Yeo Wan Ling
Singapore
“Thank you, Speaker. I have a clarification for Minister of State Jasmin Lau. In my speech on job redesign, I had asked for AI grants to be tied to mandatory job redesign requirements and productivity gains linked to worker outcomes.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Could the Minister of State elaborate on the specific fire safety protocols in place for HDB car parks with EV charging points, including detection, suppression and evacuation measures?”
“I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. Could the Ministry give further clarifications on how it assesses PWM compliance in procurement processes, including whether firms have met, for example, training requirements for their workers under the PWM requirements?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, 10 years ago, we built the foundations. Today, we are building the integration. And 10 years from now, I hope we will look back on this Bill as the moment Singapore chose to ensure that our next bound of growth is one that every worker can be part of.”
“As the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) enters its next phase, could a similar transformation support be considered for our bus captains? A refreshed BCM should be a win-win for commuters, operators and the workers who keep Singapore moving. Strengthening Transport Accessibility”
“And our local workforce must move up the skills ladder alongside industry transformations. In this new phase of labour transformation, I would like to put forward three Budget priorities. First, we must continue attracting top global talent in a way that strengthens, not substitutes our Singaporean core.”
The complete record
Every one of 422 lines we hold for Yeo Wan Ling, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 9.
“I call on the Government to consider FWAs as a critical workplace priority and to invest more resources to guide and equip our companies on its roll-out. Mr Speaker, I would now like to touch on another important refresh in our new Workers' Compact, that of protecting and caring for our vulnerable workers. Many of our workers have chosen gig work and the shared economy as it affords them the gift of flexibility, and there is a certain romanticism in being able to have full control of your work life. But is this really true? Unlike the self-employed workers or "towkays" from yesteryears, most who run sole-proprietorships and are in control of their charge rates and their opening and closing hours, the majority of our platform workers today, such as private hire drivers, our delivery riders, by virtue of the fact that they depend on a shared platform with set rules and business guidelines for their livelihoods, are often subject to management controls by these platforms. While we argue that our drivers and riders can choose to move on to another platform if one fails them, the fact of the matter is that all platforms have their own set of rules and business priorities which our platform workers need to adhere to. Over the weekend, I had a "lo hei" and kopi chat with some of our riders in Punggol. Our riders shared with me that due to the way that some platforms structure their incentives, which directly affects their livelihoods, many riders end up having to work seven days in a week. This is to achieve their incentive levels and not to "lose" the levels they have already achieved.”
“I believe employers see FWAs as a tenable, sustainable way to retain and attract talent, but some of our SMEs may find it challenging to implement this on the ground in a productive manner. For employers, FWAs must lead to productivity gains. The NTUC, together with its partners, like the Institute for Human Resources Professionals, have started on this process of equipping and enabling our more progressive companies. Unionised companies keen to use FWAs for talent management and productivity have strategised and reorganised themselves through CTCs and facilitated roadmapping exercises with the NTUC. One such company is Chye Thiam Maintenance (CTM), which is unionised under our Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees' Union. CTM piloted, with the NTUC's Women and Family Unit, the "C U Back at Work" programme and this is aimed at attracting women caregivers to return to the workplace. Using a mix of a paid pre-employment training programme, with flexi-time and flexi-place work arrangements, the programme has since attracted some 800 women returners into its prospective pipeline. This success did not come easy, as the company had to re-engineer its HR processes and is now embarking on a digital scheduling programme. In order to make FWAs a workplace norm, we must equip our companies with the necessary resources and expertise to execute this to achieve win-win employer-worker outcomes. This means availing organisational excellence tools and consulting expertise to our SMEs. This means providing our SMEs with plug-and-play technology software for managing flexi-time and flexi-place schedules. This means facilitating SMEs with training programmes to upskill their workers and their potential pipeline of workers.”
“In 1977, the NTUC set up its first childcare centre, which would eventually become MyFirstSkool, an island wide network of kindergartens and childcare centres that facilitates mothers returning to work with a peace of mind. Since 2012, our Labour Movement had advocated better workplace conditions for nursing mothers under our Project Liquid Gold. We have called for family care and eldercare leave to be made mandatory since 2013, with one of the first calls being made by none other than Mdm Halimah Yacob herself. Recently, I also made a call to employers to extend family care leave to include caring for aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces. And yet, even with all of these, we recognise that FWAs would be a critical pillar in this ecosystem of support for our caregivers. In a recent NTUC Women and Family-PAP Women’s Wing survey of some 3,000 working caregivers, close to 90% said that FWAs would be a very important factor for them to choose to stay or return to the workplace. Indeed, the Unions have been advocating for FWAs since 1995, when we introduced FWAs in our collective agreement negotiations. With over 12,000 companies being signatories to the 2017 Tripartite Standards for Flexible Work Arrangements, and the tailwinds afforded by COVID-19, the time is now to make FWAs a workplace norm. At the heart of successful FWAs, a culture of trust must be created in the workplace. Workers must be responsible in the use and request of FWAs and be accountable for work outcomes as agreed with employers. Employers must create a culture sustainable for FWAs, redesigning their jobs for flexi-load, flexi-time and flexi-place, and re-engineering their organisations and management to embrace FWAs.”
“Mr Speaker, our Labour MPs and I bring to Parliament with us today the challenges, dreams and hopes of our hardworking, dedicated Singaporean workers, many who have charted rewarding careers by dedicating themselves to their crafts and trades, many who have shouldered resolutely, the weight of their work responsibilities with the gravity of their familial caregiving duties, and even so, the rising class of gig and platform workers who are bravely charting new work norms and pushing boundaries on fair treatment and safety nets for retirement and workplace injuries. As our workforce ages and the aspirations of our workers changes, our Workers' Compact – our social and economic contract with our workers – must be renewed such that working towards better wages, welfare and work prospects continue to be a collective goal for workers, employers and the Government. In this respect, the NTUC concluded a year-long conversation with our workers, 42,000 workers to be precise, to understand the dreams and challenges of our workers in modern day Singapore. In our conversations, balancing caregiving duties with work responsibilities has become top of mind for our workers. In a Singapore that is ageing rapidly with a smaller family nucleus, more workers are now caring for their senior loved ones, young children and infirm family members. The going can get quite tough for our workers, many who are new generation two-shift workers. After a hard day’s work, they go home to immediately start on their second caregiving shifts at home, and it is Groundhog Day for as long as their loved ones need care. Our Labour Movement knows the importance of building up a strong ecosystem to empower and equip our working caregivers to stay in their jobs.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Given that drug syndicates and pro-recreation drug lobbyists are using messaging platforms and perhaps, maybe even social media platforms for the propagation and use of such drugs to influence our youths, how will the Ministry continue to monitor such channels being used, especially if they are closed private groups? And is there a key performance indicator (KPI) to the speed of investigation to closing down such groups? For members of the public, parents or teachers who know of or suspect such groups, where can they report these, and can they report this as anonymous whistleblowers?”
