Sun Xueling
Singapore
“We are deploying electric vehicle (EV) chargers in tandem with growing demand, within the constraints of space and electricity. As EV technology is continuously improving, we are also mindful not to overbuild as chargers can become obsolete quickly.”
“I thank Member Dr Choo Pei Ling for raising feedback from her Tengah residents. Currently, two multi-storey car parks in Tengah have EV chargers, and LTA subsidiary, EV-Electric (EVe) Charging Pte Ltd, is in the process of deploying EV chargers in another eight multi-storey car parks in Tengah.”
“The Government targets to deploy 60,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points by 2030, which comprise 40,000 in public car parks, and 20,000 in private premises. As of March 2026, there are 30,500 EV charging points deployed in Singapore. We are on track to achieving our 2030 target in tandem with the growing demand for EVs.”
“In 2025, about 30% of Build-To-Order (BTO) blocks were completed earlier than their estimated completion dates at the point of flat booking. On average, these blocks were completed about two months earlier.”
“Yes, thank you. We agree with Dr Neo that it is important to bring together the wider ecosystem and we will consult all stakeholders. The Ministry of Transport's immediate focus is to drive the usage of drones more extensively, especially by the public sector and this is because we already have many potential use cases.”
“I thank the Member for her question. Earlier, I mentioned in my reply that the HDB notifies buyers at three junctures. This is to give buyers adequate time to plan. And that is why it is at the one year before, six months before and three months before.”
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“The offender or his representatives, including family members or legal counsel, will be allowed to make written representations. All relevant information, including the offender's conduct and progress and an independent risk assessment by a psychiatrist, will be provided to the Review Board and subsequently to the Minister. The Minister's powers under the SEPP are in line with existing regimes, such as Corrective Training (CT), Preventive Detention (PD) and life imprisonment. The Minister's powers are subject to safeguards. If the Minister decides not to release an offender, the Minister must review that decision again, within a year. Furthermore, the Minister's decision can be subject to judicial review. A key safeguard, both at the sentencing and review stages, will be independent assessments by experts. Such assessments will be done by psychiatrists, using evidence-based scientific tools, which are internationally validated. They assess a wide range of risk factors, including previous violence, the offender's degree of insight into his conduct and responsivity to treatment and the support available to the offender when released. A scientific and regular rigorous approach will be taken for the risk assessment. Let me summarise the three key benefits of the SEPP. First, it enhances the protection of the public. An offender who continues to pose a real danger to others will not be released. Second, it promotes rehabilitation. An offender sentenced to the SEPP knows that his release is not guaranteed, therefore, he has a clear and powerful incentive to take his rehabilitation seriously and participate in the many corrective programmes that are offered in Prisons. Third, it enables more calibrated punishment.”
“Even after the offender is released, he will be placed on licence and subject to conditions. He will continue to be assessed. The sentence will be brought to an end, only if the Minister assesses that the offender is ready to be released unconditionally. If not, the sentence will extend to the end of the offender's natural life. As it is a sentence, it is the Court, which decides whether to impose the SEPP. There are strict requirements that must be fulfilled before the court can impose the SEPP. The SEPP can only be imposed for very serious offences, including culpable homicide, attempted murder, rape and sexual penetration of a minor. Let me emphasise that it is the Court that decides whether to impose the SEPP. This will generally be after considering an independent risk assessment report by IMH. The defence can also submit its own expert's report. Usual court procedures will apply at this stage. An appeal may also be filed, if either the prosecution or the defence is dissatisfied with the Court's decision. The Court will retain the discretion not to impose the SEPP, for example, if a less severe sentence will also achieve the goal of public protection. At the end of the minimum term, the offender will be reviewed and will only be released if assessed to be suitable for release by the Minister for Home Affairs, on the advice of a Detention Review Board. The Review Board will comprise persons with high public standing, with experience and forensic psychiatry or psychology, or experience with the criminal justice system. This may include retired judges and retired judicial commissioners, senior lawyers or senior psychiatrists or psychologists.”
“Today, offenders sentenced to imprisonment are incarcerated for a fixed-term determined by the court and must be released unconditionally after that term. However, there is a small group of high-risk offenders who still post a danger to the public at the point of release. Such offenders, include serial sexual predators. Let me give you an example. In 2022, an offender was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for sexually abusing eight children with learning or physical difficulties, after offering to tutor them. These offences were committed over a period of 16 years from 2002 to 2018. The victims were as young as five years old and the offender recorded videos of the numerous attacks. He was assessed by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to be at very high risk of repeated sexual offending against young female victims. The law currently does not allow us to hold this type of offenders back in prison or even impose any conditions on their release, even if they are likely to reoffend. This can lead to tragic consequences. In recent years, we have seen cases, where offenders commit serious sexual crimes against vulnerable victims, such as children, soon after being released from prison. Each of these cases is sickening. When such cases happen, we might ask ourselves: Why were these offenders allowed back into the community in the first place? Were they still a danger to others? Could these crimes have been prevented? The SEPP is our response. When an offender is sentenced to the SEPP, the Court will specify a minimum period of custody. After the offender is detained in prison for that minimum period, he will be assessed. The offender will only be released, if we assess that he no longer poses a significant threat to others.”
“Only qualified medical professionals will be allowed to conduct physical medical examinations and invasive medical procedures. For examinations involving intimate body parts, only police officers holding the rank of Inspector and above, can require the examinations to be conducted. And, where such an examination is conducted by police officers or forensic specialists, and the individual undergoing the examination is a woman, the examination may only be carried out by a woman. Second, the requirement of consent is different for the accused persons and victims. For accused persons, police will have powers to require them to undergo forensic medical examinations, even if they do not consent. Refusal to undergo examinations, without reasonable excuse, will be an offence and accused person may be jailed or fine or both. The Courts may also draw negative inferences from any refusal by the accused person to undergo examination. On the other hand, for victims, consent is generally required. It is important to treat victims, especially those who have suffered sexual assault, sensitively, to avoid re-traumatising them. If there is no consent, police will not proceed with the examination. However, there are some exceptions. For example, if a victim falls into a coma after a sexual assault and DNA evidence would be lost if not collected as soon as possible. Police will exercise the exceptions judiciously. For example, if the victim is drunk and is expected to become sober within a reasonable time, the police will generally wait for the victim to recover and then seek the victim's consent. The next major set of amendments that I will address, is the Sentence for Enhanced Public Protection (SEPP). The SEPP represents a significant change in our sentencing landscape.”
