Tan Chuan-Jin
Singapore
“A step-parent who wishes to leave any part of his or her estate to a stepchild is encouraged to make a will. Intestacy law would apply in cases where a person passes on without a will.”
“Last year, we reviewed and extended the Child Development Account, or CDA benefits to children of unwed parents. The Government granted CDA benefits, to children of unwed parents born, or with an estimated date of delivery, from 1 September 2016. It is generally good practice to implement our policies prospectively.”
“The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) does not track the number of persons who choose to remain homeless instead of being admitted into shelters. When MSF receives information on persons who may be homeless, we initiate contact with these persons on the ground to offer assistance.”
“Our law places the child's welfare and interests at the heart of an adoption decision. We must not forget that such an adoption is a life-changing event because when an unwed mother adopts her child, the duties, obligations and liabilities of the biological father are terminated.”
“The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) works closely with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to plan for preschools in upcoming Build-To-Order (BTO) developments, including Bidadari new town. To better meet the needs of young parents, new preschools will have larger capacities and also be completed earlier where possible.”
“The Silver Support Scheme under the Manpower Ministry provides an income supplement to seniors who had low incomes through life and who now have little or no family support. Beyond ComCare, we are also expanding upstream intervention to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable families and their children to set a good foundation.”
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“We will also give the Government more teeth to ensure compliance of our laws. This includes enhancing the penalties for failure to pay salary as well as Page: 98 other measures to facilitate investigations and enforcement. Mr Patrick Tay also asked about Industrial Relations Act. We share his view that the Act should be updated to reflect the changing workforce profile and workplace norms. We are in the process of discussing with our tripartite partners to review the Act. There were other issues that, while important, are inherently more tricky. One of the areas which I am also very concerned about is the employer-employee dispute resolution mechanisms for contractual disputes, many of which are non-statutory in nature. I have received many emails on these issues which, sometimes, are difficult for me to move forward on. I spoke about this recently and this is something that we would explore to set up. A second area, which is echoed by Mr Patrick Tay and is something that is particularly important for us to watch out for, is the group of workers in non-traditional work arrangements, especially contract workers, freelancers and self-employed persons. These are complex issues. We realise that we do need more time to study and deal with them. We will look at it in Phase 2 of the Employment Act review that will begin later this year. Given our long history of trust and constructive engagement between the unions, employers and the Government – we have seen this clearly in the course of the Employment Act review – I am sure that we will be able to work out something that is practical and useful, so that we can move forward, so that it is not only better for employees, but also better for employers and, ultimately, better for Singapore.”
“In view of the rising number of PME jobs in our economy, our laws should provide these same junior PMEs with employment protection beyond just basic salary claims. We have, therefore, decided to extend the general provisions of the Employment Act, such as protection against unfair dismissal and sick leave benefits, to these PMEs. This will benefit approximately 300,000 PMEs. Taken together, about 450,000 or close to half a million workers would receive better protection with the changes that I have just mentioned. But the enhancements to employment protection will also have to be balanced by allowing employers some flexibility to implement these changes and to stay competitive because, if they are not able to do that, they will have an impact on our Singaporean workers. A proposal that has received wide public support is on legislating mandatory pay-slips and salary records for all employees. Some Members have also raised this and we are supportive. We will allow some time for the very small companies who will find it difficult to adjust. We will give them more time to adjust. Another pertains to PMEs. Even as we extend unfair dismissal protection to them, we will set a one-year qualifying service period before they are eligible to seek redress. This is to give employers a reasonable time to assess the suitability of their employees. There are quite a few other specific issues, such as caps on over-time payments and qualifying periods for retrenchment benefits. This is where we begin to understand that we do need to strike a balance between protecting workers and addressing employers' concerns which ultimately affect the employability of the Singapore workforce. We believe that the final outcome that we have is a balanced one.”
“On better protection for workers, with regard to the Employment Act – Mr Zainudin Nordin and Mr Patrick Tay had asked about this. They asked how we can better protect our low-wage workers and accord more protection to the increasing number of PMEs. The character of our labour force is changing, and employment norms are also evolving. Hence, we do need to update our employment legislation to ensure that our workplace standards and practices remain relevant and effective. Since April last year, we have received quite encouraging responses from the public when we called for ideas and suggestions on the Employment Act review. The suggestions have been debated carefully between employers, unions and the Government. I will outline today the key outcomes of this tripartite consultation, and release the details in a factsheet which I will distribute to Members. I would like to thank all the Members who have given their views and, in many ways. Many of their ideas have been incorporated, and Members have played an active role in shaping the Employment Act that will make a difference to all Singaporeans. Essentially, we will better protect our workers while at the same time providing employers' flexibility in implementing these changes. Let me outline the key points. Better protection for workers. We will cover more workers on working hours related protection by raising the salary threshold of non-workmen from Page: 97 $2,000 to $2,500 in line with the general increase in salary levels. What does this mean? Approximately 150,000 more workers will now be eligible for over-time payment should they be asked to work over-time. Today, junior PMEs earning up to $4,500 receive only salary-related protection under the Employment Act.”
“I would like to thank Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Mr Teo Siong Seng for their thoughtful suggestions on how we can improve our foreign manpower policies further. We have been receiving feedback and this is something that we will continue to work with the different stakeholders, both the public and the companies, in our regular review of schemes. It will not remain static. I would also like to acknowledge the concerns of many Members, particularly Mr David Ong and Ms Tan Su Shan, about the unintended consequences of our foreign manpower tightening in terms of potential delays to public project works and inflationary pressures. I think with every policy, there will always be various consequences. This is something that we will have Page: 96 to watch carefully. We are mindful of that and we thank Members for the reminder. Mdm Chair, I would like to reiterate that our approach to moderating foreign manpower growth is adaptive and is meant to be flexible. The aim is to raise the quality profile of the foreign workforce and we need to help businesses restructure. The pace of our tightening will be guided by indicators I mentioned earlier, such as overall foreign workforce growth, productivity growth and, importantly, the real wage growth of Singaporeans. Apart from the tightening that has been announced, there are also further measures to raise the quality bar for foreign entrepreneurs, allow employers to optimise the deployment of their foreign manpower and to retain those who are more experienced. This is something that the market has been calling for for some time. We will also ensure that the vulnerable groups of our society cannot be left behind, even as we pursue quality growth.”
