CHILDREN NOT SUPPORTING ELDERLY PARENTS

CHILDREN NOT SUPPORTING ELDERLY PARENTS: 10.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the Ministry will consider a solution package, with timeframes and ownerships, to address the problem of elderly parents whose able children are unwilling to support them, especially financially.

The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mr Speaker, Sir, a fundamental principle of our society is the concept of filial piety. At a practical level, what that means is that we have to support our ageing parents.

Unfortunately, I think Members in this House would all have come across cases, not common but not rare either, circumstances in which you will see that some aged parents are not getting the support that they deserve from their children. Sometimes, it is because there is a problem with the relationship. Other times, this dispute is really between siblings on how to adequately share the responsibility of looking after their parents. But whatever the case may be they often result in a situation in which the elderly parents are left to their own devices or they are forced to seek assistance from charitable organisations or from the State. This is unacceptable and unfair. It is unfair to the parents. It is unfair to the charitable organisations and it is unfair to the taxpayers. Over the last 12 months, there has been a total of 172 applications filed at the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents. The usual annual rate is about 100. So over the last 12 months, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications filed.

Consequently, there are three areas my Ministry is focusing on in response to this escalating situation.

First, we will tighten the workflow and referral processes and the information flow between agencies in dealing with this. Let me give Members an example. Of the elderly who approach the CDCs for financial assistance, we have found that nearly one third do not even have the contact details of their children. This makes it more difficult obviously for the CDCs to process the applications and also to check on whether the children are available and able to support their parents. We are exploring how the relevant information from different Ministries, different agencies can be shared without compromising privacy and confidentiality. But, nevertheless, we see that the information can flow safely and appropriately so that we can deal with the cases comprehensively.

Secondly, we are looking at strengthening the office of the Commissioner for Maintenance of Parents. Under the Act, the Commissioner already has legal powers to act on behalf of the elderly parent before the Tribunal. In the future, I have requested that the Commissioner play a more active and effective role in case monitoring and advocacy, in facilitating mediation and conciliation, and also for ensuring proactively that the elderly receive prompt assistance. My Ministry will therefore increase the resources available to the Commissioner's office so that all these things can be done.

The third area is to ensure that elderly parents who are caught in this situation receive timely and comprehensive assistance. The ComCare schemes already provide for urgent interim assistance to any needy parents who need help. The elderly parents who are caught in such a situation can, of course, see the local advisors and can access the schemes delivered through ComCare. But in addition to that, I think there is also a need to provide more information to the elderly parents so that they are aware of their options. Many of them will not want to initiate legal action in the first instance. But, nevertheless, we are going to refer them to the Tribunal, refer them to the Commissioner's office so that they know that these options are available. They will be able to consider whether or when to initiate legal actions. Even if they do not pursue these legal actions, the Commissioner's office can, as I said earlier, assist the elderly parents with managing the complex, social and family problems which they often are caught in. So the key point is to provide timely, effective and comprehensive assistance to the elderly parents at the point of need.

I want to end by saying that legislation and legal actions have to be the last resort. We cannot legislate love nor can you use legislation in this House to guarantee emotional support. We know that the vast majority of families in Singapore are still strong and instinctively abide by the concept of filial piety. Our ageing Singaporeans deserve to be surrounded by a strong network of close family ties. But we will know that there is a small minority that will need help and what we will focus on is ensuring that for this small minority, help and recourse will be available and in a timely and effective way. Our job is to make the entire process as efficient and effective as possible basically so that those who are even contemplating abdicating their responsibility will know that the system will catch up with them and this is not a path of least resistance. I am also studying the possibility of amending the Act and I look forward to receiving suggestions from Members of this House as well as members of the public on how we can further strengthen the Maintenance of Parents Act.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I want to thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply and also the focus on this matter. On the ground, I think there are parties – the grassroots leaders or even the CDC staff – who try to help these distraught elderly parents. Most of them are usually ill-equipped to counsel or to mediate. At most, they can offer, what I would call, general advice. So I think there is a gap that needs to be closed. Also, contrary to what the Minister has just said, there appears to be an erosion of this moral value of filial piety and looking after one's ageing parents and even respect for the elderly. So amongst one, the young and, two, even amongst us adults who may sometimes be bad role models to the young, there is another gap which also needs to be addressed. Would the Minister consider then developing and resourcing a continuum of solutions to close these gaps? Solutions can range from cultivation of the desired values that we want to see in Singapore; counselling, mediating and then legislation, hopefully, as a last resort.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Speaker, I agree with the Member that if you ask an untrained volunteer or even a grassroots leader to mediate and provide advice, that is not going to be sufficient. So I agree with her. I think we do need to provide more training. We also need to provide more information about where to go for help and we need to educate everyone about the legal options, even if you do not want to or are not contemplating using legal recourse in the first instance. I agree with her that there is always a danger of erosion of filial piety and, as I said in my earlier answer, the fact that in the last 12 months, we had a significant increase in the applications with the Tribunal is a cause for concern.

