HEAD U - PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

Head U - Prime Minister's Office

The Chairman: Head U – Prime Minister's Office. Dr Teo Ho Pin.

Population and Integration

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, I beg to move,

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

Sir, to be a first-world economy and global city, Singapore needs to nurture both local and foreign talents in Singapore. The Government has introduced various Baby Bonus initiatives to encourage married Singaporean couples to have more babies. At the same time, we have relaxed our immigration policy to grant citizenships to more foreigners who wish to settle down in Singapore. As the years go by, we will experience a greater mix of Singaporeans with different backgrounds, traditions and religions. Therefore, the Government must provide a more conductive environment for all Singaporeans to stay united as one people.

Sir, I understand that there is an influx of people applying to be permanent residents (PRs) recently. Some have to queue overnight to get a queue number to apply for PR. I am not sure whether the rush is due to the success of our efforts to encourage more foreign talent to work, live and eventually become Singaporeans or is it the impact of recession. May I ask the Prime Minister as to whether there is a change in the population and immigration policy with regard to PR? How many new citizens and PRs were granted in 2007 and 2008?

Sir, the integration of Singaporeans is a continuing task for both our Government and people. Since the formation of the Integration and Nationalisation Champion (INC) Committee by the People's Association, a total of 747 Integration and Nationalisation Champions were appointed. These committees are responsible for integrating new citizens into our community. Although the INCs have initiated various projects and programmes to welcome and integrate new citizens, we have yet to provide sustainable programmes to bond our community. One barrier is the lack of funding in supporting substainable programmes for the INCs. The organisation of welcome parties and roadshows provide limited opportunities for new and existing citizens to interact and may not be effective in integration. We should instead focus on activities which will increase the understanding and interaction of our citizens.

Sir, I wish to ask the Prime Minister as to whether there are mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of the INCs' efforts. Will the Government provide more funding to the INCs? Sir, the Baby Bonus has been in operation for a number of years. It has produced limited results. Are there plans to review the Baby Bonus Scheme and provide more incentives to encourage married couples to have more children?

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talent

Mr Gautam Banerjee (Nominated Member): Sir, we live in a highly globalised economy where financial, commercial and social interests flow together in a confluence of markets, travel and communications, cross-border investments and trade. A vital city is a locus of activity in its region. In cities like New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, that region is the world. In the last few years, Singapore has also embarked on a journey to become a global city. We are already a hub of finance, commerce and communications. Our global schoolhouse initiative is helping to expand our intellectual capital, which is the foundation of a knowledge-based world. We recognise that technology and innovation have helped the world expand at an exceptionally fast rate, creating unprecedented opportunities and challenges. We are investing heavily in both infrastructure and human capital to become a centre for biotechnology where we can successfully and repeatedly transfer knowledge creation to early stage commercialisation.

Sir, our strategy to develop Singapore into a global city of opportunity is a sound one and many of the Government's policy initiatives and actions are already bearing fruit. But there is one key ingredient that is required if we are to succeed and sustain our ambition – that is retaining our local talent and continuing to supplement local talent with foreign talent. Our small population, declining birth rate and the mobility of Singaporeans mean that we have to follow a twin strategy to retain as much of our local talent while attracting additional brainpower with the requisite skills and experience from overseas.

This is recognised by the Government, which has launched many initiatives, programmes and campaigns to do just that. For example, we are now regularly contacting Singaporeans living in different parts of the world and hopefully, wooing some of them back home. We are also now taking proactive steps to reach out to targeted foreigners with a view to attracting them to study, work and live here. We only have to look around the Central Business District, residential estates in the East Coast and around River Valley Road and the entertainment spots of Clarke Quay, Dempsey Road and Holland Village to know that we have been very successful in implementing policy. This has helped to fill the many new jobs created in financial services, media, information technology, manufacturing, logistics, and so on.

But alas, how the world has changed in a few months through no fault of our own in Singapore. We are now in the midst of a global economic crisis of unprecedented proportions. Singapore is feeling its impact with the sceptre of job losses looming large. There are already blunt and insensitive calls from certain quarters, including some hon. Members in this House, that when it comes to downsizing the workforce, we must get rid of foreigners first regardless of who is best suited for the job. This is a dangerous political rhetoric. It only serves to give mixed and contradictory messages to two of our important stakeholders – foreign companies and foreign talent, unsettles a key segment of our workforce and undermines the good work of Government agencies in attracting and developing talent.

Of course, we must try and find every Singaporean a job, retrain and reskill our citizens for the "new economy". But to preserve jobs for Singaporeans at the expense of eroding our competitiveness or the development of our increasingly sophisticated and knowledge-based economy would be very short-sighted and, ultimately, could lead to more job losses for Singaporeans. In fact, many of the new jobs created in the financial services sector, in biotechnology, in the petrochemical hub of Jurong Island cannot be filled by Singaporeans because we just do not have enough Singaporeans with the requisite skills and experience. We also hope that multinational companies (MNCs) will continue to take advantage of our excellent infrastructure and attractive tax incentives to locate their regional headquarters (HQs) and perhaps some of their global business unit HQs in Singapore. While this will create jobs for Singaporeans, it will also mean that more foreigners from head office will have to relocate to Singapore.

So we have to continue with our liberal policies to allow foreigners to fill these critical jobs, which will ultimately benefit Singapore and Singaporeans. However, given the economic downturn, this will require political will and conviction because in a scenario where the unemployment rate for Singaporeans increases in the short term, the man-in-the-street will not understand why there are so many foreigners continuing to be employed here while Singaporeans are losing their jobs. This could become an emotive issue and we need to pre-empt such feelings by engaging our citizens in proactive and sensitive ways.

In conclusion Sir, I hope that we will take a long-term view and continue to make foreign talent welcome and feel at home in Singapore because they will not only help us survive the downturn but, in the light of tough competition ahead, will help us emerge from the downturn stronger and more resilient.

New Citizens

Mr Ang Mong Seng (Hong Kah): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, every year, there are 15,000 immigrants and permanent residents who become Singapore citizens. At present, about one third of our population are from abroad. All along, we treat them as equal, and all citizens enjoy the same benefits and share the same obligations as citizens of Singapore. However, in the last two years, at our citizenship award ceremony, we have began addressing these people who came from other countries to become our citizens as "New Citizens". I feel that by doing so, we are creating a demarcation between the "new citizens" and the old citizens. They are constantly reminded that they are "new citizens" and not locally born and bred citizens. This would give rise to an adverse effect to our efforts to integrate the "new citizens" into our society, and generate two different classes of citizens, thereby undermining the social cohesiveness of our people.

Recently, two of my constituents came to see me. One received a summons from HDB for a parking offence. While requesting me to appeal to HDB to withdraw the summons, he reminded me that he was a "new citizen". In fact, he had been a citizen of Singapore for more than one year. The other received a summons from MOM because his domestic maid suffered some injuries. He and his wife also requested that I appeal to MOM to withdraw the summons against them. They made it a point to remind me that there were "new citizens" and asked me to give them special attention.

Such a trend, if not checked, will later on result in a gap between the old and the "new citizens". I migrated to Singapore with my family when I was seven years old. After completing my education and national service, I received my Singapore citizenship and became a Singapore citizen quite naturally. I did not carry the title of "new citizen". I was able to integrate into the community directly, and actively participated in grassroots and community activities, fulfilling my obligations as a citizen.

If there is such a title of "new citizen", how long has one to hold on to this label before he or she is regarded as an old citizen? Is there any special significance in calling them "new citizens"? Otherwise, may I suggest that we simply call them Singapore citizens the moment they received the Singapore Citizenship certificate at the award ceremony, thus avoiding the title of "new citizens"? Do we have any new strategy to integrate these new citizens into our society so that we can become "one people, one nation and one Singapore"?

*Cols. 2071-2072.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Sir, I thank Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mr Gautam Banerjee and Mr Ang Mong Seng for their comments and suggestions on our population strategy. During this economic downturn, it is even more critical that Singaporeans understand the objectives of our population strategy.

The primary objective of our population strategy is to serve the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans. Mr Gautam Banerjee talked about the need to retain local talent and supplement them with foreign talent so that Singapore can remain globally competitive. I agree with him. Not enough babies are born in Singapore every year. Without immigration, our population will start to decline by about 2020 just like Japan, whose population shrank in 2005. We need to continue to encourage marriage and parenthood, engage our overseas Singaporeans, and bring in suitable immigrants who can contribute to Singapore.

Many Singaporeans are concerned about job security in this period of worldwide economic recession. The Resilience Package, including the Jobs Credit Scheme announced in the Budget speech, aims to help Singaporeans keep their jobs. We can also expect the number of foreigners seeking employment in Singapore to slow down.

Some countries, such as the UK and Australia, are limiting foreign manpower. We should not do likewise. As Mr Banerjee mentioned, this would be short-sighted and could ultimately lead to more job losses for Singaporeans. Even in this economic downturn, there are sectors in our economy which still need foreign workers to supplement the local workforce in order to stay in business. For example, in the biomedical sciences industry and others, cited by Mr Banerjee, where there is a shortage of local expertise, highly-skilled foreigners will help us to keep this industry in business and to expand its output from $6 billion in year 2000 to $24 billion in 2007. There are also jobs that locals shun, such as those in construction.

3.45 pm

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked for an update on the number of new citizens and permanent residents, our efforts to integrate new residents and the effectiveness of our population measures. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked if we should be using the term "new citizens".

In 2008, we welcomed 20,513 new Singapore citizens and 79,167 new PRs, up from 17,334 new citizens and 63,627 new PRs in 2007. This could be due to the good economy and the broadening of the eligibility criteria in 2004. I would like to assure Dr Teo that there has been no change in these criteria since then. Unlike Mr Ang, I think it is all right to use the term "new citizens" for a while. There is no specific significance to the term. It is simply a descriptor of foreigners who have decided to make Singapore their home. Over time, this distinction will be blurred as their children grow up and become like our children. The important issue is not whether they are new citizens or old citizens, but whether they can successfully integrate into our society. When they do, they become one of us.

There will be cultural differences between native and new citizens. Integration is a two-way process. Singaporeans need to understand and accept immigrants, while the immigrants need to make the effort to become a part of the Singapore community.

As Dr Teo pointed out, the People's Association has more than 700 Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) who reach out to new immigrants in our communities through regular house visits, and encourage them to take part in grassroots activities and community work. I understand that the People's Association provides adequate funding support for the INCs. Grassroots organisations can also do their part.

Many new Singaporeans are also doing their part to integrate into Singapore. Some take part in activities and share their integration experiences with other new Singaporeans in immigrant associations such as 天府会 (Tianfu Club), 厦门公会 (Amoy Association) and 晋江会馆 (Chin Kang Huay Kuan). Some new citizens also do their part for the local community too. For example, Ms Umayal Lakshmanan, who came to Singapore in 1999 from India and became a new citizen in April last year, reads to children at the Hong Kah North Community Club.

Efforts on integration initiated by community organisations are encouraging. But there is scope for the public sector, the private sector and the people sector to work more closely together in a systematic and coordinated way. To this end, a National Integration Council (NIC) will be set up. The NIC will comprise key representatives from the public, private and people sectors to drive the integration agenda forward through a concerted effort. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports will chair the NIC and he will say more about this during his Ministry's Committee of Supply.

The Government will continue to encourage and support Singaporeans to have more babies. We will monitor the trends and assess the effectiveness of the enhanced marriage and parenthood package announced last August. It is therefore too soon to review the programme, as Dr Teo suggested. Although the current economic crisis may cause some to think carefully about having children, I hope they do not put off their decision until the good times return. Our total fertility rate in 2008 is still low, at 1.29, unchanged from that in 2007.

Even as we make Singapore a better place for families and help immigrants integrate into our society, we should not forget the more than 150,000 Singaporeans who are now overseas. In this economic climate, overseas Singaporeans are anxious about how Singapore is coping and even worried about their own job security. We will continue to engage them and keep them informed of what is happening back home through platforms such as the Singapore Day. Our next Singapore Day will be held in London on 25th April this year.

Mr Chairman, Sir, Singapore is facing tough times now. But the problem will blow over one day. Our society is stable and we have the resources to help Singaporeans overcome this crisis. I have no doubt that Singaporeans have the grit and determination to ride this out. The key to our success is our people – a people made up of Singaporeans who are citizens by birth or by choice, of Singaporeans living here and overseas, and of Singaporeans from this generation and the future generations. It is during challenging times that Singapore needs to continue to have a sustainable, cohesive and integrated population. I am confident that we will be able to overcome our current problems and emerge stronger after this economic storm, especially when we face the challenges together as one united people.

