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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“Existing developmental programmes such as the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS), Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC), and the Student Care Fee Assistance Scheme (SCFA) will come under the ComCare Grow umbrella. MCYS will be reviewing these programmes to ensure that the social safety net for these children will be wide enough to catch them before they fall too far. We will also look at new programmes that can be introduced. Dr John Chen's suggestion during the Budget debate to provide money for transport and food to needy children is something that we can examine. Children from "at-risk" families need more targeted assistance to ensure that they start off on the right footing. This will be done under the ComCare Grow umbrella through the Healthy Start Programme. Healthy Start is a holistic early intervention programme for children from "at-risk" families as well as their parents. It provides the family and the child with mentoring and counselling in addition to subsidies for pre-school support. We tried out Healthy Start as a pilot programme with Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre and Beyond Social Services. The results were encouraging. 78% of the children improved their development level. The net monthly household income increased for 32% of the families. MCYS will therefore be expanding the Healthy Start Programme in FY2005. We will target 1,200 children in FY2005, up from the 350 children that participated in the pilot programme. We expect to spend $24 million on ComCare Grow programmes in FY2005. The third component of the ComCare Fund, ComCare EnAble, will focus on the needy elderly, as well as others who need long term assistance in order to integrate into the community.”
“Programmes under this component target Singaporeans who are out of work, or who face temporary financial difficulties. Existing programmes such as the Work Assistance Programme (WAP), Self-Reliance Programme (SReP) and Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme will come under ComCare SelfReliance. Possible new programmes include those that help to develop social enterprises which provide needy Singaporeans secure a job. We will also look into helping them set up informal micro enterprises. With ComCare SelfReliance, there will be a closer linkage between social assistance and job assistance. We have already moved in this direction starting with the Work Assistance Programme introduced on 1st October 2003. We will build on the experience we have gained, to develop other programmes that can help needy families in a sustainable manner. We expect to spend $17 million on ComCare SelfReliance programmes in FY2005. ComCare Grow, the second component, will aim to help children from low income families. We want the children to be better able to cope with mainstream education, and break out of the poverty cycle. A recent study by James Heckman, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in year 2000, confirmed that gaps in abilities among children from various socio-economic groups open up at early ages. The family plays an important role in shaping these abilities. Programmes that target young children from disadvantaged families have the greatest economic and social returns. ComCare Grow programmes will, therefore, help children access developmental programmes from a young age.”
“Our approach is to provide assistance, so that people can become self-reliant and not be dependent on the state. While the Government will play an important role in the social safety net, we need ordinary citizens, Community Development Councils (CDCs), voluntary welfare organisations, and grassroots organisations to also help hold up this social safety net. They are in the best position to develop creative programmes that will help us build a strong, robust net that can serve our people. On its part, the Government will take a focused and coordinated approach to assist needy Singaporeans. Today, I will elaborate on how we intend to achieve the objectives of the ComCare Fund while keeping in mind the three key principles of our social safety net. The desired outcomes of the ComCare Fund are, first, to enable needy families to tide over difficult times and make a living for themselves. Second, we want to make the social safety net simpler to understand and administer it more efficiently. The ComCare Fund will help those families who have genuine difficulties making ends meet. We will therefore continue to means-test all applicants for assistance. We will also factor in the family's needs and special circumstances, their savings, and their support network of family and friends. We will take a client-centric approach towards helping needy families. As my Minister has mentioned, ComCare will comprise three key components, each covering a specific client group. These components are ComCare SelfReliance, ComCare Grow, and ComCare EnAble. Let me elaborate. ComCare SelfReliance will focus on those who need some temporary assistance in order to return to self-reliance.”
“Sir, yesterday, I shared the passion and compassion of hon. Members when they expressed their views to help needy Singaporeans. A number of Members, including Mr Sin Boon Ann and Mr Wee Siew Kim, have raised concerns on the needy, and would like to know how the ComCare Fund will help such Singaporeans. Dr Warren Lee and Miss Penny Low wanted to know how the ComCare Fund will work in practice. The Government is committed to do more for needy Singaporeans, to ensure that no one will be left behind. The Prime Minister had announced the ComCare Fund in January this year. The ComCare Fund will allow us to do the following: (a) Introduce new programmes to better help needy Singaporeans. (b) Give us the flexibility in helping needy Singaporeans in an effective and efficient manner. (c) Allow the Government to work closely with our community partners to develop new and creative programmes that help address the needs identified at the community, as they know best how assistance should be channelled. The ComCare Fund will be the core of our social safety net. As my Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, had explained yesterday, the ComCare Fund will be based on three principles: Fostering self-reliant individuals; Family as the first line of support; and "Many Helping Hands". The ComCare Endowment Fund will start with $500 million and have a target size of $1 billion. This is a large sum. ComCare will provide up to $55 million a year for assistance schemes as a start. This is 40% more than what MCYS is projected to spend on social assistance in FY2004. On the other hand, the money will be spent very quickly if we use the money as hand-outs and try to help every Singaporean meet every need. We know that the money must be spent prudently and wisely. We are not a welfare state.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I said that we will definitely need to do more. But just to put the situation in a proper perspective, from the year 2000 to 2004, on the average, it was about five a year. Of course, I am not saying that the number is not big - every child's life is important. But actually in Singapore, it is quite stable and it is a controllable situation. However, we will still do our best and to take her suggestion of having an inter-Ministry approach. A NEW OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH FRAMEWORK (Statement by the Minister for Manpower)”
“Sir, maybe the hon. Member could address this question to MOE. Anyway, MCYS also works very closely with MOE and MOH. We will try our best to take Mr Sin's advice to do more on the prevention aspect and also to help teenagers who are pregnant. So the informed choices are also very important. I would like to thank Mr Sin for his suggestion. We will definitely work with the other Ministries on this.”
