Vivian Balakrishnan
Singapore
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not issue advisories on wait times at overseas airports. Travellers may wish to monitor airline and airport websites, as well as news reports for real-time information on wait times and potential disruptions at specific airports.”
“When the conflict in the Middle East deteriorated and commercial flights were halted in March 2026, the Singapore Government mounted four repatriation flights from Muscat, Riyadh and Jeddah to bring stranded Singaporeans home.”
“The Government has stepped up public engagement to explain our foreign policy fundamentals and responses to key international developments to Singaporeans and to hear their views. We do this through dialogue sessions across segments of society, including students, youths, businesses and community leaders.”
“And the larger point during the Committee of Supply was that precisely, because the world is in such a difficult, prickly, volatile and dangerous state, actually, if we keep our wits about ourselves, we maintain unity and we continue to have this clear eye-realistic, but principled, approach, there are many opportunities for Singapore.”
“Well, in short, I completely agree with you. And that is why we have indeed been hosting these events and in your own capacity as a national athlete and also as an official now, you have seen how it works in practice.”
“Since 2022, about half of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) employees are women. The proportion of women in senior appointments has remained stable at about a quarter. We recognise that overseas postings are disruptive for officers with families, especially female officers who bear greater caregiving responsibilities.”
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“Over the years, the Homes have evolved from providing basic shelter and attending to the needs of the children, to the point where now they are providing care and rehabilitation to children, helping children to reintegrate with their families and promoting educational opportunities so that these children can fulfil their full potential. Currently, we have 19 such Homes with about 900 residents. MCYS runs two Juvenile Homes with about 300 residents. My Ministry has worked very closely with the Homes over many decades, journeying with them through the changing trends in child protection and youth rehabilitation work, and ensuring that we continue to meet the needs of the residents and their families. Sir, the licensing of Children and Young Persons Homes is an important step and a key milestone in the development of the residential care sector. It signals our commitment to enhancing the welfare, protection and care for our children in residential care and formalises the standards of care that we expect the Homes to provide. The Bill proposes powers for MCYS officers to inspect the Homes and to issue licences to operators who have met the licensing requirements. These requirements would include the adequacy of the physical premises of the Home, the quality of personnel and processes to ensure that appropriate care and supervision is available at all times to the residents. New Homes will also need to comply with the licensing requirements before they can begin operations. The Act will provide avenues for operators to take remedial actions when requirements have not been met and for appeals on decisions made with regard to the issuing and revocation of licences.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Children and Young Persons Act was first enacted in 1949, and it provides for the welfare, care, protection and rehabilitation of children and young persons. This Act was last revised in 2001 and a decade later, we are revising it again. I would like to touch on the key proposals that this Bill seeks to put in place. To provide greater clarity, we have articulated the guiding principles; these are actually principles which have been in place, but not enshrined in legislation over the past 60 years. The Bill includes two guiding principles. First, that the parents of the child or young person have the primary responsibility for the care and welfare of the child or young person, and should discharge their responsibilities to promote the welfare of the child or young person. This statement reflects our belief that the family is the key institution for nurturing our young. The Government can encourage and support families in their discharge of their familial responsibilities, but the Government cannot be a substitute for the family. The second principle states that in the administration and application of the Act, the welfare and best interest of the child or young person shall be the first and paramount consideration. Licensing of children and young persons homes Clause 25 of the Bill refers to the licensing of Children and Young Persons Homes. Historically, these Homes have been operated by voluntary welfare organisations. Some of them have very long histories of compassionate service dating back to the early 1900s.”
“Clearly, Judges will not get involved until legal proceedings have begun. So, by definition, they do not have access to the children before a divorce has reached the Court. But having said that, what I am trying to point out is that there are many other avenues to get help, even before you reach the legal stage. We have Family Service Centres, we have school counsellors, we even have family violence centres and Marriage Central. The message is: "please avail yourself of the resources – the counselling and mediation facilities which are available in the community, even before you reach that stage". The Member's point is about making it mandatory and my answer to that is that I prefer to keep maximum discretion available to the Family Court. That does not mean that I am discouraging people from accessing mediation and counselling facilities. My Ministry will continue to work with the voluntary welfare organisations to maximise counselling and mediation opportunities within the community. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Dr Vivian Balakrishnan]. Bill considered in Committee. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]”
“There is a need to balance many interests – the rights and the protection of the ex-husband, the ex-wives, the children; the rights of individuals and their decisions on marriage and divorce versus making sure that the State's intervention is appropriate but not excessive, and there is a need to get a balance between efficiency in implementation of Court orders and with rules of natural justice. I will conclude by saying that this piece of legislation, 50 years old, groundbreaking, continues to evolve. I think we have made important steps now but this is not the end of it, and there will be changes in the future. EXEMPTED BUSINESS (Motion) Resolved, That the proceedings on the business set down on the Order Paper for today be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 2. – [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. WOMEN'S CHARTER (AMENDMENT) BILL Debate resumed.”
“The brutal truth is, even today, although we have made much progress, women and children still need protection. We also have to ask ourselves whether, as a society, we have reached a point where the majority of us are willing to say that a woman has the responsibility to support a man, even after a divorce. I think an increasing number of people have come down to that view. I am not sure outside this House that the majority of people has come down to this view. So, my sense is, we will hold the current position, flag this as an issue for constant review and certainly the next time round, hopefully as we make further progress, we can get to that point. Similarly, this is also not the time to rename the "Women's Charter" as the "Family Charter" because it does not have the exclusive monopoly on family law. An example of another law is the Maintenance of Parents Act, which is also related to family but, clearly, it stands alone. If and when we get to the point where we propose a Family Charter, I think the Ministry will have to amalgamate all these disparate pieces of law in order to do that. I do not think we are ready to do that, and I do not want to rush into it but I think the roadmap for the future is clear. So, let me end by saying that the many views expressed both within and outside this House show that as Singaporeans, we still attach great importance to the institution of marriage, to dealing with the tragedy of divorce and to mitigating the impact on the children. These issues are not things which can be easily resolved, and certainly not simply by passing laws.”
“Let me first agree totally with Mr Seah Kian Peng that men should be given reasonable access to their children by their ex-wives. Ex-wives should not use access to children as a bargaining chip for the collection of maintenance. We should all, as adults, recognise that children have a right to both parents and will almost always benefit from access to both parents. And no matter how ugly the dispute between the adults is, we should not make our children hostage or bargaining chips. I would, however, also go on to add that breaches in access orders are also punishable as contempt of Court, which can also lead to a fine or imprisonment. So just as expect the men to pay for the maintenance arrears, women should also comply fully with the access orders issued by the Court. There were also calls in the name of gender equality for men to be able to claim maintenance from women. Let me put it to you this way: 14 years ago, the Select Committee said we were not ready yet. I am afraid at this point in time, the answer is still we are not ready yet. I hope it will not take another 14 years but I am sure every time we review the Women's Charter, this question will arise. Let me tell you why I think we are not ready yet. In terms of the labour force participation rate and incomes, today, there is still a gap. The labour force participation rate for women is 55%, as compared to 75% for men. I do not have the figures for income offhand but you all know there is a gap. Secondly, all of us who do the Meet-the-People Sessions will notice an asymmetry. It is women and their children, almost exclusively, who come to us for help because of problems of post-divorce or the failure to pay maintenance.”
