Teo Ser Luck
Singapore
“Mr Chairman, Sir, in the initial days when I set up offices overseas – whether it is China, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta – I used a translator for the local contracts as well as for meetings. Lately, I have been using online platforms, especially in China and also in Malaysia.”
“So, in this day and age, with the world changing really fast, and with social media and information overload, how is the SPF or how is the Ministry going to maintain that public trust and confidence in our Police Force?”
“We have to put in some of these funds, for example, the $300 million additional funds put it into agri-tech, would the agri-tech in future provide a more comparative and affordable pricing for some of what it produces or these technology startups would be able to scale overseas, globally, have a commercial aspect to that.”
“Chairman, I am a heavy user of technology. And when I started on a technology project, I created a first layer of programming and algorithm where the machines started to learn. With more data collected, more and more, the machine gets smarter and it could make intelligent decisions or informed decisions for me.”
“We have tight regulations on financial institutions in their lending platforms and also non-bank lending platforms in regulating them, making sure that they do not go beyond their means to lend out to those that they cannot do the Know Your Customer survey or assess their credit readiness.”
“I believe there are three aspects of transformation that will impact the workers directly. First, the job redesign, change in the process, change in the scope of the job. Second, job shift, the job itself is no longer available and they have to change sectors. Changing sectors also requires a mindset shift.”
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“I will try my best. Sir, sports participation among Singaporeans has increased in recent years. According to our latest figures, one in two Singaporeans participates in sports or exercises at least once a week. In response to Dr Lam Pin Min's query, sports-related fatalities are not captured at the national level as the Registry of Births and Deaths tracks the number of deaths according to the International Classification of Disease, which categorises the cause of death by diseases and certain activities, such as motor accidents, poisoning, suicide, and accidental falls. There have been a total of 24 fatalities at public sports facilities over the last five years. Currently, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) provides safety guidelines to the National Sports Associations and sports event organisers. These guidelines include the provision of first-aiders or paramedics, ambulance services with resuscitators and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), as well as safety briefings for participants. Currently, all SSC Sports and Recreation Centres (SRCs) and the Singapore Sports School are equipped with AEDs. The SSC adheres to strict safety guidelines and practices in the SRCs, such as ensuring that ground staff have undergone training in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED. Fitness instructors in SSC's gyms monitor the performance of users and advise them on proper methods during their training. The instructors pay particular attention to first-time gym users. Safety advisory notices on proper use of equipment are also displayed in prominent areas in the gyms. Our schools follow strict safety guidelines and procedures while conducting physical education, co-curricular activities and other sporting activities.”
“Third, we should look beyond pay to create a compelling package that will make the civil service a choice career, particularly to our young officers. To this end, we need not be too fixated about the salary formula, as there would always be subjectivity with regard to how the formula ought to be determined. Money must not and should not guide the minds and hearts of our office-holders. Let the minds and hearts not be driven by money but by passion. We must be compassionate, feel the pains and sorrows of the needy, and have the political will to make a difference for them. We must create opportunities to help our fellow Singaporeans to succeed. And, as leaders, we must be with our people through thick and thin, be the first to take the heat and the last to claim the credit. To end, I would like to quote, in Mandarin, the words of one blogger and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. I will just combine the quotes together: (In Mandarin): "I hope our leaders will think of the worries of the nation first before they think of the happiness. They should put the interests of the people above the interests of self." (In English): Sir, with that, I support the motion. 2.50 pm”
“" Sir, going forward, with greater competition from the private sector for young talents, we need to ensure that the civil service remains inspiring, allowing our young officers room for creativity, challenging them to take risks, make them feel ownership in whatever they do and, at the same time, we must be able to create a sense of idealism in our young officers with a larger purpose of helping to shape the future of our country, something that cannot be fulfilled in the private sector. One observation which may be useful for consideration in this whole package is a cosmetic observation. We call our top civil servants Administrative Officers. They do policy planning that impacts the lives of many people. But an administrative officer in the private sector with the same designation has a very different role. They handle administrative functions in making sure that office equipment is maintained, the telephones are working, the letters are routed to the right people, and this is just to maintain the office in support of the frontline staff. It is an important job no doubt, but tactical in nature. So should we consider a change in the name for some of the officers to better reflect the strategic impact of that role in the public sector? Sir, I would like to summarise my views on three key points. First, we must understand the need to pay more and to keep and attract talents in the civil service. It is done in the private sector and should be done in the civil service in order for us to attract and retain the brightest people. Second, in pegging the civil service pay to that of the private sector, we need to ensure that we develop a system with the same discipline of the private sector to reward performers and to deal with non-performers.”
“As we know, even with the salary formula, many of the current office-holders left their successful careers and joined the Government at a discount, with no certainty of success. But many other top talents did not make that sacrifice. Sir, are we going to continue to revise upwards the benchmarks every year? I see no need for such revisions, if we use pay as the sole basis of attracting talents. While I support the current proposed increase, my view is that pay should not be the main component to attract and retain talent. We ought to develop a whole package that would make civil service a choice career for our best people. And part of the package in the private sector is to provide a fair leadership, keep the employees constantly motivated and optimally challenged. Similarly, for the civil servants, we must provide a total package to make civil service a choice career where civil servants are given opportunities to stretch themselves, learn new capabilities and develop to their fullest. I met this young officer sometime ago. He told me he had many ideas and papers written but they are all in a drawer. I told him that that was great and asked him, "Why do you not present it to the Minister?" He said, "No. They are not for presentation or to share the ideas now because they are contingency plans, just in case the Minister changes his mind again or his directions.”
“While I agree that the pay of the Administrative Officers has fallen behind and ought to be adjusted, we must be mindful that by increasing the pay of the Administrative Officers, we would likely create a larger income gap between the 230 Administrative Officers and the other 60,000 plus non-Administrative Officers in the civil service. As in any wage disparity, those who are paid lesser might feel dissatisfied, especially if we perceive that they are working just as hard, if not harder than those who are paid more. While we can justify the top dollar we are paying to our top talents, we must ensure that the wage disparity within the civil service does not create an unhealthy tension in the system or demoralise the large segment of the civil service. We need thinkers but we also need doers. Plans are nothing. Planning is everything. You can have the best policy paper written, but there will still be no impact if the implementation is not effective. And this requires different skills sets and they are both as critical. As we seek to build an elite system, we must ensure that we do not end up with an elitist system. The civil service must continue to function as an effective organisation throughout all levels, across all different schemes of services and each and every civil servant must be given the opportunities to shine, to progress according to his capabilities and potential and to be recognised for his contributions. Since we started pegging Ministers' and top civil servants' pay to the private sector in 1994, we should examine if this has indeed been effective in attracting the type of talents that we want.”
