EMPLOYMENT FOR UNDISCHARGED BANKRUPTS

EMPLOYMENT FOR UNDISCHARGED BANKRUPTS: 6.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) how many undischarged bankrupts sought the Ministry’s assistance to seek employment in 2007; and (b) what was the success rate in assisting them to secure employment.

The Acting Minister for Manpower (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Mr Speaker, Sir, in 2007, 40 unemployed persons disclosed that they were undischarged bankrupts when they sought employment assistance through the Distributed Careerlink Network (DCN). Twenty-five of them (or 62.5%) have been placed in jobs, mostly in the logistics and security sectors. Four of them are still being assisted by the centres, whilst the remaining 11 have either indicated that they no longer require assistance or could not be contacted.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Speaker, Sir, there seems to be discordance in terms of the numbers that are quoted by the Ministry of Law and MOM. The Senior Minister of State quoted there are 900-over that are unemployed and then over here in the referral system there are only 40 that are being referred. I am just wondering whether MOM could clarify this point.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Mr Speaker, there is a reason why the numbers are small in our record. This is partly because we do not ask the applicants as a matter of routine whether they were bankrupt. So many of them could have been bankrupt but they do not disclose. And if the job does not require disclosure, we do not really want to ask and establish this fact. Therefore, this number of 40 refers to those who have voluntarily disclosed that they were undischarged bankrupts when they came for help. So the actual number that we were helping, in terms of those that are undischarged bankrupts, could be higher than 40 but we could not determine for sure because it is not a routine question that our career counsellors ask. This is also to avoid stigmatising the undischarged bankrupt because all the programmes we have in our DCN centres apply to all applicants, whether they are bankrupt or otherwise.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Sir, I think currently most the applications, especially to the Government departments as well as statutory boards, require the employees to declare whether they are undischarged bankrupts. So it poses a lot of problems in terms of them seeking for a job. If the Government is not prepared to employ them, likewise the private sector will not take them either. So I hope MOM can seek ways to resolve this and hopefully get them employed meaningfully.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Member's point is taken. However, there are certain jobs that require assessment of the person's character and, of course, these factors have to be taken into consideration, but I agree with the Member that we should always find ways to help those undischarged bankrupts to find jobs so that they can get on with their lives.