“Sir, I mentioned just now that sex education is already part of the school curriculum. Also, last year, we launched the National Pregnancy Helpline 1800-MUM-TO-BE. Last month, we also launched the Babes service with seven welfare agencies, like the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre, Beyond Social Services, Rose Villa and so on. I think they also get support from the SMRT for placing posters and brochures. Maybe if MPs and grassroots organisations want to help us to disseminate the information, we will also give more information to the ground. For instance, the Nominated MP, Miss Olsen, is also one of the spokeswomen for teenage pregnancy. I also welcome our MPs to give a helping hand.”
“The law is still relevant for this reason. However, we are providing many other avenues for parents who seek help if they have an unwanted pregnancy. If parents come forward to seek help early, they can be guided to make responsible choices. They will not be prosecuted for abandoning their baby. Each case is handled as confidential and managed with compassion. Our approach of using shelters gives us the benefit of the baby-drop and there is no dumping of babies and no prosecution as there is no issue of abandonment. At the crisis shelter, the mother is given all the help she needs. Our approach, therefore, gives priority to the safety, health and welfare of both mother and baby. This is more than what baby-drop provides. The Member also talked about promotion and also to carry out more activities to help the VWOs to do more in this area. I totally agree. I think there is still room for improvement. Definitely, my Ministry, together with the many-helping-hands approach, will do more.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the 24-hour National Pregnancy Helpline number is 1800-MUM-TO-BE. I think it is quite easy to remember than the Pizza number. Let me thank the Member for his concern. The reason why legislation overseas has not been effective is that, based on overseas experience, legalised baby-drops have benefits and problems, but the problems outweigh the benefits. This includes the misuse of baby-drops to give up babies with sickness, disabled, handicapped and babies who are involved in child trafficking, babies with health risk and whose medical history is unknown, and also legal problems with parental rights if one parent does not know that the baby was given up at a baby-drop. So if we legalise baby-drops, we risk facing similar problems. Our current help arrangement is better as it incorporates the benefits of baby-drop and avoid the problems. If we make it legal to abandon a baby, even at a baby-drop centre, we are sending a wrong signal that it is acceptable for parents to abandon their responsibility towards their child. This contradicts the foundation of our child welfare system and promotion of the family as a cornerstone of our society. Our three-pronged approach - preventive, support services, safe environment and crisis shelter - is better than baby-drops, and it looks after the welfare of both mother and baby. Baby-drops may save babies but do not care for the mother's health and welfare. The mother needs proper reproductive healthcare too. Most mothers who are interviewed have indicated that if their daughter is pregnant and has a baby, they want to know, so that they can support the child. The spirit of the Children and Young Persons Act which makes abandonment an offence is to protect the safety of children.”
“Actually, it is not a tender system. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify. It is an open selection process and we do not select through a tender. If the Adviser sees that there is a need, please communicate with us. We will also take into consideration the duration, based on the various situations. For this particular case, would the Member please communicate with us? REVISED CHINESE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [24th November, 2004], "That this House endorses the Report of the Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee, contained in Paper Cmd 9 of 2004, and supports a revised Chinese Language (CL) curriculum to: (1) enthuse all CL students and develop in them an abiding interest in the language and culture; (2) provide greater customisation and flexibility at the primary level; (3) place greater emphasis on oral fluency and reading for the majority of the students, and for those with the ability and interest, to develop stronger competence and understanding of the Chinese language and culture.". - [Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam]. Question again proposed. 2.10 pm”
“The successful one is for the Geylang East Home for the Aged. It is under Mayor Matthias Yao's ward. The Ministry has the overall national planning programme based on requirements for the various services. And from there, we will release our requirements through the newspapers, NCSS and we also invite interested providers to come for discussion. What I am saying is that the Ministry has a national norm on how many services are required for the different periods. And from there, we will open our invitation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we have a committee, chaired by my Ministry, and we invite the 3Ps, ie, the private sector, NCSS and the people sector to be involved. For instance, Mr Gerard Ee and Mr Willie Chan are two of the volunteers. We also have some criteria. The criteria are based on objective programmes proposed and the leadership of these programmes and, of course, the ability of fund-raising, and so on.”
