Seng Han Thong
Singapore
“In the Bill, it also mentioned about applying a blanket permit for usage at same location. So, is it possible for our Grassroots Organisation (GRO)'s new media team to do it for our community events coverage all year round?”
“Mr Lee has left. Let us uphold the Singapore Spirit, stay united in front of crises and seek consensus when facing differences. We will let Mr Lee know that Singapore will continue to develop for another 50 years! Page: 20 We will always remember you, our founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. [Applause.] 4.42 pm”
“Through open tender, we now see real market competition in terms of management solutions and fees charged by the competing companies to operate the bundles of public bus routes.”
“Madam, in view of the heightened international terrorist threat, what will be the measures taken by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to enhance aviation security and safety at Changi Airport? Changi Airport served a record 54.1 million passengers from around the world with 340,000 flight movements last year.”
“For patrons who drink, taxis are vital in ensuring the journey home is safe for themselves as well as other road users, while we hear of the difficulties of serving such a segment of commuters, especially relating to drunken patrons.”
“Maritime safety. Madam, as our maritime strategy is to strengthen Singapore as a premier global hub port and develop Singapore as a leading international maritime centre, a strong maritime safety culture needs to be nurtured and developed to support the strategy. What are the work plans and programmes to further enhance maritime safety?”
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“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Madam, the annual River Hongbao is into its 25th year this year. It was held at the Marina Bay Floating Platform for 13 days and attracted 1.3 million visitors. The Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, was there to witness the festivities. The highlight of this year's activities was the short film "Home for the New Year". It was a trip down memory lane, showing how the Chinese in Singapore spent the Chinese New Year at home in the past 40 years, and it reflected the changes in our society. It conveyed strong family values and portrayed the deep feelings between father and son, and was full of local flavour. Another highlight is the production of an updated version of the xinyao song "Singapore Pie". The video of this song reflected changes in the Singapore society in the past 40 years. We saw Chinatown, Queenstown and many old flats, which brought us back to the old days. Madam, whether it is the short film about coming home for the New Year or the snippet about Singapore, many people suggested that we upload it onto YouTube. As we all know, YouTube is the best market for short films. If you go to its website, you can have access to numerous short films. The short film grant under the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has been in existence for many years. I would like to suggest that the Minister look into this new media, the increasing popularity of new short films and its impact, and to review the application procedures for the short film grant and, as far as possible, streamline these procedures so as to encourage more Singaporeans to apply for this grant to make short films.”
“Mr Chairman, retail sector is one of the six sectors which the Government has identified for action, to aim for inclusive growth. One group of old, low-wage workers from the retail sector is the pump attendants. There are about 200 petrol pump stations in Singapore and about 1,500 attendants servicing the 945,000 motor vehicles on the road, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Recently, NTUC initiated a pilot project with 15 pump attendants from one of the major petrol companies to equip them with conversational English. It is hoped that they will be equipped with a set of minimum skills in the end so that their productivity can increase and they can gain a share. The course started after much operational changes like shortage of manpower, re-scheduling and replacement costs. To help low-wage workers, the approach by the labour movement is to equip our workers with a minimum skill and standard of performance. And secondly, we work together with the employers to set and recognise this minimum skill. We believe that if a pump attendant can acquire basic level skills, trained in offering good customer services and knowledge of fuel products, he will become a better worker. As petrol refuel work involves hazardous risk to inflammable items, the safety knowledge and general cleanliness would also be an asset. So this skill set would help the employers improve operational efficiency and reduce labour costs indirectly. It also provides a practical pathway for employers to recognise their skill set and upgrade them. We need more collective efforts like this from all stakeholders to persistently work sector by sector, sub-sector by sub-sector; and, ultimately, we want to be inclusive, to enable the low-wage workers like pump attendants to share the gain of productivity.”
“But they want to carry on their usual lives, so they continue working. The third group actually lives a good life. They are healthy, their children are doing well, but they want to give back to society, so they become volunteers. The fourth group does not do anything, they stay at home to be "Ah Kong " (grandfathers). The Ministry of Manpower should try all means to correct people’s misconception of old folks who continue to work. I suggest that MOM use the method they tried out recently when they launched the "Banana Sisters" Musical. Why not get them to perform a musical about "Ah Gong At Work"? *Cols. 4533-4534. Re-employment – special employment credit”
“Older workers and public perception (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, at airports, food centres and other public places, we see more and more old folks working. Next year, when the retirement age is raised and the Re-employment Act kicks in, there will be even more older workers. Do these elderly folks need to work because their children are unfilial? Some people have this perception. Not too long ago, a man in his 60s came to see me at the Meet-the-People Session, he was carrying a baby. I congratulated him for becoming a grandfather, but he said the child is his own and he needs to work. If a man becomes a grandfather, I am happy for him. But if he becomes a father when he is in his 60s and needs to work, I think I would be worried. 2.45 pm Old folks who work can be classified into a few types. One group of such workers has always worked in low-paying jobs. They have no savings and their children are low-income workers, so they have no choice but to work to survive. This group of older workers does face difficulty in finding jobs. In addition, employers are also biased against them. Mr Ang Mong Seng and Mr Low Thia Khiang are correct. Hence, in this aspect, e2i has done a lot of work. Last year, we helped 5,000 Singaporeans aged 55 years and above to find jobs. Their jobs range from retail, transport, cleaning, administrative to services sectors. These workers are paid more than $1,000 dollars and considered low-income workers. They still need our help. The second group of workers is whom we will describe as "jia pa bui bao" (after they are full, they still want to buy a bun). These workers have reached retirement age and their children do not require them to work.”
“Mr Chairman, how do we build a social safety net for taxi drivers and such self-employed persons? This is an issue that is close to the hearts of leaders and staff of the National Taxi Association (NTA). It took us several years to explore several options and we achieved a breakthrough last year with the implementation of the Drive and Save scheme. There are three key lessons we have learnt. One, self-employed persons such as the taxi drivers must consider the cost of building their social safety as part of their operating costs of the services provided by them. Two, the business partner or employer who works with the self-employed persons should recognise that. They incurred such a cost by their service as required by the business partner or employer. Three, the Government can play an important facilitating role and even chip in to promote CPF contributions by self-employed persons and employers who work with them. Sir, we are grateful that MOM and CPF Board have solidly provided administrative support to formulate and implement the Drive and Save scheme. We have also suggested that the Government should chip in to strengthen the Drive and Save scheme which is voluntary in nature. The NTA leaders and staff are delighted that the Government has responded solidly by giving tax exemptions to the self-employed, taxi drivers included, and tax deductions to employers who work them, taxi companies included, on the Medisave contributions made under the Drive and Save scheme or other programmes of similar nature. I would like to ask the Manpower Minister if there is any action plan to extend similar programmes to other sectors of the economy where other groups of self-employed persons can also build their safety nets as the taxi drivers.”