“[Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Government's overall aim for our criminal justice system is to ensure that society is safe and secure and people can go about their lives without worrying about their safety. This has always been a priority for the Government. We have achieved this through tough criminal laws, effective enforcement of our laws by the police and other law and enforcement agencies and fair and effective criminal procedures. Every country should have a criminal justice system that meets its own unique needs. Ultimately, we must maintain the right balance between protecting individuals' rights and safeguarding society's interests. The balance we have struck in Singapore is a good one, both in principle and practice. The proposed amendments in this Bill are consistent with our philosophy towards law and order. There are about 20 sets of amendments under this Bill. First, I will talk about forensic medical examinations. Forensic evidence is valuable in the investigation of major crimes, such as serious sexual offences. For example, in 2016, there was a case where a stranger broke into the victim's house, assaulted and raped her, before making off with some of her belongings. The accused denied committing the offences, but forensic evidence in this case – the accused's semen and findings of the victim's DNA on the accused, was critical in establishing that he was responsible for the offences. Given the value of the forensic evidence in investigations, we are proposing a legislative framework for conducting forensic medical examinations (FMEs). First, we set up safeguards to ensure that examinations are conducted safely and sensitively.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be allowed to deliver my speech in Mandarin?”
“We have various levers under the Online Criminal Harms Act which will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government to better work with these platforms to issue Government directions against scams and to also require designated providers to detect and minimise scams and other malicious cyber activities. 1.29 pm”
“I thank the Member for his two questions. In my response, I will attempt to take them together. I mentioned that the Police have been working with Meta to stop further abuse of compromised WhatsApp accounts and the Police have also been working with online platforms, including Google, to introduce safer safeguards, and I had specifically mentioned through the pre-emptive detection and blocking of URLs linked to phishing sites. First, I would like to share that the platforms have responded with varying degrees of urgency and they had leaned to it to different extents. For example, Meta has, on some occasions, required more time to recover compromised WhatsApp accounts. We intend to work even closer with Meta and to highlight to them that we need them to do more. They need to respond more quickly to our requests, to be more effective and efficient in recovering compromised WhatsApp accounts and disabling the service if it is part of a scam. So, the Government will continue to engage these online platforms since they are key vectors for the propagation of scams. For Google, as we all know, they run a search engine. So, we are working with them so that they can be more proactive and also more capable at detecting links which are links to phishing websites. And this is something that requires technical work on Google's end. We are highlighting these scam variants to them, so that they can take better care and look at how their search engines can be better optimised to prevent such scam variants from taking place on their platforms. I mentioned also that the Online Criminal Harms Act will come into force in the first quarter of 2024.”
“For instance, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) recently launched the fifth edition of the National Cybersecurity Campaign, which aims to raise awareness and drive adoption of good cyber practices. The SPF and CSA also work with other agencies on more targeted campaigns, such as the SG Cyber Safe Students Programme, which supports schools in the conduct of cybersecurity lessons. In addition, the SPF regularly highlights emerging scam variants and the measures that the public can take to protect themselves. Specific to the recent spike in phishing scams involving compromise of WhatsApp accounts, the SPF had issued several advisories which urged members of the public to adopt the three simple steps of "Add", "Check", "Tell". First, "Add" security features, such as enabling two-step verification, on your WhatsApp and other online messaging accounts. Turn on your notification settings to be alerted to changes to linked devices. Second, "Check" that you are on the official WhatsApp website. Check your settings for unauthorised linked devices and be wary of unusual requests from your contacts whose accounts may have been compromised. Third, "Tell" your friends and family about your scam encounters and report any fraudulent activity to your bank and to the Police immediately.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in this recent scam variant, WhatsApp users who were attempting to access their WhatsApp account on their computer had clicked on a fake "WhatsApp Web" phishing website. They had then scanned the QR code in the website via their WhatsApp account on their mobile device and, in doing so, they inadvertently granted the scammers access to their WhatsApp account. The scammers then used the compromised WhatsApp account to impersonate the user and reached out to the user's family and friends and convinced them to transfer monies to the scammers' bank accounts or PayNow numbers. To combat this scam variant, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) has been working with Meta to stop further abuse of compromised WhatsApp accounts as soon as they are detected. The SPF have also been working with online platforms, including Google, to introduce stronger safeguards to mitigate the risk of fraudulent takeover of online messaging accounts, such as through the preemptive detection and blocking of URLs linked to phishing websites. The Online Criminal Harms Act which will be progressively operationalised from this quarter, will allow the Government to direct online messaging platforms to disable access to accounts suspected to be involved in scams. The Government can also require designated online service providers to introduce upstream measures to safeguard against the misuse of online accounts. Ultimately, however, the best defence against scams is a vigilant and discerning public. To this end, the Government has been running campaigns to encourage the public to adopt good cyber practices.”
“I thank the Member for his question. At the stage of pre-adoption requirements, I had mentioned that the prospective adopter has to undergo a comprehensive Adoption Suitability Assessment and prospective adopters who wish to adopt a child with a traumatic history, will need to be assessed if they are able to meet the child's complex care needs. So, it is one layer above what I shared earlier. I had also shared that we have a specialised Clinical and Forensic Psychology Service team. They have the expertise, given that they have dealt with children with a traumatic history before. So, their input will also be taken in. We will then see whether the prospective adopters have the capabilities to properly care for such a child, given the fact that the child has had this unfortunate experience of having a traumatic past previously.”
“So, like I said, I guess the Member has a specific case in mind. If the Member does not mind, we could take this offline after this.”