“Member wouldbe glad to know that the Singapore Sports Council alsoprovides support to all athletes, including those with disabilities. For example, some athletes under the Singapore Disability Sports Council have received support from the SSC in terms of training assistance grants, medical insurance, and access to the SSC's sports science and sports medicine services. Some Paralympians this year also received training grants from theSSC which led up to the Olympic Games. And, as Members would be aware, just yesterday, our President hosted tea for the team who participated in the recent Paralympics in Athens.”
“I think we are always very flexible. For instance, widows, we will also consider their applications. Sometimes, maybe because of certain reasons they want to upgrade their education level, we can consider. But for the number of children, we always encourage them to try not to increase more than that. If they really want to do so, we will refer them to other schemes. For instance, now we have the marriage and procreation package, which is also very attractive. SPECIAL OLYMPICS (Reward scheme for disabled athletes) 8. Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports if he will consider implementing a reward scheme, under the Singapore National Olympic Council, for our disabled athletes who make it to the Special Olympics and who also show improvements, beyond their personal best records. The Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan):Mr Speaker, Sir, the reward scheme for able-bodied athletes who win medals at major games is a scheme under the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), which is a non-government organisation. The SNOC has an arrangement with commercial sponsors for this reward scheme. The reward is only given to athletes who win a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal at the Southeast Asian, Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic Games. It is not given to athletes who show improvements beyond their personal best records. The Singapore Disability Sports Council and Special Olympics Singapore are the two non-government organisations that represent athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities respectively. They can consider whether to work with partners to also put in place reward schemes to recognise the achievements of their athletes, if they so choose. The hon.”
“As I mentioned just now, actually we have many other schemes. We have the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KIFAS). I am sure hon. Members are aware of thisscheme. We also have the Centre-based Financial Assistance for Childcare (CFAC) scheme, the WorkAssistance Programme (WAP), etc. So, we have other schemes to help those families with more than two children. Now we also have the marriage and procreation package, if they qualify for it. I am sure every one qualifies, up to four children. There are so many schemes. But theHOPE scheme has a particular objective, ie, to encourage the small familiesto concentrate their resourcesand hope that, because the family is small, they can pay more attention to their children andreally educate them well so thatthey can make a better living andmove out of poverty. Hence, we have so many schemes. Those who are not qualified for this scheme, we do not turn them away. We will look into their situation and refer them tothe schemes which are suitable for them. But the HOPE scheme is only for this target group.”
“There are no contradictions in these two schemes. The marriage and procreation package is to encourage married couples to have more children. So, those who want to have more than two children, they can apply under the marriage and procreation package for the baby bonus, etc. But the HOPE scheme is particularly targeted at those small and low income families. The parents' education should be two GCE "O" level passes and below,their combined income should be less than $1,500, their families should be intact and so on. We hope that, by helping them, they can concentrate their limited resources on the children, spending especially on their education. Therefore, we extend the education eligibility frompre-school to includesecondary, high school, polytechnic and university education. We also give the parents training grants and hope that they can upgrade themselves. So, by providing a limitto two children, we hope that they can really pull themselves out of the poverty trap. We alsohelddiscussions with this group of users, who themselves felt that the 2-childcriterionwasquite a reasonable cap for them. Beyond that, they felt they would bequite stretched.”
“I am sure that Members know that the HOPE scheme was more or less readjusted from the previous Small Families Improvement Scheme. That scheme was not very popular. Every year, less than 100 persons apply. When we introduced this new HOPE scheme, we also adjusted some of the benefits. For instance, we extended the bursary to pre-schools as well asuniversities, and we also give them some mentorship support as well aslife-skills. Hence, this scheme is quite popular, compared to the Small Families Improvement Scheme, which has only a 14% take-up rate. So, compared to the 14% in the last few years,we thought maybe, fora start, let us set it at about 30%. But, of course, this is notfixed. We will review it from time to time. But this scheme has so farbeen in operation for only less than a year.”
“We will ensure that the scheme continues to benefit the families that it is targeted at.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme is a programme to help young, low-income families move out of the poverty trap by providing them with comprehensive forms of assistance. This voluntary scheme is meant to encourage the parents to keep their families small, so that they can concentrate their limited resources on their children and give them a head-start. Under HOPE, we will support these families with a package of assistance, including education, housing and training grants. Since the inception of HOPE on 1st January 2004 to 30th September 2004, we have received 630 applications, of which 375, or 60%, have been approved. The main reasons for the unsuccessful applications were because the applicants exceeded the income, education, or age criteria. The CDCs would always consider these unsuccessful applicants for other assistance schemes. When HOPE was introduced, MCYS had set a target of 1,000 families to join the scheme by 2007.We had expected about 250 families to be on HOPE in 2004. This target was based on our estimate that about 3,400 families would be eligible for the Scheme. Based on our previous experience, we expected about 30% of these families to participate in the Scheme. Hence, the take-up rate of 375 cases so farwas better than our expectation. We will continue to monitor and promote the Scheme through a "many helping hands" approach, involving voluntary and community-based organisations, grassroots organisations, CDCs and relevant Government agencies. As the Scheme has only run for about 10 months and the efforts at reaching out to the target families are still actively ongoing, it is premature to review the qualifying conditions of the Scheme.”
