Tan See Leng
Singapore
“We are aware of the Singapore Workplace Report 2026, produced by the Singapore Institute of Directors and Gallup, and we are studying its findings.”
“The Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation (Taskforce) actively reaches out to all retrenched local employees. In 2025, 77% of Mandatory Retrenchment Notifications (MRNs) were submitted at least seven days ahead of the employee's last working day and 73% of MRNs were submitted at least two weeks ahead.”
“From 2022 to 2025, vacancy rates for technical maintenance roles in the real estate services sector, which includes facilities management, have been lower than the overall job vacancy rate, except in 2025 (see Table 1).”
“The Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) works with sector agencies to determine the courses which are required by the respective industries. The SWDA currently funds more than 100 courses, spanning a wide range of mental health-related fields.”
“In the first quarter of 2026, the profile of retrenched residents aged 50 to 59 was broadly similar to the profile of all retrenched residents, predominantly comprising professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) and were mainly from wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, financial and insurance services and profession…”
“In 2025, around 4,200 resident professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) aged 45 to 59 were retrenched, higher than 3,200 in 2024 and 3,500 in 2023. Their six-month re-entry rate remained stable at 48.5% in 2025, compared with 48.9% in 2024 and 50.1% in 2023.”
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“In 2025, there were two work-related fatalities and 74 major injuries involving platform workers (PWs), which translates to a rate of 84.6 injuries per 100,000 PWs. The two fatalities and 62 of the 74 major injuries involved PWs performing delivery services. The remaining 12 involved PWs performing ride-hail services. The high injury rate reflects the inherent risks involved in platform work given that both platform operators (POs) and workers have limited control over their work environment, which primarily involves travel on public roads and paths. Coupled with how most of the PWs' fatal and major injuries in 2025 were sustained while operating vehicles or active mobility devices, road safety is a key concern. The Ministry does not have data to link PW injuries to work pressures or fatigue. However, Platform Work Associations (PWAs) have highlighted that some PWs face pressures stemming from customer expectations of delivery timings or anxiety over earnings. These factors may add to safety risks, such as some PWs rushing to complete more jobs during peak hours. On platform incentive structures, the PW Trilateral Group convened last year recognised that overly rigid regulation of incentive structures could stifle innovation and disrupt POs' business models. Instead, it recommended that POs and PWAs develop industry-wide principles for issues related to payment or incentive schemes, balanced against the need for safety of PWs. An example of these principles is that incentive schemes should not be designed to encourage PWs to work excessively long periods without adequate rest to qualify for an incentive.”
“With the exit of Deliveroo from Singapore, platform workers can take jobs from the remaining 17 platform operators (POs) currently providing delivery services in Singapore. The National Trades Union Congress, platform work associations (PWAs) and POs had jointly developed a set of industry-wide principles in 2025 that cover fair earnings and safe incentives schemes for platform work. Platform workers who have concerns on payment rates, benefits and terms of service can directly raise their concerns with their POs or their PWAs, which can take the lead in discussions with POs on their behalf, taking reference from the industry principles.”
“According to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM's) Migrant Worker Experience Survey in 2024, only about 13% of workers have their meals catered by employers. The survey also revealed that eight in 10 migrant workers either cook or purchase their own meals. Hence, there are no plans to establish nutritional benchmarks or dietary guidelines targeting catered meals for migrant workers. Notwithstanding this, MOM has been educating workers on healthier meal choices when purchasing cooked meals or cooking their own. Together with the anchor operators of MOM’s primary healthcare system and non-governmental organisations, we educate migrant workers through the dissemination of videos, posters, roadshows and consults at the primary care clinics. Migrant workers with food-related issues can approach MOM's Forward Assurance and Support Team officers or make a report via the FWMOMCare mobile application. MOM will follow up with the employer and/or dormitory operator to resolve the issues.”
“Workforce Singapore does not impose employment bond requirements on Career Conversion Programme participants.”
“The Government will elaborate on the fuel situation in the Ministerial Statements on 7 April 2026. We currently do not have plans to direct businesses and companies to review work-from-home requirements.”
“Companies with 10 or more employees are required to submit a Mandatory Retrenchment Notification (MRN) to the Ministry of Manpower within five working days of informing any employee of their retrenchment. The penalty for non-compliance is an administrative penalty of $1,000 for the first contravention and $2,000 for subsequent contraventions. The majority of employers comply with the MRN requirement. In 2025, 81% of MRNs were submitted within the five working day deadline, which is an improvement from 67% in 2024. Late submissions were often due to administrative oversight. Companies who submit MRN late are issued with caution letters, and most have been remorseful and compliant thereafter. For recalcitrant employers, we will impose administrative penalties. As the MRN compliance rate has been high, we do not see a need to raise the penalties at this time. We will continue to monitor employers' compliance with MRN requirements and review our enforcement framework from time to time.”
