FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKER

FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKER:

(Waiver of requirement for passing of English Entry Test): 11.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Manpower whether his Ministry will consider waiving the requirement for passing the English Entry Test for a foreign domestic worker (FDW) if the employer is able to communicate with the FDW in a language common to both of them.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, overall, 95% of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are able to pass the entry test conducted in basic English. The test does not assess proficiency in English but allows us to gauge the ability of FDWs to understand simple safety instructions. English is used in the entry test because it is the language of administration. Public signs and labels on household items are also generally in English. Therefore, first-time FDWs who can understand basic instruction and have some numeracy and literacy skills in English are expected to face fewer problems working in an urban environment like Singapore.

Since the introduction of the entry test, together with other measures to raise standards of

FDWs, the number of deaths has fallen by about a third, from an annual average of 35 over the past six years to 25 in 2007. The annual number of substantiated abuse cases has also fallen by almost 75%, from 157 cases in 1997 to 46 in the third quarter of 2007.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, if the domestic help is specifically employed to assist an elderly person who can only speak in a common language with the employer, should the Government interfere to deny the employer the convenience of having a domestic worker whom they can communicate freely with.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, employers have a lot of choices to employ foreign domestic workers from the sources that they like. As I have said, 95% of the first-time foreign domestic workers who took the entry test passed the test. So, there is no problem in getting alternative workers.

Secondly, we must always remember that the foreign domestic workers may not stick with the first employer that they encountered. They may not be able to work with the employer, or the employer may not like the foreign domestic worker, and the next employer may not necessarily be one who speaks the language of the domestic worker. So, it is necessary, in the overall interest of the foreign domestic workers, as well as the employers, that we require the foreign domestic workers to pass an entry test which will allow them to understand simple instructions, which basically is in English language.