“I thank the Member for raising this. I suppose the Member has a specific case in his mind when he shared this. If he does not mind, perhaps after this Sitting, he could share the case with me offline, so we can take a closer look at it. In general, for prospective adopters, what happens in the process is that they first have to attend a pre-adoption briefing and they have to undergo a comprehensive Adoption Suitability Assessment which is conducted by social service staff from an MSF-accredited adoption agency. The prospective adopters have to first obtain a favourable Home Study Report that I mentioned earlier, before they can proceed to identify a child to adopt. If the child is a foreigner, and I think this is a point the Member raised in the case, the prospective adopter would have to apply for a Dependant's Pass, so that the child can reside in Singapore while undergoing the adoption process. After the Dependant's Pass is granted, the prospective adopter can apply to the Family Justice Courts (FJC) to adopt. That would then be MSF's Guardian-in-Adoption, which is appointed by the FJC who will conduct social investigations. And by that, I mean checking in with the prospective adopters, family members, character referees, professionals and so on. So, as you can see, there is a process in place. Whether it is overly onerous, at the onset, I think we have to agree in principle that we have to make sure the child's interest, welfare and well-being – whether or not a Singaporean or a foreign child – has to be front and centre. That is why we have all these processes in place, to make sure that we are able to assess and screen the prospective adopter, to make sure that they have the basic requirements and have the best situation to be able to care for such a child.”
“But what is very, very important is that we really need members of the public to be together with us in this fight to protect our children. As you can imagine, for a young person or child who is experiencing this, you never know at which point and what might trigger the child to finally open up. When he or she decides to open up, then there must be a trusted adult nearby for him or her to open up to. In this case, it was a teacher who was open, who had obviously spent time building a nurturing and trusting relationship with the child; and it was one such teacher whom the child had trusted and whom she confided in. So, I would say that the most fundamental, and perhaps the most comprehensive, way of tackling this issue is to raise greater awareness among more members of the public, in particular, persons who have immediate touchpoints with children and, therefore, I mentioned teachers, I mentioned neighbours, I mentioned friends. At the same time, I would also like to share that we had rolled out the hand signal for help because we want to make sure that whether there is opportunity for the child to be in the community and should he or she decide to disclose this abuse, that he or she is able to reach out for help. We hope that members of the public will recognise what the sign means and please call the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment helpline or reach out to Social Service Offices' or our protection specialist centres, so that help can be given to this survivor victim of family violence as soon as possible.”
“I thank the Member for her follow-up questions. I would say this: we would spare no effort when it comes to training our social service professionals to identify signs of abuse. That is their job and when social service professionals come to this profession and want to help children and young persons, in particular in children's homes, they are well intentioned and this is what they set out to do every day. So, like I said, this incident is something that has shaken the community. Nobody wants to see this, in particular, the social service professionals who have been in contact with the child. We all know the traumatic experience of this child. It is terrible for a young person to have to undergo this in her own biological family, to seek refuge in a children's home and to have a glimpse of a future with a prospective adopter, only to be abused at their hands of this potentially trusted adult that she has come into contact with. Like I said, this has shaken the community. What we will continue to do is that even though training sounds like a very generic term, it is a very important one because it is fundamental to equipping our social service professionals to have the means and the background to identify, to prevent and to stop abuse from happening. I would like to further reinforce the point that the social service professionals, with all the resources that they have and they are managing many cases at the same time, they are in contact with the child through supervised visitations, check-ins, home visits. During COVID-19, there was the added element of check-ins over video. But, of course, post-COVID-19, we have replaced that with physical home visits because that, fundamentally, is the best way of assessing the environment.”
“These are ways that children and young persons can communicate. Our teachers and our social service professionals are made aware and sensitive to the point that children may respond in such ways. So, that is the first point on what we aim to do and continue to try to do through the family and domestic violence awareness training. On the second point, we have a specialised division called the Clinical and Forensic Psychology Services team which provides specialised psychological services to children, youths and their family, and in particular, they have a good understanding of how to understand the profile and needs of children who have undergone trauma and abuse, and how to communicate with these children and their families. We will look at how to ensure that this expertise is also further translated and communicated to frontline professionals, which include the teachers and social service professionals that I had talked about.”
“I thank the Member for her two supplementary questions. On the first point, the MSF's family and domestic violence awareness training has been rolled out. I mentioned that we have engaged 7,550 individuals, many of whom are teachers. We have a curriculum in place and the topmost in this curriculum includes sharing with teachers what are the different forms of abuse. I use the term "family violence" but actually, within this context, there are different forms of it, such as physical violence, sexual abuse, neglect, psychological and emotional abuse. So, we teach our teachers who come for this training that all these forms of neglect and abuse, all come under the ambit of family and domestic violence. We fully recognise that victims or survivors may respond differently, especially when we are dealing with children. That is why we have focused on teachers, because they are an important touchpoint with children and young persons. So, in the training, we also train our teachers to recognise how children and young persons may respond or show symptoms of such abuse and neglect. For instance, is the child more withdrawn than usual? Are there visible marks on the child? Is the child adverse to physical contact? Are there changes in the child's behaviour? Has the child lost appetite, not interested anymore in the games and the activities that the child used to be interested in? Some of our SSAs also use play therapy. We have observed that some of the children, because of their young age, they are not able to verbalise their personal experience, not able to talk about it in first person terms. Instead, they have to use toys, other objects and talk about it from a third-person perspective because that is their way of protecting themselves from further hurt.”
“Learning from this episode, I think it is a stern reminder to all of us that we will continue to focus on making sure our social service professionals are up-to-date when it comes to training, to recognise family violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse and to know when to report, what are the symptoms to look out for. But at the same time, I think it is also a clear reminder to all of us that we have to work with many other community partners, including teachers, because in this case, it was a teacher who reported after the child confided in the teacher. We must recognise that even as our social service professionals continue with supervised visitations, home check-ins, house visits, this may not take place on a daily basis. Whereas if we compare that to a child's interaction with a teacher at school or a neighbour to the home, these are almost daily interactions, if not daily interactions; there is more opportunity for a child to share instances of neglect and abuse. I think this is a call to action for more members of the public to be aware of what are the signs of family violence, domestic abuse, sexual abuse. MSF has been very active in rolling out MSF's Family and Domestic Violence Awareness Training, which is part of the Break the Silence campaign. We have reached out to 7,550 individuals, which include preschool teachers, students at the National Institute of Education (NIE), teachers in our foreign system schools. And we will continue in this effort to make sure that more members of the public are aware of the signs to look out for and in so doing, all of us can better protect the safety of our children.”