“However, I have received feedback that further refinements can be made in the way we plan bus routes for inter-estate or trunk travel to cater to the needs of the elderly. I observe that a segment of the elderly like to shop at the neighbourhood centres where they live, or neighbourhood centres in the next estate or town. For example, in my ward, the markets at Bedok 538 and 511 are popular among residents in the neighbouring estates and neighbourhoods, such as Chai Chee and other parts of Bedok. Many of these residents need to make a longer trip to the Bedok Interchange and make a transfer to another bus service to these markets, making their trip longer and very inconvenient. Residents in Chai Chee could shorten the trip by making a long walk to another bus stop. However, this may be too straining for the elderly. Thus, I have received numerous feedback from residents that they are concerned that our current transport system is still unable to cater to the needs of the ageing society. I would like to ask the Minister how has our transport system been refined to meet the needs of the elderly and the less mobile. Is the current transport model relevant to the needs of an ageing population? How much have been done to reflect these needs? Elderly and transportation”
“Unlike the fares of public buses and MRT, taxi companies are free to set taxi fares and taxi drivers must charge accordingly. Can the Ministry clarify if there are any guidelines on the process of setting taxi fares such that the stakeholders will not be seen to be infringing the Competition Act? Will the Ministry consider reviewing the current process of allowing taxi companies to set their own taxi fares, so that the Public Transport Council can be more effective in protecting the interests of the public commuters whom they serve? Ageing population Assoc. Prof. Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, as a Singaporean, I am very pleased to note that our Government is preparing for an ageing population for the various aspects of our life. Transport is certainly an important need for us here in Singapore. Living within a small city-state, we need to ensure that our transport planning meets the needs of the various segments of the society. Among the many segments, the elderly society is continuing making its presence felt in Singapore day after day and year after year. For example, in my ward, more than 30% of the population in both the Chai Chee and Bedok North estates are 50 years and older. I am aware that the number of elderly is higher in other divisions. The usual feedback that I received from my residents is whether our current transport planning parameters cater to the needs of an ageing society. I understand that refinements have been made to the transport mode itself, such as the bus, as well as the ancillary facilities such as the installation of lifts at MRT stations and barrier-free access at bus stops to allow ease of access for the commuters, particularly, the elderly.”
“Sir, some taxi commuters, both locals and visitors, may find the taxi fare structure in Singapore complicated and difficult to understand. Ideally, commuters can quickly decide where, when and how they will get a taxi based on how much they are expected to pay. Can the Ministry look into ways to enhance the public transport information for commuters on taxi-meter fare, especially at locations where demand for taxi services is high? We should help the commuters drive service improvements among taxi service providers by getting them to choose the better service providers. Can the Ministry look into ways to inform commuters on the quality of the taxi services provided by the taxi companies based on a regular and independent mystery customer service experience audit? Taxi fleet Sir, there are more than 26,000 fleet of taxis in Singapore. We have one of the highest ratio of taxi to population in the world. For every 1,000, we are served by 4.8 taxis, compared to London, three; Shanghai, three; New York, 1.4; Sydney, 1.1; and Hong Kong, 2.6. Despite this high ratio, we still receive complaints from commuters that they cannot get a taxi when they need one most. Taxi companies should not only focus on putting more taxis on the road. They should focus more on matching the demand for taxi services. This will improve the income of the taxi drivers and the overall service experience of the taxi commuters in getting a taxi. Can the Ministry clarify how the LTA's proposed enhancements to the QoS for all taxi companies will improve the matching of supply and demand for taxi services? Taxi fare Sir, like many Singaporeans, taxi drivers face the problem of rising cost of living. Their business costs also increase significantly, due to the spike in fuel prices and higher taxi rental.”
“The Government is committed to raising the real income of Singaporeans by 30% over the next 10 years. This is a great challenge. It is not easy to achieve but we are confident, with the coordinated efforts of NTUC, the Government and employers. In actual fact, we have identified 12 industries that employ large numbers of low-income workers and we will help them upgrade their skills. To date, more than 15,000 workers have benefited and 80% of them have seen salary increments of 10%. Mr Speaker, Sir, we want to develop a more inclusive society, so we must be concerned about problems faced by different stratas of the society. Currently, the sandwiched class is concerned about rising prices and their children's education, low-income workers worry about inflation, elderly workers are worried about unemployment, and those in the lowest 10% income bracket are worried about everything. So by looking after both the short-term and the long-term interests, we are putting in place the concept of sustainable development. Next, what we need to do is to ensure every spectrum of our society, from high income, low income, sandwiched class, older workers, younger workers, is able to share our vision. Convince them that if we can achieve what we set out to do, we will be able to enjoy the results. I would like to congratulate the Minister for Finance for delivering an excellent report card. So long as we continue to strive for the better and restore our resources, I believe our vision will become reality. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget. *Cols. 3011-3014. 2.17 pm”
“The Minister has named this year's Budget a "Growth and Share Budget". TV and radio stations have praised the Budget and many Singaporeans welcomed it. Lianhe Zaobao described it as a "comprehensive budget to battle inflation", the Straits Times said there was "something for everyone", Shin Min Daily News described it as a "hongbao for everybody" and Lianhe Wanbao said that with the Budget, "Money will be given out monthly" . All of them had different ways to describe the Budget. In my opinion, this is a Budget that looks after both long-term and short-term interest. Speaking on looking after both interests, I recall an article that I read in Lianhe Zaobao a year ago. It was an article written by Zaobao feature writer Han Shan Yuan, titled "What is representative of Singapore?". In actual fact, what is most representative about Singapore is its concept of sustainable development. This is something unique to Singapore. Any responsible government, regardless of what it does, must look after both the long-term and short-term interests. In other words, they must look after the short-term needs of the people, and the long-term interests and future of the country. And this is something that is representative of Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, what Singaporeans are most concerned about is the cost of living, especially the lower-income families and older workers. In the short term, we have looked after them. We have set aside $3.2 billion to fight inflation, look after the low-income families and top-up Medisave Accounts. In terms of looking after long-term interests, the Government has set aside $3.4 billion to support companies' efforts to improve productivity and competitiveness.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, prior to the announcement of this year's Budget, we heard Singaporeans' wish list and experts on their predictions. But there are two announcements that caught most Singaporeans and experts by surprise. First, the removal of radio and TV licence fees. Before this, I remember more than 10 years ago, when I first entered Parliament, we had urged the Government to remove this fee. Both within and outside Parliament, many people pressed for the removal of this fee. But the Government always had good reasons to reject such a suggestion, as they needed money to subsidise public programmes. So this time, when the Minster for Finance announced the move, we heard cheers in the House and we also noted that many Singaporeans applauded such a move. No one expected that the removal of a mere $110 TV licence fee and $27 radio licence fee would generate such a reaction, not even the Minister of Finance. The second announcement is to return $4 billion that was withdrawn in 2009 to our country's reserves. Even Opposition MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, was impressed by it. In fact, no one suggested that we should distribute this $4 billion. Everyone felt that the Government made the right decision. Some people said that this is "surprise" income and what we are doing is "paying back what we owe". In fact, what we are doing is putting the money back when we grow. When in need, we withdraw from it, and when we have surplus, we return it. So long as we are able to return the money to its original position, at the same time, strive to do better, for example, doing away with what we do not need, Singapore will be governed peacefully for the long haul. This is what many countries strive to do but are unable to achieve.”
