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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“Who would have thought YouTube or Goggle or some other companies are so successful today and not have been a sure winner when they started out? A straight "A" student may not necessarily turn out to be an ace corporate executive. So I say, let the expert do the job. Let the private sector take the lead, if necessary, and we will support them because we cannot be everywhere. All that said, this is an all-encompassing Budget. That is a change catalyst. It paints a vision and charts the direction for change that instils confidence in all of us about the future of Singapore. It may be bold to some extent, but it is necessary and long overdue. If we do not do that, we risk being not able to catch up with other countries in the region. It could be Hong Kong today but it could be Shanghai tomorrow or central and East Asian countries' emerging economies could be next to take away the business from us. But we can take heart that we are in the right direction with this Budget and there is no turning back as we embark on this new journey. Sir, I would like to make a short speech in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Mr Speaker, this year's Budget has something for everyone. However, this is also the start of a great change for us. The Budget looks after the needy and poor with GST offset packages and a string of assistance. Corporate tax has also been lowered to keep us competitive. Employer CPF rate has also increased by 1.5% to ensure that our employees do not feel left out. Besides the lower income group, there is also the middle-income group and their age ranging from 25 to 41 years. This Budget is a generous one, it has something for everyone.”
“People make the difference, so we need to have a good mix of both local and foreign talents in this country, if we ever want to be called a hub. Like many Members of this House, we need to retain the best local talents, but we also need the best foreign talents from all over the world to be competitive, because there are some skills sets that are just not available here. We need to learn from the skilled professionals around the world. We know that, if that is successful, we would have created jobs and opportunities. There is no other way to be competitive but to accept the fact that having foreign talents is necessary. Attract them to come. If that means lowering income tax, we have to consider it. Singapore must be positioned to the world as a whole package, ie, people, knowledge, infrastructure, stability, a lot of excitement, buzzing and cost-effective to operate and live in, and risk-free. While the environment may be risk-free, the Government or the public sector, I would hope, should be expected to take some risks and change in its approach towards investing in new sectors or projects. We have to be open to let the private sector or even the people sector take the lead while the Government supports and facilitates. It cannot be leading and trying to do everything all the time. You can also not pretend to be experts in all fields. Most importantly, it should not set up road blocks and make the process to success that much more difficult. I have said this before. We can always depend on ROIs. But in some ventures, there are just no ROIs or NPVs or track record to talk about. So we should not be too quick to jump to conclusion or turn down opportunities.”
“If we are to compete as a gateway or a hub, we need to identify which market we are positioning as a hub in service to, ie, which area. If we still position ourselves as an Asia Pacific hub, I would advise not to, because there does not seem to be any more competitive advantage as an Asia Pacific hub. In the north, we have Shanghai, Hong Kong or other first-tier or second-tier cities of China doing better today that can serve as a North Asia hub. So, you fly in your cargoes, bring your investment in close to the target market, you do not really need to pass through here. And if we try to be a Southeast Asia hub, then it is important for the countries of ASEAN and Southeast Asia to come together as an integrated market to be effective. But the way things are going at the moment, I think it will take a while, especially when Indonesia and Thailand are both major markets of ASEAN. Then again, even if we do come together, is it sufficient for the growth we are looking for? So I would suggest we should be a hub to the world in different sectors. I think that is the direction the Government is taking today. It is the right approach. We have to be unique, special and, if possible, be the first-mover or innovator. We cannot just talk about the current life-science investment or biomedical science sectors all the time. We need to reinvent ourselves even in sectors that already exist, eg, IT, logistics, education, health, tourism, energy - lots of opportunities. We have to keep innovating and take risks, trial and change. We have to make sure we secure air rights to key countries. We have to be connected to all major continents like a spider web where we are right in the middle and can reach any place, do business in any country with ease, using Singapore as the stepping-board.”
“With all this, we would have thought surely we are now ahead. But I would just say that we have only levelled up with Hong Kong. We have definitely put in the hard work and effort to make Singapore more successful. But the fact remains that we do not have a mass market behind us. Hong Kong has it. It has China. At the end of the day, to any business person or company, proximity to the target market is critical. Foreign direct investment in China is around $70 billion. In Singapore, it is $8 billion. I had a personal experience when I was living in China and Hong Kong. I had to recommend a location of an operations centre for a multinational company. It was between Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. So we went through due diligence, calculated the costs. Singapore came up cost lowest; Hong Kong, salary and labour cost higher; and Shanghai, there was an uncertainty on infrastructure and the availability of talent. So, on paper, it looks like we have the lowest cost. But the investor chose Hong Kong because it is still closer to China, and I saw many of my friends lost their jobs. But I am not even going to suggest to continue pushing down the corporate tax rate or pushing up indirect taxes like GST. But then again, we never know. Singapore is so affected by external factors that it may become inevitable to keep corporate tax rate lower and lower whilst indirect taxes may just go up to replace the loss of revenue. We need a really effective way to manage this and decide what is the strategic direction in moving forward. Should we just concentrate on pricing, which is the tax rate, or we have to concentrate on the product, the kind of investment that would be put in into Singapore? So, Singapore has been competitive in its positioning as a hub.”
