FAMILY POLICY

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FAMILY POLICY: 3.

Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what are the outstanding issues his Ministry faces in developing a comprehensive family policy that will realise the vision of quality Singapore family life; and (b) what measures is his Ministry pursuing, or plans to pursue, to resolve these issues.

The Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Column: 1504 Balakrishnan): Mr Speaker, my Ministry's policy is to promote family life and family values so that Singapore as a nation will have more strong and stable families. Strong families are the foundation of our society and will continue to remain as the first line of support for us as individuals and as a nation. Our family policies and programmes are therefore intended to create an environment conducive for family formation and the strengthening of family ties. As the family is really part of a much larger system in society, my Ministry works closely with other Ministries, corporate bodies and community groups in order to achieve this desired outcome.

There are several issues confronting us in the family arena. A critical issue faced by us right now is low fertility. In 2003, the total fertility rate for the resident population was only 1.25, well below the replacement level of 2.1. The new package of parenthood measures which were announced recently in August 2004 takes a holistic approach to support couples who wish to have more children. The measures do not just focus on the financial aspects but also seek to give parents an opportunity to spend more time with their children, pursue a range of childcare options, and strike a better balance between work and family life. One clear example is the 5-day work week. My Ministry - I was going to say my family as well - is very encouraged by the positive overall feedback by Singaporeans on these measures.

Mr Speaker, our total fertility rate is also affected by higher singlehood rates, which is another issue we face. MCYS and the People's Association are presently reviewing the roles and functions of the Social Development Unit (SDU) and Social Development Service (SDS) to see how we can better achieve the outcome of more marriages.

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However, even as we want more marriages and more children for our next generation, we also know that families today face many challenges. While our divorce rates are not alarming compared to many other countries, they are nevertheless on an upward trend. Many Members of this House who are parents of teenagers or pre-teens will also know that parenting them has become more challenging. In addition, we have a fast-ageing population. In the context of small families, that also means that more people will be in what we call a "sandwiched" generation, who are facing the simultaneous challenge of both looking after aged parents as well as young children. Therefore, we need, as a society, to ensure that there are adequate support programmes for families like this as they face the future.

We will continue to work with community and private sector partners to run programmes and services in order to help families fulfill their responsibilities and to sustain nurturing family relationships. We adopt the life-cycle approach in planning these programmes. For instance, prior to marriage, we have marriage preparation programmes. And then, subsequently, in order to help couples make their transition into parenthood, we have parenting and marriage support programmes which are run as part of the prenatal programmes of the KK Women's and Children's Hospital and Singapore General Hospital. We are also piloting a family education programme at childcare centres next year in order to help young parents. In schools, we have the School Family Education and Step Up programmes, which cover values education and life skills for students, while simultaneously helping parents with parenting skills. For grandparents, we have inter-generational programmes to foster close bonds between grandparents and grandchildren. We also continue to develop programmes to facilitate positive and successful ageing so that our senior

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citizens will be able to actively contribute to family and community life.

Mr Speaker, making Singapore a great place for families is a long-term sustained effort that will require a comprehensive approach, with individuals, families, the community, the private sector and the various Government agencies all working together. The challenges facing our families are dynamic and will continue to change and become even more challenging as society evolves. MCYS will remain vigilant of these evolving challenges, and we will continue to work with our partners to realise the vision of Singapore being a great home for families.

Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang: Further clarification, Sir. The whole idea of bringing quality family life is such that there will be inclusiveness and, so far in the list, no mention has been made about people with disabilities and how we are going to help them. In fact, with an ageing population, there will also be an increase in the proportion of disabled elderly family members. Perhaps the Minister could just enlighten us on how the Ministry would like to tackle this aspect too.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The supplementary question really is a very substantive question in its own right. I do not think we will do justice to the issue of helping people with disability simply as thinking of them as a tag-on or add-on to the family. Nevertheless, the first thing to note is that all people with disability in Singapore are part and parcel of our families. As the Prime Minister himself said in his swearing-in speech, they are our brothers and sisters.

The next point I want to make is that there are two key themes that underline our approach to people with disability. The first is that we seek to maximise their potential to lead independent, full and fulfilled lives. Yes, they are affected or

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impaired as far as certain functions are concerned. But with adequate support and education, and with necessary adjustments to the environment and to even transport arrangements, people with disability can try to lead as independent a life as possible.

The second key theme is integration. Again, the point here is that people with disability are not a separate, distinct, cut-off, isolated segment of our society. If we say that they are members of our family, then they deserve the option of participating as fully as possible in community life, community activities and family life. So I do not have time to enumerate specific programmes for people with disability, but I just want Members of this House to rest assured that we will do our best to maximise independence and integration for people with disability in Singapore.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether he thinks it is necessary to have a committee or agency that is cross-cutting, ie, cuts across all the Ministries, because issues pertaining to the family cut across all Ministries. If we talk about juvenile delinquency, it is the Ministry of Law. If we talk about ageing,

that comes under the Ministry of Health. If one wants to talk about work-family balance, that comes under the Ministry of Manpower. So, is there a need for such a coordinating agency or committee to deal with cost-cutting issues pertaining to the family?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Thank you for that question. Mdm Halimah is absolutely right that the issues confronting the family cut across multiple sectors and indeed rely on the expertise and the support provided by multiple Ministries and agencies. Juvenile delinquency is an example she cited. Yes, we certainly

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work with the Ministry of Home Affairs. There is an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Youth Crime, chaired by SMS Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee, which looks into this. For aging, we have constituted a Committee for Active Aging, which is co-chaired by SMS Dr Balaji and by my Parliamentary Secretary, Dr Maliki Osman. On work-life balance, yes, there is a specific unit looking into work-life balance which is part of the Ministry of Manpower. But this unit was conceived in MCYS and then subsequently the embryo was transferred to the Ministry of Manpower.

So the point is that, there are already committees and cross agency initiatives and programmes. I do not believe that creating a super agency to look into this will necessarily be more effective or more productive. I think it is far better that this House and indeed all the Ministers recognise that these issues are part and parcel of the overall responsibilities that they shoulder, whether you are talking about the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence or any Ministry. Every Ministry has a role to play in supporting families, in supporting active aging, and even in supporting people with disabilities. I am quite happy to continue with our current model where all Ministries and Ministers accept that it is part and parcel of their responsibilities, and we will work together to generate optimal solutions for families and individuals who need our help and support.