Yu-Foo Yee Shoon
Singapore
“I thank the Member for her suggestions. PRICING GUIDELINES ON CANTEEN FOOD FOR STUDENTS 19. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the Ministry's pricing guidelines on the sale of food to students in school canteens; (b) how does the Ministry balance the needs of the students and those of the canteen operators to mee…”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Sir, I would like to say that Mr Calvin Cheng must have thought deeply about what I have said. I have mentioned that 80% of singles actually wanted to get married. The responsibility of providing a social network used to be borne by the Government.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care (CFAC) and Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) provide fee subsidies to help low-income families send their preschool children to childcare centres and kindergartens respectively.”
“The childcare philosophy is to encourage the women to work. We have already relaxed the criteria because for those housewives who send their children for half-day care, we would still help them, so that they can get half subsidy.”
“I think we can consider that. INCOME CEILING FOR CHILDCARE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEMES 16. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the Ministry will consider increasing the family income ceiling for eligibility to the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care (CFAC) and Kinde…”
“Very soon. IMPROVING ROAD SAFETY FOR ELDERLY PEDESTRIANS 17. Mr Laurence Wee Yoke Thong asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the measures in place to (i) promote the safety of elderly pedestrians, especially at traffic crossings; (ii) encourage the able-bodied public to assist the vulnerable frail elderly crossing alone; and (b)…”
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Every one of 618 lines we hold for Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 13.
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Public Assistance (PA) rates are calibrated to provide for the basic living needs of PA recipients. The PA scheme and rates are reviewed regularly. We recognise that the cost of living has risen more rapidly than usual in the last year, and MCYS has been closely monitoring the impact of increasing costs on our PA recipients. We have recently revised the PA rates to help PA recipients cope with the rising cost of living. From May 2008, PA recipients received an increase of between $40 and $165 a month in their allowance, depending on the size of their households. An elderly Public Assistance recipient living alone has seen a 14% increase from $290 a month to $330 a month. A family with two adults and two children has seen their assistance increased by 19% from $855 to $1,020 a month. Furthermore, for families with school-going children, their children's school and miscellaneous fees are fully covered under the Ministry of Education's Financial Assistance Scheme. The PA allowance is just one part of the overall safety net for those who are unable to work. They also hold a Public Assistance card which makes them eligible for free medical treatment and heavily subsidised rental housing. On top of these, PA recipients also receive extensive community support, such as befriending programmes, daily activities at Senior Activity Centres, food rations, free meals, ang pows and cash allowances. PA recipients will also be receiving disproportionately more of the $3 billion worth of benefits which will be given out to Singaporeans this year. On top of the GST credits, Senior Citizen Bonus as well as Growth Dividends, PA recipients will also receive U-Save, service and conservancy charges and rental rebates.”
“So, beyond MCYS, the Ministry of Education also has bursaries, scholarships and a lot of other schemes to help school-going children, such as the School Pocket Money Fund, and so on. If they are sick, they can go for Medifund and MediShield. MOH also tries its best to help. As a total package, we try our best to help them to manage. But my suggestion is that, in the long run, as a country, we should improve our productivity and make sure that our retraining is effective and our workers are employable and hope that they can have an increase in their salaries. At this moment, the Government gives GST offsets, Growth Dividends, and so on. Each family gets a few thousand dollars that can cover the cost of inflation. But in the long run, I do understand, agree and sympathise with the difficulty that the lower-income group has had to manage. But, as a country, we need to grow. Without growth and productivity, how much can we help? That is a big question. At this moment, if you ask me, it is manageable. PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE (Review of quantum) 8. Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the quantum of the Public Assistance allowance will be reviewed in view of the soaring inflation over the past six months.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I did not say that Dr Lily Neo asked for 30%. I just said that, generally, we have one million households. If we say 100,000, it is about 10% of the households. After we have the ComCare scheme, actually the Government covers the bottom 20% of households in Singapore. My question to Singaporeans is whether we want to cover beyond the bottom 20%. I am not saying that Dr Lily Neo asked for more than the bottom 20%. I just want to clarify that. Another point is that, for the very, very poor, it is about 3,600 persons who are under Public Assistance. Some are under the interim ComCare scheme while others are under the Workfare Scheme. Together, if we add the 4,000 or 5,000, those are the really poor cases. But those with income beyond $1,500 who can manage but have difficulty when their children go to school –”
“So we call it the ComCare Transitions. It is quite close to the public assistance cases, but we do not give them long-term help. We hope that they can go back to work again. The other area we have relaxed is the cap for KiFAS, CFAC and the other benefits for the children. Previously, for the children, we capped it at $1,500. But after the last Budget debate, we increased it to $1,800. For those families whose income is about $1,800, their children can apply for KiFAS, CFAC and also the student care services. On top of all this help plus the GST Offset, U-Save, and so on, I think the range is that even for public assistance cases, one adult PA can get about $2,000 for this year. And for a family who has two adults and two children, it will get benefits of about $3,600 from the Government. This amount can offset the inflation cost. Of course, the Government will monitor all this very carefully, and this is only the MCYS' effort. What about the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and also the many-helping-hands? As a society, we do our best to help. But I totally agree with Minister Lim Hng Kiang's argument just now that, in the long run, the most important thing is that Singapore needs to develop and improve productivity and we add value to the investors and make sure that our workers can have better return.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sure the Member knows that before 2005, before the establishment of the ComCare Fund, the public assistance cases were about 3,000 and today, after the establishment of the ComCare Fund, the Government policy is to take care of the 20% low-income group in Singapore. We take $1,500 as the family income and for those below $1,500, we are trying to develop various schemes to help them. And despite this cap at $1,500, we have certain schemes to cover those who earn even $1,800 to help the students, such as KiFAS, CFAC. If you do a calculation, we cover slightly more than the bottom 20% of Singaporeans. Our Ministry's concern is: how far do you want to cover? Do you want to cover up to the bottom 30%, 40% or 50%? So far, the cut-off point is about $1,500 or the bottom 20% of our population. Like I said just now, after the last Budget debate, we have implemented a few new schemes. For instance, for public assistance, in the old days, it was only for old people without family support, without children and unemployable. After the last Budget debate, we have relaxed this criterion. We even cover old people who have children but the children have difficulty taking care of their own family and as long as the children earn below $1,000 and have school-going children, these old people can also apply for public assistance. By doing so, we expect another 600 such public assistance cases which will benefit. Another area we have made changes is the ComCare Transitions. So, in some of the families, even though they have children but they are temporarily unemployable, maybe because of accident or some chronic sickness, we are prepared to help them for about a year. We will review the case year by year. This is monitored by the CDCs.”
