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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“I thank Ms Janet Ang for her question. I think there are different types of carbon markets today. Suffice to say – I hope I am not over-simplifying them – that, broadly, there are two broad categories. They are the compliance markets and then you have the voluntary markets. The compliance markets are created. They are regulated by mandatory national, regional or international carbon reduction regimes. One of the examples is the European Union ETS, which is the world's first carbon market. Of course, at the international level, discussions are also underway at the UN Conference for Climate Change. Again, this kind of meetings seeks to recognise the use of carbon credits to offset national emissions. On the other hand, what I have shared with Members earlier on are voluntary markets. They function outside of these compliance markets. They enable companies, individuals to purchase carbon offsets on a voluntary basis to manage their carbon emissions. This is in addition to other decarbonisation strategies. They do not have an intended use for compliance purposes. So, these compliance credits may, in some instances, be purchased by voluntary non-regulated entities. They are not broadly accepted into a compliance regime unless they fulfil a broader perspective. And therein lies the challenge which the hon Member has alluded to. At our end, we have actually been working with the different groups to see how we can nuance this approach and the key thing is to articulate and communicate this strategy and also educate many more of our companies to embark on this roadmap and to come onto this platform with us.”
“I thank the hon Member Miss Cheryl Chan for her very insightful question. Indeed, I think this is a point of concern alongside many, many other competing concerns that we have. Today, we have an Emerging Stronger Taskforce. We have also got an AfA that we have set up to look at sustainability in terms of a broader overall picture not just from the carbon credit, carbon trading and carbon tax's point of view but to see how sustainable they would be on top of our overall energy story in our own country's energy roadmap moving forward for the next foreseeable 10, 20 to 30 years. I think these are early days. We are happy to take feedback and suggestions and, as I have alluded to earlier in my answer, we are actively sourcing and working with partners not just locally, internationally, but as well as with many of the environmental partners to see how we can nuance this in a very, very good and strategic path to ensure not just our own sustainability but, more importantly, our own resilience, moving forward.”
“We will continue to work with like-minded partners to support the development of an overall well-functioning global carbon market, and build capabilities and capacities to grow our local eco-system. To answer Miss Cheryl Chan's question, organisations can use carbon credits, alongside other decarbonisation strategies, to mitigate the greenhouse emissions resulting from their operating units or businesses. Today, this is done on a voluntary basis to meet companies' climate targets. Pavilion Energy has announced that it had imported the first carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas cargo into Singapore in April 2021. Under this commercial arrangement, Pavilion Energy required its suppliers to provide a statement of greenhouse gas emissions of each cargo, measured from the production of the gas to the delivery to end-users in Singapore. Pavilion Energy then offsets these greenhouse gas emissions by retiring a corresponding amount of carbon credits sourced from its portfolio of carbon offset projects in Peru and China. Pavilion Energy has published the amount of emissions it has offset from the two projects, which are certified under the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard. While the Government today does not regulate voluntary offsetting activities, we are working with the industry, international and local experts, as well as many environmental groups to develop – as I have alluded to earlier on – a taxonomy and guidelines on the quality of these carbon credits. The guidelines can then be adopted by companies undertaking commercial agreements in carbon offset activities.”
“As announced under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, Singapore aims to be a leading carbon services and trading hub, as we seek to create new business opportunities and jobs in the green sector for Singaporeans. Our country, Singapore's robust legislative, commodities trading and financial services foundation has put us in a good position to grow an internationally-trusted carbon services and trading eco-system in Asia. Today, the carbon trading eco-system in this region comprises primarily of the trading of voluntary carbon credits. These credits are used by companies to meet their voluntary corporate climate targets, alongside other decarbonisation strategies. The main risk for buyers in voluntary carbon credits markets has been on the integrity and the quality of such carbon credits. The Government is working with industry, with international and local experts, as well as environmental groups to address this risk. First, we are developing a taxonomy and guidelines on the quality of these carbon credits. Second, we are exploring the use of technology to improve the verification of these credits. In December 2020, DBS and Temasek, with Google Cloud, NUS, Verra and the World Bank as partners, launched the Sustainable Xcelerator to improve the efficiency of verifying emissions reductions and sequestration. Third, the Emerging Stronger Taskforce Alliance for Action on Sustainability is also looking at establishing a marketplace and exchange to improve transparency in carbon credit transactions. Alongside carbon trading, there are opportunities in the carbon services market. For example, we aim to anchor key activities in Singapore, such as in project development, carbon credits trading, financing and measurement, reporting and verification services.”