“The training courses are either developed by MSF or in partnership with local stakeholders from the social service, education, health and law enforcement sectors. The training includes evidence-based assessment frameworks, which are recognised internationally, to promote safety and well-being for children and young persons at risk of neglect or abuse. And this training has been contextualised to the Singapore context. Just to give a few examples of this training. The training courses include introduction to the child protection framework, the sector-specific screening guide and the child abuse reporting guide. The Member may recall that we had a task force on family violence, and family violence includes many forms of violence, including sexual abuse. This was co-chaired by myself and Minister of State Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. We had earlier recommended to develop consistent, standardised assessment and screening tools to enable frontline professionals to better identify and detect family violence cases, of which sexual abuse is one form of it. This is to manage the risks and needs of survivors and also perpetrators, and know when to report cases. MSF will progressively be launching a suite of tools to ensure a more robust and consistent decision-making system for the domestic violence sector. So, this is something that we are working on to make sure that not only has there been training provided to social service professionals, but that there are standardised assessment tools so that the social service professionals know what the baselines are and under what circumstances to report. Finally, on the Member's last point, MSF meets with the SSAs regularly. The SSI is also a platform where the SSAs come together regularly to receive up-to-date training.”
“Coming back to volunteers, which was another aspect of the Member's question, I had mentioned before that all volunteers in MSF-funded programmes who have contact with clients, will need to undergo suitability assessments and background checks. These are run by the agencies. So, as part of the suitability assessment, all prospective volunteers must provide information about their areas of interest in volunteering, the skills and expertise that they have to offer, any medical concerns and any prior criminal convictions. The SSA will then review the submitted information and interview these prospective volunteers to better understand their motivations and abilities to support the SSA's programmes and engagement with clients. Background checks are also conducted to verify the information which has been provided including screening for criminal records and to identify other risk factors including adverse history. Interviews with character references and checks with other SSAs where the prospective volunteer may have previously volunteered in, are also performed. I will now like to go to her second question, which I believe was about what more we can do, if I am not wrong. I had talked about the training that all social service professionals have to undergo. For staff at children's homes, they have to attend compulsory training courses. This include understanding the legal frameworks and the legislation that protect children in state care. They also have to undergo training and strategies to identify child abuse and how to keep children safe. This training is provided by the NCSS Social Service Institute (SSI) in Singapore.”
“I thank Ms Nadia for her questions. On the first point, there are two schemes that we are talking about. You had mentioned kith caregivers and volunteers. There could also be instances where volunteers are not kith caregivers. So, I would touch on both the points. For kith caregivers, before a caregiver is identified to provide care for a child or a young person under MSF's care, like I have mentioned before, background checks and assessments are conducted by trained professionals. For this particular case, MSF had conducted background checks on the man and his wife before they were identified as caregivers for the child. They had no adverse records. Trained professionals had also assessed the couple as capable of providing adequate and safe care for the child. There had also been paced contacts between the couple and the young person that had ranged from supervised visitations at the treatment centre to outings and home leave, before the couple provided full-time care for the child. There were regular therapy sessions, check-ins and home visits conducted by the professionals, both prior to and during the child's home leave and while under the couple's care. And during these interactions, the professionals had observed that the couple provided supportive care and they did not identify any signs or symptoms indicative of sexual abuse by the caregiver. The child did not disclose any abuse to the professionals until she informed her schoolteacher in November 2020. From what I understand, the sexual abuse was between the period of September 2020 and November 2020, whereas the interactions that the child had with this caregiver started in 2019.”
“While every effort is made to ensure adopted children enter families that provide a safe environment, it is not possible to predict with absolute certainty how the relationship between an adopted child and the adoptive parents develops. We are very grateful to the teacher whom the child confided in. This shows the critical role of having trusted individuals in one's life. We would like to call out to everyone, whether a teacher, neighbour or friend, to promptly report abuse when they come to know of it or suspect it. We need the collective help of everyone to protect the safety of our children. Mr Speaker, the MSF will continue to emphasise to the homes the importance of selecting and training their volunteers well, and to constantly monitor their residents' safety and well-being. At the same time, we should not let this incident make homes reluctant to work with community partners and volunteers, many who do good work and befriend children and run recreational and other activities for them out of a desire to help the children. It would be a shame if our homes isolated children from well-intentioned volunteers who wish to help them.”
“Where the child is already being cared for by the family, an MSF officer will conduct a social investigation to check on the safety and well-being of the child in the family, including whether the prospective adopters are providing good care for the child and meeting the child's needs. This stage involves interviews with the child about the child's views on the adoption, checks with character referees and consultations with the applicants' support network, which could include household members, friends, teachers and social service professionals working with the family. Ms He asked how the contact between children and staff, volunteers and vendors is overseen. Social workers and professionals employed at our children homes receive compulsory training to recognise signs and symptoms of sexual and other forms of abuse. Professionals at MSF's accredited adoption agencies also receive training to help them identify abuse. Staff, volunteers and personnel engaged by children's homes are screened for prior criminal records before they have contact with children. In the recently reported case, these procedures were followed by the home. The offender did not have a prior criminal record. This incident is very regrettable, and all the professionals and social service workers who have been in contact with the child are shaken. Based on our knowledge, the children's home had made every effort to perform due diligence on persons who have contact with the child and to supervise the contact. The social service professionals had also followed up actively with supervised visitations, check-ins and house visits.”