“5% would increase the cost of business as the economy is getting better, and it is an important strategy of talent retention rather than losing them because, when we lose them, it costs more to hire them again or to hire an additional person. Reducing the corporate tax rate to keep us competitive, but that comes with a price. We lose a revenue source, we need to find a replacement. Like some Members of this House who asked if increasing GST or indirect taxes in support of keeping us competitive, how long can that be sustained and what is our threshold level? My question is: even with the lowering of corporate tax, how attractive is this for investments and investors and how long can we maintain this competitiveness? All this would require a growing and stable economy, continuing foreign direct investments, and good governance of the funds in order to sustain the competitiveness. The reduction from 20% to 18% attempts to keep us competitive for foreign direct investments (FDIs), the partial tax exemption for the growth of SMEs, and the more important message is to use this gain for the small and medium enterprises to venture outwards, and the 80:20 rule exemption attracts financial flow of philanthropy operations. Are these attractive enough compared to the other countries? We make many comparisons with Hong Kong. Hong Kong's corporate tax rate is 17.5%. We have now brought it down to 18%, and today Hong Kong is going to make some new announcements. For SMEs with $500,000 chargeable income, the effective tax rate is 12.5%. For income tax rate, it is generally lower in Singapore. But for the really rich and the senior talents, Singapore is higher compared to Hong Kong. But we have been voted the country with the lowest risk to do business in.”
“It is trying to help us not to be too conservative. It talks about opening up, evolving and following the pace of the market. That, in itself, is to me a fundamental shift in the thoughts. There are four major elements, namely, GST increase/offset packages, CPF, Workfare and corporate taxation. The Budget looks after the needy and poor with GST offset packages and a string of assistance. No one would have liked to pay more. But what other alternatives for revenue sources? Direct taxes? That would not happen. More are asking for reduction, so there is no way we could increase, and I certainly would not ask for it. If we are asking to tap on our reserves, I would question, is that a prudent approach? I think the question here is, if we could not obtain enough from other sources, how much do we exactly need, and is GST increase the only way? Workfare is a good scheme. It makes sure you are self-reliant with a job so that you can be financially independent in the long term before being rewarded with a Workfare bonus. The question again is: with Workfare Income Supplement scheme and Workfare, would a worker be encouraged to stay at $1,500 and below and not wanting to go beyond that? But Workfare's intention is to help encourage you to stay employed longer. My only concern is that it may motivate an individual a different way. So, we will have to ensure that the signal is sent out correctly. By increasing CPF contribution, we recognise that the economy is now doing well and we have to reward the workers who can face the future with confidence. I refuse to believe that CPF resuming to 14.”
“Should we not get financial help to have more pocket money?" Of course, I went on to explain the principles of the Budget and why and where the help is going to and what is in it for them, which is in education and their investments, and that whatever is for their parents would be channelled down to them as well. But they gave me the puzzled look and I hope that they actually understood what I was telling them. However, it is not the first time I get asked, because when the Progress Package was given out, I was asked a similar question by a 17-year-old polytechnic student, ie, where would he stand? Would he get his Progress Package? I am not suggesting that we should give less. In fact, I think we should give to the needy, the bottom percentile, but we should give out appropriately, send the right message to the young that we have a good Government not in giving you the fish but in teaching you how to fish and, when you cannot find the fish, we will help buy some for you for a limited period of time while you keep trying to find the fish. It is important in the Budget of knowing that you have to earn before you take. So we do not want to build a generation of takers. We need a generation of earners who earn their keep, and givers, those who are willing to share. This Budget is no doubt generous. Because it is generous, more are now looking for what is in for them and the size of their hong bao. I think it is important to note that this Budget is about giving you a helping hand so that you can help yourself. And it is not just a giveaway. We should really avoid for the Budget to becoming a real real hong bao. All said, this Budget is about change. It changes and challenges the thinking and rationale of how we view the future and how we prepare for the challenges.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Budget. First, I would like to commend the Second Minister and his team for a great effort in coming out with a Budget that has made some very bold moves. It is daring in expanding help and keeping Singapore competitive, but I would not say that it has shifted in our fundamental principles of making sure that the needy get help and making sure that those who can help themselves would get help from the Government. What it has done is that it has led the way in showing what needs to be done in our current circumstances with a sense of urgency. Some say this is a hong bao Budget. If that is the case, the hong bao comes in different shapes and sizes, some big, some small. the difference is that you get hong bao only once a year for Chinese New Year although I am no longer entitled to that. But, in this case, the hong bao Budget is for the whole year round. So, when you give the hong bao, you cannot take it back and it is for the entire year. You distribute hong bao throughout the year. As such, the hong bao must go to the right persons with the right amount and for the right reasons. So, the signal and the message must also be sent out very correctly and clearly. This is because, after the Budget was announced, like the rest, I was very excited, I was glad of the outcome until two young students 16 years of age asked me a question. They have kept track of the Budget announcement. I think that is a very good thing to do. They start young. But they asked, "Mr Teo, everybody seems to be getting some bonus. What about us?" At that point, I was hoping that they were not going to ask for baby bonus at the age of 16. They said, "We work part-time and our income is below $1,500.”
