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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“That is a suggestion I can consider. But, at this point in time, I do not think there is a rate-limiting factor. The key thing is for the NSAs to be proactive in their planning, recruitment and the programme to evaluate and prepare these athletes for training. I can give this House the assurance that there will be no unnecessary administrative delays in these applications. Like I said, I take a personal interest in each and every single application. So, there will be no unnecessary delays. USE OF HIGH DENSITY LIGHTS ON VEHICLES 10. Mr Siew Kum Hong asked the Minister for Transport what is the rationale for permitting high density lights to be installed on vehicles, especially sports utility vehicles, considering that use of fog lights is illegal except in low-visibility conditions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Foreign Sports Talent (FST) scheme was started in 1993 as a means to raise the standards of our sports performance, particularly in international competitions. This was meant to provide occasions for national pride as well as elevate our overall standards, leading ultimately to increased local interest and performance in sports. So, ultimately, it is about local Singaporeans. The scheme is administered by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and it will consider applications put up by the National Sports Associations (NSAs). These applications must have evidence of comprehensive training plans, competition plans as well as a programme to integrate these foreign athletes into our local society. All these applications which are supported by SSC are then put up to my Ministry. I personally vet each and every application, and those which are endorsed are then submitted to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for approval. The length of each approval process varies, depending on each case. On average, our foreign-born athletes take about two-and-a-half years to move from employment pass status to becoming naturalised Singaporean citizens.”
“I agree entirely with the Member. Part of our problem is that we have become so well-organised and squeaky clean a society that there are very little, in ecological terms, niches where people can sustain themselves. I agree with the Member that we need to be flexible. But I think that we also need to understand - the Minister for the Environment is not here - that NEA also has to manage its own set of trade-offs. Hygiene, food poisoning, public health, waste disposal are always an issue. The solution - again, to use Dr Teo Ho Pin as an example - is, if at the local level, you can organise it such that people can make some money, generate some living, and it is safe, hygienic and does not break any rules, or, if need be, come to the Ministries and change those rules so that they are more flexible and people do not get fined. We want, ultimately, to create a society in which people like that are encouraged. They have some skills which they can translate into an honest day's living, let us enable them to do so. Let us change rules, exercise flexibility, facilitate, help them, set up social enterprises, have an army of concerned individuals out there calling hotlines, emailing us, badgering us in the House, outside the House, in the lift, etc. To me, this is healthy. It shows a society in which the work ethic is still there, opportunities are still present, people still care and we have a system of government that is responsive and flexible to enable us to take care of the most vulnerable members of our society in a way which keeps their self-respect and allows all of us to live and do well with a clear conscience. That, ultimately, is what my Ministry's work is all about.”
“It is cheaper to cook for one person. The point I was trying to make is that every family will have different needs and preferences. I am not by any stretch of the imagination claiming that what we are offering as public assistance is a generous package. I am not saying that. But what I am saying is that it is enough, by and large, for most families to get by and, for those who have needs over and beyond that, there are other means to do so. If every one was starving on this amount that we are giving and is totally devoid of any other sources of help, Pelangi Home would be overcrowded, and I would be building many, many more Pelangi Homes. So, in the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, any one of us, if we search hard enough, may be able to find a family or people who need additional help. But I would also say that any one of us, if we really put our minds to it, is capable of finding those additional sources of help. What I am designing is a system in which public assistance can and should be complemented by other sources of help. I think we can continue arguing this and we can continue finetuning the exact amount that is needed. But let us just bear in mind the fact that the system is set up with a certain amount of tension, and it is a healthy tension. In fact, I cannot resist saying that I am very disappointed that in the whole debate on MCYS, the Opposition MPs have not participated in this, and I have actually faced real probing questions more from the PAP MPs and the Nominated MPs. Perhaps, they totally agree with my policies, philosophy and programmes.”
“How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?”
“So my attitude is that I am not aiming for monopoly, but what I am aiming for is to have at least one and, preferably, more agencies that are capable of doing these detailed evaluations and matching IT appliances and IT programmes to the needs of the disabled. If she has organisations that are willing to put their hand out, I am sure my staff will be happy to consider.”
“I feel that we need to assemble a group of people, and she knows once I said that, that means another group of concerned stakeholders out there. I am not talking about setting up another civil service committee. A group of experts out there, it needs people to sit down, review the literature and see what works, what does not work, what is useful, what is not useful, what is harmful, and then we need to make sure that parents and other stakeholders have access to this information and then rational choices will be made. Because, otherwise, now, you have a situation where people are reacting to hearsay or, worse, reacting to stuff they read on the Internet with no verification, and they are making all kinds of demands for all kinds of services which may or may not do any good, and, as she herself has said, sometimes, it does more harm than good. Her final point is on the IDA funding. In fact, MCYS also funds assistive technology. I will take the approach that I will make this available, not necessarily to just one agency, but to all VWOs that show they are capable of making these detailed evaluations as to what appliance or software programme is most applicable in these conditions. I have to strike a balance. If I take the money and distribute it equally to everyone, what is likely to happen is that each of the VWOs will never develop the depth of experience and expertise needed to make these detailed evaluations. On the other hand, if I give it to one person, then I have nine other VWOs who are very unhappy why I have given to that one monopoly.”
“First question, more money for early intervention programmes, the answer is, yes, we have committed to that. In fact, when we introduced the very unpopular move of means testing, I had also committed that we would put more money into this sector. In fact, with means testing, some parents would pay a little bit more, plus our additional funding, overall, the pie for early intervention will increase as far as dollars and cents are concerned. But what is more important is her second point, that is, not quantity and it is not just absolute dollars, but the quality of these early intervention programmes. In this regard, I will have to stand advised by the professionals, the people and the stakeholders with the most in the sector, and, therefore, you are aware that we are working very closely with MOE and, where relevant, we are also working with the VWOs because they are still the primary stakeholders in this sector. The issue of quality will always be somewhat controversial. Because if you take 10 VWOs and you ask them to assess each other's quality, it gets difficult. So what we can do then is start working on teachers, making sure that teachers in these programmes have training, appropriate qualifications, opportunities to upgrade themselves, and access to the latest research, latest methods in pedagogy, and so on and so forth. Equally important is the education of parents. As a healthcare professional, nothing hurts me more than to see parents clutching at straws in getting all kinds of treatments, or so-called treatments, because they hope it will make a difference to their children. Very often, they are just wasting time and money and, as she has said, sometimes, actually hurting the children. So what we need is a good public education programme.”
