Teo Ho Pin
Singapore
“Mr Chairman, Sir, when Total Defence was first introduced in 1984, it was recognised that threats will not simply affect our military but potentially Singaporeans, combatants and non-combatants alike. Thus, we must continue to build resilience in our people and community.”
“Chairman, over the past year, we have witnessed an increase in the number of cybersecurity breaches. As a response to these incidents, many countries are stepping up efforts to strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities.”
“Sir, I wish to seek an update from the Minister on the skills upgrading and development of public officers as well as aspiring public officers, especially in the three areas which I have mentioned. Can the Government also consider giving out scholarships to nurture and attract talent in these fields? Role of PMO”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we should empower the community to come up with innovative solutions like North West 911 and build capabilities in our people to cope better during emergencies.”
“The French Government passed a law in 2016 mandating that large supermarkets have to donate excess food to food banks and charitable organisations. If we had a similar initiative in Singapore, we can not only reduce the amount of food waste, but we can also help those in need.”
“Sir, I have three clarifications for the Senior Minister of State. First, will the Ministry consider licensing PMDs so as to manage the growth of PMDs in Singapore and also to make it compulsory for the PMD riders to attend a safe riding course?”
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“Madam, quality design will increase the functional lifespan, customers' satisfaction and the competitiveness of products, systems and services of firms. Quality design can also be a strategic tool to help firms to expand their businesses globally and develop a Singapore brand. Madam, Singapore is known to the world for being a "clean and green" garden city. Our city, town and community planning have won many accolades. Over the years, we have planned and developed Singapore into a liveable and lovable city where our people enjoy a good quality of life. Madam, I support the five strategic thrusts of the Design 2025 Masterplan namely: (a) infuse design into our national skillset; (b) expand role of design in businesses and Government; (c) strengthen the competitiveness of design firms; (d) bring design into the community; and (e) develop the Singapore Design brand. Madam, I wish to ask the Ministry the following questions. One, what are the desired outcomes and key performance indicators of the Design 2025 Masterplan? Two, what is the role of design in fulfilling the aspirations of Singapore to be a Smart Nation? Three, what plans are in place to expand Singapore Design Mark (SG-Mark) globally?”
“Madam, the recent terrorist attacks in many countries, such as Belgium, France, India and Indonesia, have raised concerns among many Singaporeans. Today, extremists are influenced by misinformation and wrong religious teachings to cause harm to innocent people. The change of tactics by these extremists to attack soft attacks, such as concert halls and cafes, has posed new challenges to the security forces of many countries and their people. Besides causing physical damage to property and killing innocent lives, these terrorist attacks have also affected the trust among different races and religions or between the government and its people. Thus, many countries are stepping up their anti-terrorism efforts to cope with these new threats. Likewise, in Singapore, our Government has been strengthening our Total Defence capabilities to protect Singaporeans and prepare them for such attacks. In view of the rising security threats, I wish to ask the Ministry the following questions: (a) what is the total defence readiness of Singaporeans; and (b) what more can be done to strengthen resilience among Singaporeans? Madam, I am concerned that many Singaporeans are still not well equipped to handle emergencies, such as bomb explosions or natural disasters. Many do not have basic emergency preparedness (EP) knowledge or skills, such as first-aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED), and are not aware of EP response protocol. I understand that SG Secure will be conducting EP skills training in the community. I hope that Singaporeans will adopt a more serious attitude to learn and practise these skills properly. EP skills will make a difference between life and death in times of emergencies.”
“Chairman, the global slowdown in economies, such as China and Europe, will have a significant impact on economic growth in Singapore. Industries will need to look out for business opportunities in other regions and transform to develop niches to grow their businesses. 7.30 pm In this regard, I would like to ask the Ministry to update the House on how MFA can play a more proactive role in establishing diplomatic relations and in engaging emerging markets, such as ASEAN member countries, Russia, Turkey, South Asia, Latin America and Africa. For instance, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) that was launched in December 2015 will provide a single market of 625 million people and a collective GDP of S$3.7 trillion. The AEC will provide opportunities and challenges to both our small and big businesses. Businesses will need more information regarding these emerging markets and also a more effective trade facilitation framework to help them seek business partners or invest in these markets. In this regard, I would urge the Ministry to consider providing dedicated business advisory and consular services to Singapore firms which are keen to expand to these emerging markets.”
“A healthy ageing population will also reduce the financial impact on families and reduce the tax burden for future generations. Madam, I hope the Government will place more importance on promoting a healthy lifestyle among Singaporeans over the next 50 years.”
“Singaporeans who are more able must step forward to lend a helping hand to those in need. Companies should exercise more corporate social responsibility and do more for the community. As reported in The Straits Times on 26 March 2016, 97 charities were de-registered between 2010 and 2014 due to difficulties in getting staff, volunteers and donations. This is, indeed, a big setback in building a caring society. To date, there are over 2,000 charities in Singapore. Many of these charities are small outfits with limited capabilities. I urge the Government to consider merging or clustering the charities so that they can enjoy better economies of scale and develop capabilities to sustain their operations. Rather than having many charities scattered all over Singapore, it may be more efficient to co-locate them to support various towns. Furthermore, these co-located charities can consider providing "mobile services" to serve more people, especially those with mobility problems. Madam, as the saying goes, "Health is Wealth". There is no point building a wealthy Singapore if our people are not healthy. Without health, Singaporeans will not be able to enjoy the fruits of Page: 71 our labour and have a good quality of life. Madam, I have been advocating a healthy lifestyle for Singaporeans for many years. At the North West Community Development Council (CDC), we have set up hundreds of healthy lifestyle clubs for our residents. In this regard, I urge the Finance Minister to consider setting up a Healthy Lifestyle Endowment Fund to support organisations which champion a healthy lifestyle. Promoting health among Singaporeans will improve their quality of life, increase their productivity at work and reduce the healthcare expenditure of our country.”
“With a tight labour situation, it will be more difficult for SMEs to attract talent to restructure and grow. I would urge the Government to help SMEs attract and retain talent. This could be in the form of Government-funded co-payment of SME scholarships or gratuity performance and loyalty bonus for long-serving staff, for SMEs to reward and retain their staff. Next, supporting SkillsFuture. Madam, in today's fast-changing economy and technology, it is important to nurture a culture of learning amongst Singaporeans. In schools, students must be given more opportunities for experiential learning, such as service learning projects, internships and applied research projects. This will narrow the gap between theory and practice, and enable our graduates to be more industry-ready when they enter the work environment. As for working adults, they face various challenges in upgrading their employability skills, such as language barriers, family commitments and even lack of support from some employers. We must find new ways to facilitate and encourage SkillsFuture learning among workers. I would like to propose that we set up centres of excellence for SkillsFuture learning, in partnership with trade associations and professional bodies. These centres of excellence must be conveniently located for easy accessibility. For instance, the centre for excellence for finance must be at our business and financial district. In addition, some schools within HDB housing estates can be designated as SkillsFuture centres for generic skills training, such as language, IT or office administration skills. Next, building a caring society. Madam, building a caring society requires the contributions of every Singaporean in our society.”
