Zaqy Mohamad
Singapore
“Deputy Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the Question Time at this day's Sitting be exempted from Standing Order No 22(1) so as to enable questions for oral answer to continue until the completion of Question Nos 7 to 29, including relevant supplementary questions, until 12.45 pm?”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of the Minister Tan See Leng's speech, please?”
“I think on the hawker front, we keep our rentals as low as possible to sustain our hawkers. But for food prices, we continue to monitor. My colleague, Minister of State Gan mentioned about how we are monitoring food supply of food prices, and I think that we will continue to do so.”
“I thank the Member for his question. On seafood specifically, we do not see immediate risk. We have diversified our food imports. We have also got local production of seafood readily available. At this point, as both the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister have shared, our main risk for agriculture lies in fertiliser.”
“Mr Speaker, as I shared, we are monitoring the situation. The Government is monitoring at this point. There is no need at this juncture, because we have not seen the price hikes hit the hawkers in the same way as yet. There will be downstream impact. I think that is quite sure.”
“For us to also look into buying local produce, that helps our farms to increase capacity at this point, helps them build resilience over time and should there be disruptions or should there be a need for us to divert supplies or look to ramp up local production, I think they would be in a better position if we do what we can today to supp…”
The complete record
Every one of 1,752 lines we hold for Zaqy Mohamad, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 36.
“I would like to ask for clarification from the Member on what that number would be. As to the part about not recognising what the Government has done, if you are to look at the low-wage workers of today, beyond just wages, how we have helped both the industries as well as the consumers – the people out there – if you discount the fact that the Workfare comes to play where the Government puts in revenues to transfer back to workers of low wages. This translates into up to 30% of extra income for them, so that we – the society – bear the burden, transferring back taxes. You do not push this onto the consumers so that you also manage the level of inflation. Over time, you have seen wages go up through PWM. We hope as we expand it, we will get more workers on board. What is also important is that you do not just work on the minimum. As you can see for the different sectors, the security sector earns more than the cleaning. So, why work on one level when we can work at different levels, making it relevant to the productivity and the levels of wages that each sector can afford. So, why just keep to a minimum? And last but not least, if you look at the proof of the pudding. Among our low-wage workers, the bottom 20% of all our workers, about 70% of them own their own homes today. The transfers that the Government gives go beyond just wages, but they encompass the whole system where I think a large part of our low-wage workers are given that shelter, that stability for their children to be able to grow up in stable homes, given the opportunities to rise. And many of us came from those kinds of families too. To be able to give good shelter, good education systems. All these come to play in how this Government has been compassionate in its policies. Yes, we can do more.”
“Some stalls are family-owned; so some assistants are members of the family helping each other and so, the family businesses are what you have to think about. So, there are different considerations and things that we have to work out across sectors. But it is not a new position. It is something that we have been working on since 2012 till now. In fact, even before that, the unions have really raised this. It is just that we have implemented them in stages. It is something that we have already announced that we will expand, once times are better. The second point that the Member raised is that we have to talk about compassion. I think it is easy to talk about compassion when it is just mere talk. If you have got to put money on the table, you have also to consider, as a Government, where that money comes from; and how you manage the Budget, whether you have to raise GST. I think where the PAP Government has made a difference is that we put the money where our mouth is. If you talk about compassion, we have just put up four Budgets in the space of three months. What does that mean? A hundred billion dollars! I think many Singaporeans have also felt the impact of the Care and Support Package. The Job Support Scheme, I think, is one of the best forms of unemployment insurance to some extent, where you can see many jobs being saved during this period. So, to some extent there is a lot of compassion. But I think you have to realise that this is also a whole system put in place. The last part where the Member talked about 25% of our population are in the low wage group. Can the Member let us know what is his benchmark or basis for saying so? What is the definition of living wage or Minimum Wage that Workers’ Party subscribes to? Let us know what that number is.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have a clarification to Member Jamus Lim's point about Minimum Wage. There is a fundamental difference between what the Government has said so far about the Progressive Wage Model or PWM versus the Minimum Wage. This is not a new concept which was thought of just after the General Election. If you were to talk members of the NTUC, for example, they have talked about the PWM since 2012, and there is in fact a key difference between PWM and Minimum Wage, in that it is differentiated across sectors. These are pains in which the union, the Government and the employers come to a position on, in what is bearable for every sector. So, there is differentiation by sector. And the fact that there is a ladder also tells us that there is recognition that we want to bring workers to different productive levels too, to make sure that workers continue to upgrade and get paid better. We have seen the impact of the PWM. In the last five years, our low-wage workers have seen wages rise by 30% in real terms. Minister Josephine Teo mentioned that in her speech. The expansion of PWM is not something new that we just talked about. In this House, in March this year, as part of the Budget, and I too announced that we are looking at expanding PWM. The reason why we have taken a bit of time – and you have seen how PWM has been implemented over the past few years, including the most recent round announced for the lift and escalator sector – is that we have to come to positions that are bearable; that it is not just a blunt tool, a straight line across all sectors, to the point that you will find employment being difficult for some. Take hawker assistants, for example.”
“Mr Speaker, I propose that Mr Christopher de Souza and Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo be elected as Deputy Speakers of this Parliament. Mr Christopher de Souza, Ms Jessica Tan and I became Members of Parliament in 2006, together in this House. I have grown together with them in my political career, and can say that they are both highly experienced Parliamentarians, model professionals and have a strong sense of fairness and objectivity in them, which make them suited for this role. Mr Christopher de Souza is an accomplished lawyer who has also contributed actively to Parliamentary work. One of Mr de Souza’s notable contributions was the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill – Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill – in October 2014. The Bill was passed in November 2014. He also served as Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law from 2015 to 2020. Ms Jessica Tan, comes with extensive corporate experience in senior leadership roles with multi-national firms. Over the years, she has made significant contributions as a Member of this House, serving as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2016 to 2020 and as Chairman for the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Trade and Industry from 2010 to 2015. I am confident that both Mr Christopher de Souza and Ms Jessica Tan, with their expertise, experience and character, will make good deputies in discharging their duties and support Mr Speaker in the course of this Fourteenth Parliament session.”
“SMCCI will continue its efforts to conduct more capability development seminars so that our local businesses can make the move to innovate, transform and strengthen their resilience. We can expect structural changes to the global and Singapore economy in the long term. As announced by Minister Masagos last week, I will be leading a new workgroup, comprising MENDAKI SENSE, SMCCI, NTUC, organisations from the public sector and community partners to support our Malay/Muslim workers. This workgroup will support the efforts of the National Jobs Council, led by Senior Minister Tharman. Collectively, we want to build on the efforts of the SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce, to provide employment support for Malay/Muslim jobseekers, and to better prepare them and improve their employment prospects, by working with our partners and the Government. We will also strengthen our outreach efforts to prepare the community for the future of jobs. This includes mature workers, fresh graduates, the self-employed, and our asatizah. We want to help our workers to upskill so that they can stay relevant and subsequently gain employment. With that, they will hopefully have better salary prospects. It is important for the Malay/Muslim community to be ready to seize any opportunities during this crisis and when the economy recovers. Our path forward will be tough, but we will journey through it together. The Government will continue to support Singaporeans in adapting to new circumstances. With strong community support, we will work hand-in-hand to help workers and employers seize available opportunities, so that we will emerge stronger as one Singapore. Thank you.”