“However, the IGP can help improve their skills, relevance and improve the work process and the company’s productivity. In the end, they share the gain. They also enjoy the Workfare and the WIS. Thus, I would like to urge the Government to do more for many of the self-employed who are also low-income workers. Indeed, this same argument of job worth applies to all workers too. 5.00 pm”
“55 pm Hence, a work group with representatives from taxi companies, e2i and ITE will soon be formed to discuss on how to address the shortage of mechanics and enhance the workflow and work processes in the workshops. For a start, the work group would focus on a few areas such as: (i) standardising training across the industry to promote minimum skills standards; (ii) determining if companies can pay better for entry-level mechanics; (iii) raising productivity and improve work processes in the workshops. It is laudable for the taxi industry and companies to come together and take the initiative to form the workgroup and address their own specific industry challenge. While IGP funding is usually company-based support, we do urge and hope that MOM could also consider extending and allowing funding support to be applicable also to specific industry identified initiatives or projects. If a project or initiative is implemented at an industry-level, the number of workers to benefit from it would surely be of greater number than just company specific. At the same time, not all companies especially the SMEs, have the financial and manpower resources to work on initiatives and projects. As such, many would not be able to tap onto the IGP. The above two cases show that NTUC, with its tripartite partners, can help low-wage and low-skill workers through the IGP to have better skill, better pay and better lives. Madam, I would like to join in the debate on minimum wage from the perspective of the self-employed. To the self-employed, they have to prove their job worth, and their relevance to the market. That is what they call 自食其力. Thus, the worth of the job is set by yourself, set by the market, not by the Government.”
“These workers will be trained to be multi-skilled and to improve their service standards so that they are also able to retain the current subscribers and if they decide to stop subscriptions, to recruit new subscribers. Workers will also be able to deliver newspapers to more households and offices. Ultimately, the productivity gains will be shared with the workers. Sir, the second case is the tripartite effort by the ITE, taxi companies and the National Taxi Association (NTA). NTA is committed to the IGP which aims at helping companies enhance their productivity and workers transform their job, skills and wages. Together with the e2i, NTA has initiated discussions with Taxi companies on tapping the IGP fund to enhance taxi companies’ productivity and improve drivers’ income. Taxi companies’ response to the IGP has been positive. Specific initiatives and projects have been identified and discussed such as enhancing the call system booking, the service excellence training of drivers, enhancing automotive service and work process to drivers. Among these initiatives, automotive services and its work process seem to be a primary concern to most taxi companies, in particular the shortage of qualified and good motor mechanics in their workshops. As a result, in some workshops, drivers have had to wait for long periods of time for their vehicles to be serviced. This down time for a taxi vehicle inadvertently affects the driver’s income, the taxi service to the commuters and eventually translates to higher operating costs for taxi companies as they too need to compensate drivers for their down time. [Mdm Deputy Speaker (Ms Indranee Rajah) in the Chair] 4.”
“Sir, I support the motion moved by Members Josephine Teo and Zainudin Nordin. I would like to cite two cases to illustrate how IGP can uplift workers’ skills, pays and lives in the logistics sector. The first case is the bipartite effort by the Singapore Newspaper Distributors Association (SNDA) and the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) which involves the newspapers delivery workers. As Members know, SPH prints more than one million copies of newspapers daily. About 600,000 of these copies are delivered to 400,000 households and offices. To do this, the industry requires 5,000 delivery workers. This is a very labour-intensive industry. To many Singaporeans, this is a tough job. Imagine waking up in the wee hours of the morning at 3.00 am and having to walk up blocks and blocks of housing flats to deliver newspapers to the doorsteps. Over the years, the industry has been facing a huge challenge in recruiting workers. Last year, we formed a Tripartite Workgroup with key representatives from NTUC, MOM, SPH, the news vendors associations and worked hard to look at ways and means for solutions. Together, we achieved some breakthroughs. SPH ploughed in $1.5 million and started a re-branding exercise to raise the image of delivery workers, with uniforms, etc. They organised job fairs, with e2i, Town Councils and the CDCs. The news vendors raised salaries and improved the benefits given to these workers. And since the exercise started, 180 Singaporeans were recruited. With the introduction of the IGP last year, the Tripartite Workgroup is now tapping on this programme to look at ways to raise the productivity of the delivery workers.”
“If parents fail in their responsibility in bringing up their children, they may not have the right to request for maintenance from the children. Some may argue that despite this, children should still take responsibility in caring their parents as they have brought them up. The Chinese say that every family has its own problems (家家有本难念的经). Therefore, it requires the mediator at the Tribunal to have a listening ear. We urge the Tribunal to listen to the views of both parties and find out what is the specific problem. Some children are indeed financially unable to pay, not that they do not want to. If the children cannot provide for the parents for financial reasons, then the responsibility to take care of these old people falls on a sound social safety net, including CDCs, various charities and welfare organisations. The amendment will ensure that aged parents will be taken care of by the family members, especially their children. We also know that legislation cannot bring about filial piety. Filial piety should start from the family and community education. From the many family-based activities organised by our community, we are reassured that our community embraces the spirit that one cares for the aged in the community in the same way as one cares for his own aged family members ( 老吾老以及人之老). Sir, I support the amendment. 4.07 pm”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] The Chinese say, "It is better to serve our parents a glass of water when they are around than offer them ham when they are dead." This shows that the best practice of filial piety is love from the heart rather than offerings after they depart. The Chinese character for filial piety "孝" sees the elderly "老" being carried by the son "子". It means that children should shoulder the responsibility of maintaining their parents. It is exactly in this spirit that the Act was enacted years back and it is also due to this spirit that I support the amendment. The amendment will give the Family Tribunal more power and make the law more effective. However, this will not make the children more filial. The Act will be more effective because it empowers the Tribunal to obtain information to locate the children's whereabouts. Children paying up under the order of the *Cols. 1807-1808. Tribunal is simply fulfilling his duty but he is not going to be more filial. Filial piety cannot depend on legislation. It is worth mentioning that this amendment is in line with our Asian society's traditional value. First, the amendment recommends pre-filing conciliation before formally going to the Tribunal. This is in line with the common belief that "one does not wash one's dirty linen in public". Traditionally, we believe that even a righteous official cannot solve his own family disputes ( 清官难理家务事). Family disputes are best to be discussed and solved among the family members themselves. Second, when formulating the law, we take into consideration the underlying principle of reciprocity.”