“We will look into the various publicity channels.I think it is quite a good suggestion that maybe we should slowly compile a more comprehensive list of contacts to help those who are interested to do so. HOME OWNERSHIP PLUS EDUCATION (HOPE) SCHEME 7. Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) in regard to the applications under the HOPE Scheme (i) how many applications were made since its inception, (ii) how many were successful, (iii) what were the main reasons for rejection; (b) does his Ministry consider the current take-up rate as too low, and if so, what can the Ministry do to improve it; and (c) will the Ministry consider relaxing one or two of the Scheme's many conditions in deserving cases.”
“Based on the criteria, an applicant should be a registered body in Singapore. This can include a company limited by guarantee, a society,cooperative or charitable institution. But the business partner can help the VWO to start a social enterprise.”
“Miss Penny Low has given a very good suggestion. Like I just mentioned,we started last year, in March 2003, and now we have 33 projects. So we do havecompanies, especially some GLCs and voluntary groups that are tryingto work together. Lately,the grassroots organisations, likethe Pasir Ris grassroots leaders, have also started the "Aunty Clubs" tohelp some of the unemployed aunties. So I think social enterprises cover a very wide spectrum. The most important point is that, ultimately, whatever we do, we should remember these three objectives. One,the mission should be very clear,ie, whatever profits we have should be ploughed back to support the social mission.Second, the project should be commercially viable and sustainable. And,ofcourse,third, we examine theleadership, ie, dowe have a team of people, the drivers, who are prepared to help them to make sure that these businesses aresuccessful? If these threecriteria are met, please come to the Ministry and we will look into their applications.”
“We have a few, like the Catholic church runs the Good Shepherd Centre and Star Shelter and the Anglican Welfare Organisation runs the St George's Place. DENGUE OUTBREAKS (Update) 3. Dr Tan Boon Wan asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources if he will give an update of (i) dengue outbreaks (ii) the efforts to control it and (iii) further initiatives, if any, in the pipeline.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there are very few cases of human trafficking in Singapore. Our strong legal framework and strict enforcement ensure that this number remains low. The small numbers notwithstanding, the Government has in place a comprehensive process to ensure that appropriate assistance is extended to victims of trafficking and victims who are in need of protection. This process involves the Police, the Courts and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) that offer assistance to persons in need. The support services provided by VWOs range from providing counselling and translation services, to providing temporary shelter to victims, if necessary. Our VWOs are equipped to provide protection, practical assistance and perhaps, most importantly, emotional support to these victims. In order to support the work that they do, my Ministry provides funding for the running of these services, as well as the training of the VWO staff providing these services. These funds allow the agencies to run programmes and services not only for victims of trafficking, but also for other victims in need of protection. In the last two years, the Government has provided approximately $435,000 to agencies running victim assistance programmes. Government funding for such agencies has actually increased by 35% from approximately $185,000 in 2002 to approximately $250,000 in 2003. The agencies are also part of a larger network of VWOs that provide platforms for coordination with relevant agencies as well as sharing of knowledge and expertise. We will continue to engage these VWOs to discuss and review the protocol and procedures, so as to ensure that the needs of trafficking victims are met.”
“Both units are under the portfolio of MCYS, even though PA directly supervises the programmes. The strategies and policies are under the same unit. So we try to harmonise. LikeI said, when we review this programme, we would take into consideration all the Members' suggestions. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD RENTAL FLATS (Availability) 15. Ms Indranee Rajah asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether all available HDB rental units have been rented out; (b) if not, what is the number which has been rented out and the number which has not; and (c) which are the areas where there are still available rental flats The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB lets out 1- and 2-room flats at heavily subsidised rents to low income citizen families under the Public Rental Scheme. As at 31st July this year, HDB has a stock of about 41,400 1- and 2-room rental flats availaible for letting. Of these, 37,400 or more than 90% are currently let out. The balance of 4,000 flats, slightly less than 10%, are located mainly in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Chai Chee, Bukit Merah and Toa Payoh. HDB will continue to avail its rental flats to low income families, as well as those who are facing financial hardship.”
“As I have said, we are reviewing the whole programme together. We need to study the issues and implications more carefully andnot rush into it.”
“I did ask the officers and they told me that during the collaboration between SDU and SDS programmes, they do have this problem. While some of the graduate women were left at the corner,we also have less educated menleft at the corner too. So, like I said, we are taking a very pragmatic approach.I do understand the sentiments of theMember and we would look at what is the best way to address this issue.”
“I thank the Member for her suggestion. Like I have said, the bottom-line is to have more marriages. So, I am surewe would review and look into the allocation of resources correctly.”
“SDU now serves about 18,000 membersand SDS serves about 86,000 members.I do notice that SDU does have a higher operation budget than SDS. Besides direct service delivery, SDU forms strategic alliances with both commercial and community partners to promote marriages. While SDS gives direct services to members, SDU, besides giving services to members, also takes on the role of promoting marriages in Singapore. It also tries to promotefamily values, the importance of being a mother, parenthood, and so on. So, taking into considerationthe strategic planning andpromotional duties, they do incur additional budget. We would try to relook at this. Where resource allocation is necessary, we would look into it. When reviewing the whole thing, resource allocation is also one of the important areas.”
