SEX WITH MINORS (Tougher laws)

SEX WITH MINORS

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(Tougher laws): **

2.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) when will the review of the Penal Code be completed; (b) if he will update the House on whether tougher laws against sex with minors, including extra-territorial laws for such offences, will be implemented; and (c) what further actions, if any, are being taken to deter child sex offences both locally and overseas.

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Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, I had explained in the House before that the review of the Penal Code was prolonged because it is a very important piece of legislation and we want to be as thorough as possible in reviewing it.

I also recently informed the House that the Government has decided to amend our laws to extend extra-territorial jurisdiction over our nationals who sexually exploit minors overseas. This is intended to deter our nationals from preying on minors in other countries by denying them a safe haven through enacting legislation with extra-territorial effect. The measures against child sex tourism will be introduced as part of the legislative changes that we will make once we have completed the review of the Penal Code.

Dr Khor would be pleased to know that MCYS, together with MHA and the Singapore Tourism Board, have been working closely to operationalise our commitment to the Regional Education Campaign, which is spearheaded by ChildWise Tourism, an Australian-based NGO working in tourism destinations where child sex tourism exists or is emerging. As part of the Regional Education Campaign, flyers against child sex tourism were distributed at the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore Fair held last month, to educate the public to help act against child sex tourists. This project is in line with our commitment to collaborate with our ASEAN neighbours and Australia, to work in the best interests of children, in particular the more vulnerable ones.

Let me assure Dr Khor that we will be completing our Penal Code review within this year. We will also carry out a public consultation exercise when the review is completed.

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FOREIGN WORKERS

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(Rental of HDB flats): **

3.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the regulations with respect to rental of entire HDB flats to foreign workers; (b) if any quotas are maintained with regard to the percentage of units in a block of flats that can be rented out; and (c) what are the measures, if any, to prevent HDB flats from being exploited and used as hostels for foreign workers.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Foreign workers can rent whole flats from eligible HDB lessees under HDB’s Subletting of Flat Scheme. HDB also lets out rental flats under its Dormitory Housing Scheme (DHS) to companies in the manufacturing and engineering sectors for housing their foreign workers.

The rental of flats to foreign workers by HDB lessees is subject to the prevailing subletting rules. Lessees are required to seek prior approval from HDB before renting out their flat and they have to provide the particulars of their sub-tenants to HDB. To prevent overcrowding, the number of subtenants allowed per flat is limited to 4 for 1- and 2-room flats, 6 for 3-room flats and 8 for 4-room and bigger flats. HDB lessees must ensure that their sub-tenants do not cause disamenity to the neighbouring units.

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To maintain a good living environment and preserve the ambience of our housing estates, HDB Branch Offices conduct half-yearly inspections of all approved subletting cases. They also work closely with grassroots organisations and the community to gather feedback on sub-tenants who cause disamenity to the neighbouring units. In the event of complaints, HDB will request the lessees concerned to take action to stop the disamenity, failing which HDB will revoke the subletting approval and require the lessees to terminate the tenancy.

For lettings under the DHS, the companies are required to exercise control over their foreign workers. HDB also conducts regular inspections to check on the flats let out under the DHS. In the event that the workers cause nuisance to other residents, HDB would take action to terminate the tenancy and recover the flat.

The current control measures are adequate, as the number of complaints of disamenity caused by foreign workers is minimal. Hence, it is not necessary to impose quotas on the percentage of units in a block that can be sublet at this point in time.

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FOREIGN WORKERS

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(Rental of flats in Jurong, Boon Lay and Woodlands): **

4.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the statistics with regard to entire HDB flats being rented out to foreign workers and HDB flats that are partially rented out to foreign workers, specifically in the Jurong, Boon Lay and Woodlands housing estates; and (b) what are some of the measures taken to tackle the inconveniences experienced by the residents in these estates that are caused by these foreign workers, such as large numbers of bicycles.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: As at February 2006, a total of 10,800 HDB lessees have rented out their whole flats. Of these, 4,600 were rented out to foreign workers. This is less than 1% of all HDB flats.

In Boon Lay, Jurong and Woodlands specifically, the number of flats rented out to foreign workers were 97, 380 and 318 respectively. These translate into 0.9%, 0.5% and 0.6% respectively of the total number of flats in these estates.

To maintain the good living environment and ambience of our public housing estates, HDB Branch Offices conduct half-yearly inspections of all approved subletting cases. They also work closely with grassroots organisations and the community to gather feedback on sub-tenants who cause disamenity to the neighbouring units. In the event of complaints, HDB will request the lessees concerned to take action to stop the disamenity, failing which HDB will revoke the subletting approval and require the lessees to terminate the tenancy.

Over the last two years, HDB received only eight complaints of disamenity caused by sub-tenants, out of all the subletting cases islandwide. The current control measures are therefore adequate in minimising disamenities that may arise due to subletting of whole flats.

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