“First, we must also look at whether narrowing the incentives will also equate to narrowing the level of competition that each of the able and disabled athletes faces as well. But what we should identify is that they are all passionate individuals, leaders of their sports and they are out to inspire others. As far as the Ministry's position is concerned, we recognise their efforts. In terms of narrowing the gaps, I think this is where the athletes and the associations have to work together and see what kind of support they can get from the private sector and from Tote Board and the other organisations that have been sponsoring the able-bodied athletes so far. I hope SDSC, whatever support they need, whether it is within the sports training or after-sports career, as a Ministry, we fully support and recognise it. It is not just dollars and cents. It is what you can provide for the athletes and how you can give them the recognition. For a champion in sports, it goes beyond just monetary achievements. It is about achieving the best that they can and that in itself, we must give the recognition. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS (Number of foreign nurses) 11. Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the number of foreign nurses in public and private healthcare institutions and whether the employment of significant numbers of foreign nurses will continue, considering the attrition rate among local nurses.”
“For the able-bodied athletes, the MAP award is actually a project initiated by SNOC and it is funded by the Singapore Tote Board and APP, as I have mentioned. So there was no direct funding from the Government, although we support it, we recognise the athletes. It will be the same for the disabled athletes. And we recognise their efforts, we continue to want them to be featured, to inspire others, and they have gotten funding from the same organisations.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, if we are comparing the award for the disabled athletes with those of the Multi-million dollar Award Programme (MAP), and those are supported by the Singapore Tote Board and also the private sector (APP), I believe that SDSC has also approached similar organisations and has also gotten support. The level of competition and the intensity may be different but we still want to recognise the efforts and hard work of these disabled athletes regardless, because they have performed, they have trained hard and they are passionate individuals, and we want to support them. So, there will be award and they have been able to seek funding, and the funding has been given to them. I hope that will actually spur the disabled athletes to scale greater heights.”
“This is in line with my Ministry's philosophy of inclusiveness and opportunities for all. Going forward, we aim to build on our success at FESPIC and better our achievement at the Paralympics. We will also continue to explore new ways to highlight the achievements of our athletes, so that they can inspire their fellow Singaporeans and serve as role models for our youth.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore's disabled athletes have consistently performed well over the last few years and broken several records in the process. At the recent Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC) in 2006, which is the equivalent of the Asian Games, our disabled athletes returned with seven golds, five silvers and five bronzes. This was an improvement over the previous FESPIC in 2001 when they won three golds, two silvers and four bronzes. We also have a potential Paralympics medallist in Theresa Goh, who recently claimed a world champion title in the 200 metres Individual Medley at the 2006 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Swimming Championships. The Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) is the national agency that champions disabled sports. MCYS and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) support the SDSC in its drive to promote sports excellence among the disabled. Our various sports excellence strategies and support schemes are open to both able-bodied and disabled athletes. For instance, swimmer Theresa Goh is able to balance her career and sports training at Standard Chartered Bank due to SSC's Programme for Elite Athletes Career (PEAC). PEAC helps athletes integrate into the workplace by assisting in the planning, organisation and management of an athlete’s career in collaboration with corporate organisations, National Sports Associations (NSAs) and SSC. So we do not just take care of the sports but the after-sports career as well. Some of you may also recall the front page news in the Straits Times on 12th January reporting that the Sports School has admitted its first disabled student Khristine Quek and has provisions to take in more disabled students.”
“To represent Singapore, you must be Singaporeans. I am proud to say that a lot of the athletes that won the gold medals were trained under the current system that we have in place, for example, sailing. Sailing implemented a value system for sports since the late 1990s, and that has created a whole horde of good sailors and there are many more coming on board. It is all in the pipeline. If you look at the age of the sailors, they are less than 20 years old, and they won five gold medals out of the eight. So, that is an example of the success of a good system that we are trying to build, not just for sailing but across all sports. To answer Mr Chiam's question, all are Singaporeans. No matter where they come from at the beginning, as long as they come to Singapore, entrenched themselves in the system, and if it is a successful system, we will produce the champions.”
“For any athletes between now and 2008 or now to 2012, if they show promises, we will not let any medal chance get away. We will continue to support any athletes who show potential, including archery that the Member, Mr Michael Palmer, is the adviser. Certainly, if they can shoot bull's eyes every time, we will take that into consideration and we will put them in the programme.”