“But let us review the broad guidelines and see if it is necessary to place more variables and less fixed component and link it to performance indicators in the areas of responsibilities. And these have to be more specific than GDP. It can be too broad as KPIs need to have direct impact on the actions of the different functions that will positively affect the GDP. At the same time, as we peg the civil service pay to the private sector, we should instil the same discipline of the private sector in the civil service. The private sector takes actions swiftly on performers and non-peformers. While top performers are rewarded handsomely, the non-performers are quickly dealt with. In market jargons, we call that "heads will roll or you get the chop". This is important to send a clear message of what is needed to be done with a sense of urgency. Similarly, we should review our system of assessment to identify performers and non-performers so that the system of reward and incentive will be more closely aligned to that of the private sector. If we can link performance to economic output, as many Members have mentioned, ability to be cost-efficient, reducing Government's spending but maintaining the same level of activities or with the same level of impact, innovation, creativity, efficiency and effectiveness of systems and policies implemented, I believe that the Government should start placing more emphasis on quantifying targets and measuring an officer's performance more closely according to clear and measurable objectives because you cannot manage or control something that you cannot measure.”
“The revenue centre is the frontline staff who bring in the business, the sales department for the company, while the cost centre is the back-end staff - operations, logistics, accounting - that provide support for the revenue centre. The frontline revenue generating staff usually have a lower fixed base, higher variable pay component pegged to the amount of business it generates for the company when it meets the targets. The back-end staff, on the other hand, usually have a higher base pay, lower variable component and, taken together, the frontline staff usually get paid more than the back-end staff when the targets are met and the company prospers. However, there are also underperforming ones and they get even lesser and they also face termination in double quick time. So, at times, when I was in the private sector, I did get cold sweat because you woke up in the morning and you worried whether your numbers met the targets or not, or whether your competitors were doing something that was different that would pose a threat to your business. So which market pay should the civil servants be pegged to - revenue, cost or P&L centre? Or should the civil servants in different Government agencies and departments have different benchmarks like in the private sector, considering that the Government would also have its own P&L centre? Should economic promotion agencies, such as the EDB, that attract foreign investments into Singapore be paid higher variable components like the sales department in a private sector? The formula to derive the benchmark is currently complicated enough for most people. So I do not really see the need to over-engineer it any further.”
“So, to many, the social responsibilities of a job in the Government may not be as attractive enough now to outweigh the generous private sector offers, and this is the current situation that we have to accept. It is not easy to find someone with a three-in-one - the ability, the mind, the heart - all rolled into one. It is even more challenging to expect them to come in at a discount. So it is not an everyday sale like in a shopping centre. We have to continue to try to find these good people with a unique compassion. But then we must also be ready to pay. Having said that, I think the debate should be on how we peg the civil service pay to that of the private sector. How should the public sector pay public servants competitive salaries? I agree that not all top civil servants will make it to the top tier of the private sector and vice versa. But the top talents are leaving for the private sector, so it is reasonable to peg to the level that the private sector pays. Many of my parliamentary colleagues have already spoken about the benchmark and formula, and I would say that the formula has caused many on the ground quite confused. But I would just like to put it simply that we should just pay what is needed to retain and check the talents. Therefore, the real issue here is if we pay a market value, would the public sector talents be able to function at the same pace, undertake the same risks and generate the same output as the private sector talents? A company is essentially a profit and cost centre or, what we call, a P&L centre, comprising revenue and cost, headed by a Chief Executive or General Manager.”
“And most of my parliamentary colleagues have already brought up many points, and I will re-emphasise some of them. I face these difficult issues as well when I was in the private sector, that is, how much do we pay a person, how much is the talent worth, what is the job's worth. While we may argue exactly how much we should pay a person, one thing that is clear in the private sector is that we pay top dollar for talent as well. The logic is simple. It will cost the company much more to replace the top talent than to pay more to retain him. Not only would we lose the experience of this talent, we incur cost on time and training for the new replacement. Any company that values its talent will make the sound business decision to pay market value. In the same way that the private sector pays well to keep its talent, I agree that the Government should pay top dollar to attract and retain our fair share of top talent in our civil service. The stakes are high. There are many companies but only one government, and the Government is dealing with the whole country of four million population in Singapore. So the business of Government must not fail. We need the best to run the country. Since 1994, this benchmark has been implemented. I suppose the Government understands that today, the public sector has to compete with the private sector for talent and the public sector job is just another option in the job market. Let me quote Mr Philip Yeo who said recently that the value system for his generation was strong and that would mean times had changed, and so had the value system. I am not questioning the moral obligation of the younger generation, because there are certainly more options now and more distractions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I declare my interest as an office holder in the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. First, I would like to respond to Mr Low Thia Khiang's points that were raised yesterday in Mandarin. (In Mandarin ):[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A* . ] Sir, Mr Low mentioned yesterday during the debate about the living standards and civil servants' salaries of various countries such as Denmark, Switzerland and Finland, and he has compared them with Singapore. Let me use Denmark as an example to make a simple comparison. The taxes in Denmark are about 43% to 63%, whereas the top income earners in Singapore pay 20%. The GST in Denmark is 25%, but in Singapore our GST is 5% which will be increased to 7%. Their unemployment rate is about 3% to 5% and the figure for Singapore is less than 3%. This is a country that emphasises strongly on social welfare. So, they levy very high taxes on their people. If the unemployment rate is high, it will lead to job insecurity, and thus many people will need social welfare to help them. In the long run, it is not sustainable and it is a burden on the people. Can we accept this? After a generation of hard work, our society has been elevated from a Third World society to a first class society. To achieve this, it requires tremendous effort and wisdom. Therefore, if we use these countries as comparison, because of the difference in background, it is like comparing two different companies that are selling different products. Likewise, it is difficult to compare the salaries for the political leaders in Singapore with those in European countries. So, such comparison is unfair and inappropriate. *Cols. 363-364. (In English): Sir, the issue of pay has always been an emotive one.”