“More seminars, workshops and networking sessions can be organised by various Government agencies, together with trade associations, to provide more opportunities for SMEs to meet up with MNCs and GLCs operating in Singapore and overseas. Furthermore, incentives can be given to bigger firms to adopt and nurture SME subcontractors for long-term partnerships. This is a practice in Japan where MNCs have long working relationships with their subcontractors. Some MNCs provide scholarships to the children of their subcontractors' employees or owners, so that these children can continue to run their family businesses and support the MNCs. Two, help SMEs to improve productivity and the quality of products and services. As highlighted by the Finance Minister, productivity growth has remained flat despite the high take-up rate of PIC grants. Many SMEs are simply using PIC to replace their old machines and add new ICT devices without restructuring their work processes to improve productivity. Page: 70 We need to ensure that the use of PIC grants will actually increase production capacity or reduce manpower or improve the quality of products or services. We must focus on helping SMEs achieve quality growth and develop niches to remain competitive. To further improve the business processes of SMEs, the Government should partner trade associations to develop and document best business practices. This will raise the overall skill levels of our workforce and shorten the learning curve of new staff. Three, help SMEs to recruit and retain talent. SMEs face tremendous difficulties in attracting and retaining talent to ensure continuity and quality of their products and services. The turnover of staff has also made it difficult for SMEs to build capabilities and grow.”
“Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Budget. I support the key thrusts of the Budget in forging strong partnerships to transform our economy and build a caring society. The Finance Minister has highlighted that our economy and ageing population are facing new challenges. He has emphasised that we must find new ways to grow our economy, educate and train our people, and forge more partnerships to encourage firms and community organisations to work together to take care of Singaporeans. Given the complexity of these new challenges, I agree with the Finance Minister that we need to adopt a targeted and prudent approach to help our businesses, workers and seniors in our community. First, supporting SMEs. Madam, we must support our SMEs. Global competition and fast-changing economies have affected our SMEs adversely. Many SMEs face challenges, such as lack of business opportunities, high financing and business cost, and difficulties with retaining talent. As a result, many have closed their businesses while others struggle to sustain their business operations. Madam, I would like to propose three suggestions to help our SMEs. First, help SMEs to identify business opportunities. The Government can increase its efforts to provide SMEs with information on emerging markets in our region, including information regarding the ASEAN Economic Community, free trade agreements and new industry growth clusters in Singapore. A business opportunities portal can be set up to provide updated information on new business opportunities both in Singapore and the region.”
“Madam, 25 years ago, I visited a building research centre of a Japanese construction firm in Japan. I was indeed very impressed by the innovations and futuristic thinking of the Japanese researchers. They were already exploring construction techniques and materials to build vertical cities then. These vertical cities consist of skyscrapers towering 1,000 metres or 300 storeys. They house residential, commercial, office and recreational facilities within the same building, enabling users to live, work and play with convenience. With limited land for development in Singapore, we should start to consider building a vertical city which will allow Singaporeans to live their lives with greatest enjoyment. Together, we can build a great future for Singapore and Singaporeans. 6.21 pm”
“I would urge the Government to focus on three key areas to apply smart city initiatives. First, safety and security. Over the last few years, the town councils have been working closely with our Police to install CCTV at HDB void decks and common areas to enhance safety and security. To date, over 52,000 cameras have been installed in 8,600 HDB blocks. This has enhanced crime prevention efforts significantly. I wish to commend the Police for spearheading this project and their success in using the CCTV system to solve crimes. In view of the ever-present threat of terrorism, I urge the Government to introduce this project to more areas, especially at high human traffic locations. Second, healthcare services. Smart city systems can provide intelligent and alert systems and facilitate data collection to further strengthen our emergency and healthcare services. Big data analytics can provide real-time monitoring of trends. The information gathered will support preventive healthcare interventions and contribute towards developing response strategies in disease outbreak management. Third, town and facilities management services. In the areas of town and facilities management, smart technologies can provide 24/7 monitoring of the functionality of buildings or facilities and send alerts for faster response by the maintenance team. For example, the lift telemonitoring system at HDB blocks allows our lift technicians to respond within 25 minutes to rescue trapped passengers in lifts. Many Town Councils have also installed LED lightings with sensors to control lighting and save energy. I would urge the HDB to play a more proactive role in introducing more smart city applications in HDB towns. Fourth, building future vertical cities.”
“I propose that the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) step up the Green Mark Building Scheme and provide more incentives for all buildings to go green or become zero-energy buildings. In addition, we should further encourage the use of solar energy in powering our building utilities. I understand that HDB has piloted the use of solar energy for HDB blocks. We should maximise the solar energy potential in Singapore and install more solar panels at our roofs. This will not only reduce heat transfer into our buildings but also promote the use of "green" energy and reduce our reliance on less sustainable energy sources. Madam, as our society becomes more affluent, there will be higher demand for more electrical appliances in our homes. Many flat owners are installing larger capacity air-conditioning systems, larger capacity refrigerators, shower heaters, and home entertainment systems, increasing the demand for energy. To be sustainable, we need to focus on promoting Green Homes among Singaporeans. BCA can consider setting up a Green Mark for homes and provide incentives for homeowners to make their homes eco-friendly and sustainable. Fourth, building smart city and smart towns. Madam, we should aim towards building a holistic and smart city. New technology has been introduced to make cities smarter. These include sensors, CCTV, big data analytics and dashboard management systems. We must be careful and vigilant when adopting these technologies. We must first understand the present and future needs of our people and ensure that Singaporeans are ready to adopt and benefit from these smart city initiatives. In order to implement Smart City systems in Singapore, we must first prioritise the needs of our people and businesses.”
“I support the Ministry of Transport’s (MOT) proposal to build the North-South Expressway and provide dedicated lanes for buses, cyclists and pedestrians. We should also consider adding capacity to our existing expressways by building two-tier expressways. The upper tier can have dedicated lanes for express buses and cars while the lower tier expressways can have dedicated lanes for motorcycles and goods vehicles. This segregation will ease the flow of traffic and may help to reduce accidents. Madam, we should also review our existing express bus or train services and consider increasing their capacities. Better connectivity of express buses and trains from residential clusters to business districts, shopping areas or the airport will encourage more people to take public transport. We can also introduce weekend public transport day pass at an attractive price such as $2 for multiple trips. This will encourage more people to take public transport as they spend the day out with their families on the weekends. Third, building a sustainable built environment. Madam, Singapore is a land-scarce country. We must implement the correct policies to build a sustainable environment. Climate change and environmental pollution will have adverse effects on our people and economy. We have to prepare and protect ourselves from such changes, in particular, flooding, global warming, haze, and air pollution. As Singapore's economy moves up the value chain, there will be more people working in indoor air-conditioned work environments, such as offices and laboratories. This will increase the demand for energy.”