“As reported in the Employment Standards Report 2024, 94% of employees who lodged salary claims with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) fully recovered their salaries, while 4% recovered their salaries partially through security bond insurers and main contractors or were assisted through financial assistance. The remaining 2% did not recover their salaries and were mainly higher income earners. Once a worker registers a settlement agreement with the District Court, it becomes enforceable as a Court order. If a worker did not receive payment by the due date, he or she can seek TADM's assistance to engage the employer on the payment obligation and advise the worker on the process to apply to the Courts to enforce the Court order. In serious cases, the Ministry of Manpower will investigate the employer for possible offences under the Employment Act. Penalties, such as warnings, debarment from applying for work passes and prosecution in Court, may be imposed on errant employers who do not pay salaries. Upon conviction, employers could be fined up to $15,000 and/or imprisoned for up to six months for the first offence; and up to $30,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 12 months for repeat offenders.”
“Workers from lower-income households, regardless of the employment type, may also approach their Social Service Office to seek financial assistance if needed.”
“Regarding the number of riders affected, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not release company-level information, as such data is collected under the Statistics Act for the compilation of official statistics and is subject to confidentiality requirements. As the nature of platform work is different from employment, not all support measures for employees affected by business closures are applicable for platform workers. For example, platform workers can decide whether and when to take on the next delivery job so the concept of employment termination notice period would not be applicable. For employees, employers must provide them with the requisite notice period as stipulated in their employment contracts upon termination or follow the minimum notice period prescribed under the Employment Act if the contract is silent. Companies that employ at least 10 employees are required to submit a mandatory retrenchment notification so that Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) can provide employment facilitation support. For platform workers, they can take on jobs from other platform operators or approach WSG, e2i and relevant platform work associations for career matching services and training programmes. In the case of the said food delivery platform operator, WSG and e2i stepped in to offer job matching support and career coaching to both affected employees and platform workers. The platform operator also worked with the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union and National Delivery Champions Association to facilitate their outreach and assistance to union members.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in a crisis like this, I understand the angst, the apprehension of everyone, not just in this Chamber, but outside. There are actually many, many different "ifs". I cannot possibly cover every perceivable permutation or conceivable combination that can come up. As I said, that is why we maintain the stockpile the way we have maintained. We have taken it upon ourselves to make sure that we have provided contingencies for different scenarios – from single geographical chokepoints to multiple geographical chokepoints. And we have sized up, based on the constraints of our own land size, whether it is single geographical chokepoint to multiple geographical chokepoints, that length of time that is required. And as what the Coordinating Minister for National Security opened up earlier on, we are going to increase that stockpile some more. I think for us, we have done every possible measure. We have taken it upon ourselves to open up every single diversification measure possible and available to us today. To the Member's point on what if these countries decide to curtail back the gas supply? Today, there are legal provisions that are enshrined. Of course, people can renege everything. I mean, you are talking about a sort of a "Z" scenario where everything happens and there are burning platforms everywhere. I assure you that even at that point in time, we have made provisions. Of course, how long can we survive if everything is taken away, I think that is something that I cannot share with you. And everyone here would understand why I am not at liberty to share this with you. I hope that the House can appreciate the very delicate balance we are all in today and how we should all be working closely together as one united nation.”
“But I think for us, we continue to remain clear-headed, consistent in the way we deal with all of our neighbours and with all of our partners. We continue to be transparent and maintain our credibility. I believe that it is not just working within the ASEAN framework, it is also working with Northeast Asia partners – Japan, Republic of Korea, China; working with Oceania, which is Australia, New Zealand; working with the Middle East. Because at some point in time, this crisis will also abate, and of course, opening up new markets. That has always been what we have been carrying out all this while.”
“We constantly engage our counterparts for piped natural gas, Malaysia and Singapore. I believe you would have read in the news that both our Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Wong and Prime Minister Anwar, they have been in phone calls as well. I make trips. I meet them at the international fora. And every opportunity that we have, we discuss how to collaborate more – between the whole ASEAN member state framework and also, the fact that we are the closest neighbours. For Australia, just like the ASEAN member states, because of the interdependence, given our position as a global hub and particularly, a Southeast Asia hub for refineries, our downstream products are equally in demand, just like their natural gas is also equally in demand by us. So, I think that mutual dependency serves both on a multilateral basis well; and we continue to build on those. Of course, to further expand that collaboration, to further expand the uptake, I think that is also a function of the amount of private sector investments that we need to bring alongside with us, because typically, when it comes to the actual negotiation for the pricing, we typically do not get involved and we leave it to the business-to-business sector to be involved in the direct negotiation. Those are the measures that we have today and I believe that they have served us well all these decades. Like what Deputy Prime Minister has just shared, the world is also changing rapidly. Right now, everyone is looking at "just in case". I believe that as a result of this particular crisis, some degree of scarring is bound to happen and there will be countries who will start to hoard as well.”
“We are encouraging contemporaneously our domestic users to use the climate vouchers if they have not used, to switch the aircon appliances, from the three-tick to the five-tick ones, which saves them considerable amount of money every year – about $300. So, we are trying on multiple prongs to get our population, our businesses, our country, our society as a whole to adopt energy conservation as its core, as its foundation.”