“I am very heartened to know that the Safe Cycling Task Force recommendations are being considered today. I would like to be very specific about whether they would consider closure of certain roads that are under-utilised, maybe at the community level, on a Sunday morning for leisure and sports cyclists, or just allow cyclists to cycle along on some of those roads and give the ownership to the people sector to be able to manage the space there every Sunday morning for two or three hours. That would not necessarily have to be an event. It could be an event, but it may not necessarily have to be. So I would like to ask the Ministry whether they would consider that request.”
“Not too long ago, I received an email comparing the lighter sentence given to an offence for drink driving and getting a cyclist killed than one for sexual act. The writer expressed concern about the wrong message sent out and, more importantly, cyclists' safety on the road. Since then the writer and cycling committee came together under the banner of "Safe Cycling Task Force". They have not stopped pedalling since and had discussions and meetings within the committee and the authorities. They knew that big bangs, such as asking for bike lanes, would not happen here for a while and chose to pedal slowly, hoping for progressive changes. I encourage them, "Keep pedalling and don't apply the brakes, and to pedal at the speed that the authorities could keep up." So they proposed for more road signs for cyclists, closure of roads and more public education. But they seem to be pedalling on the same spot because there are not many changes on the road today. May I know if the Ministry could update on the measures that they have proposed and the timeline for implementation? Closure of Causeway to Heavy Vehicles”
“The funding allocation is based on three pillars and we have repeated that many times, and I will repeat that again - sports excellence, high participation and sports industry. When a fund is disbursed, we need to look at the long-term plan of what the NSA is trying to achieve for its athletes. So whatever you are trying to achieve in training, and achievements, it must be supported, of course, by the facilities and all that you need to build the infrastructure for that achievement or training. So the fund is disbursed according to your needs and, of course, as he knows, there is a limitation of resources. So most of the time, we are unable to give 100% of what you ask for. But that is exactly why in my speech, I emphasised the fact that the Sports Council and the Ministry will, together with NSAs, as a consolidated effort, look at additional funding from the private sector, and we can have the private sector involved as well. So it is a 3P partnership. Let us say, in the case of volley ball, if you are looking for additional facilities for beach volley ball, then, of course, the beach is there but you probably need to demarcate it for competition. What do you need in order to do that? What exactly are you trying to achieve from there? Are you organising an international event? And if you are organising an international event, say, for beach volley ball, and you need to upgrade the sand regardless of whether there is a sand ban or not, that will be by project and the funding can be considered to be given out on a project basis. So it could be a long-term plan, it could be a short-term plan, based on the needs of the sports and the association. 2.30 pm”
“Sir, I have mentioned in my answer that there are many courses - language, singing the National Anthem, even equipping them with life-long skills. It was originally left to the NSAs to execute the integration plan. But I agree that some small and big NSAs need more help. They are going to have more foreign talents to raise the competition level for our local athletes. So the SSC will have to play a more active role for those that are not school-based, whether in the Sports School or foreign athletes, and we have to plan more structured programmes for the NSAs along with SSC and MCYS to integrate these athletes, and we have to add value to that process.”
“Sir, may I ask the Member to repeat his question?”
“I think that sense of identity and belonging is still there. But at this point in time, she probably believes that she can put her sporting career aside and make sure she spends time with her family, which MCYS is promoting as well. So I cannot say that that is not a good decision. But we welcome her back and we really would like her to represent Singapore again for the right competition and to play internationally. Sir, on the central counselling resource centre, I like the idea and we should explore it further, so as to help NSAs. I also believe that some smaller NSAs promoting very good sports may or may not have the type of support that they need. Maybe for volley ball, they could grow commercially - beach volley ball or gymnastics. There are a couple of good gymnasts and they can grow them. Maybe they need some support at the different pillars of the sport - Sports Excellence, High Sports Participation and Sports Industry. Yes, this is something to consider. We should take this back and maybe in time to come, we could set up a task force and include the people, private sector and all of us, and I hope Mrs Jessie Phua will also volunteer her efforts in this.”
“Sir, first, the point about fairness to local and foreign athletes. We believe that in the policies and the implementation today, there is fairness across the board. Of course, if there are specific cases, I will encourage Mrs Jessie Phua to highlight them to me, so that I can look into them. What is important about local and foreign athletes is that when foreign athletes come in, yes, most of the time they live with the little income that probably the NSAs disburse to them through the funding. They train full-time. Local athletes can do the same but sometimes they face family pressure as they have to balance their studies as well. They do not want to give up what they already have. But we already see that, through the Olympic project, there are some who have already put aside their studies or even their work to do full-time training. So, if there are specific cases, I would rather look into them and review them with the Member, and see what are the things that we can do. But we want to make sure that at the implementation and working level, there is fairness across the board for all local and foreign athletes, and they compete on a level playing field with no disadvantage. The Member mentioned about Zhang Xue Ling leaving. I read the report and I was also very saddened by that news, because she is one of our top players. But I have come to understand that she left for a good reason. She wants to spend more time with her family. Her husband left for Shanghai and she wants to be close to the family. So she left Singapore for Shanghai. What is more heartening is that she mentioned that if we needed her, she would be back. She will still play for Singapore because she is a Singaporean, and she came from this system here.”