“This new framework is to supplement the current skills pathways in the services sector. What this aims to do is to encourage employers to retain their Work Permit holders, train them up, so that they are more skilled. Some have also settled down in Singapore, more comfortable, more familiar with the environment. This increases productivity. In the process, they are also able to command higher salaries and be better workers. This is important, rather than churning. We are all aware of how certain sectors do practise churning and, through the EMFA measures, I will be looking at clamping down on that. It is in the companies' interest to look at upskilling their workers and keeping them here for as long as they can. Put together, the Job Flexibility Scheme and market-based skills framework will also allow services companies to do more, to do better and, importantly, with fewer workers. I would like to tell Singaporeans that they also have a part to play, in particular, to support businesses by adapting our consumer behaviour and expectations, such as the returning of trays and perhaps of more self-service processes, in some of these sectors. That is something that we expect would happen, and I think Singaporeans can play a part in supporting that. Currently, a company needs to have the requisite number of full-time local workers under our Dependency Ratio framework to qualify for the employment of foreign workers. We want to ensure that the local workers are employed meaningfully, rather than being employed on token salaries just to allow employers access to foreign workers. We increased it from $650 to $850 last year and we will now adopt a threshold of increasing it from $850 to $1,000. This will take effect from July this year.”
“These changes will come into effect from 1 September 2013. More details will be found on the MOM website. For the services sector, there are measures to cut the DRC and increase levies, but it just represents one half of the policy. The aim is to increase productivity in this sector. The other half, and equally important, is that we will allow services companies to more flexibly deploy their foreign workers, and to encourage them at the same time to retain and train their experienced work permit holders. We have received feedback from businesses about extending the Jobs Flexibility Scheme to the rest of the services sector. The pilot run in the Hotel industry has worked out rather well. This is a good idea. We hear their calls and we agree that we should extend the Jobs Flexibility Scheme for the rest of the services sector. We will work with the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) on a set of tripartite guidelines. It is important to set out our expectations, even as we allow for this flexibility of how companies can utilise job flexibility in a responsible way, so that there is no exploitation of workers, and also at the same time, to make sure that where there are productivity gains, there is fair sharing of these gains. We will finalise the guidelines with NTUC and SNEF over the next few months, and aim for this policy to be implemented on 1 July 2013. Page: 95 Third, we will also introduce a market-based skills framework for the services sector. What this means is that Work Permit holders who have worked in Singapore for four years or more, and who earn at least $1,600 a month, can qualify to become skilled Work Permit holders.”
“Secondly, we studied the productivity growth of our overall economy, and looked at specific sectors, to see how they are lagging behind international standards. As outlined in the report of the Economic Strategies Committee, we hope to achieve a productivity growth rate of about 2% to 3% per annum on average this decade. We know that it is not easy, but it is something that we should strive for and work towards. What is very clear is that we do need to wean ourselves off this heavy reliance on manpower-driven growth and to raise the quality profile of the foreign workforce. Thirdly, we continue to track the real wage growth of Singaporeans at all levels. This is something that all of us are concerned about and we should track Page: 94 this closely. Our foreign workforce is meant to complement, not meant to substitute, our local workforce. We are also mindful that while there are benefits that come with it, there are also disamenities. We are mindful that the presence of a large pool of foreign workers who have lower reservation wages than locals could have a depressive effect on wages. By keeping the labour market tight and trying to raise the cost of hiring foreign workers, that is one approach amongst several, to try to make sure that the wage growth of Singaporeans would also improve over time. If we are not able to meet these targets, then we will continue the tightening and restructuring approach. Mdm Chair, the major further tightening of our foreign workforce polices via adjustments to levies and DRCs have been announced earlier. There are some additional measures that I would like to mention here. We will tighten the EntrePass criteria to raise the quality bar for foreign entrepreneurs intending to set up businesses here.”
“Second, ours is a targeted rather than a blunt "one-size-fits-all" approach, to raise productivity levels of different sectors. For example, we do make a distinction between the manufacturing and the services sectors. On the whole, the manufacturing sector has seen decent productivity growth. We have a tighter system on the services sector as we face more challenges on the productivity front – low productivity and very high foreign worker dependence. Even within services, we looked at it and retained some level of flexibility. For example, in Healthcare, which is essential for the well-being of Singaporeans, it is our social responsibility to make sure that we cater for the expanding needs of an ageing population. In addition, we also treat construction, marine and process differently. These three sectors find it more difficult to attract locals, and construction serves important domestic needs. The business community has been asking for greater clarity on when the "Great Foreign Workforce Tightening" exercise will end. Let me highlight the three factors that the Government will be monitoring while we manage the pace of this tightening. Firstly, we are watching very closely the growth rate of our foreign workforce. We want to slow the growth of the foreign workforce significantly in this decade, so that the proportion does not increase significantly beyond the one-third ratio that we adopted in 2010. Last year, our foreign workforce grew by about 67,000, excluding foreign domestic workers. This is still too large, and we have tightened our policies to bring it down further. We will be watching the numbers closely this year, sector by sector.”
“They create jobs, they create opportunities for all Singaporeans. They also help keep Singapore going in many ways. In this restructuring process, we know that it is very painful and it is extremely challenging. But make no mistake. We want our employers, especially our SMEs, to succeed. It is only when employers succeed that we can have better jobs, and that they can focus on creating better workplaces for Singaporeans. However, employers – and I think they know this – need to also adapt to a manpower-leaner environment, and the Government is fully committed to helping them along with this transition, especially SMEs. The Government has set aside $5.9 billion to support companies through the Quality Growth Programme. This would include schemes we have talked about in this House, such as Wage Credit Scheme, the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) Bonus. As part of the Programme, MTI has also released plans to encourage SMEs to develop Collaborative Industry Projects, with $90 million made available. Taken together with other measures, this is a substantive effort that we are putting out. 3.00 pm At this juncture, I would like to reiterate two things. First, foreign manpower tightening is an adaptive, not arbitrary, process that evolves to raise the quality profile of our foreign workforce. As Members know, we started the tightening in 2010 after the Government had accepted the Economic Strategies Committee's recommendations. We have taken deliberate and progressive steps. Yes, it may seem like many steps before people begin to respond, but it Page: 93 was deliberate. We try to keep it as progressive as possible to raise the quality profile of our foreign workforce and, at the same time, help businesses reduce their reliance on low-cost foreign labour.”
“In sum, how are we helping Singaporeans? We will provide our people with the best chance and fullest support to up-skill and develop in their careers, at the various stages of their lives. At the same time, we will promote and support work-life priorities of Singaporeans. We will strengthen employment protection for Singaporeans and ensure fair opportunities for our people. We will tackle employment discrimination; and, we will ensure that we move up together as one country and as one nation. We must ensure that vulnerable groups in our society are not left behind. To this end, the WDA will work closely with strategic partners, like the SCORE, MSF, National Council of Social Services, to facilitate the skills training conversion, return and integration of special worker groups like ex-offenders, persons-with-disabilities and out-of-school youths through initiatives, such as Project Phoenix and the Open Door Fund. This is one area which we need to pay attention to, and we need to reach out to all the different Singaporeans in Page: 92 our society. My colleagues and I will elaborate on what we are doing for each of these areas. Minister of State Dr Amy Khor will elaborate on our strategy to develop a strong Singaporean Core from the training and work-life perspectives. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Hawazi Daipi will focus on how we are fostering greater inclusive growth and making workplaces healthier and safer. I will elaborate later on how we are providing more workers with greater protection and our efforts to cultivate fair employment practices for Singaporeans thereafter. Mdm Chair, let me now turn to the other important stakeholder – our employers. Employers are important because many of them are Singaporeans themselves.”