“As a result, some neighbourhood centres have become less accessible to residents, especially the elderly who live further away. This problem will be exacerbated as our residents age – travelling the distance to town centres may be challenging to these seniors. Madam, we need to enhance the infrastructure of our HDB towns to make our neighbourhood centres more accessible. To achieve this, we need to set up a planning unit to develop infrastructure connectivity master plans for all HDB towns. Today, our road pavements are cluttered with road signage, electrical installations, dustbins, trees with roots uplifting pavements and many other installations that impede easy access for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair-bound users. Many of these installations built many to different Government agencies. We must align these agencies in order to build wider walkways and cycling paths promoting accessibility for all users. Madam, we can also build more high-rise residential buildings and basement car parks. This will free up more surface land areas for gardens, paths, walkways and cycling paths. It will provide more green lungs within our towns and reduce the heat island effects – that is the warming of our built environment. In this regard, the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the HDB can explore innovative solutions to build flats above 40 storeys and replace surface and multi-storey car parks with basement car parks. We must aim to make every HDB town into a town where people can live comfortably, access town amenities easily and have leisure facilities near their homes. Madam, as part of increasing accessibility and connectivity, we should also review our public transport, infrastructure and services.”
“First, high-density residential clusters. We need to facilitate the change of land use and increase plot ratio for residential developments at key transport hubs. This involves redeveloping and upgrading of HDB towns into large high-rise and high-density residential clusters. Second, future economy business clusters. We need to provide more incentives for businesses to move into future economy clusters. This involves relocating existing supporting businesses and building new business clusters for future economy industries including smart city technologies, medical and pharmaceutical manufacturing or finance and professional services. Third, leisure amenities clusters. We can locate or relocate leisure amenities near MRT stations for better accessibility. For example, building mega hawker centres, sports complexes, shopping malls, seafood centres and parks near MRT stations. Next, enhancing "live, work and play" in Singapore. Madam, we need to enhance the quality of life for Singaporeans to live, work and play in Singapore. First, we must build quality homes; second, we must provide good connectivity for Singaporeans to travel to work conveniently; and third, there must be accessible leisure facilities for Singaporeans and their families to enjoy. Madam, I commend HDB for building quality flats for Singaporeans. With better designs for new flats and the upgrading of older flats, HDB has provided a high-quality living environment for Singaporeans. In addition, by building neighbourhood town centres which provide a wide range of services, HDB and neighbouring private estate residents enjoy affordable products and services at great convenience. However, as HDB towns grow, more flats are built away from the neighbourhood centres.”
“Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Motion. I support the President's call for all Singaporeans to work together to build a better Singapore. As we progress as a sovereign country comprising Singaporeans of different races and religions, we must stay united as one people and work towards improving the quality of life for all Singaporeans and future generations of Singaporeans. Madam, Singapore is ageing rapidly. In the next 50 years, we must focus on making Singapore a holistic, healthy and happy city. We must introduce and encourage innovative technologies allowing Singaporeans to access information easily for lifelong learning of new skills. We must provide a safe living and working environment and protect the vulnerable, especially the elderly and children in our society. We must set up informative and alert systems that will further strengthen our emergency rescue and healthcare support services. In this way we will be able to provide Singaporeans a better environment for them to grow in and live in. Madam, I propose five steps for the Government to consider towards building a holistic, healthy and happy Singapore. First review the planning concepts and norms for land use. Madam, I understand that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has adopted the "live, work and play" concept in the development of our concept and master plans for land use in Singapore. However, many Singaporeans still have to travel long distances from their homes to their workplaces as well as for food and leisure. To better fulfil the needs of our people, we need to review the planning concepts and norms so that residential areas, business clusters and leisure amenities can be planned and built at suitable locations. This may entail the following transformations to our urban landscape.”
“Together, we can build a community of lifesavers to save more lives in the community. Page: 124”
“This will reduce their healthcare costs and improve their quality of life. At the same time, demand for subsidised Class C wards in our hospitals will be reduced due to these intervention programmes. Third, building lifesaving skills in the community. Sir, as a qualified lifesaving instructor, I have always dreamed of training more lifesavers in the community. Having more lifesavers will make our community safer as lives can be saved in emergency situations, such as accidents, heart attacks or floods. Lifesavers are trained in first-aid, CPR and lifesaving skills. According to the Singapore Lifesaving Society, we have about 10,000 qualified lifesavers in Singapore. They are our assets in the community and can save lives. Therefore, I hope the Government can consider building the lifesaving skills capabilities of our people in the community. Sir, in Bukit Panjang, we have trained 380 of our Community Emergency and Engagement volunteers in first-aid, CPR and emergency preparedness skills. We are in the process of training caregivers in our constituency to better equip them with lifesaving skills to look after their family members. To date, there is no Government agency championing the building of lifesaving skills capabilities in the community. I would like to suggest that MOH take on this role of training more Singaporeans in first-aid, CPR and lifesaving skills. This will help save more lives, reduce aggravated injuries and make Singapore a safer place for all. Sir, I do not think we need a pilot project to build a community of lifesavers. North West CDC is prepared to partner MOH or any Government agency to spearhead this capability building exercise if the Ministry or agency can commit resources on a sustained basis to train more qualified lifesavers.”
“Sir, besides promoting healthy living, we must also implement sustained intervention programmes to prevent chronic illnesses, detect and treat chronic illnesses early. Over the years, many community health screenings were conducted but the take-up rate and follow-up actions were poor. As such, I would like to suggest that MOH take ownership and structure community health screening to achieve better outreach, better health outcomes and save healthcare costs. Based on experience, people who are more vulnerable to chronic illnesses are not going for regular health screening. Many fear of detecting illnesses which they can ill-afford for treatment. Therefore, we should review our community health screening approach to be more targeted so that resources can be properly utilised to improve the health of our people, especially the high-risk chronic illness groups. Sir, every one of us listens to the doctor's advice to adopt healthy lifestyle and seek medical treatment when necessary. Therefore, we must engage our family doctors in both public and private medical institutions to refer high-risk chronic illness patients for regular Page: 123 health screening and health talks. In this aspect, I would like to propose that polyclinics provide referred health screening for their high-risk chronic illness patients. During outpatient consultations, polyclinic doctors can refer these patients for health screening. Patients with chronic illnesses can then be subsequently referred to CHAS General Practitioners for follow-up and case management to monitor the progress of their health outcomes. In this way, we will be able to reach out to more high-risk chronic illness Singaporeans, especially the low-income groups.”
“These clubs are led by 600 dedicated volunteers who tirelessly drive and organise healthy living activities on a sustained basis. Most clubs organise weekly physical activities to keep their members fit and healthy. Page: 122 In 2010, the Health Promotion Board conducted a National Health survey and found that our brisk walkers get 234 minutes of physical activities per week which is about three times more than the national average of 83 minutes per week for seniors. In another impact study for active ageing commissioned by MSF, our brisk walkers and health qigong members were found to have more neighbours to interact with and experienced less loneliness. Sir, to grow the healthy living clubs membership and sustain members' interest is hardly an easy task. North West CDC has to invest much time and resources to plan programmes, garner support from like-minded partners and engage volunteers to stay committed to a meaningful cause. We continue to add novelty and fun to our healthy living clubs, such as organising 100-kilometre brisk walk challenge, Health Qigong mass display, Dance-fit club Nite and Swimsafer Day. Sir, North West CDC is keen to do more to grow our healthy living clubs in support of MOH's Healthy Living Master Plan. In the past, I have requested the Finance Minister to provide sustained funding through an endowment fund to support sustainable healthy living programmes. I hope the Finance Minister will help the MOH to walk the talk, to effectively implement and achieve the desired outcomes of its Healthy Living Master Plan's vision 2020 that is Healthy Living Every Day – Making the connections.”