“I thank Mr Leong for his question. If I may sort of couch it this way: net net, in the entire industry itself, from March of 2020, right up till April this year, for the CMP sectors, which include the Work Pass as well as the S Pass, there is an average net outflow of 2,400 workers a month. If you just take construction alone, the net outflow is about 1,800 per month. For the services sector, which we sort of follow through, we are about 42,000 lower than last year, same period, that means March 2020. So, that represents a net outflow of 3,200 per month. This is just for the services sector. So, if you add both the CMP sector plus the services sector, the net outflow is about 5,600 per month. From November last year till April this year, when we started to resume opening up the inflow of workers to address our severe acute shortage in all of our industries, on the average per month – as I have alluded to in my earlier statement – 5,100 workers came in for that few months. We could not sustain that inflow because of the fact that – as I have said – the situation is very dynamic and very fluid. The moment in any of these source countries the infection rates go up, we would have to throttle the number again. So, I hope that gives Mr Leong a sense of how acutely or how grave the shortage of workers is today in our industry.”
“I thank Ms Jessica Tan for her very, very pertinent and very important question. Indeed, at this particular point in time, we are in crisis mode. So, all the appeals that come from all sectors, we will consider and we will review them. That is the reassurance that we can give. On top of the appeals to grant extensions, we should also take note of the tremendous slew of measures that the Government has put forth to support SMEs – in the form of Job Support Scheme, the Job Growth Incentive. On top of that, we have got quite a number of other schemes to try and support our entire economy and our industry. So, it is not just one aspect or measure to help the SMEs only. Ms Tan will be comforted to know that the Government has also put in a very comprehensive set of measures to help support them as well.”
“These are things that we have to take into consideration.”
“To the Member's point about whether we can grant an extension – depending on the different Pass types, whether it is EP, S Pass and Work Permit – to the IPAs with different lengths of validity, today, the default answer to the point about the renewals and the automatic extension of IPAs – that is what we are now doing. However, we are seeing that because of the backlog of cases – that backlog has increased significantly. As a result, even if you allow for an automatic extension of that IPA, it does not make sense because that extension is going to go months ahead without any certainty as to whether, ultimately, we can grant the entry approvals. That is where the challenge is today. Because we have no way of telling how the pandemic, the control of the situation, the number of infections, the successive wave of infections from many of these source countries where we get our workers from, can actually provide certainty of control of the outbreak of these infections. So, to that end itself, I guess the long answer to your question is that the extension of the validity of these IPAs is something that we are now reviewing. Because if it is too long again in the future, it does not make sense. To the second point about refunds and reimbursements, indeed, we are considering that as well. We are trying to find a more nuanced way, so that we can make it a lot easier. For the diversification of source countries, across the different Ministries – MND, BCA, ourselves, as well as MOT and ICA – we are exploring that collectively and we have started to reach out to counterparts in many of these other source countries, the non-traditional sources, to see how we can onboard them. But, obviously, this would take time because there are also language and cultural issues.”
“I thank Mr Pritam Singh for his questions. For the IPA, the In-Principle Approvals, and the entry approvals or the final entry approvals, there are actually two separate independent processes. Obviously, we do receive and we do give out a lot more IPAs than the entry approvals. One of the key challenges of this pandemic is the fact that the situation is extremely fluid and dynamic. Why do I say it is fluid and dynamic? Because of the source countries where our workers come from, the situation back in many of these source countries – I think you have seen in the news – what we are seeing are successive waves of infection. So, as a result of that, you find that at the point of application of the IPA, as long as it fulfils the requirements of what we have in terms of what is needed for them to come in, we grant the approval. But to regulate the control in terms of the onboarding of these migrant workers coming into Singapore, we do it via the entry approval route. And that is dependent on the risk quota which we are able to accept. It is also a function of certain Not-to-Land (NTL) Restrictions, for instance, that the MTF decides and, at the same time, also a function of how many of these SHN facilities we have available. Earlier on in the year, we announced the set-up of the Migrant Worker Onboarding Centre, which is a one-stop centre to screen all of them, so as to make sure that it is safe before they go into the community. So, it is also a function of the number of beds that we have. Because of that, you find that the IPAs usually will far exceed the number of actual entry approvals coming into Singapore. So, I hope that part of it is cleared up.”