“I think it is a good suggestion. We will take note of the suggestion. Column No : 2643 AESTHETIC TREATMENT The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo – 8. To ask the Minister for Health in light of the recent guidelines on aesthetic treatment, what control measures are being put in place to ensure that these treatments are not driven underground.”
“Madam, I would like to inform Dr Maliki that this initiative is by the people sector – the VWOs, the People's Association and also some MPs, like Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Mr Hawazi and others. I think we should develop it in that way. It is more the people themselves who feel that besides Government and CDCs' efforts, they should do something. Therefore, in Chinese, I say, hao ren hao shi, cong zhou bian zuo qi, which means good things or a little kindness starts from your surroundings. Having said that, my Minister has just approved a million dollars, as a gesture, to support this movement. But I would like to say that this is at a very early stage. The Ministry also needs to discuss this with the various agencies on how we can move together.”
“Thank you for the compliment. My staff should be quite happy. They have all worked very hard. The Minister asked them to work 24/7 on the phone. Coming to destitutes, we mentioned that the Ministry will emphasise on the lower 20th percentile, who are the low-income group. For the low-income group, we have a few schemes, not just for the destitute but also the marginal cases. We have made changes to various schemes to help them. With these revisions and new schemes, they will be covered under one of them.”
“Take, for example, one of our residents, a respectful Hainanese elderly, recently passed away, but his children were overseas when he passed away. The Hainanese clan took on the responsibility to take care of his funeral arrangements. Another example is the Nanyang Girls’ High alumni. The students love and care for all their former teachers and, when some of the retired teachers passed away, it is the school’s alumni that helps to take care of the funeral arrangements. Recently, one of my retired friends told me that her mother is getting senile and her father is also suffering from dementia. The rest of her siblings are overseas and she is worried that no one can look after the parents when she is away from home. In this case, she turns to her neighbours for help to take care of them. Just now, the Minister and I have already announced a number of initiatives and we have said that there are enough funds. What we need is more people who work in the social sector, like Ms Denise Phua and Miss Penny Low. We need them to work with the Government to further strengthen our social system. A Japanese Professor once said that the Asian society has a strong social system. Besides having a strong social system, we also have a strong legal system. As our nation becomes more and more prosperous, we should not neglect the importance of family relationships. We should strengthen family ties and promote stronger bonding with our friends, relatives, etc. As Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday, if we want the Government to pay for everything, then we will regress over time. *Cols. 2291-2292. Elderly Abuse”
“OK. Sir, now, let me just say a few words about bonding in the community. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has clearly explained the importance of the social foundations of education. It is to train our people and to enable everyone to go to school to receive training, education or retraining, so that everybody can find a job. Like what Mr Ong Ah Heng had said earlier, parents are so busy at work nowadays that there is lack of communication at home. So, we must start from ourselves, just as the Chinese saying goes, “Hao Ren Hao Shi, Zhou Bian Zuo Qi 好人好事，周边做起”. This means that, to advocate good deeds, we must start with ourselves. However, whenever we have a problem, we always point our fingers at the grassroots, the Government and the social workers. In today’s society, we have about one million families and only about 600 social workers. Even if we were to increase the number of social workers to 1,000 or 2,000, we will still not be able to cope with the needs of our families, the households and the people. I am happy to note that the People’s Association, the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre and the clan associations have recently come together to build and promote stronger relationships within the community and the family. In fact, they have come up with an initiative to input the residents’ contacts in their networks and database, so that every year, they can invite the residents for networking sessions, or maybe have tea and chit-chat with them, so as to foster greater bonding among residents.”
“A key recommendation is to form a Social Enterprise Association to provide leadership to the sector. It will be set up by the middle of the year. 4.00 pm Last year, a study by the Lien Foundation Centre for Social Innovation pointed out the need to improve the business competencies of social enterprises. They must be able to compete on a level playing field with other commercial enterprises. Hence, we will help strengthen social enterprises' business viability by setting up a social enterprise development centre. There will be training opportunities to develop the skills of social entrepreneurs. At the same time, we will revise the criteria of the $3 million a year ComCare Enterprise Fund to emphasise that social enterprises should have good business models. In addition to social enterprises, we want to encourage more socially responsible enterprises. Therefore, the $1 million Caring Companies initiative will be a focused effort to encourage companies to employ the needy disadvantaged. It will provide them with financial and operational support as well as recognition, when they hire the needy disadvantaged. Entrepreneurs can also choose to set up social enterprises as co-operatives. Co-operatives can tap on the $30 million Central Co-operative Fund. The Fund can be used to support part of the startup and operating cost of new co-operatives. The CDCs are looking into setting up co-operatives to provide employment to the disadvantaged. At the same time, we will promote the involvement of the business community in the social enterprise sector, by encouraging them to mentor social enterprises. I think mentorships are very important, so we would like to encourage successful businessmen to volunteer their services to hold the hands of new social enterprises.”
“The majority of them are eventually able to move in with family and friends or rent a room. Nevertheless, sometimes such options are not feasible. MCYS has therefore worked with HDB and a VWO to use a few HDB flats as temporary shelter for these displaced families. We have helped 20 such families under this arrangement as of end January 2008. But I still want to emphasise that MCYS' duty is to help the destitute. Together, these changes will enhance our social safety net, and provide greater assurance that needy Singaporeans do not fall behind. We will continue to ensure needy families are able to get help. Nonetheless, we agree with Mr Sin Boon Ann that simply increasing the payouts from our social assistance schemes would not be sufficient to address the full effects of globalisation on all quarters of our society. Our Many Helping Hands approach towards helping the needy has served us well over the years. We agree with Mr Zaqy Mohamad that the community has a key role to play to help not just the needy, but also the sandwiched lower-middle class. The Government will continue to empower the community to help the needy. Like Mr Sin Boon Ann and Miss Penny Low, we recognise the major role social enterprises can play to help the needy and disadvantaged. In December last year, the Social Enterprise Committee submitted its recommendation on improving the social enterprise sector. We are accepting 25 of the 26 recommendations. One is being studied further. MCYS will continue to partner and support the social enterprise sector. We have committed about $4.5 million this year to implement the recommendations. We will focus on building up the capacity of social enterprises, while continuing to seed-fund new social enterprises.”