Caring for the Elderly

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, many visitors remarked that in a modern metropolis like Singapore, they often come across the rather unusual, if not disturbing, sight of old ladies and sometimes men, bent double pushing trolleys piled high with cardboard boxes. If they are not collecting cardboard boxes, they can be found at petrol stations pumping petrol or working as cleaners in office premises or condominiums. They are doing this to earn a relatively meagre allowance to see to their daily needs. By most accounts and from talking to them, they are not rich, retired Singaporeans. On the contrary, these are elderly folks probably in their 70s or 80s often living alone and having to provide for themselves. It is indeed sad to see our fellow Singaporeans in advanced age having to lead such hard lives to eke out a living. This has prompted many of my overseas friends to ask whether we have any welfare support for senior citizens.

Such comments and queries often lead us to wonder whether we can do better to look after our senior citizens. How we take care of our senior citizens is a reflection of who we are as a people and what we stand for. The question is really whether we can do better as a country to provide for the elderly.

The fact remains that the Government is indeed thinking long term in providing for a society that is rapidly ageing. The formation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Ageing is one example of the priorities that we as a country are facing on the problem. Until we have effectively put in place a robust comprehensive framework for taking care of the elderly in our society, we will continue to be confronted with questions of how we should manage their long-term needs.

To be sure, many elderly want to continue working to stay active. The question really is whether we can find jobs that are less physically demanding and perhaps meaningful for them to work in. I would, therefore, like to ask the Prime Minister for an update on the work of the Committee in dealing with the problems of ageing in our society.

Caregivers

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Sir, I would like to put up a case for financial assistance for unpaid caregivers. Providing care for persons with disability (PWD) has become a way of life for many Singaporeans. With a fast ageing population and longer average lifespan, there will be an increase in Singaporeans trying to balance working and caregiving responsibilities. The need to care may be related to either event such as a stroke or a gradual process such as the onset of dementia. In either event, you may not be sure where to begin.

Currently, many of the caregivers are employed full-time. I believe some are also employed part-time. Employed caregivers struggle to balance their time and energy between work and caregiving. Caregivers are often exhausted, burdened and stressed. Employed caregivers find it necessary to turn down training opportunities or promotions. They may take retirement or simply quit their jobs altogether providing care for their loved ones. Lost work opportunities take a financial and emotional toll. Caregivers not only lose current income and benefits, they also face reduced retirement income because of zero CPF contributions. Caregivers who enjoy their job, are friends with their co-workers may also become depressed and lonely after quitting. With zero income, an extra responsibility of being a family caregiver for a PWD is added to an already costly equation. Many people are feeling the financial burden on top of emotional and physical burdens that come with the situation at home. Currently, there is a foreign domestic worker levy concession available to families with children aged 12 years and below and elderly aged 65 and above. Families of PWD who need help in caregiving. Is the Government helping to reduce the cost of living in caregiving and assist caregivers in caregiving chores? It is not enough if you are basically giving a discount to a levy in which Government has implemented in the very first place, provided the family has means to employ a foreign domestic worker which costs about $300, $400 for a reasonably experienced FDW. This does not –

The Chairman: Mr Chiam, your time is up.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Thank you.

A Caring and Active Community

Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang): Sir, can I take both cuts together?

The Chairman: Yes, please.

Ms Ellen Lee: Sir, as Singaporeans live longer, many are also reportedly suffering from illnesses and undergoing treatments.

Whilst many can take care of themselves by going for regular follow-up checks and treatments, there is still a significant group who rely on caregivers who are inevitably the unmarried children or siblings. As a result, these caregivers cannot be gainfully employed as their caregiving role is often a full-time, unpaid task. This task can last the lifetime of the person who needs care and in the process the caregiver would have also advanced in years besides having been made poorer without any savings or support for himself or herself.

Whilst it is only right that the responsibility of caring for a family member, either a parent or sibling should be borne and shared equally amongst all the other children or siblings, this is often not the case. There is never any equality of burden when it comes to caring for an infirm relative or parent, unless there is a prospect of an inheritance. While some cases can seek relief from the Maintenance of Parents Tribunal through using the parents as the person needing maintenance, there is no equivalent of such a tribunal for siblings.

Should we allow this group of home caregivers to fall through the cracks especially when they had performed their obligations so unselfishly? Can they not be certified as qualified caregivers and be offered some schemes that allow them to be given priority when applying for jobs in community hospitals, nursing homes or homes for the elderly sick in priority to other foreign nationals, so that their experience and skills that they had picked up looking after their own relatives could be turned into an employable skill? These caregivers may not qualify for or participate in SPUR for various reasons. As locals, most of them would know how to speak dialects, Tamil or Malay and would obviously be an asset over the foreign nationals as employers need not provide accommodation, pay foreign workers' levy or security bonds for them. They are also likely to be loyal employees as their lifelong dedication looking after their loved ones have shown.

Socially Responsible Individuals

Next, on socially responsible individuals. According to statistics, about 14% of senior citizens are aged 50 to 59 now. This particular group possesses core values which are very different from the generations after them. The majority are educated in Chinese Language schools with strong emphasis on moral and character development, reflecting the political and economic situation then. They had a very colourful and stormy life history, a fate tied up with governments that were colonial, then self-governing,

then a part of the Federation of Malaysia before going alone to become independent. It is often lamented that our current generation lack many of the innate values which this group possesses as they have greater capacity, certain desirable traits, values and mindset that could perhaps help us to reduce some of the disturbing trends or values that confront us today. I, therefore, ask what and how our Government can engage this group of senior citizens meaningfully, so as to tap or draw on their expertise and experience in and area of our economy, community and societal use.

4.00 pm

( In Mandarin ): On 1st January, there was an article in Lianhe Zaobao by Mr Wu Wei Cai. He said that senior citizens who are above 50 should take part in social work, so that they can make use of their rich experience and impart them to our younger generation.

( In English ): In TODAY newspaper's VOICES column yesterday, ie, on 4th February 2009, Dr Peter Yan recounted his experience and lamented that, "There's an increasing lack of respect from stressed-out, pampered youths." He said he has "a head full of grey hair", so I guess he must be a senior citizen. I quote him, "While we need skills to excel in life as well, it is important to take notice of the seniors who have made the world what it is today. In 2040, 60% of our population will be senior citizens. Life has became impersonal – on seeing a neighbour, you get just a nod, at most. Youngsters are blaming the 'elderly experienced' for allowing the economic woes to evolve and not learning from history. It is easy to point fingers. But, rather than to shift blame, will the youth be open to intellectual discourse on issues? Can they discuss this, while keeping in mind that a failing economy is no reason not to maintain their respect for the elderly?

I would add to that by saying that being elderly or frail is not a reason to be discriminated by the young and able-bodied. Singapore is what it is today because our elderly have shared the vision of our Government and worked to make Singapore survive. Their respect is already earned and we should not be any least respectful. Nevertheless, I wish to know if the Prime Minister's Office has any concrete plans to address these issues.

Concessions for the Elderly

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, a newborn baby is wrinkled, hairless, toothless and looks quite like an old man. There are actually many similarities between a growing baby and an ageing person, except that the changes and developments go in opposite directions.

I am glad now that my four-year-old daughter does not need to wear diapers to bed anymore. However, now, my 90-year-old grandmother is bedridden and wears diapers. I just bought knee guards for my eldest daughter who has been selected to train for her school volleyball team. On the other hand, my mother has a knee problem and is thankful for the Lift Upgrading Project. There are childcare centres and daycare centres for the elderly. In Singapore, many domestic helpers are engaged to look after babies and the elderly.

It is always a joy to watch a baby learning to walk and to talk, becoming more and more independent. However, it is a different matter seeing a person decline into old age, losing motor skills and becoming weaker. It can be particularly heart-wrenching if the person is our parent, someone who used to care for us, who used to be the stronger one, and able to provide all answers to our questions and our needs. It is a reversal of roles and not everyone takes to it easily. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" only happens in the movies. Society and the business world seem to favour the youth over the aged. It is always sexier to have the young as your target customers because your business can grow with them, whereas the old cannot bring your business beyond this life.

I was pleasantly surprised to chance upon a Japanese sushi restaurant recently, which offers discounted buffet prices for both children and senior citizens. Most restaurants only offer discounts for children. Come to think of it, it does not make sense as old people do not eat a lot. That is why the elderly do not like to go to buffets as they do not think it is value-for-money. For air tickets, a child between two and 11 years old enjoy a special price. I assume it is because they do not earn an income, but neither do the elderly who are mostly retirees. The child takes up the same one seat as an elderly person and is served the same food. In fact, it is cheaper to fly an elderly passenger as he does not need to be given toys and a funpack!

Let me now move to an issue that was discussed many times in this House – concessions for public transport. Why is the child ez-link card, which is applicable for all pre-schoolers above 0.9 metre in height and below seven years old, valid throughout the whole day but the senior citizen ez-link card is not valid before 9.00 am on weekdays?

I believe the explanation given was so that this does not add to the already heavy passenger load during the morning rush hour. But if you think about it, no senior citizen would want to squeeze with the working crowd to get onto the trains and buses, if they have a choice. For those who need to do that regularly, they are likely to be still working. Are we not asking people to continue working past retirement age, be re-employed, but be prepared to take a lower salary? Would this concession not help to ease expenses and encourage working among the aged?

In Mexico, all residents above 60 years old can apply for a free discount card. They enjoy 50% off on bus travel, free or reduced admission to museums, savings on water bills, 15% off at many stores all over Mexico, a 5% to 10% discount on pharmaceuticals, 25% to 50% discount off tickets to arts festivals, and many others. In the Philippines, the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003 grants senior citizens 20% discount from all private establishments. In turn, the discounts may be claimed by these establishments through tax deductions based on the net cost of the goods sold or services rendered to the senior citizens. In Hong Kong, the ferry service between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is free for senior citizens.

It is commendable that a number of private businesses in Singapore are already providing such concessions for senior citizens, without Government intervention. But I would like the Prime Minister to consider legislating or encouraging concessions for senior citizens perhaps through tax benefits to the private enterprises. The concessions should be given with no restrictions on valid hours, as this creates bipolar ends of the consumer market. Our elderly should be encouraged to go to restaurants and cinemas with their children, grandchildren and young people, and spend time together.

I am happy to learn that the Singapore Sports Council gives senior citizens and their family members a group concession when using sports facilities together, but then it is only during off-peak hours. Some may argue that such practices should be left to the businesses, as they will do it if it makes commercial sense. However, should care and respect for the elderly be dependent on commercial sense or should it be a value of the society? Doubling the length of maternity leave does not make commercial sense, but the Government feels that having kids is an important national issue, therefore, now we have four months of maternity leave and the Government pays for two months of it. So where do we stand on the value of the society to care for and respect the aged? In fact, the market share of the elderly consumers will be an expanding one, but let us not wait for commercial sense to happen.

Just as we provide care for our children, we have to care for our elderly. Caring for elderly parents is a child's obligation. Caring for the elderly population is a community's obligation.

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Lim Boon Heng): Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank the Members for their strong support of the elderly. And the voices that have been put forward, on behalf of the seniors, are commendable and I hope that the whole generation of younger Singaporeans will listen to them.

We know we are all growing old and Singapore is ageing fast. Although, during this time, there is a tendency to put this aside because of other pressing issues, I think we should still take the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the much larger number of seniors that we are going to have. Mr Sin Boon Ann requested for an update on the efforts that we have to prepare for ageing. I will first cover financial security.

In recent years, the Government has focused on helping Singaporeans to work longer and save more. This is necessary because we are living longer. CPF LIFE will be implemented from 2013. The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme has also been refined to better support older lower-income workers, and for WIS, seniors get more. Retraining and upskilling opportunities have been expanded. Our tripartite partners have also been actively promoting re-employment, before it is legislated in 2012. As Ms Cham said yesterday, 706 unionised companies have committed to re-employment, with about 5,400 workers above 62 years old already being re-employed in October 2008. Some have not had their contracts renewed, so the number fell to 4,650 in December. But, our employment rate for workers aged 55-64 years is 57% today, and we will still work towards the target of 65% by 2012.

Ultimately, we should build a culture where seniors are engaged in purposeful and fulfilling work, for as long as they are able. More Singaporeans are sharing this view. According to a global survey by insurer, Aviva, six in 10 Singaporeans would like to work beyond the retirement age. This is the second highest rate in the world after Hong Kong. We must, however, accept that working longer does not equate to working in the same job, in the same organisation, at the same pay. The seniority-based wage system, which has been with us for decades, is a barrier against continued employment. Under this system, it might cost employers less to recruit and train a fresh employee, than to retain an older worker. Ultimately, pay has to be based on the value of the work produced. Thus, the terms of re-employment have to be negotiated and unions and employers are doing so. And WIS, as I said, favours senior workers and should be taken into account.

I agree with Mr Sin that we should help the elderly find jobs that are less physically demanding and more meaningful. But there are practicalities and, sometimes, it is unfortunate that the only type of work that an elderly person can do is the type that he described. Nevertheless, we should try to find meaningful work for seniors. In the US, the concept of an "encore career" has been embraced by baby boomers there. These new careers in the second half of life are usually in the social arena, and provide meaning, self-fulfillment and also income. This is an area where Ms Ellen Lee has been speaking up for, on behalf of seniors, and, I think, an area where our seniors can be gainfully engaged.

