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Making the Skills and Workforce Development Agency Work for Singaporeans

Skills and Workforce Development Agency Bill (2nd Reading Debate)
Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC)
5 May 2026

I declare my interest as the owner and director of a company that provides software to training providers.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) Bill officially consolidates career and employment services with skills training under a single administrative mandate. This is a welcome integration.

First, it has the potential to eliminate institutional silos. This lowers the risk of skills development and training occurring without an active alignment to available job vacancies.

Second, it could prevent fragmented journeys of jobseekers, reducing the friction for Singaporeans who previously had to navigate disparate digital platforms and physical agency locations for career coaching and skills upgrading.

Third, it could resolve data and administrative silos by integrating the training records formerly held by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) with employment and placement records held by Workforce Singapore (WSG). This integration has the potential to empower career coaches to provide holistic, data-driven interventions.

Policy Reversal and Accountability

The Bill fundamentally reverses the 2016 policy decision to bifurcate the then-Workforce Development Agency (WDA) into SSG and WSG. The Minister just explained that WSG remained under MOM to focus on strengthening employment facilitation services and programmes, while SSG moved under MOE to enable it to work more closely with our IHLs to drive the SkillsFuture movement. It is not clear to me why WDA had to be split in order to achieve this.

How will the Government measure the success of this merger compared to the 2016 separation? Specifically, what key performance indicators (KPIs) will the new Agency use to meaningfully tackle structural issues in labour mobility and skills development?

The new Agency’s functions straddle both education and manpower, yet no current political office holder spans both ministries. Does the Prime Minister intend to appoint a bridging political office holder, such as a Minister of State for Manpower and Education?

Cost of Re-merger

The Bill’s explanatory note states that this Bill will not involve the Government in any extra financial expenditure, but surely the cost of this re-merger will not be zero. Could the Minister enumerate the actual costs associated with this restructuring, including budgets set aside for rebranding efforts, the updating of physical and digital collaterals, as well as the integration of various IT and payroll systems, among other things, across the merging entities? Would the Minister share how these compare to the costs associated with separating these agencies in 2016?

Job Search

The Bill specifies that the Agency will provide for, or facilitate the provision of, career advisory and employment assistance services. Would the SWDA be providing job search assistance directly under this new integrated agency model?

Currently, the Government relies heavily on third parties, such as the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and other private career matching providers. If the SWDA were to directly provide these services, it would be able to leverage its access to MOM data regarding labour market mismatches and real-time hiring trends to adapt assistance in a more timely fashion to rapid economic shifts.

How would the Minister ensure performance accountability of the job search assistance provided by these external partners?

Job search assistance should not merely involve resume touch-ups and pointing jobseekers to employment portals. Will the Government commit to more intensive assistance in the job search process, particularly for those who have experienced persistent structural unemployment despite their most earnest efforts?

Let me set a scene. Today, many jobseekers apply for dozens of jobs daily without customising their resumes to the specific job descriptions. In parallel, organisations utilise automated tracking systems that filter applications strictly by their degree of match with the job description, sometimes discarding all applications that do not meet at least a 90% keyword match. Consequently, many qualified applicants may not get a call up for an interview. Will SWDA require job assistance programmes to guide jobseekers on such technical skills?

Will SWDA officers take on a more active role in bridging the gap between employer needs and candidate profiles? For instance, if the Agency identifies a candidate whose profile closely matches a job description, will officers proactively pitch this candidate to the employer and advocate for them to be considered for an interview? While the onus ultimately remains on the candidate to prove their worth during the interview, this active matching by the Agency would at least help jobseekers get their foot in the door.

Job assistance programmes should also actively bridge skill gaps in networking and help jobseekers leverage professional connections. Such skills are critically important and often not taught in formal schooling.

Education and Career Guidance

The Bill (Clause 68) specifies the transfer of properties, rights, and liabilities, which inherently includes the vast network of educational initiatives and career guidance programmes.

Students should be exposed to different careers earlier, ideally starting at the lower secondary level, when they will be choosing their O and N level subjects. This early intervention will steer students away from simply settling for subjects or courses they have no genuine interest in because they do not know any better.

Would the SWDA work directly with schools to provide systematic and regular career guidance or exposure to students? This would shift the burden of career guidance away from teachers and allow students to have some exposure to industry experts as they decide on what career best works for their individual goals and talents. This would not only lead to better personal outcomes but will also yield better long-term workforce outcomes.

To complement this early intervention, will the Government encourage university and polytechnic admissions offices to further expand their quotas for Aptitude-Based Admissions? We must shift the admissions weighting toward an applicant’s demonstrated passion and aptitude for a specific field, rather than relying too heavily on relative academic grade cut-offs.

Furthermore, will the Government work with the Institutes of Higher Learning to afford students greater flexibility to make mid-stream switches in their educational journeys without the fear of having to start from scratch? This will go some way in creating a workforce of the future that is adaptable, brave and agile.

Ultimately, these measures will minimise the systemic waste of public and private resources that occurs when graduates abandon courses and careers they were never genuinely interested in pursuing.

Harmonisation with External Partners

Next, I turn to the harmonisation with other partners. First, economic planning. While the Bill successfully merges functions that currently sit in MOM and MOE, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) remains an underlying driver that sets the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs).

The Agency has been described as a Jobs-Skills Integrator. However, the roadmap for our industries is set by the ITMs under MTI. Would the Minister explain how this new Agency will coordinate work with MTI to ensure that it harmonises ITMs with training curricula in real-time? Will the Minister be able to address the potential risks that by merging MOM and MOE functions, we are simply creating a new, larger silo that is disconnected from MTI’s strategic planning?