“And we are also working very closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency to see how we can self-evaluate through the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review. And we will keep this House posted very regularly on the accelerated pathways that we have adopted to reach that energy independence. Those are the measures that I have articulated many, many times. To the Member's point about whether we should consider rationing power use, for instance. We are contemplating. These are very early days. We do not want to cause panic because we are actually stable. We also do not want to cause panic to investors, to the world economy, to our downstream partner countries whom we export refined products to. But at some point in time, as part and parcel of Total Defence Day, we may do an exercise to test out the readiness when it comes to power rationing. If I may borrow your time, since we are here. You are all respectively advisors of your constituencies, your Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and so on. If you can adopt energy saving measures across the entire GRC, we would really welcome that. And I want to make a shout-out to the Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang. I think in his constituency he adopted energy-saving motion sensor lighting in the HDB blocks. To also address the Member Louis Chua's point about the fact that domestic use is a very small amount, but it hits the pocket. And we are starting a multi-pronged approach, not just to domestic users that we are encouraging to conserve energy, we are also working with big businesses to get them, to incentivise them to switch, whether it is the Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions, the Energy Efficiency Grant, to get them to take on these things.”
“On the acceleration, the last point from the Member about the deployment of small modular reactors, I believe I have answered it quite extensively. Perhaps just to reiterate: we are doing everything we can. We have shared with everyone here about the four switches in terms of the diversification of our energy sources to achieve some measure of energy independence. First, natural gas. Second, solarisation. We have exceeded our targets five years ahead of time. We hit the two gigawatt-peak last year, ahead of the 2030 target that we set for ourselves. So, now, we are going to raise the ambition to three gigawatt-peak by 2030 – 50% more – and we are hoping to drive and accelerate solar power adoption here, to double that from last year to four gigawatt-peak by the second half of the 2030s. We have gone on this Decarbonisation Grand Challenge, which was announced at the Committee of Supply this year to look for low-carbon technologies. And to try to see how we can use biomethane as a sandbox. So, we are trying everything there is, including exploring geothermal. And the last bit is a question of waiting for the first of a kind to be operational and to be deployed and to be safe before we start to adopt. We want to be the fastest adopter. We have sent our teams to learn from the US. Our teams have gone to the US multiple times to look at the different centres in Idaho, in Oak Ridge and in Boston as well. At the same time, we have tie-ups with the United Arab Emirates. Of course, at this particular point in time, no one is there from our side. We have also signed agreements with the Koreans, with the Japanese, with the United Kingdom and the French to learn from them on some of these advanced nuclear technologies.”
“At this particular point in time, we are monitoring the situation very closely. Our first priority would be to support all of our fresh graduates who are graduating. We are also concerned about the potential of AI disruptions on fresh graduates looking and landing jobs. What we hope to be able to achieve in our graduated tiering of the worker levies is to drive productivity and drive value-add in many of these construction companies and many of the SMEs and companies that are employing these foreign workers. Just by cutting away the levy completely, without any concomitant tie-backs to increase productivity and value-add, I think we are going to set ourselves back.”
“Yes, with our team and myself, we have been working to see how we can strengthen this. I think it also calls for a fundamental pivot in terms of the thinking because we do also at the same time want to decarbonise and work towards a zero-emission target by 2050. So long as you have the energy-intensive sector, we need to think about how, while we build up, at the same time, we need to have a clear pathway towards decarbonisation. Having said that, actually our refineries are probably one of the most efficient in terms of carbon emissions. But as you step up the refinery, you have to keep up with that level of carbon emissions. It is a balance and a trade-off that we will have to consider over the medium to longer term.”
“There is some percentage loss when you have one predominant fuel, to now, at least two different fuel types, because you then need the space, the caverns, for you to rebalance between sour and sweet crude. So, there is some compromise, but not to the extent that it would impact our competitiveness as a refinery complex and as a refinery hub, at least within the region. And your third point, which is on?”
“Our gencos comprise a combination of different combined cycle gas turbines. Some are existing combined cycle gas turbines that would require time for that conversion. Others, for instance, are using the new J-class and H-class type of combined cycle gas turbines, which can also be at least 30% hydrogen ready. So, because of that spectrum of the number of gencos and the combined cycle gas turbines that we have here, it is not a one size fits all. If you recall, the Member was part of the same group of Parliamentarians who passed the Bill. What we have done is to effectively strengthen our entire framework since five years ago, where EMA would require the different gencos to show and to indicate to us ahead of time their gas, their supplies, their access to gas supplies, their vesting contracts, and so on. We, holding the stockpile, would then work with them to work out the time that would be required for that switch from gas to diesel, so as to ensure that there is no outage or unnecessary downtime when they switch over. So, that part of it is something that we work very closely with them on. On your second point, what was the second point? On the refineries? Yes. This is something that I have also learnt over the last fortnight. I think those of you who are in the oil and gas industry may know it better than I do. But we now primarily have access to two types of crude: the sweet crude and the sour crude. Sour crude means that there is a lot more sulphur and it comes mainly from the Middle East. It is more favoured because the downstream products you get, whether it is diesel, naphtha to bitumen, seems to be more versatile compared to the other types of crude. So, what we have done is that there will be some compromise in the refinery capabilities.”