“The Public Service will take active steps and we will lead the way. Our Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy will also seek to champion best Page: 91 practices and we will actively seek to gather good practices, ideas, so that we can think about how to implement it. This is where I would say this: individuals have to make their own choices about their own work-life priorities. And importantly, this is one space where employers play a very big part. Third, we will look after our low-wage workers by fostering inclusive growth, boosting their retirement adequacy and helping to uplift their incomes. This is a recurrent theme, and this is something that all of us in this House share a concern about. Apart from incorporating the Progressive Wage Model for the security and cleaning industries, we will enhance Workfare, particularly the Workfare Income Supplement and Training Support schemes, and we will also revise upwards CPF contribution rates for low-wage workers. Four, apart from incentives, we will provide better protection for our workers. We will extend employment protection for more of the resident workforce, including PMEs, to reflect the changing workforce profile. We will raise employment standards while giving employers flexibility in implementation. In addition, we will also enhance existing work safety regulations and programmes so that people can work with greater ease of mind. Finally, we will take a firm stand against employment discrimination. MOM will take strong action against cases of non-compliance with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. We will also look at how best to ensure fair consideration for Singaporeans in employers' hiring practices. I will come back to this in greater detail later.”
“It is a virtuous cycle you can see that could work towards sustaining and strengthening better jobs and workplaces so that we can all, together, create a better Singapore for Singaporeans. Conceptually, we understand that. How do we operationalise this and make it work? Well, as part of the Quality Growth Programme, we will put in place new initiatives and strengthen existing programmes to support both employers and employees in different ways. Taken together, these measures form the multi-pronged approach towards developing and sustaining a strong Singaporean Core in our workforce. Let me begin with employees. Firstly, we will help our people remain competitive and employable. This will enable them to look after their own families and to have a stable base to pursue their various aspirations. Hence, we will continue to make substantial investments in up-skilling and training for Singaporeans. This would include better CET facilities and programmes, having avenues, such as Caliberlink, for PMEs to enhance their employability and introducing an individual learning portfolio to encourage Singaporeans to take greater ownership over their personal development. We believe that this is a strong competitive edge that we have in Singapore. Second, we will support Singaporeans in balancing work-life priorities by helping to restructure the work environment. We will consolidate schemes that promote flexible work arrangements and the hiring of older workers and Back-to-Work-Locals under a stronger programme called "WorkPro". It is a one-stop shop, and not only pulling it all together, but strengthening it at the same time. We want to help both Singaporeans, and employers, manage work and family commitments in a more holistic manner.”
“First, it means that we need to work hard at creating jobs that help Singaporeans fulfil their aspirations. That is only one part of the story, and this part is important: the employers. They must develop more progressive workplaces through better leadership and HR practices. Why? Because this will enable Singaporeans to be, not only fairly rewarded and to be able to balance work-life priorities if they so choose, but to be also better engaged, to be better looked after. Motivated employees are better employees. Mr Laurence Lien spoke about this earlier, and this is something that we should emphasise. While we can promote it, it is something that is also difficult to legislate. Often times, the employers are asking, "What is the Government doing to incentivise me to do that?" This is where we will do as much as we can to encourage good, positive practices – some through incentives, others through promotional means. This is where, as a society, all of us must play a part. This is about good management, and employers must Page: 90 seek to take this on board. Singaporeans themselves also have to play their part. When we upgrade our skills to remain relevant and competitive, it is not for their own sake, because we do operate in an increasingly globalised and competitive environment. It is not something that we can run away from. This will also improve our own employability and enables us to be able to provide for our families. This, in turn, keeps our economy vibrant, attractive; and in turn, helps to generate even better jobs, better prospects for Singaporeans, and particularly, for our children, for the future.”
“There will be frictional unemployment which is something we can deal with through re-training and so on; but I think we are in a good position. Page: 89 Secondly, we are also aware that in certain sectors, the local workers are short in supply, especially in rank-and-file jobs. Therefore, it is not just reducing the dependence on foreign labour. We should seek to also restructure ourselves to be a manpower-leaner economy. There are several industries – and we have talked about it several times in the Chamber – which have low productivity levels by global standards, and there is a need to push them to reduce labour intensity by tightening on the foreign workforce front. That said, we are aware that there will be – as I have mentioned earlier – structural unemployment, which is why we need to continue to up-skill and retrain Singaporeans to make sure they remain competitive and employable in the workforce. Against this backdrop, we must focus on sustaining and developing the Singaporean Core in a comprehensive way. I would like to thank Mr Zainudin Nordin, Mr Patrick Tay, Ms Foo Mee Har, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Mr Liang Eng Hwa for raising this at previous Parliamentary sittings and this COS. We will really need to put in place a multi-pronged approach. Mdm Chair, let me start by sketching out my Ministry's view on how we can develop and sustain a strong Singaporean Core in the workforce. We believe that one good way to do so is through the generation of better jobs and the development of better workplaces for our people. Why? Studies have shown that employees who are happier at their jobs tend to be more productive and motivated. This is something that the Member Mr Laurence Lien talked about earlier and I fully concur with that. This means a few things.”
“Going forward, as we restructure our economy, this is what will happen. We will see higher frictional unemployment as Singaporeans transit from one workplace to another. This is even more difficult sometimes when they transit from one sector to another, which is why it is very important for us to pay attention to how to help our unemployed transit from sector to sector. So, what is it that we need to focus our minds on presently? It is about improving the quality of jobs, not the quantity of jobs. In September 2010, for example, less than 20% of job vacancies required only Primary education and below. In 2011 and 2012, 25% of jobs required this. This is contrary to the profile of the education levels of our workforce. So, what it means is this: we need to intervene and we need to force the market to restructure, to become more manpower-efficient and to reduce the demand for low-skilled workers. Besides our lower wage workers, there are also specific segments of the workforce that we really need to pay attention to – some Members have shared your concerns and I agree. We need to watch out for mature PMEs, young tertiary graduates entering the workforce, and those who are economically inactive and wish to return to work. Let me recap: what is the labour market telling us within the context of the current economic restructuring? There are two key points to note. First, I think we are in a good position to intensify our economic restructuring process and to reduce our reliance on foreign labour. We can afford to and will forgo some level of economic growth in pursuit of more economically sustainable productivity growth, and still be assured at the same time of good job opportunities for Singaporeans.”