“If the work pass holder is able to find new employment before repatriation, there is no reason for us to purposefully force this worker to return to his home country, for him to incur additional recruitment fees from overseas employment agents, to undergo additional COVID-19 testing and, on return to Singapore, to serve up to 21 days Stay-Home Notice (SHN). Furthermore, making the worker do this unnecessary round-trip would increase the risk of him returning with a COVID-19 infection. On the other hand, however, if the work pass holder does not find new employment before the deadline, we ensure that his former employer will fulfil its obligation to successfully repatriate the worker. If we had insisted that the worker had to leave Singapore even though he has already found an employer, we would have had to allow the entry of nearly double the number of workers last year, and this would further strain our SHN facilities. Of course, the alternative would be to compound further the manpower difficulties faced by businesses, as what the hon Member of Parliament Ms Jessica Tan and also Mr Pritam Singh have highlighted.”
“Employers can make use of these rebates to bring in workers from alternative sources, such as China, where the workers are generally higher skilled and, at the same time, command higher wages. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Building and Construction Authority (BCA) also recently announced a temporary scheme to allow these new Work Permit holders from China to obtain their skills certification in Singapore, since some of the Overseas Testing Centres in China have not resumed operations. BCA and the Economic Development Board will continue to engage firms and we will continue to review if additional measures are needed to help the CMP sectors through this crisis. In the meantime, we encourage businesses to retain their existing migrant workers and tap on other workers that are already here in Singapore. Mr Leong Mun Wai asked if the non-resident employment decline in 2020 of 181,500 was matched by the decline in total population of non-residents within the same period. The answer is yes. He also asked about repatriation arrangements. When a work pass expires or is cancelled, we typically require the worker to leave Singapore in two to four weeks. This depends, of course, on the pass type. Time is given for the employer to arrange repatriation and also for the worker to settle his or her own personal affairs, such as closure of bank accounts and termination of leases. Each year, about 30% of all work pass holders do not continue employment with their original employer and have their passes expired or cancelled.”
“Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Pritam Singh asked about the restricted inflow of workers and what we are doing to support businesses affected by these restrictions. Businesses have, indeed, been affected, quite badly, particularly with the Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process (CMP) sectors being the hardest hit as they rely heavily on migrant workers for jobs that few locals would want to work in. In 2020, the number of Work Permit holders in the CMP sectors declined by nearly 60,000 or about 16%. We are very mindful of the manpower crunch that these firms face today. Besides providing financial relief to help them, we are also taking steps to alleviate the manpower shortage. From November 2020 right up to April 2021, we granted entry approvals to an average of 5,100 S Pass and Work Permit holders per month. However, restrictions on inflow of workers from higher risk countries is likely to persist for some time. This is as the size of the inflow coming in has to be reduced when the COVID-19 situation deteriorates in these source countries from where they come from, and we can only increase these inflows when the situation in these home countries improve. Because this is the only way we can ensure the safe inflow of the workers, whilst managing and mitigating the risk of transmission in our community. So, to help businesses tap on workers from other countries, the Government recently announced that we are increasing the existing foreign worker levy rebates for Work Permit holders in the CMP sectors from $90 to $250 per Work Permit holder per month. This will last from May to December 2021.”
“Mr Chairman, I think to answer Mr Leong's question, it is, indeed, a function of supply and demand. What we are doing in terms of the grid is to expand and upgrade the grid. And as I have alluded to earlier in my speech, we will pace it out and we have quite a number of years to invest and to expand and also to upgrade the grid. Of course, if everyone chooses to go into charging their vehicles over a very set period of time, then that peak will go up to about 16%. I think that was the point that Minister Ong talked about.The range is between 8% and 16%. So, there are plans that are needed for between one 600 megawatt generator to two 600 megawatt generators to generate that peak power that is required.”