I also agree with her that this is not going to be a simple solution and we do need a continuum. It starts with the inculcation of values and, on that count, I must say, as parents, we have our responsibilities too. Our children will treat us the way they watch the way we treat our own parents. So in a sense, it comes round. Secondly, we need to make sure that we remain a society which I would say is unashamedly conservative as far as family values are concerned. And you need to know that no matter how successful you think you are, if you do not discharge your familial responsibility, you really have not made it. Third, we need to make sure all the community facilities, charitable organisations and support facilities are available to people who need help. Lastly, we need to make sure that if need be, the law is available but as a last resort.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I share the Minister's concern and I note that the trend of our children not supporting aged parents is a worrying one. I am also concerned and I suspect that this problem will grow as Singapore faces this ageing population situation. I would like to ask the Minister if he has studied the root causes for such a phenomenon and also what insights can be gleaned from this. Is there a particular group? And, thirdly, have we looked at other societies, how have they fared and what can we learn from the measures that they are taking?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Speaker, I think these are very important fundamental questions and I really cannot do justice to it at this point in time. I think we all should be aware that, first, we are going to be one of the fastest ageing societies anywhere in the world. In the next two decades, the proportion of Singaporeans who are aged 65 and above is going to triple. The dependency ratio is also going to go down because we have smaller families or no families in many instances. The breakdown of the extended family also means the personal network of support is going to be much less available. The fact that we are an open, global city and many families travel or are extended across different continents will also make care more difficult.

So there are many, many fundamental reasons which make me worry that this is a problem which is only going to get worse and, hence, my objective of focusing on it now while it is not yet an emergency. But I am flagging this as an issue which we need to pay attention to. We will look, of course, at the experience of other countries but even that is going to be limited because circumstances are different. But one key point of difference which I think we want to ensure in Singapore, and this is the principle which actually pervades much of the debate in this House, is that we have to try to arrive at a situation in which every generation earns and saves enough for his entire life cycle. Because if we can do that – and we can do that through making sure people get jobs, hold on to jobs, increase productivity, save enough,

maintain CPF accounts, make sure you have enough for your healthcare, then this question of inter-generational dependence will be reduced. If we can maintain that as well as maintain a social safety net, in which we remember the fundamental principles of self-reliance, family support and the many helping hands approach, then we can also ensure we have a system which is fully bankable. The funds are available; it is a fully-funded system.

So, many of the things that we are doing now actually straddle across different Ministries and across many of the policies which we argue about in this House. But the Member's question deserves a further study and we will pursue that.

Mr Speaker: Mr Seah, last question.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Sir, I certainly agree that legislative measures should be used as a last resort. I think there should be equal emphasis on education, and this does not apply just to MCYS but certainly to the Ministry of Education. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry will consider an inspiring campaign, just as the Ministry had done in the last two to three years. There was one about family bonding – there was a "Red Shoes" campaign; and there was one about marriage – the "Funeral" campaign. I would like to ask whether the Ministry will consider one which talks about educating the young on filial piety. The numbers are certainly scary, and I think it is worth considering putting some resources into it and possibly reduce the pressures that we are all facing.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: My favourite answer – yes.