“This situation will aggravate with a fast ageing population and increased chronic illness cases. Many dialysis patients are employable but their careers were affected by the dialysis treatment which requires long hours and at least three times per week. The cost of dialysis is also high and some face financial difficulty to seek treatment. Sir, the National Kidney Foundation or NKF which is a charitable foundation provides the largest network of 26 dialysis centres in Singapore. Each year, NKF needs to raise funds to build more dialysis centres and subsidise low-income kidney patients. I would like to call upon the Government to render more support for our kidney patients. First, the Government should consider providing subsidised kidney dialysis services at the polyclinics. This will provide better accessibility for kidney patients and reduce their healthcare costs. At the same time, I propose that more matching grant, maybe one to three matching can be given to charitable organisations like NKF to support their fundraising efforts. This will encourage more charitable organisations to set up dialysis centres accessible to an ageing community and near workplaces. Two, promoting community health. Sir, Healthy Living has been a key focus of North West CDC since our inception in 2001. The North West CDC has five Healthy Living@ North West programmes to promote healthy lifestyle and bonding among our residents. These comprise North West Brisk walking clubs, North West Health Qigong clubs, North West Dance-fit clubs, North West Community Aerobics clubs and North West Swimsafer clubs. Over the last 14 years, the North West CDC has set up a vast network of 260 healthy living clubs with a total membership of 77,000 members.”
“Sir, some estates face challenges of a fast-ageing population and increasing number of people with chronic illnesses. Thus, it is crucial that we build a Healthcare Safety Net to save lives and improve the quality of life of Singaporeans. This is especially so for seniors ageing in the community. Seniors are more vulnerable to chronic illnesses, susceptible to falls and take a much long time to recover. Sir, polyclinics provide a comprehensive range of primary healthcare services at accessible locations to residents. I would suggest that we integrate a complete range of rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy to help stroke patients and those with fractures or mobility problems to recover faster. This will enhance the employability of these patients and improve their quality of life. Sir, if we support ageing in place in the community, we must also expedite the building of community healthcare infrastructure to look after our elderly. Page: 121 Sir, in Bukit Panjang constituency, we have over 17,000 residents aged 50 years and above and many are working class Singaporeans or retirees. My residents have been using the polyclinic at Chua Chu Kang which is inconvenient to access. I have made several requests in this House for a polyclinic in Bukit Panjang. I would like to make a humble request again to the Government to consider building a polyclinic for Bukit Panjang residents. Sir, I would like to voice out the concerns of another group of Singaporeans who need help. These are the 5,000 kidney failure patients who require dialysis weekly. Sir, Singapore now ranks fourth highest on a global scale for both incidence and prevalence of end stage renal disease. Every day, four to five Singaporeans lose the use of their kidneys.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Budget. Sir, Singaporeans are generally very happy with this year's Budget which aims to build a better future for all Page: 120 Singaporeans. Families with children welcome the top-ups for Child Development Account, Edusave and various assistance to reduce education costs. Many low-income elderly in the heartlands also look forward to the Silver Support package which will provide them cash hand-outs every three months. Sir, I support the Government's investment in building economic and social infrastructure to provide career opportunities and social safety net for Singaporeans. But, it is equally important to invest in the building of community healthcare and resilience infrastructure so that Singaporeans can have better access to healthcare services and be more prepared for emergencies and crises like natural disasters or disease outbreaks. Sir, I wish to propose to the Government to consider building a Healthcare Safety Net for all Singaporeans beyond the 3Ms, that is, the Medisave, MediShield and Medifund approach. First, building community healthcare infrastructure. Sir, I support the building of more hospitals to provide acute healthcare services. However, there is an urgent need to strengthen the community healthcare infrastructure such as the building of more polyclinics, step-down care facilities, rehabilitation, and dialysis centres. Today, the network of 18 polyclinics provides accessible, affordable and quality primary healthcare services. In future, these polyclinics will face capacity problems due to increasing health demand from an ageing population. Thus, we need to build more polyclinics quickly.”
“Sir, trust can only be built through active engagement and good deeds. At this juncture, I would like to commend the excellent efforts of many community organisations that have been organising many activities and services to engage our citizens. These engagement platforms also provide opportunities for the Government to disseminate policies, explain and help our people to understand various Government policies. Through such active engagements, the Government can win the support of the people to make changes to improve their lives. Thus, I would urge the Government and various stakeholders of our society to continue the good work of providing more platforms for Singaporeans to spend more time together and strengthen our relationships. Together, we can build the "Singapore Spirit" for a better Singapore. 6.21 pm”
“This is the real challenge faced by many governments in the world. People are usually more comfortable in their present settings and are resistant to changes. Thus, our political leaders and civil servants must make Singaporeans believe and understand that they are making changes to better the lives of both the present and future generations of Singaporeans. This requires active engagement of Singaporeans and effective Page: 97 communication of the Government's intent in order to win support from our people. In today's Internet and new media world, it is worrying that some people have ulterior motives to misguide Singaporeans by providing misleading information or distorted views. Such acts are not constructive and can have undesirable consequences in the governance of a country. Emotional outbursts spread through new media and poor governance has resulted in many riots and turmoil in some countries resulting in the loss of lives and jobs. Therefore, it is important for our Government to set up reliable channels of communications to engage and inform our citizens constantly and correctly. The Government must build relationships and trust with our citizens. This cannot be done solely by the Government. We need all stakeholders of our society to come together more frequently to discuss issues, formulate and implement policies to better the lives of Singaporeans. Singaporeans must also actively engage the Government and various stakeholders to contribute to the development of our country. It must be a win-win partnership between the Government and citizens of Singapore. The Government's vision must reflect our people's aspirations to be a great world-class city where Singaporeans can raise their families in a quality, safe and green built environment.”
