Parliamentary Q&A for February 2019 Sittings

CPF WITHDRAWAL LIMIT FOR HOUSING MORTGAGES

Png Eng Huat asked how many CPF members had reached their CPF Withdrawal Limit for their properties and were using other means to service their housing mortgages, how many had appealed to use their Special and/or Retirement Accounts to help service their properties, and how many have been given approval to do so as of January 2019.

Josephine Teo replied that about 6,000 (0.8%) property owners have reached their withdrawal limits and in 2018, CPF Board granted about 8,000 appeals to use their RA savings for housing.

Read the full exchange here.


UNANNOUNCED CHECKS ON FOOD SERVICE OPERATORS AND CATERERS FOR FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE IN PAST FIVE YEARS

Leon Perera asked what proportion of food safety and hygiene checks performed on food service operators and caterers had been unannounced checks in the past five years.

Masagos Zulkifli replied that all NEA checks were unannounced, and 606,000 inspections had been conducted in the past five years.

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UNUSUAL DIVERGENCE IN PRICE TRENDS FOR PRIVATE HOMES AND HDB RESALE FLATS IN 2018

Daniel Goh asked whether the unusual divergence in price trends for private homes and HDB resale flats in 2018 was caused by concerns regarding leasehold decay and depreciation of ageing HDB flats, and whether the divergence was a cause for concern if it was not arrested.

Lawrence Wong replied that recent divergence was largely due to euphoric sentiments in the private property market, resulting in a sharp increase in private property prices over a very short duration, which prompted the government to introduce cooling measures in July 2018.

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USAGE RATE IN PAST FIVE YEARS OF AUTOMATIC EXTERNAL DEFIBRILATORS INSTALLED IN PUBLIC PLACES

Leon Perera asked what had been the usage rate of Automatic External Defibrilators (AEDs) installed in public places in each year of the past five years.

Gan Kim Yong replied that AED usage rate had increased from 1.9% in 2012 to 6.4% in 2017.

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STUDY ON INCREASE OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC FROM E-COMMERCE AND FOOD DELIVERIES AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON ROADS, ROAD USAGE AND GOVERNMENT’S PLANS

Dennis Tan asked if the Ministry of Transport had carried out studies to determine the extent of the increase of all types of vehicular traffic arising from e-commerce and food deliveries in the past three years and its implications.

Khaw Boon Wan replied that congestion levels had remained stable over the past few years. LTA had not and does not plan on carrying out such studies so as not to impose additional regulatory burden on businesses.

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MEAN KILOMETRES BETWEEN FAILURE FOR N-S, E-W, CIRCLE, N-E AND DOWNTOWN LINES FOR 2018

Dennis Tan asked what was the Mean Kilometres Between Failure (MKBF) for all the MRT lines for 2018.

Khaw Boon Wan replied that the MKBF for the MRT network increased from 181,000 train-km in 2017 to 690,000 train-km in 2018.

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COMPENSATION FOR NSMEN INJURED DURING IN-CAMP TRAINING

Dennis Tan asked about the duration of medical (& fee) assistance offered to NSmen who were injured during in their ICT, and how does SAF compensate injured NSmen for items such as loss of earnings where medical treatment/leave extended beyond the call-up days under their SAF100.

Ng Eng Hen said that SAF would pay for all necessary medical expenses at public healthcare facilities and compensate for loss of income for a period up to two years from the last day of the call up.

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GOVERNMENT ACTION TO REDUCE NUMBER OF STATELESS RESIDENTS IN SINGAPORE

Png Eng Huat asked for the number of stateless residents in Singapore, and what measures the Government had to assist these groups of people to attain citizenship.

K Shanmugam replied that as of 31 Dec 2018, there were a total of 1,303 stateless persons. He added that stateless persons had to acquire Singapore citizenship through the same basis as other applicants.

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INFORMED CONSENT FOR MEDICAL PROCEDURES FOLLOWING RECENT CASE WHERE ORTHOPAEDIC DOCTOR WAS FINED

Daniel Goh asked to what extent should informed consent for minor medical procedures be sought from patients that would be considered reasonably detailed and effective, and not lead to the practice of defensive medicine and drive up costs.

Lam Pin Min replied that MOH did not want the profession to go down the path of defensive medicine and would carefully consider what steps were necessary to maintain the trust between patients, doctors, SMC and MOH.

 

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RENTAL RATES FOR HAWKER STALLS AT CENTRES MANAGED BY NEA AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

Faisal Manap asked about the rental profile for hawker stalls managed by NEA and social enterprises, and operating expenses breakdowns under these two different management models.