“I note that the Ministry had published salary guidelines for the community care sector and the Senior Parliamentary Secretary talked about it just now. I would say I have received much positive feedback from healthcare professionals and their managers; in particular, from the larger private sector community care and age care groups, on this guidance. They found it very useful in attracting and retaining staff. However, in my union and constituency work, I continue to receive wage and welfare grievances from employees of smaller clinics. And salaries can be stagnated for years; sometimes, at levels lower than the Progressive Wage Model (PWM). While I appreciate that private sector salaries are best left to market forces, for this group of workers, what more can MOH do to engage the owners of small health businesses and to ensure that our workers have dignified livelihoods?”
“Localised strategies are effective at mobilising communities because they resonate with the unique fabric of each locality. When initiatives like the Positivity Pizza movement are driven by the people who care about and understand the dynamics of their own community, supported by the warmth of common shared spaces, there is a profound authenticity that connects with residents on a very personal level. These localised efforts tap into the values, traditions and shared experiences of the community, fostering a sense of belonging and collective responsibility. While we continue to build the vital national-level infrastructure and systems, I remind and call on our Government to not forget the local-level support and to provide more resources to local networks to build strong local mental health advocates and stakeholders. Mr Speaker, I support the Motion.”
“Mr Speaker, studies have shown that our youths had a challenging time during COVID-19 and, coupled by stresses of school and a complicated social media landscape, our young ones are navigating a world that is complex and isolating beyond the one we grew up in. Through this movement, volunteers from across all communities in Punggol Shore, our seniors, youths, women groups, sports teams and our religious organisations, have come together to sew pizza plushie keychains with a common aim of making 20,000 pizzas to gift every single one of our youths in Punggol Shore. It is our community's way of telling our youths that it is okay not to be okay and the whole Punggol Shore Community has our youths' backs. The inspiration for the movement was at an encounter I had with a young Punggol resident. C, not her real name, came up to me when I was doing my regular rounds at a local mall. I knew C when she was in primary school and was happy to note that she was in her secondary school uniform. I asked about her transition to Secondary 1 and to my dismay, she shared that she was having a really hard time and has considered self-harm and suicide. While we were speaking, C saw a keychain plushie I had on my bag and she said, "Ms Yeo, that's really very cute. May I have it so that I know that people care?" To C, if you are watching this, know that people do care and thank you for reaching out and trusting others with your burdens that day. You have started a movement. Mr Speaker, in our modern world, where the pace of life seems only to accelerate and the digital landscape can create both connection and isolation, local communities stand as beacons of support and resilience.”
“Most of our Resident Networks now have a volunteer leader with higher awareness of mental health issues, especially those faced by caregivers and their senior or special needs wards. This has impacted the way we organise our community events and conduct our home visits. We hope to scale our local training, as we believe that more volunteers and the community-at-large would benefit from such training and awareness. In the same thread, livelihoods are a major contributor to mental wellness and, for caregivers, jobs in the community are always warmly welcomed for better work-life balance. Can more be done by our local merchants on local job creation? Can we encourage and equip our heartland merchants to embrace flexible work arrangements (FWA), especially with the upcoming Tripartite Guidelines for FWA requests? How about our local Community Development Councils (CDCs) promoting local job creation and FWAs with the heartland merchant networks that they have created so successfully with the CDC Voucher programmes? With tailwinds helping along in the creation of livelihood opportunities for our caregivers, let us seize the moment and secure a peace of mind for our caregivers. Support for the mental health of our caregivers is a multifaceted one – providing support and respite in the care for their wards, creating caregiver support groups and the providence of local jobs. Local stakeholders and the organisation of our local stakeholders are critical in sustainable mental health support. Indeed, this is where ground-level initiatives, like the Positivity Pizza Movement, become invaluable. Led by the youths for our youths in Punggol Shore, this movement promotes mental well-being in our youth community.”
“Yet there are some, who are fully dependent on their caregivers, many of whom, are sole caregivers who have given up their lives and livelihoods to take care of their wards. These families living in our midst are often stressed, worried and financially challenged. I met Mr Tan and his sister, not their real names, about two years ago, when there was a fire in their block. Both were in their 50s and despite the fire, Ms Tan refused to be evacuated. Ms Tan later shared that she suspects that her brother has special needs and is a recluse as he refuses to leave their home. After their parents passed away, she stopped work and became his full-time caregiver. She is frustrated about the situation and worried about what will become of her brother if something happens to her. She told me that she would rather die in the fire at home, with her brother, than go through the trauma of forcing her brother to leave the house, climb down the stairs and wait at the fire refuge area with strangers while waiting for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to give the all-clear. While both the Tans were physically unharmed in the fire, the state of their mental wellness calls for care and support. We need to do more for families like the Tans. Local support can certainly alleviate some of the stress and loneliness, be it the reassuring familiarity of neighbours checking in on you or participating in nearby community events. However, in order for local support to be effective and inclusive, the community needs awareness and specialised training. In support of families like the Tans, Punggol Shore started a training and support programme for our grassroots leaders in partnership with Caregivers Alliance, a non-profit organisation.”
