bill will be relevant at this juncture, but it will be redundant in the future because we would not be able to talk about retirement in the years ahead as nobody will be retiring and the work world will change significantly. Nobody will be allowed to retire. Mind you, some of you would not be allowed to get off! You will be kept as long as possible and there will be no retirement, Mr Speaker. There would be the issue of information technology. With the change of work itself, people will be retained as long as it is possible and it is not a picture that we can avoid. It could be a real picture in future. Sir, in relation to this Bill, it will enhance the employability of the retirees and this is good. It enables various companies to think about retaining older workers and this is indeed a very positive move. But there are a few areas of concern that I would like to raise, because with this transition, there will obviously be areas of disputes related to wages. I want to find out from the Minister who mediates in case there is dispute on the wages. I can understand that for workers who are unionised, the unions would be able to represent them.”
“I hope we can come together and find ways to weather the storm ahead. By doing so, we will keep ourselves afloat.”
“A very small proportion of working mothers benefit from the tax set-off. A large proportion of them are not benefiting from the tax set-off measures. I think it is not equitable in the sense that we have over the years increased the levy, but when all other revenues are being reviewed, they should in fact be given an opportunity to benefit from the reduction. In that respect, the argument that we want to dampen the demand for more of them to employ maids should be re-examined. I do not think the reason is strong enough to support the argument that no reduction has been considered for them. The issue is that many of them are in the middle class group, which I would call the "sandwiched" families. I feel that they should be considered. This is no real logical reason that I can gather that they should not be given due consideration for reduction of maid levy. There is a very large sector that would be affected in these trying times. I hope that their case could be reconsidered by the Minister for Manpower. Sir, in the final analysis, the social and economic crisis that we are all facing is our problem. It is important that we have to work together to fix it. Unless we can rally around to work together and find new creative ways, new approaches and new solutions to all these issues, we would not be able to tackle the problem as we hope to do so. So it is very important for us as Singaporeans to commit ourselves to working together. I am sure that all Singaporeans will rally behind the Government to see what we can do in our own ways. Whether big or small, we are all to be counted. Like what our Mr Deputy Speaker has said, small is beautiful. It is not just beautiful, but we are a people of mettle who can withstand and be counted as Singaporeans.”
“This is a very good principle and I must applaud the Government for the effort in this direction, because for those who are unable to do so they do sacrifice, but they do sacrifice a little. This, at all costs, will enhance our ownership to the problem. We will be able to promote the sense of commitment to the various issues that we face. This in itself is very important. People feel that they can work towards a common cause and we are all sharing a common purpose and a common destiny, and we all believe that we want to make Singapore viable. Therefore, the question of ownership to these issues that we face has been reinforced. What I would like to urge is that we should have been a bit more generous with the lower income group. The rebates that have been granted by the Government provide an extension for a further period of time in their relief. But we could have been more generous in increasing the amount of S&C charges and PUB rates. That would have relieved further some of their burdens because many of them are unskilled and low income workers. They will face the greatest impact in terms of the capacity to manage their lives. It is desirable and our responsibility to see that we can do much more than what we have given to them. The second area which seems to invite attention is the levy. Many working mothers are most disappointed that they have not been given a reduction. All other companies that are employing foreign workers have been given a reduction. I think working mothers employing domestic maids should deserve attention because many of them are working hard in terms of helping to develop our economy and making Singapore viable. I do not see any reason why their case could not be considered.”
“The other issue the CSC Report has not addressed is the challenge of the older workforce. This would be one of the more serious challenges that we are likely to face in the next decade. And with an older workforce, would we remain competitive? This is a question we need to examine. We may not become competitive, provided they have the capacity to be trained and upgraded and to move into job areas which would deal with information technology. So I feel that with a declining population which is below replacement, the issue will become very grave in the near future, and we have to look at how we can maintain a more robust workforce. This means that we have to recruit more talents, more semi-skilled and skilled workers to enter our workforce. I see this issue requires to be studied more closely. I am glad that the Government has set up the STAR Committee to look at these issues and, hopefully, it will solve some of the problems of the greying of our workforce. I would like to give some comments on the Government measures to reduce costs which have been announced yesterday. The measures are comprehensive and will help to stimulate our economy. The measures are realistic because they are implementable and some of them, in fact, have taken immediate effect. Hopefully, with the implementation of these measures we will be able to become more viable. What is most important and gratifying to note is that the direction of the cost-cutting measures which are to be implemented works on the principle of shared burden. I am glad that the cost-cutting measures work on the basis of those who can carry a heavier burden than those who cannot.”