Today's economic environment also allows for experimentation with flexible work arrangements that meet the aspirations of our seniors. However, we should not deny seniors of work which may be more physically demanding. If seniors want to and are able to work in these jobs, we should encourage them to. It keeps them active and self-reliant. I have often been cheered by the impeccable service provided by older staff at fast food counters. Let me turn next to the community.

Hardware-wise, we have made good progress in building an age-friendly community. We are on track for all HDB precincts to be barrier-free by 2011, and for lifts to be at every floor by 2014. Within five years, community clubs and RC centres will have basic barrier-free features. To expand the range of housing options for seniors, HDB is building more studio apartments, two-room and three-room flats. Seniors wanting to encash their housing assets have more options. For seniors living in smaller flats, we are implementing the lease buyback scheme this year.

Hardware must be backed up by software, so that our community is not just a pretty, but empty shell. Far too often, we read about seniors and their families struggling to cope with mental illnesses. Last month, Mdm Voon, who has mild dementia and depression, went missing in Genting. We are happy for the family that she was found in Singapore a week later. But there have been other cases where seniors with mental illnesses die alone and unnoticed, abandoned by their families and shunned by their neighbours.

As a society, we need to be more aware of mental illnesses among the elderly. At times, the stigma and misperceptions are worse than the illness itself. We must address this early, if we are to manage them well in an ageing population. The incidence of dementia, one form of mental illness, is expected to rise sharply.

Within a decade, 45,000 seniors are projected to have dementia, double the number today. They will make up 8% of the elderly population.

4.15 pm

Resources have been allocated to improve public education, prevention, detection and early treatment of mental illnesses. Late last year, the Community Psycho-Geriatric Programme commenced training of grassroots volunteers in early detection and follow-up of suspected cases. More than 400 grassroots leaders and frontline staff from CPF Board and Town Councils will be trained this year.

We should not just rely on grassroots leaders and community touch points. At the end of the day, families, friends and neighbours are best placed to care and support our seniors.

In line with this, the People's Association has made "neighbourliness" a central theme in its workplan. It has launched a "Neighbours Connect" programme to build social networks within each RC. We target for at least 200 RCs to implement the programme over the next five years.

Small acts of kindness go a long way. About two years ago, one of my former colleagues, Ms Debbie Ng, was discharged from hospital after a knee operation. As her daughter had to work in the day, Debbie had considered admitting herself to a community hospital for rehabilitation. But when a neighbour heard of her situation, she immediately offered to help Debbie in the day by cooking some simple meals. There is nothing better than being able to recuperate in the comfort of your own home. And there are no hospital bills to pay!

Neighbourliness is another reason why we are piloting the Wellness Programme in 12 constituencies. The programme helps residents aged above 50 to better manage their health and to be engaged with others through social interest groups. Residents, assessed through health screenings to be at-risk, will be referred for follow-ups. Through the pilot phase, we will develop a model which we hope to introduce to other constituencies next year.

So while the focus is on the seniors themselves, we are also hoping that this programme will promote inter-generational bonding. In the pilot programme, there are examples of younger people from the schools working with seniors. So, therefore, the respect that we want the younger generation to have of seniors can be transmitted through such joint activities. Sixty-year-old Mr Ho Toon Fang has benefited from joining "Wellness@Punggol South" last year. Mr Ho used to stay at home and barely exercised. Today, he is a regular user of the gymnasium at the Wellness centre, and has found friends with common interests. Last December, he was part of a group that called themselves "OCBC - Old Can Be Contributing". This group of seniors collected newspapers together with students to raise money for needy residents. I hope that more such stories of healthier and active seniors will arise through the "Wellness Programme" and as this example shows, young students are involved and so those values which the older generation holds on to will be transmitted through these activities.

Neighbourliness is also key to healthy lifestyles. Last year, I announced that Mr Heng Chee How will study ways to promote physical activity among older Singaporeans. It is well known that regular physical activity is essential to our health and well-being. It even reduces the risk of mental illnesses and some types of cancer. The problem is that not enough people do it.

One lesson that Mr Heng and his team have learnt is that physical activity is best promoted and sustained through social groups. Finland has only five million people. But it has 9,000 sports clubs, run mostly by volunteers! Can we do the same at our grassroots, among neighbours? We are now working out how brisk walking and taichi , already popular activities in the community, can be better promoted. I know that Dr Teo Ho Pin will like more money to be provided for brisk walking but I put it to him that it is an activity which should come from the ground and we should not need to spend so much money to motivate people to do this activity.

Even with all our efforts to promote healthy lives, some of us will fall sick, become frail and require care. We project that the number of seniors needing help with activities of daily living will double to 65,000 over the next decade. For these seniors, most of them will look to the family. Mr Chiam See Tong and Ms Ellen Lee both spoke on the need to provide greater support for caregivers.

Caregiving is an important and, at times, stressful task. As family size becomes smaller, the burden on caregivers will also rise. The Government will look to ensure that caregivers are given the support they need to carry out their responsibilities.

Caregivers should be given better information and guidance on care options. For seniors discharged from hospitals, the Agency for Integrated Care helps families to coordinate the appropriate services required to support the senior within the home and the community. We have to be more senior-centric and provide services across the medical and social care continuum in an integrated fashion.

We will also look at expanding caregiver training and support programmes. Today, families can tap on subsidies under the Caregiver Training Grant to attend caregiver training courses. We will raise awareness and availability of these courses. Some of these courses can be accredited to the Workforce Skills Qualifications framework, so that these caregivers can also find employment in the eldercare sector, something that Ms Ellen Lee hopes to see.

More services will also be introduced to provide more options for caregivers. I am pleased to announce that MCYS will fund the building of six new day care centres for seniors over the next five years. Day care centres provide care and keep frail seniors socially engaged. They also provide respite for family caregivers. We are improving maintenance exercise programmes at these centres, so as to keep our seniors physically and mentally active.

Going forward, the Ministry of Health will enhance the provision of services in the Intermediate and Long-Term Care sector, which it will elaborate on later. Even for those without family caregivers, seniors should be supported to live as long as possible in their own homes.

Among the more vulnerable seniors are those living in HDB rental flats. Today, there are 19 Seniors Activity Centres serving seniors in one-room rental flats. Operated mainly by Voluntary Welfare Organisations, they provide basic information and referral, organise social activities and engage homebound seniors. Over the next five years, MCYS will also fund the set up of about 22 Seniors Activity Centres (SACs) and expand some of the existing SACs. Working hand in hand with the local grassroots, the SACs are part of the social safety net for vulnerable seniors.

Overall, MCYS will spend an additional $18 million on these day care and Seniors Activity Centres.

Mr Chiam and Ms Ellen Lee also mentioned financial assistance for caregivers. I am mindful that other members of this House have previously called for an allowance for family caregivers. I have said that we should not inadvertently monetise family care and responsibility. Nonetheless, we will take a look at this issue in the context of financing long-term care.

All around the world, countries are grappling with how to finance long-term care. One issue is to manage the rising demand for long-term care services. Another is that long-term care services tend to be more fragmented than medical care, and therefore not as cost effective or as "person-centric". Long-term care is also expensive, requiring us to examine who pays for the care. There is growing consensus that national policies should not prescribe the form of care, but should allow personal choice. Last month, there were visitors from overseas who shared their experiences and said the greatest mistake that the United States made was to build so many nursing homes that became the automatic option of choice, which is very costly and something which they now find difficult to unwind. They suggested to us that we have the opportunity to keep people at home because of the nature of our housing and we have the Public Housing Programme that no other country has, which provide us with the elements to build support services for the elderly around that framework and we will study accordingly.

In most OECD countries, total long-term care expenditure average 1%, but can be as high as 3% of GDP. Welfare states, in particular, find that they have to ration services to contain public expenditure. The UK is now considering a mandatory private insurance scheme for long-term care, a radical departure from its state-funded health service. We have to understand these models better as the devil is in the details.

We are not starting from scratch. Eldershield provides a good basis from which to refine our long-term care financing mechanisms. Eldershield was reformed in 2007 to provide higher payouts of $400 per month for up to 6 years. Supplements are also available to provide higher payouts or longer periods of payout, or both.

In the same way as how our 3Ms, "Medisave, Medishield and Medifund", cover medical care, we will need to look at whether to set up a parallel of having 3Es to cover long-term care expenses. The 3Es being Eldersave, Eldershield and Elderfund or maybe it is possible to enhance the 3Ms. Together with means-tested Government subsidies, which are available for most care services today, we want care in old age to be affordable for all Singaporeans. The Government will study how such a financing framework can be more holistic and robust.

While we set about to deal with the challenges arising from an ageing population, we must not forget that the extra years we have is also a blessing. How can we help seniors add life to years?

We want to enable older Singaporeans to lead happy, healthy and active lives. Our efforts on employment, financial security, ageing-in-place, health and long-term care will go a long way to achieve this vision. Changing our attitudes about ageing is also important.

An international survey conducted by AXA tells us that retirees in Singapore tend to think 70 is old. On the other hand, retirees in the US associate being old with the age of 78. The irony is that the US life expectancy is lower than Singapore's! The boxer Muhammad Ali probably exemplifies this optimistic American spirit. He once said, "Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are".

Efforts to promote positive mindsets about ageing have intensified over the last two years. In 2007, the Council for Third Age (C3A) was set up by MCYS to champion active ageing. Last year, the CDCs partnered with the Council to hold active ageing carnivals all over Singapore, greatly enhancing outreach efforts. As more seniors become active agers, we will certainly see them come out to contribute their time and expertise, at work and in the community.

Mr Baey

Yam Keng asked if the Government should do more to encourage concessions and discounts for seniors. Certainly I encourage commercial companies to do so. But I think ultimately this must still be based on commercial considerations. Otherwise, the costs of concessions would fall back on the rest of society, and everybody else has to pay more. What we can do, however, is to encourage companies to see that being pro-seniors is also pro-business.

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Let me offer an example. It is well-known that NTUC Fairprice offers senior citizens a 2% discount on Tuesdays. It does this not just because of Corporate Social Responsibility, but also to attract customers, since Tuesdays tend to be the slowest day of the week. Tuesdays are now one of the busiest days, alleviating the heavy weekend traffic at the supermarkets, and raising the yield per square metre of floor space used.

Part of the mission of the Council for Third Age is also to build a vibrant market for seniors in Singapore. Last month, it organised a 50 Plus Singapore Expo, which received an enthusiastic response from about 70,000 seniors. Special deals for seniors were on offer from the 150 participating companies, ranging from health screening to customised travel packages and I believe concessions or special offers were provided to these seniors. Over time, I am confident that more companies will want to reach out to our increasingly affluent seniors. I think Mr Baey's point is that we should also encourage family packages so that the seniors can enjoy certain activities together with their grandchildren. Today, if you go to a cinema there are concessions on weekdays, Mondays to Fridays, before 5 pm but for seniors. So his point is that we should encourage the cinema operators to give concessions so that they can go together with their grandchildren. We should certainly encourage them to do so.

Ageing is a sunrise industry not just in Singapore, but all around the world. Our Asian hinterland dominates population ageing; the number of people aged 60 and above will quadruple to 1.2 billion by 2050.

For this reason, we want to develop Singapore as a knowledge and business hub for ageing. Let me give you some examples: EDB is leading efforts to develop the health and wellness industry in an ageing population. In January, two conferences, "Reinventing Retirement Asia, and Asia Forum on Ageing", were held in Singapore, involving many international experts and partners. The Silver Community Test-Bed Programme under MCYS is into its second call for proposals to test-bed age-friendly products in HDB homes. Last year, Singapore Management University, with the support of the MAS, has set up a Centre for Silver Security to conduct research on retirement security in ageing populations. As we can see, Singapore is becoming a vibrant place for research and business on ageing.

Let me conclude by saying that the work of the Ministerial Committee on Ageing builds on previous efforts to prepare our population for ageing since the 1980s. There are still some major items on the agenda, such as long-term care financing and developing more care and community services for an ageing population. At the end of the day, however, each individual is responsible for preparing and living out one's golden years, with the family playing an important supporting role.

Within the next two months, MCYS will be releasing a public report to update on what the Government has done to prepare for an ageing population. It will contain useful information and practical advice on how Singaporeans can prepare well, and how we can work, live and play in our later years. As we add years to our life, we should also add life to our years. I hope that the report, titled "Adding Life to Years" would inspire all Singaporeans to be happy, healthy and active today and in the future.