“I was smiling at Ms Denise Phua when she said that, because she usually scolds me for outsourcing. Let me put it this way. If there are jobs which can be best performed by the private sector or people sector, we would happily outsource it. Because my attitude is that it is not important exactly who does it, but make sure the job is done well and that resources are spent in a cost-effective and fair way. Yes, I will be most happy to look for those opportunities, but I am also mindful, before Ms Denise Phua stands up, that I accept her principle that there are some things which perhaps the Government should do because Government does best. So let us keep an open mind, and realise that the situation is changed. We have to be flexible and to adapt accordingly. Miss Penny Low: I thank the Minister for his answer and I do agree that there are functions that should be still within MCYS, but those on the periphery should certainly be examined. But in view of the increasing income gap, the ageing society, I think the need for social programmes will always be on the increase. And the Minister mentioned very clearly in his speech yesterday, and even today, that the key is in building a self-reliant society. One very powerful solution is obviously the social enterprises and the socially responsible enterprises, and there is, in fact, a SE documentary, an eight-part TV documentary ---”
“But another interesting thing happened. I think some NGOs - and I think the Member participated in at least a couple of those missions - after a while, decided that they would call themselves Team Singapore. I never imposed that on them but they called themselves Team Singapore and they happily and proudly put on the Singapore flag, and I want to encourage that kind of spontaneous self-organisation. Yes, Government will stand by, Government will support and facilitate, but let us keep the leadership and that sense of commitment, passion and ownership entirely with the people sector. So, I think, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the level of trust and communication of our NGOs, Government and MCYS is probably at a reasonably happy and functioning level, and I think she can probably attest to that herself.”
“I apologise if the hotline service was not functioning. Next time, just call one of us directly. I think there is no excuse for these operational services to be unavailable. I come back to the Member's first question on NGOs, particularly as they perform work overseas. I had a first-hand experience of this when the tsunami occurred. That was in December 2004. The first lesson I learnt was that there is a role for Government and there is also a separate and complementary role for NGOs. Yes, in terms of assets, the ability to mobilise resources - move, transport project, people and assets - nothing beats the military, and the military belongs to the Government. But in terms of volunteers, getting people to exercise compassion and donate money out of their own free will, that is surely the domain of NGOs. Then the next issue that came up was coordination and there were calls at that time for MCYS to coordinate, to take the lead. I decided that MCYS would act as the secretariat. That means we would not lead but we would facilitate. We would help, we would connect and we would network. So, yes, we did call meetings but at all these meetings, I took great pains to ensure that leadership and ownership belonged to the non-government organisations, and I said that we were there to help them overcome obstacles, hurdles, and to connect them with the right people. In the case of the tsunami, it was obviously getting people, the donations and the assets that they had collected and to be able to project them and their assets into the areas of operations. And, I think, at the end of that experience, it worked out quite nicely. There was not this sense that Government was taking over and running the NGOs because if we did that, they would no longer be NGOs.”
“All in all, what we hope to achieve is that we will have enough social workers and youth workers. All these workers will be properly qualified, properly trained, and we will be able to have a self-sustaining sector well capable of upgrading itself.”
“I will answer the question on training of youth workers. Actually, it is part of a larger question of social workers and other professionals in social services. When we started off, I think we were grateful that anyone would just say that he or she is a youth worker or a social worker. There were no minimum standards and no certification. Even today, I am not sure that we have a formal register of social workers which allows someone to say that this person is a qualified or licensed social worker or not. But in the Ministry, and we have been discussing this with NCSS as well as the VWOs, we believe the time has come in Singapore to establish such a professional register to define the qualifications, training and experience, but this is not something which I want to impose. I want to work with the sector too because if you believe in social work and social services as a profession, then one hallmark of the profession is self-regulation. So my Ministry will work with the profession on this. The next thing then is that we also realise there is a need for professional upgrading, to stay in touch, and that is why I announced yesterday that we set aside funds which can be used to attend courses, take sabbaticals, and to make sure that with time, people get to refresh and sharpen their professional skills. The other issue we looked at was the capacity, ie, do we have training places in the universities and institutes of higher learning, even in the private centres? And also within NCSS, they have established what we call the SSTI (Social Services Training Institute). So, we are looking at a combination of measures - self-regulation, professional definition, professional upgrading and capacity for training.”
“That is precisely the reason why I set up a committee headed by Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon so that when there are exceptional circumstances which require flexibility, this committee can do so. But, again, I just want to remind everyone that we still need to have criteria, and there still needs to be a cut-off point. We can argue, age 35, 34 or 36, but wherever you set it, there will be boundary issues. On the issue of work, again, Members know, I start from the starting point that we want to encourage people to work and we do not want to have a situation where the person's chances of getting a hundred thousand dollars is enhanced simply by saying that, "I'm unemployed." But if there are genuine and real reasons for his status, then we will exercise flexibility, and I would encourage Members to send their appeals to Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon. Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, I am really heartened by the proactive approach taken by MCYS for our future plans. Can the Minister clarify to the House the difference between the centre for seniors that I believe is being launched very soon and the centre for third age which was mentioned by Mr Lim yesterday? I think it would be good for all of us to know the difference between the two. The second point is on training for youth workers in general. Earlier, this was discussed in relation to the Malay community. Can I request some clarification on the current training for youth workers at MCYS?”
“Having said that, if he can devise such a scheme, I will be most happy to consider it.”
“Sir, Dr Lam will know that in medicine, we never say never. Similarly, in public policy, we have to constantly review the situation. But at any point in time, a decision has to be made and a position taken and the rationale given. I have said that at this point in time, we are not in favour of having a caregiver's allowance. I believe he quite rightly identified the challenge when he said that some families need more help, and I can accept that as a starting point. If you agree that some families need more help, then the key is to identify the characteristics of these families that need more help and to identify who and where these families are. Then the next thing is to decide what are the additional resources or money which they need. If you work through that logic, caregiver's allowance is just one of many options which can be considered to devote more resources to these families in need. And I said yesterday that I was not in favour of it because it was a complicated thing. You are trying to put value first on family and filial responsibility but, more important than that, it still requires significant resources and, at the end of the day, my job is to take whatever resources that I have available from MOF, but ultimately from the taxpayers of Singapore, and channel those resources to those in greatest need. It is just that at this point in time, I would rather focus my mind on identifying who are these families that he has spoken about who have exceptional needs, who need more help, rather than giving everybody who declares that he or she is a caregiver an allowance, and that is what I meant by "deadweight funding". I am not convinced that this is the most targeted, focused way of channelling more resources to those in need.”
