Parliamentary Q&A for 6 February 2017 Sitting

ENFORCEMENT OF LABOUR COURT ORDERS ON ERRANT EMPLOYERS

Sylvia Lim asked what mechanisms are in place to ensure that employers who are in financial problems continue to pay salaries that are due to their employees.

Lim Swee Say replied that it is “not quite possible” for MOM to assess whether the company is able to continue paying salaries, and that employees who seek overdue salaries should come to MOM immediately.

Read the full exchange here.

 

ACCESSIBILITY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Sylvia Lim asked what is the Government’s assessment of the current physical accessibility of public transport to persons with disabilities.

Khaw Boon Wan said that “all MRT stations and bus interchanges have at least one barrier-free access route from the entrance to the concourse” and majority of buses and trains are wheelchair-accessible.

Read the full exchange here.

 

APPOINTMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR HEADS OF OVERSEAS MISSIONS

Sylvia Lim asked for the proportion of Singapore’s current Heads of Overseas Missions who are political appointees, and the specific considerations that determine which Missions are headed by them.

Vivian Balakrishnan replied that the Ministry’s guiding principle is to appoint the best person for the job, and that they will not allow any compromise to the professionalism of the Foreign Service.

Read the full exchange here.

 

IMPACT ON SINGAPORE OF US PULL-OUT FROM TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP)

Pritam Singh asked whether the Government would continue to pursue the TPP, and the Government’s assessment of its efficacy without the participation of USA.

Lim Hng Kiang responded that the Ministry remains “firmly committed to pursuing a rules-based global trading system.

Read the full exchange here.

 

BLUE AND ORANGE CHAS CARDS ISSUED IN 2015 AND 2016

Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Health how many blue CHAS cards and orange CHAS cards were issued by the Government in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Mr Gan Kim Yong replied that 290,000 Blue and 170,000 Orange CHAS cards were issued in 2015, while 400,000 Blue and 240,000 Orange cards were issued in 2016.

Read the full exchange here.

 

CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST ISSUES IN COMPETITION COMMISSION OF SINGAPORE’S INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST GOVERNMENT-LINKED COMPANIES

Pritam Singh asked what safeguards were instituted to ensure that investigations carried out by the Competition Commission of Singapore against Government-linked companies (GLCs) were free from conflicts of interest.

Lim Hng Kiang replied that entities in specified sectors such as media, telecommunications, gas and electricity, which are regulated by other Government regulatory agencies are excluded from the Competition Act.

Read the full exchange here.

 

INVESTIGATIONS INTO JALLIKATTU-RELATED EVENTS IN SINGAPORE

Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Home Affairs how many individuals have been investigated over Jallikattu-related events in Singapore, and what is the number of citizens, PRs and foreigners.

K Shanmugam replied that 114 persons are under investigation by the Police for participating in these public assemblies without permits, of whom four are Singaporeans, 23 are Permanent Residents and 87 are foreigners.

Read the full exchange here.

 

BREAKDOWN OF CPF LIFE PAYMENTS FROM 2011 TO 2015

Leon Perera asked whether the Ministry would consider requiring that earlier CPF Life payments be made in the event that the 4th working day of the month falls on the 6th or subsequent calendar day of the month so as to alleviate cash flow difficulties that seniors may face in such cases.

Lim Swee Say responded that payouts which could not be disbursed within the four working days were exceptional cases which required further verification, and that CPF LIFE payments are only made after the 6th calendar day in months where a public holiday and a weekend occur in the first week of the month.

Read the full exchange here.

 

ELECTRICITY PRICES FOR SINGAPORE HOMES AND BUSINESSES COMPARED TO OECD AVERAGE

Leon Perera asked how the prices of electricity for homes and businesses compare to the OECD average from 2011 to 2015.

S Iswaran replied that Singapore’s regulated electricity tariffs were on average 23% higher than the OECD’s average retail electricity costs. He added that the OECD average includes a wide range of countries, and a comparison may have “limited value”.

Read the full exchange here.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR LEARNING HIGHER MOTHER TONGUE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Low Thia Khiang asked if the Ministry of Education reviews the criteria used by individual primary schools to determine whether students are allowed to take up Higher Mother Tongue to ensure that reasonable consideration is given to the students’ interest in the subject.

Low Yen Ling replied that schools take into consideration both the interest and the ability of the students, and that the subject can be overwhelming to students who are not interested or ready to take up the subject.

Read the full exchange here.

 

EXPENDITURE BY GRASSROOTS ORGANISATION COMMITTEES

Png Eng Huat asked for the expenditure by Citizens’ Consultative Committees, Community Club Management Committees, Residents’ Committees, Neighbourhood Committees, and others for FY2015/16.

Chan Chun Sing replied, $206 million was incurred of which 37% went to Citizens’ Consultative Committees, 27% to Community Club Management Committees, 22% to Residents’ Committees, 2% to Neighbourhood Committees and 12% to others.

Read the full exchange here.

 

PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL FOR MINORITY RIGHTS (PCMR) MEETINGS ATTENDANCE

Faisal Manap asked for the average number of absences for each member of the PCMR from 2012 to 2016.

Lee Hsien Loong replied that as PCMR proceedings are private, it would not be “appropriate to disclose details of its meetings”.

Read the full exchange here.