“Fatimah Lateef, Mdm Ho, Ms Lee and Ms Wong have also called for the establishment of a dedicated agency on maintenance and they use the analogy of the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents. But let me reiterate why we are not prepared to do this yet. First, the family should be the first line of support for individuals, and only when that fails, does legislation provide for the appropriate sanctions as decided by the Courts based on the relative merits of each case. Our preferred approach is to strengthen the existing legal framework and that is why we have worked on improving and streamlining the Court processes, amending the Women's Charter, so that the family members will find it easier to hold each other accountable. I would prefer to let these new measures run in first, measure their impact, before we decide on the next step. It is also worthwhile pointing out that even the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents does not enforce maintenance orders. It may decide on maintenance orders but it does not enforce maintenance orders. The Tribunal and Commissioner's office provides legal avenues and a process for a parent to obtain a Maintenance Order. But thereafter, that Maintenance Order, if it is not complied with, is enforced through the Family Courts, the same Family Court using the same procedures and same sanctions that are available under the Women's Charter. So let us try to work this system first. We have made some significant improvements. Let us measure its impact. Finally, there were calls, not only within this House but outside this House, for greater parity in the treatment between men and women, in particular in two areas, access to children for men and whether we should change the "Women's Charter" into the "Family Charter".”
“00 pm (almost parliamentary time) [laughter ] in order to facilitate the access by working women. As things stand, first, I want to acknowledge the incredible hard work that has been committed on the part of the Courts to already make significant changes to streamline the current enforcement process by reducing the steps and allowing for filing of complaints through video-link. With regard to operating at night, we actually went to them with the suggestion and they informed us that this may not be practical. There are currently Night Courts but the Night Courts currently deal with essentially regulatory offences in which the offenders almost always plead guilty. If the offender decides not to plead guilty, his case will subsequently be heard in the day Court. Such maintenance hearings, which often entail respondents' and claimant presentations, may be lengthy and there may be insufficient time for such proceedings to be conducted expeditiously at night. So, the Court preference is still for these hearings to be conducted during regular office hours. On Mdm Phua's suggestion to engage auxiliary police to execute warrants of arrests for defaulters, this may not be feasible because it would require the errant spouses to bear the costs of hiring an auxiliary police in order to arrest them. This will inevitably impair their ability to pay and we do not want this to result in reduced amount that is available to the ex-spouse and children. We will continue to study how we can make life more uncomfortable for defaulters but without impacting their ability to pay. Several Members, including Mr Hri Kumar, Assoc. Prof.”
“As for the provision of a banker's guarantee, we have gone through this in detail and we crafted the legislation in a way to make it as easy as possible for the complainant. Basically, the complainant can make a claim on the banker's guarantee without going to Court to prove that there was a default. And if there is any excess claim from the banker's guarantee, it will be offset against future maintenance payments. Limiting the amount guaranteed to three months is a practical move as many defaulters may not have enough money on hand to guarantee the larger sums of money for maintenance. Requiring a second guarantee to kick in automatically would pose judicial issues because it may be potentially unfair to the defaulter, if there was no subsequent Court hearing to determine whether he had indeed defaulted the first time round. We had to arrive at an appropriate balance between convenience of complainant and fairness to the potential defaulter. In pursuing stronger enforcement, we are also mindful that we must give defaulters a fair chance. Hence, the credit reports will be updated when they settle their arrears. And for defaulters who are issued with attachments of earnings orders, their employment should not be jeopardised. In other words, I am telling employers, "Please do not terminate someone simply because of the attachment of earnings orders against them". In fact, if any individual feels unfairly dismissed because of this, he has recourse through the Ministry of Manpower for unfair dismissal. For Court-ordered financial counselling for defaulters, as with Court orders in general, non-compliance to such orders is tantamount to contempt of Court, and it carries a potential fine or even imprisonment. Mdm Phua has also asked for the Courts to extend the hours to 9.”
“These new sanctions include things like community service orders, the requirement to declare maintenance debts before remarrying, the imposition of banker's guarantees on defaulters and the reporting to credit bureaus. These are incremental measures. Let us see and wait to measure the impact of these measures before contemplating even more onerous sanctions. There was much discussion on community service orders. I want to emphasise that it is not meant to be a soft option. It is meant to give Judges a wider menu of deterrent sentences which they can impose in order to encourage appropriate behaviour by the defaulters. The defaulters who are required to perform community service are still required to pay their maintenance arrears. It is not in lieu of, it does not take them off the hook. And the merit of having such orders available to the Judges is that they can impose that without affecting the defaulter's employment and, thereby, aggravating the financial situation further. On the measure to declare maintenance debts before the party remarries, I agree with Mdm Ho and Ms Wong that the remarrying party should also declare whether he is liable to pay maintenance, in addition to whether there are other outstanding arrears. This is actually the intent of the provision because the party will have to first declare if there is any maintenance order and then declare whether there is any arrears owed pursuant to those maintenance orders. I will also note Mdm Ho and Ms Audrey Wong's point that there must be a limited window for reporting arrears to the credit bureaus in order to prevent abuse and also to make sure that the credit reports are accurate and timely.”
“However, I am afraid that I still cannot agree to the Member's repeated calls for mandatory counselling for children because I believe that it is better to maintain the current arrangement where the Courts have the discretion to refer the children for counselling on a case-by-case basis, based on the Judge's assessment. Each family and each divorce is unique, and in this House, as we formulate legislation, we need to be careful to retain enough flexibility and discretion in the hands of Judges who are dealing with each family and each case, rather than for us to succumb to the temptation to hardwire all our prescriptions into the resolution of complicated family disputes. I would still maintain the position that I would rather leave this question in the hands of the Family Court Judges. I shall now move on to the comments on the measures and enhanced enforcement of maintenance orders. Mr Kumar, Mdm Phua, Mdm Ho and Ms Lee have all suggested additional sanctions against maintenance defaulters and, indeed, there were many other suggestions on members of the public as well; including confiscating travel documents, imposing curfews, imposing interests for late payments and a plethora of other uncomfortable sanctions. To be honest, my Ministry studied each suggestion very carefully, including suggestions like confiscating handphones and revoking driving licences. But we decided not to embark on this. We felt that many of these suggestions were difficult to enforce fairly and the sanctions bore little nexus to the offence itself which is not paying the maintenance arrears. However, you noticed that in this Act, we have introduced new sanctions.”