“We have also introduced measures to help businesses cope during this trying period. I urge employers to be fair and responsible to their workers. Retain your workers, and tap on Government support to help your workers upskill, and at the same time, help your company transform for the future. Mr Speaker, I am greatly heartened to see my fellow Singaporeans and community organisations stepping up to collectively complement the Government’s efforts to help employers and workers during this difficult period. These include the wonderful efforts by our Malay/Muslim community. Under the SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce, organisations such as MENDAKI SENSE and the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or SMCCI, have stepped forward to further strengthen the last-mile delivery of national support measures and lead targeted initiatives to support the Malay/Muslim community on jobs, upskilling and digitalisation for businesses. SENSE has organised three Virtual Career Fairs which have attracted close to 12,000 visitors. More than 3,400 people have submitted job applications and the total number of applications received have exceeded 8,000 applications. To date, the CariKerja app has received over 22,000 downloads. These figures indicate a good start. SENSE will be scaling up their outreach efforts within the community, including to mature workers, fresh graduates as well as PMET jobseekers. For our local businesses, SMCCI, together with technology partners such as Lalamove and Shopback, has helped their members to adopt new solutions that would optimise their businesses in areas such as marketing and e-payments.”
“I would like make a call for everyone to play a part in supporting our lower wage workers and improving their well-being at work – that even small gestures can be meaningful. The Government will always look after our lower wage workers through our social schemes. Initiatives such as Workfare supplements their wages, the Enhanced Housing Grant ensures that they have a roof under which their families can grow in stable environments and ComCare provides meaningful social support. We hope that everyone can support us in uplifting our lower wage workers and caring for them in the way they deserve. Mr Speaker, I began my speech with how, in every crisis, lies opportunity. We must make every opportunity count. The Government is committed to supporting both our jobseekers and employers to ride out this storm and to emerge stronger. We will help jobseekers seize every available opportunity and employers are encouraged to use this period to build up a skilled workforce so that they are well-positioned for recovery. We can achieve this by working together as Singapore United. Mr Speaker, allow me to share a few key points on the Government's support for employers and workers in Malay. (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We will support Singaporeans fully. There are many opportunities in growth sectors, so I encourage those who are seeking jobs to be flexible and willing to adapt to access these opportunities. Currently, there are conversion programmes to help you reskill to gain employment in new areas, including the SGUnited Traineeships Programme and the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme. These programmes can help you to gain industry-relevant work experience and build professional networks.”
“This has in turn affected the livelihoods of workers such as cleaners and security officers. The tripartite partners have worked closely to issue tripartite advisories to guide service buyers and providers on how all stakeholders can navigate the situation together to ensure the sustainability of these industries and protect our workers' livelihoods. These advisories guide service providers in properly remunerating their workers and urge service buyers to exercise restraint when activating penalty clauses or liquidated damages. This helps ensure that workers are paid appropriately based on their workloads and that their employers have the cashflow to pay them accordingly. Service buyers and providers are also encouraged to reallocate manpower based on their priorities. This helps to manage the employees' workloads. Finally, employers are also urged to seize the opportunity to up-skill their workers by tapping on Government support, which will prepare them for future challenges and opportunities. By adopting these recommendations, our lower wage essential workers will be protected and employers will be able to tide through this tough period together with them. Beyond this, we are also maintaining our efforts to uplift the well-being of our lower wage workers at work through the Workcare initiative. As I shared earlier, we will be launching a new Workcare Grant later this year to support building owners and employers to provide rest areas for outsourced workers – this, with a view to eventually legislating this requirement. Given the importance of their work, it is only right that we promote a culture of care and provide them with the respect they deserve.”
“As Member Walter Theseira observed in his Budget speech in February, the PWMs have reversed formerly stagnant wage growth for lower income Singaporeans. The vision of PWM was to create occupation, wage and skills ladders across all sectors. This will support our workers to up-skill, raise their productivity and earn higher wages. Given the positive impact of the PWMs, MOM is committed to supporting our tripartite partners' efforts to extend PWM to more sectors. Earlier this year, we announced that the tripartite partners are extending the PWM to escalator maintenance workers. Members of the community have also voiced their support for essential workers during COVID-19. During my speech at the Committee of Supply debates in March, I painted a vision of how the PWM should be a broader movement where the community can play a part as responsible consumers, even in sectors where mandatory PWM is not possible. In this way, companies that voluntarily pay progressive wages and provide job progression pathways to their workers are recognised and rewarded by consumers who support them by purchasing their goods or services. This will in turn spur more companies to be progressive as the best way to advance their business interests. MOM will share more details when the economic climate and business conditions are more favourable. I would like to move on and address Members' points on the vulnerability of lower-wage essential workers. Ms Jessica Tan spoke about the need to pay attention to the working conditions as businesses resumed operations, especially for the essential and frontline workers. COVID-19 has resulted in significant disruptions to the demand and supply of outsourced services by service buyers and providers.”
“Mr Zainal co-chairs the tripartite committees to review and enhance the wage and skills ladders in sectors under the PWM today, so that our workers can enjoy better wages and be more productive. These efforts are complemented by the sectoral tripartite partners' implementation of the various industry transformation maps, such as in the security and environmental services sectors. These will leverage technology to raise our workers' productivity. MOM is and will continue to give our fullest support to these important efforts. Assoc Prof Walter Theseira said, and I quote, "the unseen engine behind global cities worldwide is a vast army of essential workers, who are frequently paid too little to live next to those they provide services to". I fully agree. As a society, we must uplift our lower wage workers and bridge inequality. I believe that our society has matured enough that we would not turn a blind eye to this group of workers, and recognise that they too, should be paid fairly for the essential work that they do. This is the right thing to do. But these efforts will not be able to come to fruition if we do not have the support of the wider community. At the end of the day, all of us would have to contribute towards the higher pay for these workers by sharing the rise in cost of products and services. The Progressive Wage Models (PWMs) have served us well in supporting our lower wage workers, which includes workers in essential sectors such as cleaning and security. Between 2013 and 2018, the real median monthly gross wages of full-time cleaners, security officers and landscape workers grew cumulatively by 30% or more, which is higher than the 16% for the median full-time income of resident workers.”