Amy Khor replied that the figures were comparable. She urged hawkers to be more productive and to leverage on the Productive Hawker Centre grants.

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REPORTED CASES OF CHILD AND ELDER ABUSE IN LAST FIVE YEARS

Faisal Manap asked about the trend of reported cases of child and elder abuse in the past years.

Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim replied that efforts to increase awareness and improved access to reporting could have led to the observed increasing trend. He added that the Government also sought to ensure that families were able to provide a better environment for their children and elders.

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PREVENTING A FUTURE INCIDENT WHERE GCE EXAMINATION SCRIPTS ARE LOST OR DAMAGED

Dennis Tan asked about the timeline for implementation of electronic marking of GCE “O” and “A” levels and measures taken to prevent recurrence of stolen or lost scripts.

Ong Ye Kung replied the Government was exploring rolling out electronic marking in phases. While electronic marking would eliminate the risk of lost scripts, new risks associated with electronic data would surface. He said detailed studies were required to identify and ensure that risks are managed and mitigated to the greatest extent possible.

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MINDEF’S FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS AND PLANS IN AFTERMATH OF LATEST TRAINING INCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND

PART 1

Daniel Goh asked if adequate training and safety refresher courses were administered Nsmen are allowed to participate in exercises and would there be design review for the Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer (SSPH).

Ng Eng Hen said that the SSPH was designed and developed to international military standards for System Safety and Human Factor Engineering, and had been in operation for the last 15 years. There had not been any reported injury of servicemen due to the gun lowering for maintenance, or operating in or firing of the SSPH.

PART 2

Dennis Tan asked to what level of responsibility should SAF leadership bare for such safety breaches.

Ng Eng Hen stated that the Government had to “do what we think works and makes a difference” with regards to senior leadership. At present, MINDEF and the SAF were focused on day-to-day issues, but were open to recommendations from reviews as and when necessary.

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MEASURES IN PLACE TO PROMOTE SAFE USE OF PARK CONNECTORS

Dennis Tan asked about the actions taken to promote safe use of park connectors by users who were on foot, cyclists, and PMD users.

Lawrence Wong shared that NParks implements safety measures such as installing additional lighting, speed regulating strips, and advisory signs at high usage parks and park connectors. Enforcement exercises were also carried out against errant PMD users.

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REGULATIONS AND FRAMEWORKS INVOLVING FIREWORK DISPLAYS

Faisal Manap asked what types of entities were allowed to conduct firework displays in public spaces, and what regulations were in place to ensure public safety and avoiding any environmental risk.

K Shanmugam shared that six companies in Singapore were exempted from the Dangerous Fireworks Act. They were required to comply with strict conditions to ensure public safety as stipulated under the law. Separately, ambient air and water quality monitoring by NEA and PUB had so far showed no long-term environmental impact of concern arising from fireworks displays.

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SUCCESS RATE OF APPEALS TO USE MEDISAVE BEYOND ANNUAL WITHDRAWAL LIMITS

Faisal Manap asked for the number of Singaporeans aged 65 years and above that had exhausted their annual Medisave withdrawal limit in the past 2 years, and the number and success rates of appeals received from this group.

Gan Kim Yong replied in 2016 and 2017, about 16% of Singaporeans of 65 years old and above had fully utilised their Flexi-MediSave limit. On average, MOH received 200 cases of appeals each year from all age groups for outpatient MediSave use, with about half approved.

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PREVENTING DISRUPTIONS AT CHANGI AIRPORT CAUSED BY DRONES

Dennis Tan asked what measures were in place to prevent or stop drones from operating in the vicinity of our airports and affecting flight operations and schedules.

Lam Pin Min said that Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) were prohibited from flying within 5 km of any airport in Singapore without a permit. Law enforcement officers also conducted regular surveillance patrols around the airport and respond to sightings of unauthorised UAS. There were also counter-measures to deal with safety and security threats posed by UAS.

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PREVENTIVE MEASURES IMPLEMENTED FOLLOWING DATA LEAK INVOLVING PERSONS WITH HIV

PART 1

Leon Perera asked if staff involved have access to the aggregated rather than the individualised data and whether actions to extract or export such data are tracked and subjected to regular scrutiny to ensure that the purpose of the data extraction is legitimate.

Gan Kim Yong said that access to the data had been on a need-to-know and need-to-use basis, and was limited to a handful of people. He added that the new system in place had audit trails, along with certain alerts built into the system in cases of excessive access to the information, or where if there was unusual kind of access to information.

PART 2

Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked if affected patients were alerted when it was known that their data had been compromised in May 2016.