“It is not a form-filling exercise but it should reflect a joint commitment by both partners to put the interests of their children first. Currently, Court statistics indicate that a significant proportion of the submitted Parenting Plans are proposed but have not been agreed upon. I think that was what Mr Hri Kumar was alluding to. The aim, then, is to address this by ensuring that both parties come to an agreement on effective, workable and practical parenting and care arrangements for the children under the guidance of trained mediators and counsellors who are familiar with the legal, emotional and psychological dimensions of the custody dispute. This measure will be implemented in stages because we need to make sure that we have adequate numbers of trained and qualified counsellors and mediators. Nevertheless, we still felt that it is important for the Court to retain the discretion to waive the requirement for special cases where counselling or mediation may not be in the interest of all parties, such as those involving family violence or abuse. To address Mr Lim's concern that an uncooperative party may try to stay the divorce proceedings by not attending the requisite mediation or counselling, the proposed provisions empower the Court to exercise appropriate discretion against non-compliant parties. For instance, the non-compliant party may be ordered to pay a reasonable amount in costs. Mdm Cynthia Phua, quite rightly, has expressed her sympathy for children who are affected by their parents' divorce, and it is obviously not the fault of the children.”
“Marriage Central provides easy access to a whole slew of marriage-related programmes and resources through various platforms both in cyberspace as well as in real physical space. The physical space is located at the Woodlands and Jurong Regional Libraries. I would encourage couples who seek help on marriage-related issues to approach Marriage Central. There was also concern expressed by Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Assoc. Prof. Straughan and Ms Wong about the timing and effectiveness of the requirement for divorcing couples with children to attend counselling or mediation at the Court. Let me be very explicit here and clarify that the primary intent of this measure is to mitigate the impact of the divorce on the children. It is not about reversing the couple’s decision to divorce or to help them resolve their personal problems or to restore their marriage. If that happens, that is an additional bonus but that is not the main intent. In fact, the efforts to save the marriage are better pursued upstream through marriage preparation and enrichment programmes and, also, as I alluded to earlier, by providing accessible touch points such as Marriage Central. But couples who have already filed for divorce are unlikely to benefit from mandatory counselling if one or both parties are unwilling to undergo counselling in order to improve the relationship. So, the proposed measure is simply to ensure, indeed to insist, that parents put their children's interests ahead of the conflict that they have as a couple and that they must work out, hopefully amiably, the issues of custody maintenance and division of assets, particularly in respect of their children. I agree totally with Mr Hri Kumar that a parenting plan should not be a paper exercise.”
“Straughan has said, before we even embark on the suggestion of mandatory marriage preparation for everyone, we have to be very clear first, who will benefit, then the quality of the providers. And that is why I have moved very, very carefully and in a very slow way. So we have only, for a start, confined ourselves to marriages involving minors because this is one area where we have clear evidence that this is a group that is more at risk and this is a group for whom intervention makes a difference. As evidence surfaces for other groups, we can then consider it in the future, but I am not willing to rush into this. I will take Assoc. Prof. Straughan’s point that we must accumulate the data and the evidence before we make further moves in this area. Similarly, I do not intend to apply this requirement for marriage preparation to marriages involving divorcees, or to foreign brides or foreign grooms, until we can better ascertain the risk profiles for these different categories of couples. It is also neither necessary nor feasible to mandate the programme for all couples or for us to track those who marry overseas for attendance for marriage courses. What we will do, however, is that we will certainly be prepared to exercise more flexibility and to also work with both secular as well as religious organisations which are providing such marriage preparation courses. There was also a suggestion that we needed to have a marriage centre to provide help on marriage-related issues. Well, I am very pleased to tell Members that, in fact, the National Family Council set up Marriage Central two years ago. This is a one-stop resource point to promote strong, healthy and happy marriages.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I intend to take both Bills through the House today. So, I hope you will forgive me if I rush through the proceedings. I may not be able to answer every query but I assure Members that my staff and I will provide answers to each and every specific question that they have raised in the course of this debate. First of all, let me say I am very heartened by Members' reasoned, logical and persuasive arguments. I am heartened because it has shown that we are moving in the right direction, although I suspect many of you wish we move faster, and maybe the pace is not to your satisfaction. But we are moving in the right direction. Let me get down now to the specifics. There have been many queries about the marriage preparation courses. Evidence from overseas research, as well as our own local experience, have suggested that these programmes are indeed helpful in strengthening marriages. We conducted a survey in 2006 of 800 people, 97% of them who have attended marriage preparation programmes reportedly found them useful. Also, the Muslim community has expanded marriage preparation courses for minors since 2007. They set up two INSPIRASI centres. This measure appears to have borne fruit, as divorces resulting from Muslim minor marriages have fallen by about 15% from 2007 to 2009, and, in fact, by one-third from 2003. The present proposal seeks to extend this practice to civil marriages that have a higher risk of divorce. As there is already a good system in place for Muslim couples, there is no need to amend the Administration of Muslim Law Act in order to require marriage preparation for Muslim marriages. However, we have also been very careful. As Assoc Prof.”
“The fact that the majority of us should not have to use the Women's Charter, the Children and Young Persons Act or the Maintenance of Parents Act does not in itself mean that there is no need for legislation that reflects the accepted values of the majority of Singaporeans. The law reflects what we stand for as a society, it reinforces and reminds us of our values and responsibilities. The law also sets out some legal boundaries and liabilities, especially for the minority in our society who may egregiously fail to live up to their familial responsibilities. Today, we reaffirm the family as the fundamental pillar of our society and renew our commitment that we will all fulfil our roles as parents, spouses and children. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. 4.37 pm”
“This measure signals to the remarrying party that obligations to one's previous family, especially children, continue even after remarriage. It also keeps the potential spouse aware of the partner's outstanding obligations. Whilst the presence of arrears will not bar the marriage from taking place, this measure provides an added impetus for defaulters to pay up. Sir, finally, the Bill also updates the Charter with some technical amendments which I will outline in brief. Clauses 9 and 10 spell out new options for the court for service of summons and stipulate how attachment of earnings orders are to be served. Clause 13 makes a technical amendment to section 130 on how the court should regard the advice of welfare officers, and clause 17 makes related amendments to align the Guardianship of Infants Act to section 130. Clauses 14 and 15 make consequential amendments to section 132(1) and related amendments to the CPF Act respectively to account for the new Part 4A on financial relief for foreign divorces. Lastly, clause 18 empowers the Minister to make regulations of savings or transitional nature for a period of two years, to account for any further technical amendments to the Women's Charter or other Acts arising from this Bill. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me conclude by emphasising the intent of this Bill. This Bill aims to facilitate marriages of overseas Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, to better prepare at-risk couples for marriage, to mitigate the impact of divorces and to strengthen the enforcement of maintenance orders. These amendments are aimed at making a real, positive difference in the lives of families, and especially the more vulnerable children and spouses. It bears repeating here what I stated during the debate on the Maintenance of Parents Act.”