“All Watches Private Limited is an employer that is reskilling their workers for enhanced job roles to support their digital transformation plans. They are ramping up its online e-commerce platform given the shift in consumer behaviour and increase in demand for e-commerce. Through WSG's Job Redesign Reskilling Programme for the Retail Industry, 11 workers are gaining relevant digital skills. For instance, their retail team leaders will gain skills to understand online and offline customer behaviour and to develop and implement offline-to-online strategies in enhanced Customer Service Leader roles. I encourage employers to consider this option. Not only would employers keep their workers at lower cost, their workers will emerge with new and relevant skills to support their business transformation and growth. Mr Speaker, before I conclude, let me address Mr Zainal Sapari's points on lower wage workers, particularly those in essential services. The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of the work done by our essential workers, many of whom come under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM). For the majority of them, their workloads have increased during this period, and we applaud and appreciate their efforts. Indeed, this is an important group. MOM and our tripartite partners have been working hard to uplift this segment. To support our lower wage workers, we have recently enhanced Workfare to benefit more workers and also provided a special Workfare Special Payment (WSP) payout of $3,000 as a result of the COVID-19 situation. The first payout of $1,500 will be made in the next month, with the second payout of $1,500 in October 2020. In these times, it is imperative that we bolster support for our lower wage workers.”
“The Government has provided significant wage support under the JSS to offset and protect local employees' wages. Employers should act responsibly and fairly. Those who put local employees on mandatory no-pay-leave or retrench them will not be entitled to the enhanced JSS pay-outs for those employees. The updated Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment and National Wage Council's guidelines issued in end-March provides guidance on managing excess manpower responsibly. Where there is a need to reduce wages, managements should lead by example, and seek the consent of the unions and engage employees. Employers should take the lead to help their workers reskill and support business transformation plans. Employees have often been worried about training while working. For some, it is whether they can find time to go for training without disadvantaging themselves at work. Others may find it difficult to identify relevant training to improve their career prospects. Employers should come in to provide guidance. They are best placed to identify relevant skills required for their business transformation strategies. It is also a good opportunity to send workers who would have not otherwise have gone for training to reskill. Moreover, employers can reskill their existing workers at a low cost by tapping on Government support. Employers can send existing workers to participate in job redesign programmes, a type of PCP to help existing employees take on new roles or redesigned job roles in the same company. Many employers think that PCPs are for workers to transit to new sectors, but there are also PCP programmes that employers can adopt in their companies. And the Government provides up to 90% salary support and course fee subsidies.”
“It is important that we also guide them through this storm. Even when employers are in "survival mode", their odds of survival will improve with a more skilled and productive workforce. I would like to encourage employers to take a longer-term view and walk with their workers through these challenging times. Different employers are affected in different ways by this unprecedented crisis. The first group of employers are those who are not so badly affected and are still growing. And we encourage these employers to consider jobseekers who may not have all the skills needed to perform the job, but can do it with some training. To support such employers, we will be ramping up the capacity of our career conversion programmes to more than 14,000 places this year. So, taken together with the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and the enhanced Hiring Incentive, the out-of-pocket costs of employers for hiring and training new workers are significantly reduced. For others who are cautious about hiring, do consider the traineeship programmes. I encourage you to offer as many positions as you can. Not only will you benefit from the additional manpower to meet your business needs, you will also help trainees pick up useful skills and work experience. The Government will also subsidise the costs of providing these traineeship opportunities by funding 80% of the traineeship stipends. Employers only need to fund the remaining 20%. Host companies can indicate their interest at the SGUnited Traineeships page on WSG's website. Many employers may face short-term difficulties. We fully understand. Member of Parliament Patrick Tay expressed concerns about unfair practices on the ground, and I share his concerns. While it may not be easy, employers should be fair to their workers during hard times.”
“While she initially applied for a salesperson role at Aries Fresh Private Limited, she was open to take on a different role focusing on digital sales offered by Aries Fresh in March this year. Thanks to PCP for Digital Sales Executives, Wai Sim gained digital skills which complements her sales experience. I personally found it inspiring that Wai Sim has transformed her 30 plus years of experience to take on the digital world as well. She now uses Facebook and Google Ads to generate leads and increase sales. Wai Sim is earning 30% more, compared to her previous traditional sales role. She is an encouraging role model for all of us and I would like to thank Aries Fresh for investing in our mature workers and I hope that many others would consider this too. Second, mature jobseekers can also consider taking part in the new SGUnited Traineeships for mid-career workers, which will be named SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme. This programme will provide mid-career workers with company attachment opportunities to pick up industry-relevant skills and broaden their professional circles. This will boost their employability when the economy recovers. We aim to provide up to 4,000 of such attachment opportunities. Compared to the SGUnited Traineeships, mid-careerists on this SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme can expect to receive a higher stipend based on their relevant experience and skills that they bring to the host company. To encourage employers to hire mature workers who have gone through eligible programmes such as the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme, we doubled the Hiring Incentive to 40% of monthly salary for six months, capped at $12,000 in total. Our employers play an important role in growing our economy and hiring our workers.”
“To give our trainees a further boost, employers that hire them will receive the enhanced Hiring Incentive, with salary support of 20% of monthly salary for six months, capped at $6,000 in total. The Government will work with employers to provide as many jobs and traineeships as possible. As many opportunities are likely to come from firms in growth sectors, I encourage our graduates to keep an open mind and consider how skills acquired in school can be applied to different careers. We are also paying close attention to our mature workers. Many of them may have been in the same occupation for a long time, and find it more challenging to make a career switch. As Mr Patrick Tay mentioned, we need to support our mid-career workers and we also need to help them access the opportunities available. How can mature workers do so? First, do consider making the switch into a new career. I recognise that it is not easy, but you are not alone. Workforce Singapore's Professional Conversion Programmes, or PCP, have helped nearly 14,500 Singaporeans since 2016 to successfully switch to new careers. The results are encouraging. About nine in 10 remain in employment for two years after getting a job, and seven in 10 earned higher wages. Clearly, the PCP has been effective in preparing our workers for new careers. The Government provides up to 90% of salary support and course fees subsidies to encourage employers to hire mature workers through these programmes. We are also ramping up our capacity to provide more programmes. One example is 55-year-old Choa Wai Sim – one individual who successfully made the switch. She previously worked in a traditional sales role performing tasks such as quality control and quotation of sales.”