“Without these precursors, the best ideas that we have will not see any fruition and it will not have any impact on the social lives and to solve various social problems that we may face in our society. Sir, what we need to look at is to see how the CSC Report could address a number of issues which have been left out. I foresee that the issue of prolonged unemployment needs to be re-examined very closely, because we have depended on full employment as a form of social security. This is good as long as full employment lasts, but we never know through prolonged recessions, what impact this would have on people who are less skilled, semi-skilled and others who may not be able to find themselves employable. We need to examine the assumptions of full employment very critically, and in future, if we run into a prolonged recession, there is a need to assess how people who cannot be employed for a long time would still have a way to manage their lives. Sir, prolonged unemployment is one of the issues that we need to examine and the CSC has not examined this issue fully. We have to look at what can be done, particularly for older workers who would remain unemployable for a long time. We may argue that there are retraining funds available to upgrade them, that special funds would be available and set aside for their training, but I think the issue at hand is their employability. In some circumstances, it may not be possible for them to find employment itself because work institutions may not necessarily take them. I feel that there is a need to look at either the trade union level where some funds are set aside to deal with the upgrading of these workers in order to solve their long-term employment needs and problems.”
“If we believe in the principle of meritocracy, then I think employers, in times of recession and economic problems, must be very objective to ensure that we deal with the problems of retrenchment and unemployment on the basis of merit and objectivity. This is very important. Otherwise, we will upset the equilibrium of the multi-racial society that we live in. Secondly, we also have to look at the whole issue about good leadership in social institutions. Unless and until we ensure that we have good people managing our various social institutions, we may not be able to discharge the kind of plans that we have. And what is important for us Singaporeans is that we have to ensure that we continue to have people with good leadership, good personal integrity and honesty to manage various social institutions. Because these very social institutions, by their nature, are institutions that will make our society viable. It is not sufficient to say that we need good social institutions, but it is important to ensure that we need to nurture and have good people who can manage these institutions. We should induct good people into these institutions so that they can continue to manage them effectively in the interest of the majority. Finally, we also need to look at a good plan to manage issues ahead. And the CSC Report is an effective plan in that we have been able to mobilise various people to work on it and come up with various ideas that we can marshal and, hopefully, with the implementation of these ideas, we will be able to make a further stride in dealing with the economic problems that we face. So good plans do require good people and good political context to manage and implement them.”
“This analysis is very important so that we can understand the fundamentals that can be challenged in future. Sir, I would like, at the outset, to state that political stability is one of the cornerstones in our capacity to remain afloat, and I see that we have also taken this for granted. We should look at the political mess in many of the countries around the region and the world. There are many so-called democracies which have very good plans, good ideas, but many of these have not been implemented. Many people in these countries are affected and many of them have no capacity or ability to influence such decisions that have been made, and many of these people have suffered grave economic injustices and grave problems and regression in terms of their standard of living. And all these are issues that we need to examine and appreciate in the context of why we have been able to manage effectively. Sir, what becomes very important when we are faced with a recession is our capacity to maintain good political stability and cohesion. When resources are limited, there is always competition for resources, and the less able will not be able to get the kind of resources which they require for their living. So what is most important in this respect is that I would like to urge employers to seriously examine the approaches they adopt in the employment of workers, in ensuring that their practices are not discriminatory in terms of race, language and religion. This is very important in the context of Singapore, because we are a multi-racial society.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sure for the last few days, you have listened to many colourful speeches. There will be 18 more after me and I hope you will be able to have a keen ear in terms of what would be expressed. I am sure, Mr Speaker, you will be able to write a thesis after that! Sir, I would like, first of all, to commend the members of the Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness for mapping out a very good comprehensive strategy to meet Singapore's economic and future challenges. The Report sets out the direction and we have got various inputs. The members have indeed done a significant job in compiling a very comprehensive report. What I would like to also commend is the very effective and immediate measures taken by the Government to implement with immediate effect the cost cutting measures to boost our competitiveness. The measures are very significant and I hope all Singaporeans will rally behind the Government to see how they can support a plan which can be implemented to help Singapore to be viable and to be able to meet the more serious challenges ahead. Sir, having a plan is not sufficient but I think we will have to examine why Singapore is one of the countries in Asia that is not seriously affected and dislocated by economic problems, unlike many other places. I think most Singaporeans tend to take this for granted, that things are going well and therefore there are less issues that we are challenged with. The Government is able to look after these issues. They are capable people to think of solutions. I feel this is not realistic, Sir. It is very important that we go behind the reasons as to what makes Singapore less affected by the current economic problems.”