“And we have been almost schizophrenic in the sense that I believe that we have done better than communist and socialist countries in looking after the poor. Yet, we have also been one of the most free-market capitalist economies. It is this ability to pick and use the best aspects of both capitalism and socialism - the head and the heart - which is the secret to our success. So we must disagree, we must have tensions and we must debate this, but let us not lose that sense of balance. I am sure there will be implementational and operational problems. And when these come up, Members must tell me and I must do my best to fix them. But when it comes to policy and entitlements, I will tell Members quite frankly that I start from a rather stringent and tight perspective. 1.45 pm That is why, yesterday, I said that I was not here to argue for a bigger budget for MCYS, although I also showed Members yesterday that the budget was increasing at a very significant rate. But I am more focused on the policies, the rules, the systems and organisational roles than on absolute sums. It is very easy for me to stand here and say, "I can double public assistance", and try to persuade my Cabinet colleagues to agree to that. But, in my heart of hearts, I will know that it is wrong and that, ultimately, it will short change the very poor that we are trying to help and the entire group of people called Singaporeans. The Chairman: Let us give other Members a chance. The list here is very long already. Ms Jessica Tan.”
“Absolutely. I shared the story of Tan Sai Siong yesterday to make the point that it just needs sometimes one email or one phone call. Singapore is a very small place. It is not difficult for Members to contact the Prime Minister or myself directly. I am not saying that that should be the modus operandi here and everything should be solved that way. But what I am saying is that, if you do detect families in such distress, do something about it. Do not just complain but ask yourself first what you should do about it and who else can help. As far as the Government is concerned, what systems, structures, institutions and policies are needed. I want to get these things clear in our minds that there is a role for the individual to help himself or to seek help. There is a role for families. There is a role for community organisations. There is a role for interested and compassionate individuals and Tan Sai Siong was an example. And there is a role for Government. But let us keep all these respective roles organised in such a way that each one does what he or she is best at. That is why I am appealing for understanding that our entitlement system will be low. That also means, as the Member has quite rightly said, we need to communicate, we need to keep all channels of communication open and we need to keep our eyes open. We cannot, like what I said yesterday, whenever you see someone whom you think needs help, just shrug our shoulders and say, "See, that is the Government's job." Ask yourself what you yourself have done about that individual and about that family. Singapore has got to where it is now, not just because of hard work but also because there have been family obligations and community compassion.”
“If someone indeed is so destitute and is starving, we have other means and other safety nets for them. We can bring them to the Pelangi Home, and I would invite all of you to come to Pelangi Home and see the standard of care, the facilities, the food and the way we look after them. So, please do not run away with the misconception that Singapore is a cold, heartless place where, because we are so strict on criteria and entitlements, people are starving, freezing and denied the dignities of life. All I am asking Members is just to bear these principles in mind. Entitlements will always be low, ie, the person has to ask you for help and not bang on your table for help. We will always need the many- helping-hands model, not because the Government is broke. We can always do more and we can always raise GST further. But that is not the tone of the society that we are trying to create. We are saying that, yes, there will always be problems in society and it cannot be only the Government to do it because, if you want the Government to do it all, it means higher taxes and a large bureaucracy. As we can see in many other countries who have created elaborate welfare-states based on the best of intentions and the softest of hearts, such systems ultimately failed, they are not efficient and they are going to run out of money. We will see that happen in our lifetime, but we will make sure that that does not happen in Singapore. As the Minister for MCYS, those are the dilemmas and the trade-offs that I have to make.”
“I take the Member's point that for Public Assistance, we have fairly strict criteria. But having said that, I am still not willing to go to the other extreme and say that since we have got strict criteria, we can afford to be generous. This is the same point that Mr Seah Kian Peng raised yesterday. I have sympathy for that point, but I would still appeal to Members of this House to exercise caution. Her second question was: why must they go and seek help? Why must they ask for it? I would like to remind her again of my speech yesterday when I said that if it is going to be low on entitlement and high on flexibility, then we do want some effort to be exerted on the part of the recipients. Yes, we do want them to go and ask for help. But I also said yesterday that, let us not get too carried away and reach a stage where if someone does not know or does not want to ask for help, we ignore that person. I have also asked the community organisations, neighbours, voluntary welfare organisations and the rest of us, if we see someone who needs more help, enquire about that person and organise the help. Let us talk about meals since the Member has phrased her question specifically about three square meals. You and I, in fact, all of us, know that there are programmes for meals at home. There are organisations which specifically bring bread and rations, many of which are bought from FairPrice, gratitude to Mr Seah as well. But there are schemes like this. That allows me to say with a clear conscience to both the PAP and the Opposition MPs that nobody in Singapore needs to starve, nobody needs to be deprived of healthcare, and nobody needs to be deprived of a roof over his or her head.”
“When we did this review of the Public Assistance rates, we took into account both the impact of inflation since the last review as well as the impact of the GST increase. There will always be arguments about whether a sum that we have decided is enough or not. As I said yesterday, frankly, one limiting factor must be that the sum that we give through Public Assistance cannot be so generous as to erode the work ethic. As I said again yesterday, if you take a family with three children, the amount they can receive from Public Assistance - I do not have the exact figure now - I think exceeds $900. At that level, you are getting dangerously close to the earnings of a low-wage worker. Having said that, I think there will always be unique circumstances when some families find that that sum is not enough. And that is where the community and grassroots organisations have to come in and look for those mitigating or exceptional circumstances and more help is necessary. So the key point is that as far as the entitlement portion is concerned, I will admit that that is set low. But have flexibility, have organisations and individuals who are able to assess special needs of special families and then respond accordingly. That is the system which we have. The alternative is to set the entitlement at a very high level. But once you do that, I think you would not have only 3,000 families on Public Assistance, you will see many multiples of families.”