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Lim Boon Heng): 4.34 pm

Developing Singapore as a Pre-eminent Financial Centre

Mr Arthur Fong (West Coast): Mr Chairman, the negative effects of the global financial crisis are still unfolding, making victims of more traditional financial giants after Lehman Brothers. Singapore is now ranked third behind New York and London as a financial centre in a survey commissioned by the City of London. The crisis is not only forcing financial giants to their knees, it has also resulted in a heavy retrenchment of staff in the industry. How does the retrenchment of banking staff on whom we have spent much public and private resources to develop, affect our status as a pre-eminent centre?

We have been promoting the wealth management and fund management as specific sectors with strong growth potential. How does the MAS consider this growth sector going forward? Will our ambitions be thwarted, or have we already, in the last five years, developed the natural advantage in this area?

Finally, Sir, I call on the Government to take stock of the progress thus far and re-assess the immediate and longer-term directions to develop further Singapore as an international financial centre.

Developing Financial Literacy

Miss Penny Low: Sir, what are the root causes that led to the recent structured products fiasco? It is greed and lack of financial literacy. Many people lost their nest egg. In 2008, the total debts to individuals in Singapore stand at $112 billion, 10% more than 2007. Credit card debt alone stands at $3.3 billion and worldwide, credit card debt has been growing fast and even threatens to be the next sub-prime. Sir, since my first speech in Parliament, I have made repeated calls for national financial literacy programmes. I am happy with the MoneySense programme but judging from the recent financial fiascos, the MoneySense programme is not sufficient. Hence, I am making urgent calls for two additional suggestions.

One, perhaps we can equip every household with a basic financial literacy handbook – much like the case of an emergency handbook; and life skills that can help them do basic financial planning whether in good or bad times.

Two, I propose setting up a high-level National Financial Literacy Advisory Council, perhaps under the PMO, to co-ordinate efforts to work with the public, private and people sector to accelerate financial education efforts for youths in school, adults in the workplace, homebuyers and retirees in the CPF queues, homemakers and self-employed who are found everywhere. In addition, the council can help improve understanding of financial services, create national financial literacy barometer, conduct research and strengthen financial education programmes.

Sir, let me reiterate that financial literacy can help to smoothen consumption, provide for better education and health needs, save individuals from their financial headaches and family heartaches and also provide capital for entrepreneurship. Most of all, it would also help to lighten the Government's load on the financial security that needs to be set aside for an ageing population.

MAS - Guidelines for Fair Dealing

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Sir, in February 2008, MAS released a consultation paper on proposed Guidelines for Fair Dealing. The proposed Guidelines focused on the role of board and senior management of financial institutions (FIs) in leading their companies to deliver fair dealing outcomes to retail consumers. The proposed Guidelines, amongst others, seek to build consumer confidence that the FIs will put their interests first in the conduct of their business and to offer product and services suitable for the targeted consumer segment as well as handle consumers' complaints promptly and in a consistent manner. As these proposed Guidelines are in line with one of the supervisory objectives of the MAS, I would like to ask the Minister four questions.

One, we all know that the board and senior management of FIs will always put the interests of their company first. They have a duty to ensure that their company is well managed and profitable. Thus in any dispute with consumers, no FI will readily admit to any wrongdoing. The collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the resulting meltdown of the financial markets have made investors of structured products even more sceptical of FIs on the issue of fair dealing. In a press release on 2nd October 2008, MAS stated that it understood the anxiety of many investors and identified three well respected independent persons (IPs) to oversee the complaints handling and resolution process of FIs for the failed structured product linked to Lehman Brothers. IPs are also tasked to determine whether these internal processes of FIs are independent, fair and transparent. My question is, does the Minister still believe that the proposed Guidelines for Fair Dealing can be effectively administered by the board and senior management of FIs given that MAS has embraced the importance of IPs to assure consumers that they will be given a fair hearing by FIs on the issue of mis-selling.

Second question, Sir, would the Guidelines for Fair Dealing for FIs be considered complete without the input of consumers? Would MAS consider releasing the consultation paper by groups like CASE or the Security Investors Association of Singapore for consumers to feedback on their experience with FIs over the issue of fair dealing since we have about 10,000 affected investors of failed structured products to-date?

Third Question, when does MAS intend to implement the Guidelines for Fair Dealing for FIs?

The last question is, how is MAS going to monitor the compliance of the Guidelines for Fair Dealing by financial institutions or is MAS going to consider its job done once the Guideline is accepted for implementation by the FIs?

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Chairman, Mr Arthur Fong asked about the impact of the financial crisis on the development of Singapore as a financial centre.

Financial services is a key sector in our economy, contributing about 12% of our GDP and employing 8% of our workforce. We think it is very important for us to continue to grow Singapore as a financial centre. This crisis would test us to the fullest. Arising from the crisis are also opportunities for us to develop Singapore as a financial centre. Our immediate objective really is to make sure our financial institutions here remain sound and prudently managed. We need to ensure that our financial markets operate smoothly, credit flows to corporate sectors continued and there is sufficient liquidity in the banking system. How we deal with the crisis will add to our reputation as a financial centre. Over the longer term, once the global economy recovers, we expect financial services to continue to grow significantly. Why?

First, because of our competitiveness as an international financial centre which rests on our key attributes, including the rule of law, trust, reliability and our strong governance, our high standards of prudential regulation and supervision and our high quality skilled workforce. These are critical enablers for Singapore to emerge stronger from this crisis and remain competitive.

Second, while we expect the global financial industry to undergo important changes during this crisis, we expect the growth prospects and the economic competitiveness in Asia to remain strong and financial services to remain a key pillar in supporting this growth. To make sure we can come out of this crisis stronger than before, we will continue to invest in capabilities development, particularly in sectors that Singapore is competitive in, which Mr Arthur Fong has identified, for example, in the wealth management and in the fund management sector.

MAS announced last November that training incentives under the financial sector development fund would be enhanced in order to encourage financial institutions to continue to invest in financial training and talent development. MAS will also be working with other international regulators to shape the new regulatory environment. So if we respond to this financial crisis capably, then I am confident that Singapore will continue to grow as a financial services centre.

Miss Penny Low asked about what we can do to enhance the financial education of Singaporeans. We agree that financial education is very important and as Miss Penny Low pointed out, we have a programme called MoneySense that has been in place since October 2003 and we have set up a Financial Education Steering Committee (FESC) to drive this effort. This Steering Committee comprises CPF Board, the Ministry of Education, MAS, the Ministry of Manpower, MCYS, the People's Association and the National Library Board. The Committee has been fairly effective, setting strategic directions to financial education initiatives and coordinating the efforts of the various agencies. For example, the different agencies will spearhead specific programmes to target

different groups under their purview. For instance, the Ministry of Education promotes initiatives for the students, CPF Board for the pre-retirees, PA for community groups and low-income families, MAS for working adults, MCYS for senior citizens and the National Library Board for the general public.

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The Steering Committee also works closely with the financial industry associations, partners such as the Security Investors Association Singapore (SIAS), Council for the Third Age, NTUC, Singapore Exchange and CASE to develop, implement and fund the various programmes, and the programmes cover a wide range which include seminars, games, publications of guides as well as national financial literacy surveys. So we have the structure in place and we will continue to evaluate this and see whether there is a need for setting up a high-level council as Miss Penny Low suggested to drive this and to give it a higher impetus. Not all solutions need to be solved by kicking it up. So, we will evaluate the effectiveness of this Steering Committee before we embark on this suggestion of a national council.

Mr Low Thia Khiang asked about the guidelines on fair dealing. The MAS put up the guidelines for fair dealing for public consultation and the consultation closed in mid-May 2008. The four specific questions which Mr Low asked, whether we can expect the board and the senior management to change the culture of the financial institutions to one that hoist in fair dealing. What we want to try to do in setting up these guidelines is to inculcate this corporate culture of fair dealing in our financial institutions. For this corporate culture to come about, it needs the support and the driving force of the top management, the board and the senior management. And we believe that this culture is in fact in line with the commercial objectives of the financial institutions. The two are not at odds. So even in the resolution of the recent structured products issue, and the appointment of independent persons, we believe the fair dealing guidelines set out the five fair dealing outcomes that we want to bring about, and these five fair dealing outcomes are still germane and relevant.

If I may just take a bit of time of the House, essentially, these five outcomes are one, that the consumers have confidence that we deal with financial institutions where fair dealing is central to their corporate culture. So this is something that we want to bring about and to make it part and parcel of the financial institution's corporate culture. Second, that financial institutions offer products and services that are suitable for the consumer segments they target. So, again, it must be appropriate products. They must evaluate the needs of the customer and make sure there is a proper matching of needs and products. Third, that financial institutions appoint competent representatives who provide consumers with advice that meet their financial objectives and suit their personal circumstances. This is very important. We have just recently amended the Financial Advisers Act (FAA) and key changes in the amendments go toward raising the overall standards of financial advisers. This is part and parcel of this whole change that we are bringing about in the financial institutions. The fourth outcome that we want to achieve is that consumers receive clear, relevant and timely information to make informed financial decisions. Again, this is something that we want the financial institutions to bring about. And, finally, that the financial institutions handle consumer complaints promptly and in a consistent manner. I would think that in this recent saga that we had on the structured products, the financial institutions, with the help of the independent persons, have discharged their responsibilities well and have shown that they take the consumer complaints promptly, seriously and they have dealt with it in the best way possible. So I believe that the fair dealing outcomes that we want to promote is in keeping with our philosophy, and the way we have resolved the structured products issue brought about by Lehman Brothers' collapse, shows that this can be done.

Mr Low asked whether the input of consumers, such as CASE and SIAS, were incorporated in the guidelines. Indeed, they have been. This document was put up for public consultation which involved industry and all these people. His third question is, when MAS intend to implement this? MAS intends to issue these guidelines towards end-March 2009. And how MAS will monitor compliance? Even though these are guidelines, MAS as the supervisory authority would monitor how the FIs go about discharging the spirit of these guidelines. In some of these outcomes, there are also tangible deliverables say, for example, the third guideline of competent representatives. There are clear standards of what the representatives' qualifications, track records and their competencies require. Also, the fifth outcome of dealing with consumer complaints – there will be proper processes. So MAS would be in a fairly good position to be able to monitor the compliance of the financial institutions even though these are just guidelines.

Public Sector Jobs

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Minister for Transport (Mr Teo Ser Luck): Sir, I was at the NTU Career Fair yesterday. More than 107 employers participated in the fair. But the number of private sector companies has reduced and the public agencies have increased by two-fold – 28% for public sector agencies, 72% for private sector companies. The undergraduates heard that there were 18,000 jobs available from the public sector, they were keenly interested. I perceive that there was a sense that all the jobs were available only for graduates. I believe that there should also be positions available for non-graduates and even older workers. So, could the Prime Minister's Office share what jobs are available from the public sector for graduates and non-graduates, "O" levels, "A" levels and above "A" levels?

Older Workers in the Government Service

Mr Wee Siew Kim (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, fortunately, even in the depth of a recession, we have the resources to provide additional employment with positions in Government agencies. Over 18,000 jobs needed to be filled. I hope that these opportunities will be well shared with two categories of job seekers, namely, the mid-career workers and the older workers.

Certainly, for the new entrants to the workforce, armed with their newly-minted certificates, and a zest for life, the Government service would be a good place to start their new job search. They will be a breath of fresh air. I am sure a good percentage of the 18,000 jobs will go to this new group.

However, with job losses mounting across a broad spectrum of industries, many workers of varied ages and experiences would become available as well. I believe there are opportunities for Government agencies to inject new old, and not so old blood at every level. Mid-career workers with private sector work experience could provide the agencies with new perspectives. They can bring their private sector experience to bear in Government agencies, providing input to enhance policies and/or processes and even public perception and needs. Another breath of fresh air.

However, for mid-career workers to be welcomed and for them to survive, thrive and contribute, the workplace needs to have an organisation culture that welcomes feedback and is relentless in raising performance by adapting and innovating. Stones need to be allowed to be turned over and over again. This will require the support and endorsement of the most senior leaders in the agencies.

The next group is the older workers. Just as the Government encourages commercial businesses to employ older workers who do not wish to retire, it should also provide opportunities for its older workers to continue working as long as they can, wish and are able to contribute. The public often judges Government agencies for the service they receive and many a time, this is a function of their interaction with Government officers. While excellent customer service comes from the right service attitude, it is also a function of experience. In this area, older workers can be a big plus.

Re-employment of Older Workers

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, at last year's Budget debate, the Minister assured this House that although the re-employment legislation would be enforced only in 2012, the public service will do better and will be ready by 2010. Although we are now in the midst of a severe recession, nonetheless, we must not lose sight of this important long-term policy and we know that the actions of the public service is watched closely by the private sector. I would like to ask the Minister to give an update on the measures adopted by the public service to re-employ older workers. How many older workers have been re-employed in the civil service as well as the statutory boards? What is the period of re-employment and on what terms? Could the Minister also clarify what are the jobs that have been identified for the employment of older workers and how has the public service redesigned jobs in order to make them more suitable for older workers? Could the Minister also give an update on the three pilot agencies – the Ministry of Education, the Singapore Police Force and the Ministry of Manpower – that have agreed to establish the processes needed to ensure a smooth implementation of the civil service re-employment policy by 2010?

