HEAD I - MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS

Head I - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

The Chairman: Head I - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. Mr Sin Boon Ann.

Economic Recession and Social Bonding

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Sir, the current recession is the worst that this country has seen or, for that matter, the world has seen since the Great Depression. What started out as a financial crisis has now become an economic crisis of global proportion. The disappearance of lending and falling demands in world economies has resulted in factories and services having to deal with excess labour and capacities. For many, this would mean making workers redundant and packing them home.

In Singapore, we are not spared either. The current economic crisis has had its toll on many. Just last year alone, 16,000 Singaporeans lost their jobs. Even then, many seasoned commentators believe that the economic tsunami has not unleashed the full force of its destruction upon us. Many more jobs will be lost. These are not just mere statistics, but

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developments that will have significant impact on the lives of ordinary Singaporeans.

Suddenly, self respecting Singaporeans who thought they had secure jobs were left to suffer the indignity of being told that their services are no longer required. There will be many, particularly those who are in the middle class, who will be most anxious about their future. They are often sandwiched between two generations - their parents and their children. Once unemployed, many Singaporeans will find it almost impossible to find another similar job that pays just as well.

Sir, we pride ourselves truly as a nation that believes that no one will be left behind in our journey together for a better tomorrow. Through the ages, we have weathered through many storms as a nation. With each passing shower, the waves that rise seem more threatening than the last. Yet, we have never failed to hold steady this tiny ship we call home as we steer through the raging storm. And each time, we emerge from the turmoil a stronger people, having survived the threats and challenges that seek to take away all that we are, and all that we have. Our resilience, the same resilience which helped strengthen our resolve to survive, has shone through.

Now, once again, we are confronted with the prospect of another economic tsunami looming over the horizon. We see the inevitable coming. More than ever, our people will be called to the test. Can we survive the coming storm? Will our tiny vessel, battered by the waves and assailed by the winds, be able to make it through as the generation before us has done?

The helm of leadership is now upon the shoulders of the present generation who, for many, have been blessed with the good fortune of being born at a time

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when the land was overflowing with milk and honey, and for whom their present path has been made smooth by the labour of the generation before them.

I believe that the bonds that bind a hundred generation are forged out of the crucible of common experience and endeavour. We have become stronger as a nation from the crisis only because we chose to stay the course to collectively confront the challenges ahead of us. These are the shared experiences and memories that will continue to hold us together in Singapore.

In the coming months, how we stay together to face the onslaught of the financial and economic crisis ahead will help to shape our outcome as a nation. We must continue to rally together as a people. In the coming months, there will be many for whom a full-time occupation was a matter of the recent past. These are not your typical Singaporeans who cannot find a job or hold down a steady job. These are your Singaporeans who have spent the better part of their life toiling and working hard to make for a better future for us all.

This crisis will present us the opportunity to come together as one people - a people characterised by the willingness to go beyond the instinct of self preservation, to help fellow Singaporeans in need. Not all will lose their jobs; however, all Singaporeans will be called upon to consider how they can come forward together as a people to help others who are less fortunate than they are. The spirit of self sacrifice must prevail to be an enduring testimony of the strength of Singapore as one people and one nation.

Sir, I have the deep conviction that Singaporeans, by and large, have the generosity of spirit to freely and generously give. The evidence of that

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generosity abounds in recent past. We think of the help given to the Nepalese twins who were conjoined at the head, of the Bangladeshi worker who was hurt and dumped in a canal and left to die until he was rescued by a kind soul, and of the generous giving to the family of the Singaporean who threw himself in the path of the oncoming train to escape life's misery. Every time the public hears of some hapless soul whose life has been dealt with a lousy set of cards, there will always be an effusive outpouring of sympathy and help.

In this recession, there will be many who will be without jobs; there will also be others whose business has failed. Yet, during this time, there will be Singaporeans who are not as badly affected and who can still share the little that they have with others who have not. This is a time when we must close ranks as a nation, because if we do not, we cannot expect others to help. This crisis gives a sharp definition to what it means to be a nation, to go beyond the individual need to think of others in greater need.

If we accept that this crisis will bring out the positive traits amongst Singaporeans and provide the perfect occasion to strengthen the ties that bind, then I would strongly urge the Government to strengthen and deepen the grassroots institutions to ensure that every opportunity is present to allow Singaporeans, whether retrenched or otherwise, to come together to support and exhort one another and, most importantly, not to lose hope for the future.

I would like to ask the Minister, what further steps is the Government taking to facilitate further social bonding during this crisis and whether grassroots organisations may be revamped or reorganised during this period to ensure that the channels of assistance, both in giving and receiving, are open and wide.

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Greater Assistance for Sandwiched- and Middle-class

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah): Sir, given the current downturn, the issue of being needy can be relative, of course, with limits. The middle-income and lower-income earners are feeling the squeeze as one or more income earners in the family face retrenchment, salary cuts or poor commissions. Therefore, even if a family used to earn $5,000 a month, and are now down to $2,500, they are still not eligible for social assistance. Yet, they would still be short of $2,500 for their household commitments. For an extended period, they can be in severe credit debt or arrears.

I think the Ministry needs to consider a more formalised approach to help these families for a temporary period. I agree with the Minister, when he said in this House, that our social system needs to be 'high on flexibility and low on entitlement'. So I am not asking for a broad spectrum of welfare to all middle-income families. But for a period of time, can the Ministry be flexible on the upper cap of ComCare's upper limit and increase it to $3,500 or more for the short term? The criteria for qualification can still be stringent to reflect that this is not an entitlement. But the impact is that this will give its frontline officers in MCYS, the CEC and other VWOs the flexibility to assess a broader band of citizens in need and allow for affected families to make their case. Right now, the answer is a straight "no" for many affected families in the middle-class.

Sir, I think the Ministry should also spearhead a study to benchmark what is a minimum amount that families need to afford a basic quality of life in Singapore. How can we effectively determine what is enough for Singaporeans, and what is needed to uplift those who may be under-privileged, if we do not understand the

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total impact of cost of living to different groups of Singaporeans from the different quartiles of household income earners? CPI alone is too broad a spectrum to be used as an indicator of inflation.

Different Ministries have different benchmarks and each one tracks these household costs differently. For example, HDB has its benchmarks of housing prices based on mortgage debt ratio, cost of utilities pegged to oil prices and transport prices to a different CPI ratio. I know that MCYS goes out there and purchases a basket of goods to determine what is the benchmark for public assistance. But this is not the total effective cost of living for Singaporeans and it is good for us to understand what is the impact on our households when each of these factors moves under different conditions.

ComCare Utilisation Rate

Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Sir, the ComCare fund is a commitment by the Government to do more for needy Singaporeans to ensure that no one is left behind.

With this year's budget, allocation for ComCare has been increased. At the local community level, we welcome this. The decentralisation, together with the many helping hands approach, allows the local leaders slightly more leeway in disbursement.

Can I ask MCYS what has been the utilisation rate of the local ComCare fund over the last few years? If there is indeed underutilisation at the local level, can MCYS consider some relaxation and perhaps some other unique approaches for the use of this fund so that we can find other ways of reaching out to the needy, elderly and disabled, especially during this period of the crisis?

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The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mr Chairman, this is going to be a very long session. We have budgeted more than six hours for this year. MCYS confronts inflation. Every year, the Question time during COS increases inexorably. But I suppose since my Ministry's budget for this year is $1.9 billion which represents a 33% increase, it is only fair that there is an inflation in the time provided for Members to make sure we are spending that money properly and wisely.

My Ministry's priorities in this difficult year are quite straightforward: first, to provide assurance and hope for needy Singaporeans; second, to boost the many helping hands that hold up our social safety net; and, third, to strengthen the bonds that bind our society together.

There are a few questions which I want to put in front of the House, right at the onset of today's debate. The first question is: who are the needy? And this relates also to Mr Zaqy's query earlier on.

I believe there are three broad categories of Singaporeans who are needy.

First, those who are permanently unable to work and have no family support. These are Singaporeans who are going to require long-term social assistance and we put them on schemes like the Public Assistance scheme.

The second group are Singaporeans who are just able to cope in good times, but in tough times like this when they lose their jobs, or their over time, or their bonuses, they find that they are unable to cope. For these borderline families, we have our ComCare schemes which are specifically targeted and provide conditional, relevant and interim assistance.

The key objective here is to enable these families to tide over the current difficulties and get back on their feet.

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1.15 pm

The third group of Singaporeans who need help are those from dysfunctional families. This is something which I am sure all Members of Parliament are familiar with. Every week at your Meet-the-People (MPS) sessions, they may present a housing problem and say they need a rental flat. They may ask for some additional cash, or there may be a problem in the school, or a loss of job. But actually, if you spend time with them, you realise that the presenting problem is just the tip of the iceberg. Actually, there is a multitude, a whole web of social and personal problems, which have trapped these families, and it is a hole that is getting bigger and deeper, and they are unable to pull themselves out of it.

We convened a Committee specifically to study this problem and later on in the COS, I will share the recommendations. But, having said that these are the three categories of Singaporeans who are needy, I think we also have to deal with Mr Zaqy's question: what about the middle-class? I believe the imperative for the middle-class is to get a good job. They need jobs and it is not a matter of welfare from MCYS. As the Minister for Finance said in his summing up speech, the Government will spare no effort in job matching. The Government will heavily subsidise training. The Government will provide training allowances under SPUR. In addition to that, MCYS will provide additional interim short-term assistance through our Work Support scheme, which is administered by the Community Development Councils (CDCs).

But let me also be very honest and blunt and say that we cannot give the middle-class more in handouts than what we give to the Singaporeans who are the most needy. That has to be the upper limit. The Member asked just now whether we track cost of living for the different groups of Singaporeans. We do. But I also tell you very honestly that we

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track the cost of living for the most needy Singaporeans, and we cannot commit to giving additional support to enable the middle-class to maintain a standard of living which, perhaps, they have become accustomed to. So there are limits to how much we can do. As for Mr Zaqy and Dr Fatimah Lateef's call for greater flexibility at the edges - certainly, we will be there, we will be available, and we will provide assistance. But please understand that it is conditional, it cannot be an entitlement, and it will have to be pegged to the level which the most needy Singaporeans require.

The second question which should frame our discussion today is: do we have enough resources allocated for needy Singaporeans? If you look at the handout that we have just circulated, we have calculated that for this financial year, the social service sector will require and will receive about $460 million, almost half a billion dollars. This is not a small sum of money. Now let us look at where this money comes from. The $140 million is what my Ministry provides to all the Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and social service organisations on the ground. We all know these are run by their boards and they raise their own funds. But because so much of their work is crucial to our social mission, we provide funds for them to enable them to upscale and do even more. So we have budgeted $140 million this year. Over and above that, we will put in another $100 million. This will be direct assistance provided by my Ministry to needy families. That will come through ComCare, public assistance and other various schemes targeted at individuals and families. So that is $240 million straight off from the budget of MCYS.

Over and above that, you see that there is another $220 million which comes from donations. As Mr Sin Boon

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Ann said just now, Singaporeans are a generous people and they do open up their hearts and their wallets to help. But let me also try to take some credit on the part of Government, because with the recent decision by the Minister for Finance to have a 250% tax relief on donations to Institutes of Public Character (IPCs), a significant proportion of those donated funds actually represents tax forgone by the Ministry of Finance. So, let me put to you that there is a major chunk of money available for needy families. Let me also put to you that the Government is shouldering a major portion of that burden, together with the community at large. So I think that we should not doubt that funds are available.

The next question is a perennial question: is our Many Helping Hands approach working? This is a long-standing policy of the Government and we believe in integrating Government agencies, the VWOs, the grassroots - as brought up earlier - and the broader community in order to fashion a comprehensive social safety net. Why do we do so? It is not just a matter of trying to reduce Government liabilities. But we do so because we believe that it is best to let each sector do what it is best equipped to do. We want a lean and rational Government formulating sound policies and providing resources where they are most needed. But we also want a caring community of good hearts and honest hands who know the ground, who know the needs, who make assessments of how much is enough - that is the question the Member asked earlier - and is able to reach out to people to ensure that no one falls through the cracks. Now, of course, the Many Helping Hands model does come with its problems. There is always the risk of duplication. There is the risk of gaps. There is the difficulty of coordination. But, despite all those difficulties - I am not trying to trivialise those difficulties - I submit that our Many Helping Hands model in

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Singapore, run by caring hearts and honest hands, is still a system that works. In fact, we have compared it to many other countries which have tried different variations. Our system is sustainable, it works, it is flexible, and it delivers help where it is most needed, by people who truly care.

The fourth question which I want Members to think about is values and responsibilities. In the midst of debating dollars and arguing schemes, we better not lose sight of values and, in particular, of family responsibilities. We must still be a society that believes in hard work. We must still be a society that believes that our primary responsibility is to look after our families and not depend on others in the first instance. We must be able to instinctively fulfil our family responsibilities and obligations. If we want our children to be caring and responsible, we have got to live by those values and show them what being caring and responsible means, especially in tough times.

My concern for Singapore today is that we will fail if the debate in this House and the debate outside this House degenerates into a squabble about how to split the family fortune into handouts and inheritances. So we need to make sure that as we debate all these issues in the next six hours, we keep sight of this fact - that we cannot afford and we should not design a permanent, unconditional and needs-based welfare system, despite the alluring simplicity of giving $400 here and $500 there with no questions asked. That is the road to ruin, it does not work, and there are many examples from the West who have gone ahead of us on those roads. We know it does not work and it is not sustainable. We need to make sure we keep on track and we maintain a system that emphasises empowerment, not entitlement; a system that encourages dignity, not dependence; and a system that emphasises self-reliance and not state reliance.

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Policy Matter

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Sir, at crisis time such as this, may I urge MCYS to double its efforts to prevent people from falling through the cracks. The plight of poor Singaporeans has got worse. Those seeking financial help have jumped to 30%. Direct social safety net is most urgently called for now.

The bottom 30% of working families have now experienced stagnating real household incomes for about eight years, thus, this group may not have saving to buffer them during crises. Our poorest - numbering some 90,000 to 100,000 households - need special attention presently, as their day-to-day living may be most affected at this time. They need immediate assistance, but it will be better if it is accompanied with a long term-view. I feel that this downturn gives us the opportunity to invest in human capital at the household level, especially for those dysfunctional homes.

Could MCYS assist poor Singaporeans with a view to build long-term capabilities? Short-term handouts by themselves are not sustainable and do not do enough to help these individuals and families to become self-reliant. Education and training are central to achieving equitable wealth distribution. Families should be assisted to achieve this by recommending and matching them with suitable upgrading programmes. Incentives for financial assistance may have to be coupled with requirement to improve oneself. The hope is that they will be equipped for better employments at the next upturn. Such approach, if carried out on a sustained basis over the years, may mitigate the growing income gap and, thus, preventing future social and political instability.

Could MCYS provide more resources and holistic approaches to assisting families in need in totality? This may call

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for both parents undertaking improvement of knowledge and acquiring of new skills or upgrading of skills. More social workers are required to undertake hands-on approach at individual level to facilitate and to guide these families. Many housewives, especially those that have never worked before, may need extra convincing to overcome their attitude towards venturing out of their homes. Some may be reluctant to leave the comfort of their homes and doubt their ability to cope with the outside world, while others are concerned about the care of their young children.

Such children should be matched with childcare and student care centres. Some families may also need assistance in their children's school work, or even in their healthcare needs. These families are followed-up over a period a time to ensure success. The holistic approach in addressing the well-being of a family in totality, can better achieve sustained and long-term benefits.

Public Assistance

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, I am happy that the Public Assistance (PA) rate for elderly singles will be increased by $30, from April 2009. On behalf of the 80 plus recipients in Queenstown, I thank the Minister. In fact, I need to thank the Minister three times, as after five years when the PA quantum stayed the same, the elderly singles allowance was increased from $260 to $290 in July 2007, from $290 to $330 in May 2008, and in this Budget, an increase from $330 to $360.

I understand that PA is not the only way that the Government helps the needy. Most of my residents on PA also benefit from the highly subsidised flat rental rates, rental rebates, S&CC rebates, free medical treatment and others. With the Many Helping Hands approach, they

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are also helped in both financial and non-financial ways by the Grassroots Organisations (GROs) and VWOs in Queenstown.

It has been said in this House that the PA quantum will not be tied to inflation. Indeed, in the last two years, the PA quantum has been increased by 3.6% to 19.3% year-on-year, whereas the inflation rate ranges between 1% to 6.5% during the same period. In fact, with the inflation for 2009 estimated at -1% to 1%, we are, instead, seeing a 9% increase in the PA quantum for elderly singles. It is clear that there has not been a correlation between PA quantum and inflation, and this is to the advantage of the beneficiaries.

With the consecutive increases over the last three budgets, I would like to ask the Minister to explain the thinking behind the policy for the PA quantum. Is there a fundamental shift now and that the Government feels more needs to be given to the needy? My other question is: will the quantum of Public Assistance for couples and families be adjusted this time round too - as in the last two times - alongside the increment for single elderly recipients?

About 10% of the PA recipients in my ward belong to this category. These are people who are staying with their siblings, spouse or children, and these are families which are facing long-term or permanent challenges to make a living. With the stringent criteria to qualify who should be on PA, these multiple-member family units are also living from hand-to-mouth. I would like the Minister to also increase the PA quantum for couples and families to be consistent with the single elderly PA recipients.

Quality of Life Issues for the Very Poor

1.30 pm

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, I would like to focus my

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attention on the poorest in Singapore, and I will argue that this should not be just confined to the people who are currently on Public Assistance.

I remember last year the Minister said that his officials have calculated that one person can live on $90 worth of groceries a month. I am sure that his officials must have done the due diligence checks. I am, however, not so sure that many of them, in fact, how many of us in this House, have actually lived on a $90 food budget for a month.

So if we ourselves are not doing it for even one month, then I think it will be quite hard for us to expect our fellow Singaporeans to live all their lives on such a budget.

Sir, I have done a survey on about 100 PA recipients in my ward. From the findings, we see that they spend an average of $146 a month on groceries, $26 on rental, $18.50 on SC & CC and $48 on utilities. Although the PA recipients receive free healthcare, many go for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), for which they spend about $20-$30 a month, and in some cases, $100-$200 a month. Our seniors believe more in TCM than western medicine somehow. Other necessities, eg, clothes, toiletries, miscellaneous expenses, all amount to about $50; transportation $39. Some of the PA recipients spend as much as $450 a month in total.

The survey also found that nearly half of them receive small hongbaos occasionally from other sources such as temples and VWOs. Despite this, only one-fifth of them managed to have marginal savings for rainy days and also for their funerals when the day comes. This means that the majority of them spend all their PA allowances as well as any other extra hongbaos that they can get. In addition, 75 % say that they have

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a source of free food, and yet they still run out of the money every month.

Sir, I do not know whether there is a danger of over-reporting by the survey respondents, or whether my methods of analysis are wrong - for example, is taking a rough total average the right thing to do? Or is the sample of the PA recipients in my constituency representative of the overall 2,700 in Singapore?

Sir, I do not know the answers to all these questions, but I do know that I have made a start in painting the life of the poorest in our society today. Sir, it is not a rosy picture. If they do not get the extra help, they may have very little to spare. Last year, during my house visit, one 85-year-old man told me and the volunteers who went on the house visit with me, that he had not eaten a plate of chicken rice for five years. Five years! All of us who heard this actually felt very sad. So we gave him a free meal coupon a day so that he can go and eat anything that is available at the hawker centre.

Sir, we need to know and remember that this is not by choice but by circumstance. I know that even the poorest in Singapore have a living standard far better than many of those living in other countries. I know that the PA recipients' one-room flats have clean running water and electricity, and I know that they have food, clothes and medical care. But very honestly speaking, is this enough to count as a reasonably good quality of life?

Sir, I would like to sincerely thank the Government and the Minister for raising the PA allowance from $330 to $360 a month. However, I also sincerely hope that the Government could further stretch this kindness by raising the amount to $400.

Sir, this brings me to my second point - Singapore has only 2,700 people on

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public assistance. This strikes me as a very, very small number. Can the Minister tell us how are we comparing ourselves against other countries? How, for example, do we compare against Hong Kong, a population of seven million people in which there are 230,000 people on its Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme? I am told that in Hong Kong, the allowance for people on the CSSA scheme is 80% of the median wage. To me, this is really too generous. But have we veered to the other extreme? Can I request the Minister to relook at the criteria for PA and see if we can relax some of them? We shall not put in place a generous PA scheme, like the CSSA scheme in Hong Kong, which will send a wrong signal to Singaporeans, but I feel that we also should not, for the sake of preserving a low spending on welfare, to exclude those who genuinely need the PA scheme by creating high barriers.

Sir, I would like to speak in Mandarin now.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] There is a Chinese saying "lao wu lao yi ji ren zhi lao, you wu you yi ji ren zhi you". This means one should look after other old people and children as one should look after one's own old folks and children.

In Singapore, we take great care of our children. There are various types of schemes and assistance to look after infants and school children and to educate them as they are the future pillars of our nation. If they are not properly looked after, we will face a problem of political succession.

I hope that while taking good care of our children, the Government should also extend the same compassion and care to those old and hapless people - about 2,700 of them - who are receiving public

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assistance. They were once stewards of our nation who had contributed much to our growth.

Now that they are old and with no relatives to look after them, and for various reasons have exhausted their savings, they depend only on a monthly allowance of $330 for their living, though such allowance will be increased to $360 a month. According to my survey, the average monthly expenditure could be as high as $450. I hope this amount will be increased to $400. To us, an increase in $40 is nothing but to them, it could be a big difference. Once an elder man said to me that people who have not experienced starvation will not know what it is to be poor. I shall never forget what he said.

Reaching out to such poor and hapless people with compassion and help will make them feel that in the twilight of their years, they can still find human kindness. And this is also in keeping with our Government's objective of building a graceful society. It is also an embodiment of Confucius benevolent government and Mengzi’s philosophy of bringing well-being to all people in the country.

The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon): Sir, I would first speak in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] As mentioned by my Minister, we do not lack the resources to help Singaporeans who fall through the cracks. The various public assistance plans that MCYS has, with the different schemes that the various ministries have and combined with the help of the voluntary welfare organisations ("VWOs") and religious bodies, all these have helped build a very resilient social safety network. My Ministry has already listed out the 3 main target groups of people who will

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require our assistance. First, those who have lost the ability to work permanently and have no one to depend on and the elderly who are unable to be provided for as their children are in lowly paid jobs. Second, those who are on the fringe and will be impacted once the economy is on a downturn. These are the people whom we will use flexible measures to help them. The last group is those with very complex family problems. So in this case, we will help in all ways towards the old as well as the young. For the elderly, besides depending on themselves, the children and the extended family should also play an important part. In this difficult time, we will extend help to the poor and nobody will be forgotten. We will continue to put the family as the basis.

Apart from increasing ComCare and PA, we will also step up on training to increase the employability for Singaporeans, just as suggested by Dr Lily Neo, to teach them to fish and stand on their own. This is more important, so that their children can continue to finish their education, change the future, and jump out from the poverty circle.

As we go about our plans, my Ministry's stand is to respect each individual, let them have the ability to earn their own livelihoods and to lead the lives that they want. Public assistance is just a temporary measure. The ultimate aim is to enable them to be self-reliant.

( In English ): Mr Chairman, the concerns that Members have raised on social assistance can be framed under two key questions:

(1) Is our help comprehensive and adequate?

(2) Is help being delivered effectively?

I will address the first question now and cover the issue on delivery of help in a subsequent speech.

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Is our help comprehensive and adequate? Members can be assured that ComCare remains well- placed to help the needy during this difficult period. The ComCare nationwide schemes were helping about 24,000 cases last year.

Some Members have said that our assistance schemes tend to be short-term and ad-hoc in nature. This is not the case. Our ComCare schemes cater to a range of different target groups.

Long-term assistance, which is public assistance. First, the Public Assistance (PA) scheme provides long-term assistance to the destitute. There are close to 2,900 households on PA. Last year, we raised PA rates from $290 to $330 for a single person. We also relaxed the criteria to allow elderly persons whose families are unable to support them to go onto the PA scheme. If you ask me, we have shifted philosophically, such that even those old people who have children whom earn below $1,000, can also apply to the PA scheme. This is a big shift.

I thank the hon. Member Mr Baey Yam Keng for his concern that we have increased public assistance in the last few years. But I want to assure him that there has not been a fundamental shift in our policy. So we are not following Hong Kong. However, to be more flexible in these extraordinary times, during these difficult times, Mr Baey Yam Keng and Mr Sam Tan will be glad to know that we are increasing PA rates from April 2009. The increase will be between $30 to $120 a month, depending on the household size. A PA recipient living alone will get $30 more, from $330 a month to $360 a month. A family with four adults will get $120 more, from $830 to $950 a month.

We will also do more for children of PA families by providing them with additional assistance - this is a new scheme - up to a maximum of $130 per

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child per month. This can be used for the children's incidental school expenses, hygiene and nutritional needs.

The PA allowance is only one component of help that PA beneficiaries receive. Other components are the GST Offset package, Senior Citizens' Bonus, rebates on rental, utilities and service & conservancy charges, which PA recipients get a bigger proportion of. They also enjoy subsidised rental housing, free medical treatment and free education for children. I am sure a lot of us are very concerned about outpatient and hospitalisation expenditure.

Consider what Mr Lim, aged 67, who lives alone in a 1-room flat, gets.

In 2009, he will receive almost $120 a month in cash and rebates from the Government. Together with his PA allowance of $360, this comes up to almost $480 a month. So, that is why we put the total benefit at $480++. He also receives government subsidies for his rental flat and gets free medical care. On top of all these, he enjoys a range of community support like meal vouchers, cash grants, hongbaos, weekly visits from befrienders, etc.