“Let me just summarise and translate in a broad gist. The Member is asking whether we can increase our stockpile, whether we have plans to increase the reserves. As Coordinating Minister for National Security stated, the HCMC together with the HCEG are currently not resting on our laurels. We are studying how to increase the current stockpile provisions. I want to reassure everyone that if I had the benefit of space, I would stockpile significantly higher amounts. Our very real constraint is the space we have here. If we stockpile in a foreign country, then I do not think that that is really stockpiling for our own needs if the situation gets very, very severe. I hope that we can understand that these are real constraints that we have here in our country, and hence, my original exhortation is energy is existential for us; energy is precious; let us try to conserve it. For the scenario planning, as I have shared with Prof Koh earlier on, we have different contingency, different scenario planning, for single-country chokepoints to multi-country chokepoints. I am not at liberty to share that because this is our national security, and I beg for your understanding and your indulgence.”
“I have answered in quite different parts, but perhaps to just curate it for the Member's utility. First, indeed, this crisis is also an opportunity for us to build even closer ties, with our reputation, our credibility, our consistency, our predictability and our transparency. Our relationship with Australia will hopefully be up a few notches when we reassure them that we will abide by a rules-based multilateral trading system, we will not impose export restrictions, and depending on the upstream feedstock that we are able to get and our refineries continue to refine, notwithstanding the fact that there are different types of crude nowadays, but we still try to optimise the refineries' complex operational capabilities to make sure that the downstream supply of essential fuel products – the diesel, the motor gas, together with the naphtha – they continue to get the supply. Likewise, they are a major supplier, they are the third largest supplier of LNG, that they would also not in any way curtail their exports to us. I think that is a start. At the same time, we will expand that to food resilience and food supply. Our Prime Minister has raised the ambition. We have substantively concluded the negotiations on the Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies. I think Minister Vivian may know that better. At the same time, we are trying to see how we can accelerate the same discussions with Australia and other countries. On nuclear, I have also shared that it is not a question of us not wanting to do it, we want to make sure that it is safe. The small modular reactors for advanced nuclear energies have proven to be very safe. We just want to ensure that there is a site that has been planted, is operational and that we can use that as a reference site or model.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I can just talk about jobs. In case you are wondering, I am still the Minister for Manpower, notwithstanding, the entire discussion was just on energy. What we have done is to work very closely with MTI and the Economic Development Board for the affected power generation refinery and the energy-intensive emission sector to ensure that there is no permanent scarring. We will continue to help workers in those particular sectors. We have not completely ironed out the plans. Again, if the Member is interested, he can file a Parliamentary Question and we can elaborate on that more. For the rest of the signals, perhaps I can invite my other colleagues to take on the questions.”
“As I have shared earlier on, for those gencos which have entered into very long vesting contracts, I think some of their clients and customers would already find it hard to keep and maintain those kind of pricings. Hence, these are the ones that we are currently managing to try and understand the impact. I do not have the full details. It is actually this group, potentially, that may invoke the force majeure clause. Having said that, today, a lot of the cargoes that we are buying in are on spot price. That accounts for that huge spike. Because of the Strait of Hormuz, Qatar has invoked force majeure. I think on one or two of the cargoes, Shell has also invoked force majeure. So, for us, for the GasCo, we have to make sure that we can get the replacement cargo. And we have succeeded. We have been successful in getting the replacement cargo. It is just that we are not able to get it at the earlier pricing. To your question as to how this would impact, we do not have all the necessary details at this point in time. Perhaps, at the next Parliamentary Sitting, I would invite you to file a Parliamentary Question. We can get into a more robust presentation at that point in time.”
“Indeed, I think that is a valid concern. EMA has been constantly engaging all the gencos. Today, supply at this point in time, is not an issue because we have got GasCo, which has sourced for supplies and diversified the various sources of supplies quite broadly. If anything at all, I think the force majeure portion comes because the pricing of these LNG cargoes coming in, has gone up significantly, compared to pre-crisis times. So, many of the contracts that they were locked in, they can no longer supply, because obviously, the feedstock has gone up significantly. And this is where EMA has stepped in to form the bridge between these large consumers, together with the gencos. Our sense today is that the domestic consumers, because they form not a very big part of the gencos' exposure, if I am not mistaken, I have to check this, but I think they use less than four megawatts for the entire year. So, I do not think they will be affected that much. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Manpower", Official Report, 7 April 2026, Vol 96, Issue 27, Correction By Written Statement section.] Nevertheless, my exhortation still stays. That is, the next few quarters will see significant increase in the tariffs. It is something that all of us collectively will have to take note of. We should not expect that for the 2.1% increase in tariffs for this quarter, I am able to hold it. This is something that is food for thought for everyone.”
“For the larger ones, there is also the Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions as well. I would think that these businesses can find out more about which are the ones that they are eligible for and make the applications accordingly.”