“Ms Nadia and Ms He probably have in mind a recently reported case where a child from a children's home was sexually abused by a kith caregiver. Kith caregivers are adults who are not related to a child and meet the child through family or community connections, and are not registered as foster parents. I would like to clarify that while the offender and his wife had expressed the desire to adopt the child, they had not taken any steps to start the adoption process. I would also like to clarify that the offender's firm was not working with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), but directly with the children's home. Ms Nadia asked about the safeguards in the adoption process. The primary consideration when processing applications for adopting children is the child's welfare and best interest of the child. There are various steps in the adoption process to ensure this. During the first stage, prospective adopters must undergo a comprehensive Adoption Suitability Assessment. This is conducted by social service staff from an accredited adoption agency. Prospective adopters are assessed on a range of factors including their ability to provide a protective and nurturing environment, their motivations for adoption, stability of the marital relationship and overall capacity to meet the child's needs. Prospective adopters also undergo screening for risk factors, including criminal records. If found suitable, prospective adopters receive a favourable Home Study Report. This allows them to search for a child to adopt through adoption agencies or their own contacts. Once a child is identified, the adopters then make an application to the Court. As part of the adoption proceedings, the Court will appoint MSF as the Guardian-in-Adoption.”
“As you would know, by October 2023, our systems were in place to start issuance of commemorative birth certificates. And the first certificates were issued to Ms Mandy Too's twin daughters. We were also careful with publicity as we do not want to make it look like it was compulsory and different parents may also address infant loss differently. To date, 51 commemorative birth certificates have been issued and like I mentioned, there have been parents who have reached out over email, over the phone, to ask for overnight issuance of commemorative birth certificates. When ICA and MHA undertake to look into policy change and effect legislative change, we make sure that we tackle all the nuts and bolts so that when we decide to go ahead with these changes, we are able to meet the needs of bereaved parents. With that, Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Ms Sun Xueling.] (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee. (proc text)] [Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]”
“We would like to assure the Member that these amendments are not intended to and do not affect any existing legal rights or claims, including tortious claims, that a mother may have in relation to her stillborn child. Mr Gan also asked the Government to consider mandatory insurance coverage for autopsies after stillbirths. Autopsy, or post-mortem examination, is not routinely offered for stillbirths and the decision on an autopsy of a stillborn child is a personal decision by the parent. As this is a personal decision by the parent, parents may seek their own options to cover the cost. Mr Gan Thiam Poh also asked about the practical assistance and support that could be provided to parents to cover the costs associated with the stillbirth. We recognise that we need to support parents of stillborns. Our public maternity hospitals provide support for these parents. Parents may also be referred to a medical social worker, nurse or mental health team for emotional and practical support, such as advice on financial assistance and counselling during the bereavement process. In the Government's desire to support families and employees, there is also continuous engagement with employers and employees to look at how leave benefits can support better work-life situations, better productivity in the workplace and better overall well-being for employees. I would like to end off my speech by saying that MHA has heard the views of Ms Mandy Too and all the other bereaved parents who had signed the petition and who have shared their views with MHA. When MHA and the Government look into reviews, we do not look at it cursorily. And when we say we will study something, we will commit to it and study it carefully before committing to policy and legislative changes.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank Members for their support and feedback on this Bill. Please allow me to address the questions and feedback in turn. Firstly, to Member Jamus Lim's question: yes, stillbirth registration is for all stillbirths in Singapore regardless of nationality. Mr Louis Ng asked whether parents can officially register a name for stillbirths that occur during the transition period before the provisions are operationalised. Under the new section 36A of the RBDA, parents with stillbirths registered in Singapore may apply for their stillborn child to be officially named when the provisions are operationalised, as long as the application to name the child is made within a year after the stillbirth. This time limit also applies to parents who have had stillborn children before the legal provisions are operationalised. I would also like to assure Mr Ng that ICA will ensure that the application process is sensitively designed and easy to navigate. Mr Ng also asked about the steps that the Government is taking to ensure that parents have accurate, scientific information on foetal viability outside the womb. When parents are faced with the prospect of delivery before the infant is at full term, they will be counselled by their doctors. This includes information on the infant's chances of survival and risk of severe complications, and takes into account the specifics of the case, such as any medical conditions the mother may have. Such counselling will help parents to come to an informed decision about the appropriate course of medical intervention. Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about tortious claims and expressed concern that a mother should not be deprived of an opportunity to file a wrongful death claim if the stillbirth was due to tortious conduct.”
“Clauses 10 and 11 of the Bill make similar amendments to the definition of "stillborn child" in the Income Tax Act 1947. Stillborn children are counted in the child order for the purposes of administering tax benefits. The Bill also makes other amendments, which I will summarise. Clauses 3 to 8 of the Bill make amendments to RBDA in relation to registration and re-registration of births. These amendments are meant for clarity, with no changes to existing processes. Clauses 12 to 15 of the Bill make consequential amendments to other Acts, for example, to update the reference to the RBDA 1937, which has been repealed, to the RBDA 2021. Mr Deputy Speaker, before I conclude, I would like to share that this journey has not been an easy one. The conversations with bereaved parents, medical practitioners and community partners have been wrought with emotion. Last Friday, as I was settling my younger child to sleep, she suddenly asked if she was a rainbow child. She had watched an episode on "Bluey", an Australian animated series, on baby loss. She reminded me about this rainbow pendant, which was gifted to me by a non-profit organisation, Angel Hearts, last year. I hope that today's amendments will help bereaved parents in some way and also remind us that as we treasure and honour our babies who have departed, let us also look to the future with hope. Ms Mandy Too is now a mother to Josie; and Ms Felicia Tan, a mother to Titus. I wish all our parents the very best. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]”
“Reviews by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2018 and 2022 involving local experts concluded that the survival rate for premature babies born at 22 weeks is close to zero, while foetal viability at 24 weeks is about 50%. It is also for this reason that the 24-week threshold is reflected in the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1974, where an abortion is not allowed for a foetus of more than 24 weeks' duration. Medical practitioners highlighted that if parents mistook the 22-week threshold in RBDA as an indication of foetal viability, there could be confusion for them on the medical interventions for their unborn child. We have only had one surviving baby born at 22 weeks in Singapore for the last 10 years. The media reported that the child, a baby girl, was born in 2018 and required a slew of life-sustaining treatments and maximum ventilator support. She spent a total of 166 days in the hospital before being discharged. She is a miracle baby who survived despite the odds. Sadly, such cases are extremely rare. MHA has reviewed the matter with MOH and will amend the threshold in the definition of "stillborn child" in RBDA to 24 weeks of pregnancy. This will align with the cut-off for abortions in the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1974 and remove any potential confusion regarding foetal viability. For absolute clarity, clause 2 of the Bill states the existing position that a stillbirth does not include an aborted foetus. I would like to assure Members that the amendment to RBDA to raise the threshold to 24 weeks of pregnancy does not imply or indicate any changes to medical guidelines, practices or the standard of care for premature babies born before 24 weeks of pregnancy.”