1.45 pm

Let me also illustrate what a PA family gets. Mr Ali, 53, is bedridden and stays with his wife and four children. Their PA allowance, including the additional assistance for their children, plus government cash handouts and rebates amount to about $1,800 a month. On top of this, they enjoy subsidised rental housing, everyone in the family gets free medical treatment and the children also receive free education. The family also gets community support - hongbaos, cash grants, bursaries, and so on - $1,800.

So all in, while PA rates are not generous, but PA recipients receive

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enough help to cover their basic needs. So, the PA allowance is not to give a comfortable life but to help you get over your difficulty and live a manageable life.

Next, for the group who temporarily cannot work. I think, hon. member Ms Sylvia Lim was also concerned about this. We do not just give long-term help but medium-term help, through ComCare Transitions (CCT). There are close to 1,700 households under CCT. The assistance is close to that given to PA recipients. They have cash and they have other subsidies. We implemented this last July, and we already have 1,700 cases.

We also have the Work Support programme to help the work-capable but unemployed, and to help low-skilled workers upgrade. There are currently about 2,400 households on the programme.

Dr Lily Neo has rightly pointed out that mere hand-outs will not bring about self-reliance. This is why Work Support first and foremost, seeks to help workers upgrade their skills and find a job. In the interim, clients may receive financial assistance, vouchers for rental, utilities and S&CC help, as well as medical and educational assistance.

For an example of what a rank and file worker like Mr Tay would get. Minister Tharman had talked about this case during the Budget debate. He was the sole breadwinner for his family of five till he lost his job last year. He sought help from the CDC, and was assisted under the Work Support scheme from September last year, for three months. He received $510 a month in cash and utilities vouchers, altogether $1,530. After three months, he found work again as a cleaner. This entitles him to a Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) payout of $2,200. If he had not been able to get a job, he would have received assistance for training. His youngest child is now

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getting child-care subsidies of $200 a month, on top of the universal childcare subsidy of $300. So that means $500. This year, his family will receive household benefits worth $2,100. The total benefits from the Government amount to $8,230.

During these extraordinary times, we will enhance the flexibility of Work Support, to specially help families on the margins whose breadwinners have been retrenched. Families who currently fall just outside the eligibility criteria will be helped if they have genuine problems coping with basic living expenses. We will also extend the length of assistance, from the present 6 months to up to 12 months. The quantum of assistance will be calibrated according to the needs of the family.

Now, let me touch on the children. I mentioned that we pay special attention to the education of young children from low income families. We are helping almost 16,500 children from low income families with their pre-school, childcare and student-care fees, besides the MOE budget.

We will further improve the ComCare financial assistance schemes for kindergarten and childcare (KiFAS and CFAC). From July 2009, families with monthly income of up to $1,500 will receive at least 95% in subsidies for childcare and kindergarten fees. For those in childcare, the subsidy is on top of the $300 universal childcare subsidy. A family earning $1,500 monthly, with one child in childcare and another child in kindergarten, is currently co-paying about $40 for childcare and $18 for kindergarten after all eligible subsidies. With the enhancements, this family's co-payment could fall to just $10 for childcare and $5 for kindergarten per month. Dr Lily Neo was concerned about whether a mother can put her children in

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a childcare and kindergarten and go to work. For those earning between $1,500 to $1,800, they will receive up to 90% subsidies and co-payment would be as little as $20 for childcare and $10 for kindergarten per month.

Dr Lily Neo had called for a long-term and hands-on solution to help some 100,000 low income households in Singapore. I agree with her, and we have done so. This would make up about the bottom 10% of the households in Singapore. According to the Department of Statistics, retirees make up almost half of this group. The low income and needy are covered under the ComCare schemes as well as assistance schemes from other ministries.

For example, there is the Workfare Income Supplement scheme (or WIS) for the low wage workers. There is also help through various other channels including Medifund, subsidised rental flat housing, MOE's Financial Assistance Scheme, and even the training - lately, we have SPUR from MOM.

We agree that at times, intensive case management will be necessary to help families which are dysfunctional or have complex issues. My Minister and I will elaborate on measures to help these families later.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked about the CCC ComCare Fund (CCF). The CCF is only one small part of the entire ComCare assistance framework. You have the long-term help, medium-term help and short-term help. Actually, if you ask me, the CCF is like the petty cash under ComCare. This enables the grassroots to provide flexible, interim and immediate help to needy residents. In many cases, this is done while the CDCs process applications from the needy families to get onto the national ComCare schemes. So, I hope this clarifies again to my members,

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the public and even my good friends, the journalists, that CCF is just for interim, one-off and short-term help. But you'd have the medium-term and you would have the long-term schemes. So, CCF is only given to the applicants when the CDC is processing which long-term scheme is suitable for them.

So, the CCF system has worked well because grassroots leaders have exercised flexibility, prudence and accountability in disbursing public funds. With the downturn, we expect utilization of the CCF to rise. We will therefore be topping up the CCF by another $0.75 million, to $7 million per year for the next two years. This will ensure that money will not be the limiting factor in helping the needy.

Together with the many helping hands, the government will continue to help the needy ride out these tough times. With the ComCare enhancements I have announced, our FY09 ComCare budget will total $77 million.

Even as we talk about help from the Government and community, let us also remember the basics. We believe that the values of self-reliance, responsibility, hard work, honesty and family support are important. Do not forget that today 60% of the retirees, the old people still depend on the children to also help them. I think this is a good value. We should not give it up, we should not follow the West to be completely dependent on the Government and PA. I think, as children we should give even $50, even $30, to our parents. We need each individual, his family and the community to do their part to improve the quality of life. Hon. member Mr Sam Tan had mentioned about quality of life. I think quality of life cannot just depend on handouts. Quality of life depends on love, care, like member of Parliament, Cynthia Phua has said, "We must deliver all these with love!" So, I think, the first line of love should come

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from family members, from friends, relatives, neighbours, friendship, RC and so on. So, if we are together and we work hard, we will be able to overcome these tough times.

Thank you!

Resilient Families

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Yes, Sir, we all know how siblings and relatives chip in to help their family when some other siblings do not come forth. There are those who feel that the Government should do more, and there have been times when I count myself among this group. But overall and in the main, I feel that it is right to depend on the family – both as a matter of personal philosophy and of public policy.

My suggestion is in two parts. First, do we have a national strategy to build resilient families? We already have many of the pieces in place, but is there a need to put them altogether differently, to target specifically at the goal of resilient families? How can we formulate a coherent and inter-related set of policies that will address this issue?

Second, can we produce a benchmark for us to understand the impact of what the Government is doing to help families become more resilient? As a whole, for all the families in Singapore, how resilient are we? How well do we respond to stress? What kind of help do we need?

Now, we tend to take divorce rates as some sort of resilience proxy – if divorce rates go up, we say that families are becoming weaker. But Sir, there is a sense in which families actually become more resilient after divorce – there is nothing to say that two blended families are less resilient than one family, with an unhappy set of parents.

Sir, do not misunderstand me. I do think that rising divorce rates are a source of concern but I am just making a logical

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point here. We speak of resilience as if we all know what we mean, there is something to catch hold of. But there isn’t really.

So, what do we mean by saying that we want to build “resilient families”? Can I ask if the Minister would consider the setting up of a National Family Resilience index? This index would take into account all the multi-layered meanings that we now employ unconsciously when we use the word.

In Canada now, there is an International Resilience Project (IRP) funded by the government of Canada and coordinated through a university there. It aims to develop a more culturally-sensitive understanding of how youth around the world effectively cope with the adversities that they face.The word resilience has also been used in humanitarian terms. The UN has an analytical tool that measures how resilient a household is under severe stress.

So the concepts and the tools for analysis already exist. Can we not use them to get a clearer idea of what we mean when we speak of resilient families? Can we not get a handle that allows us to have a coherent picture from the statistics on divorce rates, the difficulties faced by single parents, problems with delinquent children and the capacity of our families to tackle stress?

I hope the Ministry can consider my points. Thank you!

Reducing Divorce Rates

Mr Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, I would like to speak on the topic related to divorce rates in Singapore. The number of marriages in Singapore in the past few years has stabilised at around 23,000 annually.

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However, the divorce rate is increasing rapidly. In 2007, the number has risen to 7,226 cases as compared to 2002 which were about 5,800 cases.

The high divorce rate among younger couples is worrying. Among male divorcees, those aged 35 to 44 years formed the largest proportion. For female, the largest group was aged 25 to 34 years. Overall, there were large increases in the proportion of divorcees aged 45 years and above.

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Divorce causes a mental strain, as the couple fight over their matrimonial assets, custody of children, alimony, and so on. In some cases, which involve legal assistance, the fees may reach as high as $5,000. With our emphasis on procreation, divorce which causes the breaking up of families has certainly affected the fertility rate in Singapore.

I urge MCYS to take a serious view of this problem and implement measures to stop this worrying trend. In this case, divorce should always be the last resort. We should keep pushing for such measures to stop people from breaking up. If we are able to do so, we may be able to stop this trend from increasing.

Strong and Stable Families

Ms Ellen Lee: Sir, after the Government revised the pro-baby package last year, people's perception of marriage, parenthood and family has taken a curious turn. Courtship couples are constantly asked when they will tie the knot so that they can quickly receive the Government's goodies. When a couple announced marriage plans, they are asked the following questions:

(1) Was the marriage motivated by the procreation benefits?

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(2) How many children do they intend to have?
(3) Would they be claiming all their entitlements including maternity and paternity leave?

Some young couples have been indignant as they feel that these questions are attacks on their integrity. They are marrying for love and if there are benefits along the way, these are incidental as they can still choose to forgo them by not having children. I strongly agree, although I do hope that they would change their minds about not wanting to have children. The procreation incentives should not degenerate into a money-grabbing culture such that the sanctity of marriage and family is forgotten.

I draw a parallel with the housing grants that HDB gives to eligible homeowners. In a divorce, it is very common for the spouses to claim their entitlement to one-half of the housing grant in the division of the matrimonial flat. There are also divorcing couples who demanded that the baby bonuses given by the Government should be split between them or that they be separately held for the children so that the money does not fall into the hands of one parent only. In giving out cash grants and other subsidies to help families, MCYS should also explore ways to ensure that these will really go towards promoting family togetherness and not be turned into bones of contention in the event of a split in the family.

Despite our country's affluence and first world status, there are still in existence many dysfunctional families amidst us. Shockingly, they may not just be from the low-income families but stretch and affect various strata of our populace. My other concern, in particular, is in the area of re-marriages and how

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young children, youths and their grandparents have to deal and cope with new in-laws, the step-parents and the step-siblings. There are anecdotes of young children and the elderly who are usually economically dependent on the new spouse, usually the male, being subject to verbal and physical abuse and neglect. To exacerbate the situation, the recent rise in media reports of step-fathers or siblings raping/molesting their younger step-daughters/sisters is a worrying social trend.

In the light of all this, may I ask MCYS, specifically for this vulnerable group:

(1) How many cases/reports of such cases have been received for the past five years from 2004 to 2008?

(2) What is MCYS currently doing to help the young/youths/elderly in such dysfunctional families? Has it been effective?

(3) What future plans does MCYS have to proactively prevent, manage and handle such cases?

I hope that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Dysfunctional Families will also be looking into these issues as well.

Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme for Dysfunctional Families

Mr Seah Kian Peng: Sir, I would like to speak on the HOPE scheme and to ask the Government to open this scheme to all families, not just those that we see as mainstream or normal. The HOPE scheme was launched in 2004, with various criteria including the age of the mother, number of children, household income, the father must be working, and so on.

Sir, I understand the rational for this policy - it is to help families who are less well-off, and to give them incentives to

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keep their families small. But what about dysfunctional families, for example, divorced mothers with two or fewer children? Can they not be allowed to come under the HOPE scheme? I know that the Ministry has different policy objectives, some of which can be tackled by HOPE and others which require different routes. But I wonder, how many dysfunctional families as defined by MCYS are on their radar screen for HOPE? Solutions for this group are very tough. Even the definition of such groups is not easy. I know that it must require intensive case management and hand-holding for each of such families since circumstances are so varied and the needs so great. But it appears to me now that there is no better systematic, family-based option to helping these families than HOPE. We give them a home, and we give them a peace of mind about their children's education. These are the two main social issues that have already been tackled upfront already, and we can continue to work on the gaps as time goes on.

Sir, there are now 1,600 families who have benefited from HOPE, getting $100,000 each from the Government, for their children's education, skills training, utilities and housing. Last year, families whose fathers are in prison were included in the HOPE scheme.

Sir, I understand that some 6,000 families are eligible for the HOPE scheme in all. For one reason or another, over the past four years, more than 4,000 either do not know about the scheme or have not felt the need to sign up. If it is an information gap, four years seems a long time to not have filled it. So I am surmising that it is because these families can cope on their own; and, if so, perhaps it is time to offer HOPE to others, who may need it more.

Sir, the resources have been set aside but the needs are just as great at the margins of the scheme for which these

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resources are meant. For those in need, it is a frustrating case of so near and yet so far.

So Sir, I urge the Government to extend the HOPE scheme to divorced mothers with two or fewer children.

Maintenance of Parents

Mr Wee Siew Kim (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, many of my parliamentary colleagues would have encountered instances of parents selling their flats and channelling the sales proceeds and their savings into a home with their children; only to be evicted when inter-generational tensions arise. Many turn to the HDB for help. But many would go away empty handed. This is but one example. Many old parents are left out in the cold.

What more can we do to help parents who find themselves in such plight in their twilight years? Should MCYS consider enhancing the Maintenance of Parents Act to go after these children and adjudicate that they provide their parents with not only sustenance in terms of money, but also a roof and emotional support?

In our aging society, such problems will only increase over time. The Minister of State also mentioned earlier that 60% of parents received the pot from their children. While we have made progress with the Maintenance of Parents Act, it may be time to arm ourselves legislatively or administratively to seek fairer outcomes for these mistreated elderly that fall outside the 60%.

While some may argue that filial piety, a core value in Asian culture, may be diminishing in our modern society, it is no excuse for individuals in our midst from abrogating their responsibility. Through their irresponsibility, society will have to bear the unnecessary heavier burden. In good times and in bad, it is important for families to pull together and look after one

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another. True kinship sees everyone through thick and thin. We should encourage and regulate as necessary families to take responsibility and care for their aged parents and relatives. This is a value that should be perpetuated so that the young generation knows that in the autumn and winter years of their lives, care is readily at hand for them as well.

While a Chinese proverb says that every family has its unique set of problems and it is not easy for outsiders to judge and mediate, I believe that we must try because there will always be able but irresponsible children who will neglect their parents. While leeway may be made for children who are genuinely financially unable to provide for their parents, there are many who can make adjustments to their life styles and accommodate parent care within their means. They are just not willing to. The way we treat our elderly and care for the aged would reveal to the world the true value system of the Uniquely Singapore society.

Mentoring of Youths At Risk

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, the economic crisis would likely cause strains on some families here in Singapore. In particular, tensions might occur within families that do not have a strong foundation. Among those likely to be affected are youths, and I am concerned that the number of at-risk-youths may increase as the economic crisis deepens.

Research has shown that youths are at-risk when two or more risk factors interact. These include poverty, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, truancy and illiteracy. Families with limited resources are especially vulnerable. Mentoring programmes have proven to be successful in reducing at-risk behavior.

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I would like to ask the Minister on the plans and programmes to mentor at-risk-youths in view of the economic downturn.

Childcare and Early Childhood Development

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang (Aljunied): Sir, childhood is a critical stage in a child's development. My concern is that childcare centers in Singapore are run on an entirely market driven model, and the regulation of the standards of these childcare centres is sketchy.

I would like to know: how are these childcare centers rated and how do we assess quality of the early childhood education conducted in all these centers? Does the Government have long-term plans for early childhood development and education for our kids, including both the quality of services and also for the teachers?

MOE's expenditure for primary school child rose by 69% over the last 12 years but childcare grants and support for early childhood development and education have not increased at the same level. In fact, while childcare subsidies increase, so do the fees. We must ensure that the amount of subsidies does not up just defraying the cost of the rental for the childcare operators but that the money goes to useful ends and better quality of the childcare center.

Between foreign domestic workers and a proper childcare center, I think the choice of our parents is very clear. But the fact that we still have more than 150,000 foreign domestic workers and many are here to look after our pre-school children shows that much more support from the Government is needed.

In Hong Kong and China, the government helps childcare operators with the building of the infrastructure and sets a standard of assessment for operators to

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ensure that the quality of early childhood development is on par. We should consider doing the same.

Sir, let me say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin) [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.]: Chairman, the Finance Minister announced in the recent Budget that we will be spending a lot on infrastructure building in 2009 to make Singapore better off. To achieve this aim, we have to spend more on human resource which is our only resource, especially investing in our children. And this should start from pre-school and not only when they go into primary school. If we can actually inject more money into early childhood, this should work well for our future. And we have always said that our children are the pillars of society in the future! At this moment in time, Singapore is experiencing a reduced birthrate. Hence it is paramount that we place emphasis on early childhood development and pre-school education. As shown from this old Chinese story, where the mother moves three times to find a good place for the child, we know that in this case we must give our children the best childhood memories and the best childhood education. Hence, in this aspect, I hope that the Government will actually have more grants for pre-school education so that our parents can send the young children to the best childcare centres rather than leaving them with the maids.

Family Court - Maintenance Orders

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): Mr Chairman, Sir, the number of divorces has increased by almost one-and-a-half times over the last 10 years, from about 4,700 in 1997 to about 6,800 in 2007. From limited statistics available, we can estimate that there can possibly be at least 5,000 children below the age of 18 years affected by divorce every year. Multiply this by 10 years, we have a

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conservative estimate of about 50,000 dependent children from divorced families at any one time.

Sir, these children go through an emotional and psychological roller coaster dealing with their parents' divorce. Many also struggle financially as often their mothers have difficulty providing for them especially when their fathers default on maintenance payments.

Sir, a typical case upon divorce: the Family Court issues an order of maintenance of children; man defaults, wife returns to Court; he promises to pay, and Judge orders that he pays by a certain date or appear in Court to explain - in some instances, he makes payment on or a day before the Court date; in other instances, he still does not pay. In the former, he often defaults the next month; woman goes to Court again to file another complaint and the cycle continues. Sir, one woman related to me that she has to go to Court five times in three months. Another lady had to go 21 times in the first 20 months after her separation from her husband. Sir, in some cases when they do not have alternative childcare arrangements, the children are dragged to Court too, only to witness their mothers' constant struggle to get money, causing undue anxiety; sometimes in anger towards their fathers.

Sir, why does this happen this way? Can the Minister enlighten the House on the extent to which men are defaulting on their maintenance payments each year? How serious is this problem? Can MCYS work closely with the Family Court in addressing this issue of compliance to maintenance orders by ex-husbands? How can the process be made easier? While there is the option an Attachment of Earnings Order, how extensive is this option used by the Courts?

Sir, the situation is worsened when the men decide to remarry and set up

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another family. His ability to pay maintenance to his children from the first marriage will be severely compromised. What is left for the woman to do? Drained by repeated struggles, feeling helpless and desperately needing economic support,

she gives up and, subsequently, she sees remarriage as a solution with the hope of having a new husband who can support her and her children. Thus, begins the new chapter of the story of a serial marriage and, potentially a serial divorce with potential dysfunctionality.

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Sir, divorce is a breakdown in the marital relationship between the man and his wife, but the parental relationship between him and his children and, thus, his responsibility towards them remains intact. Sir, I do acknowledge that there are many responsible non-custodial fathers who do pay maintenance, and I do empathise with those who are generally struggling economically. However, I think what is more important is for the men to understand that their children need them, and financial support is very important to ease the struggles of these children.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their concern for the state of families in Singapore. Incidentally, when I said that my budget for this year is $1.9 billion, Members might be interested to know that about half of that amount - $851 million - is actually allocated to promote family formation and family development. So we put our money where our mouth is.

I totally agree with Mr Ong Ah Heng and other Members' concerns about the increasing divorce rate. I asked my staff to check - since I have been married slightly over 20 years - on the performance of the people who got

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married in 1987. Twenty years later, 14% of my cohort are divorced. Then I asked my staff to look at the cohort 10 years after me. In other words, those who got married in 1997. And they reported that 13% of this cohort had divorced after 10 years. So, in other words, the younger cohort has reached practically the same failure rate as my cohort, but they have done it in 10 years (half the time). So I do not think anybody needs to have any doubts that the divorce rate is a clear and present danger to us.

Last year, there were 7,220 divorces. This represents a 35% increase from 5,333 divorces in 1998. This is a high figure when you realise that there were only 24,590 marriages last year. Can and should the Government do anything about this? Well, I did my usual thing when it comes to matters of family - I consulted my wife. We had a discussion two nights ago, and we concluded that this is primarily a challenge which married couples ourselves have to overcome. Have we set the right expectations of each other? Do we fulfill our mutual responsibilities to each other and our responsibilities to our children? Do we still believe in making irrevocable commitments? I think these are questions which each and every single one of us needs to ask ourselves, before we ask about what the Government can do or should do about divorces.

Sir, I say this because I believe that there is a limit to how much the Government can do. But, having said that, my staff are very keen that I do say what the Government can do, because they have invested so much time, effort and resources into it. So what do we do? We provide courses and family life education. We encourage pre-marital preparation and counselling. Last year, we established the Marriage Central, which is a one-stop centre to provide information to couples who are considering getting married. Families in distress can also turn to the

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Family Service Centres (FSCs) for advice, counselling and specific assistance. The National Family Council has also recently launched a Family Resilience Series to help families cope during this downturn. I hear that the talks have been well received - I admit I did not go for one myself - and there are plans to bring these talks to even more places.

Mr Seah Kian Peng has suggested a family resilience index. I think we can explore this idea. Actually there is a very simple index for families - what is the outcome for their children? If their children are growing up safe, secure, fulfilling their potential, I think that is a resilient family. But, despite all these efforts, we will recognise that some marriages will still fail. Our goal then is to minimise the impact on family members, especially children.

Dr Maliki has brought up this issue of the payment of maintenance by men to their ex-wives and children. Today, women can file a Magistrate's Complaint in order to begin enforcement actions against their ex-husbands, if they fail to pay maintenance. It costs a "grand sum" of $1 to launch that process. The Family Court can attach an earnings order on the defaulting ex-husband, or even fine or jail him. But you and I know that there are some husbands who play this all the way to the brink and say: "Fine. Put me in jail, then I can't earn money. Then, I can't pay the maintenance." Unfortunately, in Family Court, you see basically decent people at their worst behaviour. This is unlike the Criminal Court where you get criminals putting on their best behaviour.

In 2008, there were about 3,200 applications for enforcement of maintenance orders, made by 1,700 applicants, and a majority of these applications, of course, are from women. I do not think we have arrived at a satisfactory solution to this, so I am still

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open to ideas. My Ministry is consulting the Ministry of Law and the Family Court, and if any of the Members has creative or even unorthodox ideas, please send them to me. I will share some of the ideas I have heard, and I am not saying I am going to implement them. These include informing prospective new wives of the payment history of the ex-husband. I am sure women will know - men do not change their spots, even if they find a new wife. So, if he has not been fulfilling his commitments to the first wife, I think they should consider very seriously his commitment to you. It is just a suggestion. Another suggestion I heard is that maybe we should have different thresholds for declaring bankruptcy for a person. In other words, to make a priority the payment of maintenance over and above all the other debts which a person may accumulate. This is also fairly radical. Well, I am just putting all these up because I am telling you that we do not have a complete solution yet. I am open to ideas.

I totally agree with Mr Wee Siew Kim on his comments and concerns for elderly parents. In my own MPS Sessions, I have had one lady who has been seeing me every single week for the last six months, because she wants an HDB rental flat. But the issue is not really about the HDB rental flat. She and her husband have bought two flats previously. They sold them and made a profit. I believe Dr Maliki informed me that a cash repayment of over $100,000 was credited back into their CPF. I asked her what happened to the money. She said her son used it for some business which failed. He got cheated so the money has disappeared. Her son and his wife now do not want her to stay in their flat. She has multiple children - and they are not staying in small flats either - but none of them wants to house her. So she comes to see me every week, and every week, I write a letter to Dr Maliki to try to bump her up in the queue for a HDB rental flat. Dr Maliki or HDB can act as a surrogate provider of

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housing but, really - I am sure Members will agree with me - the issue here is the discharge of family responsibilities.

I totally agree with Members that we cannot legislate love and filial responsibility. It is very ironic that, even in this House, the Bill that brought about the maintenance of parents was not initiated by my Ministry. It was initiated by the current Attorney-General, Prof. Walter Woon. I tried to find out why it was, that the Government did not initiate it. It was because of what I believe was a misguided fear that by legislating the Maintenance of Parents Act, it represents the Government getting involved in what should be a family responsibility, and it involves, perhaps, an erosion of this supposed Asian concept of filial responsibility. But you and I know that, especially in modern times, there are limits to these traditional values. Whilst I believe we need to keep reminding people of family responsibilities, I think we also need to have a strong legislative line drawn. So I am also studying whether we should put more teeth into the Maintenance of Parents Act.

One suggestion I have heard was for the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents (TMP) to be more inquisitorial regarding whether the children truly can or cannot afford to look after their parents. Very often, the parents are actually a proxy for a battle between siblings - who was the favourite son? Therefore, the favourite son should pay more money now to maintain their parents. All this sibling rivalry gets into the equation. There is a time and place for siblings and families to resolve their differences but, I think, if they do not and old folks end up becoming bargaining chips, we need to step in and make sure that they get the proper maintenance which they so rightly deserve. So I am flagging up another area that is open to ideas.

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Let me now turn to dysfunctional families. We have in Singapore - by our estimate - about 7,500 such families. These are families, as I have said earlier, with multiple social personal relationship problems, which make them stuck in a hole which they cannot climb out of. We formed a committee to see how we can best help these families. Let me just share some of the ideas and recommendations of this committee.