“A function of why the electricity tariffs seem to have risen slower compared to diesel is, as I have shared, in fact, Deputy Prime Minister shared early on, how the regulated tariff is calculated – based on last quarter's prices of natural gas, which is benchmark to the Brent crude benchmark index. From January to February, the war broke out on 28 February, so we have only factored in, at most, about half a month of that price increase. That is why that has not actually come into impact for the regulated tariff for electricity. I have also given everyone a warning that the next quarter's tariff will see significantly sharper increases. While I thank the Member for that supplementary question, because I am going to leverage on this supplementary question to let everyone know, and I have put up a harbinger – it is not insider trading, because I think it is an open secret that the prices have gone up significantly – for household consumers, for domestic consumers, if they want to hedge, they may want to switch to a fixed price contract moving forward. I think, suffice for me to say. For businesses, how they are going to convert the diesel trucks, the diesel vehicles to EVs, I think for them to perhaps move out of their trucks today to convert it physically, I think it would take a lot of time. I am not an engineer, so I would not know what is involved in that. Of course, if they want to trade it off and buy an EV instead, I think that is an option that is available. As far as any subsidies and so on are concerned, I think this is not something that I can comment on. Suffice to say that for some of the businesses, if they want to convert to more energy efficient measures and so on, there is the Energy Efficiency Grant.”
“On the Strait of Hormuz, it impacts about 9% to 10% of our LNG supplies from Qatar. We think that a simultaneous choke or blockade of the Red Sea near the Gulf of Aden, where the Houthis from South Yemen – which is also something that I did highlight in my Facebook posts about a week ago – would not have a significant impact, because it primarily impacts supplies coming from Europe through the Suez Canal. Many of them are pharmaceuticals. They actually come in through air.”
“I am very glad that the Member recognises an issue of our national security. I think suffice to say, I have put it on record that we have supplies to last for months. And we will keep it as that.”
“We simulate models across chronological parameters as well as geographical parameters. So, our simulations run, particularly for power generation, our scenarios run on if one region is completely choked versus two regions versus multiple regions. And we build that simulation accordingly. I am not at liberty to share because it is a function of our own national security. For the other simulation, we have simulated based on a three-month, five-month, one-year window. The parameters go into a lot of details, in terms of which are the sectors that are most exposed and then which are the sectors that get indirectly influenced by the cascading effect, and then to the more domestic sectors getting influenced. So, there are multiple simulation scenarios. One of the key things is that our civil servants are very, very well adapt in managing all of these different scenarios. Like I said, I cannot go into the details because it is a matter of our own security.”
“Our diesel prices have risen mainly due to global factors. I mean the ongoing tensions involving Iran, as I have said a few times already, significantly increase the uncertainty and, of course, the risk to oil supply. And it pushes up the crude oil all over the world. If you compare diesel, diesel is a very versatile fuel mix, because the strong demand from transport, from the shipping industry, and there is also some limited refining capacity that is possible using diesel. And as I have shared with you, even our combined cycle gas turbines, which the gencos use, can use diesel as a back-up. So, it is a very versatile use. You will appreciate the fact that it is also easier to store diesel compared to natural gas, because the boiling point of natural gas, I think it is probably about minus 150 over degrees Celsius. So, to keep natural gas, you need that energy to keep it at that level. And if you put it in a floating storage regasification unit, there is a lot of boil-off of that gas. So, you got to use it. LNG is not an easy fuel for you to store unlike diesel. When you talk about stockpiling, of course, a significant proportion of that amount is in diesel. So, you can appreciate that because of the versatility and in farm tractors in many of the agrarian countries around, that emphasis has always been on diesel. That is why it has risen faster compared to petrol. As far as the roll-out of support measures, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow has already shared what are the measures. MTI will continue to keep a close watch on this space and if need be, the Government will not hesitate to come in, to act, to help.”
“We certainly see an opportunity in every crisis. It is precisely what all of us do. Our entire team, fellow political officeholders, Government Parliamentary Committee members, that we constantly outreach to our like-minded partners to work even more closely with them. The most recent visit two weeks ago to Japan with the Prime Minister, last week's visit to Australia and there will be many more of such outreach to many of our like-minded partners. On the nuclear energy collaboration, it is not for want of or lack of trying. I think the Member will appreciate the fact that because we are so small and as the Coordinating Minister for National Security alluded to just now, we have to ensure that these advanced nuclear energy technologies are safe. They indeed are today. The physics work, the engineering work. It is just that there has not been a single site of deployment yet. I mean, there are some that is in the process of being commissioned, for instance, in China, and there are some coming up in the US. But we have not seen a single modular reactor site being put up and operating commercially. And the Member will appreciate the fact that regardless of how we collaborate with the rest of the ASEAN member states, we will never put our population at risk of adopting a first-of-a-kind technology. We can be a fast adopter, but we cannot be the first-of-a-kind mover. I hope that gives the Member the context of what we are doing.”