“The SDS has a higher success rate. Like I said just now, out of the 147,000 marriages, 112,000 are from SDS and 35,000 from SDU. I am sure Members know that the number of graduates is also smaller. But,the most important thing is that we carried out a survey and the image has improved. More and more people are prepared to use SDU and SDS. But, we also have a segment of people who prefer to go through friends, relatives and colleagues. SoMembersshould render a helping hand and we hope toachieve more marriages.”
“I am sure most of the Members understand the background. In our society we have different segments of people. In order to reach thetargeted group more effectively,we divided it into two groups at the beginning. Butthings developed, and there was more and more collaboration between these two groups. They sharestrategies, worktogether andeven sharedata. Lately, theytold me that they areusinga very advancedelectronic device known as "Blue Tooth". With it, you caneven know the potential partner you are going to meetwithin 20 metres, and it is up to youwhether or notto respond. In the last few years, the staff really worked very hard with corporations,community clubs, grassroots organisations, CDCs, campuses and universities. They try to work together to targetdifferent groups and we do allow them to share information and programmes.I could see more collaboration would emerge.”
“I would like to recommend for the MOE and MCDS to consider setting up a dedicated fund to help co-pay the cost of curriculum development for pre-school programme.”
“Sir, I would like to talk about setting up a national early childhood institution and funding for pre-school curriculum development. Sir, for Singapore to be a truly educational hub to provide for the whole spectrum of education for the young through adulthood, Singapore needs to establish a national early childhood institute (NECI). The form of the NECI could take shape as a stand-alone body or, possibly, it could be a faculty within one of our local universities. MOE has initiated several areas to help improve the quality of pre-school education in Singapore. The time has come to act on our collective wisdom about what children and family need to bring about a hopeful picture for all. As such, a national early childhood institution which focuses on early childhood development and learning would be timely. It will be the recognised voice of early child education and care in Singapore. It could be the authority and advocate of the high quality childcare, early child education, kindergarten and parenting programmes. Sir, I would also like to talk about pre-school curriculum development. The early years of a child's life is a critical phase of growth. The Government has also devoted some effort to develop a pre-school curriculum framework under its pilot studies spearheaded by MOE. However, the Government has left the pre-school years essentially to private providers. The childcare centres and kindergartens, in order to provide quality programmes that are developmentally appropriate for children, have to make continuous improvements in their curriculum. We know that it is a costly investment to develop quality curriculum. Given the economics of running childcare centres and kindergartens, most could not afford to channel enough resources to upgrade their curriculum.”
“When they are more mature, we worry about their love affairs and whether they could get the right life partner. Then, we worry about their marriage, their children and so on. There is no end to it. Now, let me speak about the working environment of our teachers. Most of our school teachers are ladies. Have we looked into how we can create an environment for them to start their families? Yesterday, two Members lost their voices and could not speak out in Parliament. I think many teachers also lose their voices because they have to talk a lot in class. Do we have some latest technology to help them overcome this problem, so that teaching could be a joy?”
“Sir, having heard the reply by the Acting Minister for Education, I am very glad that the Ministry is now going for a flexible multi-choice system. For this cut on pro-family policies, I am looking at it on a broad perspective, not just on procreation. I hope that there will come one day when our students will find going to school a joy rather than a dreadful chore. Just now, it was said that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had set the limit that a worker can work in a day, maybe eight hours a day. Perhaps, we should also look at whether we could set a limit on how many hours should we subject our students to the classroom. Our school children should have the "right to play"! When we talk about pro-family or pro-children education, we have to take a holistic approach to include moral education, knowledge, physical education, social ethics, and aesthetics. I think the Sports School and the Arts School are good things to have. Now, I would like to talk about family education and life education. Just now, the Minister for Education spoke about sexuality education. I think the sexuality education should be taught from the pathology, physiology and psychology aspects. We should also teach our students on how to respect their parents and also to love others. We want to cultivate not only professional teachers, lawyers or doctors, but only good and useful citizens of Singapore. Our students should be taught how to behave themselves at home, in society, and even when they are overseas. Emphasis must be given to the inculcation of the right values and moral standards. When the children are young, we caution them against falling in love too early, lest it affects their studies.”