“Sir, Mr Palmer's first question is whether SDSC will take care of the intellectually disabled athletes. SDSC spearheads all disabled athletes of different levels of disabilities, whether it is intellectual or physical. Within the intellectual disabilities, the Olympics for them is called Special Olympics, to include all disabilities and to encourage participation. For the elite level disabled athletes, they are called the Paralympics, and that would also be included if we are going to focus on Olympic glory. We have already started Project 0812, and the ball is rolling. We have been in discussion with different stakeholders on how we could include the disabled athletes. We have set up the Sporting Culture Committee, as Members know. One of the sub-groups is called Glory for the Nation. Glory for the Nation helps athletes to achieve higher sporting glory, and that includes the Olympics. Project 0812, for the long term, will be roped into Glory for the Nation taskforce or committee. And we intend to include the disabled athletes under this banner, which is Glory for the Nation. A point to note is that if we talk to disabled athletes, they want to achieve the highest sporting glory, and they want to be able to be rewarded. But if we ask them, "What is your first priority?" they would tell you, "Accessibility and to be able to participate in sports as a life-long pursuit", and also to balance that with their daily lives. So, if you ask me, where should the investment be put in, I would rather that the investment be put into the infrastructure for these disabled athletes.”
“Sir, it is important for the NSAs to achieve a certain charity status, because we want to see them to be self-reliant on fund raising efforts, so that there is no over reliance on Government funding. And we have to talk about accepting the other pillars of sports, which is Sports Excellence, Sports Industry along with Sports for All activities. Today, we are working with the different agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, and we hope to be able to come up with some developments in the next three months. Perhaps the Member would want to ask me again about the status in the next three months.”
“Sir, we have ambitious aspirations for our youth and for sports in Singapore. We want to enable our youth to be self-reliant and that, in tough times, they would be resilient, independent and have the strength to face the challenges. They must have a sense of belonging and identity to contribute to Singapore. For sports, we need to have a sporting culture that would build a healthy and active society, create a chance for the talented to achieve the highest sporting glory and bond the nation together. This is borne not just from a desire to have our young people and a strong sporting culture bring life and dynamism to Singapore. This is also anchored in the belief that, as Singaporeans, we can achieve something beyond the familiar. We can overcome the challenges, we dare to take risks and we would never give up and always be the best that we can be. My Ministry and all our partners will continue to work alongside our people for a brighter and more exciting future that is built on the full potential of all Singaporeans. Counselling for Gamblers”
“This is just a first step towards a more ambitious effort to develop a national network of strategic partners between the tertiary institutions, foreign universities, research outfits and private providers. The aim is to position Singapore as the SMSS hub for the region, catering to elite athletes or even weekend warriors like many of us. It is important to note that this sector would help bring sports performance to the next level. Because, as Members can see, many athletes of Asian countries are also not restricted by their physique and win at international and Olympic levels, and sports science is the way to go. The work of the Committee is still ongoing and we are working towards completing the final report by the middle of the year. Just this week, I met several guests from Finland. In Finland, they have a population of 5.3 million, but they have 7,800 sports clubs. We have a population of 4 million, but we have nearly 1,000 sports clubs. I hope the work of the Committee will bring us closer to the vibrant sports scene like in Finland. In parallel with our sports participation and excellence thrusts, we are now developing our sports industry. As part of our manpower development plans, we have rolled out a new Undergraduate Sports Scholarship Programme. We target to award two overseas and two local undergraduate scholarships each year. Tenable for studies in sports-related and other disciplines, these scholarships will raise the profile of sports-related careers or sportsmen who can be effective and can be leaders in any field, and also help to attract top-tier talent into management and leadership careers within the Ministries or agencies. I hope to see major companies - sports or non-sports related - to come forward and co-sponsor the scholarships with SSC.”
“Currently, through MOE's Physical Education (PE) Curriculum, and a good example that was brought up of Sengkang Primary having PE everyday, all students acquire the knowledge and skills to play a variety of games from primary to pre-university levels. We will continue to build on this by working with MOE to roll out the Sports Education Programme (SEP) to the schools, whereby students would have opportunities to try out more sports, even at the non-competitive level. So even if they cannot represent their school at competition level, we must allow them the chance to play any sports in school and continue with that passion. The Committee has also highlighted the need to remove physical barriers or obstacles that may discourage participation. To address this point, we will be ramping up our efforts to improve the accessibility to sports facilities. Currently, there are 50 school fields opened up for booking by members of the public. By the end of this year, we will open up another 70 fields making a total of 120 schools open for the public. I urge all advisors here to talk to the schools in their area to also open up the fields for their community and enrol in this programme. Many good recommendations came up, eg, to have regional integrated sports hubs all around Singapore, and not just at Kallang. I think the details would need to be worked out. The Committee will also look to provide enhanced support for top-tier athletes. One area of focus is Sports Medicine and Sports Science (SMSS). SSC recently announced its collaboration with the Changi General Hospital, to integrate their SMSS services.”
“My Ministry acknowledges her point that all three pillars - Sports for All, Sports Excellence and Sports Industry - are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. We are in discussions with other relevant agencies on whether we can collectively recognise these other sporting limbs for charitable purposes. Mrs Jessie Phua also talked about the financial strain on NSAs having to pay for their land leases. The Singapore Land Authority currently leases land directly to SSC at sports and recreation rates, which are generally lower than commercial rates. SSC, in turn, leases the land to NSAs at subsidised rates as part of its overall outcome-based approach to support NSAs. Mrs Phua has used the analogy, "left pocket, right pocket" to describe this arrangement. The principle behind this is to instil discipline on land usage. Regarding her suggestion on providing incentives to encourage the private sector to provide sports facilities, we will study it with other relevant agencies, and we will see how this can be done in a manner without distorting the market. MCYS recently set up a Sporting Culture Committee involving members from the people, private and public sectors. I thank Ms Jessica Tan for her passion about sports, as she moved her cut yesterday. She will be pleased to note that the Committee will look at sports from the "culture" angle, ie, injecting a strong sporting identity into our people so that we can all live and breathe sports. The Committee has met several times and consulted the sporting fraternity. Many key ideas and recommendations came up. One key idea is to provide more opportunities for each child to learn a few sporting skills in school life and make sports a life-long pursuit.”