Internal Feedback

Mr Baey Yam Keng: Sir, the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society has recommended that the Government Instruction Manual be amended to allow civil servants to voice their personal opinions on Government policy. However, the Government has decided that it will not do so.

Whether it is on new media or other channels, it is important for any employer to actively engage and solicit feedback from employees internally. Not only is it useful to hear from people who know the systems and have ideas to improve it, it is also a powerful tool to build a sense of belonging.

The civil service is the largest employer with many Ministries and departments performing various public roles. It also has many talented and motivated people who are dedicated to serve in the interest of the nation.

During my 10 years in the public service, I have the fortune of working under good leaders who promoted an open culture for staff to speak their minds. However, being such a big organisation, there must be systems in place which are not dependent on the big boss to provide the environment. Many people are aware of the Staff Suggestion Scheme which encourages and even incentivises civil servants to give suggestions. However, the ideas tend to focus on matters pertaining to the respective organisation. I also have the experience of the leaders treating that system as a numbers game.

Of course, nowadays everyone is just an email away, theoretically. A civil servant can always email to Head, Civil Service or even the Prime Minister directly. However, I do not think many people would want to do that.

In the corporate sector, there is the whistle-blowing mechanism where staff can direct any feedback to an independent body which will investigate and maintain the informant's anonymity. While the intent of whistle-blowing is more about ensuring corporate governance, an adaptation of that could be considered for the civil service's internal feedback system.

I would like the Prime Minister's Office to look into ways to enhance the internal feedback system and harness the wisdom of civil servants.

Caring Government Agencies

Mr Wee Siew Kim: Sir, in the Budget debate, I had spoken on the need to administer with a heart. The question is perhaps how can the Government show that it cares? The tone is already strongly set as relief packages and budget provisions kick in so quickly to help businesses and individuals cope with the recession. In my mind, the Government cares.

However, how the Government, through its agencies, interact and help people day to day will be just as important in showing that the Government cares. This is the "software" that will colour the people's perception of the Government – whether it really cares for the people or not.

So let me reiterate my call – please go about your work with a human touch and a big heart. Hence, my earlier comments on older workers being mentors to younger frontline officers in interactions with the public. Please empathise with people who seek assistance and be more sympathetic to those who find themselves in difficult situations. For example, an unfortunate accident involving a motorcyclist and his pillion-riding wife was brought to my attention. The car in front of them braked suddenly. The motorcyclist swerved his bike and fell. The car sped off and the motorcyclist and his wife were too hurt to take the registration number down. Not only were both husband and wife hurt and off work, he received a fine and demerit points too. Is this fair or is it just the unthinking application of a rule that if you are hurt in an accident, you are penalised first? Would this resident see this as justice? Are the officers so busy and stretched that everything is an automated response?

I had appealed in the Budget debate that many agencies can take a leaf from how ComCare support is delivered. If a judgment call needs to be made, why not be generous in compassion or set up a system where people closer to the situation can be relied upon for an additional point of view or judgment?

Just like the roles the grassroots leaders play in the delivery of ComCare support. In these difficult economic times, we can, perhaps, be more forgiving and try to go out of our way to be more understanding and sympathetic.

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I have also mentioned earlier, the issues faced by SILRA Home. If the officers and the volunteers are aligned in their goals to provide the best value to the Home's residents, I am sure they would have been able to come to some general consensus in terms of the operating budget. They need not feel that they are on opposing sides, with one playing the domineering role of a custodian and a steward. But do not get me wrong. There are agencies that go out of their way to understand the ground, in order for them to perform their roles better. These agencies send representatives to community meetings, which are always invariably in the evenings. They take feedback seriously and they follow up. They communicate. If only this is common across the family of Government agencies. If we all go about our work and responsibilities in partnership, much more can be accomplished. Many helping hands make the load lighter. Many more hands would emerge, not for handouts but to hand-hold. The human touch can lift many out of depression.

The Minister for Defence (Mr Teo Chee Hean): Mr Chairman, I would like to thank the Members for their interests in issues related to the public service.

Mr Teo Ser Luck has asked for the breakdown by educational qualifications of the 18,000 jobs that the public service said will be made available in the next two years. About 30% of the jobs will be for those with 'A' Levels and below. The rest will require at least a diploma qualification. The jobs requiring degree qualifications are in more specialised professions, such as teachers, doctors, pharmacists and engineers. Those requiring diploma qualifications include positions, such as nurses and technical officers. The Singapore Armed Forces and the Home Team agencies have a range of jobs for applicants with qualifications ranging from 'A' Levels or below to diploma and degree holders. There are also jobs available for those with 'A' Levels or below, such as environmental health officer positions and healthcare related positions, such as assistant nurses.

Mr Chairman, when the economy is doing well and jobs are plentiful, the public service, like the private sector, often faces challenges recruiting sufficient staff and retaining them. However, when jobs are not so plentiful, job seekers are more prepared to consider the merits of jobs that are available, including those in the civil service. The public service will, therefore, make use of this opportunity to recruit suitable applicants, many of whom are needed to fill our existing vacancies in education, healthcare, and other essential services. Some of these jobs will meet new demands, eg, to improve teaching in our schools and healthcare delivery. However, I should add that, notwithstanding our intention to hire more people, the public sector currently employs 110,000 people who constitutes just about 4% of the total labour force. Hence, the public sector cannot be the solution to all those who are looking for a job. While we expand recruitment, I would also like to stress that the public service will maintain its standards in terms of hiring people with the right skills and more importantly, the right values and attitudes for public service.

I will now turn to the issue on the employment and re-employment of older workers, which Mr Wee Siew Kim and Mdm Halimah have raised. Mr Wee Siew Kim suggested that in filling the 18,000 jobs, we consider mid-career recruits and re-employ some of the older workers in the Government. Our recruitment policy in the public service is based on merit. We look for candidates who have the relevant skills, competency and traits that best fit the requirements of the jobs regardless of age. We believe this approach will better meet the needs of the public service.

For the civil service, the number of officers who are recruited at age 40 years and above has increased from 13% of annual recruitment or 728 officers in 2007 to 16% of annual recruitment or 1,000 officers in 2008. Mdm Halimah has asked for an update on the efforts to re-employ older workers in the public service. The percentage of civil servants who were re-employed at the age 62 years has been steadily increasing. In 2006, the number of officers who were re-employed at age 62 years was 96 or about 53% of the number of officers who retired at age 52. This rose to 57% or 103 officers in 2007, and 64% or 189 officers in 2008. For the statutory boards, 65% or 234 officers who retired at age 62 years were re-employed in the same year in 2008.

The public sector will continue to press on in with its efforts in the re-employment of our older workers. In January this year, the public service division issued an advisory to public sector agencies on the best practices for re-employing retiring officers. For example, public agencies are encouraged to offer re-employment contract of at least one year, where possible. Re-employment job arrangements may also include part-time or short-term project work. In terms of wages and benefits, agencies may consider appropriate adjustments to wages, but will offer re-employed officers the same leave and medical benefits as a fresh recruit.

The three agencies, which are piloting the implementation of the re-employment policy, the Ministry of Education, the Singapore Police Force, and the Ministry of Manpower have started operationalising the best practices in the advisory. As pilot agencies, they will help us finetune the practices. I am also pleased to note that several public sector agencies have shown their commitment to the re-employment efforts by signing a memorandum of understanding with the respective Unions, and these include the AVA, BCA, DSTA, EMA, HPB, HSA, IDA, IPOS, MPA, LTA, NLB, SLA and HDB. (ie, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore, Building and Construction Authority, Defence Science & Technology Agency, Energy Market Authority, Health Promotion Board, Health Sciences Authority, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Land Transport Authority, National Library Board, Singapore Land Authority, and Housing and Development Board). I can provide what all these agencies are, if you want to know.

I would like to assure Mdm Halimah that the public sector takes a long-term view and remains committed to the employment of its older officers, taking guidance from the tripartite committee on the employment of older workers. Mdm Halimah has also requested for an update on our efforts to redesign jobs for officers in the corporate support and operation support services. The civil service has been working on this in close partnership with the Unions for the past year. For a start, jobs have been redesigned for some 500 officers in three Ministries – the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The redesigned jobs have given officers the opportunity to take on more meaningful and challenging work, and the response from the officers have been positive. I met some of them myself, personally.

Other Ministries are now starting on the same journey. In total, the job redesign effort will involved some 4,000 corporate support officers and 2,000 operations support officers across all our Ministries. The civil service will also design training courses and programmes that will prepare our officers for their redesigned jobs. In addition, we will also continue training officers to improve their literacy, numeracy, IT and service skills. Some of our Ministries have also taken the lead in sponsoring officers for higher level qualifications, such as polytechnic diplomas. We will be encouraging other Ministries to do the same.

Let me now move on to the point raised by Mr Baey on feedback channels. Civil servants have various internal channels to make their views known, whether it is through their own agency's staff channels or to service-wide platforms, like Staff Suggestion Scheme. In fact, with the availability of email, as Mr Baey has pointed out, civil servants are able to share their suggestions and views with several parties within the civil service, almost instantaneously. To further enhance existing feedback channels, we are also looking at new communications channels, such as new media platforms in the Government intranet. We will take into account the suggestions raised by Mr Baey. Apart from proving the channels for feedback, the civil service encourages supervisors to be receptive and opened to new ideas and staff suggestions, so that staff will not be deterred from giving their honest opinions. I am also aware that it is quite common these days for the senior management in agencies, including CEOs and Permanent Secretaries to have regular small group sessions with their staff. Depending on the openness of both the management as well as of the staff themselves, views on various issues can be raised at such sessions. The experience has been mixed. Some management teams are more open than others. Likewise, some officers are more prepared to speak their minds than others, but we will continue to encourage more open exchanges.

I will now address the issue by Mr Wee Siew Kim. I agree with Mr Wee that public officers need to show understanding, empathy and sensitivity, especially towards Singaporeans who are going through a challenging period. All quality service managers throughout the public service have been briefed to pay attention to these aspects of service delivery. Small efforts can make a big difference. Sometimes, by explaining schemes and initiatives more clearly, more patiently and by offering alternatives, we can help people better understand the situation and determine the best course of action. While we strive to deliver public services with sensitivity and compassion, Members of the public must also appreciate that we will not be able to accede to every appeal, but rest assured that our public officers will be fair and objective and will do their best to understand and to work alongside Singaporeans through this difficult period.

I would like to offer a broader perspective of what public service is. Public servants serve the public in two respects: they serve individual members of the public and we must always remember that; but they also service the public as a whole, and hence there is the wider public interest as well. So policies and laws are there because they serve this wider public interest too. Traffic rules are there because they make the roads safer for all members of the public. They may be inconvenient for certain individuals, but they are there to make lives safer and more convenient for all. Hence, while flexibility can and should be exercised in considering the request of individual members of the public, the interest of the wider public must also be taken into account. We will not, for example, want our roads less safe, or neighbourhoods to become more tarnished by litter, just because of the downturn. That would just add to the doom and gloom. In fact, if our city remains safe and clean and secure, that will help to lift the spirits of our people.

Sir, the economic downturn presents challenging and uncertain times ahead for us. However, while the downturn may pose challenges, it will also provide opportunities. During this period, the public service will make use of the opportunity to recruit suitable staff that it needs to build up and strengthen capacity and capabilities in the public sector. We will continue to improve the quality of our public services in order to better serve our customers and citizens. Thank you for your indulgence, Sir.

The Chairman: We have some time for clarification.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Two clarifications to ask the Minister. First, I would like to ask the Minister if, with the announcement that the Government is now going to create 18,000 new jobs, it means that the earlier policy that exists before the recession on a freeze in hiring no longer applies?

Second question I would like to ask the Minister is whether, considering that there are now many concerns expressed, our civil servants are in touch with the ground. Whether there are any programmes in the civil service and public service to acclimatise and get our public service to understand ground feelings and issues, particularly members of our administration service?

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Mr Chairman, in fact, in a number of the agencies, the recruitment is beyond the numbers that they currently have. For example, in the Ministry of Education, a lot of the new recruitment is for allied educators and what we might otherwise call teacher aides to improve the teacher-student ratios in our schools and to improve teaching. In healthcare services, for example, these will be new positions to improve healthcare delivery. So, indeed, some of these numbers will be beyond our current establishments and beyond what the Ministry of Finance have previously allowed.

Sir, on encouraging our civil servants to be more sensitive to the ground, we have a number of programmes already in place to encourage more senior civil servants to go to the ground to understand what is happening. I have had, even in my own MPS, senior civil servants and members of the administrative service, who have come for an attachment to understand what it is that takes place on the ground. And this takes place at the various milestone courses, as well, that the senior civil servants, administrative service officers and even the younger ones attend. There are some agencies which, I think, have made tremendous strides in being in touch with the ground. LTA, for example, has put officers to work closely with the constituencies and a number of places, and this has worked very well and has quite transformed the grassroots leaders' and the ground's image on what the LTA is and what the LTA can do.