“Thank you. Mdm Chairperson, as far as the weightage in terms of the four switches is concerned, as I alluded to earlier on, at this particular point in time, we are still managing it in a form of a very fine balance. As I have stated in my speech, we are really in this trilemma. What I am hoping to achieve is to send a message to everyone and I hope to get the support of everyone in the House, that a fundamental pillar that underpins the entire four-switch strategy is really energy conservation. At this particular point in time, in terms of the regional power grid, they are pilots. We are trying to see how we can diversify and how reliable and how resilient and how hedged we can be in terms of applying our diversification strategy in terms of these energy imports from the different countries that is part of this regional ASEAN grid. 1.45 pm We are not able to commit to a long-term target in terms of how much percentage, weightage we are going to give each one of these switches. What we are doing is that we are accelerating all three of them contemporaneously, the regional power grids we are exploring. We are also working very closely under the RIE initiative in terms of looking at the R&D of developing low carbon alternatives, and of course, going very, very long into renewable energy as well. With time, we should be able to provide this House with greater clarity and details of that strategy and how much traction we are able to gain.”
“I thank Mr Louis Ng for the question. For the import from Lao PDR, in terms of the hydro power, it is a pilot. We will consider all possible sources of renewable energy. One of the key aspects of this thing would be that we would be getting all prospective importers to submit information on their energy sources as well as environmental studies that have been done to see what the impacts are. And that is why at this particular point in time, it is still a pilot. We are piloting from Lao PDR, we are also piloting from Malaysia. And as we learn more in the months and in the years ahead, we will collate and find the best way forward.”
“The key is that everyone should conserve energy and make corresponding adjustments to our lifestyles. Energy conservation must become a way of life for all Singaporeans. (In English): In conclusion, Mdm Chairman, the Government will continue taking a long-term approach in planning our energy needs, while balancing the need to be more environmentally sustainable; ensuring continued energy reliability and security, as well as managing price fluctuations and volatility. Even when prices do go up, we will do our best to ensure that this gradient is gradual, and the Government will act, where necessary, to minimise excessive surges. Most fundamentally, it is our exhortation to all of us as fellow Singaporeans, that we must do our part to conserve energy, just like how we conserve water, and we all have to adjust our lifestyles accordingly. It is only when we work together, we can maintain a sustainable, secure, reliable and resilient energy future for all of us.”
“In spite of our best efforts to deploy solar energy in Singapore, we will still need to rely on energy imports one way or another, and be subject to global prices, going forward. Fuel prices had dipped to their lowest levels in the last 20 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, but they are expected to rise, going forward, as global demand recovers. This will also likely cause electricity prices to increase as well. The Government will do our best to manage our energy trilemma by introducing more renewable energy in our energy mix, by enhancing the efficiency of our power systems, and minimising the impact on prices. However, "right-pricing" of the energy prices is critical to encouraging prudent use of electricity. We must adopt energy conservation as a way of life for all of us here in Singapore. Besides managing the amount of energy we use, consumers can also help us reduce our carbon footprint by electrification. Minister Ong has already spoken about our ambitious plan to electrify vehicles. Another example is how we can switch from using gas to electrical appliances for our cooking. It is also safer as the risk of gas leaks and fires are reduced. And some of the newer electrical cooking appliances, they do produce very, very good "wok hei", the heat that is required to give you very good hor fun. Mdm Chairman, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Today, Singapore's energy needs are almost 100% met by imports, mainly of natural gas. Even with our best efforts in using solar energy, we will still need to rely on energy imports. Thus, we have limited control over prices. The Government will do our utmost in reducing the impact on Singaporeans.”
“Please take a look at the slide. As you can see, in red, it represents the long-run marginal cost of producing electricity. So, that is the true cost of what it takes to produce electricity today. The black line shows the current market's spot price that fluctuates over the last many years. This is the result of over capacity, currently. This over-capacity situation will likely be alleviated in the near future. Wholesale electricity prices will also rise and normalise, with rising demand driven by the growth of sectors such as data centres, 5G networks, agri-tech, as well as the adoption of EVs. The low electricity prices today are currently also dis-incentivising the generation companies from investing in new plants. Over the medium to long run, electricity prices normalising is inevitable. You can see from the chart, no company that is commercially-run will sell electricity below cost perpetually. What we need to do is to prevent a swing from a glut to a severe shortage of capacity, and this will result in sharp price spikes; perhaps, even blackouts as what we saw in Texas just last month. Many electricity markets have encountered similar experiences. EMA has studied how these jurisdictions have managed their situations and we are also consulting the industry on the way forward. We will announce more details later this year and we are committed to smoothening these price surges and volatility. Besides power generation capacity, electricity prices are also affected by the supply of energy. Please remember, all of us, we are importing close to 100% of our energy needs today. Of course, they are mainly natural gas.”