“Imprisonment may also cause defaulters to lose their jobs and thereby exacerbate the problem of non-payment of maintenance. Sections 71(d) to (f) and new sections 71A, 71B and 71C introduce three new sanctions, namely, the imposition of a banker's guarantee against future defaults; secondly, mandatory financial counselling; and thirdly, by community service orders. The banker's guarantee is targeted at those who have the financial means to pay, including those who are self-employed or not on regular employment, for whom an attachment of earnings order may not apply. Mandatory financial counselling will be imposed on defaulters who claim to have genuine financial difficulties but lack financial prudence. It is hoped that with some guidance, such defaulters can make good their responsibilities. Community service orders will be meted out as a punitive deterrent against recalcitrant defaulters, such as those who default repeatedly and pay up at the last minute with no cost to themselves. It is also a useful substitute for jail which can be imposed without hampering the defaulter's ability to work. In addition, section 71(2B) to (2D) empowers complainants to report maintenance debts to designated credit bureaus. This aims to encourage defaulters to pay up or risk tarnishing the credit reputation and their ability to secure loans from banks and other financial institutions. Lastly, we have seen many defaulters who cite their obligations to a new family in order to justify their inability to pay maintenance to the previous family. As such, remarrying persons will now be required to make a statutory declaration on whether they currently owe any maintenance arrears.”
“The Family Court has already reduced the number of trips the complainant has to make by exempting the complainant from the service of summons stage and by reducing the number of mentions wherever possible. The option to file a complaint by a video-link at social service agencies will also be up and ready later this year, thus making it more convenient. The courts had also announced in February last year that more attachment of earnings orders will be issued to require employers of defaulters to pay maintenance directly out of their salary. However, these attachments of earnings may lapse when a person switches to a new employer. To address this gap, section 85 will now be amended to allow the complainant to obtain a disclosure order from the court to get the CPF Board to release information on the employment status of the maintenance payer. The court can then make a new order to attach the payer's earnings from the new employer. To enhance the processes further, clause 8 amends section 79 to allow a committee of judges and lawyers to make rules from maintenance cases, including enforcement proceedings. This will facilitate the court in requiring parties to furnish all relevant information, especially on financial matters. To address the high default rate, clauses 2, 4, 6 and 7 will introduce new sanctions against defaulters. To begin with, the courts' options will be expanded with more sanctions against recalcitrant defaulters. Currently, the courts may direct the arrears to be collected from the defaulter as if it were a fine and send him to jail or make a garnishee order against him. These sanctions are not imposable if the defaulter agrees to pay up at the last minute during a hearing.”
“Under the present law, the Singapore court has power to grant important ancillary financial orders for maintenance of the ex-spouse and children and for the division of matrimonial assets if the parties obtain a divorce from a Singapore court, but not if they have already obtained a divorce overseas. Sir, with the increasing number of Singaporeans working and residing overseas and increasing marriages between locals and foreigners, this proposed provision will help those who are made vulnerable by foreign divorces and who have a relevant connection to Singapore to seek relief. Let me give Members an example: A Singaporean woman who marries a foreigner and then lives in a matrimonial home in Singapore. Suppose the foreign spouse then obtains a divorce from a foreign court which is recognised in Singapore but for some reason makes no financial provisions. Currently, the Singaporean spouse will have no financial remedy in Singapore because the Singapore courts do not have the power to make such ancillary orders. With this new Chapter, the courts here will be able to make orders on matrimonial assets in Singapore and the maintenance for divorces that were obtained in foreign courts. This will plug an existing gap. The related amendments will also be made to the Central Provident Fund Act to effect this, as CPF monies may constitute part of the matrimonial assets to be divided between parties. Strengthening enforcement of maintenance orders Sir, the other main thrust of this Bill is to strengthen the enforcement of maintenance orders. Members of this House may recall that I had spoken at length in March last year on how the courts and my Ministry propose to make the enforcement process less onerous and to address the high default rates.”
“8 times more likely to divorce than if he or she had married at the age of 25, assuming all other characteristics are the same. The marriage preparation programmes for minors will help them to better prepare for marriage, both psychologically and in a practical way. Second, the amendments introduce a new requirement in section 50(3A)-(3E) for divorcing parties who have children to undergo counseling and/or mediation at the Family Court. This will be done after they have filed for divorce. Unfortunately, the interests of children are sometimes compromised by acrimonious battles between divorcing parents, on custody and other related issues. With this measure, trained counsellors and mediators who are familiar with both the legal as well as the emotional/ psychological dimensions of disputes can help these parties to work out effective arrangements in the children’s best interests. And I urge all parents to consider their children’s welfare as paramount when settling ancillary matters pursuant to a divorce. Third, the Bill makes related amendments to the Children’s Development and Co-savings Act to allow the Court to transfer matrimonial assets divided between parents into a Children Development Account. This will safeguard the interests of the children by earmarking some of these monies for their developmental needs. Lastly, a new Chapter 4A of Part X will be introduced in the Charter to empower the Singapore courts to provide financial relief for divorces granted in overseas courts which are also recognised in Singapore.”
“Together with the minimum period of 21 days required between filing and solemnisation of marriage, overseas parties may sometimes have to take extended leave of at least 36 days if they wish to marry in Singapore. Clause 2 amends section 17(2)(a) to waive the 15-day residency requirement for overseas couples where both parties are either Singaporeans or permanent residents. This eases marriage procedures for such couples, whilst the law will continue to safeguard our marriage regime against abuse by people who have no relevant connection to Singapore. Measures to address divorce and mitigate its impact Sir, the Bill also seeks to reduce the risk of divorce and to mitigate its impact. There are four main changes as outlined in clauses 2-5 and clauses 12-16. First, the proposed amendments to section 17(2)(f), section 21(1)(a) and the new section 17A empower the Minister to require certain categories of persons to attend a marriage preparation programme before they can be issued with a marriage license. Let me quickly reassure the House that the intention here is not to prevent anyone from marrying, but to better equip people who are getting married or who may face a higher risk of divorce for the challenges of married life. We know, for instance, that minors – that is young people who have less experience in life and are less prepared to cope with the stresses that come with marriage, such as managing inter-personal relationships, bringing up children, managing finances, handling conflicts, and so on – are at greater risk of divorce. Analysis of marriages and divorces in Singapore has shown that an individual marrying at the age of 20 is 1.4 to 1.”
“Many organisations and members of public had, at various points of the review, taken their time to develop and submit detailed recommendations for my Ministry’s consideration. I would like at this point to thank everyone for their valuable contributions. Naturally, we could not adopt every single recommendation because there was a diversity of views and sometimes even conflicting and contradictory views. And it is not possible for me here to detail our response to each suggestion but, for those of you who are interested, please log on to the REACH website and a more detailed response is available there. I would say that generally, in assessing all the recommendations, we were guided by the overall thrust of the Charter which is focused on protecting vulnerable family members, and also in keeping with our philosophy that the family should be the first line of support for all of us. At present, the Bill has incorporated much of what was submitted, during the last, in fact, two years of consideration. And I think the Bill is all the better for it. Let me now go through the amendments in this Bill, starting first with the marriage laws. Streamlining of marriage requirement The current law requires at least one party of a couple intending to register their marriage in Singapore to have resided in Singapore for at least 15 days before a notice of marriage can be filed. The rationale is to ensure that there is an appropriate nexus between the marrying parties and our local marriage jurisdiction. Basically we do not want Singapore to become a place for a marriage of convenience. With more Singaporeans and permanent residents residing overseas however, this requirement may have unintended consequences.”