“Today, given this uncertainty, we are indeed ramping up the negotiations, the discussions with our counterparts to see how we can expedite both the completion of the feasibility studies as well as the commercial feasibility of laying of the subsea cables. Those are happening in progress. So, I hope to give some positive news, but we are stepping up. Today, I am not at liberty to share that first. Where we are, I cannot predict how long more this war will take. And what I think we should be sure about is that because we are open, we are connected. While this is an advantage for us, given the 150 oil majors that we have here, the third largest oil trading hub in the world, the sixth largest refinery complex in the world, but upstream, the crude still has to come from somewhere. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Manpower", Official Report, 7 April 2026, Vol 96, Issue 27, Correction By Written Statement section.] And if the Middle East as a source is choked, we will still not necessarily have that significant impact, but the impact downstream is that it will take a longer time for crude from other parts of the world to bypass the Middle East to come to us. The quality of the crude, they are also different. And because of the differences in the quality of the crude, the run rates of our refinery complexes would also therefore have to be optimised. So, it is this whole cascade of the different refinery processes that we also have to take into account that is contributing, in some cases, amplifying this crisis. But our modus operandi has always been, we do not impose export restrictions and we will still abide by the rules-based global trading framework.”
“I mentioned the fuel shortages potentially ahead, because the threat of the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East is very real. If we follow the tweets, if we follow all of the news that is coming out, whether it is from the US or from Iran, from Israel, we can pretty much come to that same conclusion. So, it is important for us as a country that while we can take some calm, but we should also be very pragmatic and very real about what the challenges are. And the fact is that because we do not produce any of these natural resources on our shores, we therefore have to be prepared for a possible worse-case scenario, not worst case, but a worse-case scenario compared to what it is today. And to that end, we constantly reach out to our immediate neighbours to talk about piped natural gas (PNG), the continuous supply of PNG. Some of them are expiring in 2028. But at the same time we also establish a more diversified source country strategy so that it strengthens our position in terms of our resilience. Some of the existing fields that we are drawing from, inherently, are also faced with dwindling reserves, within those reservoirs that we are tapping from. Of course, we are also discussing with our neighbours about the potential of exploring new areas for us to tap into. Those conversations happen contemporaneously with our discussions on renewable energy imports. And to that end, if the Member recall, we have already awarded both conditional approval or conditional licensing of up to about 8.35 gigawatts of renewable energy. Our original target was six gigawatts – we have exceeded that.”
“We have conducted regular audits every quarter on these gencos to ensure that the advanced combined cycle gas turbine can switch to diesel. Thus far, our audit statistics have shown that we are 99.9% ready in switching. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Manpower", Official Report, 7 April 2026, Vol 96, Issue 27, Correction By Written Statement section.] We have also established stockpiles, but as I have also shared before, given the constraint of land that we have within our country, there is a fiscal limit as to how much stockpiling we can do. Of course, we have also explored whether we could put it on the waters, get these very large crude carriers or use the floating storage regasification units. But then again, space and the cost to maintain these very large crude carriers would not be, at this particular point in time, that economically feasible. But I want to assure the Member and all Members of the House that we constantly establish close relationships, dialogues, conversations with like-minded partners. The key in point, as the Deputy Prime Minister shared, our Prime Minister has also issued a joint statement with the Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Albanese, to establish ties and to ensure that we can continue to get supply of LNG from Australia. I hope that reassures the Member.”
“Speaker, given the brevity of time, I will dispense with the thanking. I will take the first question on energy and his point about the fact that we are price-takers and how we are thinking of the possibility of the risks of export restrictions by some of our partners. Perhaps to curate the point more, I think you are referring specifically to natural gas, because that is how we are powering up our entire country and our economy. As everyone knows, 95% of our electricity comes from natural gas. We import natural gas primarily through piped natural gas from our immediate neighbours like Malaysia, as well as LNG from around the world. At this particular point in time, there is no upstream disruption from the piped natural gas supply. For LNG, we continue to source the whole world through GasCo, which, if Members recall, it was the previous Government, in this Chamber, that we pass an amendment to our Electricity Act, allowing us to form GasCo and then to centralise the procurement of gas. So, this has come in quite presciently, so that today, we are able to, through GasCo, source for supplies of LNG from all over the world. We have now diversified our LNG supplies beyond the Middle East. We source them from Australia, from the US, from Mozambique and even as we speak, we continue to look for new markets. For us, diversification has always been one of the key strategies. Of course, we also now look for alternative sources, renewable energy or otherwise, but that will take a bit more time. Having said that, we have also ensured that our generation system, our generation companies (gencos) can run both on natural gas and on diesel. So, in the event that we do not have enough natural gas, the gencos will be required to switch to diesel to run and power up.”