“I would combine the naming of the targeted sports and the selection process together. In fact, there will be a press conference that will be hosted by SNOC tomorrow. So more details will be addressed there. But let me give an overview. The selection process depends on the NSAs' recommendations as well. They have worked with their athletes, they know their athletes well, who have the potential, and who have not. From there, the recommendations will be given to the Project Committee, which is the 2008/2012 Olympic Committee, headed by the Vice-President of SNOC, Mr Ng Ser Miang. They have so far targeted four sports, and these four sports are badminton, table tennis, shooting and sailing. What are the chances? Unfortunately, I did not bring my crystal ball with me. But I would say that chances are good. However, I would prefer to say that if we ever win a medal in 2008, it does not mean we have a good and comprehensive system that will continue to produce champions and heroes at the 2012 and 2016 Games. Because this takes a long-term plan and a strategy to build the sports infrastructure, the culture and the environment. So, it takes time. Currently, we are starting to push and that is a good sign. So this is the first step that we need to take. That is the short-term plan aiming at 2008, and we need a medium-term plan for 2012 and a longer term plan for the next 10 and 15 years. The Sporting Culture Committee that was set up hopes to address the sporting blueprints moving forward.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] MCYS, the Singapore Sports Council and the Singapore National Olympic Council have jointly supported the 2008 and 2012 Olympic plans so that our athletes will be able to compete in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. We are putting our sights further. This is not just for the 2008 Olympics. This is a long-term plan. We need to have a very effective sports system and an environment so that we will be able to sustain our best or peak conditions for our athletes. So we need to have the National Sports Council and all the National Sports Associations to work together so that we could have these good results. We need to have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans. We want to do better not only in 2008 but also in 2012, 2016 and even 2020. If we say that Singapore's economic progress is a miracle, I would hope that we could also have a miracle in our sports performances. *Cols. 1195-1196.”
“The development of sports in Singapore mirrors my own development as a sportsman. I was an unfit and unhealthy individual weighing 85 kilograms five years ago. I actually lost 15 kilograms over a 10-month period. I have not looked back since, and that exercise and sports have become a part of me and I hope that it will also become a part of all Singaporeans. So like myself, sports in Singapore has achieved much, but the work is never finished. We must continue to strive for the next level. In short, much has been done, but more can be done. Closing In closing, the Singapore I would like to see is certainly one which is buzzing, vibrant and successful, a shining and buzzing red dot, ever glowing night and day. But we will only be successful if we push forward with a clear vision, same vision and like objective. Staying together would not leave anyone behind while pushing ahead, pulling the rest along. And to be successful, in my view, we have to achieve both economic and social successes. Then it will be a Singapore we can all be proud of. Crossing the finish line alone, and I have said this many times, would never be as fulfilling as crossing it together with the rest of the team. 5.57 pm”
“I am also heartened to see that they have reports of how to utilise sporting grounds all over Singapore. I will encourage that, and they will do more reports of local stuff. I would say that such feedback and constructive suggestions would help sports as a whole. Moving ahead, I recently initiated to set up the Sporting Culture Committee with three objectives – review the vision of sports in Singapore and desired outcomes and development strategy to strengthen and transform Singapore’s sporting culture, propose recommendations to serve as a high level blueprint to guard Singapore’s sports development effort until 2015, and also this is a continuation of the good efforts from CoSS. We will be looking at five main areas: demand and software that looks into the sporting lifestyle and culture; increasing mindset, increasing public education and awareness in sports, working with the media on that; glory for the nation, producing world champions, sporting heroes, looking to achieve our success at higher games, that includes winning medals in Olympic games; supply and hardware, access to sports in the community at sporting facilities; building and developing the industry, creating a sporting eco-system that involves the private sector, people sector and public sector. Put it in simpler terms, it is to transform sports in Singapore and bring it to a higher level and, most importantly, creating a sporting culture in Singapore. I am glad that several leaders of different communities, not just in sports, but in education, arts and culture, grassroots and business, are coming forward to be part of the main community. We need different views and, of course, out-of-the-box thinking so that we could scale greater heights.”
“I am encouraged to see so many CEOs running as well, and they run really fast. I did not win anyway. One of whom has become a Minister of State and the other a Parliamentary Secretary. Maybe that is where you find the political candidates. They will be a great contributor to sports as a whole, as participation in sports also includes volunteering in sports administration, or just simply fighting for their cause to promote sports. What is most heartening is when you see groups of individuals coming forward as a community to propose plans and work with the authorities to come up with a solution. I have met such a group. Recently, an individual named Leo Tan led and coordinated the cycling community, which is largely fragmented, to submit a paper on how to make the road safer for cyclists. The Traffic Police, LTA, SSC and MCYS met up with them. It was a very good discussion. Both the group and authorities had a good understanding and now, they are exploring the implementation of some of the suggestions. In the words of one of the participants from the cycling community, he said that he had never felt so encouraged to see the authorities appreciate their suggestions and working with them to implement some of the ideas. And I think he will see more and how open the authorities are and cooperative if the community comes together. He actually mentioned that it was better than complaining at the sideline. So, now, they hold regular discussions, and we need more of such discussions to go on. This is the most effective way to get something to work, which is to work together as a community. The media must play their part as well. I was heartened to see more and more reports of the local scene in the newspapers today, not just football and football from other countries.”