“In our family planning programme, we should also educate our people as to when is the best time to give birth to children, that is, from 18 to 28 years. We should tell them not to delay their marriages. Even after their marriage, we should also encourage them to have babies as soon as they can. For those who are infertile, we should try and help them with IVF, and make it affordable. Finally, because most of the hospital staff are females, I hope that we could have pro-family policies to help these female medical staff find time to be with their families. 3.15 pm”
“Sir, today, I would like to talk about pro-family policies. Here, when I talk about pro-family policies, it would be very broad-based, not just on procreation. I would like to touch on two aspects. First, I hope that the Ministry of Health would, through the National Health Promotion Board, spread the message of procreation promotion to all our people In this respect, I would like to thank the Ministry of Health. In fact, the hospitals and the polyclinics are very well structured and fully equipped, and the facilities are very good. The Acting Minister for Health has just announced that he was going to consolidate all the healthcare facilities in the western part of Singapore. This is indeed a piece of good news to us. But the problem is some of our senior citizens with chronic diseases are having difficulty going to the hospitals for treatment. We should train our young people to support these elderly people and find some ways for these old people to receive treatment at home. In the 1970s, when we were promoting family planning in all our hospitals and clinics, we made every effort to discourage the mothers from having any more babies. But now, when we are reversing the process, have we trained our hospital and polyclinic staff to promote procreation and encourage our young mothers to have more babies? Every year, we have more than 10,000 abortions. In principle, I do not oppose abortions, but I feel we should train our hospital and polyclinic staff to give consultation to pregnant mothers who are contemplating abortion. For those who are married and are thinking of going for abortion because of financial difficulties, we should try and help them and see how the babies could be saved.”
“I am glad that MCDS has put in place the Family Day Care Services, which is an affordable home-based infant care service by trained caregivers for infants and toddlers aged two to 18 months. It extends the spectrum of care services to meet the varied childcare needs of families. The fees for Family Day Care Services range from about $500 to $625 per month. I would like to ask the Minister whether MCDS would also consider giving subsidies to parents who use the home-based nanny programme.”
“Sir, childcare is a key cost to working parents, with fees ranging from $330 to about $1,700 per month. At an average of $550 per month for full day childcare services, a family with two children will need to spend an average of $1,100 every month on childcare. With the average household income in Singapore at about $3,200, childcare fees take up 35% of the household income for a family with two children. The Government subsidies are aimed at making childcare an affordable necessity to families. However, the current childcare subsidy of up to $150 per month for working mothers has been in effect since 1995 and has not changed since then. The main cost of operating childcare centre is manpower. I am sure, Sir, wages go up every year. As childcare costs and fees increase, Government subsidies should also increase in order for Government to continue to provide a similar level of financial support to parents. As the average monthly fee for full-day childcare services is about $550, I propose that the subsidy be increased to $250 per month to make it more affordable for parents. Sir, how to care for infants is a key concern for working parents. Infant care provided at childcare centres is currently not accessible to many parents. Out of 650 childcare centres in Singapore, only 24 of them provide infant care services. This number should be increased. The cost of providing care for infants is about five times that for older children. I would like to appeal to the Minister to increase the subsidy for infants. I understand that it costs the childcare centre about $900 per month per infant. So, I would like to appeal to the Minister to increase the subsidy to about $400-$500 per month for the infant child.”
“Shopping centres and other places should be required to provide breast-feeding rooms for mothers or diaper changing stations which both mothers and fathers can use. After all, we are talking about shared responsibilities. Will MND also consider increasing the planning norms for childcare and infant care centres so that these facilities are more accessible in the HDB neighbourhood, shopping area, business area and workplace? By doing this, I am sure the Ministry of Community Development and Sports can develop more childcare centres in the business and shopping areas.”
“Sir, listening to my parliamentary colleagues just now, we can hear that we try to express two key words - flexibility and choice. Sir, young Singaporeans are getting married at an older age. One of the reasons is that they need to save up for their dream homes. Would MND be prepared to make available the option of additional rental housing or studio apartments for young Singaporeans who want to get married but have not saved up enough for their HDB flats? I must applaud HDB for implementing the Staggered Downpayment Scheme. I would like HDB to consider reducing the downpayment from 20% to 10% for young married couples, similar to the Confirmed Government Officers Scheme. Sir, I would like also to ask HDB how many young Singaporeans buying resale HDB flats near their parents are successful in applying for the HDB housing grant. Would HDB consider increasing the quantum of the housing grant to encourage more young Singaporeans to live near to their parents? I actually know that my colleagues in this House - Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, myself, Lily Neo, Halimah and Cynthia - we all live together with our own parents or parents-in-law. They really help us a lot. I would like to make another suggestion: HDB should try to develop pro-family programmes. Regulators like URA, BCA and NParks must ensure adequate provision of family-friendly equipment and facilities in public places, parks and gardens. This should be barrier-free with ramps provided and lifts installed for the benefit of expectant mothers, young children and the elderly. I am sure we have observed some of the hawker centres are on the second floor. We must help the young children, expectant mothers and the elderly to get into these places.”
“" If we can say "We are behind you", not only the parents will say it, our friends and relatives should also say it. Our siblings, if their children are grown up, we should also help our younger brothers and sisters to look after their children. The employers should also say, eg, "All right, if you want to take leave, we can do this, we can do that, and we will support you." And for those young people who are just married, we should show that we are behind them. Give them the assurance that help is available, as and when they need it. So, with this national effort, ie, the parents, siblings, families, Mayors, MPs, we can show the young couples that "We are behind you". Let us do it.”