“Mr Speaker, I wholeheartedly affirm the Motion and believe the time is now, for each and every one of us, to be active stakeholders in building a robust and compassionate Singaporean mental health ecosystem. Our Government with their national-level programmes, such as Healthier SG, National Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy, ground mobilisation of more general practitioners (GPs) and increasing capacity for medical psychiatric care, has indeed given importance and priority in this matter. Yet, if our nation is a tapestry, mental health is the thread that weaves through every level of our nation. Community, neighbourhoods, families and individuals. The heart of mental health matters. It is not about unique issues but about solutionings that are always nuanced and personal. I put it to the House that complementing our national initiatives must be a network of localised support comprising of energised outreach, awareness and authentic friendships. Indeed, ground-up initiatives are invaluable as they address, in a spot-on manner, mental health issues faced by real individuals whilst rallying the support and understanding of real-life neighbours in the communities we all live in. In Punggol Shore, it was through home visits by our volunteers that we had identified special needs adults. Some were in their 50s and 60s, undiagnosed and received no support for their conditions. They are out of the national system of care, as they were simply never registered in the system in the first place. Some lead quiet, isolated lives, depending on neighbours and the Residents' Committees to keep a discreet watch on their well-being. Some lead more colourful lives and are called unkindly, sometimes, as weird and strange.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. There have been reports of escalating rental prices, some as high as 20% to 30% in coffee shops, leading to stall holders giving up their businesses due to sustainability issues. In keeping rentals affordable for essential heartlands food services, what are the considerations that the Ministry has in deciding which coffee shops are sold and which are rented from the HDB? Would the Ministry also consider putting in place programmes with third-party owners or master operators of coffee shops to regulate rentals and business costs to keep food prices reasonable?”
“Thank you, Speaker. For every hour of downtime, our taxis and private hire drivers lose an hour of earnings. Would the Ministry share how long it may take for installation and how the Ministry would plan for the efficient roll-out, minimising wait times, given that there are now over 50,000 taxis and private hire vehicles in Singapore? Are there also plans to work with private hire vehicles' rental companies on sharing the burdens with our drivers, by providing lower rentals during the downtime?”
“Instead of price cuts and the passing on of costs to just another stakeholder upstream or downstream, FWAs can solve financial stresses for Singaporean families by adding an extra channel of income and help companies with resources and productivity. Hence, Mr Speaker, let us help our Singapore businesses do better in what they have set out to do. I call on our Government to reduce business costs by simplifying work and Government compliance processes for our businesses, and to support our companies in job redesign and the upskilling of workers. Mr Speaker, true character is shown in times of adversity. And indeed, in the face of global price surges and its impact on everyday life of Singaporeans, I have seen the mettle in our Singaporean businesses, I have felt the kindness in our communities and I have heard the steely timbre in our people's voices. As the dust settles, let us continue to be united stakeholders in building our Singapore community, economy and lives with kindness and resolve, even when we have global challenges looms ahead. Mr Speaker, I support the amended Motion proposed by hon Member Mr Liang Eng Hwa.”
“One food court operator took it further and partnered with the National Taxi Association with the introduction of a free kopi programme card to address the livelihood crunch that our drivers face. They have since extended this programme islandewide. Such budget meals and kopi programmes are popular and welcomed, and I understand that the MND has introduced budget meals at all HDB-owned coffeeshops. Can we also consider getting privately-owned coffeeshops to also offer budget meals, perhaps through their Merchant Associations? With all these examples, I do believe in our businesses and community ecosystems – to do right for themselves and for our community – in the face of challenges and pressures, finding the right balance between costs of living and costs of business. Perhaps, instead of looking at this as a tug of war, let us support and help our businesses, our SMEs, our towkays do something that they do best in, and that is selling their goods and services well, and creating good jobs, future-ready good jobs. The Labour Movement supports our companies with the upskilling of their workers and the redesign of jobs, so that more pockets of workers – such as caregivers, women returners – can partake in the workforce, and alleviate income pressures at home. An example of such a programme is the C U Back at Work, or CUB, Programme that the NTUC Woman and Family Unit has piloted to help mothers and family caregivers to return to the workplace confidently. Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) is key to the program, and companies redesign work hours or locations around the time availability of workers.”
“Our Town Council, too, has also formalised a welfare committee assisting residents who have fallen behind on their S&CC fees or needing simple repairs around their homes. Support, of all shapes and sizes, are readily available and always at hand. And yet, in Punggol, I have observed that there are more who are stepping up to support the community instead. Indeed, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going! Complementing national level policies, micro-spheres of influence make long-term, impactful differences on the ground. Our micro-spheres of merchants, small businesses, religious organisations, volunteer groups and charities have created a sustainable and wide web of safety nets for our residents. I am touched that our temples, themselves reeling from low temple donations during COVID-19, now provide weekly rations to my welfare team, packed full of nutritious goodies to be distributed to our residents. Our temples, churches and mosques give free Maths and Language tuition for our residents, and they doubled their classes post-COVID-19 when demand surged. A moral welfare society is now building a free traditional chinese medicine (TCM) clinic to complement primary care in Punggol. All residents across all households and age groups are welcome. Many volunteers at the tuition and TCM centres are retired educators and healthcare professionals, and I appreciate how Singaporeans stepping up to support their communities. Our Punggol Merchants' Association sprung into action and introduced, with the help of our residents, $3 budget meals at all Punggol Shore food court stalls.”
“Mr Speaker, we have just come out of a three-year global pandemic and it was not too long ago, that many parts of the world were still completely shut in, logistics lines cut off, and our roads, malls, offices empty. We are now rebuilding our communities, our businesses and our trade links. This is a mammoth task made even more complicated with the ongoing wars. As we traverse the new world in the new normal, and as we pick up pieces – broken families, familiar places now gone, groups dispersed – we find ourselves in the middle of a hurricane of cost increases and resource shortages. From petrol, electricity and water, to bus rides, cai png and kopi – indeed, the global cost increases are felt at very local, very personal and very real everyday ways. In Punggol, a town of young families, many with upwardly aspirations, my residents have shared with me their concerns over food prices, healthcare costs, utilities and tuition enrichment classes for their children and, of course, the cost of owning a car and property in Singapore. They have expressed their appreciation for GST Vouchers, CDC Vouchers, U-Save Vouchers, Transport Vouchers, bursaries and top-ups that they have received over the years to help with cost pressures. For some residents who have fallen on tough times post-COVID-19, perhaps from being retrenched, a business gone south or having fallen gravely ill, help is never too far away with SSO, CDCs, Medical Social Workers. For those who have somehow fallen through the cracks – a single parent, a caregiver wishing to return to work, an undiagnosed special needs adult, our local community welfare teams provide weekly ration packs, monthly essential items, care vouchers and pro-bono services, like legal clinics, respite care and counselling sessions.”