“If you fast forward to the year 2002 – of those who were married in that year, 5.3% had divorced five years later. So the point is that the survival span of marriages is falling. Equally worrying is the high incidence of defaults on maintenance payments. Over the last four years, there were about 3,400 applications for enforcement of maintenance orders every year. But beyond the statistics, we also must bear in mind that the fallout from broken families is felt most keenly by the children involved. It is important therefore for us to mitigate the negative impact of family breakdown on children as far as possible. And parents play the most crucial and irreplaceable role in this. The maintenance of children is not the be all and end all of parental responsibility, but it is the starting point, it is an absolute necessity inasmuch as both parents are capable of doing so. And this responsibility cannot be abrogated to the larger community or to the State. Children need to be assured of their parents’ love and commitment despite the marital breakdown. Consequently, one of the key objectives of this Bill is to enhance the divorce and maintenance enforcement procedures so as to empower individuals and the Courts with more options in order to resolve the issues and to mitigate the impact on children. In addition, this Bill also updates our laws pertaining to the requirements for marriages between Singaporeans and permanent residents. Sir, I am aware that these family issues cut across all strata of society and affect most people very deeply. These are emotive issues and many people have very strong views. And that is why we embarked on an extensive consultation prior to the moving of this Bill.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, “That the Bill be now read a Second time.” Sir, the Women’s Charter is now 50 years old. Most of us in the House probably take it for granted. But it is worth reflecting that it was, in a sense, legislation ahead of its time. Today, it sounds almost quaint that 50 years ago, the Legislative Assembly had to pass a law to impose monogamy on our population. This law also provided for the rights and duties of married persons, the protection of family, the maintenance of wives and children, and the punishment of offences against women. This has been one of the defining pieces of social legislation; it has shaped our society and made an impact on our family relationships. It is worthwhile even today as we contemplate amending this law for us to reaffirm the family as the key pillar of our society. The family still forms the best foundation for nurturing our children. It is the nest from which we pursue our hopes and dreams; it is a shelter from the vicissitudes of life, and hopefully a haven for us to spend our last days in dignity and serenity. But, the family is under strain. Mirroring global trends, divorces in Singapore have been increasing over the last two decades. There were 1.3 divorces per 1,000 people in 1990. This has now increased to 2.0 divorces per 1,000 of the population in 2003. Whilst these crude divorce rates appear to have stabilised around 2.0, the overall numbers are still high. Between 2005 and 2009, an average of 6,025 divorces were filed every year at the Family Court and an additional 1,780 at the Syariah Court. More tellingly, recent cohorts of marriages are divorcing faster and earlier. If we look at people who married in 1987, 3.2% had divorced within five years.”
“CYGO has been studying solutions that will enhance outreach to youths-at-risk and coordinate intervention services at the local level to help these youths effectively, and will be piloting some of these ideas soon. Each and every one of our youths is precious and carries our hope for a better future for Singapore. CYGO and MCYS will continue to work with relevant agencies and explore better solutions that will help our young live a crime-free life so as to develop their full potential to be contributing members of society. APPENDICES”
“Offenders placed in the institutional Juvenile Homes spend about two to three years in a purpose-built facility and attend therapeutic, educational and character development programmes to address the offending behaviour and prepare them for reintegration into society. The StreetWise Programme specifically targets youths who found their way into gangs, and provides them with a series of counselling, life skills, recreational and social programmes as well as academic and career guidance in order to steer them away from all forms of association with their gang and help them make a fresh start in life. Our rehabilitative efforts are showing gradual positive outcomes. The recidivism rate for the juvenile offenders who have gone through the Guidance Programme, probation or Juvenile Homes has dropped from 23.9% among cases closed in 2003 to 19.8% among cases closed in 2006. Recidivism here refers to having re-offended within three years after completion of a rehabilitation programme. For the StreetWise Programme, up till December 2009, 1,017 youths have been referred to the programme. Among youths who have completed the programme, only one in 10 had offended within one year following completion. In November 2010, a revised model for the programme has been introduced, which will have greater emphasis on individual and family counselling as well as gang intervention topics. Despite the low recidivism, the Government recognises that we need to go upstream, to keep our youths away from crime from the start and break the cycle of offending and re-offending early. To strengthen the upstream efforts, the Central Youth Guidance Office (CYGO) was formed in July this year which will comprise officers from the three key ministries – MOE, MCYS and MHA.”
“As a society, we strive to build a safe and secure environment for our young to grow up in. We invest heavily in the healthcare and education of our youth and children. While the majority of our youths mature to be contributing citizens of society, a small number of them go down the path of delinquency and crime. Over the years, the number of arrests of juveniles aged seven to 15 has dropped from 2,637 in 2004 to 1,783 in 2009. Shop theft is the most common offence committed. Arrests for rioting are also of concern, accounting for one in 10 juveniles arrested. The decrease in juvenile arrests indicates that our efforts have helped our young stay away from crime. Crime prevention roadshows and prison visits for students educate our youths on the consequences of breaking the law. Parents are also alerted of their children’s at-risk activities through the "Youth Hanging Out Late" letters by the Police. Under the Enhanced STEP-UP Programme, local community agencies provide client-centric intervention to guide students at risk of dropping out of school to be re-engaged either with schools or alternative meaningful activities. For the youth offenders, we have a range of community- and institutional-based rehabilitative programmes to help them learn from their mistakes and get a second chance in life. The Guidance Programme and Probation Programmes provide youths who committed petty offences with offence specific intervention, community service and experiential activities to teach them positive life skills and reduce the risks of re-offending.”
“It is not just counselling for the perpetrator, but for the victim and to strengthen the self-resilience of the family to be able to cope with the initial trauma, as well as to put in the safety mechanisms to prevent future recurrence of such threats. This will always be work-in-progress. Even as we uplift the standards of co-ordination and communication, we will do our best to minimise things like this from occurring and cases slipping through the cracks. I cannot tell and give the Member a guarantee that child abuse will never occur or that we can prevent every single case before it happens, very often in the privacy of the home. But we will do our best. Column No : 1851 SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FOR SCHOOLS 5. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry is satisfied with the desired outcomes since the implementation of the Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for schools; (b) how many schools have reduced its list of sports offerings under Co-Curricula Activity (CCA) for students in the last two years and what are the reasons; (c) how does the Ministry prevent schools from over-focusing on competitive sports in order to win the SAA at the expense of other sports; and (d) how does the Ministry ensure that schools offer at least a minimum number of sports for CCAs to benefit non-competitive students.”