“The MCDS has already started the Public Education Committee to promote this, through the schools, the religious bodies and the clan associations. Talking about the clan associations, recently, the Minister of State Mr Chan Soo Sen said that the clan associations seemed to have nothing much to do nowadays. To this, I would say that there are a lot of things they could do. They can help to promote marriage and the bearing of children. I hope that the clan associations will encourage the young people to get married, and get married early. Perhaps, my suggestion will also have to take into consideration the fact that the boys have problems because of National Service, although I fully support National Service. Some people say that the best time to start courting is when you finish your 'A' levels or polytechnic, and that it is the best time to start courting! We should give them a "gap year" after the 'A' levels or the polytechnic, so that the young boys could catch up with the young girls to do some social, charitable or welfare work together. This need not be confined only to Singapore. They can even go to other countries, so that they can cultivate the relationship, to experience social contacts with the opposite sex. So, I feel that we could look into the possibility of providing for such a "gap year". Maybe the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Community Development and Sports could look into how to create more chances for the young people to socialise. We should have this motto: "We are behind you!" Now, a lot of young people are worried. They say, "You want us to have children, but we do not even have a steady job, what certainty can we have for our future?”
“When we want to take these measures, we should not think that, by giving a Baby Bonus, everything is resolved. That is not good enough. This time, we are suggesting extended maternity leave. Will it solve everything? It may be a good measure, but not a perfect solution. It is not to say that everyone will take the six-month maternity leave. Some would say we want to breast feed, so we may have to take six months' leave. But some females may have siblings or parents to look after the baby, they may not need such a long maternity leave and they would prefer to convert this maternity leave to family leave so that they can take leave in a more flexible manner. We should look at this maternity leave issue in a more flexible way. Just now, I mentioned about this Baby Bonus. For this fiscal incentive, we give bonuses for the second and third children. Some families do not even have the first child. Although money is not the absolute factor to encourage child birth, I think this would, in some way, help to cut down on their financial costs. I also feel that there are too many rules, eg, you must give birth within a certain period, etc. So, if late birth is not an issue, why should we make it so complicated? So long as you produce the birth certificate, whether you have a second or third child, I just give you the money, that is all. Why all these terms and conditions? Maybe we should not give them cash, lest they misuse it. Maybe we could have a trust fund for medical fees, education fees, etc. Another issue is on marriage itself. I think marriage itself is a problem. If you do not get married, how do we have babies? So, I think this is very important.”
“Another aspect is on education. Personally, I am very proud of our education system. Whenever I am overseas, when people ask me, "Which policy in Singapore are you most proud of?", I would reply that I am most proud of our education system in Singapore. Because, in Singapore, every child, irrespective of family background, whether rich or poor, has the chance to go to school and the opportunity to make full use of their potential. Even then, I cannot say our education system is perfect. We can still look at rooms for improvement. We want to cultivate our children into useful citizens. This is again a question of output. Do we want to cultivate an engineer, a lawyer, a technician, a doctor or an all-rounded person? We want to cultivate the children, so that they can make full use of the potential in every aspect, eg, in the arts, sports and even in hotel catering, in business, science, law and leadership quality. Everyone has different talents. I support the views expressed by the Acting Minister for Education in an interview by the Straits Times. I think we should make every child give full play of their potential, so that they can have the opportunity to express themselves. We can say that all parents in Singapore place great emphasis on the education of their children. We should give priority to school enrolment for the third child. I think this would be even more attractive than fiscal incentives. Now, we have given more autonomy to the schools and universities to enrol the students, I think it is very good. I think we should also give this autonomy to our junior colleges and secondary schools. If they want to go for one session, full-day school, and for schools to have childcare centres, we should help them. Every family's need is different.”
“We should have more flexibility, with the Government in the lead. Our quasi-Government departments and statutory boards should restructure themselves, so that we can adopt the five-day week. Just now, I mentioned about this flexible work arrangement. Now, we have the computer, fax, email and video conferencing. We can use these new technologies to re-engineer our work. Recently, I attended a conference where an American professor gave a talk. Physically, he was in Japan, but we could raise questions with him and have real time discussion through video conferencing. In some countries, they even use the video to conduct lectures. They do not have to be physically present in the lecture hall. Now, we have people all rushing to work at the same time. Why can we not arrange to have flexible working hours and staggered time for our workers? I think we should all sit down and feedback to Mr Lim Hng Kiang and his committee our suggestions as MPs, Mayors, employers, or Ministers. Everyone should play a part. For example, you say, if I want to start an enterprise, everyone should tell the Minister what they want to do, and not tell the Minister what to do. In a family, parents help their children to look after their children. So, in a family, you can say, "Young people go ahead, have more children. When I retire, I will help you to look after your children." In our community, we should have more facilities, such as childcare centres and even baby-care centres. Now the Government provides subsidies for childcare centres. But I think the facilities for the care of babies are still not enough. I will raise this during our Committee of Supply on Health and MCDS. But I think the Government has not given any subsidy for the cost of looking after babies at home.”