“They will be eligible for assistance of up to 12 months, and subsequent extensions may be granted, subject to a thorough review. We expect about 1,400 households to benefit from ComCare Transitions. The CDCs and grassroots are flexible when helping the needy. We will work with these agencies to be even more flexible. We will be providing a further $10 million boost to the CCF, VWOs and Self Help Groups over the next four years. In particular, the CCF will be topped up by $5 million. This is on top of the $10 million injection which was given last year. With this boost, there will be $6.25 million per year available in the CCF. I trust that grassroots leaders should have more than enough resources to help their needy residents. Furthermore, a ComCare Review Committee for Financial Assistance, chaired by myself and involving all five Mayors, has been set up to ensure flexibility in implementation. It will ensure that deserving cases do not slip through the net. The Review Committee will provide a platform for valuable experience to be shared and guidelines to be standardised. To ensure that the needy know where to go for help, MCYS has launched ComCare Call – 1800 222 0000. If you see someone needing assistance but do not know how to help, ask him or her to call ComCare Call or make the call for them. Mr Wee Siew Kim and Dr Magad have highlighted that some families urgently need a roof over their heads. MCYS' focus is on the destitute. If a person is destitute, he can be admitted into a welfare home. However, very often, individuals or families become homeless because of estranged relationships or repossession of their flats. We try to help them resolve issues with their families.”
“Many of my colleagues, including Mr Inderjit Singh, Mr Siew Kum Hong, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Dr Ong Seh Hong, Mr Seah Kian Peng and Dr Loo Choon Yong have expressed particular concern for the needy elderly. My Minister had earlier announced the revisions to the Public Assistance rates. At the same time, we recognise that although some needy elderly have working children, their children themselves live from hand to mouth while supporting their own families and children. They often do not have much left to give to their aged parents. Hence, we will revise the Public Assistance eligibility criteria to include needy Singaporeans whose children are unable to support them. With the revision, needy elderly Singaporeans with children can still be eligible for PA as long as their children are supporting their own families and children with a household income of less than $1,000 a month. They will receive the PA allowance as well as extensive support from the Government and the community. We expect about 600 households to benefit from this revision. Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mr Liang Eng Hwa had previously called for more to be done to help those who are temporarily unable to work. We currently help them on a case-by-case, short-term basis. To give them more assurance, we will launch a new scheme, the ComCare Transitions, to provide medium-term assistance for them. The help would be flexible and calibrated to their needs. It could include a subsistence allowance, rental, utilities, services and conservancy subsidies as well as support for their medical expenses. At the same time, case workers may be assigned to help them improve their family circumstances.”
“For example, a two-child family earning $1,700 a month, with one child in kindergarten and the other in childcare, will need only pay about $25 per month for kindergarten and $150 a month for childcare. They will save about $265 each month. It will make pre-school much more affordable for them. We expect an additional 5,000 children to benefit from this change. We will also extend kindergarten financial assistance to cover the fees of children attending nursery programmes. Families earning $1,500 or less a month will receive a 90% subsidy, while those earning $1,501 to $1,800 a month will receive a 70% subsidy. A family earning $1,500 per month may receive subsidies of about $65 per month to offset the cost of the child's nursery education, and have to pay only about $7 a month to attend nursery. We expect some 3,500 additional children to benefit from this. On top of this, we will ensure that families receiving financial assistance for their children in childcare will not be affected by the recent increases in the childcare fees. We will increase the subsidy amount by up to $20 for children attending childcare. This is the same amount that childcare fees have risen by. This brings the total subsidy for childcare fees to $340 a month. It means that despite the recent increases in childcare fees, a two-child family earning $1,500 will still only need to pay about $100 for each child to attend childcare. All in, some 19,000 children from lower-income families are expected to benefit from these changes. It will help to make pre-school affordable, so that every child has the opportunity to benefit from a good education.”
“Besides administering childcare, kindergarten and student care subsidies, the CDCs also administer bursaries. They also link needy school children with help under the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme, and give them free textbooks and school materials. Third, under the ComCare Enable pillar, the CDCs administer Public Assistance, and also work with hospitals and HDB to apply for Medifund and rental flats respectively. Mdm Halimah Yacob had suggested raising the income ceiling for social assistance schemes. Our ComCare schemes should remain targeted at the neediest. The Government already provides substantial support for lower middle-income Singaporeans, such as housing grants, medical subsidies and growth dividends. Nonetheless, we are child-centric and keen to do more for lower-income families with children. This is the best way to ensure social mobility. Already, ComCare expenditure for children from lower-income families made up 40% of all ComCare expenditure in 2007. In 2006, about 5% of children did not attend pre-school. Thanks to the extensive outreach efforts by the grassroots, today, only 3% of children in Singapore did not attend pre-school in 2007. We will continue to work with the grassroots to reach out to such children. And we will do even more. Currently, only families earning $1,500 or less per month can receive up to 90% subsidies for kindergarten and $320 per month subsidies for childcare, under ComCare Grow. We will extend kindergarten and childcare centre financial assistance to help children of families earning between $1,501 and $1,800 per month. These families will receive a 70% subsidy to cover the cost of sending their children to pre-school.”