“In the interim, parents who wish to name their stillborn child may apply to ICA for a commemorative birth certificate that reflects the child's name, for remembrance purposes. This can be done through ICA's website. Currently, "stillborn child" is defined in section 2(1) of RBDA as "a child that issues from the child's mother after the 22nd week of pregnancy and does not show any sign of life at any time after being completely expelled or extracted from the mother." I apologise that this is legal language. Clause 2 of the Bill amends the definition by raising the threshold from 22 weeks of pregnancy to 24 weeks. To provide context, RBDA was enacted in 1937 with a definition of stillbirths that used a threshold of 28 weeks of pregnancy. In 2021, when RBDA was repealed and re-enacted, the definition of "stillborn child" was updated to the current threshold of 22 weeks, to align with the World Health Organization's (WHO's) statistical reporting guidelines which recommended using a gestational age of 22 weeks of pregnancy. These guidelines are non-binding on countries and MHA had, in 2021, decided to adopt them for RBDA for consistency with the WHO for the purpose of statistical reporting. Subsequently, MHA received feedback from our local medical community that the threshold of 22 weeks of pregnancy in RBDA may be misinterpreted to be an indication of foetal viability, which refers to the ability of a foetus to survive outside the womb. Medical practitioners are concerned about this, because local medical and scientific evidence points to 24 weeks of pregnancy as the threshold for foetal viability and not 22 weeks.”
“In 2007, I lost a baby boy at 24 weeks, and it took me 15 years to finally have another baby." I would also like to mention Ms Felicia Tan, who lost three children and subsequently set up Angel Hearts, a not-for-profit group which creates angel gowns for babies who sadly do not make it home from the hospital. She shared that it is heartbreaking for parents to go shopping for suitable wear for burial as the babies are so tiny that even the smallest baby clothing would simply be too big for them. She said, "Giving the babies a name and clothing them is our way of saying goodbye and remembering them." Another parent reached out to me for a commemorative certificate as they were preparing for a memorial for their stillborn child. We hope the amendments to RBDA to allow for the official registration of a name for a stillborn child will go some way to recognise the birth of the child and support the healing process for bereaved parents. Once clause 9 comes into force, there will be a facility for parents to apply to the RG to register a name for the child, within one year after the stillbirth. Subsequently, the digital stillbirth certificate for the child, which can be downloaded from the My Legacy website, will reflect the child's registered name. The official naming of stillborn children will require enhancements to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's (ICA's) systems. As ICA also has other pressing system enhancements, the enhancement relating to stillbirth naming will take some time. We estimate it to be about two years. The name for a stillborn child will be subject to requirements laid out in the new section 36B, which mirror the requirements for live births. For instance, the name should not be offensive or obscene.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for Home Affairs, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Registration of Births and Deaths Act 2021, or RBDA, governs the registration of births, deaths and stillbirths in Singapore. This Bill introduces two main amendments in relation to stillbirths. First, clause 9 of the Bill will introduce new sections in RBDA to allow for the official naming of a stillborn child. The new section 36A will enable the parents of a stillborn child to apply to the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, or RG for short, for a name to be entered in the stillbirth register within one year after the stillbirth, should they wish to do so. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has heard the views of bereaved parents. We have heard their deeply felt sentiments that a stillbirth is similar to the loss of any child. For some parents, being able to officially name the child is an important step in the healing process. I would like to especially thank Ms Mandy Too, who had advocated for a stillborn child's name to be entered in the stillbirth register. In her correspondence, she shared, "official documentation for stillborn babies would afford them a level of dignity commensurate with the impact they had on those who grieved for them" and that it would mean the world to her and her husband if their daughters' legacy would help future bereaved families. The time her twin girls – Abigail and Lara – spent with us may have been short, but they have left an indelible mark in this journey to help the bereaved parents. Others had shared their views in an online petition. "For my sleeping child, WY", said one mum. Another mum said, "Every birth should be recognised, and every baby deserves a name.”
“All Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have compulsory modules on respect and appropriate behaviour for students.”
“Most of our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have, similarly, compulsory modules on respect and appropriate behaviour for the students. I understand that the remaining IHLs are working to introduce similar modules. [Please refer to "Measures to Tackle Rising Number of Telegram Channels Selling Sexually Explicit Materials", Official Report, 22 November 2023, Vol 95, Issue 117, Oral Answers to Questions section.] [(proc text) Written statement by Ms Sun Xueling circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5): (proc text)] I wish to make the following factual correction to the reply given for Parliamentary Question No 8 at the Sitting of 22 November 2023. My reply should read as follows:”
“I thank the Member for his question. On his specific clarification, that would come under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and IMDA, so if he were able to file a separate Parliamentary Question on it, they would be able to answer. But what I would say is that I mentioned the Broadcasting Act earlier, and that the IMDA had issued the Code of Practice for Online Safety. So, within that framework, indeed, age verification for the use of apps and as to whether or not certain apps should be accessible to certain age groups, that is a conversation that IMDA is having with the platforms. But in the actual execution, and what the IMDA can do about it and how they can hold those platforms accountable, it would be through the amended Broadcasting Act as well as the Code of Practice on Online Safety, which I had mentioned earlier.”
“The command is staffed by Police officers who have specialised expertise in handling sexual crime and family violence cases. They also possess good victim management skills. Police may also activate victim care volunteers, under the Victim Care Cadre programme, to provide emotional support to victims or survivors during the course of investigations.”