“I propose we extend the Green Mark scheme for buildings to homes so that all residential flats will be sustainable homes in the future. We need a new green mark accreditation framework to ensure that all residential flats are properly designed and renovated to be green homes. This will ultimately reduce the carbon footprints of Singapore. Sir, a safe home will have fewer accidents, thus reducing the demand for healthcare services and saving resources. Each year, domestic accidents constitute a significant percentage of hospital treatment and admission cases in Singapore. Children and the elderly are more vulnerable to home accidents, such as falls, burns, cuts and slamming doors on hands. Thus, it is essential to ensure that the interior design of flats is child-proof and elderly-friendly to reduce home accidents. Sir, in Singapore, we have an average of 2,500 fire cases per year in residential dwellings resulting in deaths, injuries and extensive damage to property. A lot of of pain is suffered and lots of resources are wasted as a result of these domestic accidents. Therefore, we need to implement more upstream intervention strategies to make our homes safe. We must incorporate child-proof designs and elderly-friendly features in both new and upgraded residential flats. For example, child-proof locking windows, grab bars, anti-slip flooring, anti-slam doors and cupboards and barrier-free features can be provided to make all homes safe for both the young and old. This will also facilitate family members to live together. Win support from the people to change. Sir, it is difficult to plan and implement policies to govern a country. But it is even more difficult to win the support of people to make changes.”
“I would like to urge HDB and private developers to go beyond the BCA Green Mark Accreditation when building or upgrading residential flats. Residential block and flat designs should be laid out to minimise exposure to the afternoon sun and maximise the use of natural ventilation and lighting to increase comfort and save energy. Green features, such as recycling chute, energy- and water-efficient electrical appliances, should be installed to encourage a green lifestyle. Today, many existing residential buildings do not meet the Green Mark criteria and few residential dwellings are green homes. We need the concerted efforts of all Government agencies to expedite the greening of our homes so as to reduce our resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. If the building of green home infrastructure is too costly, we can first explore greening renovation works and supporting green lifestyles in our homes. While legislation will achieve limited greening of our homes, the Government should focus on education and incentives to promote environmental ownership of our people. Government agencies should not waste too much resource in testing too many pilot projects. We should instead embark on proven solutions and sustain all stakeholders' efforts to inculcate green values amongst Singaporeans. Page: 96 Simple green features, such as installation of water-saving thimbles, energy-saving lightings and air-con proofing of rooms can be incorporated at the design stage of residential developments. Interior designers and renovation contractors can be incentivised to go green, such as providing green tax rebates. BCA should also review its building regulations to ensure that developers, architects, interior designers, contractors and renovation contractors build green homes.”
“It is time for URA to review how land use can be better planned to achieve three desired outcomes: (a) to support families to live near each other; (b) to make workplaces and recreational amenities easily accessible to all Singaporeans; and (c) to provide business infrastructure to enhance the competitiveness of firms in Singapore. Page: 95 Another advantage of building high-rise high-density business and residential communities is that these communities tend to use less resource as people would walk, cycle or travel less with cars. In this year's Budget, I have proposed that MND and HDB should review their policies to bring families together. I would like to suggest a few solutions to achieve this. First, we should plan to build vertical communities at our MRT and LRT stations through BTO, en bloc and private developments. URA and HDB should plan land sales and developments in these areas to build more public and private housing. Second, HDB should adopt the same approach as the private developers to provide a variety of flat sizes, meaning 1- to 4-bedroom flats, in each precinct so as to encourage families to live together or near one another. We should continue to promote home ownership but at the same time provide more housing options for Singaporeans to live near their family members for mutual support. These include the elderly, singles, single-parent families, orphans and young couples. Sir, let me next focus on how we can build green and safe homes for Singaporeans. In my opinion, a green and safe home is one that is built with safety measures for its occupants, adopts sustainable development practices and is occupied by people with green living habits.”
“In order to harness the maximum potential of our human resources, the Government can support growing industries to provide more internship opportunities for our ITE, Polytechnic and University students. This will ensure better matching of graduates with suitable jobs, thus offering them more rewarding careers. Sir, we must also harness the knowledge and skills of our ageing population and provide more job opportunities for our young and older workers to complement each other to build a competitive workforce for companies. Therefore, to achieve smart economic growth, the Government must identify, plan and site growing industries together with our skilled workforce so as to enhance business competitiveness in cost, quality and services. Achieving more with less resources. Sir, MND has planned our city well and HDB has built good quality housing for Singaporeans. As we grow our businesses and population, we need to think of innovative ways to maximise our land use and achieve a sustainable built environment using less resources. In this regard, we have to explore smart solutions to intensify land use and build high-density vertical business and residential communities. We must also build safe and green homes for our people so as to reduce resource consumption. Sir, high-rise and high-density communities can provide quality life, work and play environment for Singaporeans if properly planned with transportation and sustainable infrastructure. In the past, our industries, businesses, residential and recreational amenities are located in different parts of Singapore.”
“The Government must further support the capability building of our local SMEs and provide more opportunities for them to grow in Singapore and overseas. Local SMEs need not always play the role of supporting industry players but can explore opportunities to grow into industry clusters or conglomerates to compete in the global economy. But they need a strong helping hand from the Government. The Government can play a more active role in growing and branding our local SMEs both locally and in growing markets overseas. Our Government-linked companies can forge stronger business partnerships with local SMEs to build competitive industry clusters in Singapore. For example, local logistics and transportation companies can partner and be relocated nearer to our manufacturing, shipping or petrochemical sectors to provide JIT (just in time) transport services, thus reducing travelling time and double handling of goods. To further support industry clusters, the Government should allocate land to build foreign worker dormitories nearer to these workplaces. More direct bus and train services should be provided to make our industry clusters and workplaces easily accessible to Singaporeans. This will not only make it more convenient for Singaporeans to work but also Page: 94 allow businesses to access our skilled workforce easily. Building dormitories near industrial estates will further reduce ferrying of workers, save business costs and reduce carbon emissions in our environment. Having more direct transport services will also reduce travelling time, thus improving the work-life balance of Singaporeans.”
“Sir, in Singapore, we are indeed fortunate to enjoy peace and harmony among our people. Efforts by our Government and people in bringing people of different races, languages and religions together have strengthened the social fabric of our society. Our Government's policies on meritocracy and multiracialism have provided equal opportunities for all Singaporeans to live, work and play together as one people. These have Page: 93 produced a safe and stable society which we must all treasure. Sir, moving forward, it is essential for all Singaporeans to build on the strong foundation laid by our Pioneer Generation and make Singapore a Great World Class City. What must the Government and Singaporeans do to build a Great World Class City? In my view, we must focus on three areas: (a) support smart economic growth; (b) achieve more with less resource; and (c) win support from Singaporeans to make changes. Support smart economic growth. Sir, many countries and cities are improving their investment environment to attract businesses and provide jobs for their people, especially for cities with a fast growing population. Singapore will face intense pressures to achieve sustainable economic growth if we do not transform our economy. Therefore, we need to strategically plan for smart economic growth based on our present and future strengths. First, we must identify growing industries. Second, we must cluster these growing industries to gain competitive advantage. Third, we must help these industries to harness the talent and skills of both young and older Singaporeans. Sir, Singapore provides a stable business environment with excellent business infrastructure. We must continue to invest in our business environment for industry clusters to attract more local and foreign investments.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Motion to thank the President for his Address at the Opening of Parliament. I support the President's call to continue our work to build a fair and just society, regardless of race, language or religion; to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. Sir, the Pioneer Generation of Singaporeans have worked hard over the last 50 years to build Singapore to be a world-class city. Today, Singaporeans take pride in the achievements of our country. We have enjoyed political stability for 50 years, attracted lots of investments to provide good jobs for Singaporeans. We have built a safe and quality built environment for Singaporeans to live, work and play together. Sir, with rapid globalisation and a fast-ageing population, Singapore will face new challenges to fulfil the needs and aspirations of both the present and future generations. Like our pioneers, we must continue to work hard and develop the "Singapore Spirit" to make Singapore a "great world-class city". Sir, by 2030, about 60% or five billion of the world's population will be staying in the cities. Today, cities are already producing 70% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are mainly attributed to energy consumption in buildings and transportation. As such, many cities are facing immense challenges of providing a sustainable economy and liveable environment for their people. Politics, stretched budgets, economic competitiveness and ageing infrastructure have put enormous strains on city governments to continue providing a good quality of life for their people. This has resulted in social disparities, turmoil and political instability in some cities and countries.”