“Some may not be able to find employment in this tough job market, and this is why we launched the SGUnited Traineeships programme. We have more than doubled our initial goal from up to 8,000 traineeships to up to 21,000 traineeships. Our graduates can look forward to traineeships in sectors with good growth prospects such as Financial Services, Professional Services and Infocomm Technology and Media sectors. There are familiar roles in Marketing and Finance too, and more specialised ones such as Sports Nutrition and Social Work. Graduates can check out available traineeships on MyCareersFuture.sg by searching for the hashtag #SGUnitedTraineeships. On this note, I would like to thank the Singapore Business Federation for helping to vet and approve the large volume of traineeship proposals from companies. I would also like to acknowledge the many employers that have opened their doors to trainees. An example is Yang Kee Logistics, who will be offering traineeship opportunities in software development and food supply chain management. Two trainees will support the Logistics Integrated Transport Ecosystem project, a cloud-based platform that connects logistics industry stakeholders and multiple intermediaries. They will be able to sharpen their software development skills and gain deeper project management skills. Another trainee will be exposed to Yang Kee's new food logistics business arm as a sales support coordinator. These traineeship experiences will be meaningful and valuable, providing them skills that are in-demand and hands-on industry experience. Traineeships help our fresh graduates to build their experience and skills. This puts the trainee in good stead to find a job, either with the host company or elsewhere in the sector.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. “Your every day is full of sunshine. But into every life, a little rain must fall” – prose from a song by the legendary rock band, Queen. We are living in very challenging times, with unpredictable weather ahead. They say that in every crisis, lies opportunity. Therefore, we should make the best of every opportunity available, no matter how strong the headwinds are. And this is why the Government and our tripartite partners are making every effort to create an umbrella of opportunities to weather the storm. I will speak about how our workers and employers can tap on the opportunities and support available. We will help workers be flexible, to adapt and to widen their skills. We will also provide support for employers to make use of their downtime to upskill their workforce for transformed jobs. The Minister for Manpower has elaborated on the strong Government support for our workers and I will focus on how fresh graduates and our mature workers can tap on opportunities. Our fresh graduates are entering the job market amidst great uncertainty. I can personally relate to the anxiety of many of our fresh graduates who may be concerned with their job prospects. I graduated in 1999, shortly after the Asian Financial Crisis. There were few jobs and even fewer interviews. But I would like to assure our fresh graduates and their parents, compared to them, we are now more prepared and better resourced to support our fresh graduates. Despite the current economic conditions, there are still jobs available in some areas. We will support employers to take in and groom new hires, including through sector-specific programmes such as the Company-Led Training Programme for Infocomm and Technology jobs.”
“I thank the Member for his question. From October 2017 to December 2019, there were 38 workers who had hand and finger amputations enrolled in the Return to Work Programme. Of these, 34 out of 38, or approximately 90% of cases successfully returned to work.”
“Sir, the way we evaluate WICA claims, whether it is the workplace or at home will be no different. It is necessary to determine if the injury arose out of work and in the course of work for it to be compensable. So, there should be evidence that the accident occurred in the course of work while in the act of performing work at home. So, if the injury occurred while doing non-work activity, for example, on the day when the employee is working at home, the person was cooking, looking after children or doing laundry, then it does not count. So far, if you look at all past claims, they have been successfully settled without disputes, and there have been no eligible fatal or permanent incapacity claims. We have seen this trend. So, the Member is right that since the circuit breaker started, given the increased prevalence of remote working arrangements, we have been starting to track some of these injuries at home. So far, we have only recorded two work injuries reported since the start of the circuit breaker on 7 April. But both claims are currently being examined. I cannot give too much detail now until the investigations are over. But so far, if you look at the valid claims in the past, they have been mostly minor injuries and no permanent incapacity or fatal cases. To the Member's other question on the insurance premium, we have taken a look but we have not seen any WIC insurance premium come down or there have not been any changes so far. This has been a recent development.”
“The WSH Council has also widened and deepened its engagement efforts to jointly organise the Safe Hands Campaign and sector-specific WSH workshops with the Singapore Metal and Machinery Association, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and Singapore Furniture Industries Council since 2018. To date, 850 companies have pledged their commitment to Safe Hands. We will continue to engage more companies to come on board. We are heartened to note that the industry is taking greater ownership to prevent hand and finger injuries. This year, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation spearheaded the first association Safe Hands Campaign. We will keep expanding the coverage of our outreach programmes through the trade associations and unions.”
“Work-from-home arrangements do not change an employer’s responsibility for work injury compensation. The key is to ascertain that the injury arose while doing work at home and not while performing non-work activities at home. This is a fact-finding exercise that is no different from all other WICA claims. Work Injury Compensation (WIC) insurance is purchased by employers and will cover employees who were injured out of and in the course of doing work at home. Moving on to Mr Melvin Yong’s question. In 2019, there were 149 hand and finger major injuries at work, of which 123 cases resulted in amputation. This translates to 3.5 cases of hand and finger amputations per 100,000 workers. While we remain very concerned and are continuing efforts to reduce the injury rate, we are encouraged by the trend of improvements. Compared to 2012, when the incidence of hand and finger amputations was 4.8 per 100,000 workers, the improvement we can see now is about 30%. The top three causes for such accidents were: first, lack of effective machine guards; second, lack of adequate safe work procedures, such as lock-out-tag-out procedures to prevent machine activation during servicing; and third, failure to follow safe work procedures due to lack of experience, training or disregard for safety. To bring down the occurrence of hand and finger injuries, the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council has stepped up public education to employers and workers on the safe use of machinery. Since 2017, 41,200 workers had attended the two mandatory WSH Basic Industrial Safety training and Health Course for Supervisors, and the Metalworking Safety Orientation Course.”
“Mr Speaker, I will take Question Nos 16 and 17 together.”
“Yes, both questions, Mr Speaker. Thank you.”
“In the medium term, the Government will continue to build up more temporary housing accommodations to reduce the density in the existing dormitories. These new dormitories will similarly set aside sufficient sick bays and isolation rooms to facilitate quick isolation of sick or infected cases. Regardless of where the infected workers are housed, all migrant workers living in dormitories have access to medical care and attention. As of end of May, out of the 30,000 or so migrant workers residing in dormitories confirmed positive for COVID-19, about half have recovered and, of the remaining half, the vast majority are recovering well with only one requiring intensive hospital care.”
“As the numbers of infected workers were relatively small, the close contacts of these confirmed cases were directed to serve their QOs at Government Quarantine Facilities (GQFs) or isolation areas within the dormitories. Following the emergence of large clusters of infection in certain dormitories, movement in and out of such dormitories was restricted to minimise cross-infections in both directions. The Government set up medical posts to provide medical care to the dormitory residents. For dormitories with limited transmission, close contacts of infected workers continue to be sent to GQFs or Community Care Facilities in centralised locations. In dormitories, spaces within the dormitories were reconfigured to house workers suspected or confirmed to be infected, separately from others and this may or may not have been in the workers' original rooms. To further control the transmission in the dormitories, the Inter-Agency Task Force (ITF) shifted about 32,000 healthy workers from the dormitories to Government-provided temporary accommodation, such as sports halls, vacant HDB blocks, army camps, floating hotels and private apartments slated for redevelopment. There are on-site isolation areas in these temporary accommodations. Residents who need medical care will be sent to regional medical posts, Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs) or hospitals in the vicinity, depending on their clinical condition. After medical review, if they do not need medical attention, they may be housed in isolation areas on site until recovery. If they are tested, they will be housed in isolation facilities until the test results are known. If they are tested positive for COVID-19, they will be transferred to an appropriate care facility.”