“The facial recognition system within Tukang Purpose-Built Dormitory's (PBD's) i-SMART tenant management system collects residents' facial recognition data, date and time stamps of entry and exit and body temperature readings. This is for access management to the dormitory and to facilitate health monitoring of the dormitory's residents. The personal information collected via i-SMART's facial recognition system is only used by NESST Singapore Limited, the operator of Tukang PBD. It is not shared with any other stakeholder. Where necessary, such as in the event of a disease outbreak, the information may be shared with relevant authorities in line with applicable laws and regulations.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board have processes in place for data sharing to detect CPF and salary arrears by employers across all sectors. In addition, the Government and our partners have various measures to assist employees affected by sudden business closures. Employees who face late or unpaid salaries or CPF contributions should approach MOM, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) or the CPF Board for assistance as soon as possible. MOM and CPF Board will take enforcement action against errant and irresponsible employers. TADM will support employees in filing and mediating salary claims or referring the claims to the Employment Claims Tribunals for determination. If employers cannot pay the salary arrears due to business failure, eligible local lower-income workers may be assisted through the Short-Term Relief Fund. It takes about one to two months after the verification of claims to disburse the assistance. Workforce Singapore, SkillsFuture Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute can help displaced workers find new jobs through their job matching services and training programmes. Workers may also receive temporary financial support under the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme. Lower-income households who require financial assistance to meet basic needs can also approach their Social Service Office. We will continue to review our measures to ensure that employees are supported and receive prompt assistance when issues arise.”
“The Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) workplace injury statistics do not cover employees who were not performing work duties at the time of accident, such as while being transported to work or between workplaces. This ensures that our workplace injury statistics accurately reflect risks that are directly related to the work activity. Notwithstanding this, for the purposes of work injury compensation, employers are also required to report to MOM all injuries from traffic accidents involving workers travelling between workplaces or using company-provided transport for commuting to work. This is to ensure that workers' livelihoods are protected from the impact of such accidents. A claim is automatically initiated once the employer is aware of the accident and submits the report, ensuring timely compensation for workers.”
“Dependant's Pass holders enrolled in eligible local educational institutions are allowed to work if the work is part of their course requirements. They will need to apply for a Letter of Consent before they start work. As this policy is meant to support course requirements, it does not need to account for the prevalence of foreign manpower across different sectors.”
“The Training Work Permit (TWP) is a short-term pass, which allows foreign trainees and students to undertake short-term practical training in Singapore. The following safeguards and restrictions are in place. First, foreign trainees must be from related companies overseas, while foreign students must be undergoing the training as part of their course requirements. Second, the TWP is only valid for up to six months. It is non-renewable for foreign students, while foreign trainees cannot obtain another TWP until the last TWP has expired or is cancelled for six months. Finally, TWP holders are subject to Dependency Ratio Ceilings, similar to Work Permit holders, as well as the levy rates for higher-skilled Work Permit holders. The number of TWP holders has remained low at around 0.2% of Work Permit holders. Employers who are found to have abused the scheme by deploying TWP holders in roles not genuinely intended for training purposes may be liable for a financial penalty of up to $10,000 per worker and may also be debarred from employing foreign workers.”
“About 22% of non-Malaysian migrant workers in the construction, marine and process sectors live in purpose-built dormitories that are located within one kilometre of a recreation centre. Free shuttle bus services are also provided to the recreation centres from some large dormitories and mass rapid transit stations to improve their accessibility. Recreation centre operators are required to keep prices reasonable for their offerings and receive funding support for their operations. This funding is contingent on meeting annual visitorship targets.”
“MyCareersFuture portal provides job search support for all jobseekers by listing both professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) and non-PMET job vacancies. Jobseekers who require additional support can tap on employment facilitation services offered by Workforce Singapore (WSG), the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) as well as WSG's appointed career matching providers, Ingeus and AKG, via 32 career centres and jobs and skills centres across Singapore. They can also participate in career events organised by WSG, NTUC's e2i and Community Development Councils (CDCs), including those under the Jobs Nearby @ CDC initiative that connects residents to job opportunities closer to home.”
“The proportion of Work Permits (WPs), excluding migrant domestic workers, that were cancelled within the first six months of WP issuance or renewal between 2021 and 2025 and broken down by sector, is shown in the table below. The primary reason for WP cancellation is the termination of employment. We do not collect data on specific reasons for termination of employment, although commonly cited reasons include unsuitability of workers or the need to return home for personal reasons.”