Gan Kim Yong said that the Government made a “judgement call in 2016 not to make a public announcement, and in 2018, to inform only the affected patients”.

PART 3

Daniel Goh asked what can and will be done to take down the online leak of confidential information of the 14,200 people living with HIV; and actions to protect the affected people from harassment and intimidation.

Gan Kim Yong replied that medical social workers have helped to first identify those likely to require more support, so that designated officers can exercise extra care and provide additional support when calling them. Counsellors, relevant public hospitals, and medical social workers have also been notified to help those in distress, or who require more advice and support.

PART 4

Png Eng Huat asked about the outcome of the investigation into the May 2016 Mikhy Farrera-Brochez police report and if there was any audit done on the integrity and unauthorised access of the HIV registry before May 2016.

Gan Kim Yong stated that prior to 2016, there were data security governance policies at that time stipulated by the Government through the Instruction Manuals (IMs) and so on, which NPHU was  compliant with.

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ACTIONS AGAINST USE OF PMDS ON ROADS IN PRIVATE LANDED ESTATES

Dennis Tan asked what actions have been taken against the use of PMDs in landed estates, and to ensure the pathways were kept clear for pedestrians.

Lam Pin Min replied that LTA had focused on enforcing the ban of PMDs on roads, out of which 18% were caught in private landed estates.

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PREVENTIVE ACTIONS FOLLOWING POWER FAILURE OF 26 JANUARY 2019

Leon Perera asked for the reason for the power failure on 26 January 2019, and what steps were being taken to minimize such failures.

Koh Poh Koon replied that a faulty voltage transformer caused the failure, adding that SP Power Grid had increased frequency of monitoring since.

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STUDY ON RETAIL ELECTRICITY MARKET LIBERALISATION’S BENEFITS TO HOUSEHOLDS

Faisal Manap asked if there was a study to ensure that liberalization of the retail electricity market would benefit household consumers.

Koh Poh Koon responded that the government conducted international reviews from other markets to ensure that consumers would benefit from competitive pricing.

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REVIEW OF PUBLIC AGENCIES EXEMPTION PROVISIONS IN PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION ACT

Sylvia Lim asked whether the Personal Data Protection Act should be amended to remove exemptions for public agencies, especially given the gravity of breaches in the public sector.

S Iswaran replied that if a member of the public felt their data had been mishandled, they could lodge a complaint with the relevant Ministry.

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AVERAGE SALE PRICE FOR LAND SOLD TO PRIVATE DEVELOPERS AND HDB

Faisal Manap asked for the average sale price for land sold to private and HDB developers.

Lawrence Wong replied that the government sold state land and private land through different channels, and public housing land had lower valuation.

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MINIMISING RISKS WHEN SGX-LISTED COMPANIES EXPERIENCE SUDDEN DETERIORATION IN FINANCIAL VIABILITY

Leon Perera asked what measures were taken to minimise the risk of SGX-listed companies experiencing a sudden deterioration in financial viability.

Ong Ye Kung replied that the regulatory regime cannot dictate how listed companies make commercial decisions, or seek to prevent business failure.

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CANCELLATION OF ART STAGE SINGAPORE SHORTLY BEFORE OPENING

Leon Perera asked how the National Arts Council helped affected exhibitors from the recent cancellation of Art Stage Singapore, and how this would impact Singapore art fairs in future.

Grace Fu replied that MCCY was not privy to the commercial decisions and risks for Art Stage, and non-profit organisations and private galleries had stepped in to support the affected exhibitors.

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RECRUITING MORE PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS BY 2020

Dennis Tan asked what specific steps were being undertaken to ensure that 3,000 pre-school teachers are recruited by 2020.

Desmond Lee replied that there would be increased intake of early childhood educators at the tertiary level, and well as conversion programmes for mid-career entrants.

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NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS AND INCOME CRITERIA FOR SILVER SUPPORT SCHEME

Sylvia Lim asked what support the Silver Support Scheme offered the bottom 20-30% of elderly Singaporeans, and whether the household monthly income per capita would be reviewed.

Josephine Teo replied that the scheme targeted the bottom 20%, but may be extended to the next 10% according to the type of HDB flat they live in. These appeals would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

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CLARIFICATION OF WITHDRAWAL OF CPF SAVINGS AT PAYOUT ELIGIBILITY AGE

Png Eng Huat asked for the number of members who missed the activation deadline for payouts, and whether the Ministry was intending to simplify the process.

Josephine Teo replied that members could start payouts from 65 onwards, and that the allegations online claiming otherwise were spurious. She added that members who deferred their payouts would enjoy higher interest paid for CPF monies.

Read the full exchange here.