“In the successful roll-out of the Progressive Work Model, it is important that service buyers embrace revised wage ladders set up by the Tripartite Committee. It is very heartening to note that the take-up rate has been healthy for the PW Mark. How many employees does this translate to and the percentage of 20th percentile and below worker segments? I also note what Senior Minister of State had mentioned – that the Government had taken the lead and requiring for PW Mark for suppliers and sub-contractors in new Government tenders. In the same vein, will they also take the lead in starting the re-negotiation process for existing contracts, especially for the long-term contracts which can extend up to 10 years? Additionally, there has been some feedback that some service buyers have asked for service providers to pass on or share their Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS) credits that the service providers receive during the re-negotiation process. While this advisory shows that the practice is not supported and that PWCS support should instead be made transparent by service providers in the negotiation process, what pragmatic steps is the Ministry taking to safeguard service providers against such requests in the process of re-negotiations?”
“In the equipping of our companies in long-term adoption of FWAs, the Government can consider supporting our employers in their job redesign processes, which often can be costly and may be disruptive to current business processes. MSF can also consider awarding companies which adopt and embrace family-friendly workplace policies a form of recognition, so that their best practices can be shared and further propagated. Today, the news of a baby on its way is still very much met with joy, but the "village" now consists of not only of just mothers and fathers, neighbours and extended families, but of employers, bosses, co-workers, human resources and the Government. I agree that this Bill is a step in the right direction, but for greater sustainability of work-life harmony, let us consider the levers of a modern workplace in flexible work arrangements, which not only supports new parents, but all working parents and caregivers alike. These concerns notwithstanding, I support the Bill.”
“In the post-pandemic modern workplace, companies have started conversations with their workers on implementing enforceable, practical policies around providing FWAs as a long-term solution. FWAs are not only about working from home but FWAs can mean flexi-time, flexi-place and even flexi-load. FWAs are an important way for companies to reinvent their company's work cultures, their attitudes towards caregiving leave, paving the way for more engaged workers and in return higher productivity. At the NTUC Women and Family Unit, we recently introduced the C U Back at Work Programme, or what we call CUB programme for short. This programme piloted with a Singapore-based company which provides fully flexible work hours, flexible work locations and even flexible training hours in an effort to attract and retain working parents. This programme was launched to much fanfare and with successful return to work applicants, both mothers and fathers They shared that the programme enabled them to come back to work as the company had a work culture which not only tolerated but embraced working parents' needs for leave and flexible work. However, in the same period of time, the company also went through, with the help of NTUC, e2i and company training committees (CTCs), a continued process of work redesign, including investing in a new HR team, a new scheduling system, a policy of recognising employees who have covered the work of co-workers on extended leave and a clear policy of career progression and performance appraisals. Legislation alone will not be able to change the existing culture in our workplaces. Employers must continue to play a part to encourage working parents to leverage family-friendly workplace policies, such as paid leave and FWAs.”
“While we empathise with new parents who feel the sheer physical exhaustion, especially sleep deprivation, that comes with taking care of a newborn infant, let us also not forget the many other types of familial duties – parents with older kids who need help in school, or in navigating the sensitive period that is adolescence; parents who are raising children with special needs; and sandwiched working parents who are also caregivers to elderly parents or relatives. These are the everyday caregiving burdens that many households in Singapore face today – the challenge of juggling of work and family. All of these efforts require more than just a few weeks of time away from work. It is an intense balancing act, constantly juggling between responsibilities at home and commitments at work. This is a lifelong balancing act that perhaps, calling for leave, is just a start. It is therefore timely that we begin to explore more sustainable options for work-life harmony to complement the increasing number of days of leave. The Labour Movement has been advocating for flexible work arrangements (FWAs) for decades, and we continue to believe that FWAs is the catalyst for changing workplace norms when it comes to work-life harmony and it is the long-term solution to keeping our working parents in the workplace. In a recent survey by the NTUC's Women and Family Unit on FWAs, 87% of 2,711 respondents, both men and women, said that FWAs are an important factor in their decision-making to stay or leave their current jobs. During the pandemic, FWAs were implemented as the defacto way to work and companies scrambled to find ways to implement FWAs with existing technologies and resources.”
“Workplace policies to create allowances for working parents do not necessarily translate to these allowances being realised. For example, merely 40% of eligible fathers made use of the complete two-week duration of Government-Paid Paternity Leave between 2018 and 2020. And why is this so? In an ideal world, the process goes like this. A working parent is faced with a home emergency. They approach their employer with a leave request which is readily approved and the working parent goes on leave to resolve the situation. However, ground realities can be quite different. Many face the dilemma of how taking more time away from work may negatively impact the impression their bosses and colleagues have of them. They may worry about their career progressions at work, or even finding alternative employment if they find themselves victims of discrimination. If you think about it, how many times has the "office" congratulated a "co-worker" on the birth of their child, while also in the same breath, complained of how much more "productive" they need to be as they cover their colleagues' work while they are away on leave. Of course, the unions have our workers' back should they be faced with unfair treatment, but many working parents seek for favourable work relationships, choosing not to rock the boat and thus not fully utilising their full entitlement. Mr Speaker, as such, we must take a holistic view of the reality that working parents and caregivers face. Providing more paid leave for working parents and caregivers to tend to their families is welcomed, but we need our work cultures and work arrangements to catch up with legislative moves.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it takes a village to raise a child. Back in the day, when families were larger and when extended families lived together, there were economies of scale in households to take care of the young, almost by the batch. Close neighbourly relationships also meant that there was usually a set group of women in the neighbourhood who would help with babysitting. However, shifting attitudes and social trends, such as dual-income families and smaller households, would need us to redefine what a "village" means in modern-day Singapore. I believe that Singapore parents will welcome this Bill and the providence of more paid leave for parents, especially for fathers, as they heed the call for a more balanced share of child caregiving duties. The Labour Movement appreciates that the Ministry has listened to our workers' feedback and has considered our calls for more caregiving leave. The amendments to this Bill is a great start to supporting Singaporean families by providing them with additional resources to alleviate their financial and time pressures and indeed, it makes allowances for fathers to be more present during the early development of their child. However, two practicalities need to be taken into consideration in the roll-out of such leave support: (a) the workplace cultural norms which need to be developed to catch up with legislative calls for more parental leave; and (b) the long-term sustainability of continually increasing paid and unpaid parental leave for workers as well as businesses. Let us talk about the current state of workplace norms. The reality is that for many workers, when it comes to taking time-off from work, it is sometimes a sticky conversation. It is not always so straightforward.”
“I note that there have been efforts to recruit mid-careerists and persons who have not worked in childcare services to join this industry not only as teachers or educators, but as educarers and even service staff. What has ECDA put in place in the training and assessment of these new joiners to this industry and are these training efforts uniform across all preschools? In the event that there are complaints against these new joiners, what are the steps that ECDA will put in place to ensure that our new joiners are sufficiently protected in the investigation process, given that they could be new and inexperienced on the job?”