5.15 pm

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Thank you, Sir, I have two clarifications. I would like to know how

MAS monitors the outcome of the guidelines on the financial institutions offering products and services suitable for the targeted consumer segments.

The second clarification is on the structured products resolution which the Minister mentioned in his reply. There was feedback that FIDReC compensation, which was capped at $100,000, is unfair for those who have invested more than $100,000 because they were deprived of a cheaper way of resolution on the issue of mis-selling and compensation; so whether the Minister will consider increasing the scope of FIDReC.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Chairman, as I mentioned just now, the MAS will issue the guidelines in end March. And as part of its supervisory role, MAS will evaluate the FIs' compliance with these guidelines. Some of these guidelines are in hard form, eg, the qualifications of the representatives, so we can make a very objective and quantitative evaluation. Some are softer, trying to build a culture, so we or MAS will have to make the assessment on a broader basis. And MAS uses several mechanisms, eg, the so-called mystery shopper mechanism whereby members of the public, or MAS officers, will pose as clients and customers, and test the systems of the FIs. So there are several mechanisms to do so.

The second question on FIDReC, the limit is actually $50,000. This limit is set, so that cases that go to FIDReC are cases where the claims are smaller. Because if it is a big claim, these ought to go through the court processes. But where both sides agree to raise the limits, FIDReC is more than happy to hear the cases. So if the FI agrees to let FIDReC hear a case beyond $50,000 or if the consumer is prepared to limit the claim only up to $50,000, even though his case may be $100,000 or $150,000, FIDReC will be happy to hear the case.

The Chairman: Dr Teo, are you withdrawing the amendment?

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, I would like to thank Deputy Prime Minister Wong and our Ministers for their comprehensive replies although I still hope that PMO can champion and support ground initiatives to promote brisk-walking.

Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $242,821,800 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $38,437,400 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Head P – Ministry of Home Affairs

The Chairman: Head P - Ministry of Home Affairs. Dr Teo.

Terrorism

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, I beg to move,

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

Sir, 27th February 2009 marks the first anniversary of the escape of Mas Selamat from our Whitley Road Detention Centre. Despite a nationwide manhunt and the offer of a $1 million reward, we still do not know where is Mas Selamat. The recent terrorist attack at Mumbai clearly shows that terrorism is still a serious threat to Singapore and Singaporeans both locally and overseas. Sir, I noticed that many Singaporeans have simply forgotten about Mas Selamat, and our community engagement programme of the public with regard to terrorism seems to have slackened.

For instance, many posters of Mas Selamat were taken down from notice boards and public places. No one seems to be paying attention to the search for Mas Selamat. It is indeed a worrying sign as we may be facing an increased terrorism threat after his escape. May I ask the Minister for Home Affairs to update the house on efforts to arrest Mas Selamat? Sir, in view of the fact that the new Obama administration is looking into closing down the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, are there mechanisms through which the Government would be kept informed of the status and movement of any Southeast Asian detainees who may pose security threats to our country?

Although the Home Team has implemented many measures to harden potential terrorist targets, there is much work to be done to intensify our search efforts for Mas Selamat, strengthen our home team, and enhance the emergency preparedness of Singaporeans.

Sir, I understand from the reply to my Parliamentary written question that the Ministry has fully implemented the recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry with regard to the security protocols and features of Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC). May I ask the Minister, how many detainees are presently housed at the WRDC, and when will the new detention centre be built in Changi Prison?

Sir, one of the key reasons cited by the Ministry for the series of security lapses last year was organisational fatigue among officers of the Home Team. Can the Minister update the House on measures undertaken to address the fatigue problems of the Home Team, and what mechanisms are in place to constantly monitor the fatigue of the Home Team in view of the fast changing security landscape?

Sir, may I also ask the Minister what is the level of emergency preparedness among Singaporeans?

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, the terrorism attacks in Mumbai were a grim reminder of the terrorist threat, and, more importantly, that terrorists will continue to attempt new audacious ways to destroy, strike fear and advance the agenda. The terrorists came from the sea and were able to infiltrate largely unmolested.

We are as vulnerable as Mumbai, if not, more so. By the time a fast boat enters our territorial waters, it will take just minutes to reach our shores, and we have people living and working almost at the waters' edge. There will be little time to react. There are also parts of our coastline which are not developed where terrorists can slip in undetected and cause mischief further in land. I, therefore, ask the Minister what will be done to protect our coastlines from such possible infiltrations.

Second, I would like to ask whether we can use technology to assist in our security efforts. Aircraft have transponders and are required to submit flight plans in advance. This gives us fair warning when an unauthorised aircraft approaches us. Cannot something similar be posted for ships? There will, no doubt, be a cost but is our safety not worth paying for?

Thirdly, if terrorists do strike, do we have a proper disaster or rescue plan? The recent incident involving the Singapore Flyer was more than just an embarrassment. It shows that there are no adequate rescue plans for private buildings or installations, or at least no proper coordination of such plans between public services and building owners. If we have difficulties rescuing those trapped in the Flyer, does it mean that we will have similar difficulties for those in the many buildings in the Central Business District or other strategic areas?

Finally, we have, thankfully, not experienced any major incidents for many years but this raises the concern that Singaporeans may not know how to react or what to do in the event an attack happens.

Sir, we have often seen images of American kids ducking under their desks during air raid drills in the 1960s, during the Cold War era. That may be a bit extreme for us but such exercises do increase a sense of awareness of the problem. Should there not be more public education to impart some basic protection of survival tips to Singaporeans, so that they will know how to react or what to do in the event such a disaster happens?

Terrorist Attacks and Responsible Media Reporting

Ms Indranee Rajah (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, I would like to raise the issue of responsible media reporting in the event of a terrorist attack. My concern is prompted by what happened in India during the terrorist attacks on the two hotels in Mumbai. As this Parliament will recall, the terrorists took over two hotels. Whilst some people were taken hostage, there were others who were in hiding, awaiting the opportunity to escape. Those in hiding presumably managed to get word out that they were safe. And during the attacks, there was extensive media coverage of what was happening. The Indian media apparently managed to obtain information of the fact that some people were in hiding and of their whereabouts and published this as part of the news. This obviously endangered those people and alerted the terrorists to the fact that there were other potential hostages to be taken. There was also extensive media coverage when the security forces and commandos began the counter-attack and rescue operations. This gave the public a blow-by-blow account of the operations while the operations were ongoing. But, unfortunately, since terrorists and their handlers also watched TV and read the newspapers, it meant that they got the same information too, which endangered the lives, not only of the hostages but of the security personnel as well. Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister for Home Affairs what measures MHA is taking to ensure responsible media reporting in the event of a terrorist attack in Singapore, because whilst the media has the responsibility to inform the public of what is happening, this has to be balanced against putting innocent lives at risk.

Emergency Preparedness

Ms Ellen Lee: To counter terrorists threats, SARS and the flu pandemic, much work have been done to prepare Singaporeans for the outbreak of these eventualities in the past eight years or so. Yet, how prepared are Singaporeans today? The efforts seem largely confined to major inter-agency exercises, simulations and drills conducted by the Home Team and some grassroots organisations, and the distribution of handbooks to households. Do Singaporeans truly know how to respond to such emergencies if they happen? How long must MHA persevere in its efforts to make Singaporeans realise that they must take ownership and play a critical role in their own safety and not rely totally on the Government? I will use six examples to illustrate.

(1) Fire drills in commercial buildings – office workers often do not take these seriously and take the exercises like “going through the motion”. The participation rate is often not very high.

(2) MRT train disruptions or accidents along expressways or in the tunnels – how do commuters and motorists respond before the authorities arrive at the scenes? Is the Traffic Police making it mandatory for head-lights to be turned on and for drivers to tune in to the local radios for the whole duration of the tunnel ride in the CTE or the KPE?

(3) The tremors felt by earthquakes in Sumatra or Indonesia – most people did not even realise why they experienced sudden dizziness. For people who did evacuate, instead of running away to open spaces as soon as they hit the ground, they stood at the ground floor of the same building, expecting to see something happening.

(4) A Singaporean killed in the Mumbai terrorist attack – how many people would use this incident to remind ourselves to check on travel advisories issued by the MFA before traveling?

(5) The recurring Bangkok political crisis – why are Singaporeans undeterred or not worried for their safety and still going to Bangkok?

(6) All iconic structures, such as the Singapore Flyer and some skyscrapers are easy terrorist targets – are internationally-accepted disaster rescue or contingency plans made mandatory and reviewed periodically?

Dual Citizenship

Dr Lam Pin Min: Mr Chairman, dual citizenship is becoming more common in our increasingly interconnected globalised world. Many countries such as India, the Philippines and Mexico are now seeing the advantages of dual citizenship and are liberalising their citizenship laws. In fact, there are currently about 90 countries that officially permit or accept dual or multiple citizenship. Why would a person need or want to be a citizen of more than one country? In some cases, it may be simply a matter of cultural attachment. Some individuals who live in one country but were raised in another, may see dual citizenship as a way of connecting with their heritage. For others, dual citizenship may be a matter of convenience, making travel easier when the country places restrictions on visitors from certain countries. Dual citizenship also has advantages of broadening the country's economic base by promoting trade and investment between the dual citizen's two respective countries. There is no doubt that Singapore has benefited from its rich migrant society in terms of boosting its talent pool as well as contributing to the vibrant economy. Ironically, our strict non-dual citizenship policy is putting many foreigners in a conundrum as many enjoy working and staying in Singapore but cannot bear to abandon the land of their birth for sentimental reasons. The current policy risks losing these people whom the Government has tried so hard to retain,

the very people with rich transnational experience and perspective.

5.30 pm

In a similar situation, more and more Singaporeans, especially those working abroad, have grown to enjoy staying in a foreign country where they are working. They have to reluctantly renounce their Singapore citizenship. It is perhaps time for the Ministry to revisit the issue of dual citizenship. We should retain citizens by giving them compelling reasons to stay and not keep them by using artificial means.

Offence of Nuisance and Proposed "Move On" Powers

Mr Siew Kum Hong (Nominated Member): Sir, the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act provides for certain offences under the umbrella of so-called “public nuisances”. I will share my experience on how the police enforces this law.

Last October, when speaking in this House on a Member's motion on by-elections, I referred to a survey of Jurong GRC residents conducted by The Online Citizen website on 23rd October 2008, which I helped to conduct.

For the survey, I was paired with another volunteer, and we were in Jurong asking passers-by whether they thought that there should be a by-election. We were pretty much in the same spot from around 3.00 pm onwards. While surveying passers-by, I noticed two uniformed police officers patrolling the area. They stood some distance away observing us. They did nothing to stop us. I assumed that all was fine.

But after about two hours or so, at about 5.00 pm, these same two officers went up to my fellow volunteer and started questioning him, asking for his name and what we were doing. All this while, they had been observing us from time to time, and had allowed us to continue doing the survey for two hours or more without question or interruption. All this while, we were not noisy and we were respectful and polite to all persons approached, whether or not they were willing to take part in the survey. All this while, nobody complained to us about what we were doing, and nobody took offence or asked us to stop, although a grassroots leader did engage my fellow volunteer in discussion for about 15 minutes or so.

I saw the officers speaking to my fellow volunteer, but we continued taking survey responses. After a while, I went to them. The officers said that they had received a complaint of two persons causing a public nuisance in that area by taking a survey. We answered their questions, and showed them our survey questions at their request. They told us to stop doing the survey, while they checked with their superiors for further instructions. We complied, and waited for a decision to come through.

Eventually, just before 6.00 pm, one of the officers came up to us and said that we could continue with the survey if we wanted. By then, both of us were tired from the waiting and the tension. We called it a day, and left the area.

Sir, that was one of the more stressful days in my life to date. It is no joke to have the police come up to you, tell you that they have received a complaint that you are breaking the law while declining to disclose any details on this complaint, and then keep you waiting for nearly an hour without any update or information on what was going on.

Having been on the receiving end, I believe that the existing system lacks transparency and accountability, and is open to abuse. To this day, I feel aggrieved when I think of that day. Where is the transparency and accountability in the process? If we were indeed being a nuisance, or if there was a legitimate concern about us being public nuisances, then why had not the police officers acted earlier, when they first saw us? Why act almost two hours after they first observed us? We were doing the exact same thing, and the only difference was that someone had called in to complain. The police would have seen with their own eyes whether or not we were causing a public nuisance. So why ask us to stop? Why did the police not tell us why they stopped us, why they had not stopped us earlier, and why they decided that nothing was wrong? And why take 45 minutes to decide, when they had already been watching us for hours and knew exactly what was going on?