“In this year's Budget, throughout this Committee of Supply (COS) debates, and our execution of policy, our various Ministries aim to ensure that Singaporeans can look forward to the future with Hope and with many opportunities for them and their children. At the Heart of all our policies, it has to be people-focused, and that Singapore will continue to be the best Home for all Singaporeans. My Ministry will do likewise. To start, let me provide an update on our overall labour market and unemployment situation. We all know that it is not possible to have zero unemployment. But even if we did have 1% unemployment in Singapore, that represents 18,000 Singaporeans who will be unemployed and their families will be affected in the process. So, we must always look out for those who are affected. We are fortunate in Singapore that we do actually have fairly low unemployment. In 2012, our economy grew by 1.3%; but jobs growth was 4%, outstripping GDP growth by a considerable amount. It is not surprising that we ended up with negative productivity growth of 2.6%. To put it another way, we had a net increase of some 59,000 locals joining the workforce last year. Our economy generated 130,000 jobs. The balance was filled by foreigners, amounting to Page: 88 about 70,000. One way to look at this data is that we can afford to be more manpower-efficient; in fact, we must be more manpower-efficient. To be sure, this is a happier problem than having too few jobs. We had a very low citizen unemployment rate of 3% in 2012. In the US, it is about 8.1%; in the EU countries, an average of about 10%. In East Asia, slightly better – in Taiwan, it is 4.2%; Japan, 4.3%; and Hong Kong, 3.3%. We must not take our low unemployment rates for granted.”
“Let me begin by thanking Members in this House and members of the public for the many thoughtful comments on Singapore's increasingly complex manpower landscape. The issues at hand do not have straightforward answers and they also cannot be taken lightly because there is very real impact on the lives of all Singaporeans. 2.45 pm Page: 87 I have always believed that we should see how best to tap on the broader public to shape some of our policies. The further upstream we go, the more space we have to do this. In both my portfolios here in MOM and in MND, I have found that it is quite possible to incorporate as many of the public's perspectives into our policy-making as possible. In the process, it is important that we therefore come up with policies which will be very much people-focused and have the interest of the people at heart; to make sure that the theoretical understanding or the understanding of policies can be translated in practical ways, in very real ways that impact people's lives. The "Our Singapore Conversation" (OSC) process is one way through which the Government can proactively do this. We have found that useful. What seems clear from the OSC is that Singaporeans have a number of issues and questions they are concerned about. First, can my children and I look forward to the future with Hope? Secondly, will I see more Heart in our policies? Thirdly, will I still be honestly able to call Singapore Home as we look at the future? I think all of us must be sure that the answer for each question is an unequivocal "Yes". This must be the focus of this Government.”
“The truth is that we will not always reach a consensus, not just between the Government and people, but also between different groups who have different interests. But what is important, and something that I personally found, is there will be common spaces, and it is about how we focus our energies to create something special together. Ultimately, what we create, what we keep is only meaningful when there is community appreciation, when there is ownership by our people and there is participation by our people. Let us find those spaces, and they are there, Page: 29 so that we can work together to build more memories and build more gardens and, importantly, to build something that we can all be proud of in this place that we call home. 12.00 pm Food Security”
“Let me share an example. For the Singapore Memory Project, people from all walks of life have shared over 700,000 memories about Singapore. Thanks to the work of Dr Imran Tajudeen from NUS, old wooden carvings from the former Malay Village will be reused at the new civic centre in Geylang Serai. For the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey, which I visited and was tremendously inspired, there was a lot of work done by the local and international community. Many volunteers, academics, NGOs and the private sector have provided significant time and resources to document the fantastic array of flora and fauna found in our waters. There are many more of such inspiring examples. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many Singaporeans and many volunteers who have stepped forward to work on these issues and in these areas. And through Our Singapore Conversation, we will continue to welcome feedback and views on how we can build our common sense of identity and belonging through heritage and nature conservation. At this juncture of our history, as we come of age and as we find it as an inflexion point in many ways, we need to figure out how to balance all the different conflicting needs that we have and skillfully weave them together. We need to develop our infrastructure but we also need to preserve and to guide our development in a sustainable manner. There will be times that the Government will make difficult decisions. There will be times when the Government perhaps should be stepping back so that the community can step forward. Very often, both Government and people need to step forward together to find the solutions.”
“People were just happy and joyous to take part in the run or walk. As I said before, it is about connecting people, connecting communities. How do we maintain that spirit even as we develop? Many people have come forward with ideas. URA's plans for the Rail Corridor have been enriched by many ideas by many Singaporeans, many residents, students, professionals, interest groups and people who have surfaced ideas about how this could be further developed so that we retain that element of community space. That will be the next step, as we master plan the Rail Corridor, to see how do we incorporate the public feedback, and how do we, importantly, in response to the desires of many people, retain a continuous green corridor as a key planning parameter in the planning, design and development of the Rail Corridor. This is a unique space, not just only in Singapore, but in the world. Celebrating our heritage requires many agencies. Certainly, it involves MND and MCCY. There is a lot of scope for us to work with the National Heritage Board (NHB) and other agencies to curate and tell the story of our places and Page: 28 buildings. NHB is active, for example, in studying how heritage elements in Bukit Brown will be commemorated. NHB has also worked with agencies and members of the community to develop many interesting heritage trails that feature national monuments and heritage sites, not just in historic precincts in the city centre, but also in the heartlands. This is where, again, as Members of Parliament, we can also think about developing local trails for our people, and for people to begin to see the significance of the place that they live in. Heritage has to be fully participated. People need to be fully involved and it must be driven by the people as well.”
“My RC Chairman in Ping Yi Gardens actively discussed it, found an old resident who lived in that area and she took out old pictures. He interviewed her about what it was like in Ping Yi Secondary School previously and what was in that area. Page: 27 Can you imagine what it would be like if all of us began to create our own little histories of the places we live in, mobilising our residents and engaging history buffs, experts to guide us in the process? That is about building history at the local level. I think there is a tremendous potential to help us relate to the place that we live. That is part of nation-building as well. In the planning of new towns, HDB will also incorporate the area's heritage. For example, in Punggol, we will retain Old Punggol Road as a pedestrian trail to connect Punggol's Town Park to the seafront at Punggol Point. For Bidadari, the HDB is studying the feasibility of retaining some of the beautiful mature trees in the area and incorporating the existing memorial garden into the new Bidadari plans. It is about retaining the spirit of the place. One project that all of us are familiar with and is close to my heart is the former KTM railway land. The Rail Corridor reminds us of our close ties with our friend and neighbour, Malaysia. It joins up seven HDB towns from Bukit Merah to Woodlands – almost a million residents live in those areas. Even before development plans are firm, the Rail Corridor has already begun to take on a life of its own to connect people, to connect communities. Earlier this year, I participated in the Green Corridor Run, a scenic 10.5-km run, and it ran from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to the old Bukit Timah Railway Station. It was a privately-organised event – over 6,000 people took part.”