“May I ask the DPM why he has not been generous, in terms of rebates, for the 1-, 2- and 3-room families? The other issue is on the prolonged unemployment for older workers. Are there any contingency measures to deal with the problem, particularly, those aged between 48 and below 55 years? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, there are rebates for 1- to 3-room families. Firstly, because of the GST offsets, and secondly, because of the utilities offsets. And on the service and conservancy charges and rental rebates, which I think Dr Vasoo is specifically asking for, there is already a set, which was announced in the last Budget, which is still running. And I think the next Budget will be a good time to announce an updated set for next year. But you can be sure that we have not neglected them because our focus should be on padding the impact on the lower income groups. What should we do about prolonged unemployment, particularly, for the older workers? I think NTUC has been working very hard at this - retraining them, reskilling them, also encouraging them to be more flexible in their expectations and their approach, what sort of job they are looking for, where the job is, what they are expecting to be paid for it. NTUC's experience is, if they are willing to be flexible, the jobs are available. The difficulty arises when they have very specific desires and we are unable to accommodate them. I think that as long as there are jobs available in the economy, we should be very slow to think of touching the CPF or other structural measures which, once done, cannot be undone and will change us into a different kind of society, one heavily dependent on safety nets rather than self-reliance.”
“I do not think I can agree because it depends on what price you set. It depends on whether there is a willing buyer and willing seller. May I ask, if there are upgraders who are, in fact, stuck for more than a year and they need to upgrade to bigger flats, could HDB consider such cases?”
“Sir, is the Parliamentary Secretary willing to consider under the buy back scheme, particularly those cases that are upgrading, to enable them to move up to a 4-room flat?”
“Despite all that, is the Parliamentary Secretary willing to review the levy charges if the resale prices drop further?”
“Sir, despite his explanation, I do not understand the logic behind his argument that the prices of new flats have also gone up. Is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that HDB has also moved towards market pricing? Is that not the direction? If that is the case, what is the basis of still maintaining the levy as imposed?”
“Is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that all Government departments are reducing their fees? Can the same principle not be applied to the resale levy?”