“And three, I note that one of the proposed changes is to allow the Tribunal to introduce non-monetary orders such as requiring parents with addictions to attend counselling. Could we also allow the conciliation platform to introduce such remedies, albeit conciliation not being a tribunal, being short of an order? In the spirit of reciprocity, the introduction of such remedies could also extend to children and whole family facing such issues. Over the years, the Maintenance Act has changed the trajectory of life for many of our vulnerable parents and with the upcoming amendments, it will seek to protect an even expanded group of vulnerables. Mdm Deputy Speaker, I support this Bill.”
“When she confronted her son about the matter, he said that his new wife could not bear living with her and he would like her out of the home; the home which she and her late husband had bought together for their son after selling their own home. Having no place to go and no savings, Mdm C sought refuge with her daughter and together, they came to see me at our pro-bono legal clinic service. Despite receiving advice that she should file a maintenance order against her son, Mdm C hesitated on doing so as she felt that she could not bear the shame of putting her son through a tribunal Court. Mdm C's daughter had shared that she was unable to house her mother in the long term and now she is on the waitlist for a HDB rental or long-term lease apartment and is considering putting up in a welfare home in the interim. Like many before them, for both Mdm L and Mdm C, the 2011 expanded amendment to include a conciliation process with a trained and neutral mediator could have been a useful step in alleviating the vulnerable situation both parties found themselves in. For Mdm L, a conciliation process could have bettered the relationship between her daughter-in-law and herself. For Mdm C, a conciliation process could have circumvented the sting of a Court tribunal settlement. It is heartening to note that the conciliation process has achieved a 90% resolution rate since its implementation. Given that issues typically centre around finances and housing, could we also consider the following to strengthen the conciliation process? One, train mediators in financial counselling so that they can equip children on sustainable maintenance payments. Two, create a direct appeal line to the HDB on expedited rental or long-term lease alternatives via the conciliation platform.”
“Parents decide to move out but realise their very limited options given that they have no more savings or assets. Mdm L is a widow in her 70s and she has been seeing me at Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) asking for a rental apartment from the HDB. She has three married children – a son and two daughters. She stays with her son and his family and has very, very strained relations with her daughter-in-law who suffers from suspected Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In order to avoid her daughter-in-law for fear of putting her son in a difficult position, Mdm L wakes up at 3.00 am in the morning and is out of the house by 4.00 am. She sits by herself at the Seniors Corner for hours until 8.00 am, after which she leaves for her daughter's home to look after her two grandchildren. She returns home close to 10.00 pm after her daughter-in-law has returned back to her room. Her children have all come to see me and tell me that they are unable to house Mdm L for various reasons. Mdm L is stuck as her life savings – and that of her late husband's – are invested into her son's home and she is unable to afford another home. Rental is her only option, but she does not qualify as her children are home owners and have viable careers. They are technically able to look after their mother. In the meantime, as she awaits her rental appeal, Mdm L's 3.00 am, 4.00 am, 8.00 am life runs like a nightmare Groundhog Day. Another resident, Mdm C, a widow in her 80s, came home one day to find that her son had changed the locks to their home and her belongings left outside of her home.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, while we rally as a nation around the very noble intent of "A Singapore Made for Families", it is timely that as a nation, we too, take stock of how our families have been impacted by COVID-19 and to adjust and update the safety nets we have to put in place for our families and the vulnerable through the Maintenance of Parents Act. Indeed, the spirit of the Act in this amendment Bill is aligned around the clear axis and that is to create clear, protective safety nets for seniors and our vulnerable when their families fail them. I welcome the updates and amendments to the Act, an Act which has served many vulnerable families well for the past three decades. Given the pressures placed on families during COVID-19 and the many parent-children "break-ups" I have witnessed in my constituency, it is timely that we look to expanding the Maintenance Bill to include more downstream safety nets for conciliation and the continued transformation of the Maintenance Act into a platform for trust and reciprocity. As the Chinese saying goes, "相见容易相处难". It is easy to get along when you are meet each other once in a while, but it can be hard if you have to live together. During COVID-19, I met with quite a number of troubled seniors and their family members who have found it impossible to get along. While each case was unique, the circumstances to how the situation developed to be so ran similar invariable scripts. Child intends to get married. Child asks Mom and Dad to sell their current home to help fund the child's new marital home. Parents oblige and even gift their life savings to Child. Child promises to look after Parents into their golden years. Fast forward a few years, living together brought much heartache to all parties involved.”
“I thank the Senior Minister of State for the good news. Indeed, my Punggol residents have often given the feedback on the crowded trains and they are frustrated when they are unable to get on the trains. especially in the mornings when they need to get to work and school on time. In fact, parents have told me that their kids are sometimes left behind on the platforms as they cannot get onto the crowded trains. How would LTA and the Ministry ensure that passengers can enjoy smooth and convenient transitions between the use of the LRT and the increased interim bus services? I think our residents would want to make sure that the travel times as well as trips are done in a convenient and safe way, especially for the school children.”
“I thank the Minister of State. Besides the Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme, are there other initiatives MAS is working on to increase hiring of polytechnic graduates into the financial sector?”
“I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. As you may know, we had a very tragic incident that occurred at the Punggol Cove LRT station a few weeks ago and our Punggol community is distraught about the loss. Since 2018, glass panels have been installed at our LRT platforms, but the gap is left where the door should be. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has told me that there are space and technical constraints on the platform preventing the installation of auto doors. Given that our Punggol LRT stations can be quite crowded during peak hours, especially when children are headed to school, our Punggol residents are very concerned about the safety of commuters, especially children. Can the Ministry give an update on whether there has been any technical breakthroughs since 2018 on installing doors at the platform and in the case where this is not yet feasible, what additional safety measures can the Ministry implement to prevent commuters from accidental falling into the LRT tracks?”
“We have to be cognisant of the implications in placing greater responsibility on individuals to navigate the digital world, seek to provide support and aid and ensure that we do not leave vulnerable groups to greater risk and alienation. These concerns notwithstanding, I support the Bill.”