 

HYBRID CONCESSION AND OFF-PEAK PASSES ISSUED

Png Eng Huat asked for data on Hybrid Concession Passes, Off-Peak Passes issued, concession cards for persons with disabilities issued, and the average number of daily trips and distance travelled as of 31 December 2016.

Khaw Boon Wan said that in 2016 about 67,000 Hybrid Concession Passes and 13,000 Off-Peak Passes were issued monthly. 12,000 persons with disabilities have been issued concession cards, and an average of one to two concessionary daily trips were made averaging nine kilometres each trip.

Read the full exchange here.

 

HDB RENTAL FLATS AND RENTAL FLATS CONVERTED FOR SALE

Png Eng Huat asked for the number of available vacant HDB rental flats, the number converted for sale with a shorter lease and the number sold as of 31 December 2016.

Lawrence Wong replied that at end 2016 there were 4,500 vacant rental flats and that mostly before 2011, about 9,300 ex-rental flats were converted with a 99-year lease and 9,000 were sold.

Read the full exchange here.

 

MEASURES TAKEN TO MANAGE E-WASTE

Chen Show Mao asked what the Government is doing to encourage environmentally sound practices in managing e-waste, how effective those measures have been and if strict guidelines on e-waste collection, disposal and recycling will be established.

Masagos Zulkifli said the Government supports voluntary recycling programmes that, since 2012, have recycled about 110 tonnes of e-waste, collected across about 280 locations island-wide. He also said that results from a study and public consultations on developing “possible options for an e-waste management system” would be released this year.

Read the full exchange here.

 

AUTO-RENEWAL OF COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSIST SCHEME (CHAS) CARD

Daniel Goh asked whether the Government allows automatic renewal of CHAS cards with the same subsidy tier for households, including for retired seniors with no change in their situation.

Gan Kim Yong replied that households are “requested to submit a renewal application form every two years” to receive the correct level of subsidies.

Read the full exchange here.

 

EMPLOYMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS

Daniel Goh asked if the Government would conduct a nationwide study on the employment rate, conditions and difficulties of persons with disabilities and special needs and how their salaries compare to workers with similar qualifications.

Tan Chuan-Jin stated that SG Enable provides employment support for persons with disabilities who comprise 0.55% of the resident labour force and that “median monthly gross wage ranged from $1,000 to $2,800”. He stated that the Ministry would continue to capture information on the employment status of persons with disabilities.

Read the full exchange here.

RE-ORGANISING HEALTHCARE CLUSTERS

Daniel Goh enquired about the cost, considerations and additional concrete benefits of the healthcare clusters re-organisation.

Gan Kim Yong said that the Government does not expect to incur “significant financial cost”. Benefits he cited include greater economies of scale, private sector collaborations, and a larger pool of resources.

Read the full exchange here.

 

ELDERSHIELD PREMIUMS PAID OUT SINCE 2002

Daniel Goh requested information on the total ElderShield premiums paid, as well as the total surplus collected by insurers and returned as premium rebates and the payout ratio and profit margin of each ElderShield insurer since 2002.

Gan Kim Yong said about $2.6 billion have been collected and around $100 million disbursed in claims from 2002 to end-2015, and about $130 million in premium rebates disbursed in tranches in 2007 and 2012. He added that the increasing proportion of claims over premiums collected is set to “continue in the future”.

Read the full exchange here.

 

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND/OR SPECIAL NEEDS IN SINGAPORE

Dennis Tan asked for the number of persons with disabilities and/or special needs in Singapore as well as a breakdown based on their disability types and functioning levels.

Tan Chuan-Jin replied that approximately 2.1% of Singapore’s student population, 3.4% of Singaporeans aged 18-49 and 13.3% of residents aged 50 and above have disabilities.

Read the full exchange here.

 

PROCESSES INVOLVED IN PRODUCING WEEKLY MUIS FRIDAY PRAYER SERMON TEXT

Faisal Manap asked what are the processes in producing the weekly MUIS Friday prayer sermon text.

Yaacob Ibrahim replied that the Office of the Mufti is responsible for the sermon texts and seeks public feedback on the topics for the sermons. The Government does not dictate how MUIS should administer matters relating to religious doctrine.

Read the full exchange here.

 

IMPACT OF SELECTIVE EN BLOC REDEVELOPMENT SCHEME (SERS) ON COMMUNITY SOCIAL CAPITAL

Faisal Manap asked whether a study has been done on Singaporeans’ preference to sink deep roots in a local community as opposed to moving out under SERS.

Lawrence Wong replied that HDB conducts a biennial survey to gauge residents’ level of support and satisfaction for SERS. The surveys have shown at least 85% support for SERS.

Read the full exchange here.

 

ALLOCATION AND UTILISATION OF ACTIVESG FUNDS

Faisal Manap asked what is the total amount of funds allocated for ActiveSG and what happens to the unconsumed portion of funds.

Grace Fu replied that the budget for ActiveSG is $60 million. About 150,000 members had their credits lapsed on 31 December 2016.

Read the full exchange here.

 

PRISON INMATES WITH IDENTIFIED INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND THEIR RECIDIVISM RATE

Faisal Manap asked how many prison inmates have identified intellectual disabilities, and what is the overall recidivism rate of this group.

K Shanmugam replied that there is no detailed data on the overall number, profile and recidivism rate of inmates with intellectual disabilities, but there are plans to have that data in the future.

Read the full exchange here.