“I would like to encourage women to go for skills upgrading and training to re-integrate into the workforce. The Tripartite Workgroup on Enhancing Employment Choices for Women, chaired by Mdm Halimah Yacob, will be coming up with recommendations to enable and empower women to harmonise their family and work commitments. I will now talk about help for needy Singaporeans. Let me give an overview of social assistance in Singapore. I think the Minister has outlined the philosophy of the Ministry. The ComCare Fund was set up in June 2005 to help the neediest, which are the bottom 20% of our society. Through ComCare, we ensure that no needy Singaporean is left behind. With the $200 million top up to the ComCare Endowment Fund, the Fund now stands at $800 million. We will be able to do more for the needy. I would like to refer Members to the handout, which lists all the ComCare enhancements we will be making. All in, we will spend $63.7 million in FY2008. In comparison, we spent $47.6 million in FY2007. We base our help for the needy on several principles. In particular, we are work-focused and low in entitlements. We stress family as the first line of support. We help the needy to stand on their own two feet. And we focus a lot of our help on the children, so that they can break out of the poverty cycle. Our help for the needy is mostly delivered through the Community Development Councils (CDCs). MPs who feel that there are too many schemes need not worry, as these schemes can broadly be grouped into three pillars. First, ComCare Self Reliance is targeted at those who can work. The Work Support Programme comes under this pillar. The new ComCare Transitions will also be part of this pillar. Second, ComCare Grow is targeted at the children.”
“I agree with Dr Amy Khor, Mdm Cynthia Phua, Mdm Halimah Yacob, Prof. Mehta, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Ms Ellen Lee and Ms Lee Bee Wah that the long-term financial security of women is important. Many women, especially housewives, have little in their CPF accounts. On average, women over 35 years have lower CPF balances than men of the same age. Women over 60 have around $11,000 in their CPF. This is about half as much as what men over 60 have. They are also likely to outlive their husbands. Moreover, about a third of female respondents in a 2007 survey of baby boomers have never worked before. Recent MOM statistics showed that 89% of economically-inactive women, aged 25-54, were not working or not looking for work for family reasons, such as childcare, eldercare or household responsibilities. This is about 230,000 of them. I urge husbands and children to take responsibility for the well-being of their wives and mothers by transferring money into their CPF accounts. A practical suggestion for husbands and children is to consider this as a gift for their birthday, wedding anniversary or Mother's Day. The Women's Desk in my Ministry will work with the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), People's Association Women Integration Network, NTUC Women Development Secretariat, grassroots organisations, CDCs, and the Ministry of Manpower to raise awareness of the CPF transfer options through a personalised outreach. I am glad that Mdm Halimah Yacob and Dr Amy Khor had agreed to this campaign yesterday. I also hope to see women take advantage of opportunities to join or re-join the workforce. My Minister had earlier elaborated on more accessible, affordable childcare services to facilitate this.”
“To further promote a pro-family environment, my Ministry encourages businesses to provide services and infrastructure that welcome families through the Pro-Family Business Pledge, Mark and Grant. To date, more than 2,900 establishments have adopted the pledge and 160 have been awarded the Pro-Family Business Mark. To provide practical support, the Government offers a grant of $2 million over three years to assist and encourage businesses to adopt and implement pro-family business practices. But, most importantly, the nurturing of family bonds and values starts at home. Parents and relatives play a critical role in inculcating the right values in their children from young. Families are encouraged to make use of the many avenues made available to equip themselves with the relevant skills, so that they can promote bonding with family members. While these initiatives will equip families to deal with challenges head on, we also need to understand present family dynamics and anticipate new problems that families may face in the future. My Ministry will set up a Family Research Network to involve policy-makers, professors and practitioners in research on family issues. The Network will discuss policy challenges and share research findings regularly. There will be collaboration among network members and exchanges with international family research experts. Developing such research capability is vital, as we keep a close watch on global and local trends that affect families in Singapore. Good policies are grounded in solid research. The Network will help to encourage a vibrant local research ecosystem which will enable our policies and programmes to remain relevant even as our environment changes. This is the Ministry's commitment to be family and child-centric.”
“The mass media is very effective at reaching out to people. With the support of my Ministry, the National Family Council will tap on the influence of television to raise awareness of family bonding. You can look out for an emotive mini drama on the importance of family on TV soon. One major effort held annually is the National Family Week (NFW) which was organised by NFC. More than 150,000 people, young and old, participated in some 80 events and talks in last year's NFW. We have established a large network of partners in the schools, community and workplaces to help us in our public education efforts. In schools, the Parent Education in Pre-Schools (PEPS) and the School Family Education (SFE) programmes have been much welcomed. There are also the community based Family Life Champion and work-based Family Life Ambassador programmes. Such efforts are growing in numbers – we now have over 370 schools and centres offering PEPS and SFE programmes. We have over 1,500 Family Life Ambassadors. We also have 84 Family Life Champions representing each constituency. Some of our 880 Deputy Registrars of Marriage have been trained to provide mentoring and counselling services to those about to get married. Through these efforts, our partners have helped to organise many family education programmes and events. These include marriage education, parenting skills and personal work-life effectiveness programmes. Programmes like "Parenting with Confidence" and "Connected Family", available in some SFE schools, provide skills to individuals and family members and help to promote family bonding. Businesses are also important in our 3P partnership.”
“These divorce trends are a cause for concern, especially if they affect children. Although Singapore's divorce rates are low compared to countries like Japan, Australia and the US, we must continue to strengthen marriages. That is why the National Family Council, or NFC, announced its plans to set up the Marriage Central in March 2007. Marriage Central will provide one-stop access to marriage information, resources and counselling. It will tap on existing service providers like voluntary welfare organisations specialising in marriage issues. It will equip married couples with skills, and enable couples in difficulties to seek help before it is too late. My Ministry will work closely with the NFC to set up Marriage Central this year. Let me now move on to talk about strengthening family ties. I am glad to report that Singaporeans' attitude towards family bonds is still very positive. A 2006 MCYS' survey showed that 96% of respondents agreed that they have a close-knit family. Inter-generational bonds are strong. A 2005 MCYS' survey showed that more than 70% of 2,000 seniors interviewed speak to their children daily. While attitudes towards families remain positive, families in Singapore are facing challenges with rapid globalisation and competing demands. We share the views of Mr Ong Ah Heng, Mr Sin Boon Ann and Dr Lim Wee Kiak that the family needs to be strengthened. To promote strong and stable families, my Ministry adopts a proactive approach through various public education efforts. These are implemented mainly through People-Private-Public partnerships, or a 3P approach. We need the people and private sector to play a part, as the Government alone cannot preserve family ties. I shall touch on some of the efforts in this area.”