First, we need to identify such families early, so we will train key "touchpoint" agencies, i.e. agencies which will make first contact with such families. Typically, it will be schools because the children attend school and may be playing truant or doing badly in school. It may be polyclinics or hospitals, especially if there is any evidence of child abuse. It may be the MPS sessions because they come to you ostensibly for financial assistance or for housing assistance. We want to have a network of "tripwires" which will allow us to identify those families at risk, because the moment there is one child at risk, there will very often be other siblings at risk, and there is often a vulnerable woman, and maybe a man also - an entire family at risk.

The second aspect we also have to work on are upstream preventive measures so that these families are not condemned to repeating this cycle of dependency and dysfunctionality. Mr Seah Kian Peng has been campaigning for the extension of the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) scheme to divorced mothers. Today, I am very happy to tell Mr Seah that we totally agree with him. We will extend the HOPE scheme to divorced mothers with no more than two children. The reason for this is that we want to send a message to women: if you have two children and if you find someone who says that he loves you and wants to marry you, by all means go ahead. But do not find someone or feel pressurised to marry someone and offer

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your fertility, simply because you feel the need to provide security for your existing children. By putting these women on HOPE and reassuring them that there is housing, training and education for their kids, these women are now secure women and they can look after their two children. If they find true love, by all means, go ahead. But keep your families small, focus your resources and your attention on your existing children. So I totally agree with Mr Seah and I think he can be happy with that proposal.

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim has also asked about mentoring. We will pilot a new mentoring framework starting with 150 youths who are at risk and we will scale this up because, clearly, many more young people will benefit from mentoring. I am also aware of many mentoring schemes started by VWOs and other organisations in the community, and we must support these other efforts, because sometimes a parent or an older person is less effective at transmitting role model behaviour than a peer, or an older brother or sister.

The relationship dynamics are different and I think mentoring is something which we need to support.

2.30 pm

Our third strategy is to intervene judiciously and practically where there are problems. So we will set up a new unit and will start first with our youth who are in the MCYS residential homes, offering practical skills and jobs training for them, because life has already dealt them an unfair hand. If we do not enable them to find jobs and to develop the pride and dignity which come with jobs, these youth will remain at risk and may even offend or re-offend later on.

We will also be piloting a two-year intensive case management programme for identified families at risk. That is because we know that for these

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dysfunctional families with multiple problems, they really need far more intensive hand-holding than our current system allows for. So each case worker who is performing intensive case management will handle no more than 10 families at a time. This is a much lower caseload compared to the average of one social worker to 40 or 50 families, which is the normal caseload in the FSCs currently. Frankly, I think even 40 and 50 is too high for normal caseloads. We will need to increase the number of qualified social workers.

I will in a later speech talk more about what we are going to do to further resource the social service agencies and, in particular, on enhancing both the supply and the quality of social workers.

Let me now turn to investing in our children. Of all the things which I can do in my Ministry, let me tell you that at a personal level, this is the one area which I want to make the greatest difference to. I do not believe that the destiny of our children is limited by their genetic inheritance. I believe the family, the culture and the environment play a huge role. And because we can influence the environment, I believe this is an area which deserves investment.

In the case of pre-school education, in particular, because childcare centres, for now, come under my Ministry, I intend to do whatever it takes to put all the resources available to make a quantum leap in the standards and quantity of places available for early childcare, in particular, for dysfunctional families and for low-income families. And that is why in my Minister of State's speech just now, you will have heard that, in fact, for low-income families, it is a negligible amount that they need to pay in order to put a child in either kindergarten (no more than $5) or even childcare ($10 a month). And the reason we are doing this is because I believe this gives these children

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an opportunity to break out of a trajectory which would have been stunted by a dysfunctional family or a less than ideal environment. So I hope Members will rest assured that we will do whatever it takes to keep investing in this area.

Today there are 482 kindergartens and 749 childcare centres in Singapore. And I am glad to inform you that that means so far today, 97.5% of all children attend pre-school. There is still a tiny percentage which we are still trying to hunt down and make sure they attend pre-school, and tell their mothers there is no excuse for them not to place their children in kindergarten or childcare. And money is not an excuse because the assistance schemes are there. If you need help filling up a form, we will help you fill up the form, but they must understand that this is a joint responsibility. You must also make that effort to send your children to school, kindergarten or childcare. We will help them and together we will give your children hope for the future.

I realise that we do have, as Mr Yeo has called it, a "market-driven" model for early childhood education. But it is nevertheless a sector which, as I have said, is currently able to provide enough places. And it is a sector in which we are elevating standards by working on the quality of teachers. So we will put in more resources and avenues for teachers to be upgraded. We will enhance the minimum standards and qualifications for teachers. The details are in the handouts which we have circulated to Members. And I can also assure Members that my Ministry will increase the licensing requirements for childcare centres.

I also remember Prof. Kalyani's repeated appeals to me in the past to make all information available to parents. Although my staff keep telling me it is

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difficult - believe me, I keep pushing them - we will make more and more information available and transparent, so that parents can choose. And by introducing competitive transparency, I think we will get an overall elevation in standards.

We are also looking at the issue of providing more places for training. In fact, in this economic downturn, can I make a plea again to people who may otherwise be looking for jobs that this is a growth area, and we need highly qualified, committed and dedicated teachers. If you are willing to undergo the courses and the training that both MOE and MCYS provide, we have avenues for you.

Let me also deal with this issue of fee increases. Last year, when we announced an increase in the universal subsidy provided by Government - we increased it from $150 to $300 - some childcare centres raised their fees. In fact, I have been told that 18% of childcare centres have raised or announced their intention to raise their fees. The average fee increase was about $78, so that is still much less than the $150 increase in subsidy that the Government provided. I share Members' concern that it would be a big pity if that entire additional $150 that Government made available was wiped out and eroded by childcare centres increasing the fees.

So I want to make two points. First, today, I want to remind all childcare centres that, in fact, they are one of the major beneficiaries of the Government's Jobs Credit Scheme because they also receive the additional 12% which the Minister for Finance announced. So their cost of employing teachers, in fact, is partly subsidised this year. Second, remember that there is a recession going on but we still want our children to continue their education. Third, I want to remind the operators of childcare centres that I am going full steam with

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establishing another 200 new childcare centres over the next few years, so competition is coming your way. I am hoping with the combination of moral suasion, some targeted subsidies, greater transparency and competition, we will be able to get a childcare sector that has got high quality, that charges reasonable fees, and is universally accessible. If we can do this, and if I can make a difference by allowing our children to fulfil their destiny by giving them the best environment possible, then I think this is an investment well worth the amount that we are spending. So I hope Members will support the huge amounts of money that my Ministry is budgeting for children and families.

Child Protection

Ms Indranee Rajah (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, I would like to raise the issue of child protection. Young children are vulnerable. Ordinarily, one would expect them to be cared for and protected by their families. Yet this is not always the case and we have seen instances where there has been a total dereliction of familial and parental responsibility, and an abuse of the trust that the child is entitled to repose in a parent or an adult. There have been instances of physical abuse of children. Children are often the victims of domestic violence especially where the parents have matrimonial problems. Because the child is young and defenceless, it is easy for an adult to take out his or her anger, aggression and frustration on the child. There are also cases, we have read about in the newspapers, of incest or other forms of sexual abuse, either by a parent, relative or other adult who stands in a relationship of trust towards the child. In some cases, the abuse is not physical but it is emotional or verbal. The children are often not in a position to articulate the abuse. And even if they are old enough to do so, not many know that they can and should voice out such problems, nor do they

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even know with whom such matters can be raised. I would like to ask the Minister what protections are in place for children who are the subject of such abuse, what kind of intervention the Ministry undertakes when such cases are brought to its attention, and what more can be done to ensure the protection of children. Also, is there any form of specialised counselling for children who have been the victims of abuse as different types of abuse require different counselling and treatment?

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank Ms Indranee Rajah and Ms Ellen Lee for their concerns. As my Minister has stressed, we pay a lot of attention to our children. Every single child deserves the right to fulfil his or her potential.

Child abuse is totally unacceptable. I would like to assure Members that MCYS pays close attention to the safety of our children, and works with multiple agencies to tackle the problem, including the Police, hospitals, schools, social service agencies and the Courts.

MCYS’ key strategies are: (1) prevention; (2) early intervention; and (3) effective treatment of children who have been abused.

We have two key thrusts in prevention. First, we conduct public education on child abuse issues; and second, we promote training for social workers, healthcare professionals, police officers, educators and others who have regular contact with children. This is to enable them to detect signs of abuse early and refer these cases for investigation.

When abuse does occur, we have a framework to manage each case effectively. When a case is referred to MCYS, first, we assess if the child’s safety is at risk, and if the alleged perpetrator is a family member. Our first

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priority is the well-being of the child, and to send the child to the hospital if required. The Police and MCYS would next investigate if there is evidence of abuse within the family. If not, the case is closed, but we may refer the family to a Family Service Centre to sort out any remaining difficulties. If there is evidence of abuse within the family, a specialised plan for the child is worked out by a multi-disciplinary Child Abuse Protection Team, comprising child protection officers, paediatricians, psychologists and educators. They would work out the most appropriate care arrangement for the child, through conducting home visits, interviews with family members and psychiatric assessments.

Children who need protection but do not have a conducive home environment will be placed with their relatives as far as possible. If not, they can be placed in foster care or in a Children’s Home. A Care and Protection Order is also usually issued by the Court to ensure that family members receive help.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the case may be brought to Court. The law takes a tough stance against perpetrators of child abuse. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, any parent or guardian convicted of the ill-treatment of a child or young person may be fined up to $4,000 and jailed for up to four years. Where death of the child or young person is caused, the parent or guardian may be fined up to $20,000 and jailed for up to seven years. In an extreme case, where it becomes a case of murder, such a person could be sentenced to death under the Penal Code. The Court may also order the perpetrators to undergo mandatory counselling, psychotherapy and other rehabilitation programmes.

While MCYS takes child abuse very seriously and has put in place a robust

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framework to tackle the issue, child abuse can only be stopped by the effort from the whole community. We all have a role to play in protecting the most vulnerable within our midst. If members of the public suspect a case of child abuse, they should call the Child Protection Hotline or even ComCare Call.

During these difficult times, more than ever, I would like to urge families who need help managing their lives or their problems to seek help early. Do not let the situation get out of control and end up hurting your children. Families can seek help from Family Service Centres located near their homes.

I would like to call on the community, grassroots leaders and all of us to pay more attention to help these families. For dysfunctional families, as the Minister has mentioned just now, we will also pay more attention on prevention and early help for these families.

National Council on Problem Gambling

Ms Sylvia Lim (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, in 2005, Parliament debated the decision of the Government to proceed with casinos in integrated resorts. To assuage concerns about the social ills of excessive gambling, the formation of the National Council on Problem Gambling was announced to advise the Government on these problems, and to initiate preventive programmes, activities and services.

In the NCPG's annual reports, we see millions being spent on the media blitz on public education and prevention. Less is known about the funding and preparations to be put in place for a robust counselling network to support problem gamblers. The Ministry has appointed two pilot counselling centres which have already been providing intervention services since September 2006.

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2.45 pm

Last January, the Minister told the House in a written answer that the pilot centres were already facing challenges, as only one third of the problem gamblers completed their treatment. He indicated that NCPG and IMH would work together with an international advisory panel of gambling addiction experts to enhance counselling and treatment for problem gamblers and their families. What progress has been made on this so far? Are there plans to expand beyond the two centres before or after the IRs are opened? And are such counselling programmes to be fully funded by the Government, or will the counselling centres be expected to raise some of the funds themselves?

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mr Teo Ser Luck): Sir, the National Council on Problem Gambling has put in place several measures to help problem gamblers and their families, and to raise awareness of problem gambling. Allow me to elaborate in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, a three-tier help system has been rolled out by the National Council on Problem Gambling. The first tier is the identification of problem gamblers by 'grassroots' organisations like Family Service Centres and Community Development Councils. Officers there have been trained to spot symptoms of problem gambling, and persuade these individuals to seek help.

The second line of help is family-based intervention services. The Council has appointed the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society to provide these services since 2006. These are fully funded by the Government and Thye Hua Kwan does not need to raise funds to provide these

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services. The first two tiers will cost $3 million over five years.

The third tier is psychiatric and medical treatment for those with severe gambling or multiple addictions at the Institute of Mental Health under the National Addictions Management Service at a cost of $37 million over five years for the treatment of all addictions.

Over and above these channels of help, some voluntary welfare organisations and religious groups also help problem gamblers who turn to them. The Council does not fund them, but assists them by opening up training programmes to them.

The Council is preparing to issue Casino Exclusion Orders. This is a key social safeguard under the Casino Control Act. Twenty-nine thousand Third-Party Orders will be issued to undischarged bankrupts, and Public Assistance and Special Grant beneficiaries. Families may apply on behalf for their family members to be excluded, and individuals may apply for self-exclusion. More details will be announced later.

To raise the awareness of problem gambling, the Council has reached out to over 30,000 heartlanders and workers, and 20,000 students since 2005 through the mass media and ground initiatives.

The public education campaign has also been stepped up during the Lunar New Year, through TV advertisements, radio talk shows and a four-part Channel 8 documentary series. This is a time when social gambling is popular, and social gambling may later become the root cause of problem gambling.

In total, $3.5 million has been spent on public education since 2005. Surveys show that the public awareness of problem gambling has doubled from 32% in 2006 to 61% in 2007. The National

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Council on Problem Gambling will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the various problem gambling help programmes and public education initiatives, and make adjustments as necessary.

( In English ): Sir, NCPG started two pilot counselling centres in September 2006 for a two-year period. In the first year of the pilot centres, from September 2006 to 2007, 190 cases were handled at the two pilot centres, and 80 cases or 36% were closed at completion during this period. The other cases had either dropped out or stopped for other reasons.

In the second year, which is from October 2007 to September 2008, the centres handled about 285 cases. They completed 206 cases, and of these, 43% were closed due to completion. The remaining cases had either dropped out or stopped for other reasons.

In June 2008, the NCPG engaged Dr Jeffrey Marota, a renowned expert in the problem gambling field. He had developed a well-respected gambling services framework in Oregon State, USA. Dr Jeffrey Marota advised NCPG on the framework for counselling and treatment services for problem gamblers in Singapore. Dr Marotta noted that the National Addiction Management Services (NAMS) was starting services in the community through its Community Wellness Centres, the first of which has been established. This was a welcomed move given that addiction treatment is highly complex. He also noted the relatively low case loads of NCPG's two pilot centres, and he advised that we should consolidate.

So, following his advice and consultancy, NCPG decided to cease one of its pilot centres and continue only with the Thye Hua Kwan Centre. NCPG would

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work alongside NAMS as it provides the tertiary tier within a community set-up at the Community Wellness Centres. And the Thye Hua Kwan Centre would also complement the Community Wellness Centres by providing debt counselling as well as family-based counselling. NCPG will continue to monitor, and is now monitoring this revised framework and report on its results and outcomes in due course.

Social Assistance

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang: Sir, over the last 12 years, we see that each economic cycle is shorter and shorter, and many have been hit not just once but twice by the economic slowdowns. In this scenario, it is clear that we need more than just quick-fix financial handouts. For some time now, Singapore has done well in our many-helping-hands approach in assisting the lower income groups. But I think we need a network and system to organise these many helping hands. If not, the ball may just get passed around from one organisation to another or drop out of sight.

I propose the setting up of H2O, a Helping Hands Organiser system, either in the CDC or even at the CCC welfare committee, to better coordinate available helping hands and to make it more accessible, so that in times of need, people are not running from one place to another to get assistance, or waiting needlessly for messages to get passed around. Such a system can also ensure that the need, would not drop out of sight.

We also need to look at whether our existing resources, such as Family Services Centres, require more capacity building or need to be expanded in their outreach. It is good news that the Government is extending a helping hand to VWOs, and we must ensure that the Family Service Centres are not left out of the picture. What are the needs of

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these existing FSCs? Do they need more resources? How far have they come and what is the profile of the people they help? I think it is important to raise the profile of these centres and I think the Government needs to play a more supporting role in this, particularly to strengthen the existing Family Service Centres or provide support to establish more new FSCs if need be.

Apart from the financial assistance, we also need to promote emotional well being. We need to ensure that there is sufficient assistance and counselling for families with long-term financial difficulties. This is especially important if there are children involved. During this time of family crisis, the children may feel helpless and embarrassed; so they do not seek help or share their problems. They may feel that the situation is hopeless because they cannot help their parents. We need more outreach programmes to increase awareness and more holistic counselling to ensure that the children are protected from this emotional upheaval that may affect them negatively.

Central Agency for Social Assistance

Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, the number of Singaporeans seeking social assistance during this economic downturn is expected to increase. Many Government agencies, such as MCYS, CDCs, WDA, the VWOs, GROs, FSCs, self-help groups and religious organisations have shown a caring and loving heart by extending assistance to Singaporeans in need. In fact, more and more schemes are being introduced by the different agencies, and the list just keeps increasing. This is indeed very heartwarming and reassuring. However, it is exactly this many-helping-hands approach that has resulted in duplication of resources and confusion on the ground. The needy looking for help in the social assistance circle is like walking into a rainforest full of trees without any

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compass or GPS to provide directions. Many needy residents, especially the old and illiterate, are not sure exactly who and where to turn to for help. At times, residents may turn up at a particular agency only to be told that they have come to the wrong place.

I would like to suggest to the Minister that a central coordinating agency be set up to coordinate all initiatives offered by the various agencies, and to provide a no wrong door policy where Singaporeans can just turn up to seek any form of social assistance without being turned away. Just like in a tug of war scenario where all hands pull in one common direction to achieve victory, the many-helping-hands approach is only effective if there is one mind to control and coordinate the efforts of the different agencies.

Coordinating Help for the Needy

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, last week, some MPs asked for assistance for retrenched workers and the House was told that there is already such a scheme - ComCare Transition. Let us capture in a nutshell the problem. There are so many schemes now for the needy and they are growing by the day. It is perhaps time to consolidate some of these schemes.

Sir, the other challenge is to know how much has been given out under the many-helping-hands approach. We suspect that some needy recipients are receiving help from multiple sources, but we have no means of finding out. Knowing how much a needy recipient is receiving is important so that we can size financial help accordingly, because we must also be fair to other recipients who are receiving help only from one source. So we need greater coordination in the assistance schemes. I hope MCYS can address this concern.

( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, we

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have many schemes to help poor Malay/Muslim families. The number of people who need assistance will increase during this economic downturn. However, the present coordination is not very effective in helping them.

There are two types of recipients of assistance. Some get help from various sources but we have no way to ensure the full amount that they receive, and they receive more help compared to the rest. There are also those who did not receive any assistance because they do not know how to get help.

We need to ensure that those who need help will receive it. At the same time, we have to also ensure that the assistance rendered will not weaken the spirit or resilience of our recipients. The assistance schemes have to be linked to efforts to get jobs and upgrade their skills.

I hope that the Minister will focus on these issues and provide more information on what is being done to give assistance to those who need it, and to have a better coordination.

Supporting the Vulnerable in Singapore

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Sir, last July, a 14-year old boy with special needs fell to his death from a HDB flat. Sebastian Yeo Wei Xiong or Ah Boy or beggar boy as he was known to his neighbours, lived with his divorced mother in a rental flat. It was reported in the online New Paper that Ah Boy had stopped attending school for more than a year before his death. His mother had depression and would often lock the door on him. On the nights that he was locked out, he would hang the packet of food that he bought for his mother outside the door before going to spend the night at the void deck or at a nearby bus stop. Ah Boy is dead now. Could his death have

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been prevented? Sir, I say yes, but only if all of us who are trying to help can organise ourselves as a sector more effectively.

Sir, as a full-time volunteer, I have witnessed and protested for years against the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the way the "many-helping-hands" approach is being applied in essential services, such as education in the disability sector. At times, "many-helping-hands" degenerate to a "many-bosses-to-report-to" syndrome, eg, special schools. Even the formation of a Disability Office by MCYS to coordinate inter-Ministry efforts for pivotal disability services in health, early intervention, education and employment did not bear much visible fruit for various reasons.

Sir, after serving three years as an MP, I now realise that the rest of the social service sector serving the poor and the needy faces similar challenges. The root cause does not lie in the competency or the mission of each agency. In fact, some of them whom I am familiar with, like the Central CDC, CDAC and Kampong Kapor Family Service Centre, are responsive, compassionate and able. Sincere and helpful MCYS and NCSS professionals are constantly developing programmes and seeking funding to support the many VWOs that they are taking care of. My sincere gratitude to them.

But, Sir, most help agencies work in silos. The CDC has its own data base. MCYS has its ComCare data base. The People's Association has its household information system. MOE, Town Councils, Family Service Centres, ethnic self-help groups, VWOs, NCSS and even us MPs have our own mini data bases, from Excel spreadsheets to more sophisticated ware to keep track of our charges. How many of these agencies have the capability and the bandwidth to follow through till the

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vulnerable individual or family can stand on their own two feet and to ensure that no one falls through the crack?

Sir, if the social service sector is likened to the Titanic, we need to go beyond rearranging the deck chairs or, worse, buying more deck chairs to save this ship and its passengers. We need a serious systems study of the features of the ship and align it with where it is heading, organise the crew, go beyond programme launches or publicity, and follow it through with execution excellence to save as many of the vulnerable as possible. Specifically, I urge the Minister to personally captain and navigate the following suggested strategies.

(1) Commission an in-depth systems study of the social service sector, listing its target recipients, the numerous agencies involved, reporting matrices and outcomes.

(2) Collaborate with the various agencies and construct a service delivery process map from the perspective of the user for each key group they serve, starting with the most vulnerable. In this regard, I would recommend a study mission to Alexandra Hospital's IDEAS LAB, which chronicles the hospital's key service delivery tools, such as customer-base experience mapping and trending of balanced scorecard results and outcomes.

(3) Appoint a carefully selected taskforce with the right mix of strategic leadership and execution bench depth, to be accountable to deliver what Prime Minister recently promised Singapore that he will "make sure that everyone who needs help will get help."

(4) Consolidate and make available a confidential password-protected data base, so that key information on the case history of the vulnerable is accessible to appointed key agency representatives,

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and that the respective help agencies do not overlap their services or trip over each other.

In conclusion, Sir, after observing and experiencing the challenges on the ground in the social service sector, I am convinced that it is not a lack of resources that those helping the vulnerable in Singapore are facing, and this is confirmed many times by the Ministry just now in the COS session. In fact, Government recently announced that only one third of the $6.25 million in ComCare fund is given out. The social service sector needs to undergo a serious review and we need to deploy our many-helping-hands approach wisely. Albert Einstein once said, "Ours is the generation that has seriously mistaken means with ends." Sir, with our MCYS Minister as the captain of the ship to lead us in navigating the four strategies I proposed, I am confident that we can avoid confusing means with ends and prove Einstein wrong, and extend help to where help is badly needed to the vulnerable in Singapore.

Effectiveness of Many Helping Hands Approach during Downturn

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah): Sir, I initially planned to talk about the adequacy of funding and professional staffing for the CDCs, FSCs and VWOs, but the Minister has already covered it and said that he is going to increase the funding. I thank him as the social service sector will benefit.

Sir, in these times, I also see an increase in demand for social assistance, as well as an increase in troubled and distressed families in this difficult period, ranging from house repossession, family tensions due to income issues, depression, etc. Yet, I feel that the current infrastructure, ranging from the grassroots, the CDCs and the VWOs, may be burdened by cases beyond their usual capacities.

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Does the Ministry have plans to increase the number of social organisations, such as FSCs, to cope with the increasing demand for financial assistance and social services, such as counselling in these difficult times? Can the Ministry elaborate if it has specific plans and if there are services it deems as a priority to be expanded and funded in these difficult times?

I also think that this is a good time for VWOs and social organisations - what Ms Denise Phua was talking about to restructure the sector - to attract talent to the social sector, and it would be good if the Ministry can to provide assistance for these organisations to enhance their management and operation teams with better talent. Would the Ministry consider putting forth special schemes to help them attract good talent in this sector? Perhaps even consider helping to promote social work as a career, as some Ministries, such as MOE has done to promote teaching as a choice career?

The Chairman: Order. I propose to take the break now.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Mr Speaker: Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.30 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 3.05 pm

until 3.30 pm.

Sitting resumed at 3.30 pm

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]:

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]: Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Head I - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (cont.) -

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Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Sir, I would like to thank hon. Members for their various suggestions.

Sir, when ComCare was launched in 2005, it was a clear signal of the Government's commitment that no one would be left behind. At the same time, it is a working model of flexibility and decentralisation, highlighting particularly the role of the grassroots organisations, the voluntary welfare organisations and the Community Development Councils (CDCs). So it is a triangle - the CDC, the Family Service Centre and the grassroots organisations.

The main questions Members have voiced surrounding social assistance delivery are: Is the many helping hands approach working? Do the needy know where to go for help? Is our help delivered effectively?

I believe my Minister has already addressed Mr Zaqy Mohamad's question as to whether the many helping hands approach is working. We believe this approach provides the most robust and sustainable safety net.

Do the needy know what help is available and where to go for help? This is a question that some Members are concerned about. Anyone who needs help can just approach one of three touchpoints - CDCs, the 36 Family Service Centres (FSCs) or the grassroots organisations and the advisers. He does not need to worry about which scheme is best for him. The touchpoints will advise on the available assistance and link the needy with the relevant parties.

If he does not know where to go for help, he can just call ComCare Call at 1800-222-0000. Actually, I have personally chosen this number so that I can remember and the old people can also remember. And we will handle this

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helpline with four languages and different dialects, even Hainanese .

Having multiple touchpoints in the community lets the needy conveniently access help at their doorstep. Having a central agency deliver all social assistance may seem ideal to some. But we would lose the flexibility and speed with which those who know the ground best can give assistance. What is more, we will also lose the passion and human touch of our many helping hands, like what the Member Mdm Cynthia Phua has said, served with love and care.