“Mdm Halimah Yacob is absolutely right that there is a great need for close collaboration and communication amongst all the stakeholders. As I said earlier, the initial points of contact can be the school, hospital, family service centres, sometimes members of public or neighbours, or other family members. So the initial warning signs can come through different channels. We already have a system. For instance, in hospitals, the moment the child is admitted and detected as having a non-accidental injury, doctors and nurses have an SOP. I can tell Members this from personal experience. We know that a report needs to be lodged, the report goes to the Child Protection Service, and the Child Protection Service could then embark on a separate investigation into the social circumstances of that particular family. The point is that it is not as if we are starting without any basis for collaboration and co-ordination. There is. But having said that, as the Member has pointed out the one terrible example, there will always be occasions when we could have done more or better. That is specifically what we are looking at. Some of the Member's suggestions are suggestions which we certainly intend to pursue. For instance, tagging certain cases that would remain of concern, even after their release from prison. When we tag that case, in the sense we have to tag that family. That family has to remain under surveillance or monitoring by our social agencies. The Member's other suggestion about having an alert system before the person is released from prison or hospital or any other treatment facility: the family and the community services supporting that family need to be kept informed. The Member's other suggestion about the need for counselling is also something which we are pursuing.”
“My Ministry had initiated the review of the Child Protection System in May this year. We did this in order to assess the adequacy and robustness of our Child Protection System. The work is being undertaken by an inter-agency Workgroup comprising MCYS officers, representatives from various Government agencies, as well as external members who are familiar with the Child Protection System. We have also engaged two overseas consultants to carry out an independent review of the service, paying specific attention to the effectiveness of our internal processes, our training systems and our resourcing of officers, as well as inter-agency partnerships. In order to understand the inter-agency challenges better, we conducted several focus group discussions with key stakeholders: namely, the hospitals, schools, Police, voluntary children’s homes and Family Services Centres. The findings of the consultants and the focus group discussions are still being deliberated by the inter-Ministry workgroup. So I am not in the position to give definitive outcomes. But I can share that there have been some preliminary findings, which we re-affirm first the need for closer collaboration and co-ordination between the Child Protection Services on one hand, and the other partnering Government and community agencies on the other hand. We also need to provide more training for all stakeholders. Training specifically in the detection, prompt reporting and handling of reports of child abuse. We are also evaluating the need to develop more specialised services to support children who may have been victims of abuse. We expect the review to be completed by March next year, and I will have more things to say about it, at that point in time.”
“The answer is "yes". The Member is referring to the baseline study that was performed by KK Hospital's Child Development Unit, some VWOs and MCYS. I have gone through the results of their study. As a baseline, it exposed a lot of what we do not know. These are known-unknowns, and I am trying to track down all these known-unknowns. We will certainly not re-invent the wheel, but we will build upon the past studies. Column No : 1847 REVIEW OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES 4. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) whether the Ministry has completed the review of the Child Protection Services that was announced in June this year; (b) what are the gaps that have been identified; and (c) when will the changes be implemented.”
“The answer to the Member's first supplementary question, clearly, is "yes". We do need a multi-disciplinary team and we will certainly be open to participation from those on the ground who have experience and expertise. The key objective is to come up with a more evidence-based approach to the way we manage these children. As a former doctor who had to look after many children and parents who had disabled children, it breaks my heart to see parents desperately trying all kinds of therapies, some of which are completely unproven, some in fact maybe unhelpful. A lot of these therapies are expensive and have tremendous impact on the parents' stress level and on their finances. I want to have a system where we can truly assess and then based on those assessments, advise parents what works, what does not work, what is useful, what is speculative, so that all of us – parents, service providers, the volunteer sector providing those services, the donors donating the money and the Government co-investing in the services – know which areas to invest in. This leads me to the Member's second supplementary question. Based on the results of this study, we will have to make necessary adjustments. There may be some programmes which we will expand and in which it will be justified for us to invest more. There may be other programmes which we need to cut back on or to redirect. But let us not pre-judge the issue. As I have said, I want a more evidence-based approach to this very sensitive area.”
“I am pleased to inform Ms Denise Phua that the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is commissioning the National Institute of Education (NIE) to embark on an impact study for early intervention programmes for children with special needs. Presently, the Government provides funding to eight Voluntary Welfare Organisations to run 12 Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) centres. The initial phase of the study aims to develop standardised disability coding and assessment tools for evaluating children’s outcomes in five developmental domains. These domains include: (i) fine and gross motor skills; (ii) cognition and perception; (iii) communication and language: (iv) social; and (v) self-help skills. Once we have established these tools, they will help us to assess how well the children are progressing in EIPIC programmes in each of these five dimensions. This, in turn, will allow us to assess the efficacy of the programmes and the sub-components within each of these programmes in EIPIC centres. MCYS will involve key stakeholders namely, MOE, MOH and the hospitals under MOH’s Child Development Programme (KKH and NUH) in order to tap their expertise in providing guidance and inputs for the study. There will be several phases and it will take several years for this study to be completed. I hope to commence the first phase some time next year. The second part of the Member's question is really related to general pre-school education which is outside my ambit and should be addressed by MOE. Anyway, there will be a whole motion on pre-school education later today.”
“SINGAPORE'S INTERESTS IN G20 MEETINGS 22. Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) what is Singapore's interest(s) in the G20 proceedings and in spearheading the 3G process; (b) what direct benefits do they bring; and (c) what is their impact on Singapore's position and image in the global arena.”
“My Ministry recognises that some of our older community sports facilities need to be upgraded to meet the changing needs of Singaporeans. Hence, I have tasked the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) to work on a Sports Facilities Master Plan to formulate strategies and plans to optimise the entire landscape of sports and recreational facilities. The aim is to provide affordable facilities to better serve the community, training centres for our elite athletes to help them win medals for Singapore and to help develop the sports industry. Our experiences in integrating sports and community facilities, such as in Sengkang-Anchorvale and Bukit Panjang-Senja-Cashew, have been very positive with more public using the new facilities compared to the older facilities. For example, the utilisation rate for Sengkang Swimming Complex is 75% higher than other swimming complexes. Further, the integration at Bukit Panjang-Senja-Cashew has also provided residents with greater convenience through the single booking counter to register for both sports and community activities. To continue to reap the benefits of integration, the latest project in the pipeline is the Bedok Sports and Recreation Centre and Kampong Chai Chee Community Club. This redevelopment will see an integration of a new community club and sports facilities such as the swimming complex, sports hall and gymnasium within the town centre. The Sports Facilities Master Plan would explore further collaboration opportunities with other community facilities to provide a one-stop integrated lifestyle centre to meet the changing demands of Singaporeans. Such redevelopment would also be phased in with the ongoing rejuvenation of our towns. SSC will consult their stakeholders on the Master Plan in the coming months.”