“A relatively high proportion of males and females remained unmarried in 2006. Among those aged 35 to 39 years, 19% of males and 16% of females were single, compared to 11% and 12% in 1985. Developing the local dating industry will help create an environment conducive for marriage. Through The Partner Connection Fund, the pioneer batch of recipients has successfully launched their dating services. The development of credible and professional dating agencies will offer more options for singles to socialise, and hopefully, find that special someone. And it looks like there are plenty of fun and easy ways to find Mr or Miss Right. For example, Eteract.com offers online speed-dating services for singles. Alternatively, he or she could try out GoMovieDate.com, which allows members to send movie invites online or through SMS. The enterprise and creativity of these commercial dating agencies are good signs that the industry is vibrant and growing. But getting married is only the beginning. We must ensure that marriages can withstand the test of time. This is an increasing challenge, as divorces are on the rise. The crude divorce rate increased from 1.29 per 1,000 resident population in 1994 to 1.96 in 2006. The absolute number of divorces and annulments has been increasing, from about 3,800 in 1994 to 7,000 in 2006. The number of marriages has stayed at about 24,000 over this period. More worrying is that "young marriages" are breaking up. In 2006, marriages of less than five years formed about a fifth of all divorces. There was also a rising number of divorces among long-lasting marriages. Divorces for marriages that lasted more than 20 years increased from 10% of all divorces in 1988 to 18% in 2006.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I wish to reiterate my Minister's point about making Singapore a family and child-centric nation. Singapore must be a place where our children can grow up safely and get a good education, where youth and adults can realise their potential and contribute to society, where the elderly can age gracefully but actively, and where those who fall behind are helped by a caring community to get back on their feet. However, the Government alone cannot build this society. The Government will be the facilitator and lay down the overall framework. But we need to mobilise the social capital in our community and adopt a Many Helping Hands approach. Every individual must take responsibility for his own future, each family must be a source of strength for its members, and the community must be actively engaged in helping the needy. These are the foundations of our success as a society and we must build on these foundations. The Government can and will do more to help Singaporeans. We will do so by strengthening marriages and families, helping the low income and strengthening self-reliance under ComCare schemes, promoting good relationships, neighbourliness, and empowering the community to help itself, and forging a close partnership with the people and private sectors. Let me begin by talking about families. Strong families are the bedrock of a resilient society, so we must ensure that family ties are robust. And, we will provide a range of services to support families at different life stages. We will continue to create an environment conducive for marriage. A 2006 MCYS' survey showed that eight out of 10 Singaporean respondents agreed that it is better to get married than to remain single. However, many are either unable or unwilling to find that special someone.”
“But the Ministry will definitely do more public education, even through the media, to promote stronger family ties and work closely with the community to develop this type of programme. All of us must show the example and be involved in this programme through the people we know. That is very important. We will take note of this. I would just like to tell Members that we should not be too over-conscious, because the number is quite stable. But we do know how to help the lower income group to help their families. The key word is that it is still "working". Column No : 340 CAREERS IN CONSTRUCTION, HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE SECTORS 10. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower in view of the Integrated Resort, the spin-off industries as well as the facelift and construction work to be carried out along Orchard Road (a) will there be enough Singaporeans to take up careers in the construction, hospitality and leisure sectors; and (b) what programmes are in place to ensure that there are enough Singaporeans to work in these sectors.”
“Sir, as a whole, we still maintain our traditional values quite well. Based on the previous survey, 70% of our old people actually depend on their children financially for, say, maybe from about $100 to more than $1,000. The number of cases under the Parents' Maintenance Act for the last few years has been quite stable. It is about 400 cases a year. After mediation and counselling, only about 100 applications were actually filed under the Parents' Maintenance Act. So if we look at the previous family survey, as a whole, the family structure is still quite intact. However, I do agree that it is very challenging; it is actually moving towards a not very desirable situation. The other area of concern is that, if Members had read the papers yesterday, the income gap is also an issue. How do we help this lower income group? In 2004, the Prime Minister set up ComCare. Previously, we only had public assistance. Now, the Government has even taken over the role of helping those in the low-income families. We are also having a big chunk of these cases because the children themselves cannot afford to take care of their own families. Therefore, we are now encouraging the older people to carry on working for as long as possible. It is not so much the children are unfilial as their inability to take care of their parents. We would therefore like to urge our healthy older people to continue to work, say, part-time, to make some money to support themselves. Therefore, financial and CPF planning is very important to support ourselves. It is not that the children do not want to take care of their parents. Actually, some of them also cannot afford to take care of their aged parents. Again, I am sure the Minister will be talking more about how to help the lower income group.”
“We will definitely work with the Family Service Centres, the CDCs, NCSS and the volunteer groups to enhance and help them to have a cordial relationship. All of us are learning. When the society is ageing, the behaviour of the aged is quite different. So public education is the in-thing on how to make sure that we have the knowledge and the skills to communicate with our older people. My Minister will be elaborating more on this during the COS debate.”
“Maybe I will take the last point first. The number of social workers in Singapore today is 600. I am sure the Member knows that more and more social services require social workers. As she knows, now the market is very good. Even after graduation from NUS, half of them do not even enter into this field of social work. I think my Minister had mentioned last year that he had reviewed the pay and working conditions, and we tried to peg the salaries of social workers with the social workers in the health service area. We are going to look into the full spectrum on how to help the social workers. I think the Minister is going to speak on this in the COS. The other area is the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Ageing, under Minister Lim Boon Heng, which is also looking into the issues of the aged, how to have a total approach. So we need to educate the individual on how to be active, how to plan for the aged, the financial aspects and CPF, and so on. The other area is that we also try to revive the relationship between the family and the siblings, how to have not just the family, the neighbour and also the community, how to help each other. Therefore, I should say that we are quite lucky that over 90% of the old people are still active and they can go to the CC, the karaoke and the social line dance. We do not want to paint a very pessimistic picture. Actually, as a whole, I think aged Singaporeans are quite lucky. Their children are still quite filial. But we do agree that we do have a small percentage who do not manage their finances very well. Some of them also do not work, especially older women. Therefore, the family, community and all of us need to put in the effort to help the family to take care of each other.”