“My Ministry will also work with our community partners to promote greater interaction amongst youth and one platform we have come up recently is the Singapore Inter-Faith Youth Forum. And this came about because some young people who were taking part in the National Youth Forum decided that it was important that the young - these are young religious leaders - have their own forum which they could share experiences and seek greater understanding. So the fact that these platforms are rising from the young is, I think, a very positive sign. Let me end by sharing some views on this issue of advertisements - job advertisements and sometimes even housing advertisements - which overtly mention race. Let me speak in my dual capacity as Minister for MCYS and Second Minister for MICA. I know that all of us have personal private biases, sometimes even prejudice. I also know that we cannot eliminate all vestiges of racial prejudice and discrimination overnight. But having said that, we must not allow prejudice to become publicly and socially acceptable. We must not have young people standing up and saying, "I am a racist and I am proud about it.". We must not have such a situation and that is why we must ask the mass media and advertising industry to root out and eliminate such advertisements. We must actively resist overt displays of racial stereotyping and prejudice because if we do not do so, we will destroy the social fabric and social unity on which peace, harmony and progress of our nation depends on. Muslim Affairs”
“We must continue to build on the strong foundation. And we have moved on with what we call the Community Engagement Programme, and Members asked me what is different. In the past, we were focused more on persuading people and raising awareness of the need for racial harmony and understanding. We have now moved on to the second phase to actually put in place a crisis response framework, which means we want the religious and community leaders to know what to do or what to say the morning thereafter. This involves a greater level of interaction of training and development of trust and confidence. That is why we have also asked that the Inter-Racial Confidence Circles (IRCCs) be reconstituted so that at the local level, every religious or community leader that matters is represented in the IRCC. It is not meant to be just another collection of the grassroots leaders who are already overworked, to begin with. MCYS will also be providing a grant of $10,000 to each IRCC and also secretariat assistance so that IRCC can get on with its business of building trust and interaction without being bogged down by administration or a lack of funds. It is also crucial, as Mr Zaqy has pointed out, that our young people understand the importance of racial and religious harmony, and I agree with him that schools, but more important families, have a crucial role to play in this. You know there are in the lives of our young people "teachable moments", and parents and teachers have to look for these teachable moments when the young are most receptive to the messages that reinforce racial harmony and religious understanding.”
“So, in September last year, we appointed two VWOs - the Thye Hwa Kwan Moral Society and the Care Corner Counselling Centre - to run specialised intervention centres. These will have professionals who are specially trained in the management of addiction and it will handle cases which are referred by other family service centres as well as cases which are referred back to the community by the Institute of Mental Health, ie, cases which are now more stabilised but still require ongoing supervision. The third level, of course, is at the Institute of Mental Health under the Community Addictions Management Programme and this will be specialist care for people with real problems and who are unable to control their gambling addiction. Let me move on to the points made by Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Zainudin Nordin and, I think, Mdm Cynthia Phua also spoke about it during the Budget debate, and that is the state of our race relations. Our success in maintaining a harmonious and cohesive society speaks for itself. Let us celebrate the fact that despite local incidents, for instance, the arrest of local JI operatives, and despite overseas incidents, such as September 11, Bali bombing, London bombing, the Danish cartoons, we have been able to maintain cohesion and unity in our society. We have not let these events serve to divide and break us apart. That is something worth celebrating but not taken for granted. We conducted a survey last year on the social attitudes of Singaporeans and I am glad to report to this House that about nine in 10 Singaporeans reported that they were satisfied with the current state of race and religious relationships in Singapore and were optimistic about the future. Again, as I said, positive but do not take it for granted.”
“Sir, I thank Mr Chan Soo Sen for his most eloquent warning about the dangers of problem gambling. As the person who was responsible for leading the MTI team that evaluated the economic benefits of having IRs and then also being in MCYS at that time when we made the final decision, I can assure him that no one was more painfully aware than I was of the trade-offs and the dilemmas that confronted us in this decision. Problem gambling is an ever present threat. It is a threat today even before the IRs have arrived. We formed the National Council on Problem Gambling and over the last two years of its existence, it has actually engaged on an aggressive public education campaign to warn people about the dangers of gambling. I fully agree with him and, also, the comments that were made by Mr Christopher de Souza during the Budget debate that we need both prevention and treatment. We need to warn and treat people. So we will go about this in the following way. Firstly, at the community level. On the ground, we must make sure that our social service professionals are able to recognise people at risk, recognise the warning signs and refer them. In order for our social workers to be able to make this preliminary diagnosis, they need training. MCYS has embarked on a training programme together with the Institute of Mental Health which runs programmes call the Community Addictions Management Programme. And this will give our social service workers on the frontline the ability to diagnose and recognise early danger signs and then make appropriate referral. Secondly, we also want to have treatment facilities in the community.”
“Madam, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2007/2008, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow. Mdm Deputy Speaker: So be it. ADJOURNMENT Resolved, That Parliament do now adjourn. - [Dr Lee Boon Yang]. Adjourned accordingly at Half past Six o'clock pm. APPENDICES”
“Mdm Chairman, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow.”
“I am really excited by it because I see this as part and parcel of our total transformation of the infrastructure in Singapore to host business, social, sports and cultural activities. In due time, after we have made our decision, we will be able to share it with the public. I think Members will all agree with me that this has been a major development. So, on that note, let me stop here and invite Mr Lim to share with you details on the Ministerial Committee.”
“MCYS will set aside a budget of half a million dollars over the next five years to fund a caregiver training grant for families with persons with disability, and we will continue to monitor this situation and make adjustments in the future. I totally sympathise with the concerns of parents with disabled children over their long term financial security. Earlier in January, we announced the establishment of a taskforce to set up a one-stop umbrella body to enhance the financial security of such persons with disability. This taskforce will be chaired by Ms Christine Ong, who is the Managing Director and Country Head of UBS AG. Members of the taskforce will bring with them leadership, passion and relevant financial and legal and corporate expertise to help the disabled community, and I look forward to working closely with this taskforce as we think through sustainable long-term solutions which will give families that reassurance that their children will be taken care of for the long term. In the interest of time, I am not going to cover the comments on youth and sports because Members have not spoken on it yet, and I have got Ser Luck to deal with it. The only perhaps one announcement that I need to make is this. I think Members all will know that we closed the tender for the rebuilding of the stadium just a few days ago. I cannot share with Members the details of the plans because we have to protect and respect the intellectual property but what I can say is that all the three designs that have come in are spectacular, and it will make a huge difference to our ability to host large and exciting sports and other entertainment events.”
“The foreign domestic worker levy concession is also given to households with a senior aged 65 and above. As a response to the Enabling Masterplan Report, the Government will also extend the $95 foreign domestic worker levy concession to families with disability. The concession will apply to disabled Singapore citizens who cannot perform one or more of the basic activities of daily living independently and hence need a full-time caregiver. I think there have to be some criteria. So we have set the criteria as the inability to perform one or more of the basic activities of daily living. This includes activities like washing, bathing, toileting, feeding, transferring and moving around. Eligible families will therefore save $3,420 over a three-year period from this concession alone and it will cost the Government a total of $16 million in revenue forgone. This levy concession of $95 is on top of the general $30 levy reduction that Ministry of Manpower announced. So there is significant help and assistance being provided. The problem is that caregiver allowance is what, in policy circles, we call "deadweight funding". It means you are going to have to pay a lot more money, a lot more than what we are putting out here - spread out over a very large number and the real families who need help on a family basis will actually receive less than the current approach, which is a more targeted approach. We can argue this at other forums, but I just want you to understand why we have made this decision not to have a caregiver's allowance but having said that, we are not ignoring caregivers.”