“POSBank has become very visible. If you move around the various housing estates, you will find POSBank in many locations, and that is the widest reach that we should look at. That would be the objectives for which banks should strive to meet and it is important to look at the dislocation it would cause as a result of this change. There are several implications that one needs to pay attention to. One is the service charge, ie, whether service charge to small account holders could be reviewed and whether DBS could be advised that the service charge would not be raised unnecessarily at the expense of the small account holders. Secondly, housing loan. It is very important to examine the housing loan issue because many of those who have taken housing loans with the expectation that loan changes would not be that dramatic. I personally feel that the terms of the housing loans of these people should be honoured. The agreement which they have entered with Credit POSB should be honoured by DBS itself, at least for a longer period. For these people, there should be no changes in loan terms which have been accorded by Credit POSB. That I think would be keeping in good faith with these people who have taken their housing loans with Credit POSB. The third area is to ensure that the banking service to ordinary account holders, particularly the old, young and children, would not be displaced as a result of these changes. I hope that would be taken into serious account in this transition. The Minister should ensure that DBS looks into the question of support for the ordinary account holders who have given well-established support over a long period of time.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to join in the debate on the Bill. Sir, it is indeed a pity to dissolve POSBank. POSBank has tremendous historical value, a long history, and a lot of people are associated with it. If you ask the account holders whether POSBank should be closed, I can tell you that they will say that it should be kept going. And I feel, at this stage, it is more important to see that we do not short-change the account holders of POSBank. Sir, there are about 3 million POSBank account holders and that is a tremendous following which we should recognise. We also know that POSBank has been making money and for a bank which has been making money, I do not understand the reason why it should be closed down. I could understand the need for amalgamation. But if we so decide to amalgamate, it is important to look at this transition to ensure that the 3 million account holders are to an extent supported and the transition does not bring serious impact on them and they will support the change. This is a crucial issue that the Minister should look into. I see that there are many people in the working class who are associated with POSBank and their sentiments and loyalty should be appreciated. I hope DBS will continue to provide the same service and maintain the relationship that has been established with many people in the working class who are account holders. POSBank, as Members know, has a very wide reach. It reaches the old, the young, and the housewives in the many housing estates. And I hope that with this amalgamation, DBS would be able to find the same reach to the neigbourhoods in the housing estates. There are concerns that the reach may not be there and it may cause dislocation, particularly to the older account holders, and the young ones too.”
“But in keeping with the policy to take cars off the road, retirees do not want to drive any more. Would the Minister consider their case for cash payment? Mr Mah Bow Tan: With the new measures, it is not too difficult for the retirees to be able to redeem their full cash value. ELECTRONIC ROAD PRICING 11. Mr Lew Syn Pau asked the Minister for Communications (a) how much has been spent on implementing the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) System so far; (b) how much will be the annual operating cost of the system and how it campares to the annual operating cost of the old manual system; and (c) in terms of revenue per month, how much is collected under the ERP system compared to the sale of monthly and daily coupons under the old system. 12. Mr Cyrille Tan asked the Minister for Communications whether his Ministry will consider lowering the Electronic Road Pricing rates for commercial and industrial vehicles so as to reduce business costs in Singapore. 13. Mr Chay Wai Chuen asked the Minister for Communications whether his Ministry will consider (i) reducing road taxes or other statutory charges for private and goods vehicles; and (ii) reducing/adjusting the Electronic Road Pricing charges for optimizing traffic flows, in order to reduce business costs for businessmen and individuals.”
“Would the Minister make an exception, particularly for those who are retiring or retirees above the age of 65? Would he consider alternative measures for them?”
“There is this big number of them and I think we should come out with a serious plan in terms of what could be done for them. Many of us will be in the aging workforce in about 10 years from now, me included, Mr Speaker. I am sure the Minister for Manpower would agree with me that this would be one of the serious issues that we would be confronted with. How do we attract younger people into the workforce when families are very small? We do not have enough people to come into the workforce. What do we do and how do we try and ensure that there is a continuing productive workforce that will help in terms of Singapore's economic growth. Sir, I feel that, ultimately, it is very important for workers, for employers and for Government to band together in these economic hard times that we are facing and many of us have said that recession is going to be deeper in the next few years and we need to stay together as a strong family and Singaporeans must find ways to work together despite all these external problems that we are facing. I think it is important that we stay ahead, we stay cool, we stay collected and we remain cohesive. If we are able to do this, then I think we have a good future, we have a good promise to be able to deal with the hard times ahead. On that note, I would like to support the motion standing in the name of Mr Lim Swee Say.”