“In the spirit of "Forward Singapore", I believe that this Bill is best served with supplementary safeguards and policies to ensure our vulnerable communities are not inadvertently affected. We must continue to provide and amplify present digital literacy initiatives for seniors and other vulnerable members of our community who face difficulty dealing with the growing digitalisation of Government and banking services. Furthermore, given the ever-evolving nature of scams, we need to keep on our toes and feed our communities through digital ambassadors and other agency representatives active in our local community. I call on the Ministry, as we enhance our crime enforcement safety nets, to also augment this with community outreach efforts to provide timely and up-to-date scam advisories, enabling our communities to develop long-term know-how on identifying and reacting to scams. Yet, the Government should not be the sole stakeholder to ameliorate potential gaps. Banks and other digital platforms can do more to provide additional protection for our vulnerable. Creating sandboxes to experiment with new solutions, such as increased levels of authentication or the tailoring of experiences suitable to certain age groups or demographics, may be the first step towards mitigating the exposure to scams and providing financial inclusion. What are the Ministry's plans in involving more stakeholders, especially our businesses, in our endeavour towards scam awareness and protection? As we address the present lapses in our efforts to combat scams, I hope that we do not lose sight of the potential effects this new Bill can have on our technologically vulnerable.”
“Firstly, for senior citizens who attempt but struggle to navigate these online services and fall prey to scams, they now possibly have no clear and simple path of redress, should they be found to have willingly shared their information online or with their loved ones. For such seniors, they not only suffer financial loss as victims of scams, but are re-victimised by their "failed" attempt to utilise digital services. Secondly, because this Bill potentially leaves the digitally illiterate with less protection and more risks, I fear that this may only serve to provide greater inertia for our senior citizens who view our online spaces with scepticism, fostering a sense of digital alienation that we, as a nation, have worked hard to bridge. Furthermore, by shifting the onus onto the individual, I fear the impact it may have on vulnerable communities such as adults with special needs. Many such adults currently have no right to create a bank account. This new amendment will only serve to setback the timeline for financial inclusion. If one struggles with managing sensitive data on a day-to-day basis, doing so in the complex digital sphere without empathetic safeguards can only be exponentially more difficult. A conversation with a resident in my constituency highlighted the struggles her stepson faces as an adult with special needs. Without the right to create a bank account, the family faced much difficulty in receiving monies due to him via his father's will when his father passed on. As the world become ever more dependent on digital services for daily functions, we must continue to consider what byproducts our laws may have on those on the fringes of society and ensure that we do not systematically inhibit the access to the life they desire.”
“Therefore, the latest amendments to the two Bills have sought to redress the reach of law enforcement by encouraging online vigilance and responsible behaviour regarding the use of bank accounts and Singpass details, these are which information that was identified to have been critical in facilitating the perpetration of scams and other similar offences. While I support the intention and aim of these amendments, I cannot help but consider the potential repercussions of placing significant onus on individuals to take responsibility for how they dispense and share their personal data online, especially in the ever-evolving situation of scams. In an age where there is an ever-growing digitalisation of i-banking and Government services that require the use of bank accounts and Singpass details, we have to be mindful of how this Bill may implicate those in our society who are not tech-natives, particularly our senior citizens, and persons with special needs and mental disabilities. Scams today are no longer overt, blatant advertisements which are easily recognisable, but they reach us in a host of ways that can appear subtle and very genuine. Scams get to the best of us. Just last evening, after MPS, one of my volunteers, a smart savvy individual in his 40s, sheepishly admitted to me that he was a phishing scam victim last year, having inadvertently given his OTP to a fake delivery site. Indeed, by transferring the responsibility of online vigilance onto our senior citizens, or our less digitally inclined, it presents a twofold problem.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, it is in the middle of the afternoon and you suddenly receive a call from a "long-lost bro" who strangely asks you to remember his name and needs a quick loan of $500 from you; or perhaps you receive a text from a private number promising you your dream job without you needing to really put in any effort for a disproportionately dreamy salary. Madam, I am sure many in this Chamber and beyond have experienced such similar scam scenarios, given the multitude of channels and methods that are digitally available to innocent victims, citizens and pernicious actors alike. Most worryingly, more Singaporeans are falling prey to such scams, and national statistics aside, on a local level, I have seen a stark increase of residents coming to see me at MPS on scam matters. Some devastated, seeking justice for monies and life savings lost, some seething, seeking redress for loved ones who have been found guilty of being involved in scams. Dealing with scams presents a set of distinct and novel challenges for law enforcement. To navigate and patrol the digital space while ensuring freedoms and privacy of our citizens will be a perennial balancing act; to heavily monitor and limit online interaction presents not only an ethical conundrum of over-policing, but also an operational problem, given the rapidly changing techniques and technology that is used by scammers. Yet, we cannot allow for the present situation to persist and scammers to exploit the identified loopholes in our current legal system.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the answer. Given that there has been an uptick of home rental scams using online platforms as the conduit, will the Ministry be taking ownership and enforcement measures against this online host? One Punggol resident who saw me at a Meet-the-People session told me that his home had been used, not once, but multiple times in home rental scams and he had multiple victims turn up at his doorstep over a period of a few months with their belongings ready to move in. Thankfully, the victims understood that my resident had nothing to do with the scam. However, for home owners whose homes and identities had inadvertently been used in these rental scams, what protections would be afforded to them from the Government, should civil suits and Police investigations be launched against them?”
“I would like to ask Minister of State Sun Xueling what programmes MSF has looked into to assist our women to rejoin the workforce and the MEO process and if the Labour Movement can be a key partner of these programmes. In the larger context of family justice, I call upon our Singaporean community – social and business – to come together to enable our sisters to be financially independent, above and beyond the protections of the improvements to this reform Bill. Companies must redesign their jobs such that FWAs become a business and social norm. The Family Courts can consider, in addition to specifying clinical and therapeutic intervention sessions, also job and upskilling workshops to ensure that women have access to the resources and support they need to rebuild their lives. We must equip our women with the means to long-term financial stability, peace of mind in managing their caregiving responsibilities and the choice to return to the workforce. I support the Bill.”