“Third, we are in discussion with NTUC Learning Hub and other relevant agencies to look into providing vocational training curricula in special education schools, so that children with special needs will be trained in specific skills set while at school. This will be followed by examining the possibility for direct job placements under NTUC's existing job seekers' programmes, such as place and train programmes. I hope Ms Denise Phua and Dr Teo Ho Pin will be reassured that we are making some steps in the right direction. Dr Lam Pin Min asked whether we would consider giving a caregiver's allowance for those looking after the disabled and their older relatives. I am afraid I would still have to disappoint him on this point. We will not be giving a caregiver's allowance. The more important question which we need to ask ourselves is whether caregivers performing filial or family obligations should be paid as if they are individuals performing paid jobs. I think this is something Prof. Kalyani Metha has also raised. The other way of looking at it is to say that there are families who need help and support. And let us make sure that our schemes provide help to the family and then that family makes the decision. Should one of them stop work, should I get a maid? Should I put the person in a daycare centre or even on full-time institutional assistance? My preference at this point in time is still the latter model. That means to look at this as a family responsibility and a family that needs additional help. 4.45 pm So what are we doing for families with disabled family members? There are already various tax reliefs and financial support for such families. These measures include the aged parent and grandparent relief, handicapped spouse tax relief, handicapped siblings relief.”
“We need to have initiatives to enhance the employment of persons with disability and I commit to working with the Ministry of Manpower, the WDA and the employers on this proposal. With effect from May this year, the Enable Fund will be renamed the Open Door Fund. This is a fund which will be used to help companies redesign their workplaces or redesign their jobs so that it will be suitable for someone with disability, who will be able to work on his or her own merits and perform a useful service for which he or she deserves an honest day's pay. Companies will qualify for this fund as long as they meet the minimum number of four persons with disability based on existing and new disabled employees. The Open Door Fund will also be open to companies with outsourced jobs. Furthermore, an employers' network comprising employers who will champion the employment of persons with disability will be launched. This network will be chaired by Mr David Wong who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of South East Asia ABN AMRO Bank. So we have got an employer with a heart, business savvy and experience who will help us oversee this. MCYS is also working on the three employment initiatives that the Enabling Masterplan Committee proposed. First, we are in discussion with SPRING to set up a food manufacturing training centre for persons with disability. Second, my Ministry is also working with IDA and with the Society for the Physically Disabled on an infocomm accessibility centre, which aims to equip persons with disability with the necessary IT skills for jobs in the IT industry. MCYS has committed $2 million to fund the apprenticeship component of this scheme.”
“She is very happy with what MOE is doing on the education front for children with disabilities. Let me cover the other aspects of it. One of the key recommendations of the Enabling Masterplan was to set up an office on disability. As announced by DPM Wong on 12th February, a new Standing Committee on Disability will be set up to address this. It will be chaired by the Permanent Secretary of MCYS. The Standing Committee will also include representatives from other Ministries, NCSS, VWOs, employers and other stakeholders. The Enabling Masterplan basically took a life-stage approach. As I said just now, we have covered the education bit with MOE. So we will look at the other aspects. Under my Ministry, we have to look at early intervention services. My Ministry will work with the VWOs to start two new early intervention centres by the middle of this year. This will raise the capacity from the current 700-odd places to 1,250 by the end of the year. I do not want capacity to be a limiting factor. In addition, MCYS and NCSS have worked with Ngee Ann Polytechnic to start a new advanced diploma course to train early intervention teachers. This will help increase the supply of intervention teachers and also enhance the skills of these teachers. And study awards will be introduced to attract more teachers into the early intervention sector. The Enabling Masterplan Committee also recommended that employment of persons with disability should be based on business merit - their ability to work rather than just charity considerations. I think this is a principle we can all accept. But they also suggested that it is not enough to just state the principle.”
“You have to lose your mental capacity first before a Committee of Persons or Estate will be appointed. Sir, in contrast, this new legislation, which we are considering, is to allow you to appoint in advance - this means before you lose your mental capacity, you can decide who are your trusted relatives or friends who can be relied on to make decisions for your financial and personal welfare if you are so unlucky as to lose your mental capacity at some point in the future. So it is advance planning. This legislation allows seniors - actually, it is not just seniors but all of us - to make advance plans before they are struck by dementia or other mentally incapacitating illnesses. I believe this is to give us some reassurance. It will also cater to the parents of disabled children, because one of the abiding fears of the parents is who will make decisions on behalf of these children when they are gone. Again, this legislation enables a higher level of reassurance to such parents. As this is a significant piece of legislation, we will conduct extensive consultations with stakeholders and with the public. We are also studying very carefully the experience of other countries, because I do not want to rush this through. There is no need to ram this down anybody's throat. This is enabling legislation. This is totally going to be opt in - no question of opt out and other forms. As regards the draft Bill, I hope we will have the first draft by about May this year or later. I promise Members that we will then begin consultation in earnest thereafter. Let me now quickly move on to the disability sector. Many Members have asked on progress. First, I am very glad MOE preceded us yesterday. So I checked with Ms Denise Phua.”
“MCYS is also reviewing the regulation of cooperatives. Our objective is to bring the cooperatives' level of accountability in line with the higher expectations of their stakeholders. Cooperatives are business entities with social purposes. They are regulated by the Cooperative Societies Act. Some of them have grown considerably larger than they were at the start, and we want to make sure. There are no problems. Basically, I do not want another scandal breaking out. So I thought better act prophylactically rather than wait for problems to arise. However, we will not do this unilaterally or with a heavy hand. Mr Seah Kian Peng can vouch that we have engaged in very extensive consultations with the stakeholders, and we will not rush the legislation through. The points on seniors will be covered by Minister Lim later on. So I do not want to go into details. There is only one point that I want to share with you, and that is, I agree with Ms Ellen Lee that our seniors, especially those with dementia, need greater protection. I believe Dr Fatimah Lateef observed, yesterday or the day before, that the number of people with dementia, unfortunately, is going to increase. We are therefore considering legislation that will provide a legal framework for individuals to voluntarily make advance plans should they lose their mental capacity in the future, and we have tentatively called this the Mental Capacity Act. Let me just elaborate a little bit on this. Currently, we have a Mental Disorders and Treatment Act. Under this Act, the High Court can appoint a Committee of Persons or Estate to handle the personal or property matters of people who have lost their mental capacity. But the point is that it is in the past tense.”
