Singapore

Community Dispute Management Framework

I would like to seek the Minister’s update on the review of the Community Dispute Management Framework, which commenced before last year’s COS.

Can the Minister share who the members of the inter-agency committee conducting this review are, and when the review will be completed?

How many mediators does the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) currently have and is this sufficient to manage their workload?

I have met residents who have a vexing dispute with their neighbours but are unwilling to let me refer them for mediation, because they know their neighbour will not turn up for the session. Of the average of 735 cases per year registered at the CMC, 70% did not progress to mediation, mainly because one or both parties declined or did not respond to the invitation to mediate.

To improve the take up rate of mediation, could the Ministry consider these suggestions:

First, once the CMC assesses a case to be suitable for mediation, can the attendance of both parties be made compulsory?

Second, if the dispute eventually goes to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT), can the Tribunal be allowed to draw an adverse inference from their non-attendance? This potential penalty should be made clear to respondents when the invitation to CMC is served.

Next, I have received feedback from residents about the difficulty they face in filing CDRT evidence. For example, they need to save their audio or video recordings on a CD-ROM or DVD. Most people nowadays don’t have a CD-ROM burner in their home.

Can the CDRT update its processes to allow evidence to be uploaded on a web portal instead and to make the whole process more user friendly for the layman?

My final “cut” for the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, on 10 Mar 2022.

Adult disability care

Many residents with moderate to severe disabilities require care provided for by adult disability care facilities like Day Activity Centres, Adult Disability Homes, Adult Disability Hostels and Sheltered Workshops.

May I ask the Minister what is the current utilisation rate among each of these facilities and what are their staff-client ratios? How many individuals are on the waiting list for these centres currently?

Based on publicly available information, I understand the waiting times, depending on centres, can vary from three months to two years.

If there is insufficient capacity and inadequate staffing at these facilities, this can create a cliff effect for those with special needs. They would have been receiving care from special education (SPED) schools but have difficulty finding the same level of support after leaving school. As a result, their ageing parents often have to bear the full weight of caregiving, and many worry about how their children will be cared for after they pass on.

I would like to call for MSF to enhance its funding and support for adult disability care facilities to be at least on par with what SPED schools receive.

Such funding can help expand the capacity of care facilities and reduce their long waitlists. It can also go towards hiring and retaining more good staff, including Singaporeans, with better pay and working conditions.

All this will enable the centres to conduct more meaningful and effective engagement and training activities for their clients, and lighten the worries of their caregivers.

Besides improving the welfare of their clients, it will also give caregivers much-needed respite and allow them to be economically active if they choose to. This will produce both tangible and intangible returns for families, our society and our economy.

This was my “cut” during the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Committee of Supply debate on 9 Mar 2022.

Bus services rationalisation

The Public Transport Council’s latest annual customer satisfaction survey found that satisfaction with public transport services has fallen to its lowest level in six years. The survey showed that discontent with public bus services was a factor, with many commuters notably expressing dissatisfaction with bus waiting times.

These sentiments are similarly expressed by many of my residents living along Bedok Reservoir Road, where four bus services were cut or rerouted last December. This has resulted in my residents having to put up with longer waiting times, crowded buses and losing direct routes to their destinations.

Before removing or rerouting bus services, LTA should conduct public consultations with affected residents. If bus services are being rationalised due to low ridership, I would like to suggest that LTA first consider switching to smaller buses or extending their headways.

If bus services must be removed, the frequency of the remaining feeder services to bus interchanges or MRT stations should be increased to make up for them. Commuters should not have to wait more than 5 minutes during peak hours or 10 minutes during off-peak hours for feeder buses.

LTA should strive to retain trunk bus services. These serve many elderly and disabled residents who have trouble walking between bus stops or transferring from bus to MRT. Many of them do not mind longer bus rides if that allows them to walk less.

While LTA and the public transport operators strive towards efficiency, they must pay closer attention to the comfort and convenience of commuters. LTA should proactively monitor public feedback and be open to bringing back bus services if there is strong commuter demand.

This was my speech during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Transport, 8 Mar 2022.

Bird population control

My residents in Bedok Reservoir and Hougang have given me feedback on the nuisance caused by pigeons, crows, mynahs and even koels around their housing estates. The proliferation of the bird population is often a public hygiene, and in the case of crows, a safety issue, which worries residents.

The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) has been doing its part to combat this problem. AHTC puts up banners to caution residents against bird feeding and works with residents to identify and report feeders. It advises food stall operators on proper food waste disposal methods, and our conservancy workers regularly remove unattended food sources. The Town Council also conducts regular tree pruning and, as a last resort, pigeon culling.