“In addition, the community hospital can support home care services in the community, thus allowing more patients to recuperate at home. Madam, I wish to ask the Minister the following questions. One, what are the planning norms to build a community hospital? Are there plans to build community hospitals in HDB housing estates? Two, can the Ministry consider providing more grant to support VWOs to set up more community hospitals? Three, can the Ministry provide more funds to community hospitals to support community health education, such as promoting healthy lifestyle, disease prevention talks and training of caregivers? Increasing Adoption of Telehealth”
“Madam, every community must have a community hospital to save more lives. With a fast ageing population and our ageing in place society, more community hospitals must be built within the community to meet the future healthcare needs of our elderly and population. Community hospitals can play a bigger role to support an ageing and more densely populated community by serving as a one-stop medical service facility. Madam, we should consider expanding the range of healthcare services offered by community hospitals. Community hospitals or Integrated Healthcare Complexes should provide a complete range of services, such as emergency services, outpatient clinic, specialist outpatient clinic, hospitalisation, rehabilitation, community health education and quarantine facility in times of Page: 39 crisis. Madam, I understand that the Ministry is planning to build four more community hospitals by 2020. But, not all community hospitals are conveniently located in HDB housing estates to provide accessible, affordable and quality care to our people. To the elderly, the speed of response for medical emergencies will make a difference between life and death. For normal medical consultations, the travelling distance to medical facility will affect the accessibility, affordability and quality of care. Madam, the location of community hospitals will have a direct impact on the survival rate of patients. It will also affect the convenience, and costs incurred by the elderly and their caregivers. Siting community hospitals within housing estate will have added advantages as it can be a training centre to promote healthcare education in the community. More healthcare personnel, volunteers and caregivers can also be trained to strengthen the medical support system of the community.”
“Every school and community should be a training centre to teach all Singaporeans to adopt green living habits. In this regard, I would propose to the Ministry to implement a sustainable green education programme in schools and community.”
“As a result, these old buildings are not resource-efficient and contribute to the carbon emissions in our built environment. Sir, I would urge the Government to incentivise existing building owners to upgrade or redevelop their buildings. Alternatively, the Government should Page: 177 consider imposing pollution tax or inefficient resource consumption levy on these buildings. Green business practices. Sir, as business activities contribute much to the overall consumption of resources and the pollution of the environment, we should promote green business practices. More support should be given to businesses to adopt the 3Rs, that is, reduce, reuse and recycle sustainable practices. Resource efficient technologies should be encouraged to help companies save resources. More sharing of sustainable business practices should be facilitated to promote green practices amongst businesses. I would urge the Ministry to set up a website to share green business practices. Green lifestyle. Sir, adopting green living habits amongst Singaporeans will contribute towards attaining the sustainable development targets in Singapore. Singaporeans can play a more active role to practise the 3Rs in our daily lives. Despite much effort, the recycling rate in domestic premises is low. The recent introduction of integrated recycling bin for every HDB block is another attempt by NEA to encourage recycling. But the yield of such recycling will be low due to high contamination. We need a better approach to segregate the recyclables. Sir, more concerted efforts are required to nurture green values amongst our people especially young Singaporeans. Schools and education institutions must play a more active role to educate our students to lead a green lifestyle.”
“Mr Chairman, the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint was announced in 2009 to make Singapore a city which is durable, lively and well-loved by its citizens and visitors. A four-pronged strategy namely: one, boosting our resource efficiency; two, enhancing our urban environment; three, building our capabilities; and four, fostering community action, were put forward, setting targets for each thrust. Sir, five years have passed and I wish to ask the Minister to update the House on the achievements made so far and whether the Ministry will review the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint in view of the rising aspirations of Singaporeans and the changing landscape of our economy and climate conditions. Sir, what are the desired outcomes of sustainable development in Singapore? In my view, we must aim for three desired outcomes. One, a green living environment where Singaporeans can live, work and play together; two, a green business operating environment where businesses practise sustainable practices; and three, a green lifestyle amongst Singaporeans and visitors in Singapore. Green living environment. Sir, the scarcity of land and an increasing population has made it challenging to continue providing a green living environment. The high-rise and high density built environment will have adverse impact on the quality of spaces, air and water thus affecting the liveability of our environment. Sir, how can we facilitate the greening of our built environment? First, we should expedite the accreditation of Greenmark for all existing buildings. Many old buildings are not eco-friendly and thus consume lots of energy and resources. Unfortunately, many building owners do not have any sense of urgency or incentives to upgrade their buildings.”
“Madam, I wish to ask the Minister the following questions: (a) How effective are the existing housing policies to encourage 3G and extended families to stay near one another? (b) What are the Ministry's plans to further encourage 3G and extended families to live together within the community?”
“However, many children of these ageing Singaporeans are not living with them or near them. This will pose immense challenges to the seniors to get support from their family members in times of need. This problem is further aggravated if the seniors become immobile and need regular medical treatment. Although the Government is building many infrastructures to support the seniors, no amount of community support can replace that of family members. Many seniors prefer to be with their family members. The emotional, mental and physical support of family members will make a difference to the quality of life of our seniors in times of good health and in sickness. Madam, we need to review our HDB housing policies to bring 3G families and extended families together. In this regard, I would like to make a few suggestions to the Minister to consider. First, build more 3G BTO flats with different types of flat sizes to facilitate 3G families and extended families to stay together within the flat, block or precinct. Accord these flat applicants higher priority to expedite the formation of 3G families and extended families in our housing estates. Page: 109 Second, develop more infill development BTO flats or expedite en bloc development in mature estates so that young families can have more choices to stay near their parents or siblings who are ageing in these mature estates. Third, build more studio flats for the elderly in all new towns and accord priority to those elderly who wish to move near to their children or siblings who are living in the new towns. The elderly can sell their existing flats, right-size to these studio apartments near their children or siblings and have adequate sales proceeds to live a good quality of life.”