“30 pm As for resources for NSAs, last week, Mrs Jessie Phua commented that sports appeared to have been sidelined from this year's Budget package. I would like to reassure her that my Ministry and SSC will continue to fully support the sports sector, particularly the NSAs. In fact, direct grants for NSAs have gone up from $31.1 million for FY2006 to $31.9 million for FY2007. I like Mrs Phua's idea of introducing a Sports Marketing group because you build on the Sports Business network. I believe SSC can facilitate this process where NSAs would have a chance to work on a strategy with the private sector to secure more sponsorship dollars. This is one way in which we can strengthen our value add to the NSAs and help them develop some level of self-sustainability. With all working hand in hand, there would be better opportunity, so that it would not be just a banker giving out grants but a facilitator - someone who goes out there to help the community to come together. And that should address some of Ms Jessica Tan's concerns about the lack of funds and sponsorship. Mrs Jessie Phua has also expressed some concern about whether sports can enjoy tax incentives. Currently, any group or association that is not operating for profit and is engaged in the promotion of sports can apply for the Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status. This would include the NSAs. This incentivises the public and corporations to donate to sports causes, as the donors can obtain double tax deductions for their donations. To date, a total of 27 NSAs and 10 other sports groups have been accorded IPC status. For institutions to register as charities, they must be set up to benefit the community. As Mrs Phua rightly pointed out, these would include Sports for All activities.”
“As pointed out by Mr Ang, this is a lot more cost-effective and, at the same time, students at the Sports School can compete against national athletes, and thus competency standards can be raised. On a national level, this is a win-win situation for both the National Sports Associations and the Singapore Sports School. Moving forward, the Singapore Sports School will cooperate with more foreign sports associations and encourage them to come for training at our Sports School. In this regard, I hope that advisers and leaders from various sports associations can work hand in hand with the Sports School. Having said that, I am relieved to hear that Mr Ang is looking forward to see our athletes achieve better results, and move up the ranks, just like pop songs moving up the music chart. However, this is not a pop song. Of course, I also hope that our sports performance will move up in rank, just like Stephanie Sun's songs slowly moving to the top of the chart. However, this may require years in training and managing but, nonetheless, we will work hard towards this goal. (In English ): Sir, to help promote sports' mindshare amongst the wider *Cols. 3635-3636. population, we are developing our own marquee sports events. A good example is the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. Since it began in 2002, it has grown in scale and appeal, with participation climbing steadily from 6,225 runners in 2002 - and I was one of them - to over 31,000 runners last year, and I was one of them. By 2010, we will grow the Marathon to accommodate 50,000 runners. Is it not great to see the whole road flooded with runners early on a Sunday morning? 12.”
“After training, studying and living with her local peers for over a year - I personally spoke to her - whether for good or for bad, she learns Singlish. For that, I think she is totally entrenched into our local culture, and you cannot tell her apart from her peers now. We adopt three principles in foreign-born athletes policy - openness to global talent, fairness in treatment between local and foreign-born athletes, and integration into our way of life. The NSAs have a role to play to ensure that the integration plans are in place. That would include home-stays with locals, visits to cultural and historical sites, language classes and even learning how to sing our National Anthem. More importantly, some NSAs have gone beyond to equip them with the life-skills, so as to prepare them for a career after sports. That could be coaching or administrative skills. I am sure Mrs Jessie Phua will agree with me on the logic behind providing this support to foreign-born athletes. Going forward, I will ask the Singapore Sports Council to play a more active role to help NSAs to manage this integration process. I will now address Mr Ang Mong Seng's questions in Mandarin since he has asked them in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Mr Ang Mong Seng has earlier asked MCYS to consider whether or not it will allow more sports teams to train at the Sports School. The Sports School welcomes all National Sports Associations to attend training at the Sports School so that they can make full use of the wide range of facilities, including training venues, hostels and residential facilities, canteens and even supportive services such as sports science and sports medicine, etc.”
“He would be glad to note that the funding has increased for them. Disabled athletes can also tap on the current schemes in the Singapore Sports Council, such as Athletes Career and Training programme, or ACT in short, and the Programme for Elite Athletes Career (PEAC). Take, for example, our swimmer, Theresa Goh. She has been a beneficiary of ACT since 2004 and is now on PEAC where she is based at Standard Chartered Bank. She works and trains at the same time. And with a detailed plan that was mapped out by SDSC, with her coach, Mr Ang Peng Siong, Theresa, while she is working, is now training for the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. At the recreational level, the SDSC has also started a Learn-To-Play programme which will help to promote inclusiveness, tap on sports, even as a form of rehabilitation. Taking into account the recommendations in the Enabling Masterplan, we will look into ways to strengthen SDSC's outreach and capabilities to spearhead disability sports. Mr Palmer will also be pleased to note the developments over at the Singapore Sports School. If he has read the papers, it was featured that swimmer Khristine Quek enrolled to be its first disabled student in the Sports School. So the disabled and disabled athletes should get a chance to participate in sports and excel in them if they could. That will be our objective. The Sports School is also an ideal "hothousing" environment for integration of our foreign-born athletes, an issue raised by Mr Seah Kian Peng. When Tao Li, our Asian Games gold medalist, first joined the Sports School, she found it hard to communicate with her schoolmates, whether in Mandarin or English.”
“We will continue to work hard and work with the people and private sector to take in feedback from the practitioners on the ground. This will help us refine our programmes and help these at-risk youth to build a positive self-image and build a better future for themselves. Let me now touch on sports. It is something close to my heart. Following the recommendations of the Committee on Sporting Singapore in 2001, chaired by Mr Speaker when he was the Minister, it led to a major infusion of resources into the local sports scene. So far, we have set up the Sports School, launched the Sports Hub project and there is enhancement to the support for athletes and NSAs. We have also developed a calendar of marquee events, investing in programmes to promote mass participation. According to our latest figures, one in two Singaporeans participate in sports or exercise at least once a week. At the elite and international sports performance level, national athletes have done us proud. They won a record of 139 medals at the SEA Games (42 of those are golds), 18 medals at the Commonwealth Games (five of them are golds), and, of course, you will know, 27 medals at the Asian Games (8 of them are gold medals). But we must continue to build on that and we will build on the foundation that has brought us both success in sports excellence, sports for all and glory for the nation. I would like to assure Mr Michael Palmer that our efforts will also extend to the disabled athletes and the disabled. My Ministry and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) currently provide support and funding to the Singapore Disability Sports Council, or SDSC in short, as the national agency that champions sports for all forms of disability, at both elite and recreational levels.”