“We are not machines, we are not deities. How are we going to keep on working 24 hours a day? Another thing is on how we evaluate the work performance of a person. We cannot use the old standards to evaluate the work performance. We should also look at the quality of the work that he produces, his output, the quality of his work, to evaluate. Just because a worker starts work from 7.00 am and goes home only at midnight, we cannot jump to the conclusion that he is a good worker. We should not look at it in this way. We should only look at the quality of his output. We need to change the mindset of Singaporeans. Firstly, we have to look at the bearing of children as one of our shared values. Secondly, on the economic side, from the Government down to the employers, we should change the criteria of evaluating the work performance of the workers by tying it with their family lives, so that there will be a good work-life balance. Now, let me look at the intangible measures. Just now, I mentioned that, in fact, in the last few days, I have looked at the various incentive measures, and there are more than 50 of them. In fact, the Government has already done a lot in tax reliefs, in public education in the schools, and creches. The Government has made a lot of arrangements. But there is still room for improvement for these arrangements, for example, in work arrangements. In the past, as a trade unionist, I was quite sceptical about the five-day week idea. Recently, after visiting some MNCs, such as IBM, AT&T and Shell, I dropped my reservations on the five-day week. Take Shell, for example. They function 365 days a year and 7 days a week. But most of their workers work only a five-day week. So, we should not hesitate in the move towards a five-day week arrangement.”
“Members have called upon the schools to spread this message to our young Singaporeans. Yes, we want to survive, we want better skills, we want to learn how to earn a living. However, in the schools today, the emphases are on studies and school work. Can we revamp our curricula to include subjects, such as how we deal with people, how to start a family and how to plan for our future generations? For the girls, we could strive to cultivate not just good career women, but also good mothers. For the boys, we have to cultivate good workers and also good fathers. I think the Government and the people should have this consensus. This consensus is that we must look at this challenge as one of our Singaporean values. In the schools, in our family, in society, we must look at this responsibility as our shared value. If we do not have this consensus, this shared value of giving birth to more children for our future generation, then how are we going to accomplish this cause? I look at the individuals, the family, the community, the employers and the Government as the five stakeholders, and these five stakeholders must arrive at this consensus. If they do not have this consensus, no matter how you talk about it, you will not come to a solution, because we should know first what we have to do. Recently, we mentioned a lot of facilities, a lot of measures to promote procreation. I would like to touch on a few points. First, apart from changing our values, we need to change our mindset on our emphasis on the pursuit of economic development and work performance. Before I talk about the fiscal incentives and facilities, another change we need to make is on our work. If everyone of us wants to be an outstanding worker, do we have the time to also become an outstanding family person?”
“With globalisation and the highly competitive economic environment, how to reduce costs, improve productivity and add value to everybody's work is of paramount importance. I think we should create such a conducive environment, then this problem can be solved. I do not want to spend too much time on analysing the various factors, because much has been said and many views have been expressed in the newspapers. Just now, Deputy Speaker Mrs Lim Hwee Hua said that we should not blame the women alone for the low fertility rate. This is not just the women's responsibility. It is the responsibility of everybody, every family, and the whole society. So, we should look at it as a societal movement. First, change our mindset. If you have time, you should view the Discovery Channel on TV. From the documentaries on the animal kingdom, you will discover that, in order to survive, the animals have to compete against one another. Sometimes, they even have to attack their competitors in order to mate with the females and produce offsprings. The salmons have to swim against the current to lay eggs at the upstreams of rivers and sacrifice their lives in the process. For our Singaporeans, there is a very urgent call to produce more babies, so that we can have people to succeed us. As the ancient sage Mencius has said, "Of the three forms of unfiliality, the worst is to have no descendants." So, if you have no children, you are considered a very unfilial son. Of course, some people may say this is old-fashioned thinking. But I think giving birth to children and to have people to succeed us is one of the most important objectives in our lives. How are we going to, once again, call upon all the people of Singapore to keep this very important message of human survival in mind?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget Statement by the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. This Budget actually lays down the long-term policy of the Government and DPM Lee's personal political ideal. DPM Lee mentioned three main pillars to support the future prosperity of Singapore. Because of time constraint, I will only speak on how to build up a strong society, and on how to cultivate our next generation, ie, the "baby challenge". Senior Minister Lee and Prime Minister Goh have already mentioned this before. Now, DPM Lee brings up this subject again in his Budget Statement and he is treating this issue as a sort of national crisis. Our total fertility rate now is 1.26, the lowest ever! He stated that,if Singaporeans are not producing enough babies to build and protect our nation, we will face serious problems in the future. Ever since this subject was brought up by DPM Lee, many people have debated over it. Some are optimistic; some are pessimistic. But I personally feel that, as a nation, we should look at this matter with more confidence and optimism as we face this very tough challenge. I think the simplest way is, of course, to import talents from other countries. This can well be an immediate solution to this matter. We welcome new immigrants to join in the process of our nation building. But I fully support the Deputy Prime Minister's appeal to Singaporeans to produce more babies ourselves. I look at this as a mission or a cause. I shall look at it in two ways, ie, a tangible one and an intangible one. The tangible one is that we should look at it as a societal movement. It should not be just the Government's effort, but a societal movement.”