“I thank the Member for her suggestions and feedback about the necessity of going upstream. Indeed, it is important to create a respectful culture between men and women, boys and girls, from an early age. So, I would like to cite examples from the Ministry of Education's (MOE) Character and Citizenship Education, where students are taught to respect all persons, regardless of race, language, religion, gender and age. MOE's sexuality education also seeks to help students develop positive self, social emotional competencies, healthy relationships and values. Most of our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have, similarly, compulsory modules on respect and appropriate behaviour for the students. I understand that the remaining IHLs are working to introduce similar modules. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister of State for Home Affairs", Official Report, 22 November 2023, Vol 95, Issue 117, Correction By Written Statement section.] The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) also has several campaigns that aim to encourage respectful behaviour among family members and also when it comes to intimate partners, because if there is no practice of respect in such relationships, in the egregious cases, we might see sexual violence. MSF reaches out to partners across the people, private and public sectors to deliver domestic violence awareness training. We also work with social service agencies on how to spot signs of violence, how to counsel victims, survivors as well as perpetrators, and also offer help to those experiencing physical violence or sexual violence. On the Singapore Police Force end, the Police set up the sexual crime and family violence command in April, for better oversight of the management of sexual crime and family violence cases.”
“Singapore users can report harmful content to the designated services for appropriate actions to be taken. The IMDA will periodically review the need to designate other social media services with significant reach and impact as necessary, including Telegram. The effectiveness of our enforcement system depends on the responsiveness of the online services. To date, Telegram has not responded to Police's requests to remove access to accounts disseminating sexually explicit materials. However, there has recently been some progress in our engagement with Telegram. We will continue to work with them, and other online platforms, to better protect Singapore users from harmful content.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we have laws against the sale or distribution of non-consensual and illegally obtained sexually explicit materials. The Police take a very serious view of such offences and have taken firm action against the perpetrators in cases which had come to their attention. To deal with the online dissemination of such harmful content, we have updated our laws, such as with the introduction of the Online Criminal Harms Act in 2023. When the Online Criminal Harms Act is operationalised progressively from the first quarter of 2024, the Police can issue a Disabling Direction to online platforms, such as Telegram, to prevent such materials on the platform from being accessed by Singapore users. Non-compliance by the online platforms with these Directions will be an offence. In these instances, the Competent Authority can also issue an Access Blocking Order, App Removal Order or Service Restriction Order to the Internet Service Providers or app stores, to restrict access to the online service provided by the platform or part of the online service, to prevent the criminal activity and content from being accessed by persons in Singapore. Online platforms also have a responsibility to proactively curb the spread of harmful online content and to ensure that their services are safe for their users. Under the Broadcasting Act, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued the Code of Practice for Online Safety, which took effect on 18 July 2023. The Code of Practice requires designated social media services with significant reach or impact to put in place systems and processes to minimise exposure to harmful content for users in Singapore. The six designated services are Facebook, HardwareZone, Instagram, TikTok, X or formerly Twitter, and YouTube.”
“From the perspective of cyber hygiene, this is something that the CSA is working on actively on the ground, together with digital ambassadors and the Infocomms Media Development Authority, to encourage better cyber hygiene practices, so that our members of society do not unwittingly download malware. We also promote messages such as ensuring that any downloads of apps should be done from the official App Store or Google Play Store, for instance. You would also have read that there are other stakeholders such as the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, which has recently announced the default daily withdrawal limits, the CPF withdrawal lock, so on and so forth – all of which are other ways to prevent our population, our society and our members from losing their monies through scams. I do not think we should see the use of the ScamShield app as the only channel and the only app that would prevent our members of society from becoming victims of scams. I would urge all of us to look at the suite of measures in its totality.”
“I thank the Member for his questions. I shared in my main reply that, indeed, the GovTech team, specifically, is working on improving the ScamShield app. The current area that they are looking to improve is to increase the value proposition of the ScamShield app to users. For instance, a feedback we have received is that users are not aware if the ScamShield app is actually working in the background of their phones. The reason for that is because currently, ScamShield does not actively inform the user how many calls and SMSes have been blocked. The app works silently in the background. So, that is something that the GovTech team is working on. Other potential improvements are about in-app reporting of malicious calls and SMSes to make it more user-friendly for users of ScamShield to be able to use it, rather than have to copy and paste the scam messages and to have additional steps when it comes to reporting. These are the areas that the GovTech team is working on. We feel that it is through improvements in the features, functionality and the user experience of the app which would be key to enhancing the app's download rate. On the point of malware, indeed, we are not just relying on the actions of the banks, we are not just relying on the digital banking apps of the banks to prevent malware. Indeed, I am aware that there could be mobile users who, unfortunately, download malware unsuspectingly, for instance, when they click on links that are tainted APK files, for instance.”
“I thank the Member for his question. We should see the use of ScamShield vis-à-vis all the other efforts that the Police together with stakeholders are implementing to prevent the scourge of scams from further impacting our community and society. ScamShield largely performs the function of crowdsourcing so that we know what are the reported scam numbers and scam messages that the Police would verify backend and then, block. But, as we know, there are other stakeholders who are involved. I have talked about how the telcos at the network level have effectively blocked 180 million scam calls at their level in the first half of 2023. So, we have to look at the use of ScamShield together with all these other channels that we are using to prevent the scourge of scams from further impacting our community. On the point of malware, the Member would note that in recent times, the major retail banks have already rolled out anti-malware applications via the digital banking apps. The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has also shared a list of anti-malware security apps that members of the public could download on their own. Some of these apps are for free. So, we need to consider, apart from the ScamShield app, all these other initiatives that would be helpful to the public in preventing scams from further impacting society.”
“So, because of these factors, there is no specific timeline that the Police has set out, but depending on the likely harm and impact, the Police would do what is within their powers to encourage the platforms to remove those scam messages as soon as possible.”