“MCYS works with the VWOs to provide guidance to these youth, and to ensure that they find meaningful engagement in employment, alternative education or skills training. For the first time, staff from the VWOs would be invited to sit in the exit interviews before students formally leave the school, so as to facilitate proper follow-through for these students. Besides Youth Link, MCYS also funds the Learning Centre Programme which supports OSY by providing alternative education centres for out-of-school youth. For example, one such beneficiary is Farid. His difficult family circumstances caused him to lose interest in school, and he dropped out of school and ran into trouble with the law. He was finally placed in this Max Out Programme offered by Yayasan MENDAKI. It is an OSY programme co-funded by MCYS. He started to ace his subjects and he passed his N-levels with good results and he is now sitting for his O-levels. These are inspiring stories that tell us that we must give these young people a second chance, so that they have a chance to succeed in their lives. For youth who are completing their rehabilitation programme in the children's home or juvenile institutions, re-entering the community can be very daunting. Hence, Podz Youth Mentoring programme was started last November with four social service agencies. These agencies run a mentorship programme that begins during the youth's stay in the institutions and continues after that for up to six months after they have been discharged. By the end of this year, MCYS aims to have 300 youth attached to this programme and to the mentors. Our system may be comprehensive in coverage but it is definitely not perfect.”
“One example is the Young ChangeMakers scheme, which gives out seed funding to youth to run local community projects, and it can be any projects; they come forward, we will support and fund them. I am pleased to announce that Nike Singapore has partnered with Young ChangeMakers to set up a grant to support sports-related youth community projects. So, any young person within the organisation or your area who would like to organise, say, a soccer game for the handicapped or the underprivileged children, or set up a clinic to teach a new sports, this programme will help fund it and help support them. More importantly, this taps on the strengths of the different sectors, creating a win-win partnership and a long-term engagement. Dr Maliki and Ms Ellen Lee also asked about our plans to reach out to at-risk youth and out-of-school youth. We recognise that the work with at-risk youth and out-of-school youth cannot be undertaken by any one Ministry. It has to be inter-agency, inter-Ministry. The National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation, or NYGR in short, coordinates these multi-agency efforts in this area. Working with the NYGR, MCYS adopts a three-fold approach. First, prevention and guidance. Second, detection and enforcement. Third, rehabilitation and restoration. For students who are still in school, STEP-UP is a programme that funds VWOs to provide school social work services to students. It focuses on students at risk of dropping out or becoming potential delinquents. MCYS has increased the funding provided to STEP-UP and as of January 2007, the number of schools on STEP-UP has increased to 152, nearly 40% more than the 109 participating schools in 2006. For out-of-school youth or OSY, Youth Link is a new scheme that provides support and outreach to them.”
“But for the working youth in this group, NVPC still promotes volunteerism through corporate employee volunteering programmes, such as the new ComCare Connection initiative. This initiative matches corporations with suitable VWOs that help needy Singaporeans. We must bear in mind that their priorities lie with starting a family, raising their children and building their careers. But I assure you that my Ministry will look into engaging these young adults, because they are the heart of our nation, and we want to tailor the volunteering opportunities that would take into account their needs and priorities. In the meantime, we continue to engage volunteerism through our Youth Expedition Project, or YEP, or our Young ChangeMakers (YCM) programme. YEP is open to youth aged 15 to 35 years old and provides funding and advisory support for youth to volunteer overseas. About more than 11,000 youth have already participated in YEP and the older youth volunteer in the programme in the capacity of team leaders, leading the younger youth in these overseas expeditions. YEP also helps our young people to better appreciate what they have in Singapore when they are exposed to the harsher realities of life faced by the people they help overseas. This also contributes towards a stronger national identity, as mentioned by Mr Sin Boon Ann, as our youth now better understand the values that have contributed to our success as a country. In order to have a more effective outreach and better programmes, it is necessary to have a 3P approach between the private, public and people sectors. Dr Maliki would be pleased to note that we will continue to build on these programmes based on these principles. We are working with private sector organisations to enhance our youth initiatives.”
“They also voted for their favourite design, and there were about 5,000 youth who cast their votes for 39 designs. The winning design was among the top three favourites chosen by them. We are very heartened by Mr Zaqy Mohamad's praise of *scape as an interesting city youth venue and note his call for similar developments in the heartlands. I think it is worth consideration, and I believe many of us would remember the days that we played at the void decks. I honed my soccer and table tennis skills at the void deck. Those were our spaces in the past. So we will be prepared to consider developing more facilities like *scape elsewhere but, first, we need to develop this *scape at Orchard Road and pick up the relevant lessons from that experience before we do an effective job at the community level. However, we are also developing an international standard Skatepark at East Coast Park. The concept design, which was developed with our local extreme sports gurus and enthusiasts, is now ready. Members of the House who do inline skating, this will be the place for you. I know that Prof. Jayakumar is a great inline skater. I have told him and he is all excited, so I cannot wait to see him skate there. 12.15 pm Dr Muhammad Faishal enquired about the trend of youth volunteerism and, in particular, about how the youth from 25 to 35 years have been engaged. Based on the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre's (NVPC) biennial survey on volunteerism, the volunteerism rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years old has risen from 17% in 2002 to 28% in 2006. The volunteerism rate for older youth, however, does not show a clear trend, and this is the age group of 25 to 34 years old. It fluctuates within a range of 11% to 15% between 2002 and 2006.”
“Besides platforms for them to have their views expressed on paper or the Internet, they can also talk to our leaders directly. We have feedback and consultation platforms, such as the Community Outreach Group Dialogues, spearheaded by some of the younger Members of the House and also the Prime Minister's Dialogue which provides opportunities for youth to air their views on national issues and share their aspirations. These programmes complement National Education, and I am glad that MOS Lui Tuck Yew mentioned that there would be increasing emphasis on National Education in schools. This will help our youth to develop what Mr Sin Boon Ann refers to as a strong sense of national identity, and re-affirm their commitment to Singapore. It is not easy but we must try. We must give them a sense of ownership and a chance to participate in school through National Education and outside of school through the programmes set up by MCYS, so that we give them the experience that they will remember and reach deep down in their hearts, they can get that sense of identity that they are Singaporeans and they are for Singapore. Globalisation may take them all over the world, whether for work or studies, but we know that, if they have that influential experience and they remember that experience deep down in their hearts, ultimately, they would come back home. So MCYS wants to develop more spaces to cater to our young people. They provide a common space for them to congregate, share experiences and engage in constructive activities. I would like to highlight our *scape project which is well publicised. It is a national youth community space under development in Orchard Road today. This project is conceived by our youth and they set the specifications for this space.”