“:: Just now the Minister mentioned this Committee is going to set a standard. They will consult professionals. I would like to ask the Minister who are the professionals? I remember in 2004, when Minister Mentor was leading the review, his professionals included writers and teachers. These are very important people. So I hope this Review Committee will include these professionals. Just now the Minister mentioned the standards. I remember Minister Mentor mentioned in the press conference, you should set a certain standard but do not set the top, so how do we maintain this bottom line? So what is this bottom line? And for the best ones, they should achieve the best they can.”
“At the same time, when they fail to perform their duties up to the expectations of their employers, then both sides will suffer. So the employers' ability to manage the household affairs is disrupted. A foreign domestic worker often has to be transferred to another employer. In the process, it incurs more debts. Employers find it difficult to tell whether a foreign domestic worker will meet their needs, just based on the information provided by the employment agencies or the interviews they conduct with the foreign domestic worker. Given the stories we have heard and read, I would like to ask MOM two questions: (i) how significant is the problem of the foreign domestic workers being rejected by the employers simply because they do not have the necessary skills and experience; (ii) what plans does the MOM have to reduce such mis-matches? Sir, I think the current situation is a rather uneven one where the employer can change their maid, but the maid cannot change the employer, except for running away. We ought have a recourse where a maid can do so, without fuss, rancour or hard feelings on both sides.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Sir, we have 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. With an ageing population, more families are employing foreign domestic workers to care for the elderly. The Chinese has an old saying – "An elder at home is a treasure". As the elderly person becomes less mobile, a maid could make his life more comfortable. When I visited friends and relatives or attended group gatherings during the Chinese New Year, I noticed that many people talked about their maids such as how much they are paid, how they perform and how many days off they have and how they are compensated in-lieu of day-off. Most Singaporeans treat their maids very well. I have seen a case whereby the employer took the breast cancer-stricken maid to the hospital for treatment every day. Some maids helped raised the children and they even fly back to attend the kids’ wedding here. The Tripartite partners have guidelines on how to look after the welfare of foreign domestic workers. Does MOM have similar guidelines to help both the maids and employers? At the moment, we have some negative media reports about employers abusing their maids. However, this is a small minority. We can emphasise those good examples. As our population ages, these maids can help us and we must ensure a cordial relationship between the employers and the domestic workers. 1.00 pm The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade and Industry and Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong): Sir, foreign domestic workers are an important part of the Singapore household. They cook our meals, clean our houses and, for some of us, they raise our children.”
“Instead of over-reliance on expensive consultants which may result in alienating our employers from the process of the work day to – may I suggest that we look within and consult the domain experts – our workers who are actually doing the work. Let our workers tell us what they need in order to work smarter and more efficiently. In the next phase of growth, I believe the key to transforming our economy lies in the way we manage human resource. As we level up on the educational-and-skills level of our labour force, we must empower each and every Singapore worker to be active stakeholder in his or her labour. Will the new national productivity and continuing education council have representation from the ground? How will the council engage workers from the various segments directly? Finally, I envision that there will be a lot of excitement in the workplace as we rise to the challenges Budget 2010 prescribed. To facilitate greater ownership of the transformation by our labour force, we must recognise that each employee is at the same time – a father, a mother, a son, a daughter. We must respect his or her family time. Will the Minister assure us that wherever possible, training will be conducted within work hours? This will ensure that investment in paid work will not come at a cost to work in the family.”
“In this quest to focus on developing a productivity-driven economy, we must not lose sight of the quest for a good quality of life in Singapore. Enhancing our economy must be done in tandem with levelling up the quality of life to make Singapore an enduring home. While the Minister has taken pains to highlight that the increase in productivity does not mean working longer hours, that is the concern amongst Singaporeans now. How will we ensure that middle managers, especially naive middle managers, do not equate clocking longer hours to measure commitment and productivity. Training and skills upgrading will be critical and in this next phase of the transformation of our workforce. In this new workforce that we are striving towards, every Singaporean counts. What incentives will be offered to encourage employers to extend training opportunities to mid-level PMETs who are approaching retirement, to homemakers who want to re-enter the workforce and to recent retirees? Related to this is my concern that opportunities for skills upgrading may be limited to full-time employees. Can the Minister elaborate on how part-time workers can also benefit from this opportunity to level up? I hope to see that we will move towards a model where every Singaporean who wants to work has a role to play. Of particular significance will be on-the-job training for white-collared professionals as it is critical that we adequately prepare our own graduates and invest in their training, so that they will perform at an optimum level. Productivity can be derived through investment in human resource and infrastructure. The key to success is the buy-in from our workforce.”
“Workers in Singapore, PMETs included, were hit by the latest global economic crisis. For some of the affected PMETs, it is even harder for them to find a new job as compared to rank-and-file workers. We have seen many of the PMETs coming to my MPS for jobs. The main reason, as Mayor Zainudin has mentioned, is that this group of PMETs lack the horizontal skills, like the ability to manage projects, etc. Thus NTUC Learning Hub, together with the continuing education arm of the National University of Singapore, will jointly offer a new course called Business Skills for Engineers. It will equip engineers with the business skills such as marketing, strategic planning and HR management. As MOM continues to build up the continuous education and training system to bring it to all workers, may I ask what is in the pipeline for the upgrading of PMETs? Skills upgrading and training Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Madam, improved productivity through working smarter is central to the transformation of the Singapore economy. To succeed, we have to have a very good operational definition of what constitutes productive work and to make skills enhancements that facilitates improved productivity accessible to all Singaporeans. How would productivity be measured in service industries where cognitive processes are involved? As we focus on generating more output, will the staff who spends time explaining how to navigate the complexity of an ATM machine to an elderly customer or, say, a teacher who takes time to nurture slower students under her charge, be disadvantaged? We must be careful not to sacrifice quality for quantity.”