“Emily is seeking a divorce, but is worried that her husband would not pay maintenance and, should the divorce be granted, that she would be forced to sell her marital home, leaving her and her family with no roof over their heads. Sadly, Emily’s case, or variations of her case, is not unique, and I support the changes of better enforcement of maintenance orders, and I call on the Government, in the execution of the enforcement, a cost-effective and simplified process. I am pleased to note from Minister Shanmugam that the process is now online in the new enforcement process. Mr Deputy Speaker, I believe that it is our duty as lawmakers to ensure that women who are going through a divorce have access to the support and resources they need to manage their caregiving responsibilities and become financially independent. We must work towards creating a family justice system that is not just fair but enabling for all. The NTUC's Women and Family Unit is committed to supporting women, including single mothers and divorcees, to return to work. We believe that empowering and enabling women to be financially independent is a very important part of the support network needed, especially after a divorce. Indeed, we have launched with our unionised companies many creative programmes that support our women in transition, the most recent being the CUBack@Work, or CUB programme. This combines a six-week paid flexible training programme with a transition into a flexible work arrangement (FWA) with good salaries and clear career pathways. It is essential that, as a community, we create the right conditions for women to transit into the workforce smoothly and help to retain them in the workforce by recognising the need to balance livelihoods with caregiving responsibilities.”
“In my work in my constituency and in NTUC’s Women and Family Unit, I often meet women in such double binds, seeking help and support, sometimes with their young children, often in tears and at a loss of what to do, with no jobs, no CPF and no savings. Many a time, their ex-husbands have gone missing and with that, too, all hopes and promise of any maintenance orders due to these women through their divorce settlements. I sometimes also meet women, who hide their shame of being stuck in an abusive marriage, unable to move on, as they are financially unable to care for themselves and their children and are afraid, if they do indeed get divorced, that their ex-husbands will not fulfil their maintenance orders. I met Emily – not her real name – many times over the past two years. Initially, Emily’s issues pertained to financial assistance she needed for her four children, the oldest who is just 14 years old when I met them. As we got to know each other better over the months, Emily shared that she had a rocky and high tension marriage with her husband and had thought long and seriously about leaving the marriage. However, she continued being a dutiful wife, taking care of the household, their four children and her in-laws who are both staying with her. She has a part-time job, earning less than $2,000, and this is barely enough to cover her household of eight. Earlier this year, Emily reached out once again, distraught that her husband had gone missing in action (MIA) and his last known location was in Malaysia. He had abandoned the family, leaving her to take care of the family, the flat mortgage and even his business debts.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, no woman enters into marriage expecting it to end in divorce. While divorce is never easy, it can be especially challenging for women who often find themselves struggling to manage their livelihoods while ensuring the well-being of their charges, especially children in their custody or part custody. When women, especially mothers, go through a divorce, they are often left to manage the household and take care of the children on their own. They need financial stability and independence to rebuild their lives after a divorce. However, for many women, this is easier said than done, especially if their spouses were the sole-breadwinners in their households. According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)'s Labour Force Survey in 2022, there are approximately a quarter of a million women of economic age who are not participating in the workforce due to caregiving responsibilities. These women are often sandwiched, caring for their young children, elderly parents and households, and they find it challenging to balance their caregiving responsibilities with the need to provide for their families financially. The situation becomes even more complicated for women who are going through a divorce. The circumstances in these women’s lives have not changed, the young are still young, the elderly, elderly, and the infirmed, infirmed. The only thing that has changed is the added complexity of livelihoods and financial stability that our women now have to take care of. It could be a classic case of out of the frying pan into the fire for many women caught in these double binds.”
“I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. Business owners who are service sellers in multi-year contracts have given me feedback that they may be locked into contracts which may be up to 10 years, especially if this is related with longer-term municipal and infrastructure maintenance projects. This may go beyond the length of Government support, like the PWCS which is five years. Reviews of PWM wage rounds, especially in that earlier rolled out sectors may see wage increases of more than 20% and it will be critical for them to align this with service bias to remain sustainable even without Government support. However, in the re-negotiation process, business owners have told me that some service bias have communicated that they were blackmarked their businesses, even with successful re-negotiations of the current contract in their future contracts, as they were deemed to have not fulfilled the conditions of their current contracts. What recourse would businesses have should they be faced with such challenges? Would the Ministry investigate such claims and educate service buyers, especially in the PWM rollout process as uplifting our lower wage workers is a whole-of-community effort?”
“As I continue to tell the stories of those I champion, I will call on the Government to effect change and renew the kindness of Singaporeans to effect lasting change. Mr Speaker, I support the Motion.”
“More importantly, we knew we had to set up the necessary safety nets for his son, while Mr Y was still of sound mind. Thankfully, things went smoothly and through community contacts, we managed to get things in order for him. He passed on that night after he signed the trust agreement, which actually took the longest to set up. That was two weeks after our initial meet-up at his sofa in his home. He was only then 58. Mr Y left a very long-lasting impression on me. His story is not unique among caregivers and guardians of special needs adults. Through understanding his wishes for his son and the hoops we had to jump through to coordinate the safety nets needed to protect Mr Y's son, I know that we need to do more for our special needs adults and their caregivers. Mr Y envisaged a warm model of care for his son and this was about his son living in the community he grew up well into his later years. It is, well, a care model around a village more than it is around an institution. What this means is that our adults with special needs would be able to live in a safe and dignified manner, fulfilled lives in their communities with the support of other members of the community. I believe that Singaporeans have what it takes to be that village for adults with special needs. No institution can give this great an assurance to families of our special needs adults than the community itself. Mr Speaker, what is unseen is often ignored and what is ignored often suffers. Together, this need not be true for the invisible slices of Singaporeans we have formed a blind spot, as a result of the pandemic. Strengthening the social compact begins with kindness and kindness begins with putting ourselves in the shoes of others.”
“I would like to share the story of one of my residents, Mr Y, who has sadly passed on, but left behind his wife and a 21-year-old son from his first marriage who is on the autism spectrum. I met with Mr Y when he contacted my office and asked me to visit him at home as he was too sick to leave his home. I remember Mr Y laying on his sofa when I saw him in his flat; he was very ill, and his stomach was painfully distended. Even though he was relieved to see me and smiled a lot, he looked like he was in the jaws of death. Mr Y had last stage cancer and his doctor told him that he only had weeks to live. Mr Y told me that he was in pain and the only reason why he was still holding on was because he did not know what to do to ensure that his son and his wife continued to enjoy a good standard of living after he passes on. He was worried as his son has no language skills and his wife is a foreigner; and while she is a full-time caregiver to his son, after his passing, he wished for her to find work. He was also adamant that his son would be able to live and age in place in the flat that he owned and not to be confined to a home or institution. Mr Y was estranged from his family and there were no additional supporting networks for him. He had no will, no Lasting Power of Attorney; he did not even have a "Plan B" on how to ferry his son should the bus fail to turn up that day to bring his son to daycare. After listening to him, we knew we were running against time. Together with my volunteers, we spent the next five days setting up the necessary paperwork for him, visiting banks, getting the lawyers in, setting up a Special Needs Trust. We even arranged for job interviews for his wife and paid attention to his final funeral wishes.”