“The most important part at the end – so, you have the knowledge, you have the know-how – I think given the fact that we are a very small market, we need to tap globally, we go on to the next step and into the know-who. So, I think it is not just important for you to have knowledge and know-how, someone many years ago, an entrepreneur told me that, "You need to not just have knowledge, you need to know how, but you also need know-who." For that part, we have the SBF working very closely with the ESG to establish whether it is from the point of view of service centres to guide many of these deep-tech companies – how to gain market access into many of these markets, but at the same time, also to sort of help them to navigate the difficulties of working through the different regulation, the legislature of different countries and so on, to penetrate these markets and gain acceptance. So, in the entire eco-system from end-to-end, the Government has been involved in developing this deep-tech by providing in a summary: the knowledge, the know-how and the know-who.”
“I thank Ms Foo for her question. Indeed, we actually have a very vibrant deep-tech, not just the the system but also the culture as well as the entire programme. Perhaps, I could simplify it into three thinking. First is the knowledge part, the knowledge part of the deep-tech. In the knowledge part of the deep-tech, we have the Autonomous Universities, we have collaboration and tie-ups with international institutions to train and to also collaborate with talent from all over the world, to deepen the research, the development, the research and innovation into many of these deep-technology. For instance, like autonomous vehicles, the 5G networks and so on and so forth. Then, there is the know-how. In terms of the know-how, we work very closely by expanding our global innovation alliance. As I have alluded to earlier on, we are expanding them from 15 cities globally to 25. We hope to broaden that by also deepening the co-innovation programme, whereby we establish partnerships between our local talent, our local homegrown talent, the talent that we also develop overseas and partner them with talents from from renowned institutions all over the world. That has resulted also in us bringing companies, as what Minister Chan has alluded to earlier on, in the setup of the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre and SIMTech over in the Jurong Innovation district. And through the Polytechnics, again through our academic institutions, we have also developed Centres of Innovation, of COIs, to again establish strengthen and reinforce the entire deep-tech culture.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Ms Jessica Tan for the question. The answer to the question is, yes. In fact, we are in the process of reviewing. Obviously, during the pandemic, a lot of the opportunities have also availed themselves in terms of the digitalisation efforts and how we conduct meetings and so on online, to even the review of some of the industry transformational maps with regard to the biomedical and biopharma industry in terms of diagnostics, biotech and so on. So, this would be a more systematic review of how we can look for new cheese and look for new areas in which we can enlarge the spheres of influence around some of these industry transformational maps. And to the extent that is possible, we could even have overlapping areas in which we can find new opportunities to branch into. So, I think, in time to come, we should be able to update the House a few months into the future. Thank you.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Leon Perera for his supplementary questions. Yes, the answer to his first question is yes. We will prioritise the migrant workers and it would be within the timeline as communicated by the Senior Minister of State. However, the prioritisation will also depend on the risk stratification of the dorms and obviously those at higher risk, we will vaccinate them first. With regard to the NGOs, we will be working with some of the larger NGOs which have greater outreach in terms of reaching out to the migrant workers. But as far as possible, in our communications, in our educational strategy, we will try our best to involve all the NGOs.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the hon Member Miss Cheryl Chan for her very insightful questions and her points. For the carbon tax, even if we raise the carbon tax significantly, it is not going to move the needle that much in terms of the overall pricing. Where we are now looking at is also, as I have said, the fourth switch. It is not just about carbon capture, utilisation and storage; it is also looking at hydrogen utilisation and leveraging on this hydrogen technology. To that end, EMA and the Ministry are actively pursuing significant projects to see how we can, not just extract the hydrogen, but also in terms of the transportation of that hydrogen. If we are able to tap on it, it is going to be the cleanest fuel, the byproduct of which is water. These are the few big initiatives that we are currently embarking on today. Other than carbon capture, we are also exploring employing carbon credits and contemplating some form of a carbon trading platform so that we can leverage on the multiple initiatives that are available to help us reduce our carbon footprint.”