“Medisave for self-employed Madam, all self-employed persons are required to top up their Medisave Account based on their annual declared income. It is also made a pre-condition for the insurance and renewal of their vocational licence, if any. The Minister gave an overview of self-employed persons' participation and contribution to their Medisave Account. Would the Ministry consider new incentive schemes to encourage more self-employed persons to join and benefit from the CPF scheme? Madam, the current Workfare policy is to make payments to the Medisave Accounts of eligible low-income self-employed persons. Would the Ministry consider making such Workfare payments to the self-employed persons automatically as long as they are making regular monthly contributions on time and in full to their Medisave Account? This would encourage them to fulfil their Medisave liability and ensure the WIS and also get to participate in the Medisave lucky draw. Improvement to CPF system”
“Madam, last year, efforts by NTUC and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), the NTUC re-employment team and unions to help companies put in place structured policies resulted in about 7,000 older workers being re-employed. The salary range for these re-employed older workers is wide. Some are paid $800 per month, while others like senior technicians earn more than $4,000 per month. We strive to ensure that our older workers get decent pay for their decent jobs. Here, I would like to share an example of older workers at work at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). They are known as customer service officers. And I see them when I go to SGH for my physiotherapy treatment every week, twice or three times a week. They are dressed in hotel inspired green uniform and they are at the lobbies of the different blocks – Blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7 in SGH. Their duties include greet visitors and patients, assist patients and visitors alight or board their vehicles, arrange wheelchairs for patients. They helped me to arrange for a wheelchair when I first returned to the hospital for the physiotherapy treatment. They also managed the queues for the free shuttle services. On top of that, they controlled traffic. In fact, they are multi-skilled. Their monthly gross pay is between $1,200 and $1,500, depending on their experience, performance and length of services and not including overtime pay, if any. They are old but they are not slow. They work together with younger foreign workers as a team. I would like to ask the Minister: what are the new measures to encourage companies and organisations to employ older workers and, at the same time, ensure that this group of older workers are part of our productivity movement?”
“Madam, we have weathered many crises: in 1985 – recession; 1997 – Asian financial crisis; 2001 – dot.com bust; 9/11 – terrorist attack; 2003 – SARS outbreak, and to the current global economic downturn. In all these crises, tripartism has played an important role in tackling the critical issues which affect our economy. This unique brand of tripartism also ensures our social and economic progress. It is also through this tripartite platform that the labour movement airs our workers' concern and work together with the Government and management to raise the effective retirement age and ensure more older workers are re-employed, among others. All these years, the tripartite partners have also taken the initiative to launch job recreation skills training and upgrading, and promotion of fair employment practices. In this aspect, may I ask the Minister what are the measures to strengthen and institutionalise this strong tripartite cooperation? Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) Plus”
“It is argued that with contestability in the bus routes, it may lead to more job opportunities and better but the reverse can also happen. A major issue in tendering of bus routes is the transfer of staff should there be a new winning bidder, and the key concern for the public transport workers is whether their current terms of employment can be preserved upon transfer. Can MOT give us the assurance that any tendering will not be based on price but will be a contest where we take into account various quality aspects? Central planning of bus routes One key feature of the Land Transport Masterplan is the integration and central planning of the bus routes between buses and trains so as to enhance the public transport system. LTA has engaged the grassroot organisations and its leaders, since last year, to collate their feedback and suggestions on the proposed central planning of bus routes. May I ask the Minister what are some of the key feedback received and whether these will have an impact on the bus and train services? What is the timeline that LTA will assume this central planning role from the two operators? How would the new bus and train routes be implemented once it is finalised? Will there be a big bang or will it be implemented in phases? Most importantly, what are the guiding principles in reaching the final decision of the service routes, knowing that there must many conflicting interests among the commuters?”
“During peak hours, public transport operators also report an increased in ridership, especially in the trains. One reason given for this overcrowdedness is the rapid growth of our population over the last few years from 4 million to 5 million. Measures have started to kick in to make public transport more attractive like shorter bus headway times, more dedicated bus lanes and give-way-to-buses at designated bus stops. All these measures, plus the squeeze inside our public transport system would demonstrate that more are, in fact, taking public transport. Despite all these measures being implemented, the average daily commuters feel the crowdedness and squeeze, be it in buses or trains. May I ask the Minister if more measures and plans will be introduced to further enhance the Land Transport Masterplan, taking into account the growing population and the constraint of existing transport system before the new rail network is up and running? Sir, it was also reported in the HITS that public transport modular share has dropped from 63% to 59%. It does seem, contradictory, that the survey reflect a drop in transport share while the sentiments from the ground seems to reflect the opposite. Could the Minister clarify on this drop in transport modular share vis-a-vis the sentiment on the ground that public transport is, indeed, crowded. Tendering of bus routes A major review of the Land Transport Masterplan is to allow contestability in public transport system. Bus and train services could be tendered to competent operators to manage for a contracted period. We understand that the rationale behind this proposal, which is to ensure services standards and operation efficiency are kept up to the desired level.”
“Chairman, Singapore has set bold targets on green policy and sustainable development which include cutting down on carbon emission. May I ask the Minister whether his Ministry has decided on a green energy policy, especially on the type of vehicular emission technology to adopt in supporting the policy. Sir, as we understand, some of the public land transport operators have already invested heavily in different technologies supporting the green environment, like Euro V environmentally friendly diesel engine for public buses and CNG for some taxis. My concern is that if Government decides later to impose on these public transport operators a certain type of technology which is different from what is being invested now, it may have impact on the job and income of the workers. For taxis, green vehicles like hybrid-based technology are more expensive to own and maintain. As a result, rental costs of such vehicles may go up and earnings of taxi drivers will be affected. So, in the case of buses, operators have already invested a large sum to purchase the new Euro V buses. So any change in policy on green vehicles would severely impact the bottom line of these operators and, ultimately, affect our workers' earnings.”
“When the team eventually came to Hainan Island, they came to the conclusion that this was the best place to invest in. This investor then went to Hainan Island to see with his own eyes why Hainan Island is the best place to invest. While there, he saw a group of young people toiling under the hot sun, while an old man keep shouting at them, "Productivity, productivity!" He thought to himself, "Even the old folks here are putting more emphasis on productivity, my investment cannot go wrong!" What he did not realise was that the old man was actually shouting, in Hainanese, "bo lat, ti bo ti?", literally meaning "No strength, yes or no?" He was actually scolding the young workers for not having used more strength in their work, or in positive sense, asking them to work harder, which is, in a way, something to do with productivity. *Cols. 2569-2576. 2.08 pm”
“The goody bag they gave us expounded the main values of the YOG. It contained materials that explained the aims of the Youth Olympics, such as respect, excellence and friendship. So, when you take this goody bag with you, it is very valuable. When we organise any event, the goody bag must be relevant to the event. It is not the weight of the bag but the message we carry back. Many organisers like to conduct lucky draws to keep the crowd. You have to stay there throughout the whole event in order to be eligible for the prize. We made a few people happy as eventually only a few people would win the prizes, and the rest of the people went home empty handed and disappointed. This is not very desirable. Thirdly, the buffet served at the functions. There seems to be buffet lunches or dinners served at every function, big or small. Almost without fail, the buffet spread would consist of fried chicken wings, spring rolls and fried noodles. This is not very good either. I think we could have some other types of healthy food or even go without buffet, depending on the timing and occasion. In short, productivity is a national movement. It is something that everybody should be part of it. Everybody must have confidence in it and enjoy the whole process. I would like to sum it up in three sentences: Confidence is the start of it. Joy is part of it. Love is Heart of it. Finally, I would like to share with Members this story on productivity. Many people are saying that the best place to invest is China. A western investor asked, "Why is everybody investing in the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai? Surely there must be many other places in China for foreign investment!" He decided to send a team to tour the whole of China in search of better alternative sites to invest in.”