“I think it is a good suggestion. We can work with the Shopkeepers' Association and the hawker centres to really get them to work with us. PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT SCHEME IN CIVIL SERVICE 9. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether he can provide an update on the Part-time Employment Scheme in the civil service and what efforts are being made to promote it; (b) how many civil servants have taken advantage of this scheme; and (c) what is the profile of those who took advantage of this scheme in 2006.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in 2006, there were about 72 cases picked up by us. In 2007, up to September, there were 68 cases. Out of these 68 cases, 59% were foreigners. So, 41% were Singaporeans. Out of the 41% Singaporeans, 16% have family, and we therefore refer them back to their family and we try to find out what is the reason that they go out to beg. About 17 of them (25%) who are homeless, we refer them to the destitute homes. As for the 59% foreigners, we refer them to the ICA and the Police for repatriation. As I said, my Ministry and the Police actually conduct periodical or very regular patrols every week (about three times a week). We also have a hotline. If the public comes across any beggars, please call us and also feedback to us, and we will immediately conduct investigations. I urge the public to support this effort. We conduct very regular patrols in Singapore, especially along Orchard Road, malls, shopping areas and also around a temple. I am sure Members know which temple. It is a very popular temple. We also know that on certain days of the week we should go to which area. We do our best to go round to patrol.”
“The Workers' Party had applied to the Police to organise a mass cycling event to celebrate the party's 50th anniversary at the East Coast Park. The East Coast Park is a recreational park for Singaporeans and their families. It is not meant to be used by a political party to promote its cause. Apart from displacing the usual recreational users of East Coast Park, it is an open area where there is greater potential for a breach of the peace, public disorder and unruly behaviour. As I have explained, Police takes a more cautious approach towards outdoor activities organised by political parties. In line with this approach, Police rejected Workers' Party's application. Sir, the Workers' Party may wish to consider organising its celebrations at an indoor venue or in a sports stadium.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do understand the situation. Like I said just now, besides Baby Bonus, for lower income groups such as those families with a monthly income below $1,500, the Government has the Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care which provides a subsidy that ranges from $140-$320, in addition to the $150 child care subsidy I do agree with Mdm Halimah that with the Baby Bonus matching grant, not all of them can come into this scheme. But, on average, over 90% of eligible children have opened Baby Bonus Children Development Accounts. I am sure that my Ministry and also the National Population Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng will actively look into child care arrangements in Singapore, including the subsidy. WORKERS' PARTY 50TH ANNIVERSARY CYCLING EVENT (Rejection of Police permit) 18. Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs if he will provide reasons for the rejection of a police permit to hold the Workers' Party 50th Anniversary Cycling Event on 9th September 2007 at the East Coast Park. Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, the reason why political parties are not allowed to organise outdoor activities has been explained in Parliament before. Police does not allow political parties to organise outdoor gatherings because such activities have the potential for public disorder and mischief, and may disrupt community life. Police's requirement is that such party activities be held indoors or within stadiums, so that any law and order problems would be contained. This policy applies to all political parties.”
“The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Green Mark Incentive Scheme (GMIS) was launched in December last year. BCA has approved nine applications since then. BCA ex pects the number of applications to increase as many developers and designers have expressed interest in the scheme. The main purpose of GMIS is to encourage developers and building owners to go for a higher Green Mark standard in their new building projects. To qualify for the incentive, a development has to attain at least the Green Mark Gold standard. For a start, given the funds available, BCA has limited the incentive scheme to the larger developments, that is, those with gross floor area of more than 5,000 square metres, where there is ample scope and flexibility to incorporate green building designs and technologies. BCA is monitoring the response to the scheme, and will review its qualifying criteria after some time.”
“As part of our 'Many Helping Hands' approach, my Ministry works very closely with voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). The Family Service Centres (FSCs) and many VWOs provide many social services to vulnerable families, including specialised services, such as casework, counselling and support groups, to single parents, including widows, and their children. The CDCs also actively work with VWOs and grassroots organisations to provide help to the needy. For example, the North West CDC has established a referral system with Wicare, to refer needy widows to Wicare to participate in Wicare programmes, while Wicare would refer needy widows to the CDC for financial assistance. In January 2007, for example, WiCare referred seven needy children to North West CDC, so that they could benefit from North West CDC's distribution of stationery and gift vouchers to needy students. The other CDCs also have similar referral systems with various VWOs and community groups within their districts. More is being done to strengthen the cooperation between the CDCs and voluntary welfare organisations through the Comcare Local Networks platform. This platform will enable us to identify any gaps, and share ideas on how to more effectively reach out to the needy amongst us. All of us have a part to play. GREEN MARK INCENTIVE SCHEME (Take-up rate) 12. Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the take-up rate of the Green Mark Incentive Scheme (GMIS) by private developers since its implementation in December 2006; and (b) whether the scheme can be extended to include developments with gross floor area of less than 5,000 square metres and, if not, what are the reasons.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Member for her concern about this issue. The Government, grassroots organisations and the voluntary welfare organisations have multiple financial and non-financial schemes to help low-income and needy Singaporeans cope with difficult phases of life and achieve self-reliance. The ability to work is key to achieving self-reliance. Our schemes are therefore designed to encourage and support work. Examples of such schemes are the Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC), and the Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) Scheme that enable parents to work while their children are cared for. The Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) helps the low-income and needy to offset the cost of sending their children to kindergarten. The Baby Bonus can also be used to help defray the educational and medical costs of their children. Those who are able to work, but need help to find employment, will be assisted under the ComCare Fund's Work Support Programme. They will receive employment assistance and financial assistance in addition to help with childcare and student care arrangements. Case management and employment-related training is also available. As at December 2006, 273 widows were on Work Support, the majority of whom have children. We must also remember that the extended family has an obligation to support relatives who are less well off. This has been a key survival instinct for Asian societies, and we must maintain this noble tradition. In extremis, those who are unable to work, and have no family support may be placed on the Public Assistance Scheme. As at December 2006, seven widows with young children were on the Public Assistance Scheme.”