“Mr Speaker, in early February 2020, Singaporeans and work pass holders returning from certain countries were placed on Leave of Absence (LOA). From 19 February, LOA was ceased and replaced with Stay-Home Notices (SHN). The LOA or SHN were precautionary measures meant for persons who were unlikely to be infected by COVID-19 and could therefore be served at their places of residence. At the time, temperature screening was conducted at our borders and only those without fever or visible signs of ill health were allowed to proceed to their place of residence by dedicated transport. Dormitory operators were required to house their residents under LOA or SHN, together with others on LOA or SHN, in a section of the dormitory that is separate from other residents, or in dedicated rooms. Since 10 April, the requirements for SHN have been further tightened to protect the community. Given the widespread transmission of COVID-19 in many countries, SHNs must now be served at dedicated facilities. From the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, Quarantine Orders (QOs) have been issued to isolate individuals who are close contacts of COVID-19 cases. Ground officers appointed by MOH to serve the quarantine orders are empowered to assess the specific conditions of a person's residence and decide where the QO should be served. Since 29 January 2020, MOM had proactively informed all dormitories licensed under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act to set aside isolation facilities and conducted inspections to ensure compliance. The first cluster of COVID-19 among migrant workers was detected in early February and involved five workers, only two of whom lived in separate dormitories. Up until late March, no other clusters were detected.”
“It also strengthens CEA's disciplinary and investigative powers under the Estate Agents Act. Overall, the amendments will help to deter and punish errant estate agents and salespersons to safeguard the interest of consumers and the professional reputation of the majority in the sector who discharge their duties responsibly and with care. Mr Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Zaqy Mohamad] (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]”
“CEA started the SkillsFuture Study Award for the estate agency industry in 2018 to support salespersons in upskilling and acquiring skillsets and competencies. The award was given to its first recipient last year and CEA will continue to offer the award to encourage more salespersons to better serve their clients. Lastly, Mr Melvin Yong suggested that CEA waive the licence and registration renewal fees for estate agents and salespersons in view of the COVID-19 situation. We have received a few similar requests from the industry recently and, rest assured, we are studying the matter carefully. For many salespersons today, we also have other schemes that are available to them, such as the Self-Employed Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) which NTUC manages, the Temporary Relief Fund (TRF) as well as the Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) Training Support Scheme, which enables our salespersons to also undertake courses and still get allowance while doing so. But at the same time, I would like to also take the opportunity to commend the efforts of some of our estate agents by implementing their own resilience packages to help their salespersons. Some property agencies have stepped up during this difficult period by extending financial help, by allowing salespersons to apply for early release of commissions; some have subsidised registered salespersons' CPD course fees; some have provided discounts on rentals by salespersons, such as training rooms and offices at the estate agent's premises. I think all these measures today have helped and I hope that the industry will prosper beyond this COVID-19 circuit breaker period. Sir, the Bill will align Singapore's levers against money laundering and terrorism financing in the real estate agency industry with international standards.”
“This is why Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training is a key component of CEA's regulatory framework. Each salesperson must complete about six to nine hours of CPD training annually in order to renew his registration. CEA recently reviewed its CPD framework last year to place emphasis on both Professional and Generic Competencies. The courses on Professional Competencies ensure salespersons are competent and have updated knowledge of relevant laws and regulations, property markets as well as policies. On the other hand, courses on Generic Competencies cover general skills relevant to the real estate agency industry, such as leadership, digital literacy and communication. These are in line with Singapore's Skills Framework list of generic skills and competencies. Both Professional and Generic Competencies are important to ensure that our salespersons have the skillsets and critical competencies to carry out their duties effectively. I thank Mr Melvin Yong for his suggestion to list digital skills as professional competencies and agree that the ability to harness technology has enabled the industry to serve their clients better and more productively. I would like to assure the Member that just because digital skills are listed as Generic Competencies, it does not mean they are less important. Salespersons are required to complete courses from both Professional and Generic Competencies under CEA's CPD framework. We will continue to encourage that industry to upskill themselves with digital skills to enhance their service offerings. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the SkillsFuture Study Award for the real estate agency industry.”
“In total, six cases were prosecuted in Court, five of which resulted in fines being imposed. Seventeen cases were concluded by the Disciplinary Committee where disciplinary action was taken and CEA issued 206 Letters of Advice to errant estate agents and salespersons. The Member also suggested to introduce a demerit points system as a simple and effective way to deter first-time minor breaches, so that such breaches would not result in a censure or financial penalty. I thank the Member for his suggestion and would like to assure him that CEA will adopt a calibrated approach in imposing censures and financial penalties under section 49 as amended by clause 11. CEA will take into consideration the severity of the breach and whether the estate agent or salesperson is a repeat offender. For example, for minor breaches, CEA will generally refer the matter to the estate agent for them to take the appropriate action or CEA may issue a warning letter. If the minor breaches are repeated, then CEA may issue a letter of censure. If the salesperson commits yet another minor breach, CEA may consider imposing financial penalties as a stronger deterrent. Hence, first-time minor breaches will not result in a censure or financial penalty. In a way, this incremental approach works like a demerit points system and these disciplinary actions will also be published on the CEA Public Register as a strong deterrent to would-be wrongdoers in the industry. On training, Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about training efforts to enhance the professional standards of the industry. I agree with the Member that training is crucial to ensure that our salespersons continue to have the necessary knowledge and skills to comply with regulations and safeguard consumer interest.”
“CEA has a framework to assess and classify complaints and works together with estate agents to address these complaints. Estate agents are required to manage and supervise their salespersons. And where there are non-compliances, they need to take the necessary remedial actions to prevent a repeat of a similar incident. For service-related complaints, such as being late for appointments or unsatisfactory services, CEA will refer them to the estate agent to resolve the matter. These typically conclude within three months. Similarly, for complaints involving minor disciplinary breaches, such as advertisements with a missing salesperson's registration number, or making claims on a salesperson's area of expertise in advertisements that cannot be substantiated, CEA will refer the complaint to the estate agent for them to take the appropriate action against the errant salesperson. These typically conclude within three months as well. For complaints involving more serious disciplinary breaches and criminal offences under the Act, CEA takes between six and 12 months to complete its investigation, depending on the nature and complexity of its cases. Those which proceed to Court or Disciplinary Committee hearings may take several months to complete the proceedings. For disciplinary breaches that are not as serious, the new powers under section 49, as amended by clause 11, allow CEA to censure errant estate agents and salespersons and impose financial penalties of up to $5,000 per matter. So, this will allow CEA to deal with these cases more efficiently, hopefully quicker for all concerned. Mr Melvin Yong asked about the number of complaints in 2019 and how many agents have been sanctioned by CEA. In my opening speech, I mentioned that CEA received 777 complaints in 2019.”