I could not and still cannot shake off the belief that the entire incident was related to the fact that the survey questions relating to whether a by-election should have been called in Jurong GRC could be seen as being politically sensitive. But that should be irrelevant to the police. The only relevant consideration should be whether we were in fact causing a public nuisance, and that is self evident. We were clearly not causing a public nuisance. The police officers knew that were not causing a nuisance. So, why stop us? Why put citizens, engaging in the legitimate exercise of their constitutional right to move freely throughout Singapore, through such an ordeal?

To my mind, there are legitimate questions about the possibility of abuse in the police’s purported exercise of their powers in connection with the Miscellaneous Offences Act. By "abuse", I mean the use of official powers to disrupt lawful activities by citizens, especially activities with political overtones, without legitimate reason. The lack of transparency, clarity and accountability in how we were treated concerns me.

In the light of my experience with the Miscellaneous Offences Act, I was naturally concerned when the Deputy Prime Minister disclosed that the Government was considering the introduction of “move on” powers in a recent press interview. I do understand that this is still in the works, and that the legislation will be introduced later this year. Nevertheless, I will take this opportunity to speak a little on this.

This plan seems to have been inspired by the Australian example. Many states in Australia have given their police such powers. But these powers are problematic, both in terms of the legislative framework and in terms of their actual exercise.

In terms of the legislation, the “move on” powers need to be framed narrowly, given the fact that these powers create the potential for a deep encroachment into Singaporeans’ fundamental liberties. So, for instance, the situations in which the powers may be exercised must be clearly and narrowly defined. Overly-broad situations could represent an unjustifiable curtailment of Singaporeans’ civil liberties.

Indeed, the Australian experience is instructive here. In a case last year involving “move on” powers for the New South Wales police, the Federal Court of Australia found that the regulations in question were unconstitutional for having overly curtailed Australians’ freedom of speech.

Similarly, the legislation that we introduce should be clear that it targets the conduct in question, and not so much the fact that a person is in a certain spot. Accordingly, if a citizen engages in a certain offensive conduct in a certain location, he is asked to “move on” and he ceases the offensive conduct, then the “move on” order should cease to have effect.

As for the exercise of these powers, they will invariably be highly discretionary. The Australian experience has been that the powers can be and frequently are exercised in a capricious, arbitrary and unaccountable manner.

I have a couple of quick suggestions to address these shortcomings. Firstly, there should be clear and transparent checks-and-balances. For instance, the police should be required to record all “move on” orders issued in a register, to issue warnings to cease the offensive conduct before actually issuing a “move on” order, and to issue “move on” orders in writing, where practicable, perhaps on a simple pre-printed form with tick boxes.

Secondly, there should also be an appeal mechanism, for instance, to an independent panel or an ombudsman, who should be required to publish all findings subject to confidentiality requirements. Where the panel or ombudsman finds that the order was not properly issued, the police should be required to issue a formal public apology, so as to give the person proper redress.

Home Team Resources

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): Sir, during my block visits in my constituency, I hear many complaints about the many vice activities along Geylang Road. These vice activities are carried out just opposite the HDB blocks in my constituency. Many of my residents, especially females, have complained that they feel insecure whenever they use the bus stops along Guillemard Road or when they return home later in the evening.

I have also received many complaints from residents about strangers loitering around the HDB staircases in the middle of the night. The presence of these strangers has caused distress to the residents as they are not sure whether these strangers are involved in drugs or maybe petty thieves waiting to break into the flats or may even be armed robbers. There are also complaints about loanshark harassment, theft of bicycles and vandalism of motor vehicles in the multi-storey carparks.

I have personally spoken to the residents who have been harassed by loansharks. They have expressed great disappointment, and they have been threatened repeatedly with legal action. It is easy to classify the harassment from illegal money lenders as a mere incident or a crime statistic. But the fact is that for each case that is reported, it causes great distress to the family involved. They live in constant fear of whether their lives or their young children would be endangered. And for some of those who were threatened, they are not even the borrowers. They are mere innocent owners of a flat who are being harassed because of the illegal activity of the former resident of the flat who had borrowed money from a loanshark.

Whilst I acknowledge that the crime rate in Singapore is low and that the police is doing all that they can to tackle the crime situation in Singapore, I feel that we can do more. One possible solution is to have greater police presence in the estate to deter would-be criminals. I do not expect the police to be everywhere, but certainly the fact that there is increased police presence would add to the comfort of residents.

Sir, I have asked the police for a greater number of patrols in the area, but I understand that they have their limitation in terms of manpower. I am glad to know that MHA is looking to employ more Home Team officers, and I would urge MHA to consider deploying more police officers on the ground to ensure that there is sufficient sense of security for the residents of Singapore.

Next, I would also like to ask for more traffic police presence on the roads. At the last parliamentary session, there were concerns raised about speeding heavy vehicles. I have also personally witnessed more and more vehicle drivers who do not bother to obey traffic rules. For example, I am sure that many of us have seen heavy vehicles or buses travelling at high speeds along the right lanes of expressways, and I have also seen heavy vehicle drivers refusing to queue along the lane and then cutting into other driver's lane dangerously at the last moment. The fact is that if there is little enforcement of traffic rules, then Singapore drivers will obey the rule of the jungle and drive dangerously to prevent other drivers from cutting into their lanes. In my view, this kind of inconsiderate driving is a result of inadequate traffic police presence, and is unhealthy for Singapore.

Home Team Response to Calls from the Public

Ms Ellen Lee: Sir, the Home Team has performed admirably. And since Singapore became an international convention venue, it has expanded its duties to protect all convention participants as well, over and above utilising private security forces. This is no easy task, especially when much co-ordination is needed with the foreign dignitaries’ security agencies to ensure that they work seamlessly and efficiently. The recent recruitment of a few hundred more people to join the Singapore Police Force speaks volumes of how much manpower is required. The Second Minister for Home Affairs has said that our police officers indeed work much longer hours. Singaporeans should salute the existing team for their efforts have led to the overall crime rate in 2008 dipping below that of 2007.

The overall efficiency and effectiveness of the SPF have led to many more people calling 999 as a reflex action to the following:

(a) Quarrels between family members or with neighbours;

(b) Chatter from the void decks and motor bike speeding in the dead of the night;

(c) Noise from religious celebrations due to auctions, wayangs or lion dance performances, etc; and

(d) Harassments from loansharks.

Callers expect the police to arrive at the scene at least within 30 minutes of their calls. Many residents are angry that the police did not give priority to their calls for help.

When these few hundred vacancies are filled, people would naturally expect the Singapore Police Force to have an even higher level of quality service, since more police officers are now available to respond even more quickly to their calls. Does the Ministry of Home Affairs intend to create a different telephone number for the public to call, such as the 1777 for ambulance for non-urgent cases, in the situations that I just mentioned above, instead of 999, so that trained police manpower could be freed up for more urgent life and death matters? This could mean outsourcing this non-urgent aspect of the work to the auxiliary police, as in the case of the traffic police.

It could also mean that in family quarrels, for instance, dedicated social workers or trained community mediators could be dispatched to provide dispute resolution services, rather than to fulfill the expectation of certain family members to have the police make an arrest on the spot.

Training of Home Team

Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Sir, members of the Home Team are often front-line officers who come in contact with the public very frequently. This may be face to face, in written communications and also telephone conversations, as such etiquette and expression in communications play a very crucial role when engaging the public. Are there programmes for these officers to go to, so as to improve their communications and their interaction with the public? Will there be plans to enhance the quality, quantity as well as the level of training? We have had our fair share of negative communications and interaction. As they are also very public in their jobs and are fast often seen at the front line, does the Ministry also agree that they should all have some form of first responder's training, which includes CPR, first aid and perhaps also automated external defibrillator training? In this way, they can also help to improve the Singapore's out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate.

Private Security Industry

Ms Sylvia Lim: Sir, in the last three years, much effort has been made by the Government to uplift standards in the private security industry. Training and licensing requirements under national frameworks are in place since 2005,

which has given the public some assurance of baseline skills and knowledge in every security officer. At the agency level, the Police regulators have been working with security service providers and conducting audits to check service and operational standards. These audit results are published to motivate agencies to strive for higher standards.

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Sir, these moves have not been universally popular. They have resulted in some service providers recouping and even dropping out of the industry. However, they are moves in the right direction. As more reliance has been placed on private security to complement our law enforcement officers at major and public events, security officers must be able to handle members of the public, exercise judgment and understand their duties and liabilities. To attract responsible and committed people to the industry, security businesses must be well-run with good management practices and fair employee benefits.

From my dealings with security service providers, many lament that there is still a serious manpower shortage. Although the number of licensed guards has increased significantly, they note that retention in industry is a big challenge. Their experience is that the attrition rate in the first few months is high because entry is fairly easy but the job hours are long and considered unglamorous and the pay is low. The manpower shortage has resulted in security agencies having difficulty carrying out security jobs which they have secured. At the lower end of the market where margins are low, this has facilitated some dubious practices, such as the same guard working consecutive 12-hour shift. There is anecdotal information of some Malaysians who are doing this and living out of suitcases. How serious is the shortage and what can be done to increase recruitment and retention? After all, this is one industry which will still survive in the downturn.

Next, although the price of security services has generally gone up, how far has security officers' salaries gone up? What can be done to encourage employers to get a fairer deal to their employees?

Last, Sir, the annual audit of agencies done by Police regulators has been kept optional so far. When the audit first commenced, only one-third of the agencies opted out. But, last year, 50% opted out. Such non-participation undermines efforts to upgrade standards and leaves guards exposed to bad management. What is the Government's hesitation to make the audit compulsory?

Crime Prevention

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, "Low crime does not mean no crime". This is a crime prevention message by the Police to the general public. Despite years of public education on crime prevention, we still have 30,000 cases of crimes per year. Although the crime rate per 100,000 population is low, we must not be complacent. The Home Team, its community partners and the general public must continue its close cooperation and good work to further reduce incidents of crime, especially against the elderly and children.

With a fast ageing population and severe recession, there is a high possibility that crime rates will rise. In the past, cheating and theft cases increased significantly when times are bad. In 2007, there were 4,084 cases of crimes against persons and 19,522 cheating and related crimes. Sir, many elderly in the heartlands are alone during the morning and afternoon when their children are at school or at work. As such, they become vulnerable to cheats who prey on these elderly by posing as sales agent or use scare tactics to con the elderly of money. Thus, I wish to ask the Minister whether additional measures are taken to protect the elderly from crime during this recession. Are the present crime prevention efforts effective in reducing crime against the elderly?

Sir, the use of Internet has increased the vulnerability of children to cyber crimes. Cheating and sex-related crimes as a result of Internet usage are commonly reported. As children spend more hours surfing the Internet, they are exposed to high risks of cyber crime. May I ask the Minister as to what measures are taken by the Home Team to safeguard the safety of children on the Internet and how effective are the cyber crime prevention efforts for children?

Public Safety and Foreign Workers

Mr Arthur Fong: As the economic downturn marches on, we can expect more workers to lose their jobs and this is despite our Government's efforts to stem the tide of retrenchments with the Jobs Credit. Although the construction industry is performing better at this time than the manufacturing or service industry, it is also affected by the downturn. At last count, we have close to 800,000 foreign workers in Singapore although not all from the construction industry. These foreign workers face several challenges in addition to not being able to find any work here; some do face the problem of errant employers who have not paid them their salaries.

Underneath the surface of industrial relations here, I feel that much exploitation of foreign workers goes on unreported. I am glad that our Manpower Ministry is taking up the cudgels on behalf of these exploited foreign workers. Sadly, we still see more of these disgruntled foreign workers gathering outside the Ministry awaiting justice. The numbers of these gatherings have been large at times to air their grievances and some of them have been settled satisfactorily. As our construction industry continues to face the prospect of less jobs becoming available and worsening cashflow problems, there is no guarantee that these gatherings of workers or in anywhere else, for that matter, will continue to be orderly. There were also reports of workers gathering in large numbers elsewhere in Singapore or even near our heartlands.

How is the Home Team coping and policing such groups to the possibilities of coordinated protests by such groups existing at different localities? Our Home Team needs to be wary of such a possibility. I therefore ask the Minister if we are prepared and what are the processes and measures in place and, more importantly, how to restore order in the event of a foreign worker gathering turning violent. Finally, how can the Home Team carry out all these without affecting Singapore's image as one of bullying our guest workers?

Prison Violence and Inmate Safety

Ms Sylvia Lim: Sir, it was reported in November that a male prisoner who was sharing a cell with three others was seriously and sexually assaulted by his cell mates sometime between April and May. He was apparently punched and kicked until he suffered severe fractures and internal injuries, including the ribs, liver and breastbone. The victim was allegedly sodomised and forced to have oral sex. The injuries were apparently so serious that he had to be warded in the hospital for two months. The three suspects are now facing criminal charges in the courts.