“Sir, so far, we have not received any specific complaints in this area, but we do organise periodical feedback. I am sure the women MPs also organise various feedback. REACH, under the chairmanship of Dr Amy Khor, conducts a lot of tea sessions with women and women's groups. I myself, under the Women's Desk, which is the national women's machinery for Government to oversee women's issues, together with the inter-Ministry committees of other Ministries, oversee all these areas. And in each Ministry, they have a formal channel to monitor any complaints. We also have an independent judiciary system to receive any complaint if people want to go through this channel PURCHASE OF HDB FLATS (Raising of salary cap) 8. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development, following the recent hike in housing property prices, whether he will consider raising the salary cap for prospective buyers of public housing to allow more people to qualify for the purchase of a flat directly from HDB.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government has considered this issue carefully and decided that we would not accede to the Optional Protocol. It is described as 'Optional' as States Parties are not obliged to accede to it. The majority of signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women have not acceded to this Optional Protocol. The provisions of the optional protocol infringe on a nation's sovereignty by enabling the United Nations CEDAW Committee to consider complaints from an individual or group within the State's jurisdiction who claims to be victims of violation of CEDAW and commence inquiry procedures pursuant to these claims. In Singapore, the Government Ministries, the Courts, and ultimately Parliament, are well able to investigate complaints of discrimination, provide redress, and ensure a legislative and policy framework that ensures that women enjoy full and equal rights. There is still work to be done, but we will do it ourselves in our own way without foreign interference. This remains a fundamental principle of governance in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, regarding the attitude of boys and girls, I am glad that gender stereotyping is not an issue in the school curriculum. I also understand that, today, boys and girls can choose any topic like home economics, design or technology courses. There is no discrimination. Another very important factor is the home. Today, we have domestic assistants or helpers at home. We need to balance the role of the boys and girls at home. When preparing meals in the kitchen, for example, children should help each other irrespective of gender. Besides this, my Ministry, through the Family Life Education and Lifeskills, which are key components in Civics and Moral Education, also encourage both husband and wife, father and mother, to share their parenting role in bringing up their children. I think the father's role at home is very important. I understand that through the media, the newspapers and so on, we also try to ensure that a balanced image of both women and men is portrayed. The same treatment applies to all textbooks and education materials. For example, I understand that women are shown playing soccer and some publications show female MPs debating in Parliament, just like what we are doing now. Sir, we will do our best to have a multi-pronged approach to avoid gender stereotyping. OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN 7. Prof. Thio Li-ann asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the Government will consider acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to promote the implementation of treaty rights and obligations.”
“Actually, physical abuse represents about 33% and psychological abuse about 17%, and financial abuse is not so high, at 13%. So I think physical abuse is still the highest. Definitely, public awareness is very important. I mentioned just now that we would work with quite a number of VWOs. We also set up training courses for the caregivers and their family members. At the same time, we also distribute some of the pamphlets to tell them how to handle the situation. If they really need help, there is also the helpline. Sometime ago, the Member mentioned that we should improve on the service of the helpline. The Minister has already instructed us to do so. Column No : 220 STUDENTS FROM SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PLAN SCHOOLS (Integration) 6. Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Education whether there are plans to further integrate students from the Special Assistance Plan schools into the wider, multicultural group of students from other schools in Singapore.”
“I do agree that there is a slow increase. I am sure she knows that our society is ageing. At this moment, it is still quite stable but we can foresee that it is ageing. Therefore, my Ministry and the VWOs also work towards planning for more services and areas on how to support the aged and their families. I am sure Mr Lim Boon Heng, in charge of the Inter-Ministry Committee, and the Government are already paying attention to this. I mentioned just now that for the protocol, we would involve the police, hospitals and families. After all these processes, some of them still refer them to the courts for a Personal Protection Order (PPO). Also, some of the cases, according to the court, went direct to the courts. The courts so far have not given us the figures on how many were referred by us and how many were direct from the courts. But the total number for 2006 was 125. I assume some were referred from the 186 cases but some were direct from outside.”
“We found that most of these people who abuse their parents are those who depend on the aged for financial support. They themselves do not do very well financially and so there is some relationship tension. We will do our best to work with the VWOs closely to help both sides to better understand each other. Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta: I mentioned that in the period prior to 2002, for five years, the statistics were about 100 cases a year. Would she agree that for the numbers that she has cited, there may be an upward trend that you see? Secondly, I want to know whether these statistics are compiled from the courts as well or it is mainly the VWOs that comprised these statistics.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, if we refer to the numbers, for 2004, it was 194; 2005, it was 181; and 2006, it was 186. So it is quite stable. But when we come to the factors, like I mentioned just now, most of the cases were actually abuse by their own children - over 40% by sons; over 20% by daughters; and about 12% by their own spouses. So they are not outsiders. For these cases, like I have said, we have a protocol. We work very closely with the Police, hospitals and the Family Service Centres. When an elderly person or a friend refers the case to us, the social workers will be involved. The social workers conduct risk assessment, work out safety plans and provide counselling. Fortunately, for over 50% of the cases, after counselling, both sides were quite happy to work with each other again. Actually, 90% of them still stay at the same place. Only 10% have looked for alternative care or gone to institutional care. Of course, besides this protocol, some also went direct to the police or court. Some have applied for Personal Protection Order (PPO). The worst cases would be those who apply under the Maintenance of Parents Act to seek help for shelter and crisis homes. For some of them, we can even refer them to welfare homes if their children really cannot afford it. Most of the reasons for getting into trouble are chronic or long-term sicknesses like Parkinson's, dementia, and so on. I think the Chinese have a saying, "If you are sick for too long, there are no filial children." Anyway, the point is that now, we also work with some VWOs. I am sure Assoc. Prof. Mehta knows that we give the caregivers support as well. It is not just on why they become angry and abuse the elderly, but we also get relief for them and get the VWOs to train and give them support.”