“Madam, Bukit Panjang is a resettlement town. Twenty seven years ago, many of our residents were relocated from Lim Chu Kang, Chua Chu Kang, Woodlands and Marsiling villages. The villagers and their family members were offered Housing Board flats in Bukit Panjang town. As a result, we have many 3G families and extended families staying in Bukit Panjang. Some of them stay in the same flat while others live in the same block Page: 108 or precinct. Madam, over the years, I have noticed that my residents have benefited a lot by living with or near their parents, grandparents and extended family members. Living near one another enables family members to spend more quality time together, look after one another and strengthen family bonds. In fact, some of the children who got married also choose to buy flats in Bukit Panjang. As such, we have residents with four or five extended family members living in Bukit Panjang. This is, indeed, a very happy outcome for my residents. Madam, over the years, our housing policies have encouraged home ownership and family formation. We have succeeded in achieving a high percentage of HDB home ownership. But due to the different phases of new town developments, many young families who bought HDB flats in new towns are not living with their parents or siblings. Many siblings of many families are also living in different parts of Singapore when they got married and purchased their HDB flats. This has resulted in today's spread of families in different housing estates, thus weakening the family bonding and support network in our society. Madam, Singapore has a fast-ageing population and we are encouraging Singaporeans to age in place, that is, age within their homes and community.”
“Madam, we need a champion for social defence to build a strong, cohesive and resilient society. 4.57 pm”
“These include grassroots organisations, VWOs, NGOs, corporate companies, religious organisations, community-based groups and Government agencies. The CDCs have developed or established a niche as the key driver for 3Ps partnerships in community development work. Community development work strengthens social defence. Social defence against economic insecurity, for example, providing SMEs and social assistance services; food insecurity, such as setting up community gardens where residents can grow vegetables; health insecurity, such as responding to outbreak of disease during crisis or in peace time; promoting healthy lifestyle activities to build trust among our people or environmental insecurity, such as promoting community ownership in water and energy conservation. These are things which the CDCs are championing at the local community. Therefore, I would like to propose to the Government to consider appointing the CDC as the key driver to build the social defence capabilities of our people and society. Through the wide range of activities, programmes and services organised, the CDCs can play a vital role in bringing Singaporeans of all backgrounds together as one people. In this regard, I would like to request the Finance Minister to consider revising the funding support for CDCs. The CDC resident and matching grants were not revised since 1997. It is timely for the Government to consider Page: 109 allocating more resources to build social defence. As building social defence capabilities is a long-term process, I would propose that the Finance Minister to consider setting up a "Social Defence Endowment Fund" so that proceeds of this fund can be channelled to the CDCs yearly to champion social defence capabilities, buildings and programmes.”
“A test conducted by the Home Team a few years ago showed that Singaporeans are not vigilant against terrorist threats in our society. This is a real concern which both the Government and our people must address. Madam, there are five aspects of Total Defence, namely, psychological defence, social defence, economic defence, civil defence and military defence. While it is clear that the Government, Economic Development Board, Home Team and Singapore Armed Forces are key drivers of psychological, economic, civil and military defence respectively, there is no key driver for social defence. Page: 108 Madam, social defence is about having Singaporeans of all races and religions living and working together in harmony and getting them to look out for one another. To build strong social defence, we must promote mutual understanding and respect among our people and bridge all social divides in our society. Today, Singaporeans are facing various social divides, namely, (a) racial divide, (b) religious divide, (c) income and wealth divide, (d) age divide, and (e) cosmopolitan and heartlanders divide. Madam, the Community Development Councils (CDCs) were established in 1997 to build a cohesive, compassionate and harmonious community. The key role of the CDCs is to strengthen the "heartware" of Singaporeans. Heartware includes our concern for one another, getting more able Singaporeans to help the less abled, our collective will as a people and the sense of belonging to the same family. Developing "heartware" is a never-ending process. But it will always strengthen our social defence to cope with all attacks. Madam, over the last 17 years, the CDCs have built capabilities and developed strong partnerships with many community stakeholders.”
“Madam, I wish to call on all stakeholders of Singapore and, in particular, companies, charities, community groups, clans and associations, to show their gratitude to our Pioneer Generation. The Government has taken the lead to recognise the contributions of our pioneers by introducing a $8 billion Pioneer Generation Package or PG Package. I hope this will encourage more stakeholders of our society to initiate other gestures or tokens of appreciation for our pioneers. Madam, the PG Package has received positive feedback from many Singaporeans, both young and old. It has addressed the key concern on healthcare cost faced by the elderly. However, some pioneers feel that they should be issued the Blue CHAS card immediately so that they can benefit from the subsidy and reduce their healthcare cost burden. Although the PG Package provides peace of mind to the pioneers, it does not encourage them to stay active and healthy. In this regard, I would urge all stakeholders of Singapore to show their gratitude to the pioneers by providing incentives to keep them active and healthy. These incentives can be higher discounts for bus and train rides, free entry to tourist attractions or express queue for pioneers. Such gestures will further strengthen our sense of gratitude to our pioneers. Two, support for social defence. Madam, the concept of Total Defence was introduced in 1984 to ensure that Singaporeans are prepared to deal with all forms of attacks, both military and non-military. The recent social unrest, riots, terrorist and military threats in Asia have reminded us that we should build our Total Defence capabilities. Unfortunately, not many Singaporeans pay much attention to Total Defence.”
“As for private projects, granting additional Gross Floor Area for higher buildability and constructability scores will definitely incentivise developers to boost construction productivity. Madam, the construction industry welcomes the extension of the maximum period of employment for R1 Work Permit holders from 18 to 22 years. The retention of more experienced skilled workers will boost productivity and quality. I understand that the imposition of maximum employment period is to prevent entrenchment of foreign workers in Singapore. But this requirement has become irrelevant when we allow foreign workers to work 22 years in Singapore. To provide more flexibility for contractors to build a core team of skilled and experienced foreign workers, I would urge the Finance Minister to consider removing the maximum period for R1 skilled workers in the construction and process industry. We should encourage firms to take ownership to nurture and retain these skilled foreign workers in their companies to further boost productivity and quality. Building social capital and resilience. Madam, I support the measures proposed by the Finance Minister to build a fair and equitable society although I know it is difficult to define what is fair and equitable in a society. Nevertheless, efforts by the Government to bring Singaporeans together through measures, such as helping lower income groups, recognition of our Pioneer Generation, and providing equal opportunities for all to do well in life are a step in the right direction. Page: 107 To further strengthen the social fabric of our society and build resilience in our people, I would like to propose the following for the Finance Minister to consider. One, more support for the Pioneer Generation.”
“These prefabricated technologies were used in Singapore before, and had failed, resulting in extensive follow-up repair works. Madam, to further boost construction productivity, we should consider more standardisation of the prefabrication of building components, and mandate standardised prefabricated designs into the BCA's buildability and constructability scores. Madam, there are three key attributes of standardised prefabricated designs that will improve productivity and quality. First, simplicity in prefabricated design. Prefabricated building components, such as walls, columns, beams, floors, staircases, bin chutes and so on should be simple and functional in their designs. Second, standardisation in dimensions. The sizes and dimensions of prefabricated components should be standardised or in modular dimensions to facilitate production and installation. Third, repetition of prefabricated component designs. The design of the prefabricated components must be repetitive so as to enjoy economies of scale and reduce costs. Page: 106 For example, the Pinnacle@Duxton Plain was essentially built using standardised design prefabricated building components. This had resulted in economies of scale in the manufacturing of the prefabricated building components and improved the constructability of the project. Madam, as for Government construction projects, we should adopt simplicity in design, standardisation of building components, and repetitive design of prefabrication components to further increase the buildability and constructability of public projects. In addition, I would propose that we add a "Maintainability" score into the BCA scoring system to ensure that maintainable designs and building materials are used to reduce the maintenance cost of public buildings.”