“I think I am going to have more than 30 seconds, so I can speak slower. Sir, MCYS' vision is to nurture inspired and committed youth who will make a positive difference to the country. I am glad Mr Sin Boon Ann asked how we can connect with the youth and ensure a deep-rooted sense of their identity as Singaporeans. We have done a lot of work, set up many programmes. We want to give the youth a say in issues that matter to them, a stake and ownership in the long-term well-being of the community, and support to achieve their hopes and dreams and whatever they want to undertake, especially for our at-risk youth. My Ministry has spent the last year consolidating and expanding our youth programmes. These youth programmes can be broadly categorised into three different areas: (1) Youth expression; (2) Youth spaces; and (3) Encouraging youth volunteerism. This is in keeping with the spirit of our approach, and all of these programmes are youth-led and youth-driven. We do not believe in a top-down prescriptive approach. It is best to let the youth do the things that they are passionate about. For youth expression, one of the key initiatives is our SHINE Youth Festival in July, which is a platform for all our young people to organise events showcasing their talents and their contributions to the community. I am glad to say that SHINE surpassed its previous year's performance to reach a total of 180,000 youth over 117 events. We are also present in the new and mainstream media. For the new media, we have created platforms for youth expressions that include Youth.SG, an Internet portal, which is run by youth for youth. The Straits Times' YouthInk pages, run every Monday, has featured more than 200 youth writers to date. Not only that.”
“Sir, we have seen many good projects out of National Education. But my concern is whether the students are taking just another subject and only learning to work together on a project, being creative and honing their presentation skills and then lose the larger value of what National Education is all about. I would like to ask the Ministry whether they have a system to measure the effectiveness of National Education since its implementation in 1997. RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew: Sir, National Education, like character development, these are not easy things to measure. Surveys - we do them quite regularly - only show certain aspects of the NE outcomes. For character in NE, we do measure the processes that the school takes, but that is yet only another specific indicator, not necessarily giving us a comprehensive picture of how hearts have been touched and how behaviours are going to be changed. But they are indicators that we also look at. For example, after we dropped this requirement for eight hours' CIP in the junior colleges, what we have found out is that over 99% of the students are still active in CIP. About half of the junior colleges have more than 60% of their students taking greater ownership of such learning through their own student-initiated CIP projects. Those are encouraging signs. For us, measurement is difficult because sometimes the changes in behaviour may very well take many years before we see them in their entirety, before they are fully manifested. But what we are really looking for are activities that are meaningful and will allow our students to fully contribute, participate and give back something to society and, in doing so, if they were to see the value of what they do, then I think we are moving in the right direction.”
“We have also found ways to recognise the strengths of the schools in other areas like aesthetics, character development, sports and physical health, staff development, so on. And together with the academic ranking of the schools, which incidentally now also includes academic value-add that we look at, I think we will give the community a more comprehensive depiction of the strengths of the schools and what each school is doing to, in a sense, develop its own niches of excellence.”
“In secondary schools, what happens is that an Normal (Academic) student would be able to offer up to two "O" level subjects in the fourth year and then move on to the fifth year to take the rest of his subjects at the "O" levels. We have also encouraged schools to identify students who are particularly strong and allow them to skip the "N" levels altogether, and they move straight into the "O' levels and take that after five years in the school system. For the "Normal" type, we have done essentially the same thing by allowing them the possibility and the space to take up to two subjects at the end of the Normal (Academic) level. What we have also done is actually to allow schools the flexibility to transfer students across streams from Normal (Academic) to Express stream as well as from Normal (Technical) to the Normal (Academic) stream. That is what is taking place so far. We will look further to see whether there is more scope for us to move more in this direction. Mr Teo's other point is whether we have a system where we allow the strengths and skills beyond the academic fields to be recognised. Let me cover that in two aspects. First, at the systemic level. We have refined aspects of the system which tend to throw the spotlight primarily on academic performance. What we have done over the years is that we have blurred the precision of the ranking system where schools are placed in their absolute position and we have replaced it with school banding, recognising that there is little benefit to do a comparison of schools based on very minute differences in academic performance. But we have gone beyond that.”
“I am very happy to know that we are taking a balanced approach towards education which is more than just academic. Looking at the CCAs, we are encouraging more of our students to take up CCAs. But my question is with regard to the streaming system. We are streaming the students according to their academic results. Is it time to review the whole streaming system again and see how we can evaluate the students not just based purely on academic results? Can the Ministry let us know whether there is going to be a review of the streaming system or the setting up of a different set of criteria? RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew: Mr Teo covered two different areas and I will try and answer both. One is on streaming and what we are doing about streaming, and the other area is really how do we look at attributes, talents and skills beyond academic qualifications. I think, if I am not wrong, that is really the thrust of his question and clarification. For streaming, the philosophy is this - and that is what we have been adopting recently - we should try and maximise the strengths of each individual. So, even if we have streamed somebody into the EM3 stream, if I use the primary school system as an example, he or she may not be uniformally weak in all the subjects. Indeed, that was the reason why we moved into subject-based banding for primary schools and we did away with streaming. Recognising that an individual could be strong in the mother tongue and Mathematics, we take that at the standard level; and weak in Science and English, we take that at the foundational level. We have adopted the same philosophy for secondary schools but we have not done away with streaming.”
“My younger daughter goes to pre-school. Recently, we sent her to a different kindergarten. Like many young parents, I could tell the difference in the curriculum, but I cannot assess the quality. We have one of the best education systems, but I am not sure the same can be said of our pre-school education. I would like to ask how would the Ministry ensure the quality of pre-school education, and would the Ministry consider a standardised system of approach for pre-school education?”