“Social workers, friends and grassroots leaders therefore play an important part in identifying elderly persons that need help and refer them to Family Service Centres, which can then follow up. Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta (Nominated Member): Thank you for the answer. I need to further clarify. From my knowledge, there was a message once that Mr Chan Soo Sen made at the beginning of a symposium on family networking on violence. He said that approximately 100 cases were seen per year. So, if we compare these statistics with those that he showed at that symposium, I believe there could be an upward trend. Two, I would like to find out what is the definition of complex cases which was just mentioned.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Kalyani Mehta for this Question and for her concern about elder abuse. The number of reported elder abuse cases in the past three years has been stable. There were 186 cases in 2006, 181 in 2005 and 194 in 2004. On average, 64% of the reported cases were elderly women and 66% of the abused elderly persons were 70 years old and above. In 70% of the cases, the perpetrators were the victims' own children. The majority of the abused elderly persons were Singaporeans who were married with children. The ethnic breakdown of the cases is similar to Singapore's racial mix. Any elderly person who is reported to be abused will be attended to. Depending on the first point of contact, the victim may be attended to by a medical social worker if the person is at the hospital or by a social worker from a Family Service Centre if he or she is in the community. When MCYS is informed of any abuse, our Ministry staff will also attend to the elderly person. The Elder Protection Team is activated only for cases which are more complex. This team, spearheaded by TRANS Centre (a voluntary welfare organisation specialising in family violence work) consists of professionals with knowledge in geriatrics, psychiatry, law and social work. In the past year, the Elder Protection Team attended to seven new cases and reviewed five cases. There is a robust protocol in place to manage elder abuse cases. A victim of abuse can approach a social worker, the hospital, the police or the court. Each of these agencies and individuals has been trained to provide assistance, make referrals to relevant agencies or activate the Elder Protection Team whenever necessary. We appreciate that an elderly person may be reluctant to seek help.”
“Sir, the number of women who undergo ACP is about 1,700 a year. But based on the number of cycles, it is about 2,000-over annually. The success rate corresponds to their age. For women below 30, the success rate is about 26%. For those who are in their early 30s, it is about 25%. For those beyond 40, it is very, very low. It is actually below 10%. So the success rate goes down as the women get older. As for the survey of these 3,000 respondents, I can tell him that most of them are in the region of 30s. Column No : 215 ELDER ABUSE 5. Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what are the last three years' statistics on elder abuse in Singapore, with a breakdown according to age, gender, relationship with perpetrator, marital status, ethnicity and citizenship; (b) what is the number of times the Elder Protection Team was activated in the past year; and (c) whether there is an elder abuse protocol put in place by his Ministry.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do agree with the hon. Member. But Medisave, as all of us know, is limited. We also have to safeguard our old-age medical benefits. The average cost for IVF is about $6,000 to $8,000 at KK Hospital. If you use Medisave, the first time is $6,000, the second is $5,000 and the third time is $4,000. I think this is quite sufficient to cover most of the costs. Let us allow this scheme to carry on first and we will monitor the situation.”
“Yes, I am just trying to show that there are actually many helping hands out there.”
“As the Minister also said, besides the ComCare Fund, at this moment, we have a lot of help at the ground level, especially the free meals. A needy person can have a meal without having to pay any cent. For example, Moral Home has a halal kitchen that provides free meals to a few thousand ---”
“I thought, this year, after so many explanations, and only two cuts on ComCare, the Advisors are all very clear about how the PA, ComCare, CCCs, the Mayors, and the CDCs have done a very wonderful job. Actually, among the Mayors, I should say that we still need to streamline the standards. Some take the six weeks from the receipt of the case. Others take the six weeks from the date they communicate with the applicants. So I think there is still a need to standardise that. But, on average, I should say they have done a wonderful job. If you compare with 2001, ie, before we set up ComCare or CDC, MCYS took about three months on average. When the CDCs took over, they reduced it to about eight weeks. Now they are working hard to reduce it to within six weeks. But even in some cases, if we think six weeks are too long to help them, then we should use the CCC ComCare Fund. Yesterday, some MPs mentioned that we need to ask for more funds. Of course, I am sure Members know that the Minister has also announced that the CCC ComCare Fund will have an additional $5 million for the next five years. But on going through the accounts, I do agree that some wards, eg, Dr Lily Neo's, would have more destitutes or aged people and need more funds. But I should say that some of the wards still have quite big sums of balance. So, maybe the Mayors can also help us to adjust and coordinate the funds a little, to redistribute the funds to those wards that need more. And I hope that the Advisors and the Chairmen of the CCC ComCare Fund can apply the flexibility to really see that cases that need immediate help would be given help from this fund, to help them for the time being.”
“But if you go to a hawker centre that is without air-condition - you may even have to share the table with others and it is not possible to occupy one table by yourself - you will only have to pay $2. Therefore, in this aspect, we may have to come to some form of consensus to see how we can coordinate with each other. In certain areas, we have to provide world-class services, so that the people are given a choice. But some other services may be of second-tier standard, for example, entertainment facilities for children. Not every one can afford to go to Clarke Quay, Boat Quay or Marina South. In future, should we also have a second-tier type of entertainment facilities at Jurong Point, Ang Mo Kio Centre and Woodlands Point? On a last note, I am full of confidence for our Budget and our leaders. I have many things to say but, due to time constraint, I will shorten my speech. I believe that we are currently in the golden era, especially now that our economy is doing so well, we can use the very comfortable pace and logical mindset to think about it clearly. We will have a clearer mind to analyse our future directions. Therefore, I feel that this is the best time to have an increase in GST rate and to revise our tax regime, as well as to carry out the WIS scheme. I fully support the Budget. 7.27 pm”
“5 million population as a standard gauge for design, we must consider more areas for hardware development. As Dr Fatimah has mentioned earlier, on the hardware development of hospitals, I strongly agree with Minister Khaw Boon Wan. In our effort to develop world-class hospitals, who should be the one leading this role? Should private hospitals be the key driver? Or should it be the Government hospitals? Or should Government hospitals continue to ensure that basic healthcare is provided for its people at an affordable level? Should this concept be applied to other facilities, for example, our transport system and other hardware facilities, etc? Take, for instance, our transport system. If we are looking at achieving the target of 6.5 million population, should we look at other alternatives? Being an island surrounded by water, maybe one way is to explore having ferry service. In view of our greying population, apart from the bustling and busy areas, should we consider having a lower-tier transport system in our HDB heartland? All these are just some ideas, but how can we make them reasonable and provide alternative choices for our people, so that we make them feel that it is affordable? Maybe in some areas, we need to have two different rulings, so as to reach a world-class city standard. We talk about globalisation in all aspects, and achieving a world-class standard as well. But for certain areas, should we have a second-tier service standard? On this, I would like to applaud our leaders regarding our hawker centres. If our hawker centres are privatised, I believe it is difficult for us to get a meal at $2. So we need to make a choice. If you wish to go to an air-conditioned hawker centre or a restaurant, you will need to pay $5 for a bowl of noodles.”