“And that will help us to have a better educated and well trained workforce to meet the contingency plans of the future. Sir, there is also a need to look at how Government could soften the blows of the economic downturn. We could look at how we can cut costs in terms of land cost, cost for rents of industrial sites and other related things. How can Government review, besides the current measures that are in place, the off-Budget measures, whether there are some long-term measures to review how we can reduce business costs in view of the economic problems? Can we do this? Can we take a bolder step to try and ensure that Singapore remains very attractive in terms of land, capital and factory costs for the development of our own infrastructure? There have always been a lot of arguments by many investors that our land cost is high and, over the years, we have become quite expensive and less competitive compared to other countries in the region. The last area we need to look at is the training of workers. I am very concerned that close to 48% or nearly half of our workforce are 40 years and above. As Mr Lim Swee Say has said, we are moving towards an aging workforce and half of this workforce are going to be aged workers of the future. It has serious implications in terms of productivity, in terms of rejuvenation of what they can do and how they can be retrained, in terms of their social security and their old age pensions. I think there is a need for serious examination as to how we should tackle this aging workforce and, despite the extension of retirement age, how can we utilise this large number of workers who are in the 40s and who are going to be in the 50s.”
“Many of these workers have given their lives and many years of service to the company. It is humanly important for the companies to think of ways in which they could help these workers to be reorganised and find ways in which they could be redeployed. Sir, there are also the other aspects that we need to look at and, that is, to see how the Government can also play a part in trying to soften the blow by taking a number of measures. First, many of our workers are paying mortgage loans and we are quite fortunate that about 85% of them are living in HDB flats. I want to find out from the Minister whether there are contingency measures to help defer payments and other approaches to tackle the problems of their housing mortgage loans. The other issues that we need to look at are job placements and manpower plans; what are the long-term manpower plans and how workers are going to be trained; whether these are in place and whether we would have to develop a comprehensive plan that can carry us for the next 20 years in terms of having an effective manpower plan to deal with the training and development of a more educated workforce. I would like to see more training incentives by Government and also incentives to enable companies to begin reviewing what training plans they can implement at the work site. I think there is a need for Government to provide matching grants for companies that are very interested to run their manpower retraining plans. If many of them can be encouraged to do so and they fit in the overall manpower plan, I think it is in the interest of Singapore and for Government to support these companies to think of how they can participate in the retraining of workers.”
“And here, I do not think we can assign blame on any of these quarters. If we do so, we will be foolish because we will be doing ourselves in. We are in the same boat, whether you are an employer, worker or Government. Try and puncture the boat, try and rock the boat, who is to gain at the end? Employers are not going to gain at the end of the day if they are going to retrench workers at the slightest excuse they can find. Neither can workers say they would want to have better salaries at this point in time. It is very important for the three parties to work together and find effective solutions to their problems. I see that there is a need for employers, unions and Government to come out with strategic plans, particularly unions and employers, to deal with saving jobs and to think strategically in terms of ensuring that the workers are not retrenched because many of these workers have served a long time in their companies. Some have served 15 years while others have served 20 years. So I think it is important for us to ensure that workers who have been with these companies are given the best. We should try and see how they can be kept and, if they need to be trained, we should find ways in which they could be trained. Sir, recently, many employers took the slightest excuse to retrench older workers. I am very concerned about this. I want to find out from the Ministry of Manpower what steps are being taken to ensure that these workers are not retrenched at the slightest excuse. Many of these workers have worked for many years in the company. When bad times come, instead of finding strategic solutions to deal with these issues, they find a short cut approach through retrenchment which is not a solution to the problem.”
“We are a multi-racial society and, being a multi-racial society, there is always this danger that you have fanatical elements to assign the blame to various racial groups for their problems and issues. I hope that thinking Singaporeans will band together to ensure that there is progress, be they Malays, Indians, Chinese or Eurasians. We all have a stake in Singapore. We should in fact try and see how we can work together and we should not be allowed to be made use of by fanatics who are out there to do us in. If we succumb to this whole thing, then Singapore would be a broken society and we will never be able to put it back because political stability is a very critical issue for all of us. Without political stability, you can talk about economics, better education and better housing, all these will never happen. If we do not manage this carefully and we are not aware, we are all gullible Singaporeans, and we allow ourselves to be subverted and made use of, then we cannot put Singapore together. Because once the setback happens and once it is exploded in our hands, then Singapore would never be the same again. I hope that all thinking, well meaning Singaporeans, whether they be Malays, Indians, Chinese or Eurasians, should band together to see what we can do to help Singapore to move ahead. We should not allow religion, race and language to stand in our way because these are not the critical issues. What faces us is the economic issue and we should see how we can come out with sound economic plans and policies to tackle the problem. I think this is very critical and essential for us to move ahead. Sir, the second important issue is to have a proactive labour union, workforce and employers. It is important for the labour union, workers and employers to work together.”