“Estate agents and salespersons are already required to fulfil duties to counter money laundering and terrorism financing. Disciplinary action can be taken for the failure to perform these duties today. The Bill merely inserts express provisions on these duties in the Act, in order to comply with FATF Recommendations. Hence, the industry is familiar with the duties and has already been performing them. To facilitate compliance, CEA has consulted with the industry to put in place guidelines to provide clarity on the steps and checks required to comply with the duties. This includes checklists to guide salespersons and estate agents on the conduct of customer due diligence checks and to determine if there is suspicion of money laundering or terrorism financing. For example, where there are complex or unusually high-value transactions, salespersons should ask clients about the purpose of the transaction and the clients' source of funds. These are some of the red flags to assess if the transaction was meant to launder monies. Salespersons should also look out for suspicious indicators of money laundering or terrorism financing, such as adverse news concerning the client, paying a substantial downpayment in cash or paying a higher price for a property without viewing. I would like to assure Mr Melvin Yong that these guidelines are already in place today and the Bill will not result in any material change to the way due diligence checks and submissions of Suspicious Transaction Reports are conducted. Next, on investigations of estate agents and salespersons, Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the role estate agents play in investigating customer complaints and disciplining errant salespersons, as well as the average time taken for the industry to resolve consumer complaints.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Members for their comments and their support of the Bill. Let me address the issues raised. First, there were several questions about the duties related to the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. The Bill provides for duties to conduct customer due diligence checks, to keep records of the checks and relevant documents and to also submit Suspicious Transaction Reports, as required under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act or CDSA. These are duties aligned with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force or FATF, and are the key building blocks for an effective regime to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. This standard applies to various sectors, including estate agents, lawyers and the financial sector. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how the duties under the Bill compare to those for the financial sector. We have taken a risk-based approach and calibrated the specific requirements for the real estate agency industry vis-a-vis other industries. For example, salespersons are required to conduct customer due diligence checks when facilitating a sale or purchase of a property. For banks, there are instances where additional due diligence checks are required, such as when conducting a wire transfer transaction of more than $1,500, which are not relevant to estate agents and salespersons in this case. Mr Saktiandi Supaat also asked whether estate agents are capable of assessing the compliance of their salespersons with the duties under the Bill. Let me reiterate and respond to Member Melvin Yong's question earlier on, on whether this Bill puts an additional burden on the industry, this Bill will not introduce new duties for the industry.”
“The respondents, comprising estate agents, salespersons and industry associations, were supportive or were neutral to the changes. The amendments are largely targeted at CEA’s enforcement against errant estate agents and salespersons. For the majority of the real estate agency industry, who have been following the requirements and providing ethical and professional services to their clients, we thank you for your cooperation and efforts. Mr Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] 2.55 pm”
“Clause 3 amends section 15 to provide, among other things, that where information is supplied to the public pursuant to any written law, including these published transaction records, CEA is protected from liability for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the public if the supply of the information is made in good faith, with reasonable care and in the ordinary course of the discharge of the duties of CEA. Clause 18 amends section 70 to allow service of documents by electronic means, including email, to bring convenience to both the industry and CEA. And this will also update the Act in view of technology adoption and enhance CEA’s operational efficiency. Clauses 2, 4 and 19 amend provisions of the Act to allow CEA to accredit Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses. CPD courses are a renewal requirement for licences and registrations, to ensure that estate agents and salespersons possess the necessary knowledge to provide professional service to their clients. The rationale for this change is for CEA to ensure the courses meet CEA’s guidelines. Lastly, Clause 12 will amend section 51(1) to allow CEA to determine the size of the Disciplinary Panel. This provides CEA the flexibility to increase the size of the Panel beyond the current limit of 20, should the caseload increase in future. Mr Speaker, this Bill is important as it ensures our compliance with the FATF Recommendations and signals our commitment to be a responsible member of the international community. It also better enables CEA to protect consumer interest, punish errant estate agents and salespersons, and operate more efficiently. CEA conducted industry consultation on the key changes.”
“As a safeguard, the Bill will provide that these powers of taking possession in the re-enacted sections 46 and 47 will only be allowed under specific conditions, namely: Where the inspection, copying of or extraction of content from the document or electronic device cannot be performed reasonably without taking possession; Where the document, electronic device or its content may be interfered with or destroyed; or Where the document, electronic device or its content are required as evidence for proceedings under the Act. These enhancements to CEA’s investigative powers will better enable CEA to identify and take action against errant estate agent and salespersons. To prevent such estate agents and salespersons from trying to evade punishment by leaving the industry, clauses 5 and 16 complement the amendments by making clear that, after disciplinary proceedings have commenced, even if the estate agent’s licence or salesperson’s registration are not renewed, investigations may continue and disciplinary action can still be taken against them. The Bill will also make other changes to improve and clarify the regulatory framework and to facilitate CEA’s operations. It makes clear that CEA can collect and publish transaction records of estate agents and salespersons on the public register, to help consumers make more informed decisions. Clause 7 inserts a new section 43A, which requires estate agents and salespersons to submit transactions records to CEA, and provides that non-compliance without reasonable excuse or the submission of false information knowingly is an offence. Clause 6 amends section 36 to, among other things, make it clear that CEA can publish the transaction records.”
“Second, in view of technology adoption in the industry, the Bill will allow CEA inspectors to require any person to provide, among other things, any document, computer or computer output to be inspected, copied or extracted. This is for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Act has been or is being complied with or any investigation under the Act, whether of disciplinary breaches or criminal offences. Clause 9 inserts a new section 44F in the Act to define, among other terms, the terms “computer”, “computer output” and “document”. “Computers” include electronic devices, and “computer output” and “document” include the content and output from such electronic devices, such as WhatsApp chat logs or emails. Clause 10 repeals and re-enacts section 46 to allow CEA inspectors to specify the form and manner in which, among other things, information, document, computer or computer output is to be provided to the inspector. This will also allow inspections to be conducted electronically or at premises under CEA’s control, instead of only at the estate agent’s premises. The re-enacted sections 46 and 47 provide that, in the investigation of disciplinary breaches, CEA inspectors may take possession of any document, computer, computer programme, computer software or computer output when they enter into the premise of an estate agent, if certain criteria are satisfied. For the investigation of criminal offences, CEA inspectors may exercise similar powers in any premise, whether or not in the possession or control of an estate agent.”
“Similarly for salespersons, the new maximum financial penalty of $100,000 per case will better match the commissions received by salespersons, which are generally lower than that of estate agents, but can also be quite high. It will strengthen the deterrence against serious breaches. Mr Speaker, I will touch on the third key area of the Bill, which is to enhance CEA’s investigative powers. The Estate Agents Act provides CEA with powers to investigate disciplinary breaches, and additional powers to investigate criminal offences, such as acting as a salesperson without being registered, and holding property transaction monies. To better enable CEA to identify and take action against disciplinary breaches and criminal offences, clauses 9, 10 and 17 of the Bill amend the Act to clarify and enhance CEA’s investigative powers on two fronts. First, clause 10 will repeal sections 46, 47 and 48 of the Act and re-enact sections 46 and 47 to clarify and enhance CEA’s powers to collect evidence in investigations under the Act, including investigations into disciplinary breaches. Under the re-enacted section 46, CEA inspectors may, among other things, require any person to attend before an inspector, give statements, and provide documents to be inspected, copied or extracted. This is for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Act has been or is being complied with or for the purposes of any investigations under the Act. Clause 17 amends section 64 of the Act to make it an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, does not comply with such requirements, or provides false or misleading information. These changes will better enable CEA to obtain the necessary evidence from salespersons, estate agents and witnesses for disciplinary breaches.”