Despite all these efforts, the bird nuisance problem has persisted. NParks occasionally sets up crow traps, but these are rather ineffective as crows are intelligent creatures and tend not to fall for these traps.

I believe this problem is not unique to Aljunied-Hougang town. A national level effort by MND and its agencies may be needed to combat it. This may include more public education to discourage bird feeding, setting up CCTV monitoring and stepping up enforcement actions against bird feeders.

It would be helpful if NParks could regularly share with Town Councils its research and recommendations on best practices for controlling the population of various bird species. It could step up efforts to trap and relocate birds in areas where they are causing a nuisance to the public.

Together with the efforts of Town Councils, MND’s stepped up involvement could help residents and our avian friends to co-exist more peacefully in our urban environment.

Speech in Parliament during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of National Development on 8 Mar 2022.

Town improvement costs

Construction costs have skyrocketed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The price of materials has shot up, wages have increased and the cost of bringing in foreign workers is also elevated. The construction industry’s confidence has been shaken of late, resulting in shorter payment terms and demands for higher upfront payments.

Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that recent bid prices for town improvement projects, like the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP), are up to 50% higher than pre-tender estimates. Yet HDB’s grants to town councils have not kept up with these price increases.

Some may suggest that town councils’ existing funds can be used to cover the cost increases. However, doing so will be unfair to the majority of residents, as each project mainly benefits residents living in a particular precinct. It is also unfair for residents in those precincts if the new projects are pared down to meet the original budget.

I have three suggestions.

First, can HDB temporarily increase its NRP grants to town councils to cover these short-term cost increases?

Second, can HDB provide contractors and subcontractors for town improvement projects some price protection for raw materials like steel and concrete, similar to that of HDB’s BTO projects. This will better ensure residents receive comparable amenities regardless of market conditions at the time of tendering.

Third, can the Ministry explore more measures to restore confidence among construction firms so as to ameliorate the need for onerous upfront payment terms. This could help to temper price increases across the industry.

This is a “cut” I made for the Ministry of National Development’s Committee of Supply debate on 8 Mar 2022.

Interim rental housing

There are many residents who have approached me to request assistance in appealing to HDB for subsidised rental housing. Some have to sell their flats after a divorce or they have to move out of their current homes due to family issues. Most cannot afford to buy flats and face being homeless. The Minister said previously that “the overall stock of rental flats is sufficient to meet demand”. Unfortunately, problems remain.

First, some residents exceed the Public Rental Scheme income threshold but do not earn enough to afford rent in the open market. Others may be single unwed parents who do not qualify for the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme.

Second, applicants who qualify for public rental housing may still have to wait for between three to eight months before they can collect their keys. Many need a place to stay urgently as they don’t have family or friends who can take them in.

Could the Minister share, since 2020, the number of applications HDB received for rental flats under the Public Rental Scheme, the Interim Rental Housing Scheme and the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme? How many approvals were granted under each scheme and what were the main reasons for approvals or rejections under each scheme?

I urge the HDB to increase the number of flats supplied under the Interim Rental Housing scheme. The HDB could offer tiered rental rates that are higher than Public Rental Scheme rates but lower than open market prices. This will help the many families and individuals that fail the strict means test of the current rental schemes but are not earning enough to rent in the open market, yet need housing urgently to avoid being left homeless.

This is a “cut” I delivered during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of National Development, on 8 Mar 2022.

Special needs education

Parents of children with special needs face a complex dilemma when making educational choices for their children.

A wide range of services is available at various price points, but parents are largely left on their own to identify the optimal ones. Could ECDA provide more one-stop advisory services for parents? This will help to ease the anxiety that many parents of special needs children feel.

For children who require medium to high levels of early intervention support, such services can be prohibitively expensive. While ECDA does provide subsidised support through the EIPIC programme, EIPIC centres have wait times ranging from three to 18 months and most provide a limited number of hours of intervention a week. This requires parents to turn to additional services that can cost thousands more every month.

Can ECDA work with EIPIC providers to increase the capacity and range of services provided so that children can receive all the early intervention support they require from the same centre? A centralised provision of early intervention services will bring economies of scale, which can reduce costs for parents.

Children who require lower levels of early intervention support can attend mainstream primary schools, but may still require supplementary support services like occupational therapy. Can MOE provide an integrated special needs support programme at mainstream schools? This will enable children with special needs to thrive in such environments and reduce the costs and inconvenience borne by parents for external support services?