“I hope that Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and his Productivity Council could make our people, particularly those in the middle and lower income groups, understand the whole concept of productivity. We have to sharpen our swords. There is a Chinese saying "if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tool". So we have to make everybody understand that we need to upgrade our skill. As we want to encourage our workers to up-skill themselves, we must send the correct message to them. As we know, our workers like to change their handphones every now and then. They want to upgrade their handphones so that they can have better facilities to communicate with others and enjoy the convenience. When they upgrade their handphones, they have to pay for it. But, when a worker signs up for a course to upgrade himself, the Government incentivises him. This should be a very good incentive for the workers to upgrade their skills. To cut waste is also one way to improve productivity. In both the public and private sectors, there are always a lot of functions and events which involve a lot of people, and there is inevitably wastage arising from such events. For these functions, the key performance indicator (KPI) is usually based on how many people were present at the function. No doubt, it is good to have a good turn out, but have we really attracted the type of people that we want for the function? Did the right people turn up? Or did some persons come by just to collect the goodies bag and get the lucky draw prize? We spent a lot of money and time in preparing the goodies bags and lucky draws. But is the money well spent? Is there value in the bags we gave out? Recently, I went to the Youth Olympics headquarters. I really enjoyed my visit there.”
“Nowadays, there is no soundman, and only two personnel are involved. The reporter carries a few microphones covering a few TV channels. He is accompanied by the cameraman. In the past, after the interview, the driver would have to rush the recorded tape back to the station for editing in time for the interview to be telecast in the programme. Nowadays, a new technique is used whereby the interview is transmitted simultaneously back to the station, giving the editors plenty of time to have the clips ready for telecast in the scheduled programme. Another example. The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) encourages more people to distribute newspapers. In the past, newspaper distributors had to carry copies of newspapers with their hands. But now, SPH has designed a carrier with wide opening so that distributors can carry it on the shoulder and distribute the newspapers faster and more efficiently. Another example is the training given to our bus captains so that they could drive different types of buses – single deck or double deck, long or short buses. In the past, they could only drive along one route. Now, they can ply on many routes. So there are many advantages. They perform so many tasks and, hence, earn better income. We have many such examples. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked why labour movement advocates "Cheaper Better and Faster". He has his views but he does not have the solutions. We have the views and we have also the solutions. But, of course, the solutions do not come easy. Much efforts and trials have to be carried out to find the best and most workable solutions.”
“First one refers to the Parliament Secretariat. In the past, after the Finance Minister had announced the Budget, MPs would go outside to queue and collect our Budget Book. This year, the Parliament Secretariat is more efficient. Just collect the book from the staff and we did not have to queue up. In the past, we have to tell the staff on duty our number. There were three queues. Each queue covers about 30 numbers, say, from 1 to 30, 31 to 60, and, 61 and above. If you forgot your number, you have to trouble the staff to source for your envelope which contained the book. The system was improved subsequently. We just queued according to the alphabet of our surname, like L or G. So, there were still three queues, but this time round, we moved faster as we all remember our surnames. The three queues were from A to K, L to O and P to Z. Now, the system has improved even further. Each of us just go to the counter and get the book. We do not need to queue up. After all, all books are the same and no one will collect more than one copy. We change our mindset and have the confidence in the system. Thus, confidence is the start of productivity. Second example. During the Chinese New Year period, we went about attending celebrations dinners where yu sheng (raw fish) was served. Everybody was joyful. Why? Because the yu sheng has some auspicious significance, and whenever we participate in taking the yu sheng, we feel good, and we are joyful. This is also a way of raising productivity because restaurants are doing well, customers are feeling good. Third example is the media interview. In the past, whenever the TV stations interviewed us, they would come in as a team with a cameraman, a soundman and a journalist. There would be four to five people, including a driver.”
“I support this Budget. We should train and upgrade our workers' skills, and we need more talents. Some Singaporeans commented that there was no hongbao, or red packets, in this year’s Budget. My response is that we are given the Shou Bao, to upgrade and up our productivity. The Productivity Council led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will have a lot of work to do, and we are confident that its recommendations will have an impact on all sectors and all workers. Mr Low also mentioned that we should show more concern for our older workers. As a matter of fact, we have already introduced many schemes for the elderly workers. I propose that the Productivity Council should recognise the existing course like the WSQ based courses as approved course. Also, the 90%-95% absentee pay is useful but the reimbursement shall be sped up so as to encourage more employers to send their workers for upgrading. We have set the target to raise our productivity by 2% to 3% every year for the next 10 years so that in 10 years’ time, our real income shall be raised by one-third. The question among many Singaporeans is: how are we going to quantify the productivity increases? Is it the number of total output divided by the number of workers? We can provide confidence to the people through the many anecdotes I am going to tell. In order to do this, we must tell our workers not only to work hard, but to have the correct perception as well. Our workers have been working hard, but some are not able to perceive the right direction and the big picture. They have been pulling the carts, but they have not raised their heads to look at the directions. If they can do that, they will be able to earn better income. Let me cite a few examples of productivity.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, Sir, we have come out of the recession mainly because of the joint efforts of our tripartite partners. In last year's Budget, the main emphasis was to cut cost and to keep jobs. There is a saying among the people, "One, two, three, four, five, go to seek help from the Government, and you will be fine!" There is another saying, "one, two, three, four, five, no job go to e21". Just look at last year's figures, e2i helped about 53,000 workers to re-skill and/or up-skill or move into another industry. Credit must be given to our joint efforts and perseverance. According to the Ministry of Manpower, the vast majority of jobs created last year went to Singaporeans. A while ago, Mr Low Thia Khiang complained that we are flooded with foreign workers that rendered Singaporeans out of jobs. The fact is that, in the past two years, due to the economic crisis, many workers around the world could not find jobs. Yet we managed to keep our unemployment rate low while other countries are facing the double digit unemployment rate. I wish that Mr Low could come and visit our e2i one of these days, to see how we are helping Singaporeans to get jobs and to raise productivity. It is a long-term effort. He asked why NTUC advocates "Better Faster and Cheaper". He must know that we are now competing globally. Other countries which are cheaper than us are now better than us while those who are better than us are now also cheaper than us. He also mentioned that the foreign workers had caused our workers' wages to be depressed. However, we noted that a number of our parliamentary colleagues mentioned earlier that our business sector, our enterprises were in need of foreign workers in order that we could continue to grow.”