“This is more art than science, and we can experiment and still retain the distinctive character of these areas. As pointed out by Mr Png Eng Huat, our focus on heritage and history has to go beyond just historical districts. It has to go into the heartlands, where we live. Our heritage and identity really start with the place we grew up in and the place that we are living in. This is where we need to strengthen it through good planning, design and actively collaborate with residents. In recent years, HDB has launched the Remaking Our Heartland programme to rejuvenate our housing estates without losing their historical character and social memories. For Dawson estate in Queenstown, HDB launched a "Call for Heritage Items" exercise in 2008 to encourage residents to share stories and donate personal items. I do not know whether you remember Tah Chung (大众) Emporium in that area. I remember it well – I used to go there when I was young. Apparently, there was a Tah Chung (大众) Emporium discount card. Story boards have been put up along the Alexandra Canal Linear Park to recount the transformation of this estate. Now, it is not the same obviously as preserving the entire old estate, but it goes a long way to capture a slice of history which many of us relate to, and to provide that continuity with our past. In Yishun, a Heritage Garden was installed to recall the history of Yishun, and heritage panels were also installed along MyWaterway@Punggol. Similar initiatives to commemorate heartland heritage will be rolled out in the next phase of the programme at Hougang, East Coast and Jurong Lake. This is where I will make a personal plea to all Members in this House. Can you imagine if all of us were to do this in our respective estates?”
“Many historical sites and areas have been conserved in terms of their buildings but I think it is important to also look at the use, as highlighted by Ms Faizah Jamal earlier. What are the policies in place? URA plays an active role to manage the use. We zone these heritage areas for commercial and mixed use – shops, residences, institutions, restaurants and so on. Activities that are not so compatible with these areas, such as nightclubs, drinking joints, massage parlours and the like, will be discouraged in some of these places. We will pay attention to that. But more importantly, this is where the community and the ground-up effort need to take place. We believe that it is best that the community discuss and collectively shape the character of these areas. Ground-up ideas are most welcome and we will support this process because we believe that the local community and those who are passionate about the concerns are best placed to determine what might work best, rather than have the Government impose its views from the top. We will facilitate that conversation and evolve that common space. In this context, I am pleased to note that some stakeholders at Kampong Glam and Chinatown have taken the initiative to refresh and enliven these Page: 26 historical areas. What we hope to see, in terms of pilot projects, are that Haji Lane and Ann Siang Hill/Club Street will also be car-free on weekend evenings to allow pedestrians to freely stroll along the street and enjoy the various activities and programmes in those areas. We hope these pilot projects will be successful and we can continue this in other forms perhaps elsewhere. We will support these ground-up initiatives to make our city more vibrant.”
“We will continue to conserve more significant older buildings when there is an opportunity to do so, but at the same time, you also have to weigh that against the other needs that will arise over time. Our built heritage is valuable not just for the architectural significance of the buildings. It is also the memories that we attach to the activities that used Page: 25 to take place there. Many of us have personal memories of these spaces as well. On the hardware side, conserving is not that difficult. It is actually the software side. What do we do with these spaces? How do we try to maintain, as highlighted by some Members, the memories and activities? How do you preserve that sense of the place? These issues are important and they are also very subjective in many ways. That is why public participation and discourse are important to help us in the Government and the authorities to evolve our approach in managing them. Where possible, we will maintain the original use of the old buildings. But where we are not able to do so, planners in URA try to find workable win-win solutions to provide flexibility to owners, whether in usage or intensification, as long as they retain the key exterior elements of the building. For example, two of our historic buildings, the City Hall and the former Supreme Court, will be converted into a state-of-the-art National Art Gallery. This is in prime district but we decided that it is best to preserve it in this way, and not only that but to promote arts and culture at the same time. We all look forward to its opening in 2015. The concept of adaptive reuse can apply to heritage areas as well.”
“And in their assessment, the biodiversity of land zoned for housing and other developments generally do not come near to the richness of our nature reserves and nature areas which we have set aside. EIAs do take up time and resources. As such, we should apply them selectively to projects that may most adversely impact our protected natural spaces as well as coastal and maritime environments. Just as a quick point, Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned about the report on flood mitigation. I would highlight that in the report itself, the expert panel did not say that large-scale rapid urbanisation is a key contributor to the recent increase of flooding in Singapore. Urbanisation has led to increased storm water runoff – this is what the report says in its Executive Summary – and we need to introduce measures to mitigate the effects of such urbanisation. However, the effects are often complex and require further modelling and analyses supported by higher resolution data. The additional analyses should also include an assessment of whether the runoff coefficients traditionally used in Singapore are appropriate given the high intensity of rainfall, compared with the areas where the runoff coefficients were derived. The final report elaborates a bit further. What is important is we do pay attention to these things and some of the other concerns about ambient temperature and so on, which is why the commitment to make sure that Singapore remains green. Let me talk about our built heritage. Like our greening efforts, we put in effort to conserve what built heritage that we have and we will continue to develop and emphasise this. Since the 1980s, the URA has conserved over 7,000 buildings in more than 100 areas, including historic districts like Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India.”
“Our commitment is to make sure that greenery is part and parcel of our landscape. 11.45 am Ms Faizah Jamal and Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked about the Government's process to assess the environmental impact of development projects. Currently, agencies within the Government collectively evaluate the possible impacts of all development proposals, including traffic, drainage, biodiversity and air and water quality. In particular, agencies will require major development projects to undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment, especially when they are near to sensitive areas, such as nature reserves, nature areas and maritime and coastal areas. Based on these studies, the Government will examine whether the project can proceed and the potential impacts mitigated by modifying the scale or scope of the development works. These EIAs will be gazetted and will be available for public viewing, and we will involve the various stakeholders to tap on their expertise and concerns. MND's recent Land Use Plan has indicated areas where reclamation may take place in future. These areas are part of our longer term plans to provide additional physical capacity in our country. In fact, a lot of Singapore is reclaimed. But firm decisions on reclamation are only taken after the EIAs are conducted. Page: 24 Now, there is the question of whether we should have EIAs for every single development. The truth of the matter is that in every patch of green, you will find life. But does it mean that we should do an EIA on everything before development can take place? We do not believe so. The planning process is in place for development proposals to be assessed. NParks routinely carries out surveys of all the areas of greenery in Singapore.”