I delivered this speech in Parliament during the Committee of Supply debate on the budget of the Ministry of Education, on 7 Mar 2022.

Medical leave for contract workers

Over the years, the length of service an employee must serve before qualifying for paid sick leave has been reviewed in Parliament. In 2008, the minimum qualifying period was reduced from six to three months, with the entitlement adjusted on a prorated basis. This was in response to an increase in short-term employment contracts.

Since these legislative amendments, short-term employment contracts have become even more commonplace. In 2021, 8.4% of the workforce was on fixed-term contracts, up from 7.7% in 2009. The percentage of workers on contracts of less than one year has also seen an upward trend.

Many workers find themselves transferred to new employers without even changing their jobs! This happens when their previous employer loses a cleaning or building maintenance contract, and they are transferred to the new contractor. When this happens, they are treated as new employees, requiring them to forgo paid sick leave for the first three months of the new contract.

I wish to propose that the legislation be amended to allow workers who complete one month of service to be entitled to two days of paid sick leave and eight days of hospitalisation leave. This could increase to four days and 10 days respectively after the completion of two months of service.

Concurrently, to protect the interest of employers, tax reliefs and public recognition could be extended to employers who implement these more progressive paid sick leave arrangements.

This also complements the Government’s stance of encouraging workers to isolate themselves and seek medical attention if they feel unwell.

I delivered this speech in Parliament on 4 Mar 2022 during the Committee of Supply debate on the budget of the Ministry of Manpower.

Use of CPF funds for housing

Many residents have approached me for help to appeal to CPF to allow more flexible use of their CPF for housing.

Some elderly residents have insufficient cash to complete the purchase of their 2-room Flexi Flats, because their CPF Ordinary Account (OA) monies were automatically transferred to their Retirement Account (RA) upon turning 55. As home loans are not available for Flexi Flats, the purchase of a $100,000 flat is often a strain on their cash flow.

Can I request that CPF RA funds which originated from their OA be allowed to be used for the purchase of 2-room Flexi Flats by default as long as the CPF member’s RA balance is above their Basic Retirement Sum (BRS)?

There should be a simple and clearly stated application process for this. For those whose RA funds fall below their BRS, I hope CPF can exercise greater flexibility so that elderly residents are not denied a Flexi Flat despite large balances in their CPF funds.

For the payment of the resale levy, can CPF consider allowing applicants who have sufficient funds in their RA or Special Account (SA) to take out an advance from one of these accounts, which must be returned, with interest, within a few years? The applicant could be required to show income documents to prove they are able to return the amount drawn.

This could smoothen the cash flow problem that might be preventing them from completing the purchase of their home, while ensuring they do not prematurely exhaust their retirement funds. It will help not just elderly flat buyers, but also divorcees who have to sell their matrimonial flat and have only half the proceeds to buy a new flat.

I made this speech in Parliament on 4 Mar 2022 during the Committee of Supply debate on the Ministry of Manpower.

Bank accounts for ex-offenders

I have increasingly been approached for assistance by residents who face problems opening personal bank accounts. Their applications were rejected by banks either because of their past criminal records, past investigations for financial-related crimes or are currently under criminal investigation resulting in their bank accounts being frozen.

Members of this House will agree that access to basic banking facilities is essential in today’s digitalised society. These individuals are deprived of basic banking activities such as receiving their salaries. Employers do not usually agree to deposit into their family members’ bank accounts and are unwilling to pay them in cash. They also have difficulty receiving Government cash benefits like GST Vouchers – Cash.

Individuals with past criminal records have paid their dues to society and such a deprivation can be an impediment in their efforts to turn over a new leaf. Similarly, individuals under investigation are deprived despite the operation of the maxim “innocent until proven guilty”. These investigations can take any time between several months to years, which is a long time to function without access to basic banking facilities.

I understand MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has been working with the larger retail banks to open limited-purpose bank accounts for individuals that banks assess to pose a higher risk of being implicated in financial crimes.

Can I ask the Minister, what are the limitations on such accounts? Will the functions of such accounts vary on a case-by-case assessment by the banks? Additionally, will the pool of eligible individuals for these accounts include persons who are currently under investigation?

This may emerge as a growing problem owing to the increase in bank accounts being frozen during investigations into financial crimes. Owing to the time-sensitivity of this matter, can I ask the Minister what is the progress of the rollout of these limited-purpose bank accounts? Is it generally available to all affected applicants yet? If not, when will it be generally available?

This was a speech I made on 2 Mar 2022 during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on the Prime Minister’s Office.