“Because the Government can generate wealth, that is why it can afford to distribute the money to the people. I think we should distribute more to those who need the money and not just equal distribution to everybody. Mr Deputy Speaker, I will now speak in English on two technical points so that the Minister for Finance will understand better. *Cols. 475-478. (In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the proposed changes will definitely be helpful to free more earnings or returns on the investment of the reserves. The Government will have more funds at its disposal to invest in the longer term social needs of Singaporeans, such as education, healthcare and socio-economic infrastructures. I have two technical questions for the Minister: (1) How would the long-term expected return be calculated? Does it include mark-to-market losses that most likely the GIC and Monetary Authority of Singapore's investments in property equity and debt securities would have suffered during a financial turmoil? How could the Government predict the future since it is "expected return"? What happens if the realised return over a period turns out to be negative? (2) This proposed change has opened up more revenue sources for the Government to spend. The Government may also want to set some ground rules on how it should be spent. For example, should the spending of fund from a realised capital gain be channelled mostly, if not all, to long-term development needs or building the long-term competitiveness for Singaporeans? 5.52 pm”
“Our GIC has been able to generate good returns on our reserves because they have been very prudent and they have very good strategies. In the face of the financial crisis, many people, especially the vulnerable elderly, would ask why the Government has not encouraged senior citizens to keep their money in CPF, so that they can enjoy 5% interest. It is better keeping the money with CPF as with the money in hand, they go to coffee-shop and may get cheated. When they invest in stocks and shares, they may lose money. We all know that the Singapore Government has been giving a lot of rebates and ang baos to the people, yet people are complaining that it is not fair. The Government has been kind and it simply deposits the money into their bank accounts. Unlike in Indonesia, we recently heard of the case of a rich man who was distributing money to the people – just 40,000 rupiahs, which is about $6 – it had resulted in a mad rush for the money, and many were crushed to death. Eventually, 23 people died in the stampede. In Singapore, the money is wired straight into the people's bank account. But, on what criterion? If we give more to the old, then the young ones will say it is not fair. If you give more to the 3-room flat dwellers, the 5-room dwellers will say it is not fair to them. If you based it on income, some will say they have more mouths to feed. So it is difficult to satisfy everybody. I think we should adopt a different approach based on economic growth. When times are good, we should give healthcare incentives and CPF top-ups to the people. When the economy is not so good, we need to care for the people, eg, giving transport vouchers and other vouchers to help the poor and vulnerable people.”
“In the community, we see more ice-cream vendors – whether the weather is fine or no good, they will have not much business and they will have problems to make ends meet. In the manufacturing sector, when the factories change their production mode, these people will lose their jobs. But, fortunately, with the help of the Government, the subsidies given to these elderly workers helped them to undergo retraining programmes through NTUC to acquire new skills, so that they can be employed. However, the process will take a long time and life will be difficult for them. For these people, they may not understand why electricity tariff will be raised. When it is raised, it is raised by such a big margin. And when price went down, it is just a little. When the Formula One was in Singapore, they could not understand why some people could spend few thousand dollars but they could not afford to. And they do not understand why we are digging up our roads. When we are digging up the roads to lay underground cables, it is to provide gas or build underground tunnels, so that all these facilities will enhance the value of our property. So, in other countries, one square foot of land can be just a dollar, but it can cost a few thousand dollars in Singapore. Of course , all know that the Government is capable of creating wealth. Recently, the Government Investment Corporation (GIC), for the first time, published its annual report and the average rate of return is 4.5% over last 20 years. Therefore, the people are confident of the Government's investing strategies. And they say, if you want to have sound investments, we need the veterans, people like Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and some of our senior Ministers.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will speak in Mandarin first. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Deputy Speaker, this amendment to the Constitution will be very significant to the future of Singapore, particularly to narrowing the gap between the poor and vulnerable group and the rich people in Singapore. I would support the Bill. I will speak first on a matter of principle and then on some technical points. First, on a matter of principle, the amendment is to expand the definition of the "net investment returns" which could be utilised by the Government. Why should we do that? Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had already mentioned this in the year 2006. What the Government is trying to do is to spend more money on helping the low-income people, so that they will have a better standard of living. This move on expanding reserves so as to increase spending on the poor and vulnerable group is worthy of support by all the people of Singapore, especially in tough times when the economy is going through a restructuring. The economy has been developing so quickly and its growth is so fast that many people, especially those in the poor and vulnerable group, are not able to catch up with the rest and are lagging behind. Some of them in the elite group have even fallen behind and become part of the vulnerable group. If we go to our neighbourhood, we can find that there are a lot of new immigrants. They come and they are seen by Singaporeans as the privileged group. With comparison, the people found that they lose their advantage to the new immigrants. So I think to spend more of our reserves to help the vulnerable group is something which we need to support. Who are the vulnerable people?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has not answered my two clarifications on the transfer rebate. I said that if a transfer rebate is too high, it will jeopardise the viability of the PTOs and that will affect the welfare of the public transport workers. How do we ensure that? Secondly, does MOT have the pattern of the transfers made: (a) bus-bus between the same company; (b) bus-train between different companies; and (c) bus-train-bus between different companies. That will really be useful in determining how the fare structure change will affect the commuters, the travelling public and also the public transport workers.”
“Sir, I support the proposed Amendment Bill to confer a new function on PTC to drive integration of bus and RTS fares by means of introducing distance-based through fares. Currently, our fare structure is not equitable and not consistent with our hub-and-spoke model as it is not fully integrated and does not support transfer. In fact, a commuter pays more to make a transfer journey with less travelling time compared to a direct journey that requires more travelling time. Take, for example, a commuter that travels from Yishun to Singapore Expo by MRT. He will incur a fare of $1.75 by ez-link card and the journey time is 58 minutes. However, if he wants to cut down travelling time to 50 minutes and makes a transfer by taking a bus and then a train, he will have to incur a higher fare of $2.30, even after transfer rebates. In order for commuters to enjoy more efficient, more frequent services and shorter journey times, transfer penalty will have to be removed. Indirectly, this also means that transfer rebates will have to be increased. Currently, the transfer rebate is 25 cents and is paid by the second leg operator. So, if a bus brings commuters to a train, the train will bear the transfer rebate, and vice versa.”
“Instead of keeping the information to itself, which would not be good for us and also for our security, ISD immediately alerted all its counterparts in the neighbourhood as well as further away. As a result, Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi was arrested by the Filipinos in January 2002; and the Australians were also able to discover the JI network in Australia. And in Malaysia and Indonesia. Because of information that ISD provided on Mansour Jabarah, he was also eventually arrested by the authorities overseas. Of course, that is not the only thing that ISD does. From time to time, you will hear of cases; but most of the time what they do will not be in public view. In the last 60 years, particularly after we became independent, you can see that ISD has provided important information that led to the arrests of many people that want to do Singapore harm. And I do not want to go into the details today.”