“However, there are some barriers for existing SMEs to move to these new industrial spaces. First, it is costly to move, and secondly, moving office may result in staff turnover, especially if the new workplace is not conveniently located. Thus, I would like to propose to the Finance Minister to consider incentivising promising SMEs to take up the cluster companies' industrial space. Page: 105 Such industrial spaces should be built by JTC and let out to local SMEs under a special industry clustering scheme at affordable rental. Madam, I understand that it is very competitive to attract foreign investments to Singapore. But the types of investment and firms we attract will have a direct impact on the supporting industries in Singapore. Many of our 170,000 local SMEs are capable of providing support to these new investors. But the SMEs need the assistance of EDB or SPRING Singapore to help them market their products and services to these new investors. EDB can also incentivise new investors to support local SMEs. To further nurture quality growth of our firms through quality products and services, EDB and IE Singapore should provide more support to brand the products and services of local firms both locally and overseas. More can be done to promote the "Made in Singapore" brands or the "Excellent Quality" services of local firms. Raising the productivity of the construction industry. Madam, I agree with the Finance Minister that we need to adopt upstream measures to improve construction productivity. But I am concerned about the effectiveness of some of the measures proposed, such as mandating the use of prefabricated volumetric construction and prefabricated toilets.”
“Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Motion. Madam, I support the 2014 Budget to encourage quality growth in the economy and build a fair and equitable society. With rising global competition and a fast-ageing population in Singapore, we must make strategic shifts to develop competitive niches for our economy and companies. At the same time, the changing age and income profile of our population will pose new challenges to our society to remain cohesive, compassionate and resilient. We need to do more to bring the hearts of Singaporeans together so that we can live in peace and harmony. Supporting SMEs. Madam, the Finance Minister highlighted that quality growth will be based on innovation and building deeper capabilities. But there is no mention of the strategic directions or focus areas of Singapore's economy in the next few years. Many businesses, especially SMEs, are looking to the Government to provide strategic guidance as to where our economy is heading. This will help them to invest and build capabilities to seize new business opportunities. Feedback from many SMEs is that they are willing to upgrade their business operations but they need to know the future road map of our economy. Thus, I would suggest to the Finance Minister to organise closed door business dialogue sessions to share his strategic insights of our economy with local firms, especially the SMEs. These sessions can be organised based on industry clusters so that Singapore firms can understand the Government's economic strategy and upgrade their businesses to complement the Government's efforts in strengthening our competitiveness. Madam, I support the creation of new industrial spaces that cluster companies can co-locate and share facilities, such as logistics support and ICT infrastructure.”
“But I am not sure whether the expansion of investigation powers of police officers and authorised officers will resolve the problem. Madam, high-rise littering is usually attributed to two groups of residents, namely: (a) persons with mental illnesses; and (b) persons who are lazy to dispose of rubbish properly at home. Therefore, by obtaining information of the occupiers at the time of the offence, the authorities may identify that the alleged offender is a mentally unsound person. What then can the authorities do to resolve the problem? We need further empowerment of the Police officers and authorised officers to bring such persons for proper medical treatment so as to resolve the root cause of the problem. Thus, I would urge the Minister to consider empowering the Police officers and authorised officers under section 17 to arrest and send such Page: 68 mentally ill persons for medical treatment. As for repeat offenders, I support the increase of penalty to impose a fine not exceeding $20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both. This will provide a strong deterrence to high-rise littering. Madam, to further deter high-rise littering, I would urge the Ministry to consider investing in more technology, such as surveillance camera or DNA identification technologies, to identify offenders, and take strict enforcement action. At the same time, I would urge all residents staying in high-rise buildings to play a more active role to keep watch of these high-rise litterbugs and work closely with the Town Councils or authorities to make our living environment a safe and pleasant place. 4.40 pm”
“As such, I wish to propose to the Minister to consider incorporating Page: 67 essential employment terms and conditions into section 80H (1)(c) as part of the licensing requirements for contract of service. Madam, the job of a cleaner is a tough one in Singapore, and often not appreciated by many people. I would urge the Government and all Singaporeans to do more to recognise the efforts of our tireless cleaners. Madam, each year, the PAP-run Town Councils receive about 2,200 complaints on high-rise littering. About 50% of the high-rise litter includes cigarette butts, food, rubbish, tissue, sanitary pads and so on. The other 50% are killer litter or potential killer litter, such as flower pots, bamboo poles, cages, windows, mops, glass, mattresses and so on. Despite years of public education and enforcement efforts, high-rise littering remains a problem. These ungracious acts cause hygiene problems, and pose safety hazards to the general public. Very often, it takes a lot of effort to resolve the high-rise littering problem as it is difficult to catch the litterbug red-handed. Furthermore, the cleaning of high-rise litter trapped at building ledges, roofs or trees is difficult and costly. The Town Councils and NEA have been working closely to resolve this issue. In some cases, we encounter difficulty in seeking the cooperation of our residents to resolve the high-rise littering problem. Therefore, I support the amendment to section 17 requiring the flat owner or occupier to provide information to the police or authorised officer which may lead to the identification of the alleged offender of high-rise littering. This new provision will deter high-rise littering, and facilitate enforcement efforts.”
“With effect from 1 November 2013, all PAP Town Councils' local cleaners are employed under the Progressive Wage Model salary structure. At the same time, the Town Council cleaning contractors have started investing in the mechanisation of various cleaning operations, such as sweeping, washing, floor scrubbing and so on. Madam, the PAP-run Town Councils fully support the licensing of the cleaning businesses, as stated in section 80A, to regulate and upgrade the cleaning standards and productivity in the cleaning industry. While it is good to regulate cleaning firms, it would be challenging for the Ministry to enforce as there are many small-sized cleaning sub-contractors in the industry. Many of these firms will face difficulties in complying with the licensing requirements, such as sending all their cleaners for training, keeping training records, providing written employment contracts and pay slips. Therefore, the licensing will have immense impact on SME cleaning firms. Madam, I wish to ask the Minister how the Ministry plans to enforce the licensing regime on all cleaning firms, and what measures can be taken to assist SME cleaning firms to fulfil the licensing requirements. Madam, section 80H (1)(c) requires the licensee to enter into a contract of service for each cleaner. As there is no definition of "contract of service" in the Bill, this licensing condition may not protect the rights and welfare of cleaners. For instance, a written contract of service could be just a letter stating the salary and commencement date of work. It may not provide employment terms and conditions, such as annual leave, medical benefits, insurance or termination notice.”