“And often what you are dealing with is an intrafamilial dispute on the relative apportionment of responsibility and care among siblings. Our attempt to deter people from playing games and also the amendments to push people towards conciliation in the first instance, and then if an agreement was reached at conciliation to have it then endorsed by the Tribunal and have that as an consent order. All these things are attempts to reduce the pain in what is already fundamentally a painful process. So I totally support the thrust of the Member's amendments in that respect. I would also agree with those Members who said that we need to continue with public education and I would agree with Assoc. Prof. Straughan that we need to do our best no matter how tough things are to keep supporting the institution of family, to make it fashionable to have a family, to be committed to a family, to discharge your responsibilities and to remind everyone that no matter how successful you are – financially or career-wise – if you have not provided for your parents, you really have not achieved success. And honouring your parents in your life does mean that that care must be expressed in a very real way. And this law, therefore, simply provides for a modicum, a minimum expression of what should for the majority of us be an automatic reflex but in life and in this Chamber we know that some automatic reflexes cannot be counted upon abashedly and so sometimes the law has to step in. I will give the assurance to Members of this House that my Ministry will implement this law carefully, sensitively and rationally so that we do not make problems worse. On that note, I support this motion. 6.58 pm”
“So, I am stating all this because I do not want Members to get themselves into a fluster to say that we are really going to compute each and every act of parenting and compute an equivalent that the child is going to repay. We are just providing here a very basic boundary which reminds everyone that we have an obligation to our parents. In fact, in its operation, it provides a very basic level of support to the parents. Frankly, by the time parents have reached this stage and have to come to us for help, they are already in a very miserable state and they are miserable not just because of the physical deprivation but because of the poverty of relationships which has resulted in that situation. Having said that, I support the amendments that Mr Seah is raising because I think they achieve a couple of things. First, we really do not want this Act to be used too often. Even if people have recourse to it, we want to avoid legal action. And that is why I supported the fact that he was really pushing for conciliation. Even the amendments which would give more investigative power to the Commissioner and the Tribunal by being able to access Government databases so that we can contact the missing child or missing children. We can also verify their levels of income and check whether their accounts that they are sharing with the Tribunal and with their parents are accurate or not. All that is really to deter people from playing games with their parents and using their parents as pawns or as bargaining chips. In fact, very often, I think about a quarter of all applications to the Tribunal do not come from the parents. It comes from other children of the parents.”
“That is the first point. Secondly, and more importantly, I want to state for the record that the Government's responsibility is to help the vulnerable and the genuinely needy in our society. But let me also state that we have constructed our social safety net on the pillars of self-reliance, family responsibility, community support and Government as the final safety net. Let me state categorically, therefore, that this piece of legislation is not some back route for the Government to abdicate its responsibility to look after the needy and the vulnerable in our society – not at all. Let me also go on to state that this term "reciprocity of care", which Mr Seah introduced and was also in some of the other speeches. Before we get carried away with it, we had better go back to the original legislation. So I have checked very carefully. First of all, I could not find the term "reciprocity of care" in the original Act nor in the Bill. So, I decided to read again the Bill carefully and see what this Bill is really about. This Bill really provides for basic amenities and basic physical needs, including but not limited to shelter, food and clothing for a person domiciled and resident in Singapore who is of or above 60 years of age. We are not talking here about quantifying how well your parenting contributions were to the child and then as Assoc. Prof. Straughan said, "Take out the files and see all the bills and, therefore, the child will have to support the parents this way". In fact, when I went on to check the records of the decisions of the Tribunal and see exactly how much money had been awarded – did you know, between 40% and 50% of those awards, in fact, are less than the Public Assistance that we deliver to people.”
“I will have to address these three points because these are three central points in her speech and I think these are issues which some other people outside this Chamber are also worried about. The vast majority of Singaporeans understand what it means to love one woman, to be committed and monogamous. For all of us who have had children, the moment we held our first child in our arms, we understood what it is like to give unconditional love. And for the vast majority of Singaporeans, we also know, even if we do not get abstract about it, what filial piety is all about. But we have laws like the Women's Charter, the Children and Young Persons Act, both of which are due for amendment. In fact, I introduced the amendment Bills yesterday. Today, we are debating the Maintenance of Parents Act. The fact that the majority of us should not have to use the Women's Charter, the Children and Young Persons Act or the Maintenance of Parents Act does not in itself mean that there is no need for legislation which reflects the accepted values of the majority of Singaporeans. It is, in a sense, an echo of what we stand for as a society and I think we should not make any apology for having such laws. In fact, if we check the literature, we are not unique in the world. China has had some laws and, in fact, Mr Sam Tan has told us that these are thousands of years old. There are similar laws in India and, I understand, also in Canada and in Israel. So we are not unique. Whilst it is difficult to encapsulate the entire meaning of family relations within the law, there is still a need, nevertheless, for us to have some laws which set some boundaries, especially for the minority of us who may egregiously offend, transcend or break boundaries which the rest of us do not want to break.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, the MPA has been a law which has been implemented by my Ministry for about 15 years. I think we should start with recognising what has changed over these 15 years. We have all affirmed the primacy of the family as an institution, as a key pillar of our society. But we also need to recognise that the family is under considerable strain. The traditional family form is changing and, together with that, the norms and the values around the family. Today, the average family size is 3.5. In 1990, it was 4.2. In the year 2000 it was 3.7 and I expect this reduction in household size to continue in the years ahead. With globalisation, we also know that more and more of us are working, living or studying abroad and we have got other worrying trends – low birth rates, later marriages, higher divorces, complex-blended families. So, all this means that we cannot take the family as an institution for granted. Therefore, let me also then address some of Assoc. Prof. Straughan's points. I think she knows me well enough to know that I respect her views but because I respect her views, I will have to answer them and to answer them robustly. The crux of her speech was that filial piety is an ideology, a value, something abstract, something so close to our heart and something that defies encapsulation by legislation. Furthermore, she went on to say that because children did not ask to be born, therefore there is no way we can construct a contractual agreement between parents and children. Then there was a slightly more dangerous twist in that argument. Her third point was that actually all these problems can be solved by the Government doing more – promoting the institution of family, having more family education, providing safety nets for older people.”
“This is something which we will have to do more of as we talk about working with young people at risk with peer group pressures, that they have access to mentors who will help these children develop, and develop positively, even in a situation where they may be bereft of at least some parental supervision. Unfortunately, we do know that children of divorce couples are over-represented as far as juvenile delinquency and other negative social phenomena are concerned. So these are the facts, what I am laying out is the fact that we need a total approach to this. The parents, the couples themselves, the social religious community entities, the Family Courts and MCYS. There is no magic bullet and no quick solution to it. The other problem here, of course, unlike say, youth crime, is that we are working against an upward trend, as far as divorces are concerned, and also earlier divorces. I expect that in the future, there will be more children who, at an earlier stage of their lives, are exposed to the trauma of divorce. So, I will not say that everything that we have done today is enough. We will have to do more simply because we are swimming upstream. CRIME AND RECIDIVISM RATES BETWEEN 2005 AND 2008 6. Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs what is the incidence of (i) offences against persons; (ii) offences against property; and (iii) drug offences, for the period 2008 to the present as compared to the period of 2005 to 2008. 7. Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the recidivism rates for (i) offences against persons; (ii) offences against property; and (iii) drug offences for the period from 2008 to the present as compared to the period of 2005 to 2008.”