“Many have come forward to support and sponsor events in cash or in kind or even set up small little companies to organise events or training programmes. I thank them for their commitment and want to encourage them to continue to support sports where possible. And I hope that many companies will come forward and be part of what I believe is a growing market, especially with the Sports Hub coming up in 2011. We need to build a business network within the sports fraternity, and this would help the involvement of business in sports, much like the Singapore Business Federation for sports. This would merge both the value of business and sports together. At the same time, we will create an environment for the entrepreneurs to help fill the sports industry. It is like any other industry where we can encourage the investment of MNCs as well as the growth of our local enterprises. Let me touch on the last strategic thrust of sports - sports participation. I am encouraged that more Singaporeans are catching on to exercising and incorporating sports into their lifestyle. I also take the advice of MP Teo Ho Pin that we should make it more accessible for them with the school sports facilities. The Singapore Sports Council’s latest national sports participation survey conducted in 2005 revealed that almost one in two Singaporeans exercised once a week, and that is a 10% jump over the same survey conducted five years earlier. But maybe we should lift the bar up. Maybe they should exercise two or three times a week. Then there will always be the issue of worklife balance. We are also beginning to see more emphasis on sports by corporations. Last year, I personally joined the CEOs 10-km race at the StanChart Marathon.”
“At his peak, Peng Siong was ranked No. 1 in the world 50-metre freestyle in 1982. That was so many years ago. Since his retirement, he has devoted his time to coaching swimmers at all levels, from children learning to swim to elite swimmers including Theresa Goh, our world-class paralympian. But what impresses me most about Peng Siong and Fandi are their passion and dedication to their sports. And furthermore, they strike me as unassuming well-rounded individuals, and that is the impact of sports. Certainly, Singapore must nurture more of such iconic individuals who can inspire budding athletes and Singaporeans at large. We need the athletes today to have that similar passion because NSAs, SSC and the Government can do only so much to provide the environment. The rest is up to the athletes themselves. So the fire and passion must be strong enough. The sports industry is both about business and sports, and building an industry in sports is not only about big foreign enterprise, major hardware investment, but also to encourage more local sports entrepreneurs. If we could build a sports industry, that will help create jobs and opportunities for our athletes after their sports career. Today, our sporting calendar is filled up with many sporting events, catering to a wide spectrum of sporting interests. I have attended no fewer than 20 of them since being elected in May. This ranged from large international ones like OSIM Triathlon, Aviva Badminton Open, and Volkswagen Table Tennis Open. It also included some new and growing ones like HSBC Wakeboarding Championship, Open Water Marathon Swim, Action Asia Adventure Challenge. What I find very encouraging is the growing corporate involvement in sports. That has also spun off many local sports ventures.”
“We read many issues surrounding NSAs, but we also have examples of NSAs with good governance, for example, Singapore Sailing emphasises the values of not judging an athlete but a very responsible one socially as well. It has strong leadership, an effective secretariat, disciplined athletes and has since produced several champions internationally. NSAs must continue the work with SSC and MCYS to ensure professionalism, transparency and honesty in its governance. As stated in the Code of Athletes Management, it is critical that the NSA is professionally managing an athlete and fair in the selection trial so that the athletes with the highest chance of winning for Singapore can stand and Singapore will not be denied a medal chance. Secondly, NSA while building its pipeline of sportsmen and women must also build up its pipeline for sports administrators and leaders. Renewal of succession planning is critical in sustaining the continuity of any sports. Thirdly, SSC and NSAs should step up their collaboration with the private sector to increase their support for and involvement in sports. I hope this will translate into increased corporate dollars and support flowing into sports and leading to an enhancement in the ability of the NSAs to raise more private funds and ensure that they have adequate resources to do more for their sports. I would like to see an enhancement of athlete development programme as well and the sports infrastructure. But our young sporting talents need to do more, and they must have the passion like the sportsmen in the past. Let me give you two examples - Ang Peng Siong and Fandi Ahmad. They are two of our most famous sportsmen, and their route to fame and glory has required a lot of hard work and commitment and the heart - the passion is the heart.”