“In 2024, there was a total of 356,600 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 200 workers1. About 337,700 SMEs (94.7%) employed fewer than 25 workers, 10,900 (3.1%) employed between 25 to 49 workers, 5,400 (1.5%) employed 50 to 99 workers, 1,800 (0.5%) employed between 100 to 149 workers and 800 (0.2%) employed between 150 to 199 workers. Data for 2025 is not yet available.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) takes a serious view of employers who retain their migrant workers' passports. Migrant workers (MWs) must have unrestricted access to their own passports at all times. MOM leverages various touchpoints to raise awareness among MWs on their employment rights and encourage them to report issues. For example, new migrant workers who attend the Settling-In Programme are informed that employers are not allowed to retain their passports and to report such violations to MOM. In addition, MOM also issues reminders to MWs, employers and employment agencies via platforms, such as FWMOMCare app, social media posts and email circulars that passport retention is disallowed. In most instances, employers had returned the passports to the workers promptly after MOM's intervention. Enforcement actions will be taken against employers who fail to comply, including possible debarment from hiring new foreign employees.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has extended the scope of the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act and Work Injury Compensation Act to cover platform work from 1 January 2025. This was after extensive consultation with platform operators and the labour movement to understand the safety risks faced by platform workers. These stakeholders collectively developed the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for Platform Services, which sets out practical guidance for platform operators and platform workers to work safely, aligned to the WSH Act. In the event of a prosecution under the Act, the Courts will take into consideration whether the ACOP was complied with. The ACOP for Platform Services sets out that platform operators should not set any limit, penalty or bonus incentives for platform workers to complete a job within a certain time. It also highlights that platform workers should not neglect safety for monetary incentives. In September 2025, the Platform Workers Trilateral Group further strengthened safeguards by bringing together platform operators and platform work associations to develop guiding principles for platform work incentives. For example, incentives should be structured reasonably and not compromise the health and safety of platform workers. MOM is monitoring work-related accidents involving platform workers, and will work with partners to enhance our measures to safeguard platform workers’ safety as needed. MOM takes a calibrated approach, balancing the need for heightened vigilance with the potential disruption to business operations and worker livelihoods when deciding whether to call for a Safety Time-Out.”
“The priority going forward is to tighten the integration between skills and jobs, through a single agency that can provide more holistic support and pivot nimbly to deal with challenges relating to the future of work. The new agency will be jointly overseen by both MOM and MOE. It will benefit from MOM's labour market intelligence and industry networks as well as MOE's oversight of our education system and relationship with IHLs. Instead of being what the Member characterised as a "reversal" of the 2016 restructuring, the new agency will have new capabilities that SSG, WSG and WDA did not have, including more integrated jobs and skills intelligence. I hope that the Member will appreciate that we need to be agile and adopt different strategies at different times to address the new circumstances we face today. The 2016 restructuring of WDA into two separate statutory boards did not require additional funding from the Ministry of Finance. Likewise, the upcoming merger is not expected to require additional funding. Over time, we expect greater synergies as common functions are rationalised. Cost-saving is not the driver for this merger. The merger is intended to ensure that our agencies remain fit for purpose in serving the needs and interests of Singaporeans as the labour market evolves more rapidly. Additional resourcing for new initiatives by the agency, such as efforts to uplift the training, career and employment services ecosystem, would be assessed on their individual merits.”
“The 2016 restructuring of Workforce Development Agency (WDA) into SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) allowed each agency to have a sharper focus in building up the continuing education and training (CET) and employment facilitation landscape respectively. The formation of SSG was driven by the need to enhance our national capacity to support lifelong learning and CET to help workers stay ahead of the curve in the age of digitalisation, at a time when the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) were still highly focused on pre-employment training (PET). This was best served by forming a statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE) to work with the IHLs to substantially expand their role in CET, while driving closer integration with PET. WSG, under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), focused on developing and scaling new employment facilitation programmes in collaboration with the labour movement and private sector partners, and developing Jobs Transformation Maps to support companies in workforce transformation in line with industry developments. Since then, significant progress has been made in ramping up CET provision by IHLs and private training providers, as well as in strengthening employment facilitation services and support for job redesign. The objectives of the 2016 restructuring have been met. However, our operating context has changed significantly since then. With a much faster-changing global economic landscape, accelerating technological advancements and a rapidly ageing workforce, we need to step up support for workers to stay relevant, navigate multiple career transitions and extend their career trajectories.”
“This aims to nudge employers to reduce reliance on foreign manpower by increasing productivity and redesigning jobs to attract local workers. Overall, this approach has supported strong local employment outcomes. Over the past five years, median gross wages for resident full-time employed PMETs and non-PMETs have grown at 3.7% and 5.9% per annum. Resident unemployment has also remained below 3% post-COVID-19.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) investigates “phantom worker” arrangements based on complaints and proactive on-site checks on firms. From 2024 to 2025, these have led to enforcement actions against around 100 employers who inflated their foreign worker quota via fraudulent Central Provident Fund contributions. MOM uses both levies and quotas or Dependency Ratio Ceilings (DRCs) to keep foreign workforce numbers manageable, given our infrastructural and social capacity, and to encourage firms who hire foreign workers to be more productive. Levies collected are used to fund Government initiatives including local upskilling and productivity measures. Abolishing DRCs in favour of a purely price-based mechanism, such as a flat per-worker tax, is not viable for two reasons. First, it would not provide sufficient control over foreign workforce numbers. Reservation wages in neighbouring, labour-supplying economies are substantially lower than resident non-Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMET) wages in Singapore. Without DRCs, we would need to raise levies significantly to manage reliance on foreign labour. This would have a major impact on business costs and Singapore’s overall cost-competitiveness. Second, the DRC links a firm's entitlement to hire foreign workers to the number of local workers it employs. This ensures that firms maintain a local core to access foreign manpower while deploying foreign workers in positions that few locals will take up. It also enhances workforce resilience during disruptions, such as COVID-19. Over the years, we have tightened DRCs to take into account the scope for automation and localisation across different sectors.”