“I thank the hon Member of Parliament for his questions. To the first point, in terms of working on the target, indeed, we are and we have been looking at the different technologies that are available at this particular point in time. Also, through working with the research institutions, the universities and so on, to see how we can also take on some of these initiatives with regard to carbon capture utilisation to see how we can set that target. In due time we would be able to share that, once a more definitive landing on some of these technologies are available. With regard to the renewable energy targets, the two gigawatt peak in terms of solar power, the renewable solar power, will come in by 2030. We are on track by 2025 to achieve 1.5 gigawatt. To reach that target by 2030 should not be a major problem. In fact, we hope that we can do even better than that. With regard to the electricity tariffs, it is, at this particular point in time, still a fairly commercial venture. As I have alluded to earlier on, the pricing will be competitive. There will be an open transparent bidding process and this electricity will then be sold into the Singapore Wholesale Electricity Market. When we work out the arithmetic behind it, from the import of the 100 megawatt from the regional power grid, the pricing should not be significantly higher than what we are already getting today in terms of the electricity tariffs. So, I hope that that reassures the hon Member of Parliament.”
“To the Member's last point about the concentration risk, today, a significant amount of the natural gas that we are using to burn comes from Malaysia and Indonesia through the PNG. But we have also now diversified the sources of the procurement via LNG, the liquefied natural gas, from other countries further afield and that includes the Middle East, UAE and so on. The exact breakdown of that, at this particular point in time, I cannot provide to the hon Member.”
“I thank Mr Saktiandi for his questions. With regard to the percentage breakdown of the four switches, at this particular point in time, it is 95% natural gas. The natural fossil fuels which we, as I have alluded to earlier is the cleanest fossil fuel today. It is difficult to give a percentage breakdown but suffice to say that by 2030, we expect to peak in terms of carbon emission at about 65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission. Our target is to halve that by 2050. So, from 65 million tonnes, we will halve it to 33 million tonnes by 2050. By the latter half of this century, we will achieve a net zero carbon emission. That is the target that we have set for ourselves. Depending on the technology development over the next 10,15 to 20 years, we should see an increased migration towards renewable energy, of which solar is one of them, and a higher degree, depending on the trial import of this 100 megawatt from Peninsular Malaysia, a higher reliance on drawing from the regional power grid as well. In fact, just last year, declared our intent to procure another 100 megawatt from the Lao PDR via the Lao, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore grid network. We hope that in time, we can also, through this, reach out to more ASEAN countries to tap on this regional grid. That is another one of our diversification strategies. To the extent that we are able to draw from the regional power grid, we certainly would. The Sun Cable project, as I have alluded to, is also something which we are in active negotiations. Obviously, we are not at liberty at this particular point in time to communicate the details of it because of the commercial sensitivities.”
“This will need to be complemented by efforts to enhance energy efficiency across all sectors and consumers. The Government will work hand-in-hand with our workforce, researchers, industries and consumers, to achieve our vision of a cleaner, a more efficient and a more secure energy future.”
“The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will select the importer through an open and competitive selection process, and it is expected to sell electricity via the Singapore Wholesale Electricity Market (SWEM) to interested buyers. Other companies, like Sun Cable, have also approached EMA to import electricity to Singapore. We welcome these interests, but we have to also be mindful to pace these imports to ensure that they complement and do not undermine the reliability of our electricity supply as well as the stability of our electricity market. Sir, discussions on Sun Cable's proposal to supply solar power from Australia’s Northern Territory to Singapore are on-going. At this particular point in time, EMA is unable to share details, given the commercial sensitivities – a point that I believe everyone in the House would appreciate. Last but not least, for our fourth switch, we are also working intensively with the industry and research community to study emerging low-carbon technologies, such as hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. We will facilitate the development of these technologies through various research, development and demonstration funding initiatives, including a Low-Carbon Energy Research Funding Initiative. This initiative will see around $50 million being used to explore areas such as the supply, storage and downstream uses of hydrogen, as well as carbon capture and storage for use in building materials or fuels. By tapping on all four switches, Singapore will be able to diversify our energy sources. This will enhance our access to secure and competitively priced energy supplies and this will reduce our energy security risks. The future energy mix will depend on technological advances in the four switches.”