“And that said, we have more world and Asian champions representing a wider range of sports now than we did five years ago. So hopefully, we will continue to do well, even in the Asian Games coming up. Athletes and sporting personnel, like coaches and sports scientists, are critical to our Sports Excellence effort, and I have embarked on a series of dialogues with the sports community to understand their concerns, challenges and suggestions on how we can better support our athletes in their quest for sporting glory. We have quickly adopted a bottoms-up approach, a two-way communication and improve communication and cooperation within the sports community. At a recent session with more than 20 national athletes on 26th October, they highlighted key concerns such as getting more time to train, scheduling flexibility for athletes who are serving their National Service and for those in schools or at work. They have also brought up the need to enhance an appeals channel to mediate disputes between athletes and National Sports Associations (NSAs). Also, they would like the media to profile our athletes and build a stronger sporting culture. As a competitive athlete myself, I empathise with them, and I believe if all of us can pool together, these concerns can be addressed and bring our sporting achievement to the next level. I would like to see greater collaboration in that sense, between the key stakeholders and partners, including the NSAs, Government agencies and private sector. NSAs have a big role to play. Each functions as a governing body for their sports. A good NSA must adopt an athlete-centric approach and place focus on its athletes as well as promoting greater mass participation.”
“I cannot say enough good things about sports, including helping me to keep myself slim. Sports can bring the nation together. Some of you might remember the Kallang Roar days and how each and everyone of us cheered for the national soccer team, whatever languages we used. Can we bring that back and how do we do it? There has been a concerted effort push for sports in Singapore. Sporting achievements The Committee on Sporting Singapore (CoSS) five years ago came up with a series of recommendations to help bring sports in Singapore to the next level by 2010. I am glad to mention, Mr Speaker, Sir, you were then the Minister for Community Development and Sports and you chaired the Committee. This strategic blueprint was the setting up of a $500 million Sporting Singapore Fund (SFS) with joint contributions from the Government and Singapore Pools to help implement the recommendations. We are now entering the second half of the 10-year Sports Masterplan. Sports excellence In the past five years, the Sporting Singapore Fund allowed us to launch many key projects and programmes. One such programme that stands out was the establishment of the Singapore Sports School in 2004 to nurture local sporting talents. Some have already tasted glory in the recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Commonwealth Games. Others have bagged world and Asian age group titles, such as Stefan Tseng, he was the world's youth under-15 triple jump champion. At the senior level, our athletes have gone from strength to strength for their record performance at last year's SEA Games and this year's Commonwealth Games, and we came within a whisker for the Olympic medal at the Athens Games in 2004.”
“Glenn fought successfully to overcome his drug addiction and is now a youth pastor and has set up his own youth outreach events organisation. Having overcome his own difficulties, Glenn, in his own words, said, “I decided to give back to society what I have taken from it.” He has now taken on a leadership role to help make a difference in the lives of other youths around him, as a Teen Challenge Youth Ambassador and a youth pastor in a church. Stories like this give me the confidence that the youth of Singapore here have what it takes to excel. No matter what their background may be, every youth has a talent and we should always give them a second chance. If they have made a mistake in the past, allow them to come back to mainstream and help them to ease into the mainstream. So, while we continue to invest in our youths of the future, we should also not forget to invest in those youth-at-risk out of school, and remember to give them a helping hand. They must all be treated as potentials of the society. I have always thought that the youths will usually have a net asset – their biggest asset is age – and whatever liabilities they incur today can be balanced off by their age, and they have time on their side and they can still contribute to the society in future. Sports Let me turn to sports. First, I would like to thank the many Members of the House who spoke in support of sports, and I thought today I would be the only one talking about sports. But, surprisingly, there were many Members who brought it up. Sports touches everyone’s heart, as you can see. It builds character, it provides an overall education, development; and it teaches one how to win and lose. You learn to go through the ups and downs and learn how to deal with it.”
“I must commend the Government for having a wide range of initiatives ranging from efforts by the Police, Inter-Ministerial Committee on Youth Crime (IMYC) to programmes by MCYS such as Step-up which funds VWOs to provide social work services in schools to youth at risk of delinquency or leaving school prematurely. However, it is equally important for us to reach out to youths who have gone astray and to give them the support they need to start anew and have a second chance in life. Given the right chances, our youth-at-risk can overcome the challenges facing them, turn their lives around and fulfil their own potential. Instead of becoming a liability and a negative influence, they can be an asset to society and to their fellow Singaporeans. Let me illustrate this with a story – an inspiring story of a youth that I met who rose to the challenge when the odds were stacked against him. Mr Glenn Lim, one of the winners of 2005 Singapore Youth Award, is a well-known public speaker and youth counsellor. However, to get there, he managed to turn his life around in the face of great challenge. He was a defying child; he was a troublemaker at school and at home, and he was what we called the “pai kia ”. Eventually, he formed a rock band, pursued a lifestyle revolving around alcohol and drugs - that was the road that ultimately ended in his arrest at age 24. Glenn came close to a life sentence and 24 strokes of the cane. But fortunately for him, Teen Challenge, a VWO, came to his assistance, and lawyers from Teen Challenge pleaded for leniency; as a result, he was sentenced to six months, after which Teen Challenge took him and provided counselling and rehabilitation support to help him recover and get his life back on track.”