“It also allows CEA to impose a maximum financial penalty of $5,000 per case. This provides better deterrence against repeated and less serious breaches that do not warrant action by the Disciplinary Committee, but are serious enough to merit punishment. As a safeguard, CEA will have to first give notice of its intent to censure or issue a financial penalty, and allow the estate agent or salesperson to make representations before deciding on the penalty to impose. Overall, the new powers to censure and impose a financial penalty provide more calibrated levers against errant estate agents and salespersons. In addition, to better deter serious breaches, clause 13 of the Bill will amend section 52 to increase the maximum financial penalty the Disciplinary Committee can impose to $200,000 per case for estate agents, and $100,000 per case for salespersons, up from $75,000 today. A tiered structure distinguishing the maximum financial penalty for estate agents and salespersons is not unique, and can be found in other regimes that regulate professions such as accountancy, where different limits apply to the accountants and the accounting corporations. All cases undergo a disciplinary process, where both CEA and the respondent have the opportunity to present their case to the Disciplinary Committee, before the Disciplinary Committee decides on the penalty. For estate agents, the new maximum financial penalty of $200,000 per case will better match the higher commissions estate agents can potentially earn, compared to the individual salespersons. The higher financial penalty limit will therefore give the Disciplinary Committee more flexibility to impose adequate punishment on estate agents, depending on the facts of each case.”
“The Bill takes the relevant obligations to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism from the practice guidelines, and inserts them as express provisions in the Act, in order to comply with FATF Recommendations. Let me move on to the second key area of the Bill – strengthening CEA’s disciplinary levers. Currently, CEA has two disciplinary levers to punish errant estate agents and salespersons. First, CEA can refer the case to a Disciplinary Committee, nominated from CEA’s Disciplinary Panel comprising practising solicitors, academics, professionals from the real estate industry as well as members from other professions. The Disciplinary Committee has the power to impose a financial penalty and revoke, suspend or impose conditions on an estate agent’s licence or a salesperson’s registration. The proceedings before a Disciplinary Committee can be a resource-intensive process. So, CEA generally refers more serious cases, such as cases which involve dishonesty or financial losses to the client, to the Disciplinary Committee. The second disciplinary lever for CEA is to issue a “letter of advice”. However, this has limited deterrent and punitive effect as the fact that a “letter of advice” has been issued cannot be published in CEA’s public register under the Estate Agents Act. The letter of advice also does not provide for an accompanying penalty. Hence, the Bill will amend the Act to provide CEA with more options to deal with errant estate agents and salespersons without having to refer cases to the Disciplinary Committee. Clauses 6 and 11 amend sections 36 and 49 of the Act respectively, to allow CEA to censure errant estate agents and salespersons, and publish the censure on the public register.”
“However, FATF Recommendations require such duties and the penalties for non-compliance to be provided in "any legislation approved through a Parliamentary process". The FATF interprets this to mean that the duties must be set out in primary legislation. On this basis, setting out the duties to counter potential money laundering and terrorism financing in CEA’s practice guidelines does not meet FATF’s standards for preventive measures, as the duties and penalties must be spelt out expressly in the Estate Agents Act. Hence, to comply with FATF Recommendations, clause 8 will introduce a new Part IVA in the Estate Agents Act on the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. First, the new sections 44A to 44D of the new Part IVA set out the duties of estate agents and salespersons on prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing in the Estate Agents Act. It requires them to conduct customer due diligence checks and report any suspicious transactions to SPF’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO). For estate agents, they must also keep records of the due diligence checks that are conducted, which CEA may inspect. Details of the duties will be prescribed in subsidiary legislation. Second, the new section 44E of the new Part IVA will provide that disciplinary action can be taken for non-compliance of the requirements under Part IVA. I will elaborate more on CEA’s disciplinary levers in the second area of the Bill. To be clear, these duties are not new to the real estate agency industry and are already provided for under the CEA’s practice guidelines today. Disciplinary action can also be taken against estate agents and salespersons who do not comply with these practice guidelines.”
“The use of real estate to launder large amounts of illegal funds is a known method for money laundering. It opens Singapore’s non-financial and financial sectors to criminal abuse. Safeguards are essential to detect illegal sources of funding for properties early, so that such transactions can be identified and blocked upstream. As intermediaries of property transactions, estate agents and salespersons have a part to play to counter these threats. FATF has identified the real estate agency sector as crucial gatekeepers against money laundering and terrorism financing. One example of money laundering occurred in 2016, where the Singapore Police Force (SPF) seized more than $27 million in criminal proceeds from one of China’s biggest Ponzi schemes. The monies were transferred to Singapore to purchase a $23.8 million Sentosa Cove bungalow, with the purchase falling through when one of the Ponzi scheme’s key accomplices was arrested in China. While investigations did not reveal any local parties being involved, SPF successfully prosecuted the real estate salesperson and conveyancing lawyer involved in the planned property purchase. Both of them knew that their client, the bungalow buyer, had been arrested in China for involvement in the Ponzi schemes. But, clearly, both did not fulfil their obligations to lodge Suspicious Transaction Reports with SPF. Currently, under CEA’s practice guidelines, estate agents and salespersons are required to fulfil specific duties to counter potential money laundering and terrorism financing. Failure to comply with CEA’s guidelines may result in disciplinary action under the Estate Agents Act.”
“While the number of complaints has gone down, there remains scope for improvement in three areas: first, to strengthen Singapore’s levers against money laundering and terrorism financing in the real estate agency industry; second, to strengthen CEA’s disciplinary levers to better deter and punish errant estate agents and salespersons; and last, but not least, to enhance CEA’s investigative powers to better enable CEA to identify and take action against errant estate agents and salespersons. These stronger levers will ensure that estate agents and salespersons conduct their business professionally and ethically, so that we can protect the interest of consumers. Let me go through these areas in turn. First, the Bill gives effect to the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) Recommendations on the preventive measures in the real estate agency industry to strengthen Singapore’s levers against money laundering and terrorism financing. FATF is an inter-Governmental body established in 1989 to set out national and international standards to promote the effective implementation of measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF Recommendations form part of the broader international financial sector standards. They are recognised and used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in their assessment of a country’s financial sector. Since 1992, Singapore has been a member of FATF and has put in place a very strong legislative and regulatory framework to detect, deter and take action against money laundering and terrorism financing. Singapore has committed to periodic peer assessments to ensure compliance with FATF Recommendations. This Bill continues our on-going efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.”
“CEA also has powers to take prosecution action in Court for criminal offences under the Estate Agents Act. Second, greater industry accountability. Each salesperson must be registered through a licensed estate agent, who is primarily responsible and accountable for the supervision and management of the salesperson. Third, better consumer education. Public education is a key part of CEA’s work. A public register was set up to allow the public to access information about their estate agents and salespersons before engaging their services, including records of any offences committed and disciplinary penalties. Almost 10 years on, the number of complaints against estate agents and salespersons received by CEA has dropped by 34%, from 1,170 complaints in 2011 to 777 in 2019. In particular, the number of complaints which led to prosecution or disciplinary action, has also dropped. The number of concluded cases involving misrepresentation of property-related information to clients has declined by 98%, from 404 cases to 2011 to 10 cases just in 2019. And the number of concluded cases involving dual representation, which is a serious offence, has seen a 97% decline, from 59 cases in 2011 to two cases in 2019. Sir, I thank the real estate agency industry for improving our service standards and governance this past decade.”