“5 gigawatt-peak by 2025 – five years from now – and, by the end of 2030, we hope to achieve 2 gigawatt-peak. So, by 2030, we expect our second switch to supply around 3% of our total electricity consumption. And, of course, depending on the state of technology at that point in time and cost, we hope to be able to do more. Our local companies partner the Government in the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems. For example, the Sunseap Group is a major participant in the SolarNova programme, which deploys solar panels in public sector buildings and spaces. When these companies invest in overseas renewable companies and projects, they can bring valuable insights and capabilities back home here in Singapore. These projects may, some day, also export electricity to Singapore as well. This brings me, therefore, to the third switch, and that is on regional power grids. Regional power grids, or electricity imports, is our third switch. Today, some Southeast Asian countries have an abundance of hydroelectric power and other renewable energies. If we can connect the regional grid well, it will provide greater resilience and sustainability for the entire system. For a start, we are trialling imports of up to 100 megawatts from Peninsular Malaysia. One hundred megawatts would be about 1.5% of our peak electricity demand. So, there will be minimal impact on the reliability as well as cost of our electricity supply. Our preference, of course, is to import electricity from renewable energy sources. Hence, the “cleanliness” of the generation source will be a consideration in selecting the importer.”
“Thank you. Mr Speaker, electricity demand is expected to have declined by around 2% to 4% last year in 2020. This was amidst the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. However, electricity demand will rebound as the economy recovers and grows. This is also driven by new users, such as data centres, 5G telecommunication networks, agri-tech facilities as well as electric vehicles. We will harness the four switches to transform and diversify our energy supply. This is to help us achieve our vision of a clean and efficient energy future. These four switches comprise natural gas, solar energy, regional power grids and emerging low-carbon alternatives like hydrogen. Singapore has progressively transitioned from oil-powered power plants since the early 2000s to adopt natural gas. Currently, this is the cleanest burning fuel. Natural gas currently accounts for 95% of the electricity produced in Singapore and I think all Members here in this House would appreciate the fact that we lack alternative energy sources. We do not have the natural resources, land area as well as climatic conditions necessary for the large-scale deployment of renewable energy sources, such as hydro and wind. Natural gas will continue to be the mainstay and main source of energy for power generation to serve our households and industry reliably in the medium term, and this is as we continue to develop the other three switches. Our second switch, which is solar energy, is currently the most viable source of renewable energy within Singapore. Over the last 10 years, installed solar capacity has increased more than a hundred fold, from 3.8 megawatt-peak in 2010, to around 400 megawatt-peak last year, in mid-2020. We are accelerating our efforts and will almost quadruple our solar capacity to 1.”
“The Government has a comprehensive range of grant, tax and loan support available to support companies in automation. This includes the Automation Support Package (ASP) and Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG). Beyond financial support, facilitation and advisory services are available to help companies identify process re-engineering opportunities, match automation solutions to problem statements and implement solutions more effectively. Companies can turn to the e-Adviser for Government Assistance or any of our SME Centres for advice. For more complex projects, our agencies will work with businesses to chart out project milestones and timelines with the end-goal of supporting longer-term growth.”
“I think that how we have worked together as a nation, Mr Speaker, Sir, in terms of making sure that our support is very surgical, very precise, very targeted to the group of people who needs it most, perhaps not because of the fact that they lack resilience – I think, in fact, many of them are very resilient. In fact, from many of my Meet-the-People Sessions – people from the 1-room, 2-room flats, the 3-room, 4-room flats. I hope Mr Leong is not saying that they are not resilient because we want to support them. In fact, I think that many of them are in circumstances are beyond their control. Where we think that support is needed and where it is targeted, we will not hesitate to make sure that we are able to not just care for them but to also carry for them. I think that has already spoken volumes. To the point about fluctuations and volatility in energy markets – we are a very small country and 95% of our power supply comes from fossil fuels, which we are also trying to see how we can move out to reduce our carbon footprint, so that we can go on to more renewable energies. If you talk about this 95%, we are subject to fluctuations. I have said it many a time that the gencos do need to have some form of returns because they have also invested significantly in the infrastructure here in our country.”