Is our help delivered effectively and responsively? The CDCs now process about 98% of social assistance applications within six weeks. So we do have KPIs for all the CDCs. More than 60% are processed within two weeks and for some emergency cases, they are processed on the spot. In contrast, prior to the launch of ComCare in 2005, only about 40% of applications were processed in six weeks. This is a big improvement. For those needing urgent and interim help, the CCC ComCare Fund provides immediate relief. I want to take this opportunity to clarify again.

ComCare has a few components: one is long-term public assistance; in the medium-term there are the Work Support and ComCare Transitions schemes; and the short term help is the CCC ComCare Fund. It is what I call the "Petty Cash", because the ComCare budget is $77 million and the $7 million given to the CCF, to me, is petty cash. But the CCC ComCare Fund gives us flexibility for urgent and immediate help. During this extraordinary period, I think all the grassroots leaders should apply a flexible approach towards this. If they have any difficulty, they can discuss with the Mayor or with us. So you can decide which case deserves immediate help and improve the disbursement. I am not

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saying that we should just give away the money. In some countries, this money might not even reach those in need. So it is good that you all have accountability and honesty, to deliver this scheme very effectively. But for those people who need help during this period, we should be more flexible. So, remember, the CCF budget is only $7 million, and the total ComCare budget is $77 million.

I agree with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Dr Lam Pin Min, Mdm Halimah Yacob and Ms Denise Phua that help must be delivered in an integrated and coordinated way to be effective. I will address their concerns here. Minister Yaacob will address Mdm Halimah's specific questions on the Malay/Muslim community in his speech later.

We will take a holistic approach in delivering assistance. For example, when a family goes to the CDC for help, CDC staff will seek to understand the underlying issues beyond the immediate problem. They will also help link the family up with other agencies for assistance, where necessary. I do agree that we will also build up the resources for CDC, to help them in the administration process.

Where there are familial or marital problems, the FSCs will be brought in. My Minister is going to deliver a very comprehensive speech on how to strengthen FSCs. So FSCs are key players within - the triangle of CDCs, FSCs and grassroots organisations. If there are housing issues, HDB will be contacted. If school children are involved, school counsellors will be brought in. So if the school knows that a kid has dropped out, we should refer him to the school counsellor to hold the hand of this child.

For families with multiple problems, the case managers at the FSCs will coordinate the help needed from the

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different agencies, and will also keep an overview to ensure that the various problems are addressed holistically. I do agree that a number of FSCs still need to improve their efficiency and resources, and my Ministry is reviewing this. The case managers can also work with families to address the underlying causes of deep-rooted problems.

We will continue to work with the CDCs to improve the administration of our ComCare schemes. We will also provide the FSCs with more resources to enable them to do their work better and also to train more social workers.

The FSCs, CDCs and grassroots organisations will also strengthen their linkages to better coordinate help for families in need. For example, we have the ComCare Local Networks (CLNs), which my Minister earlier mentioned, which link up social agencies within the community such as the FSCs, VWOs, grassroots organisations, schools, etc. Now, we have nine ComCare Local Networks. So each network will rope in the people from the agencies like VWOs, work council, CDCs, schools and the Police, which all have a representative at the CLN. The CLNs involve more than 400 institutions and agencies at this moment. Through regular meetings, sharing and networking sessions, the agencies can better coordinate help for the needy in their districts.

Agencies can also tap on the ComCare Database. Ms Denise Phua also mentioned the database just now. The database is actually shared by PA, CDCs, grassroots organisations, CCCs and we will try and extend it to more and more other agencies, so as to get information on people who have received financial assistance. For specific cases which require more holistic and hands-on

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intervention, case conferencing among the agencies may be held.

Where possible, our social services are also organised and co-located to facilitate easy access to related programmes. For example, we have piloted the Multi-Service Centres or Clusters for more integration. They are being piloted at five centres - MacPherson, Tampines, Toh Guan, Toa Payoh and Teck Whye.

I agree that better coordination among help agencies is critical to helping families facing chronic and complex problems. The Ministries and agencies already exercise flexibility when they assess appeals for help from such families. On top of this, the advisers, CDCs or FSCs can refer such cases to the ComCare Review Committee, which I am chairing. We will involve representatives from the relevant Ministries to look at these appeals holistically, using an inter-agency approach.

Ultimately, the beauty of our many helping hands model is that everyone can play a part to reach out to the needy in our midst. Sometimes, those who truly need help may feel embarrassed to ask for it, or they may not know that help is available. If Members know of someone like that, please refer them to the CDC, FSC, or grassroots organisation and advisers. Or they can just call ComCare Call at 1800-222-0000.

Fund Raising for the Charity Sector

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, Singapore is developing, and quite rightly, a relatively vibrant charity sector, including the voluntary welfare organisations. This is consistent with the policy of the many helping hands approach where the Government seeks to work in tandem with others, such as the voluntary welfare organisations, in tackling social issues. Many of these organisations are supported by donations from members of

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the public or by organisations who themselves are supported by members of the public.

With the current downturn, it is expected that the donations to the charity sector and the voluntary welfare organisations will decline. Unfortunately, the services that these organisations provide will continue to be in demand and, in some cases, especially in an economic crisis, the demand may, in fact, go up. The services provided by these organisations will have to carry on, or the service clientele will suffer. With a substantial drop to be expected in donations, the challenge for many of these organisations will be to maintain the level of service quality.

I am appreciative that the Government, in this Budget, has decided to increase the amount of tax deduction from 200% to $250% of the total amount donated to the charities. This will only work if the companies are making profit and are able to write off against these tax benefits. But in cases where they are making losses, then I think the ability to contribute to their favourite charities will indeed be placed in peril. Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister what the Government intends to do if there is a significant decline in the level of funding for the charity sector which may compromise on the level of service provided by these voluntary service organisations and whether the Government is prepared to step in to meet the shortfall in funding, if necessary.

Survival of the VWOs Amidst a Global Financial Crisis

Mrs Jessie Phua: Sir, the face having your world turned inside out and upside down definitely has a brand new meaning for all of us during these extremely difficult times. Yes, undeniably, we have entered into a global economic recession of unprecedented scale and magnitude. For the past several

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months, we have been overwhelmed by waves of financial tsunami storm. No one is making a final list of the wreckage yet, as many believe that even more tidal waves ahead. People, companies and even countries are struggling. Yes, we are all struggling and trying to make sense of what is happening to keep afloat, basically to stay alive. It is despite this hovering backdrop that I wish to draw attention to our not-for-profit VWOs. Even in the best of times, financial assistance and help to the VWOs are hard to come by. Help being hardly adequate then, the present economic climate and sentiments will render it tougher for them to stay afloat to achieve their missions.

Unfortunately, I do not have a magic formula that I can share to lighten the VWO's uphill task. However, I do not stand alone in believing that these turbulent times demanded we look at and do things a little differently. In an economic downturn of such scale, many industries face reduced demands, excess capacity, more downtime and job losses. Yet, there is one sector that is conversely affected - the non-profit VWOs. To begin with, job losses will see more people in need of social welfare. This leads to Family Service Centres and CDCs having to work overtime. Funds, meaning donations, sponsorships and endowments, are down and yet there is even more to do.

On the athletic front, National Sports Associations are similarly going to be double hit by possible reduced funding and even less or no sponsorships coming in to aid their developmental programmes. So, what can we do differently? I have some suggestions that I would like to share. It would be difficult for companies to continue to open their wallets to donate when the bottomline is what shareholders want accountability on.

Ironically, in the midst of tightening their belts, there is no better time than

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now for companies to practise some corporate social responsibility (CSR). Companies, like NTUC FairPrice or Cold Storage, can take the lead in this CSR movement, in what I would term as "brand for charity". Would it not be wonderful if companies, like NTUC FairPrice adopt a charitable organisation for the year and raise money for them by allocating up to 5% of the sales of their house brands? Such goodwill, especially in these tough times, will not only generate positive public perception, it may even increase sales volume. They may end up doing well by wanting to do good. So, how else can we source for financial aid? From our other sacred cow - taxes.

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Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. If we concede that the current economic turmoil merits the tapping of our first sacred cow - our precious reserves - then, along the same vein, let us explore how we can tap our other sacred cow - our taxes. In particular, we could look to the taxes levied on our gaming industry. The genesis of Singapore Pools and toto was for the support of sports and community welfare. Whilst we are given to understand that substantial sums are disbursed annually by the Totalisator Board towards these causes, can we now think out of the box and ask that a percentage of the taxes levied be channelled to support the VWOs during these turbulent times?

Next, I would like touch on volunteerism. Some companies have already employed shorter work week to help stamp wage costs. Some 18,000 workers are already placed on shorter work week. These workers should be encouraged to volunteer at the VWO, be it social work at the Family Service Centres or homes for the handicapped, or

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even at theNational Sports Associations. We need not stop at workers with shorter work week. Let us cast the net a little wider. Retrenched workers should be encouraged to volunteer, especially the PMETs who face a tougher and longer period to return to the workforce. I am quietly optimistic that these citizens would rather serve and feel good than stay at home. We can also tap the pool of fresh graduates who are struggling to gain employment in an extremely weak job market. This can even spark off and nurture the culture of volunteerism in Singapore. There is no denying that, ultimately, this will help to strengthen our social fabric, so that we emerge a stronger and tighter-knit people as the economy recovers.

Imagine, too with through the tremendous injection and infusion of professionalism, the VWOs stand to gain in these most difficult of times, to be assisted by professionals, hitherto out of their range of affordability, to be guided on how to manage and run their organisations with best practices and good governance as their foundational pillars. When we add on these professionals' network, the multiplier effect can be quite remarkable. When life hands us lemon, let us make some lemonade.

As a final procedural point, in order to facilitate a smooth implementation, the National Volunteers and Philanthropy Centre should be encouraged to be the match-maker. These are indeed exceptionally uncertain and turbulent times. If there is one country that is going to come out of the current global economic crisis in better shape than any other in the world, I believe it would be this little red dot called Singapore. Because, like or forefathers, we will not cower in the face of adversities and, like our forefathers, we will weather through this storm as one people.

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Social Workers

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, social workers are often the unsung heroes of our society. They work with people and families who are in need of help or counselling. As our society becomes more advanced, we believe more demands will be placed on the services of social workers. This is particularly the case when the economy goes into a recession and workers are retrenched. More families will need to work with social workers to resolve their problems.

Unfortunately, while the workload may be going up, we believe we are not getting enough of social workers to undertake field work. In other words, there is a shortage of qualified social workers, and this is in urgent need of redressing. I know that the Government is look at improving the work conditions and career prospects of the social workers, and also to train many more to undertake support roles for the social workers. I would, therefore, like to ask the Minister to update this House on the progress of these plans, and whether he is confident that the services of social workers will be adequate to deal with the problems that this economic recession will bring upon our society.

Social Work Profession in Singapore

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta: Sir, I would like to declare my interest as a Life Member of the Singapore Association of Social Workers. It has taken more than 50 years for the social work profession to reach a stage where the need for a licensing board is being supported by the Singapore Government. I shall take a few minutes to outline the growth of social work as an academic discipline. In 1952, the Diploma in Social Work was launched in the then University of Singapore. In the late 1960s, the degree programme was launched, and it has produced many leaders in Singapore, including the

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President, Mr S.R. Nathan. There are other institutions which are currently offering a degree program, such as Bachelor in Social Work programme by Monash University and UNISIM.

In 1970, the Singapore Social Workers' Association (SASW) was established. It is the voice for the 600-odd professional social workers in Singapore. There have been several small pieces of research conducted by university students on the factors affecting job satisfaction of professional social workers, eg, Ms Corinne Ghoh's research where she identified good working conditions and promotional opportunities as predictors of job satisfaction. The problem of leakage of social work manpower at two points, ie, at the recruitment stage and after a few years of practice, is a major cause of concern to the social service sector planners. In 1995, the then Acting Minister of MCYS stressed the need for more trained social workers to meet the manpower requirements of Family Service Centres (FSCs).

The SASW has been trying to persuade the MCYS to improve the salary scales and career prospects of professional social workers, not just in the public sector, but also in the NGO sector. Three years ago, the SASW organised the first ever Social Workers Day in Singapore. So we have had small steps like the Social Workers' Tea reception by the President at the Istana and the Outstanding Social Workers' Award, etc, which have enhanced the image of professional social workers. But the root of the problem remains. Social work, as a profession, is stilI seen as a 'soft' career and, therefore, the salaries of social workers in the VWO sector lags behind other professional occupations, such as teaching or nursing. The Report of Wages 2007 included medical social workers and community-based social workers within the lowest five occupations with median

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salaries of $2,600 and $2,300 respectively. Until 2005, social workers were referred to as associate professionals in the Report of Wages.

To sum up, the Singapore situation lags behind even Hong Kong's professional scene, where a Licensing Board was set up in January 1998. As recently as 24th January 2009, the Chief Executive Officer of National Council of Social Service (NCSS), Ms Ang Bee Lian, reiterated the need for

about 100 professional social workers every year in the next five years to handle the social services sector. She mentioned in the interview with Berita Harian that 50 voluntary welfare organisations have more than 105 vacancies currently. With the present economic downturn, individuals and families will have more severe problems and social workers will be in great demand. If the manpower crunch is not addressed swiftly, even the current social workers who are delivering services will suffer burnout. We all know that the work of a social worker is not only physically and mentally demanding, it also requires strong relationship skills that can be emotionally draining. For all this, they are poorly rewarded in terms of working conditions.

What needs to be done? Even though the Minister for Community, Youth and Sports, Mr Vivian Balakrishnan, announced that the salaries of trained social workers would be raised in 2007, and in 2008, the Accreditation package was announced, the tipping point has not been reached. Undoubtedly, these actions have helped to some extent, but the community-based voluntary welfare sector has not changed its salary structure to any significant degree. What is needed is a higher entry level salary structure, and defined career paths across the board, not only the Government but also the non-Government sectors. The actual remmune

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ration has to match the longer working hours, work overload and aspirations of young graduates. This will help stop the leakages that I mentioned earlier.

A licensing board for social workers will raise the status and credibility of professional social workers. The SASW is working closely with MCYS to make it happen this year. Government support is a critical component in recognising the unstinting contributions of professional social workers to the social economy of Singapore, its social capital and well being of its people. An effective network of social services in a country supports the implementation of its social policies which, in turn, complements the economic progress and the moral fabric of society. The social work community awaits the Minister's details, not only on training opportunities for social workers, but also his plans for the establishment of a licensing board.

In my view, a bold and swift policy measure is necessary, akin to what was done by the Ministry of Education in relation to teachers. Mr Zaqy Mohamad has also mentioned this point. A multi-pronged approach, including equal entry level salary standards, greater resources for social service centres so that social work assistants can be hired to assist the professional social workers, and maybe overtime pay as well for all the work done on weekends and the evenings, especially now when the case loads are rising very fast. It is common for domestic violence, crime and breakup of families to occur at times of an economic recession. Therefore, it is hoped that MCYS can institute urgent measures to meet the needs of the social work profession in Singapore.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Sir, the social service sector and VWOs are critical for our system to work. So I share the concerns of Members that this is a sector we need to pay more attention to. I take

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the Member's point that perhaps we have not reached the tipping point yet.

I am also acutely aware that this is a counter-cyclical business. At a time of a severe downturn like this, their workload will increase. But this is also a time when there will inevitably be strains on the financing side because of worries about donations from the public. Nevertheless, we still do need to press on and continue to raise funds. As I said in my earlier speech, we estimated that there will be about $460 million flowing into this sector this year. More than half of that is from the Government. The other $220 million is from donations, I also alluded to the fact that this represents a significant portion of tax foregone by the Ministry of Finance. So let us see how this pans out. Yes, there has to be some element of belt-tightening. It is not possible for me to stand here and say, "Don't worry. There will be no impact on your bottom lines. There is no need to be careful with your expenditure".

We all need to do our bit. Our social safety net is really held up by a tripod - first is the support from the Government side, directly through MCYS, and the CDCs, which represent our decentralised delivery arm in the community. Second, the FSCs and the VWOs that stand behind them, as well as the VWOs which provide specialised services. Third is the grassroots network. We need all these three to function. I take Ms Denise Phua's point. But I wish it was so easy - to promise you a masterplan, a master Committee, and that everything would then fall into place.

I have been in this game long enough to know that there are no quick and easy solutions, and I will not stand here and make promises which I cannot fulfil. But having said that, let us take a critical look at what has happened so far.

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We reviewed the role of the FSCs. Currently, we have 36 FSCs scattered

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across the island. We have decided that we need to get back to basics and affirm the role of the FSCs to focus on the social well-being of vulnerable families. There is a lot of other upstream and downstream work that they can do, but those are additional options. But every FSC must be like a polyclinic out there in the community. It must be the general practitioner of social work. Families who go there must be assured that there is a minimum level of service which is available. That also means that from the Ministry's perspective, we must provide enough resources so that they can provide that suite of services. My Ministry will raise the funding for FSCs by $3 million this year. It would therefore reach $16 million for this year. Frankly, this is not a very large sum of money. In fact, it shows you how efficient and how much work they have been doing despite such a relatively small sum of money from my Ministry. $3 million is not much but as the workload goes up, I must be willing to allocate more resources to enable them to fulfil these programmes, particularly programmes which the Government supports.

The next issue, of course, as the Member alluded to, is the quantity and quality of manpower. It is very labour-intensive. It is very hands, heart and mind intensive. We cannot automate or outsource this. Even as we talk about increasing the number of FSCs, we do need to increase the number of social workers. We intend to do this through a combination of providing additional training avenues, accelerated courses, conversion courses as well as providing more scholarships and bursaries. And as the Member has said, we also need to make sure that we recognise the professionalism of social workers. I will say more about that later on.

The other key thing that our FSCs need to focus on is to establish a working relationship with key community partners.

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Ms Denise Phua always talks about having an integrated, comprehensive, functioning network. And yet, if we ask ourselves honestly, if I ask all the 84 MPs here, both Opposition and PAP, how many of you have a working relationship with the FSC that services your residents? I am glad to see a Member raise his hand. But can we say that universally, across-the-board? Similarly for the CDCs and their relationships with the VWOs and FSCs. We have made much progress in the last few years. But we have not yet reached the happy state that Ms Denise Phua anticipates. We need to work on developing these relationships and it starts at the human level. Do we have each other's phone numbers? Do we consult? Do we call urgently? Do we share information? Yes, we do have a common database but this database is only as good as the data that is put in. If everyone, who is helping a person in need, does not put in the data to begin with, or the data is not updated, then that database is not very useful. Today, every single MP here has access to that database, but I will tell you, quite honestly, not everyone has accessed that database. We do not need to get defensive about why we have not accessed that database. But the point is that the system is there.

The other thing is that the VWOs who are serving in our sector include more than just the FSCs. I announced earlier that we would be increasing our overall funding to social services delivered by VWOs. In fact, this year, it would be somewhere between $131 million and $140 million a year. That means, apart from the $100 million we deliver directly to needy families, MCYS funnels another $140 million through VWOs in order to serve people in need. Another question which has been raised in the past, although not today, is the issue of GST - that VWOs providing these services

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are also liable to GST. But what I will do is to help them offset this GST by providing additional funds to the VWOs, so that when they are providing Government-backed programmes, they would not have to worry about additional GST. We will provide that additional assistance to them.

Let me now turn to professionalising the sector. I totally agree with the Member that we need to give due recognition to social workers. For a long time, as she said, sometimes they are not even given the status of a professional. They were considered as associate professionals. I have always felt that this is wrong. And I am glad that we have taken some steps, maybe not as fast as Members would like, but Members would agree that we have taken steps in the right direction. We revised the salary guidelines in 2007. Having said that, the bulk of employers of social workers is not from the Government. It is from the VWOs, and it takes time for them to translate our norm costs, our salary guidelines, into their own actual payments to their staff. Nevertheless, the fact that we have revised the guidelines and that we have also said that we are looking at further revisions to the guidelines, will make a difference. Of course, in this year, 2009, to stand here and say that I am trying to raise the salary of any class of workers would, I think, be dissonant. So I am not going to say that social workers' salaries are going to go up this year. I cannot say that. But I will say that I intend for social workers' salary to go up in the medium to long-term. And that we will work on this together and collectively. We also have other schemes which the Member referred - the Sabbatical Leave scheme, the Professional and Leadership Development Scheme - and several social workers have already taken advantage of these schemes.

On accreditation, I have asked the Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Corinne Koh, to oversee the accreditation process.

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Like the Member has said, we have waited long enough for this. I hope that, in the course of this year, she and the other leaders of the social work scene in Singapore can get together and get this accreditation board off the ground. Then, we will have no doubt that a social worker is a professional and there is a proper set of accredited qualifications, and not anyone can claim to be a social worker. But even as we do that, I would advise social workers to avoid the temptations of many other professionals to engage in protectionism and say that, "Well, there is a small elite group of us who are qualified. Everyone else is unqualified and not allowed to practise." I think this would be wrong. That is why we are also working with the polytechnics in order to run courses at the diploma level so that there will be associate social workers. There is some quibble about whether they should be called social work associates or associate social workers. Some of these debates reflect protectionism. But the point is that I need to get more manpower into this sector. We would all agree that the more hands on-board, the better.

I am glad Ms Jessie Phua brought up this point that as retrenchments go up, or overtime is cut and most people work shorter work-weeks, even as new graduates try to enter the market, some of us may actually have more free time on our hands. It is perhaps an opportunity to consider increasing their commitment to volunteerism. I am glad to announce that the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), is working on the same idea - I guess great minds think alike - and will be launching a new programme called Singapore Cares. This is a scheme which, as Ms Jessie Phua has suggested, will play matchmaker for people who are willing to volunteer but cannot volunteer on a long-term permanent contractual basis, but perhaps can spare a few hours a week on a specific area of interest.

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NPVC, through Singapore Cares, will play matchmaker between the VWOs on the one hand and this pool of manpower on the other hand. They will launch a real-time online system. In Singapore now, everybody wants to go online and to be real-time. So they will do all that. But let us not get distracted by the technology. In the end, it is the willingness of people to share their time and expertise.

I totally agree with the Member that one of the most corrosive and scary things about retrenchment is the fact that people suddenly have nothing to do. That, sometimes, is even more scary than the loss of income. Whilst we do our best to get the economy back on the ground, to get jobs going again, I think we should really encourage people to find productive and fulfilling uses of their time. I do not present this as an alternative to paid work, but I am saying that volunteering is a fulfilling, viable and good thing to do, especially at a time like this when there are so many needs.

I hope that Members will continue to support our Many Helping Hands model, continue to encourage donations, both in terms of time and money to the VWOs. And we will continue to try to improve the system. It is not perfect, not by a long way, but we will continue to make improvements.

Social Enterprises

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, the Member for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Miss Penny Low, and I have spoken on the subject of social enterprise for several years now. Over time, I am grateful to know that social enterprise is increasingly gaining traction. Both the public and private sectors are beginning to see social enterprises as initiatives that can serve the public good without necessarily imposing too much demand on the charities sector, and by providing the basic structure for people to

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find employment or undertake business help to provide some relief from the pressures of mounting unemployment in deep recessions.

Unfortunately, social enterprises are often assessed on the same basis as commercial undertakings. To expect social enterprises, which are organised to serve the public good, to compete on the same footing as normal businesses may, in the view of some, not be reasonable. Social enterprises should be given reasonable assistance and support if we are to ensure the longer term viability of the business. A good example could be offering unused void deck spaces at HDB at assisted rentals to keep the cost of social enterprises affordable. However, with subsidies, of course, we recognise the hazards of over-dependency and relative inefficiencies if these enterprises are not properly managed.

If we accept the proposition that social enterprises are a useful public good, then it follows that the Government can do more to assist in getting some of these enterprises going. It would therefore be helpful if the Minister could inform the House whether he accepts the starting principle on social enterprises, and whether the Government would be prepared to do more in this regard.

Social Economy

Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Sir, I declare my interest in the social economy.

Sir, I applaud the setting up of the Inter-Agency Committee on Social Economy Implementation Committee, which I regard as a significant milestone and testimony to MCYS' enlightened whole-of-Government approach.

The social economy plays key roles in providing meaningful jobs, stimulating the

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economy and providing solutions where the market fails. Innovative social entrepreneurs bring solution from within the community to meet the needs of the community. This means involving citizens more fully in problem-solving, and channeling active citizenry into constructive socio-economic goods and services. Socially-driven businesses could help one another bear the pressures of the downturn.

Therefore, in that light, would the Minister commission a study to better understand, firstly, the size of Singapore's social economy; secondly, the demand and supply of jobs in the social economy; and, finally, its impact on our social compact?

In the United Kingdom, the office of the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office has pledged to work with government agencies to look for ways to grow social enterprise, and in fact, just injected another 42.5 million pounds. And as an example of what they do, the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) department would explore ways to make community development finance institutions more sustainable, while the National Offender Management Service would research ways in which social enterprise can help reduce re-offending. The UK Department of Health, too, looks at social return on investment (SROI) of social enterprises operating in mainstream healthcare. SROI, by the way, is 'a way to express social value in a way the bankers understand', and it would usually measure not just the financial bottom line, but also the social dividends.

Also, instead of a top-down approach, the UK government understands that giving a fish will only be good for a day, and enterprises really need cashflow and demand for its products and services. Hence, instead of just giving one-off grants and setting KPIs, it embarks on what it calls, public social partnerships

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(PSP) to proactively search for ways to partner and procure goods and services from the social sector, as a full paying customer. In government service procurement documents, efforts are also made to incorporate social and environmental clauses into tenders, and disseminate the opportunities to both social enterprises and social firms.

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Sir, I hope MCYS would seriously study these developments at lightning speed, as we can better tackle the challenges of changing demographics and changing socio-economic landscapes.