“Mr Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for National Development, I beg to move, “That the Bill be now read a Second time.” The Estate Agents Act establishes the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), which administers the legislative and regulatory framework for estate agents and salespersons. An “estate agent” is a person or business entity that does estate agency work, and is commonly known as the estate agency or property agency. A “salesperson” is, among other things, an individual who, in the course of the individual’s employment or engagement by an estate agent, does estate agency work, and is commonly known as a property agent. The real estate agency industry plays an important role in facilitating property transactions in Singapore. Buying or selling property is a major decision for many Singaporeans, and is one of the single largest investments that they will make. Therefore, it is important that they receive the best advice before making such a transaction. Many Singaporeans rely on estate agents and salespersons for property-related advice. It is essential that they do their work professionally and ethically and give their clients accurate advice that is in their clients’ best interest. With this in mind, the Estate Agents Act was enacted in 2010, to better protect consumer interest and raise the professionalism of the real estate agency industry. A three-pronged approach was adopted. First, strong government regulation. All estate agents must be licensed and all salespersons must be registered with the CEA. In addition, estate agents and salespersons have statutory duties to ensure professional and ethical practices. To ensure compliance, CEA has investigative powers and disciplinary levers to identify and punish errant estate agents and salespersons.”
“I thank the Member for his questions. As the Deputy Prime Minister said, the Budget has been set up in record time. So, there will be details that will be forthcoming and the good thing is that NTUC has volunteered to look into appeals and manage the appeals administration. So, the email address and contact details hotline will be provided soon. In the meantime, just hang on there and we will give you more details once ready.”
“For example, MOM will waive the foreign worker levies in April, and will also provide a one-off rebate of levies paid. SMEs will be given three additional months to make foreign worker levy payments. Lastly, the Government will help businesses with access to credit. Partners such as our trade associations and chambers, also play critical roles in helping our Malay businesses. For example, the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SMCCI) has set up a task force to explore how its members can better leverage on measures from the Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets. They have set up an emergency hotline for members seeking targeted assistance and will organize engagement sessions to gain a better understanding on members’ concerns and to see how best SMCCI can help its members. SMCCI will also support its members in their engagements with stakeholders and landlords. Mr Speaker, in this difficult time, we are helping Singaporeans to stay employed. We will continue to pay particular attention to our SEPs as well as lower wage workers. For those looking for employment, we will help facilitate their efforts in seeking employment. Businesses and workers alike can take this time to adapt – businesses to transform and Singaporeans to further improve our skills. We carry a heavy burden, but we will all bear them together, and emerge stronger from this experience.”
“The first SGUnited Virtual Career Fair is currently ongoing. As at 2 April, there are about 3,900 vacancies available, and more than 5,400 jobseekers have applied for SGUnited Jobs. We have gotten good interest from employers and will keep building up the pool of jobs with jobs that are immediately available. The M3 network is also playing its part. Through two virtual career fairs hosted last March and April, MENDAKI SENSE has already received over 700 job applications and are further facilitating job placements. They also recently launched a dedicated helpline to help those who require assistance in navigating the online portal. MENDAKI SENSE will also help job-seekers find employment through the CariKerja app and will continue to share information on available jobs identified through multiple channels and various initiatives, including those under the SGUnited Jobs initiative. MENDAKI SENSE and other self-help groups are also working with government agencies, such as EDB and ESG to link job-seekers up with companies looking to fill vacancies. Among our jobseekers, we are particularly concerned about our graduating cohorts from ITE, our polytechnics and universities. It is a tough time to enter the job market. The SGUnited Traineeships programme will provide employers with support to offer traineeships instead for fresh graduates. These traineeships will help our ITE, polytechnic and university graduates – they are all first-time jobseekers – to further develop their skills professionally and further boost their employability. To better help our workers, we will need to support companies to overcome the immediate challenges. Apart from very significant support through the JSS, the Government will also help with other business costs and ease cash flow.”
“So, an SEP like freelancers, taxi drivers or private hire car drivers, who joins a full-time course, which is 8 hours for 10 days for instance, will receive an allowance of $800 per month. The advantage is that the SEP can enhance his skills while getting an allowance, during the downtime in this current economic climate. We will also help our lower wage workers as well. They will receive a Workfare Special Payment of $3,000, fully in cash over two tranches. The Workfare Income Supplement has also been enhanced, with increases in qualifying income ceiling and maximum annual payouts since January 2020. We have also strengthened relief for those whose employers cannot pay their salaries because of financial difficulties or business failure. Together with immediate financial assistance from the Temporary Relief Fund, COVID-19 Support Grant, as well as other support from the enhanced Care and Support Package such as grocery vouchers, service and conservancy charges rebates (S&CC), we will support our SEPs and lower wage workers through this crisis together. There are those amongst us who may have difficulties getting a job in this challenging job market due to the COVID-19 situation. The Government understands their situation and help will be provided for those looking for employment in this difficult job market. The Government will actively facilitate the matching of jobseekers to firms who have immediate vacancies during this period, be it for a new job, or a second job to supplement income. The SGUnited Jobs Initiative will create about 10,000 jobs over the next one year that will come from both the public and private sectors. In these unusual times when safe distancing is key, job fairs would have to take on different forms too – through the use of virtual technology.”
“We had to make the difficult decision to implement additional safe distancing measures for one month to act as a "circuit breaker”. The temporary closure of most workplaces, except for essential services and key economic sectors, takes effect today. It will impact our workers and businesses. We stand in solidarity with businesses and workers and will get through this together. Our top priority is to protect the livelihoods of our workers. The enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will help businesses retain and pay their workers. With the assurance of the enhanced JSS, we urge businesses to communicate clearly to their employees on their work and pay arrangements for the next few weeks. As I shared in my English speech earlier, we will ensure that all vulnerable worker segments, such as self-employed persons (SEPs) and lower-wage workers, receive extensive support to tide through this period. The SEP Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) will provide direct cash assistance to SEPs with less means and lack family support. Eligible Singaporean SEPs will receive quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each, or $9,000 in total. We expect SIRS to automatically benefit about 100,000 SEPs. SIRS will go to those SEPs most in need and there is no need for most SEPs to apply. We will also support SEPs in their training efforts. The new SEP Training Support Scheme (STSS) provides a training allowance for SEPs who take up SkillsFuture courses and other selected training programmes. This will help defray SEPs' daily expenses. The STSS has been extended till the end of the year, and the hourly training allowance increased from $7.50 to $10 per hour, with effect from 1 May 2020. There is no cap to how much training SEPs can sign up for.”