“These efforts are important because they encourage the movement of birds, butterflies and wildlife between our nature reserves and parks. By 2015, we aim to create 60 kilometres of such Nature Ways, including at Tampines, Yishun-Mandai, and the Admiralty area. Our park connectors and recreational waterways will also play a very significant and complementary role as they criss-cross this island and intersect with these nature reserves. Our green efforts have been noticed by experts. Peter Newman, who is a Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University, said that he was looking for an innovative edge in Biophilic Cities and he thinks he has found it in Singapore. Page: 23 Now, what are Biophilic cities? They are cities that contain an abundance of nature in close proximity to large numbers of urban dwellers, where its people feel a deep affinity with the unique flora and fauna found in these cities. Do take a look at his videos which are posted on Youtube. You will be amazed. It reminds us about how much we have done in the last 50 years. While many cities have lost their biodiversity and greenery to urbanisation – and remember many of these cities have a hinterland to talk about – we do not, but, yet, we are able to maintain this and build up these efforts, not to just be a Garden City, but to really be a city in a garden. Can we be greener? We can be, but there will inevitably be the trade-offs that I have talked about earlier. We need to be green, we need to look after our heritage, our environment, and to cater space for water sustainability to live, work and play. We truly appreciate the emotive value of these places, but we also have the wider needs of our population to contend with. So, how do we strike that balance?”
“Some of our older parks like Sembawang and Changi Beach Park have been given fresh new looks. These parks will be complemented by more park connectors that will continue to grow across the island, vertical greenery, rooftop gardens and the transformation of our waterways into recreational areas. This represents an awareness of the impact that greenery has on the environment, as Mr Yee Jenn Jong shared earlier, and our commitment to make sure that Singapore remains green. There will be those who argue that parks and waterways are not natural, and they are absolutely right. In the first place, a city, to begin with, is an artificial construct. In this city, nature and biodiversity can be managed to prosper, and we are putting in resources to do so. Things that we can preserve, the natural tracks that we have, we preserve it. But in other areas, how do we cultivate, how do we adapt, how do we adjust to promote that growth, so that it is growing and thriving? Fortunately for us, we also have a very active community of volunteers who also understand this. They not only advocate the conservation of nature, they roll up their sleeves to work together with our authorities like NParks, MEWR and PUB to work on maintaining the greenery and to enrich the biodiversity that we find in Singapore. This has allowed us to do more and to do better. For example, the Eco-Link@BKE is a 50-metre-wide natural platform that will stretch across the BKE. When completed, it will reconnect, after many years of separation, the Central Catchment Reserve to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This is significant. The Kheam Hock Nature Way, which was developed with the community, was also recently launched.”
“Despite our focus – as you can well imagine at that stage, it was about survival, economic, physical security, and so on – our founding fathers had the foresight that Singapore needed to be green, even before it was a fashionable thing to do. In fact, I could imagine Singaporeans wondering why we were wasting time and efforts in this area rather than in other areas which were pressing – housing our people, providing and meeting their basic needs. But it was something we paid attention to. We paid attention to the emissions, the standards of cleanliness for industries, and so on. We have since planted 1.4 million trees to enhance our streets and gardens, and this will continue. We are committed to retaining about a tenth of our land for nature reserves and parks. This is very significant for a highly urbanised city-state like Singapore, and this is our commitment in terms of land planning. Many experts in other countries have also observed that NParks is placed not in any other Ministry but under the Ministry of National Development, because we see that as integral to the development of our country. We have protected four nature reserves, representing the key native ecosystems that are found in Singapore, and their biodiversity are among the richest in the region. We have also planned for green recreational areas where Singaporeans live; at least 85% of our homes will be within 400 metres' walking distance to a park. That is our commitment – to provide the green spaces for Page: 22 our people. This year, Singaporeans can look forward to the completion of new parks like Holland Village Park, Woodlands Town Park East and Choa Chu Kang Park extension, adding to 350 parks that we have today.”
“We have approached nature and heritage conservation in the following three ways: first, let us identify the land and set aside these areas through land zoning for nature and heritage; secondly, let us assess proposed developments – and I will talk more about this later – how these developments may affect our environment, and consider options and measures to mitigate, adjust, change; thirdly, we make the most of what we have – whether developed, conserved or Page: 21 preserved – to make Singapore the best home for all Singaporeans and for all times. These principles are fundamental. But how judgements and trade-offs are made will be determined by the priority of the needs of our people and their families, and these will evolve with time. As a Government, we will have to make decisions that reflect the collective interests of Singaporeans. There will always be interest groups and it is important to have interest groups. It is a very good development to see that interest groups grow. But sometimes, interest groups are also very focused on particular areas of concern. Not that this is not valid, but it is important to also weigh that against the collective needs and the collective interests of all our people. The positive story is that we are beginning to work closely with the increasing number of interest groups and to tap on their expertise and knowledge, and that is something that we should continue to do. Let me first talk about our being green for our people. I am not sure whether we are aware of the significance, but this year, we commemorate 50 years of our city's greening efforts since the first tree planting exercise by Mr Lee Kuan Yew back in 1963.”
“As a Government, we need to be able to balance these views, to engage stakeholders – Singaporeans who care about the environment, history and heritage – and then to ascertain what exactly we need to do. Our focus is to ensure that every Singaporean, today and tomorrow, will have good homes, good jobs and a good quality of life. Our definition of each of them might vary in some ways, but, at the end of it, it has to be about Singaporeans. Our heritage and environment clearly form important parts of this equation. It is important to also understand that they also do not exist for their own sake. Within this 714 square kilometres of land that we call Singapore, we have to decide where we are going to live, work, play, which patches of greenery and which area of heritage significance we should maintain and preserve. There are also defence and security needs and the need to be self-sufficient in water. All these different factors are important because they impact our lives. They are Singaporean interests. Within this space, how do we make those choices? Therein lies the challenge that Singapore faces. We have managed it in our own ways, defied the odds in many ways, to find a balance. This balance will continue to evolve. In all planning, we must put our people and our needs first.”
“Mdm Chairman, we will be developing for our future generations and we will ensure that the needs of Singaporeans are met. This is central to all our developments. But as we ramp up our infrastructure, it is clear that Singaporeans are naturally concerned that some of these developments will have an impact on our natural environment, and, over and above that, our collective socio-cultural heritage and, with it, our personal memories and sense of identity. In our Singapore Conversation, many Singaporeans have talked about it. Our heritage, our environment, arts, culture are all important aspects that we need to pay attention to even as we develop. I understand and fully share these concerns. This is why it is important for us to be careful and deliberate in the process. At the end of it are: what is the correct balance and Page: 20 what is the approach that we need to take? This is where the difficulties start because many of us do have different perspectives. The balance between conservation and development is highly subjective and very much contextual. For example, one may strongly believe that this patch of greenery is very important, or this old school is really precious, and we should maintain it. But somebody else might think, "It does not really matter; why are we spending so much time, so much resources, dragging our feet on the issue?" These are the issues which I think we have to contend with. It is not about who is right or wrong. There are many different views in society. We need to strive to achieve a win-win situation, and while we may not be able to achieve win-win in specific cases, as a system, as a society, that is something that we should endeavour to achieve and it is something that we can work towards.”