I would also like to echo the voices that we have heard in this House that more needs to be done to help the social economy itself. In fact, we are not looking for just a many-hands approach where most of the hands are really coming from the Government sector, but really many-hands approach where most of the hands are bottom-up efforts rather than top-down initiatives.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, let me address Mr Sin Boon Ann's and Ms Penny Low's queries. The concepts of 'social economy' and 'social enterprise' are still fairly new in Singapore. The social economy includes a wide range of enterprise approaches and organisations that contribute to the social good. They can be charities, non-profits, community groups, social enterprises or socially responsible businesses. Together, they are an important part of our Many Helping Hands approach.

I do agree with Ms Penny Low that the social economy needs further study. Last year, we set up an inter-agency group. I am not sure if they can work at lightning speed, but I am sure they are trying their very best to look into developing a holistic socio-economic strategy so that they can integrate also

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the efforts of the whole of Government. They are looking into several areas, and I think one of the areas that has been mentioned before is impact analysis. Impact analysis measures the economic and social values of the social economy and the organisation. They are also looking at the regulatory framework, looking at the technical assistance training, which is to build capabilities, and also leadership development of this social organisation. Not only that, they also look at the financing options, which means that they look at the gaps in existing policies to support the system and to develop financing options. It is now work in progress, and we will share the findings when ready.

Social enterprises operate within the social economy. There are about 150 of them around. MCYS is a strategic partner and supporter of the social enterprise sector and, to date, we have already provided about $6 million worth of seed funding to 71 social enterprises.

Ms Penny Low gave the UK example of incorporating social and environmental clauses into government tenders. In line with our commitments to the World Trade Organisation and free trade agreements, we have to open up Government procurement tenders for competition. Government contracts are awarded to suppliers that offer the best value in accordance with tender specifications. Rather than tweak the procurement framework to favour social enterprises, we prefer actually to invest in capability-building so that social enterprises can also compete on an equal footing. I think what is important is for these social enterprises, first, to develop their social and commercial mission. Next, they have to develop a sustainable and commercially viable operating model. More importantly, they need to bring in and attract professionals and willing individuals to run these social enterprises - like Ms Penny Low.

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In 2006, Mr Philip Yeo chaired the Social Enterprise Committee to look at how we can grow social enterprises. The key thrusts of the recommendations are to encourage commercial businesses to hire needy disadvantaged workers, to build a pro-social enterprise environment and to create a culture of social entrepreneurship. My Ministry has accepted the recommendations, and now Mr Gerard Ee is heading the Social Enterprise Implementation Committee, which I believe that Ms Penny Low is a member of, to oversee their implementation.

MCYS will do more to create a pro-social enterprise environment. The ComCare Enterprise Fund will provide seed funding up to the second year of operations. We will support the setting up of a Social Enterprise Development Centre to run training and capability-building programmes. In addition, we will provide start-up support for a Social Enterprise Association, and this will promote social enterprises and initiate more partnerships with community stakeholders, including the Government.

Managing Foreign Presence in the Workplace and Community

Mr Heng Chee How: Sir, for Singapore and Singaporeans to prosper and to overcome our natural constraints of smallness of land and population, we must be a cosmopolitan, global city. As a successful global city, we will be open - for business, for education, for culture, for leisure and for settling down. We can then further anchor ourselves at the crossroads of the global flow of talent, ideas, population, investments, wealth and commerce. This is our basis for making a good living and for having good jobs for Singaporeans. While the logic is straightforward, the creation of such a result is very difficult.

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The foreign population in Singapore has been growing over the years. Today, foreigners make up one in three in the workforce. We also welcome more than 10 million foreigners to our shores each year, as tourists, students and patients. In 2008, some 20,000 foreigners became citizens and some 80,000 took up permanent residency. Clearly, there is benefit to this. Without such foreign as well as foreigner-turning-local presence, we will not be able to drive economic growth and expansion across a whole host of sectors.

When the foreign population to local population ratio is small, and the economy is growing continuously at a good rate, tolerance is relatively easy to achieve. There is enough perceived space at work and in the community for everyone - locals and foreigners - and the presence is seen as complementary, supplementary and benign.

The interfaces are becoming harder to manage. Even in good economic times, the questions of where to site foreign worker dormitories and proficiency in language are already issues in some locales and to some people. When downturns come, other stresses and strains show up more clearly. For example, some workers are brought in and then left stranded for months without work and pay. How they are treated and helped also has an implication on Singapore’s image as a global city. At the same time, locals wonder why these foreign workers remain here for months without work, and whether they have, in the meantime, been competing with locals for work.

At the higher reaches of the skill and talent ladder, PMETs also fret about how job opportunities, promotional prospects and retrenchment risks are shared between locals and foreigners. Even among the foreigners here, there are

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different nationalities, cultures and dialects. There are different sub-groupings with different customs and behaviours. The diversity in Singapore is no longer just about Singaporean Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasians. We now have to integrate across more cultures. What is happening in the labour market and workplace will also have a knock-on effect in the community.

During last year’s debate, I urged more resourcing and equipping of our community networks so that they can do even better in bonding the different parts of an increasing diverse and compact Singapore society. This is necessary.

We cannot just deal with these feelings and episodes on an ad hoc basis. And they will grow and grow beyond dealing with the current recession. These are reactions to structural shifts, and are part of the adjustment process in our quest to be a global city so as to continue to make a good living. We must not forget that for most places on earth, a multi-racial, multi-religious population is not associated with peace, integration and harmony, but with strife. How to be pro-Singaporean without being xenophobic will be a growing challenge.

Hence, creating the desired outcome takes careful, deliberate, systematic and sustained thought and action. I would like to know what measures will be introduced or intensified toward this end, what resources would be applied toward supporting such efforts, and how we would be able to measure the progress of such efforts over time. I would like to ask about the scope of the National Integration Council that DPM Wong announced earlier, and whether it will also address the issues I have just spoken about.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Chairman, Sir, I totally agree with Mr Heng Chee

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How. He has hit the nail on the head when he said "Singapore must remain an open city and anchor itself at the crossroads of talent, ideas, and commerce, if Singaporeans are to have good jobs and a good living." I hope the media takes that as a pluck out quote tomorrow, because I think this is a fundamental question facing us.

Let me pose this question to Members today. What is the difference between Temasek, the fishing village with about 500 orang laut, and modern Singapore, a bustling metropolis with 4.8 million people? What is the key difference? It is one word - it is called "immigration". We are here, today, because Singapore was a beacon for hardworking, disciplined people who were prepared to make great sacrifices for their families. We were built by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers who came from different parts of the world with different languages and different religions. They came here, they worked hard, they made a living for themselves, they built roads, they built schools and started their families. Ironically, they did not even need to be born or raised here to find a common stake. In fact, they did not even plan - probably, for most of them - on living and dying here. Nevertheless, through decades of hard work, and living side by side in a fair and just system, we have created modern Singapore, and there is now a common Singapore identity. Yes, it is hard to pin it down - whether it is the accent, the food, the lifestyle, the work ethic or kiasuness. But we know it when we see it. And so, today, we all proudly call ourselves Singaporeans regardless of race, language or religion.

But it is worth reminding ourselves that if we do not maintain our status as an immigrant society, many things will be at risk. Our natural trajectory is either to be a fishing village or perhaps a trading outpost

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in South East Asia. That is our natural, geographical, historical trajectory. If we are to avoid regressing to that state, then we need to remind ourselves that we need to remain open to hardworking talented people from all over the world. But it is not enough to just be open. Because if we are just open and people do not integrate or people are divided and there is tension, then it will actually cause more problems. So we need to make sure that even as we remain open, the newcomers will be integrated into our society, just as our forefathers coming from different places with different languages and religions could learn to live with each other. Newcomers must also learn to live with people today who are already called Singaporeans. Because one difference between Temasek and Singapore is that we are not working with a blank slate - an empty forest - anymore. Today, there is already a tribe of people call Singaporeans. So, integration is a real issue and as DPM Wong said, "integration is a two-way street". At first, I must confess that I did not want to chair the National Integration Council (NIC). I thought this was something either too difficult or too wishy-washy, and perhaps best handed to the people sector to do. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that, in fact, precisely at this time when we are facing tension due to economic pressures and when we have had unprecedented levels of immigration - precisely at this time - this is an area that is too important to ignore.

Let me share some of my preliminary thoughts and I say "preliminary" because the Council has not met and we have not had a chance to discuss. But I want to offer four cardinal principles which, in my mind, should undergird our efforts at integration.

The first is that we must first put Singaporeans first - and I say this very

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carefully and I say this over the advice of my staff. Let me explain why. Singapore must always be for Singaporeans. It is almost self-evident. Singapore must be a home for Singaporeans. And without Singaporeans, there is no Singapore. All Singaporeans have a birth right. Only Singaporeans get to vote and choose the Government. That is why this Government's sacred duty must always be to preserve and safeguard the long-term interests of Singaporeans, not the long-term interest or even short-term interest of foreigners. And we need make no apology for that. But this is also why subsidised housing, healthcare, education and other essential services must be slanted in favour of Singaporeans. We cannot shield Singaporeans from competition but we can try to give Singaporeans a headstart. And we must allow our children, native born Singaporeans, to get a headstart by nurturing them to allow them to fufil their potential, and picking up Singaporeans when any of us stumble. I said, "put Singaporeans first". But do it in an enlightened way. And the reason I said that is because I believe an insecure population will not be able to accept foreigners in our midst.

If people view the newcomer as a threat, no amount of persuasion and fancy speeches and meetings on integration will work. So, the first cardinal principle is that Singaporeans must understand that they will always come first. There is another reason why we must put Singaporeans first - that even newcomers who are considering joining us, even they will want to know whether membership has privileges. So I feel quite confident in saying that we can accept, as a first principle, that we will put Singaporeans first.

4.30 pm

The second principle is that we must reaffirm that Singapore got here by, and that Singapore's future trajectory depends on, us remaining an open society. We are

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all caught up with how to get out of this current economic crisis, and we are all caught up with how to solve the multitude of current social problems. But, sometimes, we miss the big picture. This island has got no natural resources. We cannot even grow enough food to feed ourselves. Yes, we can solve the water problem, but we can never be a self-sufficient country hiding behind a bamboo wall and depending on agriculture or even a commodity-based economy. Whether we like it or not, our karma is to survive and thrive by servicing the world. And servicing the world in the future means only one thing. It means having value-added services and value-added products that the world needs or wants to buy. And the only way to produce value-added services and these new products is by depending on human minds, human ingenuity and hard work. In other words, living talented human beings. I said earlier that almost half of the budget of my Ministry is spent on promoting families and supporting fertility. But I will be very honest with Members and say that all the money that we spend, and all the efforts that we embarked on fertility, will not work quickly enough to give us enough people - to have the critical mass of people capable of creating new products and new services that the world will depend on.

The third principle is that even as we remain open, we must find effective ways to integrate people. Everyone who lives, works and plays in Singapore must feel that they are welcome here, and that Singaporeans not only have open doors, but also open minds and open hearts. Integration requires both the local-born Singaporeans as well as the newcomers to realise that it does not come about naturally. Yes, many of our events in our community, such as a multi-cultural show in our community centres, invites comment from people that it is so contrived. But behind the attempts at

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contrived shows is a more important message - the commitment that we are trying to build bridges, and that we are trying to remind everyone that it is important to welcome, integrate, and create a team Singapore out of the disparate members.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: * * *

4.34 pm

The fourth cardinal principle perhaps is the most important, because without that I think that everything else will come to nothing. We must uphold the Singapore system. What is the Singapore system? The Singapore system is encapsulated by our pledge: that we have built a united people, who are committed to a democratic society based on justice and equality. A fair and merit-based society and a system where hard work and talent is rewarded because that is the best spur to get the best out of our children, and to also enable talent from overseas to see that this is the best place in the world for their talent to be recognised and fulfilled. It is worth reminding ourselves that we have to come back to the basics and understand that the fair and just society which recognises talent, that is based on meritocracy, is what has brought us here so far. These are the same values and attributes that we need to bring when we talk about integrating newcomers.

It is in this context that the NIC will be set up. We will draw on leaders not just from Government but also from the people and the private sectors. We will, basically, look at first promoting mutual trust and understanding and fostering a common sense of belonging, developing physical spaces and social platforms for meaningful interactions to occur, and, of course, monitor the progress of integration, share best practices and also deal with problems as some will inevitably arise.

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There will be four sub-committees under the NIC: (1) the Community sub-committee which will comprise MCYS, MND, HDB, People's Association, local community groups, as well as the key foreign associations currently in Singapore. This committee will look at finding new ways for greater and deeper integration and engagement between newcomers and locals. The People's Association has already announced that they are providing $1 million for grassroots Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) - these are people in our grassroots organisations who conduct outreach and activities for new immigrants. This works out, by the way, to about $5,000 for every Citizen's Consultative Committee, and $1,000 for every Resident's Committee and Neighbourhood Committee. INCs will also encourage more new citizens and permanent residents (PRs) to take up grassroots leadership roles. Today, about 1,000 of them have taken up these roles. The best way to feel a sense of belonging is to contribute and to lead. All of us, since we all are involved with grassroots organisations, need to find ways to plug-in newcomers into our local systems.

The Community sub-committee will also be looking at reinforcing the meaning of citizenship for citizens. Last year, we had 81 citizenship ceremonies, and we have been trying all kinds of formats, some more formal, some less formal. I think Members will agree with me that we have not yet arrived at the best or the optimal solution - how to make it meaningful, how to make it significant. And how to make both the newcomer as well as the local Singaporeans understand that it is a sacred moment, that it is a moment of commitment and that the commitment works both ways. For a newcomer to commit to an existing country and an existing people, and for us

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local-born Singaporeans to say, "We are now collectively responsible for you and your children". We have not yet found the right formula.

We will also have a Schools sub-committee led by MOE. The Singapore Tourism Board, and other educational institutions, including private schools, will be involved with this. Our schools are another area where young children, students or undergraduates from different parts of the world come together, study together, compete together and work together. And we hear anecdotal stories of people eating in separate enclaves or studying in separate groups. We need to break through these and get people to feel comfortable and truly mix and integrate in our schools and institutes of higher learning.

The Media sub-committee will be led by MICA and includes the various media organisations, because the way we communicate and our public messaging are very important. Sometimes, prejudices, insecurities and anxieties can so easily slip out, and get misconstrued or poison the atmosphere and relationships. And this is an area which we need our colleagues in the media to also focus their minds on. I am not saying that we are going to dictate what they are going to say, that is not the case at all. But we do need people to think before they say something, and think before they write or publish something. Ultimately, I hope even the dialogue in cyberspace will also move up one notch, beyond just a zero-sum game to seeing what our long-term interests are and the critical importance of integration to us. But we will see how that evolves with time.

There will also be a Workplace sub-committee chaired by Ministry of Manpower (MOM), including NTUC and employers from the private sector. We all know that the workplace is another area where there is inevitable foreign worker

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and local interaction. And, again, managing this combination of competition, cooperation and teamwork needs to be done appropriately. I checked with Mr Heng Chee How yesterday and asked how many members of NTUC are foreign. I think he told me the figure was about 15%. It is a minority but it is a significant minority. NTUC itself has to walk a fine line between being pro-worker - in fact, they got to treat all their members fairly - and also being pro-Singapore because the NTUC, ultimately, is still a Singaporean trade union. There are proper ways to navigate this space between being fair, providing avenues for competition, avenues for integration and also looking out for number one. Number one in this case, ultimately, is still Singapore and Singaporeans.

So, there will be much work to be done in the future. It will definitely be complicated by our economic crisis, but perhaps this is the best time for us to remind ourselves what are the fundamentals that we need for our survival in the future and what are the politically incorrect or unpopular things and difficult messages that we need to push at a time like this, in order to get this message through.

Er Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, sport is one of the key platforms to nuturing many good character traits in our citizens. Not only does sports keep one healthy, it helps to ingrain a sense of discipline, pride, endurance, teamwork, bonding and many more. These are traits we want in our citizens.

Hence, I would like to propose that a bigger budget be allocated for sports even during these difficult times. This is not just for the pursuit of medals and glory, but to inject more robustness and energy into our people. There must be more funding for sports initiatives to nuture professional athletes and encourage Singaporeans to take up sports. We need

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to carry out more mass activities. For those who have the talent we need the funding to support them so that they can focus on their goals and become true professional athletes.

Does the Ministry provide sufficient funding for the NSAs? How much funding to NSA is provided in this financial year? How is it compared to the last financial year? What is the Ministry's future direction? Will MCYS consider full funding for NSAs or are we going to let all NSAs struggling with half-hearted funding? I would like to declare my interest as the President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA).

For your information, immediately after the Beijing Olympics, STTA embarked on plans up to the 2016 Olympics. Detailed plans for the London Olympics have been submitted to SSC. I am looking forward to full funding for our plans and programmes. Besides that, an integrated national sports policy should be initiated to ensure that all our sports initiatives complement each other in meeting our national priorities and citizens' needs through effective use of resources. For example, we do not want to build sports facilities and charge users high prices so that affordability becomes a stumbling block. And this is an area that the Government needs to invest and cost recovery may not be the right way to go if we want to make sports affordable. Just to share with Members, STTA intends to set up more zonal training centres. And during the process, I was told that we have to pay market rate for the use of the sports hall. This really adds burden to the NSA as well as the players. Is there a need to do so? We want more people to use the facilities and not just those who can afford to pay.

Next, education has always been high on our list of national priorities. Our

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Singapore Sports School has been following this through by providing a flexible academy - a bundle of hope for our sports arena, it is also a life-line for aspiring young sportsmen and women. Sadly, stopping at secondary school level is a very short life-line. Should they give up on their studies or abandon their dreams to play for the Singapore Team? Why not incorporate through train A-level studies in our Sports School. Armed with A-level, our sportsmen and women can choose to study in either our local universities or overseas universities once their playing career is over. Next, we can induce in our young ones a keen interest for sports and fitness by making sports compulsory for school children. The values and knowledge they learn about the importance of healthy living will follow them to adolescence and adulthood.

I would like to urge MCYS to work closely with MOE. Some parents told me that they did not send their children for training at STTA, despite their children's interest in the sports, because it is not recognised as an CCA. Why not recognition as CCA, if our children prefer to train with NSAs?

Sports provide recreation, fosters community relations and enhances patriotism, which I experienced when I watched the Beijing Olympics from the spectators' gallery. Fellow Singaporeans, whom I met for a first time, came to chit-chat with me and, together, we cheer for Singapore whenever our players are playing. This is the Singapore spirit, and this is the Singapore bonding that we want.

Building a Culture of Sportsmanship and Participation in Sports

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Madam, our parliamentary colleague, Ms Lee Bee Wah, has shared so fervently the benefits of sports, not only to the

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individual and the community, but also to the nation; and how it helps to build character as well as identity.

In the recent years, Singapore has put good emphasis on sports, especially amongst the young and in the schools. The emphasis and the focus, however, has been on sports excellence, and while we develop sports excellence in our young and in our schools, we should also look at how we can work towards broader-based participation to support the sport. I would like to ask the Minister to share with us, the measures, programmes and investments for broader-based appreciation to build the fan base for sports in Singapore, and what support can be given to the schools as well in this aspect?

Youth Olympic Games (YOG)

Mrs Jessie Phua: Madam, I still recall vividly last 21st February when thousands of us gathered at the Padang, together with our Prime Minister, to await the IOC announcement for the host city for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Against the backdrop of our grand City Hall, I remember how incredulous that felt, for sports to be escalated to such a lofty standing in pragmatic, GDP-driven Singapore.

Singapore, of course, created history that day by beating the other 10 contenders to the tape in the YOG race. The YOG is about 18 months away. There are so much to be done in so little time. Nevertheless, I am very confident this yacht under the capable stewardship of our Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Teo Ser Luck and Mr Ng Ser Miang, will showcase and present to the world a hosting of the inaugural YOG, worthy of not just the IOC branding, but of the gold standard that has become synonymous with Singapore. Before we get too caught up with the fanfare for the YOG, it is appropriate at this point to ask ourselves once again, what we hope to gain from

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the YOG. While the YOG is another opportunity for us to prove Singapore's organisational capabilities, it should not be our main focus, for we have done that enough times already. To anchor on the YOG to build Singapore up as a sporting destination is, of course, one of the more obvious and immediate benefit. But, all things considered, the most important legacy we should look forward to benefiting from YOG is most definitely, an enriched and sustainable sporting culture for Singapore.

So, what can help contribute to growing an enriching and sustainable sports culture for Singapore? The factors are exhaustingly long, but I think we can broadly categorise them under two pillars: (i) hardware which would cover sporting facilities; and (ii) software which would cover people.

First, hardware on facilities - under the YOG bid, we were given the understanding that no new facilities are to be built. We appreciate the IOC's concern with overburdening host cities with huge construction costs. To the committee and Government department charged with the task of upgrading or enhancing our current competition venues in readiness for the YOG, I would like to remind them of the opportunity to look beyond YOG. The YOG has an event schedule of only 12 days in Singapore, but the enhancements can and should be carried out to a level that will benefit Singaporeans for the next 10 to 15 years. By the same token, I would also like to sound the alarm on overspending on unnecessary window-dressing for the YOG. The civil servant mentality of wanting to do things quick and cheap is not beneficial to us in this situation. It is unwise to spend too much money on superficial enhancement or installing make-shift facilities only for these to be dismantled and discarded after the games. It may seem cheap upfront, but the reality is that it is not money well-spent. All too

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often, we are too hung up by the cost-centre mentality that we lose sight of the big picture.

I would like to share with you an example of such failed cost-centre mentality - the Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, our pride and joy when Singapore hosted the SEA Games. The last upgrade is a very good example of how we threw good money after bad. It would have been far more cost and time effective had we put it down to rebuild a new swimming complex that can match up to present day's expectations and standards, rather than its present form - a relic of the 70s trying to look like the 90s with a roof that catches rain to boot. This is a sad case of penny-wise-pound-foolish.

Whilst on the subject of facilities, it may be an opportune time for me to request that some attention be given to upgrading and enhancing our overall sporting facilities in Singapore. As a member of the Singapore National Olympic Council, I have the opportunity to visit a good number of sporting facilities in Singapore and I regret to tell you that we have quite a number of third-world sporting facilities in our first-world country. I know the perennial excuses - limited land, limited funds. A feasible solution to these concerns is to maximise the use of school facilities. A lot of the space and facilities in our schools are under utilised and under catered, whether during or after school hours. These schools are spread out across the island, thus very centrally located. Does it not make sense, then, to build up sporting facilities in a good number of our schools? Transform them into mini-sports clubs catering to not only the students, but the alumni and the neighbourhood. Alumni and parent groups can be encouraged to run these sports clubs.

By this one stroke, we can ensure that good and efficiently fitted-out sporting

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facilities are set up strategically across the island. By doing so, we maximise usage of our limited land bank and the enhanced facilities will go a long way to boost not only general wellness of students, alumni and neighbourhood, but also promote social and community bonding. With a little creative planning, cost of sporting facilities need not be duplicated across the island, just because the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and the Ministry of Education caters to different markets. If we are committed to building a sustainable sporting culture for Singapore, let us make sure that we employ some more foresight in setting up our hardware - our sporting facilities.

Moving on to software on people, the other crucial pillar to building strong and sustainable sporting culture in Singapore is our people in sports. In view of the limited time allocated, I shall only cover two areas: (i) the National Sports Association (NSAs); and (ii) our athletes.

Madam, at this point, I wish to declare my interest as the President of the Singapore Bowling Federation. Members of the NSAs and the sporting fraternity at large were pleasantly surprised by the enlarged allocation given to sports this year under the MCYS umbrella, but we are not celebrating yet. We are all waiting with bated breath for the SSC to reveal our final budget allocation for the year this April for there is much fear and concern that the sizeable portion of this year's increased budget may be appropriated to hosting the YOG.

Many NSAs expect fundings to be drastically scaled down. YOG and global economic downturn being the major cause. Similar to my call on better planning on sporting facilities, I urge the SSC to look at the big picture. Poor fund allocation to meet immediate needs may be detrimental for the long-term development of sports in Singapore. Moving from people who manage sports to our heroes

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at the front line - our national athletes. I brought up the subject of the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP) scheme in my Budget speech last year. I recognise that now is not the time to broach on the subject of increasing the quantum of the award, but what is worthy of immediate review is the form and shape the MAP award should be reconfigured to. For awards under the Olympic and Asian Games category, a more meaningful and pragmatic approach would be to reshape the form of the award into a two-parter.

First, a respectable upfront payout and second, a money stipend for the rest of the athlete's life. Such restructuring would go a long way in ensuring that our national athletes are remembered long after the limelight fades. For our foreign sporting talents, it would silence all the critics of their unfounded allegations of mercenary charges as the stipends should only be payable to Singapore citizens living in Singapore. Whist on the subject of recognition, I applaud our northern neighbour, Malaysia, for their magnanimous gesture of extending free medical care to all their national athletes for the rest of their lives. What a heart-warming recognition for their national athletes' contribution to the country. Hopefully, the SSC can work out a similar scheme for our equally deserving national athletes.

In conclusion, the 21st February gathering last year at the Padang for the YOG announcement was a watershed moment for sports in Singapore. The year 2008 had also been a most successful year for Singapore sports. The YOG may help Singapore capture all the media limelight during the inaugural games next August but, more importantly, the YOG should leave a lifetime imprint of the Olympic spirit on Singapore long after it leaves our shores. Let us do what we can to secure this legacy.

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Madam, I agree with Ms Jessie Phua that the announcement of Singapore being chosen as the venue

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of the first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) has brought us great honour and joy. For the first time in our sporting history, we are able to lay claim to being able to host a world class event related to the Olympic movement.

This is an important milestone, indeed, for Singapore in several respects. First the YOG will provide the platform to allow us to improve on our organisational ability to host international events on a global scale. Second, it would help to put Singapore on the world sporting map as a country with a huge ambition to excel in sports that is only matched by its enthusiasm. Third, the YOG will serve as a rallying point that will not only bring our youths together, whether as sportsmen or otherwise, but also provide the clarion call to our people to work together to ensure its success.