“For instance, we have got many lawyers, doctors, nurses and other professionals who have contributed their expertise to building the community and getting involved with projects. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon will elaborate on this later on in her speech. I want to quickly touch on the social sector professionals. Several Members have asked about whether we are treating professionals, and indeed I think Mr Zaqy mentioned even the non-professionals also, the staff of these organisations, properly with respect, to be uplifted and given more opportunities for growth. On the Social Workers' Day earlier, I announced a $1 million social work professionalisation package. This is for social workers. The package aims to maintain a high standard of social work by offering these professionals more opportunities for growth and learning. But in addition, we have also revised the funding norms for VWOs to the tune of an additional $11 million per year. I hope this will address Ms Denise Phua's and Mr Zaqy's concern. I expect the VWOs to implement appropriate upward salary revisions for their staff, both the professionals and non-professionals. But overall, I believe that these initiatives will help the sector attract good competent people with competitive salaries and thereby improve the delivery of social assistance to people who need help. Ms Denise Phua also asked how the Commissioner of Charities can help charities. We will budget $45 million over the next five years to support training, consultancy and IT facilities for charities and VWOs. This will help uplift their management and operational capabilities. We will call this fund the VWO Charities Capability Fund - nothing very imaginative in the name. But it is real money, it is on the table and it is available.”
“That is why we have launched the ComCare local networks. These serve local platforms for the CDCs, the grassroots organisations and other social organisations within the same locality to provide integrated help to people like Ah Beng. My Ministry and NVPC have also launched the ComCare connection. This is a scheme to match VWOs - a corporate organisation. I think Members will soon hear organisations come knocking on their door - to ask Yam Keng for help. And we believe that this will create meaningful partnerships and opportunities for corporates who are so inclined to engage in philanthropy and volunteerism. Mr Sin Boon Ann brought up the example of delayed help. He said that help was not forthcoming on an urgent basis. The way it should work is that urgent interim assistance should come from the CCC ComCare Fund. But all cases which need long-term assistance must be evaluated by CDCs, and that does take time. But even as of now, I believe the CDCs can process 90% of such cases within six weeks. This is already a marked improvement from the situation a few years ago. And I am sure if we speak to all the Mayors, they will all commit to improving this ratio further. If Members like, maybe I can follow Mr Khaw Boon Wan's example and publish statistics of each CDC's response to the assistance, but that will make me unpopular with the Mayors. They are already looking a bit aggressively at me! I agree with Mr Wee Siew Kim that we need to have more volunteers and more interested professionals, and that is why NVPC called this programme E-Match, which matches professionals who are willing to spare time, using their professional expertise with organisations that need them.”
“Or should they be people whom we admire and respect, because even in their old age, and sometimes, despite ill health, they continue to want to work and be independent? I think both those extremes are not quite right. Even if we accept that they want to be independent, and they want to make a living, and I say "we" now, I do not just mean Government, but I think the Tan Sai Siongs, the VWOs like Breadlines, the CDCs, the civil servants from MCYS who responded to an email from one concerned citizen. I think we all have to respond collectively and say, "Look, how can I best help you? Is your family performing its duties? Do we need to use the Maintenance of Parents Act perhaps a bit more aggressively? Do we need to make sure that all the schemes that we have put in place you take advantage of?" 4.30 pm I have always wondered. They are essentially self-employed people. In this Budget, we said that if the self-employed put $20 into their Medisave Account, the Government will put many multiples of that into their CPF and other assistance schemes. We need a whole of society's response. We need many, many more Tan Sai Siongs. But what I do want to say is that I do not believe we need a whole army of bureaucratic civil servants. That is why I cannot fully agree with Ms Denise Phua. She also said that Government should do more - I can agree with that part. But I want to make the point that Government cannot and should not do everything. Individuals have a role, families have a role, voluntary welfare organisations have a role and a responsive Government. All of us, because we are on the ground, run our own, in effect, social organisations called grassroots. We all have a role as well. Having said that, there are still ways that we can improve the on-the-ground network.”
“She said: "I could spare him some money for a meal. I do that because that is the easiest thing to do, or buy him food. But the harder thing is to persuade him to get some long-term community help because he is stone deaf or maybe not there at all, or perhaps poor nutrition. I got one of the Breadline volunteers to speak to him. Apparently, he turned down an offer of help." After she emailed PM, PM promptly emailed it to me. I got my officers to visit the man. Tan Sai Siong does not let go. She then went to check whether her email had made a difference. Another two emails later, she wrote to me. She said: "I am writing to express my appreciation and thanks for the care and support that has been extended to Ah Beng. I received the good news from one of your officers on Friday. The Central CDC has applied for a one-room HDB rental flat and supplemental financial help from the Breadline Group. In addition, the CDC has requested the Singapore Association for the Deaf to consider him for Befrienders' services as well as sponsorship for hearing aids. And as he has missed out on the deadline for applying for Workfare, the CDC will help him to apply for the next tranche." Think of these two examples - the man who died alone and the family was not there, or this man who does not want help but continues working. Many of you would have seen, as you drive round Singapore, old men and women pushing carts, recycled cans or cardboard boxes. What I want Members to ask yourselves is: how should we respond? Should they be objects of pity? Should they be people whom we round up and put in Pelangi Home, feed them, clothe them, nurse them and take away their independence?”