“This is an important move and draws visibility and, more importantly, public awareness and discourse to the issues that this evolving and growing group of workers face on a daily basis to their livelihoods and safety. Our drivers and riders are a proud, independent group of Singaporean workers. And I call on all Singaporeans to work with the Labour Movement and Tripartite Partnership on defining a fair, dignified livelihood for our platform workers in the new normal. On dignified lives, this brings me to the last group and arguably, the most vulnerable group of adult Singaporeans living among us. For those among us who are parents, do you remember the looks shot at you as you might have brought your wailing infant to a crowded mall, or worse, a fully occupied plane? You may have, on some occasions, muttered to yourself, "Just a few more months of this to get through". For some parents out there with children with special needs, they never really find solace from public scrutiny, even as their children reach adulthood. Mr Speaker, though presented conjecturally, many parents of adults with special needs are no strangers to this line of thinking. On my block visits in Punggol Shore, I encounter a good number of cases of adults with special needs – some of them undiagnosed, cooped up at home, rarely stepping into the outside world having fostered no real sense of independence. When I speak with their parents or siblings, I am often met with worries about how their ward might continue to upkeep a standard of living and quality of life should they pass on. Sure, state-centric solutions might exist, but all parents would wish upon their children a life of safety, choice and protection, at least one that goes beyond the confines of an institution.”
“As a progressive Labour Movement, the NTUC and our associations – National Taxi Association (NTA), National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA), and National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA) have been engaging our ever growing freelance and self-employed community and garnering support to address their concerns with our Tripartite Partners – the ride hail platforms, delivery platforms, taxi companies, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the CPF Board, and the list goes on. The move from pandemic to endemic has certainly brought further light to the precariousness of our riders and drivers' livelihoods. As business models shift and adjust with the gradual opening of our economy and borders, this should not be done without due consideration that these moves have on the livelihoods of our platform workers. To a platform owner, the impact of a rise in platform fees of less than 50 cents, could be minimal in consolidated amounts, but to the driver or to the rider, the accompanying decrease in ride or delivery orders, will mean decreased earnings and less food on the table for their families, sometimes even for weeks. A poorly executed app update resulting in a few hours of glitching will impact earnings and even the safety of our riders and drivers. The Labour Movement has been championing the cause of our freelance and self-employed for many years now and in the face of a fast-evolving gig landscape, the Tripartite Partnership has formed the platform workers Advisory Committee to look into the protection and representation of our gig platform workers.”
“Now that normalcy has been restored to most of the workforce, more workers are called back to serve their nine-to-fives in offices. Let us not lose the momentum we have made in the progress for FWAs in the past three years. FWAs are a critical workplace philosophy to help our women workers balance their dual duties. The Labour Movement thanks the Tripartite Partnership in supporting and legislating in the near future, our workers' rights for individual FWA requests to be considered by employers. The Labour Movement on our part, will continue to support and push for companies to redesign jobs and to ensure FWAs are win-win and sustainable for businesses and workers. Another group of workers who have seen much changes since the onset of the pandemic are our freelancers and, in particular, platform workers who are the lifeblood of Singapore's gig economy. Having transformed the way we eat, shop and move and especially so in the thick of the pandemic, our freelance gig economy has grown in the past three years. Yet, as a community, they still bear invisible risks we do not fathom as a nation. These include risks to their physical safety in transit when delivering food or other logistical requirements, but also concerns over the adequacy of their retirement savings, health safety nets and housing. While the Government will continue to work with these platforms to ensure equitable outcomes for platform workers, Singaporeans should also bear in mind these invisible risks borne by platform workers the next time they tap into their services.”
“As a result of the pandemic, the lines between these women's professional lives and domestic responsibilities have become even more blended. Work from Home or in the COVID-19-era slang – WFH – was a word that was both celebrated and feared by our women workers. At NTUC, our sisters and unions have been pushing workplace norms to embrace flexible work arrangements (FWAs) of which WFH is an example of, for decades. FWAs can enhance workplace productivity and can allow companies to retain women workers in the workplace and attract women returners back; of which by the way, there are 240,000 women of economic age not in the workforce today. COVID-19 created the opportunity for FWAs to be adopted widely, but it also brought into better focus, the challenges women workers and companies need to overcome for FWAs to continue to be adopted both widely as well as wisely. The realities are that FWAs or otherwise, will not shift the burdens of caregiving from the shoulders of mothers, wives and daughters, should women still be culturally expected to be the sole or main caregivers at home while balancing their careers. More practical support must be given to help move the needle in shifting cultural caregiving norms and the Labour Movement is appreciative that our workers' suggestions of shared parental leave and increasing paternity leave have been accepted by our tripartite partners. A wider scope for caregiving leave can also be considered, for our workers to be able to share caregiving duties outside of the typical parent, grandparent and child familial sets, to include family members such as uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces. Keep the number of caregiving leave days but allow for flexibility on who a worker can give care to.”
“Mr Speaker, while significant visibility has been afforded to matters of the economy and healthcare in the first session of the 14th Parliament and rightfully so, it is often the invisible social tenets that elude us – unnoticed. Nations globally are only realising now the true impact the crisis has left on social fabrics. In America, the erosion of authentic relationships between people has been dubbed the "friendship recession". In China, economic slowdown as a result of the pandemic has driven youths to "lie flat" or 躺平; and indeed, in Singapore, as we build a "new social compact" as a nation, many in our communities and in our neighbourhoods are picking up fragments left from the pandemic, to rebuild lives and livelihoods and to make sense of the post pandemic world. Have we considered the invisible implications of COVID-19 on the social fabric of our nation? I propose, Mr Speaker, that these invisible impacts are most felt by those driven further invisible in our post-pandemic society. I would like to talk about three such profiles: first, our women workers doubling up as sole caregivers at home; two, our freelancers caught up in a precarious, ever-evolving gig world; and three, our vulnerable adults with special needs – invisible and voiceless. Mr Speaker, today, women are not an invisible force in the workplace and indeed a force to be reckoned with. However, domestic and caregiving norms at home which have been in place for generations, have not caught up with these great strides in the workplace. Women in their dual roles, often in equal parts of working and of caregiving, are taken for granted and go unnoticed and underappreciated.”