In choosing to host the YOG, we have also chosen to raise the stakes for ourselves. The world will be watching us closely to determine if we will be able to pull off this event. Our confidence in this exercise is, perhaps, well placed as demonstrated by our ability in the past to organise, and organise well, international events. Nonetheless, we cannot be too confident of our ability in being able to stage the YOG successfully.

I would, therefore, like to ask the Minister whether the planning and organisation for the Youth Olympic Games 2010 is proceeding as planned, given the current problems facing Singapore, not least of which is the shortage of construction materials and the credit squeeze by the banks; and whether our youths are being adequately prepared for the coming games.

Leveraging on YOG

Mr Baey Yam Keng: Madam, the Youth Olympics Games could be the largest

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international event to be hosted by Singapore. The fact that it is the first ever Youth Olympics Games makes it even more significant. Singapore will have the chance to create history. Hence, there was great jubilance when we won the bid, and now great anticipation and expectation come 2010.

I was at the launch of the YOG logo at SMU last month and I was very impressed by the launch mechanism designed by a group of tertiary students, which cleverly incorporated the 26 sports to be played at YOG next year. The creativity and the rawness of youthful energy was indeed captivating and encouraging. However, we should remember that YOG is more than just sports or youth. YOG can also be a platform for talents and businesses in Singapore to showcase our capabilities and build our track records. While it may not be necessary to restrict the involvement and opportunities to Singaporeans and Singaporean companies, it will be a good opportunity for any experience, exposure and credit gained to be sustainable and to reap future mileage for Singapore.

I would like to ask the Ministry to share the plans to leverage on YOG 2010, so that the impact and effect will last beyond sports, beyond the event and beyond year 2010.

5.00 pm

Sponsorship for YOG and Spin-off for Local SMEs

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Madam, the momentum for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games' (YOG) is building up slowly but surely. This inaugural event will be yet another opportunity to showcase Singapore to the world. In view of the current global economic crisis, I would imagine the increased difficulty to meet the sponsorship target. While the support for YOG is still high, companies are much more cautious as no

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one has any idea how long this crisis will last.

I would like to ask the Ministry for an update on the status of corporate sponsorships for the YOG. Has it been impacted by the severe economic downturn?

The Youth Olympics will undoubtedly contribute to the economy by creating jobs and new business opportunities. Would the Minister share his projection as to how the hosting of YOG here will be of help to our local SMEs, especially in this downturn? Also, what plans do we have to get our local companies more involved in YOG?

Youth Sports

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Madam, as we speak about the YOG and sporting excellence, I would like to ask about our youth athletes. As we look to excelling in sports, grooming sporting talent is an important aspect. Can the Ministry share on how we groom youth athletes? What is the development and training programme to prepare them for major international competitions and for future open competitions?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: Madam, I thank Members for raising their questions on sports. It is very heartening to know that there are more and more questions for sports in this House. It shows that there is greater interest. And we have more and more Members of Parliament in National Sports Associations (NSAs) either as an advisory role or as Presidents. That actually speaks a lot for sports development. I would like to believe that we are in a first world but that our sports is not really in the third world. I think with YOG and with several of the investments that we are making in the sports sector, I believe we could be very closed to being

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first world or maybe second world. But there are many gaps to close. We are not there yet and we have to keep trying.

Ms Lee Bee Wah and Mrs Jessie Phua have mentioned the challenges faced by the NSAs, especially in the area of funding. Our NSAs play a key role, but given the limited resources, even though you can allocate a bigger pie of the budget, we still have to spend our money very carefully. It is important that all the NSAs must, first, have good governance and policies. Secondly, they must have a good plan and strategy that they can carry out to develop the youth athletes as well as the senior athletes. Thirdly, and most importantly, they must have a good council and an honest team that can get the support of the fraternity and that can deliver their goods. I think with all these and their plans, if they can achieve the national objectives of sporting excellence and participation, they deserve a higher level of funding that can be given to them. But as you know, we have about 60 NSAs. Not every NSA has the same level of governance or are at the same level of professionalism. Some of them are going to get more and some are going to get less. But NSAs should strive to be at least partially self-reliant. We do not believe in full funding because as Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has done, after Ms Lee Bee Wah took over the presidency, funds were raised. That is a great example. Together with the funding that they are going to get from the SSC, Ms Lee can actually fund the programmes she wanted to do, especially in youth development. I urge NSAs to do more of such exercises to generate revenue and seek sponsorships. As we know, the smaller NSAs do get certain co-sharing and co-funding from SSC. That is something we will continue to help for the smaller NSAs. In this light, the 22 NSAs are also Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) and they will benefit from the increase in tax deduction for donations made this year. We will

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continue to support them in other areas like sports science, sports medicine and even sports facilities. We will continue to help them in that way to try and manage their expenses.

I am also glad that Ms Lee has noted the potential of the Singapore Sports School. The Sports School has groomed our youth athletes in achieving significant results in international competitions. Two student athletes, Tao Li (swimming) and Calvin Kang (athletics) represented Singapore at the Beijing Olympic Games. Tao Li left her mark there. She set a new Asian record for the 100 metres butterfly event. She is now within the top eight in the world. That performance itself has alleviated Singapore's sporting scene, putting Singapore on the world map. Not only that, I think she has also very much been integrated as part of the society. To me, that is a big win for Singapore sports.

The Singapore Sports School will consider expanding its academies and programmes. It will also work with selected NSAs so that more athletes can benefit from its training facilities, and its coaches' expertise. We need to build an eco-system not just for the students but also for the coaching system so that this coaching system can help facilitate the grooming, development and training of the athletes. For example, the Singapore Table Tennis Association has a pilot project with the Singapore Sports School - and I think all the other NSAs can take that cue and see what can be done with the Sports School and even other schools in Singapore. The Sports School will provide the use of its training facilities and other support services to the national youth training squad and the Youth Olympic Games squad. I urge more NSAs to follow suit.

Ms Lee Bee Wah touched on the need to do more to raise sports participation. We are addressing this by providing more playing spaces and encouraging more events and activities. The public now has

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access to over 400 such "spaces", comprising a mix of state land and school fields. As you know, for school fields, we have a scheme called the Dual Use scheme. It is now very popular. More than 100 schools have opened up their fields for community use. By the end of March this year, people can enjoy other sports with the opening of, not just the open fields, but 15 school Indoor Sports Halls which have been newly renovated or constructed. And there are now more mass participation events on our sports calendar. Many people tell me that every weekend, there is an event, or almost every weekend, in some parts of Singapore, the roads are closed. This is a very busy calendar and some of them have decided that maybe, Singapore is just too busy with too many events that they are going out to the region to participate in other events. But I think it is all good because it develops the whole sports sector.

We are also seeing an increasing involvement of private organisations. For some of these events, the title sponsors are actually private organisations and the events are not funded by SSC totally. These include the Standard Chartered Bank (for the Singapore Marathon), and AVIVA and OSIM (for triathlons). The OCBC Bank is also involved in cycling and Cycle Singapore is going to be held later this month.

At the community level, we have activities such as the People's Association Community Sports Festival and Children's Football League. We will build on this and encourage more ground-up sports initiatives. We are also working on a plan to promote community sports holistically. This will be in support of the recommendation of the Sporting Culture Committee that was set up about one and a half years ago. The intent was to develop the sports culture in Singapore and we want to grow more sports clubs in smaller groups, parents' groups, weekend warriors, maybe MPs' sports club, and

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offer a wide range of sporting activities for the whole community. So, you can have a MP football team, and netball team - I believe we already have those. We can all form clubs. And these clubs will continue to allow bookings of their facilities and result in even more matches and competitions being organised to facilitate more inter-club competitions. This will help to develop the whole sports culture in Singapore. We will release the plans when they are ready.

Ms Jessica Tan thinks that the focus on sports participation in schools is not as strong. The focus in schools is indeed very strong for greater participation in sports as well as for sports excellence. Schools now have facilities like Indoor Sports Halls and all-weather surface playgrounds. Through the Physical Education (PE) curriculum, MOE has enabled all students to learn at least four sports by the time they graduate from secondary school. For students not involved competitively, some schools have introduced intra-school competitions so that more students can participate. To further popularise school sports, as you know, SSC and MOE are working with MediaCorp to broadcast highlights from the National School Sports Championships, in the form of 30-minute weekly magazine shows. I believe this is going to start in March. Many students, even parents, have written to me to say that they are very excited because that is some form of recognition for all their sportsmen who are representing the schools. They may not be the best in Singapore but at least, they get recognised and see themselves on television.

I agree with Mr Sin Boon Ann and Mrs Jessica Tan on the importance of developing our youth athletes. In September last year, MCYS and MOE formed a new Committee - the Singapore Youth Sports Development Committee -

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to bring all stakeholders together to enhance our sports development system. The Committee will also guide the preparation of competition-specific and individualised support plans, and work with the Singapore National Olympic Council on the selection and preparation of our athletes for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). But this Committee has both long-term and short-term objectives. It is not just about preparing team YOG athletes to represent Singapore but it is also about developing the entire youth sports eco-system in Singapore to help the youth athletes so that we do not deny any child the chance to participate in sports or the chance to be groomed, trained and be developed to become champions and maximise their potential.

The Committee has already formulated some preliminary plans to enhance youth sports participation and encourage greater collaborations between NSAs and schools. One example is to set up satellite training centres for selected Olympic sports in each of the four school zones, to serve as additional avenues for participation. As a recognition to the key roles played by parents, the Committee is also looking into providing training to parents and to others who volunteer at events and competitions to boost technical and officiating capability. More importantly than boosting and upscaling sports technical capabilities, it is to shift or change their mindset to involve the parents so that they know what their kids are going through and not to just send their kids for training classes or training sessions and they go shopping. But really to be involved so that they understand and they can be as committed as well as their kids. This will be a shift in mindset in terms of supporting sports.

Let me touch on the Youth Olympic Games. We have given out this pocket guide for everyone. This is the guide we distribute to promote the Youth Olympic Games. The vision of the Singapore

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2010 Youth Olympic Games is "Inspiring Youth, Sporting Singapore". Come August 2010, we will play host to 3,600 young athletes. Beyond sports competition, they will also be involved in a Culture and Education Programme that teaches them Olympism and the Olympic values - values about fair play and of sportsmanship. But the YOG goes beyond the games. It would leave behind lasting legacies, in youth development, for businesses and for sports.

Mr Baey Yam Keng asked about our efforts to engage youths. These are done through the school-based Olympic Education Programme and the Friends@YOG programme. The Olympic Education Programme allows our youths to connect with the Olympic Movement through lessons and activities in schools. The Olympic Movement is about friendship, excellence and respect, so they are taught these values. An example to illustrate this is how Woodlands Ring Secondary School is incorporating Olympism and Olympic values into their upcoming Character-building Week in March. Students will be designing YOG banners and t-shirts. Leadership camps and outdoor adventure activities will also teach students about the relevance of the Olympic values to them. We understand that after we won the bid, there may be a lull period as we make preparations. But this year, we are going to roll out several engagement activities with the schools and even at the district level to encourage more and more community events that will create the buzz again.

Also, the Friends@YOG programme will twin all our schools with a school in each of the 205 member countries of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). These 205 countries will be sending their athletes to Singapore. Every student in Singapore can make friends and they would also have to do a project to learn about the cultures of these youths around the world.

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The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, or SYOGOC for short, is already actively working with different organisations to engage and involve the youths. The recent event called "CAN!", organised by NTU, NUS, SIM and SMU in conjunction with the Singapore 2010 Logo Launch is a case in point. CAN! stands for Create Action Now, and it encourages young people to take action now for the YOG. We will continue to work with partners and organisations to organise events such as the CAN! festivals and events. We are currently partnering Harvest Care Centre for an event on Culture and Heritage in April, and with Nanyang Polytechnic for the Singapore Games Creation Competition in July. Organisations keen to be part of YOG can always get in touch with us or the team to explore collaboration possibilities. We encourage all organisations to come forward.

Besides these festivals, we are going to partner other organisations for other aspects of the Games. For example, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will be providing basic service excellence training for 20,000 YOG volunteers. That is a big task and we want to use the expertise in ITE to train our volunteers. So it is actually a local-based homegrown training session for a world-class event.

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Mr Baey Yam Keng and Mr Liang Eng Hwa will be assured to know that the YOG also provides opportunities for businesses, including SMEs. Some of the services required are catering, transport, logistics support, sports venues, equipment and dressing up of the city.

The YOG provides an excellent platform for companies to build up their business track record. The experience gained will be an advantage for companies engaged for large-scale events

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in the future. More importantly, it teaches our local companies, especially our local SMEs about sports marketing and the value of this marketing approach.

We recognise the economic potential of organising the YOG and the Olympic Games. MCYS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Kingdom Trade and Investment Organisation. This MOU aims to facilitate networking and promote business opportunities for companies in both countries. Now, Singapore businesses can gain access to the network of UK-based businesses and they can explore joint venture partnerships with their UK counterparts. I know that with this economic downturn, companies are becoming more cautious in sponsoring projects. I am also having a hard time meeting some of the targets but be assured that the interest amongst potential sports sponsors is still there. Maybe the sponsorship quantum is a little smaller so we have to get more sponsors in order to meet our original target. We have actually broken down the sponsorship tiers in order to cater to the different segments of the market as well as to cater to the current economic environment.

There are three sponsorship tiers. Tier 1 sponsors will have exclusive rights to the designated product category and receive maximum exposure for their brand because they can use the Olympic Rings and the YOG brand and logo. As you may know, last week, Deloitte Singapore became the first YOG Tier 1 sponsor. Tier 2 is non-exclusive, which means sponsors can profile their company and association with the YOG, through several different campaigns. We also have a Tier 3 sponsorship for our SMEs or for local companies who think they may not be able to afford the Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 3 is the Supporter Programme, for which

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they pay a reasonable sum. I urge companies to come forward and within each tier, we will exercise flexibility to tailor the sponsorship package to suit the company. SMEs can also consider forming a consortium with their counterparts in the same sector to support the YOG.

I agree with Mrs Jessie Phua that the YOG in 2010 will leave behind a lasting sporting legacy. I think that is exactly why we decided to bid for the YOG. Allow me to share some of the steps taken in this area. 26 sports will be competed at YOG. A number of sports are very new to Singaporeans. I give you examples like wrestling, handball, modern pentathlon. And surprisingly, we do have a base of athletes now because the NSAs have started grooming and identifying talents. I am fairly confident that these sports will have representatives from Singapore in the Youth Olympic Games.

The YOG provides the impetus to train and grow a pool of technical officials for the local sports scene. These include referees, competition managers who organise various sports competitions, and also volunteers who oversee anti-doping operations. Our NSAs plan to conduct or participate in courses which will result in training and development opportunities for 1,000 technical officials.

Mr Sin Boon Ann will also be pleased to know that the shortage of construction materials has not significantly affected our preparations. We will spare no effort to make things happen for the YOG. We are not going to build new major infrastructure for the YOG because Youth Olympic Games is about values, not about a bigger scale event and bigger facilities. Competition venues for 22 sports are existing facilities. Twelve venues will only require temporary fittings. Eight other venues are undergoing upgrading works scheduled for completion by the end of this year. Upgrading works such as at Bishan Sports Hall and at Tampines Bike

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Park, will commence later this year. Construction works of other venues such as *scape for basketball are progressing on schedule.

Madam, one of the key factors that impressed the IOC was the immense ground support from all quarters for our bid. This sense of inclusiveness and passion must continue to permeate our preparations for the YOG.

The YOG will last only 12 days. But I believe that its benefits and legacy, particularly the friendships and perspectives gained by those involved, as well as the branding and positioning for Singapore, will last for a long time to come after the Games are over.

Engaging and Communicating with Singaporeans

Mr Gautam Banerjee (Nominated Member): Sir, in this connected and digital age, we need to step up our communication and engagement with Singaporeans, particularly younger Singaporeans. Government policies and how our political system operates are often not fully understood by the population at large and this can sometimes give rise to negative sentiments and unhealthy coffeeshop talk.

Let me give an example. During our August 2008 sitting, there was a lively debate about the Singaporean brand of representative democracy in the context of whether we should have a by-election. In that debate, the Prime Minister reiterated our unique brand of democracy adapted to suit our situation as a small city-state. It was an enlightening lesson about Singapore's political journey but it also struck me then that few Singaporeans, young or old, truly understand the intricacies of our political system. This should not be the case. Singaporeans require that fundamental

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understanding to embrace our heritage and what we stand for.

Sir, we need to increase Singaporeans' awareness of our political system. Our students are exposed to our parliamentary process through "Learning Journeys" to Parliament House. The curriculum of this Learning Journey should be reviewed to ensure that sufficient context is provided and that our young have a balanced view of why we have adopted this system. This Learning Journey should also be made compulsory so that all Singapore youths will have the opportunity for a first-hand glimpse of Singapore's political framework.

Apart from the Learning Journeys, which are generally restricted to students, Parliament House could consider similar guided tours for older Singaporeans and new Singaporeans. The Parliament of Singapore's website can also provide simple narrations of our political system and visual tours of Parliament House settings to spark interest among the netizens.

Sir, we also need to broaden the scope of our youth's engagement in policy-making. This requires active engagement and I applaud the Government's numerous steps forward on this front.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) has taken the lead in engaging our youth in policy-making processes through programmes such as the National Youth Forum, YouthInk and Young ChangeMakers.

Other Ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance, have also engaged our young in its recent 2009 Budget outreach exercise through mock parliamentary debates, essay and video competitions.

To date, I understand the National Youth Forum has engaged approximately

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250 youths. Other programmes have also generally reached limited numbers relative to our youth population. Though a step in the right direction, I believe more can be done to reach out to larger groups.

At the parliamentary level, the Government has done well to bring in a strong cohort of post-65 Members of Parliament. I hope that this trend will continue. By the next General Election, we need to have post-70 and possibly post-80 Members of Parliament who can connect with our youth and understand their concerns. The search for younger leaders to represent their peers' voices must continue as Singapore braces itself for the challenges facing a new generation.

In the 2005 parliamentary session, MCYS stated that its youth consultation exercises have shown that many youths want an active stake in Singapore. They want to be heard, they want a chance to deliberate and debate national issues. This continues to be the sentiment amongst our youth today. This is evident in their expressions on the Internet, though sometimes, their views appear to be misinformed and misdirected. But the passion is genuine - they want to make Singapore a better place for you and me.

The setting up of the REACH (Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry@Home) website in October 2006 signifies the renewed commitment by the Government's Feedback Unit to develop and promote an active citizenry through citizen participation and involvement. REACH's expansion of its youth outreach efforts has been a positive move in this direction. However, many youths have still chosen to express their views on socio-political blogs and personal web pages in cyberspace. How do we explain this?

I believe that a key reason is the perception that it is still unsafe to voice

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your views on Government channels and that the Government is still not serious in recognising and putting into action youth views. This misconception may be corrected by more visible and frequent recognition of good contributions from young Singaporeans, listing their age in the media and cyberspace.

I would also like to see our Government leaders engaging our youth and participating in youth activities more often, including chats on the Internet. With our people becoming more Internet-savvy, in time to come, perhaps the meet-the-people sessions conducted by Members of Parliament will also include Internet Chat with the People sessions.

Sir, to allow our youths to gain a better appreciation of the considerations, difficulties and rationale behind the policy-making process, there is a need to increase the visibility of this process for Singaporeans at large. Contrary to popular opinion, a growing number of youths in Singapore are politically aware. This is a healthy sign that they care about this little red dot we call home.

The Government could encourage this by increasing accessibility of records from the policy-making process. For instance, video clips of parliamentary debates could be posted on the REACH website or Youtube after daily proceedings. The public, including young Singaporeans can be encouraged to view them and leave their comments. The rationale behind policy changes and reasons for rejections of common feedback can also be posted on a timely basis on REACH's website. I believe that with constant communication, the depth of youth engagement in Singapore could be significantly enhanced.

Sir, our youths are our future. They have arguably the greatest stake in policy-making as the impact of many of the policies that we set today will be felt in

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their lifetimes. I urge the Government to show greater efforts to expand our outreach and set the tone for engagement so as to continue encouraging young Singaporeans to step forward for Singapore.

Many young Singaporeans are now better educated, travelled and connected as compared to our generation. If they do not have a strong sense of attachment to Singapore when they are young, they may be prone towards migrating and foregoing their Singapore citizenship. They are mobile, they have been brought up in a different environment and their expectations are different.

Until now, most of them have generally been insulated from the vagaries of life, political turmoil and economic downturns. If and when Singapore is faced with grave danger and hardship, will they stay? Will they stand up and be counted? That very much depends on their sense of attachment and rootedness developed in their youth.

Active citizenry cannot be forced but we should continue to actively encourage our youth in the State's affairs. We should make them feel safe to voice their views. In this regard, all of us in this House must be willing to keep an open mind on the ideas brought up by our youth and continue to actively engage them.

REACH - Information Flow

Mr Baey Yam Keng: Madam, the Government's response to the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society has singled out the REACH portal as one of the only few online channels that the Government is engaging the public. Given the multitude of websites, blogs and forums in cyberspace, it does make practical sense that for a start, limited resources are focused to engage on established platforms, such as REACH

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and online letter forums of mainstream media.

There are two discussion forums on the REACH website. In one forum, the threads are created by the administrator for public consultation and feedback gathering purposes, while public users can start their own discussion threads in another forum. I am happy to note that they are quite active with many comments and quite critical of the Government too. However, there are no comments or response from the administrator or the Government or any other form of engagement. It seems like the communication is only one-way. I would suggest that on this very safe and credible platform, the Government could start to have real e-engagement with the netizens.

On the website, I see two publication reports. "Closing the Loop" is about how feedback has been adopted and has helped policy formation. One report was published in 2004 and the other in 2006, ie, three years ago. With the high speed of information flow nowadays, is the frequency of two years enough?

As MPs, we do receive monthly summary reports on the feedback received. But I think we should also close the loop with the contributors. It is important that the public does not get the impression that their feedback is just going into a black hole.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan): Madam, I would like first to thank Minister, MCYS for giving me this opportunity to address some of the issues Members have raised about REACH at this COS debate in my capacity as Chairman of REACH.

The Government is cognisant of the importance of engaging citizens to facilitate their understanding of the rationale of policies, and to provide the opportunities for them to voice their

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concerns and contribute towards policy-making and nation-building.

The Feedback Unit was set-up in 1985, as part of a consultative Government to solicit public views to shape and fine-tune policies. Just over 20 years later, in October 2006, the Feedback Unit was restructured to become REACH with a renewed vision of moving beyond merely gathering public feedback, to become the agency that drives citizen engagement and promotes active citizenry.

In this vein, we heartedly agree with Mr Gautam Banerjee that the Government's engagement of Singaporeans, particularly the young, is important, and should be stepped up. In the broadest sense, REACH is in a unique position to serve as the bridge to enhance engagement between citizens, young and old, whatever the gender or race, and the Government. That is why, in addition to our conventional feedback channels such as face-to-face dialogues and SMSes, REACH is also constantly tapping into new media platforms, which have special appeal to the young, such as Internet discussion forums, blogs, e-Townhall webchats, and even Facebook, to engage netizens. Mr Banerjee has suggested that key policy announcements be posted on the REACH website for discussion. We are pleased to share that this is already the case. We also recently introduced a podcast/vodcast section on the site, which showcases clips of our activities, as well as important policy announcements. Currently, the site includes snippets of the Finance Minister's Budget 2009 speech. Singaporeans are encouraged to view the clips and leave their comments. Our e-Townhall webchats, which are chaired by political appointment holders and MPs are also a popular engagement tool in our public consultations on key policy issues.

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The recent appointment of REACH as the Government's key e-engagement platform for national policies and issues further underscores the role of REACH in facilitating Government-citizen engagement. With increasing desire, especially among netizens, for more interactive exchange and even contest of ideas between citizens and the Government, we are working with key Ministries to explore possible further collaborations for e-engagement on pertinent issues. The Government's foray into e-engagement has not gone unnoticed by our contributors, who have applauded it as an encouraging step forward.

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But how does this relate to the young? We agree with Mr Banerjee that young Singaporeans are indeed a key stakeholder in our future. From youths actively contributing ideas for our winning bid to host the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in 2010 to the recent Inter-School Budget Debate Challenge organised by the Ministry of Finance, our youths have demonstrated that they have an interest in helping to shape Singapore. We want to reach out to them, and tap their energy, idealism and perspectives.

To this end, we appointed 70 Junior REACH Ambassadors (JRAs) in February 2008 under a pilot programme, which offers opportunities for the JRAs to initiate and drive engagement efforts among their peers. The JRAs also attended a training programme at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to facilitate their understanding of the policy-making process. REACH is looking to extend the JRA programme to more schools and tertiary institutions to enhance our outreach to the youths.

In addition, REACH introduced Youth Vibes, an interactive page for youths on our website in early January 2009. This

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webpage, which comprises discussion forums, blogs, chatroom and other web 2.0 features, aims to raise the level of awareness of, and discourse on, national issues in youths, and create an online avenue for youths to reflect and express their opinions on issues, through a medium they are comfortable with. The site was developed in consultation with our JRAs and other youths, while the content is provided by an editorial board comprising JRAs, so as to encourage them to take ownership of the website.

Mr Baey Yam Keng has highlighted the importance of closing the loop with our feedback contributors. Mr Banerjee has also suggested that more youths would be motivated to express their views if there is more visible and frequent recognition of their contributions. In encouraging active citizenry, we agree it is paramount that we continually demonstrate that we recognise and value feedback, and debunk the mistaken notion that feedback goes into a "black hole". REACH's efforts to close the loop and reinforce the message that feedback does factor in policy making is manifold. This includes our monthly newsletters, both in print and online, which highlights various policy changes due to feedback. Summaries of feedback received and Government responses to the feedback are sent to participants of our dialogue sessions and are also posted on our website. In September last year, REACH also intrdocued a new online initiative, Talk Abuzz, on our website, specifically to acknowledge the feedback from our contributors, and assure them that their feedback is valued and considered. Talk Abuzz poses summaries of current hot issues which are attracting public attention and comments from some of our contributors on these issues which are directly attributed to them. There is also a comments box feature to allow contributors to post further views on the topics and have discussions among themselves.