“This issue of work-life balance or the question of whether society defines success only in material terms is very important to them. Recently, I posted a work-life balance topic in the blog. It received the most number of comments in all of the topics that I posted in my blog. As of today, it has 35 comments. The comments were interesting. They share their concerns of a lack of work-life balance. One of them even brought up the heavy workload of being a teacher, which my parliamentary colleague, Mr Christopher de Souza has highlighted. The only balance they could find is to sleep, and not spending time with their families, because they are just too tired, and they asked: how could we be involved in other interests that you want us to do? By starting families and embarking on their careers, they are building a future in Singapore and committing themselves to the well-being of the country, which we also take steps to make it easier for them to continue doing the things they enjoy and to participate actively as members of the community, even as they take on the responsibilities of adulthood. Youth-at-risk I would like to touch on the subject of youth-at-risk and the role played by the Government and society, not just in providing them with opportunities but also to overcome challenges and obstacles that stand in their way. Many young people face stress from their studies, having to fit in and keep up with their peers and possibly at home as well, and they may be in search of identity, looking for easy answers. As such, many teens may be tempted to forsake studies and hard work for criminal activities such as gangs, theft, extortion or even drugs. It is important for the Government to put in place measures to keep youth from going astray.”
“Since most of them do not use their real names, I do not know who is who, and who am I thanking. But this is the Internet and this is the new media. It is like swimming in the blue ocean, and you do not know what is out there, different types of fishes swimming around you, some you could identify; some you could not. But I think when you detect danger, you better know what to do. We cannot avoid this. We still have to participate in it. And it is important we also guide the young to do the same through this form of communication – distinguish the right from the wrong. So far we have managed to engage but we still need to connect. We are certain that we will keep trying, experiment and we believe we will be successful. Young adults We define young adults as people who are aged 25 to 40. Post-65 (P65) MPs have carried out a series of dialogues with young Singaporeans from the post-65 generation this year. This series of dialogues will continue into 2007. Let me share a few takeaways from the sessions so far. Young Singaporeans want to be an active part of the community but they face a variety of challenges across their various life stages as they mature from youth into young adults, both in terms of their personal development as well as in contributing to society. Young adults in our dialogue sessions spoke about the challenge of starting and raising families and of establishing their careers. They actually want to pursue their interests, whether sports, arts or culture, and contribute to the community and also engage in activities that give meaning to their lives. However, they have to balance this against other competing priorities which many Members of this House have spoken about – the work-life balance issue.”
“So we have to keep the momentum going and encourage more of them to participate and take the lead in youth activities. With these programmes to provide youth with the opportunities and space to pursue their passions and to learn and grow, I urge all agencies to continue this work. Youth engagement Youth engagement will always be an important task. Moving ahead, apart from the current youth programmes, there are three areas I would like to look into: online engagement, youth adults, and youth-at-risk. Online engagement It is always important to seek the views of the youth and we would like to engage them online. More and more young Singaporeans are going online to obtain the news, sources of information from the Internet, set up blogs to share their own thoughts and feelings, discuss their ideas and interests through forums and so on. The Internet plays a significant role in shaping their outlooks, beliefs, and attitudes. We are all learning at this stage and what will be the best way to engage them online. Some of my fellow parliamentarians and myself set up our own blogs - the P65 blog. It has been an interesting experience. We received many comments. Most are constructive but some are disruptive. But we have to accept that there will be many, many views and the fact that through the Internet, views are expressed more freely, maybe because they use their nicknames or sign off as anonymous, and one point is that they believe in free expression, though they may not have the same background information or understanding. So we might have to use this form of communication to provide them with the information. But I also face a problem here. Through this speech, I wanted to cite many good suggestions or comments from their inputs and thank the contributors.”
“But the question is: are we reaching out far and wide to most of them out there? Or are we seeing the usual suspect and the same faces? So, recently, I started to pose questions at youth dialogues to test whether they know of our youth programmes. Unfortunately, I seldom get more than 50% show of hands. Maybe they are too reserved to put up their hands. But I take it as a signal that there is a lot that we need to do to make sure the outreach is effective. So I initiated the Youth Network that comprises major youth groups in Singapore, hopefully, to reach out to more youths out there, so as to encourage them to come forward and participate in the process. And I need the Members of this House to help me out as well. Youth outreach Outreach is important, and we need to be able to go to the heartlands – bring in national events more readily available for participation at the grassroots level. But it takes two hands to clap, and this is not easy. However, I do not want to leave anyone behind – everybody should be given an equal opportunity and we are at the same level playing field. Many of these youths would like to have an opportunity to make a difference. Let me highlight some statistics to illustrate this point. Based on the findings of a national youth survey held by the National Youth Council, the percentage of young people involved in leadership positions has grown from 14% in 2002 to 21% last year. The National Volunteerism Survey showed that 28% of all youth engaged in volunteerism has increased from 25% in 2004 and also 17% in 2002. The number of young Singaporeans involved in social networks has also increased from 44% in 2002 to 52% in 2005.”
“Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to speak with many of them, work closely with them, and I would say that they have responded well. The recent youth forum is a case in point. It was an event organised by the youth for the youth. It was sponsored by the National Youth Council (NYC). The national youth forum provides participants with insights into policy making in Government. There were 90 participants - students from ITE, JCs, polytechnics, universities, national servicemen and working youth. Through the forum, they started their own community projects, and their practical initiative targeted at other young Singaporeans. For example, one group of participants is working with the Health Promotion Board to set up an online youth counselling website where youth can voice their problems and seek advice. Another example you might have heard of or even read from our newly-created P65 blog is this group of four students who call themselves “Inspire” who managed to raise $100,000 for the Straits Times ’ Pocket Money Fund in four months. That is no mean feat. But what really heartened me was that they told me they wanted to keep a low profile. Such modesty at such a young age is inspiring. And I think I am not helping them by talking about their feat here. These two cases represent just a tip of the iceberg for the hundreds of youths who initiate and implement community projects under several of our youth programmes. So the question is: are our Singaporean youth apathetic? From this, I draw the conclusion that they are capable, pragmatic, have a can-do spirit, and they want to make a difference. No one told them to initiate all these projects. They did it on their own accord.”
“The only difference today we are now focused on is doing it locally. That said, I fully agree with what was mentioned in the President’s Address that though the private sector takes the lead in creating wealth, the Government creates the pre-conditions for the private sector to prosper. So the Government should take the lead to create this environment. That would also mean sharing of risk as well as failure or success that comes with it. And we have top talents in the Government today - and I have worked with many of them, and they are outstanding, efficient, competent and honest, but we need to build on that foundation. We need to be visionary, intuitive and ready to take a bit of risk, both from the economic and social perspectives. The public sector would need to move at the pace of business and the Government must look at the perspectives from the business side. Therefore, I applaud the efforts that MTI would let the private sector play a bigger role and, hopefully, that would translate to SMEs playing a bigger role, and help them build up the network at the highest level. Indeed, I am glad that a new man is going to lead Spring and, hopefully, he can create magic and exercise influence as he did in EDB for Spring and, most importantly, for the SMEs. Youth Let me touch on youth. They are the new generation, well informed, international, move with speed, and they are used to high speed of information exchange. This is the group that we need for them, as mentioned in the President’s Address, to feel for the country, understand the issues and participate in building the future for our nation. Two years ago, the Prime Minister called on young Singaporeans to step forward to make a difference to themselves, to fellow citizens and to Singapore.”
“If we don’t have any of these mistakes, we are not just taking enough risk.” Some may say that they have the money to make mistakes. I also think that there are many big businesses, growing larger, but their risk appetite becoming smaller. Sir, our environment has still some way to go to develop such ventures, and the society must be more ready to accept failure and for individuals to embrace risk. But due to the over emphasis on immediate success and key performance indicators (KPI), we have become more cautious and over engineer on the micro issues and trying to be perfect. The process towards success would always have some imperfection. We must keep an open mind, ready to embrace risk and think out of the box. But it takes 3Ps - people, private and, most importantly, the public sector - to share the same vision, mission and risk. The Government can roll out new schemes, with the most recent one – the Innovation Commercialisation Scheme – but if the environment does not change, we would still have a dry spell. That is why I am glad of the announcement by MOF, to boost entrepreneurship, to lower the contractual age from 21 to 18 years old. This will cast the net out wider and encourage entrepreneurship and risk taking at a younger age. The younger generation of executives, potential entrepreneurs, however, must step up, try new things, figure out the way to go, and we need to take it further. We have to consider setting up maybe a young entrepreneur network or programme to help identify new ventures, not to invest in them but really to mentor and help them set up and grow. It is especially useful for these young entrepreneurs who may not know what are the first steps to take, and this is where the experienced lead the rookies.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. Today, my speech will cover three topics - business environment for the entrepreneurs, youth issues and the sports community. The vision of Singapore, as I see it, is one of challenges as well as opportunities. As in the President’s Address, without economic growth, we cannot invest in our future or realise any schemes to help Singaporeans. Coming from the private sector, I know too well that the challenge in running a company has always been on how do we find new ground and identify good people, create new channels of revenue stream or opportunities so that the company can strive, survive and jobs are secured. But is our P65 or the new generation ready for the challenge or the change? Do we have the environment for them to succeed? Are they ready to step out, think out of the box and venture forward? Business environment for entrepreneurs I read an article in Fortune and this particular article was about Google, the Internet company that has a very powerful search engine. At some point, you might have googled to find information on the Internet. And as you can see, I used the word “googled” instead of “search”, like some people would use “xerox” instead of “copy”, and this is the power of the brand. Can Singapore and the environment produce a Google or a brand close to it? And that depends if the environment is conducive enough for such ventures and also to embrace risk. In this article, a Google employee made the mistake that caused millions of dollars. She reported the loss to one of the founders, Larry Page. His reply was, “I’m so glad you made this mistake.”