“She went on to say: " I know a handful of such cases, one of which was a subject of a longish exchange between Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and me a couple of years ago. Although Dr Bala was most kind and MCYS was most helpful, the man in question had two sisters who undertook to look after him which they failed to fulfil. It also did not help that the man himself, though of unsound mind, he was an ex-IMH patient, was allowed to decide that he did not want to attend daycare. In the end, he died of malnutrition and neglect, alone in his one-room rental flat and would have been undiscovered if I did not alert MCYS to his disappearance." After she alerted us, we sent someone to check and that was when we found that he had passed away, alone. Going on to quote her, she said: "What struck me as ironic in this case was that, apart from everything else, the Government had just spent thousands of dollars upgrading his flat, changing doors, windows, grilles, floorings, bathroom fixtures, tiles and even switches that were embedded in the walls, making it an abode that I would have been glad to call home even if I did not fall on hard times." [Mdm Deputy Speaker (Ms Indranee Rajah) in the Chair] 4.25 pm Just think about that example. She went on to cite another case, a more current case. She said, "He is an old man called Ah Beng [no kidding, that is his real name] who tries without much success to hawk souvenirs made up of used drink cans. He stands outside the old NAFA Building at the junction between Middle Road and Victoria Street, diagonally opposite the multi-million dollar National Library. He can be found daily until 3 or 4 pm. One can buy his wares." Tan Sai Siong said that she did not buy because she was a bit squeamish about the hygiene.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot speak Mandarin so I am not going to mangle it. But I hope the press would repeat her quote in Mandarin. Let me give you the English translation of it. She said, "To live life freely with self-confidence and self-respect, we must learn to fish instead of asking for fish. Rather than to rely on others for help, we should help ourselves. Instead of fretting, we should learn to adapt." I am sure it sounds even better in Mandarin. But Mdm Lim's spirit and determination is most admirable. We need to be very careful that we do not inadvertently undermine the spirit and determination of the many people like her currently in our society. We need to encourage and support them in their quest to be self-reliant. Let me also cite you another two examples. Ms Tan Sai Siong is an ex-journalist and I think many of you would know her. On New Year's Day, she emailed PM. PM is here, so he can attest that this is a real email. I would read excerpts of her email to him on New Year's Day. She said: "I have in mind a small group of people in Singapore who are at the bottom of the bottom most, not because there aren't safety nets for people like them. There are plenty. But because of the way they are wired, they are just unable to understand what is available, what is for their own good to accept and then continue to suffer the saddest deprivation in the midst of plenty when it is all so unnecessary. This group, to-date, falls out of all good Government intentions and facilities, such as Workfare. And I think it would not do for those like me who know about their plight to shrug their shoulders and say, "Well, they do not accept public help. What to do?"" In fact, this is the origin of Mdm Ho Geok Choo's comment the other day.”
“Finally, because we recognise that the increased GST will also mean higher cost for VWOs, my Ministry will also commit an additional $3 million over the next five years to Government-funded VWO programmes. With the GST offset package, the ComCare Fund spending will rise from the current level of $43 million in FY2006 to $67 million in FY2007 - $43 million to $67 million in one year. I think Members in this House will agree that this is a significant increase in expenditure. But MCYS does not only spend money through ComCare. We also provide other social services - community care homes, homes for the aged and other social infrastructure, family care centres, etc. These cost us another $53 million a year. So, all in all, my Ministry currently spends $96 million, almost $100 million a year, on social services for the low-income and the needy. And this figure will increase to $140 million in the coming year. While help is available, and while the absolute sums of money are available, I come back to my earlier point that we should focus on the terms and conditions and the way we decide who is eligible and the way the people access these assistance schemes. There has been some debate both within this House and outside the House about what to do with people who do not want help and do not know how to access help. Let me try to answer this with a couple of examples. You will remember that last November, there was a Zaobao article on a Mdm Lim Huai Mei. She was explaining how she managed after she became a widow with two young children. Through her own efforts and support of her family, her community and church, she upgraded her skills and found a job as a childcare teacher and was able to put two children through school. She gave a wonderful quote.”
“On top of this, PA recipients also have access to free medical care and financial assistance for their children's programmes. We can debate about whether this sum is too little or too much or just right. But I just want to make one additional simple point, which is, that there must be a difference between the amount that we give in Public Assistance and the amount that a working poor person earns from his job and what we give him in Workfare. There must be a difference. If there is no difference, you are creating a disincentive to work. I cannot agree with Mr Seah Kian Peng - maybe I misheard him - but that is a very dangerous argument when he said that since it is only 3,000 families, we can afford to be more generous. Yes, we can afford to be more generous but the greatest danger there is that you take away the incentive of the much larger number of Singaporeans who are working hard albeit in low-paying jobs. There will have to be a difference. In response to Mr Ang Mong Seng's point, I am glad to say that MCYS will top up the CCC ComCare funds by an additional $5 million over the next five years. And, for some constituencies, which have got an increased number of old or needy people, as Dr Lily Neo will be able to attest, which come to us, if need be, we will top up their funds on a selective basis. But I can safely assure Members in this House that not a single constituency is short of CCC ComCare funds. We will also provide the self-help groups with an additional $2 million grant over the next five years so that they can help families cope with the increased GST.”
“The Government will also set aside an additional $10 million over the next five years for the CCCs, VWOs and the self-help groups. We will increase the subsidies for low-income families to send their children to kindergarten, childcare and student care. You know these schemes as KiFAS and CFAC. The KiFAS subsidy will be raised from 75% of the kindergarten fee to 90%. What that means is that the average subsidy for each child will be increased to about $80 a month. That means for many children, going to a kindergarten will cost them no more than $10. Frankly, even if the families have trouble paying that $10, I know many Members of this House will gladly find ways to give that additional assistance. So I can honestly tell all of you that money will not be a limiting factor as far as access to pre-school is concerned. We will also be increasing the assistance provided under the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for childcare. This would be enhanced by an additional $40 a month and this will benefit 5,200 children annually. For KiFAS that I mentioned earlier, 10,700 students currently benefit from this. Dr Lily Neo and Mr Seah Kian Peng would be pleased to know that Public Assistance rates will be adjusted. It will be adjusted with effect from July 2007. We make sure that when GST kicks in, the additional assistance also kicks in. PA recipients can expect to receive an increase of between $30 and $115 a month, depending on the household size. Let me give you a few examples. An elderly recipient, living alone, currently receives about $260 a month. We will increase that to $290 a month. A recipient family, with three school-going children, will see their assistance increased from the current rate of $825 a month to $940 a month.”
“If we look at the figures, people are coming forward to give time, money, and that is why they are speaking up about it and get very angry about it when things do not get done or do not get done right or quickly enough or money gets mis-spent. So, I take a more optimistic view. I believe that community participation is going to increase. Our job is to give more space for people to get involved, adopt their causes, organise themselves and push the boundaries and make things happen and, ultimately, to leave a legacy. 4.15 pm Those are the four key trends that are, in a sense, the themes behind the programmes which you see in our Annex of our plans going forward. Let me just quickly sketch out a few of the more salient programmes in the years ahead. First, we have to talk about money. The Government has been increasing social expenditure over the last few years. This latest Budget, with an increase in GST and social transfers, clearly means that even more resources are being injected into this sector. Frankly, some of you have come to me and said, "We want to ask for more money from MCYS." Frankly, I am not in the mood to ask for more money, because my greater concern, and I think that of the majority of this House, is how is that money being spent, how are we organising ourselves and how effective are the delivery mechanisms. That is what I have told my staff that we should focus on now. Take the money, almost as a given, but how do we make sure we spend it in the most and best effective way? Our priority, as I alluded to earlier, obviously is again, the low-income and the needy. The ComCare Fund programmes will be increased by $6 million annually. In five years, that means, $30 million extra on ComCare.”