Sir, all Prisons face inmate management issues. But this incident is straight out of Prison's movies such as the "Shawshank Redemption". Sir, I note that the KPIs under the Ministry show that the incidents of assault cases in Prisons appear to be increasing somewhat over the last three years from 15 to 22, and now 26 cases per 10,000 inmates. What precautions are taken in deciding cell sharing arrangements? How was it that the incident continued undetected and what measures are in place to detect and pre-empt serious incidents of this nature?

Vice Trade and Sex Shops

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): The number of foreign prostitutes arrested in 2006 was 4,310. This was a 34% increase over 2005. In 2007, Police arrested some 5,400 female foreigners for vice-related activities. That is an average of about 100 vice-related arrests per week. Four thousand and nine hundred or 91% of these were in Singapore on Social Visit Passes.

The numbers are cause for grave concern. Another source of concern is that prostitution has worked itself into our heartlands. In January 2009, just last month, it was reported in the press, and I quote:

"A bar owner illegally hired a Philippine national on a social visit pass to work at a Duxton Road pub. However, the 23-year-old woman not only drank and chatted with male customers, she also exposed her breasts and touched their private parts."

The Police, during a spot check, also found that the woman's details were not recorded in the staff record book, as required under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act. The bar owner was fined $12,000 in court for amongst others allowing her to work illegally as a hostess and allowing her to carry out immoral activities at the venue.

I urge Parliament and MHA to act on what the prosecution had stated in its legal submission to Court in this recent case and I quote the prosecution's submission: "The immoral actions of the hostess was part of a 'disturbing trend' and that if left unquelled, it will have far reaching social implications, resulting in the proliferation of social ills," including but not limited to the "spread of sexually transmitted diseases."

Sir, the numbers speak for themselves. The case speaks for itself. The prosecution's submission speaks for itself. What concrete steps will MHA take to curb this "disturbing trend"? In particular, how will MHA ensure the Anti-Vice Branch is fully equipped with additional manpower, intelligence officers and resources to (a) identify new locations where sex-syndicates operate; (b) eradicate such operations; and (c) curtail the spread of sex-syndicate operations into our heartlands?

Given the figures show that relying on police enforcement to curb vice numbers has serious limitations, would MHA consider enacting legislation to deter the vice numbers from increasing further? In the United Kingdom, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced that England and Wales are recently considering criminalising paying for sex with someone who is "controlled for another person’s gain". The law will cover activity controlled by a pimp. This will be a "strict liability" offence, and ignorance of the circumstances will be no defence in court. The UK legislation envisions that men paying for sex could be fined £1,000 if they bought it from a woman who was not a free agent, ie, under the control of a pimp or traffickers. The aim of the law is the protection of women – that women should not be traded or used as a commodity. I fully support this aim and believe that we should take concrete steps to achieve it. By enacting such a law on our shore, ie, by addressing the "demand" side of prostitution – I am convinced the vice numbers will go down. Do we not owe it to women to ensure that they are not traded or used as commodities?

Before we become pragmatic about prostitution, pre-empting possible arguments against what I am suggesting, with arguments like "it’s always existed, always will exist" – why not pose a few questions to ourselves. First, would we want someone we love to become a prostitute? Second, would any prostitute really say that she would like her daughter to end up as she did? Therefore, the real question we have to ask, and MHA should be asking themselves, is whether this is a trade we want to see contract, or flourish. I personally want to see it contract.

Many Singaporeans I have spoken to want to see it diminish. We owe it to the women – the mothers and daughters – living in our society to protect them from being traded and used as commodities. Being pimped is to be traded and used as a commodity. No argument can rebut that. Therefore, in addition to increasing the Police anti-vice enforcement to curb the supply dimension of vice, would MHA consider a policy shift to prosecute men who pay to have sex with women who are not free agents? This would be a much needed "panacea" for what the AG's Chambers itself describes as a "disturbing trend".

I move on to sex shops. I am also concerned about the location and proliferation of sex shops in Singapore. The majority of these shops are currently located in retail areas, such as Orchard Road or Chinatown. However, what will MHA do to prevent these shops from setting up in inappropriate areas, for example, next to schools – secondary schools, junior colleges – or in the heartland neighbourhoods? Will MHA introduce zoning restrictions on these shops? Will MHA set up a licensing authority to regulate these shops? One aspect that could be regulated is the location of the shops. Such "zoning" regulation will allow MHA to keep a check on how many of such shops exist and the location of shops. A good example of a legislative framework to regulate sex shops through zoning (for example, for our purposes, not near schools) is found in Part III of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, read with Schedule 2 of the Act. I ask and urge MHA to study the framework contained therein. Of course, MHA should make a policy decision as to whether it wants to allow such shops in Singapore, in the first place. But if it does, the least it could do is to regulate their location. If we have licences for bars, it seems illogical that we do not require licences for sex shops. Therefore, would MHA consider putting in place a regulatory framework to ensure that the shops do not proliferate into inappropriate areas, such as near our schools?

Vice Activities

Dr Fatimah Lateef: The presence of street prostitution comes with various social disamenities in the Geylang Area, for example. These include overcrowding and noise pollution to residents because it is also a residential area, traffic congestion and increased illegal parking as well as various minor offences.

At Geylang Serai, I have led a multi-disciplinary community and agency task force and our efforts include the following: brightening dark areas and lorongs ; trimming of trees for enhanced visibility; residents dialogue, feedback, cooperation and patrol, including organisation of activities in the parks and lorongs ; dialogues with pub owners and management;

working with LTA and URA on various issues including the coffeeshop issues; and the Police and anti-vice.

Of course, a whole list of things have been done but due to overwhelming pedestrian traffic, an increased amount of litter is generated and public health concerns, such as dengue fever, is also a very real issue. Can the Ministry provide some more sustainable supervision and enforcement efforts, as well as greater presence in the area? This will certainly help the residents there.

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Harassment by Loansharks

Dr Lam Pin Min: Mr Chairman, there were a total of 4,755 loanshark harassment cases reported in 2007, down from the peak of 5,240 in 2006. This decline has been attributed to tougher measures undertaken by the authority to crack down on these unlicensed moneylending activities.

Currently, the penalty is meted out to people involved in harassment activities related to illegal moneylending. It carries caning as well as a jail term. Yet, in spite of these seemingly tougher measures, public harassment by loansharks and their runners continue unabated. It is not uncommon within our constituency to witness explicit works of art, using red paint by runners or loansharks in their attempt to force debtors to pay up. Sometimes, harassment work carried out affects innocent victims who had just moved into the flat, which once belonged to a borrower. Affected residents often feel frustrated that nothing can be done soon enough to help resolve the harassment and embarrassment caused.

In addition, many feel threatened and fear for the safety of their families. Very often, handphone contact numbers of loansharks are scribbled on the walls, and many of my affected residents actually did call up the numbers to explain the mistaken identities, but to no avail. Surely, the Police force will be able to work with the telco to track down the identities of moneylenders and to bring them to justice. The Police should also step up patrol in affected units, lay ambush or even set up CCTV outside corridors of involved households to deter such regular harassments.

Unlicensed moneylending seems to be a lucrative business, in spite of the tough penalties imposed. Harassment by loansharks, therefore, is expected to increase in view of the credit crunch. And, paradoxically, against our backdrop of an efficient and draconian law enforcement environment, illegal moneylending seems to be flourishing. I urge the Ministry to step up enforcement actions or even impose harsher punishments in order to curb and, hopefully, eradicate illegal moneylending activities in Singapore.

Public – Private Cooperation in Criminal Investigations

Mr Arthur Fong: Sir, in last year's COS, I applauded our Home Team's efforts towards extending the network of public security cameras. That was doubled from what it was previously and installed in more areas across Singapore. With the security environment that proves to be a challenge even in the best of economic times, I urge MHA to continue its efforts towards using CCTVs to assist in crime prevention, deterrence and investigation.

As the Police has confirmed that there had been a marked drop in crimes in areas where the CCTVs have been installed, I suggest we can perhaps move to another level. I urge the Police to consider encouraging private and business owners, in a coordinated fashion, to align their resources – in this case, security cameras that are already installed at or near their premises to those of the Police. This can enlarge the coverage footprint, fill in the gaps in reducing costs for the Home Team associated with installing cameras in areas that are covered by businesses.

Let me cite Taiwan as an example. It is common to watch on television news, coverage of a crime where footages from CCTV cameras, belonging to businesses around the scene of a crime, were used to piece together evidence that helped the Police better identify the suspect, the mode of transport and if the perpetrators had any accomplices. The authorities there urged shop owners to consult with the local authorities how best to locate the CCTVs for mutual benefit. When a series of shop owners or banks combined this coverage with that of the Police, the CCTV footage can serve to play a big part in the initial investigation or management of a crime.

I propose that, perhaps, a unit within the Home Team be tasked to do this and develop within this unit, specialist skills, procedures, technology adaptation and development. This will augment specialist teams in the Home Team and, perhaps, even be a resource to be deployed to audit certain security functions for large-scale events.

Drink Driving

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, in 2008, 22 persons died and 213 were injured as a result of drink driving accidents. Despite the Police campaign to fight drink driving, 3,586 motorists were arrested for drink driving. This clearly reflects the irresponsible attitude of motorists in maintaining road safety in Singapore. Sir, every drink driving related death is one too many. We must continue to send a strong and stern message to motorists to keep our roads safe.

I commend the Traffic Police for launching several Anti-Drink Drive initiatives, including ringfencing enforcement strategy at entertainment outlets. These efforts have, indeed, reduced the number of drink driving incidents. But there are many other motorists who drink alcohol at private parties and premises and, thus, may escape the ringfencing enforcement and road blocks. We need to step up our enforcement and public education efforts on drink driving.

Sir, while I do not condone drink driving, I do feel that our penalty regime for drink driving is too stringent and inflexible. Drivers caught with drink driving, exceeding the prescribed alcohol level, will be charged in courts and face suspension of driving licence. For many of these offenders, the loss of licence means a loss of employment, which causes severe hardship to their family members. Some of the offenders may be non-English speaking and have low educational level. Therefore, they are unable to pass the new driving licence theory and practical tests. As a result, many have lost substantial income to support their families.

Sir, I wish to propose to the Ministry to consider a Work Drivers' Licence Scheme, as practised in Queensland, Australia. The scheme allows the courts to grant a work licence, called restricted licence, which allows the offender to drive for the purposes of employment only. The courts will impose limits upon the granting of a work licence such as:

(i) times when the vehicles may be driven;

(ii) purpose for which a vehicle may be driven;

(iii) class of vehicle which may be driven;

(iv) whether other persons may be in the vehicle; and

(v) the need to keep a log-book of all trips undertaken.

The holders of work licences are prohibited from having any alcohol in their system while driving, ie, a 0% blood alcohol limit applies. Sir, this system will provide some flexibility in reforming drink driving offenders.

Road Safety

Mr Arthur Fong: Mr Chairman, most drivers of heavy vehicles, such as lorry prime mover and cement mixer, are paid on a per trip basis. They work long hours to maximise the time on the road to as many times as possible on the trips. Hence, it is understandable that, although they have a speed limit of not more than 60 km per hour, it is common to see them violating the speed limit on the road. These vehicles are installed with speed limiters, as required by law. Speed limiters prevent vehicles from travelling beyond their speed limits. They are required by law, for buses with a maximum laden weight of more than 10 tonnes, and more than 12 tonnes for other vehicles.

Some continue to drive, even though their speed limiters are not working, until the law catches up with them or until they kill someone on the road, as it happened on 3rd January 2009 on the PIE. Last year, 178 drivers of heavy vehicles were caught speeding, up from 164 in 2006. The number of summonses climbed from 1,109 to 1,160, After more public complaints, our Traffic Police mounted operations to curb heavy vehicle speeding. Notwithstanding this, heavy vehicles continue speeding on the roads, violating their speed limits. Sometimes, I wonder, Mr Chairman, if the speed limiters are efficient, as I suspect most heavy vehicle drivers ignore the speed alert.

In the first half of the year, about 1,400 summonses were issued to drivers of heavy vehicles for violation, such as speeding and tempering with their speed limiters and road hogging. We only need to witness the number of heavy vehicles on the TPE or Tampines Avenue 10, in the direction of the TPE. It is common to see heavy vehicles, such as lorries and cement mixers, hogging the overtaking lane on the extreme right lane. It is also common to see them driving at speeds over 80 km per hour. If I may quote the President of the National Safety Council of Singapore: "Compared to an ordinary car, it's harder for a heavy vehicle to brake, as there will be greater momentum pushing forward." At that speed and with the load that they are carrying, when confronted with an emergency, they cannot brake in time. When involved in any accident, the outcome can only be fatal.

So I urge the Home Team to increase enforcement to ensure and enhance the road safety of heavy vehicles for all our road users.

The Chairman: Order. The Deputy Leader of the House wishes to move a motion.

Thereon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

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