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The webpage also featured replies from Government agencies as well as summaries of Government response to feedback on key issues. Examples include the Marriage and Parenthood Package, the Serangoon Gardens Foreign Workers' Dormitory issue and Budget 2009.

Going forward, REACH is working with MICA to further strengthen its capacity and capabilities to facilitate effective Government-citizen engagement, particularly through the online channels. Recognising that the whole process of engagement and consultation is as important as the outcome itself, REACH will continue to work with Government agencies to act on and respond to feedback in a timely manner and keep feedback contributors apprised of the status of their feedback. Towards this end, Government agencies could, where it is deemed useful, respond to feedback on our discussion forums, as suggested by Mr Baey Yam Keng. For future policy consultations, Government agencies could also engage and respond to feedback contributors on a dedicated discussion forum for a designated policy consultation period.

To conclude, REACH will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach of using existing methods that have served us well, as well as experimenting with new channels and media to proactively reach out and engage citizens and close the loop. As Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports said recently at the REACH Contributors' Appreciation Lunch, the true measure of involvement is not the number of policies changed, but the degree of participation and ownership which Singaporeans possess in nation building, problem solving and in shaping the future. Echoing the Minister, REACH will work with Government agencies and use whatever means at its disposal to encourage and facilitate active citizen participation in policy making and shaping

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Singapore's future. And may I add that, as Chairman of REACH, I assure Mr Banerjee that his other feedback regarding Learning Journey would be forwarded to the relevant agencies, including MOE.

Helping Malay/Muslim Community Cope with the Recession

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Acting Minister for Manpower and Minister for Health (Mr Hawazi Daipi): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] The global economic recession resulted in financial problems among Singaporeans, especially the low income, including Malay/Muslim families. The ones affected worse are families whose main breadwinner lost his job due to retrenchments.

The Government introduced the Resilience Package in the Budget for the upcoming financial year to help employers and workers retain jobs for the benefit of Singaporeans. At the same time, the Government has also taken steps to increase assistance for families, especially the poor ones. Malay/Muslim families can make use of various national schemes to enhance their employability through skills training, and various welfare support schemes like ComCare.

I would like the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs to provide information on how successful have the efforts of Mendaki and other Malay/Muslim organisations been, in helping workers in training and employability issues.

Also, how do Malay/.Muslim bodies like MUIS use the welfare funds, which are accumulated from zakat and zakat fitrah collections, to help the needy that still need support even though they have received help from national schemes or programmes? What is important is the

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effort to ensure that their children do not stop schooling due to financial or other family problems. How does MUIS give out the zakat money and Muslims donations comprehensively?

As the community's leadership try to help the needy who face additional financial problems due to the economic recession, I feel that Malay/Muslim bodies like MUIS, Mendaki and mosques, must also help and encourage the community to be self-reliant. The main way is to take every effort to increase employability through continuous skills training.

I would also like to ask what is the outcome of the Malay/Muslim bodies' efforts to increase the empowerment of Malay families to solve their financial and family relationship problems, which definitely can affect the families' unity?

Muslim Community

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] We have heard of the possibility that many Singaporeans will lose jobs, and Malay workers count as the majority in sectors that will be badly affected. The Resilience Package from this year’s Budget aims to save as many jobs as possible. But most likely, the monthly income of many of our workers will reduce.

We have seen more people asking for help as the water and electricity supply in their homes had been cut off. Other than assistance schemes provided by the government, do Mendaki and Muis have additional assistance for Malays who still need help? How can we ensure that this assistance continues to be in parallel with the help given out at the national level? Malay/Muslim organizations have also continued giving assistance. This is good. However, how can we ensure that our community do not get too comfortable and will just depend on financial

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assistance, and thus, increase the risk of losing their resilience to be self-reliant?

We continue to instill the importance of upgrading to increase our personal stock value and our stake in getting jobs. The government has provided many opportunities. Mendaki, through SENSE, have worked hard to help members of our community upgrade themselves to get jobs. What is its effectiveness?

We have heard of the attitudes of some people who do not show the determination to help themselves, and these people give many excuses when they were given jobs – like the workplace is too far, low pay, shift work and others. What is the experience of SENSE in this matter? What can be done to change their mindset and attitudes?

A group of young Singaporeans once told me that our community on the whole, needs to go through a paradigm shift or a major and meaningful change of mindset, to ensure that we are able to compete in the global arena successfully. Is it possible that we encourage such youths to come forward and take action, by formulating strategies to achieve this paradigm shift?

Impact of Government Budget Measures and Downturn on Malay/Muslims

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] After years of enjoying economic growth, we now face an economic crisis. This will surely affect Malay workers; with 65% of them do not have post-secondary education. Hence, it is important for us to focus on this group, so that they can upgrade to relevant skills and grab job opportunities to take care of their families.

The loss of income can affect the family's lives. It may also affect the educational expenses of the children. Thus, I hope the Minister can elaborate on

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the new developments in terms of measures that will be taken, to help Malay/Muslim families that are affected by this economic downturn, especially in helping them get stable jobs.

In this matter too, are there steps to ensure that the Malay children's education, from pre-school the tertiary level, will still be a priority for such families?

In this economic crisis, we understand that the community, especially the ones who are better-off, will probably be more cautious. This may affect their involvement and contributions in community work, and will more or less, slow down our efforts to help the community based on the self-help approach.
What is the Minister's view on this, and what are the steps being taken so that the professionals and businessmen, who are the more successful groups in our community, can continue to contribute to Malay/Muslim bodies, community affairs and also MUIS?

Malay/Muslim Affairs: Educational Help for the Needy

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Marine Parade): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, education is essential to achieve excellence, as it enables our country and society to progress from one level to a higher one. I would like to ask the Minister if there are resources, including manpower and finance, to meet the educational needs of the Malay/Muslim community during this economic crisis.

What are the steps taken to ensure that our children's schooling and education, from the primary to tertiary levels, will not be affected even though their parents lose their income?

As we help the needy when solving welfare issues, it is essential for us to also increase our investment in the community's educational needs. I believe that

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this will help our efforts towards excellence for Singaporeans.

Measures to Strengthen Malay Families

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, a task force or inter-ministerial committee was set up to solve the issue of dysfunctional families. Sociologists agree that children from dysfunctional families may be trapped in a vicious circle if they are not taken out from it.

This initiative must touch on 4 strategic issues, that is, identifying dysfunctional or high-risk families, prevention, ways to solve the problem effectively, and the efficiency of the welfare sector

In relation to this, how does the Malay/Muslim bodies, including MUIS and Mendaki, can work together and play an important role to support and help the community, based on the suggestions given. More importantly, how can we ensure that the number of dysfunctional families do not increase during this downturn?

I believe that the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports have been working with schools and welfare bodies to solve the issue of dysfunctional families. In the meantime, how can the Malay/Muslim community further increase the channels of assistance and raise their level of excellence, and at the same time, not duplicate available programmes like the Healthy Start Programme (HSP) or the Home Ownership Plus Education Scheme (HOPE), and others?

I am concerned with the limited capacity of the Malay/Muslim bodies, especially geographically, to be more effective. As such, how can Mendaki and MUIS expand their network to solve social

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issues like children whose parents are in prison, the sniffing of glue and other contraband items, the problems of family violence and gambling, and teenage marriages - social problems that have long haunted the Malay/Muslim community?

Use of the Revised Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, last year, in spite of increasing living costs, the Malay/Muslim community generously supports the change to AMLA in 2008 to increase contributions to the MBMF. First, it is important that we ensure the funds are well spent and that our Malay/Muslim community will benefit from the additional contribution and expenditure. I wish to enquire about the progress of the implementation of the revised MBMF. Some of these funds are scheduled to be allocated for the renovation and rebuilding of various old mosques. May I ask the Minister, what are the criteria of selection for the mosque that would be earmarked for this initiative? How is the Ministry strategising to allocate this fund for the various aspects of revamping work? What is the estimated amounts of funds which would be required for the next five to 10 years to renovate and rebuild these mosques?

Madam, our country's mainstream education is often undergoing changes, transformation and upgrading in the last few years. This is beneficial and useful for the future of Singapore. Similarly, I also believe that we have to continue to upgrade and improve the joint Madrasah system which provides a strong foundation in religious education for Malay/Muslim students. A proper and quality religious education can assist our younger generation in contextualizing their religious knowledge and provide relevant guidance for Malay/Muslims living and working in a multi-racial and multi-religious modern city such as Singapore.

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Furthermore, Madam, the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore should aspire to develop our own group of Islamic scholars and thinkers who have a proper understanding of Singapore. We cannot always depend on foreign religious scholars for our needs. Young Malay/Muslims who aspire to be one such scholar would need to receive religious education in a conducive environment that is relevant to Singapore. So may I ask how we would be able to measure the positive impacts and value-added of the additional resources that go to the JMS?

Madrasah Education

Mr Hawazi Daipi: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] The current economic downturn shows the importance of knowledge, information and skills that are relevant for everyone, so that we can obtain and retain jobs that are suitable with our respective abilities and interests. That is why I welcome the Ministry of Education's move, which was agreed by the local madrasahs a few years ago, to set the PSLE benchmark for madrasahs.

It is important for madrasah students at the primary level, to be taught Mathematics, Science and English language subjects, so that they have a basic exposure to knowledge that will be important when they study at the next level and enter working life. Students who can follow those subjects well, and get good results, will have a wider choice of courses at the secondary level and above.

Unfortunately, two madrasahs failed to meet the PSLE benchmark for the 2008 examinations. If the same madrasahs cannot meet the PSLE benchmark for three years running, they will not be allowed to register Primary One students. While this matter is important for the madrasah itself, what is also essential is the effort to ensure that all madrasah students have a chance to pass, and even

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better, obtain good scores in secular subjects.

I would like to ask the Minister, what is being done to help all madrasahs offering primary level education, to go beyond the PSLE benchmark for 2009.

What is also the progress achieved through the Joint Madrasah System?

Madam, I joined the Speaker of Parliament in his visit to Egypt late last year. Over there, we had the chance to meet and talk to Singapore undergraduates who are studying at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo and the University of Alexandria. I returned with a happy heart, as I met undergraduates who are confident and positive thinking, and they reject militant and terrorist ideologies. Most of them can speak English effectively, in addition to being fluent in Malay.

I am happy to know that some of them take up additional courses in English-Arabic language interpretation outside their universities. I was glad to see that the Singapore Embassy in Cairo led by Ambassador Wong Kwok Pun, often meet them and enabled the undergraduates to follow the latest developments in their homeland.

Their question to me is what type of help can they receive from MUIS to get jobs, be it in the religious field or others, after they complete their studies? Hence, I like to direct this same question to the Minister. Can MUIS work with government agencies like the WDA to help them get suitable jobs?

Madrasah Support

Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad (Pasir Ris-Punggol): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] The PSLE results of the madrasah students

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last year was very encouraging, with 98% managed to pass. They are the first batch of madrasah students who must compulsorily sit for the exams, under the Compulsory Education (CE) Act that was introduced in 2003.

However, even though the passing rate was generally high, in terms of the quality of passes, it was still unsatisfactory. I would like to know what steps will be taken to improve the quality of PSLE passes of the madrasah students, so that more will qualify for the Express stream if they wish to go to secular secondary schools later.

Also, out of the 6 madrasahs, as mentioned by Mr Hawazi, two of them, Madrasah Al-Arabiah and Madrasah Wak Tanjong, were unable to fulfill the minimum benchmark that was set. For Madrasah Al-Arabiah, it was included in the Joint Madrasah System (JMS), where it does not conduct primary education, but will provide secondary education with more focus on academic subjects. Will Madrasah Al-Arabiah be able to provide educational programmes in secondary level academic subjects, even though its students could not meet the minimum CE requirements for primary schools? What are the preparations and changes made to ensure that a proper academic secondary education will be provided there?

As for Madrasah Wak Tanjong, it is not part of the JMS and will continue its present educational programmes. I would like to know what steps will be taken to ensure Wak Tanjong students can fulfill next year's CE requirements? Thank you.

Asatizah Development

Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] The development of asatizahs (religious teachers) is an

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important component of the religious life of our Malay/Muslim community. Today, more of our asatizahs achieve higher education levels, with some doing it overseas at well-known and recognised institutions.

They are also more progressive in their ideas, thoughts and approach to issues, including issues that are sensitive in the community. I am indeed honoured to see these positive changes.

In this matter, I hope MUIS and the Minister can give an answer on these matters. First, the future plans for the development of our asatizahs. This includes formal training programmes as well as providing funding for studies in overseas institutions for specialised training. Secondly, plans to help asatizahs' efforts to enhance their engagement and links with the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Madam, the global recession will affect Singaporeans, including Malay/Muslim workers and their families. When I concluded the debate on the Malay/Muslim issues last year, we had not expected a turbulent time ahead. This recession is a new challenge to the community as well as our nation.

As we enter this period of uncertainty, workers need to brace themselves for salary adjustments or even job loss. While the impact of the economic downturn will be felt by all, it will be more acute for low-skilled workers and those in badly affected industries. Yet, this should not prevent us from being hopeful about the future of our families and our children.

We should face these difficult times with courage and determination. We must be resilient and continue to work hard to improve on our achievements as a

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community and as Singaporeans. We have made great strides in education and employment over the years and whatever the difficulties, this recession should bring out our perseverance and cohesiveness. We must focus our minds and efforts on achieving even greater heights. If we do not do so, when the economy turns around, which it will, we will be worse off than before.

Madam, over the past two years, we have put in place key initiatives to bring ourselves closer towards the vision of a community of excellence. Last year, we amended the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA), which will strengthen our key institutions and families. Four Muslims have donated their organs under the amended Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA), saving several lives. The Joint Madrasah System (JMS) was launched and our madrasah students sat for the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) for the first time, and they performed credibly. When our Haj quota was reduced due to a shortage of accommodation in Mecca, our community understood and adapted. Key stakeholders like AMTAS, or the Association of Muslim Travel Agencies Association, conducted themselves commendably, working closely with MUIS to accommodate the sudden changes. The way we have faced challenges and situations bear promise to how we will tackle the challenges ahead as a community.

Madam, we need to ensure that the people who will be affected by the downturn recover as quickly as possible. The Government's key priority is to help Singaporeans stay employed so that they can continue to support their families. The Government has allocated a lot of resources into initiatives such as the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and the Workfare Income Supplement Special Payment. Some of the recently announced initiatives will

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provide direct assistance to households and targeted help for vulnerable families or groups. Our community's approach to this crisis must be three-fold: (a) we must first ensure that every affected member of our community has access to the various Government programmes provided at the national level; (b) where necessary, our community institutions must step in and close the gap of assistance, if these gaps exist; and (c) we must make adjustments to our way of life to prepare for an uncertain future.

Let me now elaborate on the measures that we have put in place to assist our community to deal with this recession, starting with employment. Since 2004, the Employability Network of the Community Leaders' Forum (CLF) has placed 4,000 job-seekers in jobs. 40,000 training places were also taken up by some 26,000 workers. In November 2008, the Employability Network introduced the Job Ready and a Job Steady Programmes. The Job Ready Programme targets to help 4,000 jobseekers in 2009, more than 50% of whom would be the newly retrenched. It also targets to offer 9,000 training places this year.

The Job Steady Programme will encourage workers to continue to train and upgrade their skills, to remain employable and relevant to changes in the economic landscape. Targeted at low-skilled workers, this programme seeks to enhance workers' awareness of the various job opportunities and programmes, like SPUR and the Workforce Skills Qualification System (WSQ) and make referrals to Continuing Education and Training Centres.

Madam, given our limited community resources, MUIS and Mendaki should not duplicate the Government's efforts. They should focus on their strengths and value-add to the national initiatives, and what is provided for under ComCare. This is

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consistent with our approach of plugging the gaps. So I am sure Mr Hawazi, Dr Maliki and Madam Halimah who have queried about our community's response to the crisis, will appreciate the need to optimise our community's resources while leveraging on what is available nationally.

Madam, for families, apart from ComCare and other national programmes, MUIS has set up a $2 million fund called the IHSAN (or Compassion) Fund. This is a one-off special fund which will be used to provide additional grants to zakat recipient families, grants to MUIS' partnering agencies for empowerment programmes, and subsidise religious education in part-time and full-time madrasahs . Affected families may also be channelled to MUIS' existing zakat programme pillars to ensure more holistic intervention towards self-reliance.

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Madam apart from the targeted financial assistance by MUIS, we believe that it is also important that during this time of difficulties, families should not cut back on their children's education. Hence, we share Dr Muhammad Faishal, Mr Hawazi and Mr Zaqy's concern that the economic downturn could impact on children's education. The education of our children is one of the highest priorities for the community. Both Mendaki and MUIS will introduce initiatives to supplement national schemes to help needy students.

Mendaki has adjusted its income eligibility criteria to help more needy students qualify for fee waivers for its educational programmes. The income cap has been increased from a monthly gross household income of $1,000 to net household income of $1,500. Mendaki will also subsidise the fees of needy students who attend tuition programmes organised by grassroots organisations,

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such as MECs, in addition to the weekend Mendaki Tuition Scheme.

Mendaki has also extended the Education Trust Fund (ETF) subsidy, which previously covered only pre-school, primary and lower secondary education, to include upper secondary students in both the mainstream schools and madrasahs . The limit of only three applicants per family has also been removed.

Needy Malay students in tertiary institutions can tap on the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy, which benefit families of household income of $3,000 and below, and can provide up to 100% subsidy of the tuition fee for applicants whose gross monthly family income is $2,000 or less. Students who need help but do not meet the eligibility criteria may apply for interest-free loans under Mendaki's Supplementary Assistance Scheme or Local Study Loan.

The ITE Special Student Assistance Scheme has been helping needy Muslim students in ITE, Assumption Vocational Institute and Northlight School with their course fees and schooling expenses. MUIS will increase its annual contribution to the Scheme to help 350 students each year.

Madam, at the same time the Family Development Network of the CLF is working with Malay/Muslim organisations to produce a booklet similar to the guide developed by Central-Singapore CDC. This booklet will contain tips and information on various programmes that families can tap on. We hope to launch this booklet by March. Dr Maliki and Dr Faishal who are Chairmen of the Network are working very hard with the various Malay/Muslim organisations to ensure consistency in our approach in helping the needy families.

Madam, prior to this Budget debate, I took the opportunity to brief Malay/

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Muslim community leaders on the economic challenge facing our community and what both MUIS and Mendaki will do to assist the community. I appealed to them and their organisations to come together to help our community face the challenging times ahead. I am confident that they will do so.

Allow me now to respond to some of the specific queries raised by hon. Members. Mr Zaqy asked about the educational progress of our children. Malay/Muslim students have made significant improvements over the years. More Malay/Muslim students in each cohort have obtained at least 5 'O' level passes, allowing them to progress to higher education. The percentage of Malay P1 cohort admitted to post-secondary institutions has more than doubled, from 36% in 1990 to 83.5% in 2007.

Madam, the gap in performance between Malay students and their counterparts has been narrowing over the years. The gap between the proportion of Malay P1 cohort admitted to post-secondary institutions and the national average has narrowed from 24% to 11% over the last 15 years. Mendaki has been analysing the performance of Malay students and the possible areas for improvement. Over the years, targeted initiatives have been successfully introduced to raise the education outcomes of Malay/Muslim students, especially at the primary and secondary levels. By establishing a strong foundation at these levels, I believe that the educational performance of Malay/Muslim students will improve further, and we will see even more Malay students entering post-secondary institutions.

Madam, we need more role models and mentors as we try to uplift ourselves. Mr Zaqy asked what plan we have to encourage more successful members of our community to come forward and

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volunteer their time and services. I share his concerns. Groups like the Mendaki Club or Young AMP serve as platforms for young professionals to dialogue, network and collaborate on special projects which would be beneficial to the community.

Madam, as we help workers and their families cope with the economic downturn, we should not lose sight of our efforts to strengthen Malay/Muslim families. The recommendations of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Dysfunctional Families offer many opportunities for Malay/Muslim social service agencies to strengthen their services and be more effective.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli asked about our community's efforts to strengthen family resilience. Various measures, both upstream and downstream, have been put in place. The Marriage Preparation Course was recently revamped to better prepare couples for the changes and challenges they will face in married life. Over 1,000 participants have undergone the new course as of December 2008, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

The CLF started a financial planning and budgeting course for families last year. The "Program Bijak Belanja' has trained close to 2,500 participants by the end of 2008. It will be incorporated as a module in the Core Parenting Skills Programme, yet another initiative to strengthen parenting skills in Malay/Muslim families. Madam, I am also happy to see our local mosques reaching out to families to share tips on budgeting and financial management. One such effort was undertaken by Jamiyah Ar-Rabitah Mosque at Tiong Bahru Road, which I am sure we are familiar with, which organised a financial management workshop for members of the public. The mosque is in Madam's constituency.

A series of initiatives is also in the pipeline to empower our men in their roles

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as husbands and fathers. Adam Association or 'Persatuan Adam' will embark on a series of programmes this year. It will include bi-monthly forums, an outreach programme to get more fathers involved in parent support groups and public education initiatives.

In building family resilience, special attention has to be given to specific, vulnerable groups such as minor couples and reconstituted families. Our efforts to tackle minor marriages have shown encouraging results. Muslim minor marriages have been declining. Since its peak in 2000, the numbers have fallen by 45%, looking at last year's figures. Similarly, the number of divorces where one or both parties were below 21 years, is declining. Since its peak in 2003, the number has fallen 29%, from 633 in 2003 to 452 in 2008. Muslim divorces, in general, have also been declining. In 2008, there were 1,697 divorces, a 3% decline from the 1,747 Muslim divorces in 2007. We hope that the trend will continue in the coming years.

However, one worrying trend is the high rate of Muslim remarriages and serial divorces. In 2008, 31.7% (almost one-third) of Muslim marriages involved one or two parties who had been married before. In the same year, 31.4% of Muslim divorces registered involved people who had remarried.

Currently only As-Salaam PPIS-Family Support Centre runs programmes to support and strengthen reconstituted families. To expand the reach of such a programme, a point raised by Mr Masagos, a dedicated centre for reconstituted families will be set up in the northern part of Singapore in 2010. In the meantime, an interim centre will be set up this year, to offer counselling, enrichment and other support programmes to reconstituted families.

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Madam, the community has put in significant resources and efforts to improve our religious institutions such as our mosques and madrasahs , and in the development of our religious teachers and scholars. We amended AMLA last year to allow the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund (MBMF) to be used for the upgrading of old mosques and for religious education.

Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about the allocation of MBMF monies and the progress of the Joint Madrasah System (JMS). Under the revised MBMF rates, the annual contribution from Muslim workers is expected to increase, from $10 million to $12.9 million, of which $3 million will be allocated to religious education. Over the next few years, the bulk of this sum will be allocated to the JMS to fund its initial set-up. The funds will be used for teacher training and recruitment, systems and facilities enhancement, curriculum and content development as well as and for student enrichment programmes.

The JMS was rolled-out in January 2009 with a primary one intake of 202 students, who started school at the new Madrasah Al-Irsyad premises in Braddell Road. MUIS has recruited several key personnel for the madrasah , including a vice-principal responsible for academic subjects.

In terms of curriculum changes, Irsyad, which only offers a programme for primary education, will implement a streaming policy for its students, in line with the three streams offered in the JMS curriculum framework for students at the secondary level. Irsyad will also strengthen its Arabic language programmes, by offering Higher Arabic as a subject at Upper Primary, and teaching one or two religious subjects in Arabic instead of English.

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Arabiah's secondary level curriculum will be revamped to allocate more time for academic subjects and Arabiah will eventually have the same number of curriculum hours for academic subjects as national schools. Religious subjects will be offered based on a modular system, most of which will be taught in English, and the level of Arabic language will be benchmarked to the GCE 'O' Level standards.

Mr Hawazi and Dr Ahmad Magad have asked how we will help madrasahs which did not meet the PSLE benchmark in 2008. Arabiah has joined the JMS and therefore will not be subjected to the PSLE benchmark. While the primary responsibility for students' performance lies with the madrasah and the parents of the students, MUIS will share best practices of successful madrasahs so that all our madrasahs continue to improve on standards. MUIS will also continue to extend resources to all the madrasahs , such as the PSLE Ready Package, which was announced in 2007.

Madam, we are committed to the success of JMS. The JMS will optimise use of our community's limited resources and improve the long-term well-being of our madrasah sector, especially that of our madrasah students. MUIS will continue to support all madrasahs. However, the bulk of MUIS' resources will be channelled to the JMS. JMS has made a promising start and we remain open to more madrasahs joining the JMS.

Mr Zainduin Nordin asked about the usage of the MBMF for mosque upgrading. MUIS estimates that about $15 million will be needed from MBMF for Phase 1 of the mosque upgrading projects, which will last five years. Major upgrading works may be granted up to 80% funding from MBMF. Less extensive projects may be given a small top-up grant. Mosques are selected for upgrading based on the urgency of their needs.

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Selection of mosques will depend on factors such as the urgency of the works required to prevent further deterioration of the mosque and the need to address major recurring problems. The financial viability of the project will also be considered.

Five mosques will benefit under Phase 1. I am happy to announce that they are: Al-Ansar in Bedok; Alkaff in Upper Serangoon; An-Nur in Woodlands; Hajjah Rahimabi in Whampoa and Muhajirin in Toa Payoh. The mosques will receive various levels of support from MBMF depending on their needs. Muhajirin, which has just been rebuilt, will be the first beneficiary of this funding. MBMF will contribute about $2.5 million to the project while the mosque will raise the balance of the costs. Phase 1 of the upgrading will be undertaken concurrently with the construction of two new mosques in Sengkang and Punggol.