“I would like to thank the Member for the supplementary question. TAFEP is an important institution. It is still relatively new by all counts, but I think it is beginning to get really involved in dealing with companies on a range of issues. Strengthening TAFEP is something that we are looking at. As I mentioned earlier, one of the key initiatives that we are going to do is that TAFEP will be investigating more thoroughly in terms of Page: 11 discrimination practices. Where companies are not responding, TAFEP refer the cases to MOM and we will also take the necessary steps to investigate and take actions to restrict the privileges accorded to companies, as the case may be. In short, I would agree with the Member that TAFEP is an organisation that we can strengthen in the years to come.”
“Mdm Speaker, we will be quite happy to follow up with the Member in terms of the specifics of his suggestions. We will take a look at that accordingly.”
“Mdm Speaker, these policies are not static. Clearly, we will review these from time to time. If the Members have specific concerns with regard to which of the ADLs, we could specifically look at that again and to assess the situation. We will be happy to review it on a needs basis. We understand that ultimately, there will need to be some definitive criteria to manage this space, but we will continue to take on feedback and, if need be, we Page: 20 will revise them accordingly.”
“Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank the Member for the supplementary question. We do agree that the challenges can be quite acute for low-income families, especially when they do have frail elderly to look after. That is why MSF has included a new grant. Eventually, for those fulfilling the various criteria, they are essentially paying $50 in levy. One of the challenges we have in managing this space is we recognise that there are needs in terms of helping families look after young children as well as, increasingly, the elderly. I think a lot of our elderly are healthy but at some point, sometimes, they may become frail and we need to extend our support. What we also need to manage with the levy system is to manage the demand. There may also be other families who may not necessarily need the FDWs, but if you excessively reduce the levies, that would have an impact. It is a balance. That is why we established certain criteria to support those families in need. We will continue to review this. If there are specific concerns, those families can surface their issues to their respective Advisors and we can take these up accordingly.”
“Mdm Speaker, I wish to make a point of clarification. The hon Member Mr Pritam Singh made a big issue of the lack of details in the White Paper, in particular, with reference to the number of foreign domestic workers that we might need in the future. If I may draw the House's attention to the White Paper, on page 40, under the subsection, "Complementing the Singaporean Core with a Foreign Workforce", chapter 3.2.3, we talked about more foreign workers will also be needed to build housing, transport and other key infrastructure and to do conservancy and maintenance work; footnote 11, where we project that by 2030, 250,000 to 300,000 work permit holders will be needed in construction, and so on, and then 28,000 foreigners in healthcare and 300,000 as foreign domestic workers. More details can be found in NPTD's occasional paper. I would like to add that, perhaps, it would be useful to actually read the Paper and the details before commenting. Page: 143”
“Mdm Speaker, if I may clarify. I think what I referred to is really at 2030, the projections that we think, by that stage, addressing the elderly issues. We think that the present foreign domestic worker numbers are about 200,000. It will rise to about 300,000 by then. So, that is in excess, not between now and 2020.”
“Mdm Speaker, my apologies. If I may, there was a table that I prepared that was meant to be distributed during my speech. If I may have your permission to distribute that table, please?”
“Mdm Speaker, two quick responses. With regard to what Mr Low Thia Khiang has said, it is a matter of record. My concern was really the different positions taken. The whole debate about DRC (Dependency Ratio Ceiling) was important, because it is about freeing up space when we have more foreign workers coming in. At that stage, Mr Low's concern, and I think a fair concern, was about our SMEs and businesses being affected. But that actually runs contrary to the overall trend of trying to constrain and move our foreign workforce downwards. Secondly, with regard to the Labour Force Participation Rate, not at all. I am fully committed in terms of raising Labour Force Participation Rate. I would urge Mr Low and his colleagues to read some of the initiatives, and these initiatives are not just on paper. We do have a very high Labour Force Participation Rate and it is increasing and it is improving. What I am highlighting is: there are also challenges and we continue to emphasise and we hope that Labour Force Participation Rate can continue to improve, but that is different from saying that there are no more ideas. We will continue to work on that and I think that is important. If there are other ideas, we welcome them. I think that is an important point of clarification because what I have been asking is, I am curious as to some of the very practical suggestions. Because we have talked about TFR being half-hearted, apart from eight-hour workday, what are the other things? A lot of things are being put in place. So, we would also appreciate it if there are concrete ideas accompanying some of these broader statements. Page: 124”
“With that, Mdm Speaker, I would like to support the amended Motion. [Applause.]”
“I defend my loved ones and friends who remain here, and all Singaporeans who are here. The percentage does not make a difference, my duties and responsibilities do not change. Taking too nationalistic an approach can and sometimes does bring out the worse in us. We are much more than this as a people. So, let me end with this quote: "As a Singaporean I have no difficulty, in a single lifetime, forgetting in turn that I was a Ceylon Tamil and Sri Lankan though I was born there. I had no difficulty forgetting that I was a British subject, or the formative years as a Malayan and where most of my kith and kin still are. That I and my colleagues fought bitterly the communists and communalists on both sides of the Causeway to be a Malaysian and am now totally happy that I will die, I hope, a Page: 122 satisfied Singaporean. Being a Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry. It is conviction and choice ... Being a Singaporean means forgetting all that stands in the way of one's Singaporean commitment, but without in any way diminishing one's curiosity about the triumphs and failures of one's distant ancestors." This was written by the person who coined the term "Singaporean Singapore", S Rajaratnam. Friends, we talk about the Singaporean Core. I think this is what it means, and this is the core of being a Singaporean. For all our imperfections, we are a remarkable little nation. We have defied the odds, and have built up something special that we all care for. For all of us here, this is our home and this is where our heart is. I for one do not intend for us to be a footnote in the annals of history. I have hope that our next chapter will see us all grow old together, here, as one people, and to be young again, as one nation.”