“So this is a significant constituency that we need to be mindful of. But even as we prepare ourselves for this, we must not view the old merely as a burden, a problem and an electoral lobby group. We need a complete change of mindset and, because of that, the Government has now decided that Minister Lim Boon Heng will chair the Ministerial Committee on Ageing and Minister Lim will speak afterwards and he will share the details on what our strategic plans are for the seniors, going forward. Sir, let me move on to the third trend that affects our policies, and that is the fact that racial and religious harmony still cannot be taken for granted. Terrorism continues to be a potential threat to us, camouflaged under religion or religious extremism, and it seeks and has a very real potential to undermine our social cohesion and to cleave us again on the basis of race, language and religion. A terrorist incident in Singapore would put great strain on our social fabric. Consequently, we must continue to prepare now before anything happens by working on policies, structures, institutions to promote greater interaction and trust among Singaporeans of different races, languages and religions. Sometimes, it is contrived. But better to be contrived and have those interactions and reservoirs of goodwill and trust built up now rather than scramble the morning after an incident. The fourth key trend is that of community participation, and many Members have already referred to that. I am not sure if I agree with Ms Denise Phua when she predicted that volunteerism will go down in the future. The reason I do not agree with her is that, just from my observation of young Singaporeans, and indeed young people all over the world want to get involved, make a difference and have a stake.”
“That will benefit all of us. Let me now come to the strategic trends which I believe set the context for our work in the future. After that, you can look at the Annex which lists our plans for the coming year. There are four trends. The first is globalisation. I do not need to belabour that point. Fundamentally, that means increased competition and increased income inequality. With respect to my Ministry, my key objective is to ensure that we do not allow a situation where an increasing income inequality leads to a segment of our population feeling that they are unfairly and permanently deprived of a seat at the family dining table. That is why we keep saying we must make sure no one gets left behind. That is why we have made Workfare a key pillar of our social safety net so that we can tell everyone to get a job, any job, and we will still help you make it worth your while, still help you and enable yourself to look after your families with the money that you earn out of honest good work. We will also provide more assistance to the needy to cope with the higher costs of living. We will invest more in the children to enable them to break out of poverty. So, that is the first trend - globalisation. The second trend that we need to be mindful of is demographics, and many Members of this House have already alluded to that when we talked about the fact that we are on the verge of becoming a rapidly ageing society, we still have low fertility. In fact, the proportion of seniors in our population will increase from about 10% this year to 19% in 2030. Since we are all politicians in this House, let me translate it into votes. In 2030, there will be 800,000 seniors. That is about equal to between five to eight GRCs and all of them have votes.”
“Let us give it some time for this system to settle down and see how it evolves and, with time, we can make further changes. The removal of the 80:20 spending rule will give charities greater flexibility in the way they manage their expenditure versus building up of reserves. The fact that we now have a more transparent system and the charities have to declare how much they are raising and how much they are keeping away in reserves, gives us the assurance that even when we relax this rule, people will raise funds and build reserves and spend money responsibly. The key thing here again is transparency and having the right people in the right place. There was also some concern expressed that local charities may lose out to international charities. We believe that our local charities are becoming more sophisticated and more professional. I believe that, ultimately - and it will be in a short time - there is no reason why our local charities cannot compete on a level playing field even with the international charities. At the end of the day, if you are raising funds from Singaporeans, we are now in a climate where Singaporeans want to know where their money has gone and how it is being spent. I see no reason why our local charities cannot attract funds from Singaporeans and spend them in worthwhile ways within Singapore or, indeed, even if they are going to spend them overseas, they will still have to do so transparently. Singaporeans' generosity, as we all know, from the way we responded to the disasters in our neighbouring countries, does extend beyond our shores. So I would reassure this House that this is not a zero-sum game. We can create a situation where more charities, voluntary welfare organisations and more management of charity funds occur in Singapore.”
“I believe that, in this particular model, we need enlightened donors, donors who need to understand that when you donate to an organisation, not every single cent can go directly to the beneficiaries. You need an organisation, systems, governance, professionals and paid employees. So what we need to do is to educate the donor public that if we want higher quality, reliable, trustworthy voluntary welfare organisations, then we must be prepared to also do our bit to pay for it. Secondly, because Government subsidises or co-funds many of the programmes of the VWOs, in effect, Government will also have to bear its fair share of the higher regulatory burden. But having said that, I also want to assure the House that we are not working on a one-size-fits-all model. Consequently, large institutions of public character or charities that raise large amounts of funds from the public must, and I am sure you will agree with me, be subject to higher regulatory requirements. But smaller charities or, as Mr Baey Yam Keng has said, corporate arms, which are really only raising funds from themselves and not engage in public fund-raising, we can afford to be a bit more flexible, less onerous but still have some basic minimum in place so that we can be assured that everything is kosher and working well. But I think it was also Ms Denise Phua who emphasised that we can have all the regulations in the world, it will not prevent abuse. In the end, it depends on people. We need good-hearted, strong-minded people as employees, board members and members of that organisation. I would ask this House, therefore, not to be too quick to arrive at judgment as to whether our regime is too strict or too lax. We have gone through a hard time.”
“Of these 39 recommendations, a committee, which is co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, has monitored the outcomes and they have reported to me that 32 out of these 39 recommendations have been implemented and the other seven are being studied seriously by the various Government agencies with a view to possible implementation as well. Let me move on to the charity sector last year. In response to Mr Baey Yam Keng, Mr Zaqy Mohd, Ms Denise Phua, and I think also Dr Loo Choon Yong's concerns which he expressed during the Budget debate, I wish to highlight, and I think Members of the House do not really need to be reminded, that the major plank was, first, the transfer of the Office of the Commissioner of Charities from the Ministry of Finance to my Ministry. Secondly, Members will recall that a short while ago, when we passed the amendments to the Charities Act, yes, these changes were a reaction to an unpleasant situation. Yes, these changes do lead to higher regulatory oversight over the sector. But even as we do this, I think it is worthwhile remembering that we made these changes because we want to restore public confidence and trust in this sector. That is the objective. We have no intention to engage in petty witch-hunting. I can assure the House on that. There was a very valid question about the cost of governance because, clearly, as you make the regulatory regime stricter, there will be some increased costs. And Members have quite rightly asked who should pay for it.”