Madam, MUIS offers a comprehensive programme to develop our religious teachers, or asatizah , as they play a key role in imparting values to our young and guiding the community on matters of religion. Mr Hawazi and Dr Fatimah Lateef may be pleased to know that MUIS Academy offers a range of capacity-building programmes, from baseline to professional and leadership training to postgraduate programmes. MUIS has revised its Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme to enable our asatizah to pursue postgraduate studies in Islamic Sciences. MUIS Academy's latest effort to embark on the Research Fellowship Programme also aims at providing research training and build research capabilities and competencies amongst young asatizah . Through this, we hope to develop potential scholars for MUIS and the Muslim community. MUIS Academy also offers skills development and bridging courses to assist young asatizah graduates to gain employment beyond the religious sector, including training in social

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work and counselling for employment in the social service sector. I hope that Mr Hawazi notes the point that we are doing our best to help our graduates from the religious sector.

Madam, allow me to conclude my address in Malay.

(In Malay) : [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] We are now going through an economic downturn. Some Malay/Muslim workers, many of them sole breadwinners in the family, will be affected by this crisis. The Malay/Muslim community must be ready to face and overcome this downturn. We must emerge as a more resilient community, to ensure a better future for our families and children.

One of our priorities now is to ensure that our children's education is not affected due to falling family income. We also hope that workers will try to equip themselves with suitable skills and qualifications, get new jobs and eventually, take care of their families.

I'd like to share a story of a zakat recipient, Mdm Liza, who is also a single mother with a two-year old son. She went to MUIS in July 2008 to seek help. However, Mdm Liza did not only ask for financial assistance. Instead, the first thing she asked for was what courses are available so that she can upgrade her skills.

Now, Mdm Liza is taking a nursing course for three months organised by a CDC. She may be attached to a nursing home soon for on-the-job training. I admire Mdm Liza as a single mother with an iron will. And I hope she will achieve her ambition to be a full-time nurse eventually.

Mdm Liza proved that with determination and sacrifice, one can change

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one's fate. We can learn a lesson from this story. As parents, we must prioritise the interests of the family and the children. If you are a heavy smoker, you might want to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked. Imagine what can be done with the money that you save in one day, one week or one month. Your sacrifice will have a major effect on your family’s well-being. In short, any choice you make must contribute to the family's well-being.

For unaffected Malay/Muslim workers, my advice is for them not to be complacent, especially those who are less skilled. The global economic landscape changes quickly. The new economy requires new skills and qualifications. Some of the jobs available now may be gone one day. My message is: Upgrade your skills or get new qualifications. As the Malay saying goes, "Prepare the umbrella before it rains".

Madam Chairman, even though this economic crisis is very challenging, it provides an opportunity for us to reshape our community, to become a community that is more intact and resilient. We must avoid wastage, and focus on things that can upgrade our families’ quality of life, like education, training and re-training, as well as health. We must inculcate values like hard work, thrift, be forward looking and not attached to material things. Instead, we must practice values that push us towards excellence. I am confident, that based on our achievements in climbing the ladder of success so far, and our focus on long-term objectives, our community is able to go through changes for a brighter future.

Thank you.

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, I would like to clarify that I have not raised a concern that the rate of Public Assistance is too high. In fact, I am very happy and grateful that more will be done to help the needy. But my question which I do no think was addressed is this: For at

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least four years from 2003 to 2007, the PA quantum remained stagnant.

But from 2007, we have seen upward adjustment of PA every year. So, PA rates are not tied to inflation but the figures show they are certainly not lagging behind inflation rates. In fact, the PA increment has been three times more than inflation rate. So are we playing catch-up to make up for an overly conservative allowance in the past, or is the Government seeing itself playing the role of a bigger hand in the Many-Helping-Hands model? So, I hope the Minister could explain any shift in thinking or policy behind providing permanent financial assistance for the needy.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: That is a very good question, and a fundamental point.

There is no change in our policy, as far as pegging the rates for Public Assistance goes. It is not a generous amount. We are trying to create a scheme in which there are adequate resources for people who are most vulnerable in our society.

The easy solution is to make it index-linked but I found that that does not work because the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is one number across society, while the expenditure of people at the very lowest end of our economic ladder is significantly different from others elsewhere. So for the last few years, we have been tracking - that is, within MCYS - what it actually costs to buy food and to make ends meet. I would say that the amounts that we have now - if you remember the presentation that Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon put up, supplemented with all the additional handouts that the Government gives and the support provided by the community - allow me to say quite honestly that we ensure that nobody should starve in Singapore. Nobody should be without a roof over his or her head. Nobody's child should be absent

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from school. And nobody should be deprived of healthcare. So, I am looking more at an outcome rather than an actual figure, because there is no magic figure.

There will be other MPs like Mr Sam Tan who feel that it is still inadequate. I think we can debate this. But the key point is to look at the outcomes.

What I do know is that if you have to be poor, it is a terrible position to be in. But if you have to be poor and you had to take your pick of any country in the world, even first-world countries - I dare say we look after our people well. I have also said that this is not a matter of lack of resources. There is a key upper limit to how generous I can be, and I will tell you honestly, as the Minister, the easiest thing is to give more. I will certainly sleep better if I could give more. But there is a key upper limit.

That key upper limit is that we cannot make Public Assistance more generous than what a menial labourer would earn in wages because, mind you, the person on Public Assistance has free medicine, free healthcare, free education for the children. Many of the other incidental expenditures in life are not his problem. So, the real focus, if I could focus the minds of the MPs here - is, quite frankly, the group beyond the Public Assistance category - the people at the boundary.

So, a policy change that we have made is to be more flexible at the edges. To accept that even though some people have children, their children are unable to support them. Or to accept that some people may have a medical problem and they cannot work for six months, or even longer. So, this year, we say we can even go up to one year. And for work support, to recognise in this year that it may be difficult for some people to get jobs - no matter how much we train them. So, we have again provided greater

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flexibility, such that the duration on which they can stay on work support will be extended, up to one year.

But, as I also said in the beginning, I cannot match the expectations of the middle-class or even the lower middle-class, because I have to peg the support that I give to everyone fairly, and it is pegged at that of Public Assistance. So, we will see how things evolve this year. Fortunately for us this year, inflation does not appear to be a major threat. And I will give you this assurance that we will continue to monitor the needs of people in the Public Assistance category and those at the boundaries.

Er Lee Bee Wah: Madam, I would like to assure SPS that definitely that there is good governance, there is honesty, and there is a plan, not just for 2012 Olympics but up to 2016 in Olympics in STTA.

And just now you have not answered my following questions: What is the budget allocated for NSAs this year? How is it compared to last year? And what is your opinion on the through-train A-level for Singapore Sports School? And, please consider training in NSA to be recognised as CCA.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: Madam, Ms Lee asked about the funding for the NSAs. The NSAs' annual funding is still under review. But one thing is for sure and I have also mentioned this in my speech - both SPS Masagos and myself chair this Committee on Youth Sports Development - that we will give additional support for youth sports development.

But we cannot commit a full quantum of funding for all sports or NSAs. There are 60 of them and we have new ones. So we have to narrow down and look at those that have good plans and of course

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good governance. But more importantly, what are the major games that will come up? The Olympics has only 26 Olympics sports, so we have to narrow down and look at which NSA has a better structure, a plan and a youth development plan, so that we can fund them appropriately.

With regards to CCA, this is something that the Committee is working on between MOE and MCYS. We are looking at CCA recognition for at least the Olympics sports. What I understand is that MOE is ready to recognise all the Olympics sports as CCAs but it is also up to the school to decide what constitutes a CCA in the school programme as well. So this is something for MOE and the schools to decide.

As for through-train "A" levels, I will leave it to my Minister.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Madam, that is another very good question as well.

The Sports School, when we first started, was meant to provide only secondary school education for four years. Increasingly, we are recognising the need for a longer programme. So, we are currently in discussion, both at the Board level as well as with MOE, to enable the Sports School to run a six-year programme.

However, when we say through-train, we have to be a bit careful. Many people associate through-train as an opportunity to skip the "O" levels. I am being very, very careful about that, because my key objective in the Sports School is not only to produce sporting champions but to make sure they get the best educational experience possible. And if the best education experience possible for that particular person involves having to do the "O" levels, then we will provide that avenue. So, this is still in a state of flux and we will see how things unfold within the next couple of months.

I think Members may also be aware that NTU is now also offering a four-year

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direct Honours course which will be an ideal fit for sports administrators as well as our athletes, post their competitive careers. And we will certainly ensure that our Sports School provides sufficient interdigitations with high opportunities for higher education.

Currently, we already have programmes with the Auckland University of Technology. We have a programme with Republic Polytechnic and we already have an informal programme with NTU which we will formalise in the future.

The key message for young athletes and their parents is that we will take care of both your sporting needs and your academic needs. We will ensure that you can be a champion; and we will also make sure that you have got academic and professional avenues after your competitive career is over.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, two clarifications. One is on the Many-Helping-Hands. MOS painted a very, very rosy picture that all is very well with this approach. Sir, five MPs spoke up on this topic. Some of whom, like my colleague Mdm Halimah, have praised the 'many-helping-hands' approach right in this House before. I do not think any one of us is against this sacred cow. But all we are asking is a system study, or other methods, by which the status quo can be improved to make it more efficient and more effective so that help gets to where it is needed.

The second one is on social workers. Social workers are very critical players in this sector and I admire them very much for what they do and what they bring to the table.

But I believe that to level up the sector, what is required is not just soft skills but really the harder skills - like process mapping, strategic planning skills - and we can take a leaf from Motorola University, for example. They run a lot of Six Sigma-based courses that I believe are

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very useful for our sector. And we should look at levelling up our sector with this kind of hard core skills, including also market communication skills where matrixes for communication can be developed to communicate to target audiences from Hokkien or Hainanese-speaking residents or constituents to English speaking constituents.

6.30 pm

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I am glad that you acknowledge that the Many Helping Hands model is still fundamentally the way to go. That is certainly one key pillar which I am not prepared to demolish, but I will concede that it is not perfect. There are both advantages and disadvantages to that, and I will also agree that we can do better.
My staff and I will look at your suggestion of a system study. But let me just say that, frankly, I think the issue now is not more study; I think it is an issue of implementation, and we need to get good minds. Actually, we already have good minds in the sector but we need to get alignment of interests and our plans and our policies, and allocate resources accordingly so that we can implement better. I do not know if that is what you call a system study but I think we need to improve our implementation.

On social workers, I will tell you that my views are somewhat coloured by my views as a medical professional. You want doctors, first and foremost, to know their stuff - that is what being a professional means. That means going to medical school, getting the proper qualifications, getting the proper training, getting the proper certification and then making sure also that they are the people with the right values, right hearts and right attitudes to deliver their professional services. Yes, it is true that with some doctors, you want them to do more. You want them to go into administration, you

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want them to be able to do healthcare financing, you want process mapping, Six Sigma, and you want market communications. But I do not see the need to equip every single social worker with that; and indeed, I think most social workers, as professionals, may not necessarily be interested in all those areas. But, clearly for those who are in leadership positions and will have to acquire these additional skills, we will provide avenues for them. But right now, what I want to establish is the social worker as a professional - no more and no less than a teacher, or a doctor, or a pharmacist, or a dentist. If we can get there, I think, and I hope, Prof Kalyani will agree we would have made one major step.

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Two points of clarification, Madam.

I was very happy when Minister was talking about the growth of the pre-school sector. I just wanted to ask whether there is still this issue of parents seeing the pre-school sector and the childcare as nannies; and neglecting the fact that the important work in educating our young and laying the foundations of their learning and social skills. So, I believe, more should be done to educate the public of the importance of early childhood education and the work done by pre-school teachers. So, this will give the right recognition to teachers as well help to attract more entrants into the industry.

The other point I would also like to ask: the Ministry has put in a lot of resources for the Baby Bonus and the CDA funds. But I suspect that a lot of parents do not understand that these CDA funds could be used for the childcare and the pre-school education. The aim of the Baby Bonus is to help parents cope with the different costs of having a child. These also include the early childhood education which allows the children to develop important knowledge and skills as a child. So, parents should also be

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educated to know how they can help their children by using that money that is provided under the baby bonus towards funding a suitable kindergarten and childcare centre. So, may I have inputs from Minister, please?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I am glad that you agree that the early childhood sector is more than just providing a nanny service. My view is that the childcare centres are kindergartens plus plus. And kindergartens are pre-primary educational facilities. I do not think this is a fully settled debate. There will be still people who feel that education only begins at Primary One. I just take a more practical approach. I think it helps.

Early environmental improvements make a difference to a child's outlook, a child's expectations, and ultimately, the child's destiny. So, both MOE and MCYS are investing heavily in the sector and you will see considerable allocation of resources, not just money, but also manpower, supervision and professional inputs into this sector. I want to reiterate that this is a growth sector. And if there are people who got the right attributes and attitudes and are willing to work with children, please sign up and we will provide the training and get you into this sector.

As far as the Baby Bonus is concerned, I think most parents know, because I can tell you from experience, having one not that long ago. When my own baby was born, we immediately got the forms and all that. We know how much we are getting and we know what it can be used for, so I would be surprised if parents do not know. And we have also ensured that it is in all four official languages but I will go back and take a look at the form again.

Mrs Jessie Phua: Madam, point of clarification from the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. This is on NSA funding.

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We recognise that there are 64 NSAs and that there are limited funds, of course. Can I ask the Parliamentary Secretary for NSAs that have displayed the ability to roll out good policy and good governance, can the Ministry recognise this commitment on the NSA's part by granting them a multi-year funding support so as to address and allay their annual fears? Every time they have to wait to see if their programmes are going to be disrupted, if the fundings are going to be substantially affected.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: Madam, I think that is a very valid point about multi-year funding. In fact, we have already started some thoughts and consideration about how we can do multi-year funding instead of annual funding especially with events like the Olympic Games, which are very much focused on a four-year cycle. And because it is a four-year cycle, there is a need to look at how do you groom an athlete from the time of identification to the time of training and development and selection, over a four-year period.

And this multi-year funding has to be given to different stakeholders, including the NSAs. So it is not just about good governance, of course, but it is about the athlete. We also need the associations to be athlete-centric. Whenever you develop plans, it is for the association to groom the person to maximise his potential to be a champion. It is something that will take time but we hope to be able to complete the entire exercise, to be able to come up with a multi-funding exercise, at least for Olympic-bound athletes, or athletes that are going for major games over a four-year period and then we can roll it out to all the NSAs. And obviously, as you know, bowling although it is not Olympics sport, because of good governance and plans, we do fund bowling a substantial amount as well.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Madam, I am heartened that in Minister's reply to Mrs

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Denise Phua's question there will be more resources being put in to build up the capability of the social service sector. I was wondering whether there are existing service-delivery gaps that the Minister plans to bridge with the increased funding, and what are some of these services that are the Minister's top priority at this point.

On the comments from REACH Chairman earlier - I thank her for presenting all the features and functionalities of REACH - but I also think that REACH needs to be a lot about the people it reaches it out to. So, could the Chairman also give us an indication on what is the profile of the citizens that they reach out to and what are the numbers? Is there a target number that we plan to reach out to?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Madam, the first question: I am not sure I will call it a service gap. But our top priority this year is on dysfunctional families and particularly the children who are in such families. So, you will notice that a lot of the schemes - the amendments to the schemes - really devote more resources to families with children. And we got to make sure that that help is delivered properly. As Denise always reminds me - it is implementation. It is well and fine to declare an objective, it is all well and fine to allocate resources; but we need to implement it. And as I outlined earlier, whether we can identify these families, take appropriate upstream measures, intervene where it really makes a difference. If we can do all these and rescue at least some children, we would be all right.

Let me share this. It is not a unique story - I am sure many of us have seen this. In fact, yesterday my wife came back from a meeting - she is patron to a VWO. There was a 53-year old lady with six children. The eldest is 31, the

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youngest is seven, and none of them work. And she pulled her seven-year old out of either kindergarten or school because she claimed she did not have enough money.

When you think about a family like this, first you got to reach out and identify these families because some of these families may not even want to access your help, especially if your help is conditional. Because you tell them - yes, I will help you and I will pay for your child to enroll in childcare but you must go and work. So, reaching out, convincing, persuading is a problem. Then you ask her, why six children and from how many men? And it is usually more than one man.

I had another woman who came to me, also with six children and her third husband. The problem was with her eldest child who is now 17 and not doing well in school. And the third husband says, look, it is a discipline problem but I cannot control him because he says I am not his father; and he is just not going to do well in school.

So, there is a real risk of a self-replicating, dysfunctional underclass, if we do not watch it. And dealing with this, is going to require all hands on deck. We are going to need the VWOs, the FSCs, the self-help groups, and we are going to need community leadership to be exercised on the ground. But the stories which I am telling today are not unique. I am sure all of you have seen such families. So this is an area of particular focus which we need to try to make a difference.

Amy, I think, can you answer the question on Reach?

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Madam, I thank the Member for his question. I think

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it is a very valid question. It is really not just about the tools but really about the outreach because our objective really is to engage the Singaporeans so that they feel that they have a role to play in policy making, and they feel rooted to Singapore.

So, in terms of outreach, we are first of all, very mindful that we are wanting to reach out to a very diverse population. We are not just talking about the netizens. Therefore, in addition to looking at different channels of e-Engagement - because increasingly more Singaporeans are of course wired up, and they want to engage online - we have also not forsaken the conventional medium of feedback which is our face-to-face dialogue sessions. In fact, we have also introduced SMS because that is one easy way to get people to engage us without having to come to a dialogue session and they can do this at their convenience, any time and from any place. They have found that to be very useful.

In addition to that, in order to reach out to more Singaporeans, what we have done is initiated roving exhibitions of Reach activities in the heartland itself, at schools, various institutions and agencies. In order to raise awareness about the activities of REACH to motivate and encourage people to engage us, using the different channels of feedback that we have. We have also appointed feedback facilitators in the heartlands. We hope that they will be able to then raise awareness and influence their peers to engage us. We have also the JRA programme which I have actually mentioned earlier. And that is really to reach the youths, get them through peer influence, to encourage more youths to come on board and we are hoping to expand this programme.

In addition to that, from time to time we have also undertaken, to a limited extent, publicity through the mass media,

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to again raise awareness about the activities of REACH. As far as E-engagement is concerned, I think what we feel is to sell our value proposition now because we have been designated as the key E-engagement channel for the Government. So, our value proposition really is that anybody who has a view, an opinion, an idea that they want to contribute to policy-making; they want to make a difference; they are assured that if they come to the REACH portal, their views will be viewed, will be considered. There is a good chance that it will be responded to and if their ideas are good, they will be taken on board.

The other value proposition, of course, is that as a one-stop portal, if they come into the website now, they actually will have a very good idea of what concerns Singaporeans - what are the key issues concerning Singaporeans, the diversity of views on these issues as well as what concerns the Government, what the Government is mulling over in terms of policy-making; in terms of their policies that they are looking into, and they can then contribute to this policy-making by engaging the Government online.

We are also trying to facilitate more direct interaction between policy-makers and netizens, by encouraging more of our Government agencies to respond to feedback online where it is deemed useful to do so and to try and better close the loop. So, we will continue to look at ways to reach out to the population. Let me say that as far as our policy forum members are concerned, we have actually seen an increase in the number of policy forum members over the years and now, we have about close to 10,000 policy forum members who are relatively active in the various feedback channels. After we were designated as the key E-engagement channel for the Government after 9 January, we have actually seen a 62% increase in the page views of our

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discussion forum and an 85% increase in the hits for our website. And we hope to do more to engage Singaporeans.

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Madam, I note with great interest the statement made earlier by the Minister that they are intending to start a mentoring scheme to keep a close watch on the potentially wayward youths. Unfortunately, the Minister has not given us details about how this scheme is going to be implemented. I would like to ask the Minister to tell us a bit more about when the scheme will be implemented, whether it will involve the grassroots and community members.

I also share that over at the various constituencies, we are experimenting with this mentoring scheme with varying degree of success and found this especially useful. This is relevant, particularly when the Ministry is actually concerned with dysfunctional families and particularly concerned with the development of children. Mentoring is a great way forward to try and prevent our young Singaporeans from going wayward. Perhaps, the Minister could comment on this.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: In my reply earlier, I had indicated that mentoring is not a new idea and in fact, many organisations have already embarked on mentoring schemes with good results. But the key problem has always been sustainability. You get a few good volunteers with time and bandwidth and ability to connect, the scheme flies. After a while, when people get tired or the target group is no longer there, it eases off.

But we believe in mentoring and I want to encourage VWOs and grassroots organisations, if you have started such mentoring schemes, let our Ministry know and we will certainly see if we can give you some additional help to upscale those schemes.

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The proposal I outlined was with respect to our overall proposals for healing dysfunctional families. And we felt that particularly for this group, the children in such families would benefit from mentoring and we will start such a scheme specifically targeted at these children whom we identified. But this is not an exclusive scheme. This is not the only scheme we are going to support. Please let us know if there are other schemes out there that who require additional support from us. We will be most happy to help.

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Madam, I have two clarifications to seek. I agree with the Minister's approach that there need to be a lot more help for dysfunctional families. I am happy that MCYS is focusing on them.

But having spoken to some of these dysfunctional families and then especially those that have pulled their children out of schools, their main response is that they do so because they feel that the help they are getting is usually very truncated and short-term, whereas investment in education is a long-term investment. They feel that support will be stopped at any point of time, they just don't feel that it is sustainable for them to send their children to school. So, I think that is a very important point in the minds of the recipients of aid which MCYS has to address. Otherwise, I think it will be very difficult if they continue to pull out their children from school because they think they are not going to get long-term help.

The second point that I want to raise is the question of the co-ordination of help for the needy. I raise this point because when I listened to Minister Balakrishnan and he said, "Look! we look at the PA cases as well as other cases. There are so many causes giving help but I hear other members say, "The amount of help is

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very much less". So that brings me to the point in which I raised that has not been adequately addressed. The question is that we really do not know the total amount of help a person is receiving. When they come to us and we have to give ComCare funding support for instance, we don't know how much more help are they getting and from what other sources, other than CDCs. We do not have that information. So we know of cases where they may be receiving help from four, five places because you see them when you are the Guest-of-Honour somewhere else giving out help. They are there, you see. Then you know, this person is receiving help from other places. Otherwise, you have no means of finding out and then you may either undergive, give less or give more and you may not be fair to those who are not receiving from so many places.

I hope you could develop some database where we can also access, so that we can provide appropriate level of assistance to needy cases.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: We do have the database, the ComCare database that we started two years ago. But like I said earlier on, the challenge is to make sure that the data is kept up-to-date. And that means, we got to get all the VWOs as well as the grassroots organisations who are giving money to actually log in that they have provided assistance to a person. So, we will make improvements on that. Like I said earlier on, all the advisors and key grassroots leaders have access to this database. There is a user password and an ID. We have to have some security because confidential information is being held in that database.

But, actually, let me come back to your first question, which is actually more fundamental. Our system is one which provides conditional and interim assistance. The easiest way to make people feel secure is to give them unconditional

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long-term assistance with no strings attached, no bureaucracy, no questions. We have decided to deliberately not have such a system. So, you are right, people who are receiving assistance in Singapore do feel unsettled. They feel unsettled because they have to keep coming back to you. You keep asking awkward questions, you keep pushing, cajoling, persuading; sometimes pushing very hard to get certain behaviours which they don't want to embark on. So, there is a trade-off. There is a trade-off between comfort and security on one hand and leverage which the assisting organisations have on the other hand.

So, you see, whether it is financial assistance, interim housing, school fees and the rest of it, it all comes with this characteristic. But having said that the help is short-term and interim, that does not mean the relationship between the person who is being helped and the agency which is primarily providing that help should be short-term. And if you have a long-term relationship, after a while you know what are the true needs of this family and how can you best effect change in behaviour and change in mindset, because that is really what we are after. So, I would advise you to build long-term relationships even though the help comes in small doses. Treat each small dose as an opportunity to calibrate the medication in order to achieve the outcome that you want. But I know, that does not make the people who receive help happy, and that does not make my Ministry popular. But that is the design feature of our assistance scheme.

This issue of pulling children out of school because the help given is interim pains me a lot. Because you and I know, the most important long-term investment is to put the child in school. And yet through some perverse logic, this person has decided it is better to pull the child out of school so that maybe, "I will have a few extra dollars to spend on something

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which I prioritise higher than my child's education". We have also heard from our presentations today that actually, you can send a child to school or kindergarten or even childcare for very, very small sums of money. Actually, we can make it free but we don't want to make it free. At least on paper, we don't want to make it free because we still want you to feel that you've got some commitment in this game. We still want some evidence of sacrifice so that the more important message is that this lady or this family has understood that the most important investment is a child's education, and I am willing to prioritise the child's education. Now, I thought very long and hard about making it free and telling them, "zero cost". But what has held me back, is my worry that if we do that, it just means the need to prioritise education will fall off the table.

The Chairman: Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, I do not mean to interrupt but we have only a few minutes up to seven. Mr Sin, I think we do not have any more time for any clarifications. May I ask if you wish to withdraw your amendment?

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Madam Deputy Chairman, I would like to thank the Minister and his colleague for a comprehensive reply to the questions that we raised under this head. What comes across really, is the assurance that the Government has given to all Singaporeans; that in this difficult time, no one need to be deprived of food, housing, medical care services and education. This is certainly very comforting to know. Given the time that we spent debating this, Singaporeans are also well assured that the money that we are going to spend under MCYS is money very well-spent. On this note, I would like to seek permission to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $1,799,042,700 for Head I stand part of the Main Estimates.

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The sum of $154,775,100 for Head I stand part of the Development Estimates.

The Chairman: Order. It is 7.00 pm.

Thereupon Mdm Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.