“He was quiet and probably very intelligent, maybe very observant as well, and therefore he could take advantage of the situation. When he visited the toilet, he would have done some planning and he progressively tested whether the guard will stop him from closing the door or not and whether the guard will notice him turning on the tap or not, and so on. He exploited all those situations and that is why we have the problem. On the confidence of the ISD and ISD officers, the problem here lies in the breach of procedure by some individuals in the Whitley Road Detention Centre. We should not generalise this to cover the whole of the ISD. I do not want to go into great details about the achievements of ISD. I think Members have heard one part of it. I have previously said that ISD was quick enough to be alert to a piece of information that it picked up and mounted surveillance on Muhammad Aslam who had then wanted to go to Afghanistan. ISD mounted surveillance on him and his friends but during which time Muhammad Aslam left Singapore and went to Pakistan, and eventually made his way to Afghanistan. And despite that, ISD did not take action on his friends who are still in Singapore. When Muhammad Aslam was arrested by the Northern Alliance who were then fighting the Talibans and questions were raised as to how was it that this person had a Singapore passport. When we were asked the question, and it was reported in the press even in other countries too, ISD decided to move and arrested his friends who were working with him. That was how ISD arrested the first 15 of the JI members that led to the disclosure of the JI network.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, many of our grassroots leaders have informed me that they have bad experience visiting the heritage centre there. It is quite difficult and troublesome for them to go in. They said that if we can have the same kind of check, they cannot imagine that Mas Selamat can just come out this way. They pointed out that even their 3, 4, 5-room flats have grilles and they cannot imagine that the prison window do not have grilles. HDB flats have grilles to prevent people from coming in. So this kind of answer, as the Minister says, is silly that we do not install grilles. We have been assured that all these facilities will be enhanced. The point is whether we also look into another aspect, as MM pointed out, that "You thought you want to size me up, I will size you up." So, especially the lower grade officers, having been trained to size people up, they would not be conditioned over a period of time that they would let down their guard. ISD has been held in high respect, not only from within but without Singapore. Now that this has happened, and we know the truth of it, how can we restore the public confidence in ISD? Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, as I have explained, the reason why the WRDC did not grill up that window is really something that should not have happened. It is a very basic thing for a security facility. Unfortunately, it is a lesson learnt too late, but now they have fixed that problem. Did the SDO, who is a very junior officer, size up Mas Selamat or is Mas Selamat able to size up the others? I think the job of assessing the psychology of Mas Selamat is very much left to the Case Officer who handles him. The Case Officer is the one who decides on how to treat this person or Mas Selamat. On Mas Selamat himself, I am told he was not cooperative.”
“The Minister has not addressed the issue on the distance-based fare structure and whether it will lead to higher or lower fares in future. Second, has LTA done any comparative studies on taxi services in other countries? Also, is the Minister aware that lately, LTA has put out this advisory note to all commuters, tourists included, that "For errant drivers, please call this number." throughout all taxi stands in the CBD? This will give a wrong impression that our taxi drivers are so bad that it warrants the LTA to put up this advisory throughout all the taxi stands. Can we replace 'errant drivers' with the word 'feedback'?”
“However, with the implementation of taxi stands and taxi stops in the CBD from this month, there are several operational issues that really jeopardise the business of taxi drivers in providing their services. So, I would urge the LTA to work with TOA to review the design and locations of the taxi stands and taxi stops, in particular, for commercial and Government buildings or hotels without driveways and drivers who are on hourly bookings by passengers or conducting city tours. Sir, the list of our operational problems is quite long, and I shall submit it to LTA this afternoon. We should treat taxis as part of the solution, and not a problem, in making sure that Singapore will have a smooth flowing traffic. Taxis”
“Sir, for Mr Low Thia Khiang's information, residents in Ang Mo Kio are all equally concerned about the possible ERP gantry coming to Ang Mo Kio. However, we have taken a positive approach by forming a task force involving the grassroots leaders, merchants, Traffic Police, LTA officers, etc. We are managing well. So, Minister, do not worry, we will manage it. We hope the gantry will not come to Ang Mo Kio. On taxi drivers, just when the market demand for taxi service is adjusting and recovering from the last taxi-fare adjustment, the taxi industry is going to get another unexpected shock of change in the price of using taxi. With more ERP gantries starting this year and higher ERP charges, the cost of road usage has increased significantly. To the taxi drivers and their commuters, this is equivalent to another round of taxi fare increase. With the worrying trend of increase in fuel price, we are gravely concerned about the livelihood of taxi drivers. An increase in the price of taxi service due to an increase in ERP charges will reduce its demand without any prospect of maintaining the current income level of taxi drivers. Sir, the old problem of distorted supply and demand for taxi services, especially in the CBD area, due to increase in ERP charges and wanting to earn the extra taxi call booking fees, will resurface again. Last month, the Taxi Operators' Association (TOA) – I must declare my interest as I am the Adviser to the TOA – initiated the Taxi Customer Centric Initiative with the support of LTA and all taxi companies. We want to instil in them the mindset of customer-centric and tool them to anticipate customers' needs. They will be our service champions. It is hoped that, with better service, they will be rewarded with better income.”
“I would urge LTA to take into consideration in their planning stage, the needs of the bus drivers and staff working for the operators to ensure that basic amenities like toilets, canteen and crew rest rooms are properly catered within the bus terminal so that they need not travel too far given the tight rest period – normally, it is 15-20 minutes – they have in between their duties and rest times. Road Usage and Public Transport”
“However, whenever any unforeseen or unfortunate incidents happen, the bus driver would be the first one to be blamed. Fortunately, the majority of our bus crews goes about performing their job professionally and takes criticisms and sometimes scoldings from commuters in their stride. Sir, while we are supportive of more competition in the bus routes, we want to ensure that it is not done at the expense of commuters or our workers' interest and welfare. In particular, the tendering process for bus routes package should not become an avenue for "cheap sourcing" by existing or new operators resulting in the employment of contract and lowly paid workers, including more foreign cheap labour. We urge the MOT to consider formulating a basic framework and standards on the employment terms and conditions during the bidding and tendering process to refrain company from engaging in "cheap sourcing". This is an important and critical process in ensuring our workers' interest and their morale are kept in balance while we strive for better and efficient service standards for the transport system. Similarly, I want to highlight the daily needs of our members working at the bus terminals. I certainly welcome the proposal to build more integrated hubs with built-in bus terminals. These modern structures are well ventilated and with modern and clean facilities. This augers well not only for commuters but also make it comfortable for our members working inside the terminal.”