“Therefore, it is important for Singaporeans to realise all these issues and the blames on Singapore by many politicians outside Singapore. Recently, Members must have read many of these Malaysian politicians blaming Singapore for their problems. Is this the case? I do not think it is the case. We are a peace loving people. We are a small nation. What else can we do? We would like to live as peacefully as possible. As good neighbours, we will encourage and support the interest of the wider majority in the region. I do not think we should stomach all this bullying and blaming. As Singaporeans, I am sure, we must be able to see the broader picture that Singapore wants to be mutual, supportive and have as good as possible a relationship with anyone who wants to bring progress and provide a better life for all within the region. So we need to cooperate, and Singapore's belief is this. All our workers in the various factories and industries believe that the more stable the place, the more prosperous the region, the more attractive it is, the more stable the governments are in the region, the better for us, be they Singapore workers, Malaysian workers, Indonesian workers or workers in the ASEAN region. So I would urge Singaporeans to make sure that we do not allow foreign politicians to subvert us and bring dissent. What I am very concerned about is the possible resurgence of religious fanatics, racial fanatics, language fanatics, in trying to subvert us. We will have to be aware of this. We should ensure that we do not allow this to happen in the context of Singapore's growth and development at this stage, because it is very easy to put the blame on racial division for an economic problem.”
“If we really cannot make Singapore an attractive and competitive place, then I do not think it is possible for us to solve the problems. So how do we ensure that Singapore is an attractive place for people to come, whether they are foreign talents, or people who want to invest in Singapore, or people who want to be educated in Singapore, or tourists who want to come to Singapore? It is an important issue that we need to address and Singaporeans must examine this, that we all have a responsibility that we all owe to Singapore, to try and see how we can work at this hard time to find effective and cohesive efforts to tackle the problems. Unless we stay together as a bigger family, I do not think we will be in a position to weather the storm. We may be in sixes and sevens and this will inevitably do us in. So I urge Singaporeans, be they workers, students, families, retirees or others, to come and work together to solve this economic crisis that we are facing. Although many of these problems are beyond our control, when we band together, we are likely to find ways to meet the problems. What I can see, Sir, is that it is very important to have political stability, especially at this time. There are various people trying to blame us for their problems, particularly the Malaysian politicians, and many of them have recently said that we are doing them in or undermining them. Being a small country, we want to live mutually, with good understanding and with good neighbours. How can a small country, like us, try and create problems for others? We want a stable place, we want a stable Singapore, we want a stable community, we want to have a stable ASEAN region, and we are trying our best to contribute to this.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion. Sir, there are a few critical issues that we need to address, especially at this time of our economic crisis. This economic crisis has not been brought upon by ourselves. It is like an economic haze because, as you all know, if somebody burns a forest somewhere, we are affected by it. So we are faced with this dilemma and many of these events are in fact beyond our control. I hope that Singaporeans, workers and others would be able to see that these problems are not really brought upon by us. Many of these events are outside our control. In the light of this, it is very important therefore for us to mobilise ourselves and to rally behind the Government, the trade unions and the employers so that we should begin to join hands and see how we can brace this economic storm. Unless and until we get together to think of effective and creative solutions to these problems, I do not think we will be able to surge forward and find new solutions and opportunities to deal with the problems. I feel that, at this stage, it is very important for Singaporean workers, the Government and the employers not to blame each other. It is time that we should get together and see how we can tackle the problems which are very critical and crucial for us. This is essentially necessary because it is time that we should rally and find a creative solution and band together to surge forward to bring Singapore another economic growth, and to try and find ways to reduce the burdens that we will be facing. Sir, there are a few important issues that we need to tackle, to try and ensure that we can keep Singapore as attractive as possible so that people would want to come and invest in Singapore.”
“The Minister has not answered my question about contingency measures if we run into a recession.”
“What contingency measures do we have in case we run into a recession by the end of the year?”