“I thank the Member for his two supplementary questions. On the first question about pre-loading ScamShield, we have considered this before, but we have decided not to proceed. The reasons are as follows. Firstly, not all users may consent to having ScamShield pre-loaded on their mobile devices. Secondly, for ScamShield to work effectively, users actually have to set up permission settings. So, even if we were to pre-load the app, if the user does not know how to execute the permission settings, ScamShield will not be able to work effectively. Thirdly, there is always a possibility that mobile users could deactivate or delete the app after we pre-load it. So, for these considerations, we decided not to pre-load the ScamShield app, but we will keep this option open if our efforts to further encourage the download of the ScamShield app does not make progress. On the second question, we work with the app developers as well as the platforms whenever we are informed about scams that are being perpetuated on social media platforms as well as other messaging applications. There is no fixed timeline in place, but we require the operators to remove the content as soon as possible. Sometimes, some of these platforms tell us that they require some time to investigate to make sure that on their end, it adheres to their community standards or that truly, they have conducted their investigations and that, it is, indeed, potentially a scam, and they would then need to go through their processes to remove the advertisement or the otherwise potential scam message.”
“For example, the Police, upon detecting or receiving reports from the public on scammers who are using social media, e-commerce or messaging apps, will ask the platform operators to remove these accounts. In the first half of 2023, more than 10,000 WhatsApp lines and 1,500 online monikers and advertisements that were believed to be used in scams were flagged out by the Police for termination. The Online Criminal Harms Act, which will be operationalised progressively from the first quarter of 2024, will allow the Police to tackle online scam activities more effectively. Specifically, it provides the Police powers to direct online services to prevent suspected scam accounts or content from interacting with or reaching Singapore users. Police can also require designated online services to implement systems, processes or measures to counter scams, such as requiring the verification of user identities against Government-issued identification documents. Mr Derrick Goh asked whether ScamShield complements the malware detection apps used by banking customers. The short answer is yes. Major retail banks have introduced anti-malware security features on their banking apps, which seek to protect banking customers by detecting the presence of malware on their devices, and triggering actions such as blocking access to the banking app. While ScamShield is not designed to detect or block malware, it complements the anti-malware security features on banking apps by protecting users from other attack vectors, namely scam calls and scam SMSes, hence, further mitigating the risk of users falling prey to scams.”
“The iOS and Android versions of the ScamShield mobile app were launched in November 2020 and September 2022 respectively. As of October 2023, there have been about 750,000 downloads. We do not track the number of unique users. A user may download the ScamShield app on multiple devices. ScamShield has been effective in protecting users from scam calls and SMSes. Since March 2022, about 80,000 unique scam-tainted phone numbers have been blacklisted and blocked by ScamShield and about five million SMSes have been flagged to users as potential scams. On top of phone calls blocked by ScamShield, the Police work closely with telecommunication companies (telcos) to block mobile lines suspected to be involved in scams. In the first half of 2023, more than 3,700 mobile lines which were believed to be used in scams were flagged by the Police for termination. In addition, telcos blocked about 180 million suspected scam calls at the network level during this period. The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) team is making enhancements to the ScamShield app so that users can more easily report scams. It is also working to improve the accuracy of scam SMS detections and to help users more easily set up the correct permission settings. Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about measures to identify and block scammers from using social media, e-commerce platforms and messaging mobile applications. While ScamShield is not designed to block scammers on these platforms, it serves as an additional layer of defence and has a reporting function that allows users to alert the authorities about the scam calls and messages they receive. It also complements the Government’s efforts to combat scams.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, may I take Question Nos 1 and 2 together?”
“I thank the Member for his questions. On the first point, indeed, if the application, technically, were to belong to the specified route, as in it is part of the list of the Schedule of Specified societies, the Registrar can move the application to the Normal Route. But there could be instances where it is not clear that the application falls within that Schedule of societies. Therefore, we will need to empower the Registrar to be able to ask questions and be able to then move the application to the Normal Route, if necessary. On the second point, indeed, MHA had proposed and created the Automatic Route in 2004. That said, we will always have to review the current landscape and look at whether or not the current Act still allows us to stay relevant. For instance, as many Members have cited, we have seen geopolitical tensions; we have seen the possibility of foreign interference through various entities. We will have to make sure that we have the levers and that societies are not used for purposes that are prejudicial to good order, security, peace and harmony in Singapore. Therefore, we find it necessary, where there are questions as to the intentions of certain societies, to make available the levers and empower the Registrar to be able to ask questions to make sure that the societies are registered under the correct route. I, therefore, see the amendments we are proposing today as actually forward-looking.”
“Finally, we would like to thank Mr Yip for his concerns on the workload for ROS and the Singapore Police Force. We have established work processes between the two Departments and relevant information is exchanged where needed. We work together as one Home Team. That said, I thank Members for supporting the Bill. Mr Speaker, I beg to move. 5.04 pm”
“For example, there are available resources for societies to consider, such as the Terrorist Financing Risk Mitigation Toolkit developed by the Charities Unit. That said, we will take up Assoc Prof Razwana’s suggestion on how we can provide links to these resources on the ROS website. ROS is working on revamping their website and I have asked the team to incorporate Assoc Prof Razwana’s suggestion. Assoc Prof Razwana also asked MHA to consider introducing explicit whistle-blower protection programmes to encourage and facilitate the reporting of “suspicious” activities. At this point, we do not think such measures are necessary. Individuals can already report “suspicious” activities to the Police and their identities can be protected. In particular, under section 127(1) of the Evidence Act, Police officers cannot be compelled to disclose where they got the information from as to the commission of any offence. Assoc Prof Razwana raised concerns that vulnerable individuals, such as the young, may be susceptible to influence to engage in undesirable or criminal activities when joining a society and asked if there was any support to educate the public. Such education efforts would be undertaken by the domain agencies rather than the ROS. That said, if Assoc Prof Razwana has any specific area of concern, I will bring it back and convey her feedback to the relevant agency. Assoc Prof Razwana suggested that the public have free access to information on societies. We are not contemplating this at this time as there are costs involved in maintaining a database and, for extraction of information, we currently impose charges to recover costs. For example, $10 will be charged for the online purchase of a society’s constitution.”