“Therefore, the policy of topping up shortfalls in our total fertility rate with younger immigrants to make up the Singaporean core is flawed." At various Page: 121 junctures, they talk of dilution of our citizen numbers – home-grown, home-born Singaporeans – with the numbers that are coming in forming new citizens, and this idea is repeated. I guess this is one way of looking at it and I suppose it resonates with some Singaporeans – which is why it was raised. I honestly do not know how far back we should go before Singaporeans count? Even here in this House, some of us are not born in Singapore. Ms Irene Ng was not born in Singapore. Mr Chen Show Mao was not born in Singapore. Does it make them second-class citizens? We have many Singaporeans who are not born here. They may not have grown up here, but they have decided to make this place home, and serve and contribute to our society. Should this be what defines us as Singaporeans? And this is an important question. Are these values we as Singaporeans subscribe to? I do not subscribe to these values and outlook to what it means to be a Singaporean. I believe we Singaporeans are an open hearted and kind people. We are generous. We are warm. We embrace those that are around us. Those who leave here, leave as friends and will look out for us because they remember the friendships forged. They were touched by the kindness of our people when they were here in various capacities. Some will choose to live here because they see that this is something they want to be part of. As leaders, we cannot be just echo chambers. We lead and set the tone and inspire ourselves and our people to be Singaporeans with a heart. When you ask who do we defend? This is my response. I defend my family who remains here.”
“So, we will manage the manpower downstream, and we need to strike a balance. I do believe that as we restructure, as we evolve and build a better future for ourselves and our people, we will have a Singapore that we can be proud of. A place where our Singaporeans can find jobs, good jobs, opportunities to pursue different avenues for them to achieve their own dreams. And they can find the fulfilment here. I would want to end by saying this: The present infrastructural crunch, we will ease it. We will deal with it decisively. The number of initiatives has been informed. We will take bold initiatives to ensure this. And at the same time, I think we recognise that we will slow down the economy to a sustainable rate. But we need to tread carefully. We will manage our space better and I think we can build something special here. Our heart and soul remain important. It is not just the material. I think this is something recognised by all Singaporeans and all Members here in this House. We need to nurture it – activities in school, community outreach, the arts, heritage, the environment. These things cannot be neglected even as we discuss the practical aspects of governance; the practical aspects that impact our future. The very heart and soul of our nation rest on some of these things, our values. This is where it is important to address this idea of the Singaporean Core. My colleagues from the Workers' Party define this Singaporean core with a very catchy, Singaporean Singapore slogan. It is meaningful, but the sub-text is actually very important. I quote Ms Sylvia Lim, "A strong Singaporean core should be made up of Singaporeans who grew up in and with Singapore.”
“The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme targets full-time income earners in the bottom 20% but the benefits are extended (at reducing rates) to cover earners up to around the 30th percentile. This ensures that a worker’s WIS payouts would not decrease too quickly as he upgrades his skills and earns more. MOM will be reviewing WIS in 2013. In the review, we will take into account changes in income levels and inflation, bearing in mind that the level of assistance should be meaningful while still encouraging individual effort and responsibility. WIS is a permanent social transfer mechanism which should be targeted at those who need it most. Page: 157”
“To support older Singaporean workers, we introduced the Special Employment Credit (SEC) to encourage employers to hire Singaporean employees aged above 50 years and earning up to $4,000 per month. For each Singaporean employee aged above 50 who earns up to $3,000 monthly, employers will receive an SEC of 8% of the employee’s monthly wage. The SEC payout will be progressively lowered for employees with a monthly wage of between $3,000 and $4,000. This encourages employers to not only hire older workers, but to also pay them good wages. Since 2012, the SEC is also given to employers who hire persons with disabilities (PWDs), including PWDs aged below 50 years. For each PWD employee who earns up to $4,000 monthly, employers will receive an SEC of 16% of the employee’s monthly wages, up to a maximum of $240 per month. Page: 156 The SEC is paid out twice a year. Since its introduction in 2011, $268 million has been paid out to 91,000 employers for employing 404,000 eligible employees between January 2011 and June 2012. This includes the $2.5 million that was paid to 2,000 employers for hiring 3,200 eligible PWDs between January 2012 and June 2012. The next payment of SEC will be in March 2013, for employers who have eligible employees on their payroll between July and December 2012. The SEC is an important initiative to support older Singaporeans and PWDs to gain dignity through work and help them be independent.”
“If we can achieve those numbers, then obviously it allows us flexible space in terms of the foreign labour numbers as well.”
“Thank you, Mdm Speaker, for your indulgence. I would not fully agree. I would say this: the goal is not GDP growth, the goal is not the number. The goal is to be able to provide a level of economic growth, and the goal is not economic growth. It is to be able to provide a quality of life for our Page: 109 people. We agree with the Workers' Party on that. The question is how do you bring that about? These things do not happen naturally. There are challenges, there is competition. Whatever we do, other countries are doing as well; so we need to be in cognisance of that. Labour Force Participation Rate is important – and we recognise it not because we do not – we do want to let go on that. There are many things that are on-going concurrently. If we are able to be successful in bringing up Labour Force Participation Rate, if we can improve our TFR, for example, the workforce will only kick in probably in the post 2030-2035 timeframe. What do you do in-between? If we can increase our Labour Force Participation Rate, if we can also reach our productivity target and even exceed it, that gives us policy space to not necessarily ramp up the foreign labour force, as needed. The target is not to reach that level of foreign labour force; the target is to generate the level of growth that we can provide for our people. We are actively turning our back on economic growth, to scale down because we cannot sustain that level of growth. It needs to be sustainable to meet a range of options that we can provide for our people.”
“A key component of one of the things the Member said in the latter part of his speech was about retraining, investing in capital and investing in re-developing skills so that our workers could remain relevant. We totally agree. We do spend a lot on our CET training and we do intend to continue to strengthen that. Our productivity and restructuring – those cornerstones. We need to pursue productivity at all cost, as much as we can because that is key for us. We cannot continue as before and we fully acknowledge that. As we have said – very often – with productivity, wages would also go up. That is something we are working on. I would be very interested to know what more and what else. What I have detected so far would seem to be that all things that the Member has suggested focuses on "Let us do more". And those things we are doing more of, but I would like to explore what other initiatives and ideas specifically that will provide that significant delta. That is what we are looking for and that is really important. If there are useful suggestions, I am very keen to explore what those might be.”
“Mdm Speaker, if I may attempt to seek clarifications again. I tried to seek some clarifications earlier. I am actually very interested to increase our labour force participation rate. I think I have said that many times – it is important. We do have a fair number of economic inactives. They are older workers and so on. We have put in place a number of measures. We have shown, in terms of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for some of our older workers, after Japan and Korea, we are one of the highest in the world. We can still have some room to grow and we intend to strengthen those initiatives. But a key component of the Member's strategy is to beef up the LFPR to such a stage that we actually do not need foreign workers in Singapore. I am very interested to know the initiatives and ideas to bring that about and that is key. It is not the rhetoric that is important. Governance is about how do you translate ideas, visions into reality, and that is what it is really about; not just rhetoric, not just pressing the right emotive buttons. It is about making things happen so that we can realise a shared vision about how to make things better for Singaporeans.”