“Like many social issues, this is complex and requires intervention at multiple levels. First, even before marriage occurs, we have to make sure that people go into it fully prepared. So, some of the measures which were taken in the preceding years include things like trying to discourage minor marriages because there is a disproportionate number of minor marriages that end up in divorce. Secondly, to encourage people to go for marriage preparation courses, not State-run but run by social, religious or other community entities with which the couple has either a cultural or religious affinity with because all these help to build a larger safety net around the couple. Third, MCYS, through the Family Services Centres, also tries to run marriage enrichment courses or courses which remind people not to take marriage for granted and that marriage is an ongoing commitment and requires constant work and nurture. But beyond that, I think we also need to bear in mind the fact that these are personal, private decisions and personal, private responsibilities. The State cannot mandate love, we cannot order people to stay in love and we also have to recognise that, frankly, for some couples, they may have reached a stage where a divorce may be the best of a series of bad choices which are available to them. What we need to do then is to mitigate the damage, particularly, the downstream consequences and damage to the children. And that is Mdm Cynthia Phua's point on making sure that they have adequate access to counselling. The answer is MCYS will continue to do so, minimise disruption to housing, pay attention to schooling.”
“I explained earlier in my answer that HDB is already involved early on in the process, particularly for the low-income families because the HDB will work out all the different housing options which they are eligible for and this information from HDB then becomes useful for both the contending parties as well as the Court to bear in mind before a decision is made. And the objective here again is to minimise the disruption. Having said that, there will always be some and although we can minimise it, we cannot immunise or indemnify the children from all the problems that will be brought upon them by the parental choices. So, the Member has my assurance that the HDB, MCYS, the Family Service Centres, the counselling services of the Family Court and ultimately the Judges of the Family Court will bear all these points in mind as we make decisions and implement the system.”
“I thank Mdm Cynthia Phua for those two supple mentary questions. I have explained earlier that we were not keen on making counselling mandatory. We wanted to give the Court the flexibility to make an appropriate decision depending on the circumstances of each case, and you know the cases will be unique. But I recognise the Member's point that younger children are at greater risks, they may have difficulties expressing themselves and processing the trauma which they are undergoing; and the counselling would probably be more beneficial or more helpful in their cases. But let us leave this decision to (i) the parents involved, and (ii) give the Court the flexibility to make a decision which is appropriate, fair and effective. The second point is just as important and I totally agree with the Member that having to move out of a house in the aftermath of a divorce is extremely disruptive for children. Having to change schools, make new friends, settle in to new arrangements and, almost always, in circumstances in which finances will be tighter than they were before divorce. All these illustrate why parents, for couples that are embarking on this terrible process of dissolving a marriage, need to really do so by putting the children's interests first and foremost. And perhaps even that should take precedence over seeking vengeance or retribution or attrition – all the negative aspects that accompany the process of divorce.”
“Whilst counselling may be useful and may even be essential in some cases, it may not be necessary in all cases. Also, we should bear in mind that counselling children alone would not be helpful if the divorcing parents themselves are unable to manage the divorce and its aftermath in a calm and satisfactory manner. Any counselling would have to involve the parents, as we need to bear in mind that it is still both parents who are responsible ultimately for the children and for providing continued love and support. Studies elsewhere have shown that divorces can have a very negative impact on children and in many different areas. We are open to conducting similar studies in Singapore and, in fact, we do welcome researchers to tap on the MCYS's Family Research Fund (FRF), which supports research on family trends and issues in Singapore with a view to informing policy-making. Let me end by stressing that children will always be adversely affected by a divorce. There are no easy solutions. But I would urge any couples contemplating a divorce to place the welfare of their child or children as their paramount priority rather than to engage in a destructive battle of attrition.”
“Where necessary, the Family Court may also order the parties and the children to attend parenting workshops or to order that access and transfer of children be done under the supervision of a social worker in a social service agency, like a Family Service Centre. However, the Family Court and relevant agencies do not track the number of children who go through counselling during the entire process of divorce or separation of their parents. To further safeguard the interests of children in divorcing families, the Family Court has, since 2008, implemented a programme called Children's Best Interests, Less Adversarial (CHILD) which basically means we are trying to avoid an adversarial hearing of disputes involving children and hoping to eliminate unnecessary affidavits. Divorcing parents who volunteer to be on this programme are guided by counsellors to focus on working out care arrangements, parental duties and responsibilities post-divorce, rather than focusing on the more acrimonious aspects of the process. For Muslim divorces, while the Syariah Court does not direct children for counselling, it has, since January this year, been collaborating with As-Salaam PPIS Family Support Centre to run a voluntary programme focusing on young children in divorcing families. One of this programme's objectives is to identify potential at-risk children and to facilitate their access to national resources and also to raise awareness amongst families on importance of helping children cope with a parental divorce. The current system thus accords flexibility to provide counselling for children where it is necessary. We should study carefully a proposal of making such counselling mandatory.”
“This is in addition to the existing arrangements where solicitors are required to submit documents on the settlement of the matrimonial flat to the Court for its decision. There is nothing to prevent an ex-spouse with children from staying in, continuing to stay or renting a flat that is owned by the former spouse, as Mdm Phua has suggested. However, on the ground, such an arrangement is unlikely to work if there has been an acrimonious divorce. Mdm Phua had also asked for statistics on children affected by divorce and the counselling requirements for these children. Between 2005 and 2009, an average of 6,025 divorces was filed every year in the Family Court and 1,780 at the Syariah Court. About half of the Family Court's and 70% of the Syariah Court's cases involved families with children below the age of 21. Yearly, the average number of children below the age of 21 who are affected by the divorces of their parents, therefore, amounts to about 4,700 and 2,600 for marriages under Women's Charter and the Administration of Muslim Law Act respectively. At different stages of the divorce process, the Family Court will assess the need for children to undergo counselling. At the onset of divorce proceedings, children may be referred for counselling during the Pre-Trial Conference if custody is likely to be disputed. At the hearing, if the Court assesses that the children require support counselling; it may refer them to the counsellors at the Counselling and Psychological Services of the Family Court or relevant community resources.”
“Sir, Mdm Cynthia Phua has asked both questions relating to the impact of divorces on children, focusing on the issues of housing and counselling. I will handle the issue of housing first. Under the Women's Charter, the Court will decide on the division of matrimonial assets. In arriving at its decision, the Court will consider all the relevant circumstances of the divorcing couple. Among other things, the Court will take into account the extent of the contributions made by each party, the needs of the children and any agreement between the parties on the ownership and division of the assets. The present arrangement provides more flexibility for the Court. Making it a requirement for the matrimonial flat or house to be sold for the proceeds to be shared by both parents may not necessarily be in the best interests of the children involved in a divorce. In the case where the matrimonial flat is a HDB flat, only the parent who obtains legal custody of the children is considered to have formed an eligible family nucleus, and allowed to retain or take over the ownership of the HDB flat. For such cases, the HDB may grant a mortgage loan for this parent, subject to credit assessment. The CPF Board had also revised its Act in October 2007 to allow the Court to order zero or a partial refund of CPF monies to the ex-spouse, based on the merits of the case. The Subordinate Courts and HDB have recently worked out an arrangement to provide more help to low-income households undergoing a divorce. Under this arrangement, the HDB would first assess the feasibility of the preferred housing options of the divorcing couple. With this information, the Courts will then be in a better position to make a more informed decision on the housing for the divorcing parties.”
“Mr Speaker, can I take Question Nos. 4 and 5 together?”