“I thank the hon Member Mr Liang Eng Hwa for his suggestion. In terms of the communications to the households, Mr Speaker, Sir, if you look at the breakdown of all of the utilities bills that SP and some of the retailer send out to the households, these are detailed breakdown in terms of the tariffs charged. At the same time, in terms of the rebates, many of the households in the 1-, 2-, 3-room and 4-room flats would have gotten their rebates. In terms of those rebates, as I have alluded to earlier on, in the 1- to 2-room flats, they get between six and eight months of rebates, and for the 3- and 4-room flats, they get between two and four months. We believe that that has been communicated quite adequately across. Of course, in terms of communications, we will find ways and means in which we can continue to improve and further fine-tune how to educate many of our households in terms of managing their utilities bills. One of the key initiatives as a result of these fluctuations or volatility of prices, it is important for us to note that our tariffs are based on what is the prevalent crude oil price. It is benchmarked against that. Ninety-five percent of our electricity is generated by the generating companies or gencos using piped and liquified natural gas from overseas. It is in the interest of many people to switch to the Open Market retailers, to switch onto some of these packaged price plans, as what was surmised by the hon Member Mr Liang Eng Hwa. If it is possible, most households should look at many of these plans that are available and move on to a more fixed price package for more certainty in electricity prices. Because I think in the ensuing quarters ahead, there will continue to be more volatility and fluctuations to happen.”
“But suffice to say that this is at a much more focused pace and, obviously, we are going to put a lot more effort and work into tightening it.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have alluded to earlier, the 400 cases were detected as a result of fairly stringent actions undertaken by JTC. As to the extent of the sublet fees and the unauthorised part, it is still a subject of further investigations. We will take all active steps and measures to recover these fees that are owing and, in cases where clear-cut illicit subletting has been proven, we will not hesitate to take legal action to enforce it. On the part about using data analytics, indeed, in terms of the understanding of the ability to register a business address using a premise, this is one of the policies which we need to tighten and realign. Having said that, in terms of the 11,000 that we are now actively looking into, many of the measures that we are taking actually draw a fine balance between taking a proactive step towards encouraging new businesses to start up and to set up and, of course, we need to draw a fine balance between enforcing to make sure that these businesses do not think that every single one that is setting up we treat them as if they are out to game the system itself. So, to that end, the measures that we have taken are in terms of looking through the register of addresses, going into frequent and more intense inspection; in 2019, we had conducted about 1,900 inspections. But, of course, these are on a regular time basis to inspect the premises whether there is illegal subletting. Now, over and above what we had done in 2019, on top of the regular inspections, we are also going into random spot checks as well. So, the intensity of the checks, audits and inspections has also increased significantly. At this particular point in time, I am not at liberty to share what is the frequency of these checks and inspections.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to raise a point of clarification to Mr Leong. I think that this whole idea of talking about using DBS as an example, maybe I would like to share a perspective having come from the private sector and especially having run a public listed company. Public listed companies have their own boards. They have independent directors on the board and there are committees, sub committees, under the ambit of the main board. Some of the committees are nominating and remuneration committees, and you have the audit and risk management committee. All of the transactions, I would say, are done at arm's length basis and the process of selection of a CEO and managing director of a company is subject to a very rigorous process of going through an international search firm, by virtue of meritocratic principles and the best person for the job. There are many listed companies, which I think many funds have invested in. I think Mr Leong himself as the CEO of Timbre Capital, a private equity firm, would have made significant investments in terms of wanting to secure returns for his limited partners (LPs) and people who have invested in his fund. Perhaps, he can clarify that in companies where we clearly state quotas or perhaps, a certain percentage of the senior management has to be of a certain nationality, would it be something that his private equity firm would freely and happily invest in?”
“We certainly will look at beefing up the resources. At this particular point in time, given where we are in terms of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, we have also stepped up resources in terms of taking over from the JTF, morphing it into the ACE Group, as I have alluded to earlier on. Together with that, with the TAFEP part, that actually takes care of the rest of the industry. We certainly are beefing up the resources.”
“I thank Mr Pritam Singh for the question. What we have started is an increase in terms of the surveillance with regard to the Fair Consideration Framework. Where we have started is, first and foremost, the Fair Consideration Framework or FCF where we are monitoring all these companies that have problems in terms of over-concentration. On top of that, we also work with these companies, with the HR directors, to see where the problem is. Sometimes, it could be, for instance, concentration in one particular sector industry. In other instances, it could be because of the skillsets, whether they are lacking or whether it could be the fact that Singaporeans do not want those jobs. That is the kind of engagement that I was alluding to. So, suffice to say, today, we have stepped up, we are all working very hard to make sure that the companies work with the relevant authorities to ensure that this fair hiring, non-discriminatory type of practices is more prevalent across all the companies in Singapore.”