“I mentioned about Hong Kong having China as a mass market that backs them up so that they gain a competitive advantage. ASEAN as a whole should be more integrated and work more closely on various fronts to tap on the opportunities and face the threats of competition. Would the Ministry share what are the plans ahead for Singapore in both social and economic aspects within ASEAN? And what is the strategy in positioning Singapore and ASEAN in the new world for the years ahead?”
“Sir, for Singapore to be a buzzing and exciting first world city we need to explore different forms of events and entertainment and that should be internationally based. But if we are overly focused on ROIs, we may have missed out on great opportunities. Many a time, it is not the event itself but the pre and post event activities that will bring benefit and that may be hard to measure. I get shivers down my spine when proposals by people from the private sector get turned down or received a lukewarm response because the returns forecast do not meet the target set. We are not experts and should let them take the lead. If we keep repeating ourselves to ask the people to help themselves so that we can help them, let us show it by giving more support and let us not discourage them. If not, I feel we are going to miss another great opportunity like F1. Now that we have a second chance to give F1 a shot, would the Ministry update us on the progress of the F1 event to be held here? And is the Ministry willing to look at the long-term strategic impact of such events, taking calculated risk, than to look at short-term gains, and what are the criteria for selection?”
“Rental flats are heavily subsidised and I agree we should leave it for those who are really in need. But with the increasing demand for rental flats and to avoid people trying to stay outdoors, will the Ministry actually consider a multi-tier approach for rental flats like offering rental flats at different rates based on the income affordability so that the rental flats can be made available to more potential residents that may lose possession of their flats?”
“It is about the Arts School. I had the chance to visit the Philippines' Arts School and the curriculum is the academic curriculum, which revolves around the arts curriculum. So the arts take centre stage. Is that the direction that the Arts School will take in Singapore as well? The second question is: what is the entry requirement for the Arts School? Are we going to focus on the academic results which means that they have to be from the Express stream? If they are from the Normal stream and if they are not doing too well academically, would they have a chance to enter the Arts School, even if they have the passion for the arts?”
“Singapore produced Stephanie Sun and Lin Jun Jie. They were famous overseas before becoming popular in Singapore, and Singapore Idols and other programmes have also produced many talented artistes but they seem to fade away just focusing on the local markets. We need Stefanie Sun and Jun Jie. But if we are a hub for many other services and sectors, are there any plans to grow the local market into a hub to attract talents as well as help the local talents provide opportunity and reverse the process to fame for these local artists?”
“Sir, I am glad to know that there is some public education for the cyclists on road safety and how they should cycle safely on the road. But many a time, cyclists are the vulnerable lot on the road and vehicle owners are the ones that are causing the danger to them. If, let us say, there are more and more cyclists on the road today and the accident rate involving cyclists is not on the decline, then should we not do a bit more than just public education and educating cyclists instead of educating the vehicle owners? Would the Ministry actually consider other measures? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: In fact, in my speech, I said that all road users should watch out for each other, especially the vulnerable groups. Bicyclists are, in fact, a vulnerable group. So the tenor of my speech is not just to educate cyclists - cyclists play their part too because if they are cycling in a reckless way and in a way that exposes them to being hurt, then they are at fault - but I will agree that especially motorists, including heavy vehicles that Mr Fong talks about, we should be mindful of the vulnerability of cyclists. Basically, that is my message to everybody. The road space is a common place. Everybody has a duty when he steps onto this road space, to be mindful, to care for one another. Do this every time we step onto the road, and road accident rates will come down.”
“Sir, I have organised and participated in a yearly bike ride called the Sly Ride to create awareness of cycling safety on the road and it is also done in memory of Mr Sylvester Ang who died a few years ago cycling because a bus went against the traffic and knocked him down. The bike ride is now in its third year and the turnout is more than 500 cyclists every year. And the community has set up a safe cycling taskforce. With more than one accident a day involving cyclists, may I know what are the measures in the pipeline to reduce the accident rate involving cyclists? Also, what are the measures to make the roads safer for the cyclists, apart from just public education? Anti-drug Trafficking Measures”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I welcome the expanded role of the Official Assignee to assist high-risk individuals from becoming bankrupt. My question is: how would the Official Assignee's Office be able to handle this role with its current resources and if they will consider to partner with VWOs to help these individuals? Bankruptcy Law in Support of Entrepreneurship”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, my question on corporate taxation and Singapore's competitiveness was addressed by the Second Minister for Finance in his speech yesterday. I have nothing further to add.”
“Although corporate tax has been lowered, it does not mean that we will continue to stay competitive because investment is not determined solely by this factor but by an overall environment, such as the stability of the country. Primarily, we hope that Singapore is the country that moves forward constantly. We hope that our citizens will be well protected mentally, that is, all these should not be taken for granted. We need to have a common goal and to stay united if Singapore hopes to continue to move forward and stay vigilant, despite there are certain measures that need to be taken, such as the increase of GST. I have a small suggestion which I hope is significant. It can also be quite complicated. I hope that the relevant authorities can try to convey this message in a simpler method so that the average Singaporean can understand the message, and that is, the can-do, will-do attitude. Sir, I support this Budget. 2.35 pm”
“However, it is important to note that this Budget is about giving you a helping hand and not about taking. Cost of living is also on the up; therefore, it is important that we help the middle-income group to cope with increasing costs. The middle-income families are the foundation of our society. Although the Government has stressed that we should continue to increase productivity and knowledge, not only at work but also at home, the Government should also ensure that they provide some assistance to help them cope with daily living. For most of them, they do not need direct financial assistance but, to a certain extent, they do have their concerns and needs. For example, we can listen to their needs; offer them some subsidies so that they will have more confidence in working. Also, they do understand that *Cols. 2031-2034. the Budget does not put them as a priority group and they are used to that. So we need to find out more about their needs in order to engage them actively and integrate them into our society. This Budget hopes that Singaporeans will have more confidence and be optimistic about our future. The Government may still make some slight adjustments in this aspect in our Budget, to ensure that job opportunities are available and so on. We hope that more opportunities will be created to allow our corporations to move outwards when our economic outlook is good and economic cooperation with many countries is also improving. But we do understand that Singapore is very much open to external influence, so we need to continue to work hard and re-invent ourselves, and increase our wages and foreign investments in Singapore. During the process, we will inevitably face competition from Hong Kong and other countries.”