Second, the Community Development Councils. The CDCs have launched the Jobs Nearby @ CDC initiative to help Singaporeans find jobs closer to home. Would the Agency be tracking the performance of the initiative and help to train the job ambassadors?

Key Performance Indicators

Mr Speaker, good intentions do not survive without good measurement. Without clear, published performance indicators, this merger risks the same fate as the 2016 separation: celebrated at inception, reversed a decade later.

I would therefore suggest the Ministry consider the following KPIs for the Agency as a starting framework to ensure better accountability.

First, the proportion of public training subsidies going to courses that yield documented employment outcomes within six months. Public expenditure must be rigorously tracked against its economic purpose. We must move beyond simply tracking whether a jobseeker found any employment; the Agency should expand the existing Training Quality and Outcomes Measurement (TRAQOM) surveys to measure whether workers are actively applying their newly acquired competencies in their roles six months after they complete the course. By doing so, we ensure that every public dollar spent genuinely contributes to successful job placements or career advancement. SWDA should be required to publish these outcome-based figures annually.

Second, the percentage of subsidised training enrolments in courses mapped to documented Shortage Occupation List (SOL) occupations. Parliament should be able to see, year-on-year, whether the public’s training dollars are flowing toward the gaps our economy has actually documented.

Third, median time-to-employment following SWDA-assisted job searches, broken down by age band, PMET versus non-PMET status, and by individual service providers. The Government now publishes aggregate figures for these. Disaggregated figures will better hold the Agency and its service providers to account.

These are not novel metrics. They are the logical extension of data that SWDA will already hold. The integration the Bill promises makes these metrics achievable. The question is whether the Government is prepared to track and publish them.

Mr Deputy Speaker, ultimately, this merger must amount to more than a mere reshuffling of bureaucratic boxes. Administrative neatness means little to the displaced mid-career worker stuck in a job search blackhole, or the young student pressured into an educational path they have no passion for. The true test of the Skills and Workforce Development Agency will not be how smoothly it integrates its back-end systems, but its courage to embrace transparent KPIs, its willingness to proactively champion our jobseekers, and its agility to move at the speed of our economy. If we are reversing a decade-old policy in the name of deeper synergy, the Government must ensure that this synergy actually translates into tangible, measurable resilience for Singaporean workers.

Sir, notwithstanding the concerns raised, I support the Bill.

Life saving swimming skills for all children

I raised a question in Parliament regarding the effectiveness of the SwimSafer programme because every child deserves to feel safe in the water. I wanted to know the specific proficiency targets for our Primary 3 students and whether we track their progress as they grow older. My main concern is ensuring that no student is left behind without essential survival skills. It is vital that we identify those who cannot yet swim so they receive the support they need before leaving primary school.

The Minister for Education explained that schools typically offer these lessons at the Primary 3 level and students can pursue higher stages through the broader SwimSingapore framework. He noted that there are no fixed target percentages for proficiency, and students who do not pass Stage 1 can attend a fully funded remediation programme.

I believe we should establish clearer benchmarks and long term tracking to ensure every child eventually reaches a competent level of water safety. More consistent tracking would help schools identify those who slip through the cracks. Knowing how to swim is a life skill that provides peace of mind for every parent and child.

How can we better support children who need more time to build confidence in the water?

This is the full question and answer from 7 Apr 2026:

Effectiveness Of SwimSafer Programme In Developing Essential Swimming And Water Survival Skills For All Students

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the target percentage of students expected to achieve SwimSafer Stage 1, 2 and 3 proficiency levels respectively by the end of Primary 3; (b) whether the Ministry tracks the proficiency levels of students beyond the compulsory Primary 3 programme; and (c) how does the Ministry ensure that students who remain non swimmers after Primary 3 attain basic water survival skills.

Mr Desmond Lee: The SwimSafer 2.0 programme is the national water safety programme offered to students as part of the Physical Education (PE) curriculum. Primary schools typically offer it at the Primary 3 level.

Most students take up Stage 1 lessons as part of the school PE programme, while those who have already attained basic proficiency take up lessons at a higher level. Beyond the school programme, students may also choose to continue their learning through SwimSafer 2.0 or other aquatic programmes under the broader SwimSingapore framework.

The Ministry does not set a target percentage of students achieving the different stages of proficiency or track the proficiency levels of students beyond the school programme. Students who do not meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education SwimSafer 2.0 Stage 1 programme in schools may attend a fully funded remediation programme with SportSG.

Source: Singapore Parliament Reports (Hansard)

More Support for Preschool Educators

In Parliament on 8 Apr 2026, I asked the Minister for Social and Family Development about the daily non-contact time available for our preschool teachers. Many educators are under tremendous strain and have very little time during the day when they are not actively supervising or teaching children. I wanted to know if the government tracks how much time they actually get to handle prep work or rest. I pushed for a review of the current teacher child ratio and suggested a tiered model with separate ratios for educators and assistants.

The Minister for Social and Family Development shared that the authorities do not currently track data on average non-contact time for educators. He explained that staff ratios were last reviewed in 2017 to balance safety and operational needs while noting that preschools can hire more than the minimum number of staff to help with daily routines.

Our preschool teachers shape the next generation and we must ensure their workload remains sustainable. Certified assistants should be entrusted to manage caregiving independent of educators, to give teachers more dedicated non-contact time. This would also help centres manage costs by staggering daily shifts between educators and assistants across the 12 hours they are typically open.

What are your views on the current staffing levels and structure in our preschools?

This is the full question and answer from 8 April 2026:

Average Daily Non-Contact Time For Educators In Preschools

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry has data on the current average daily non-contact time for educators in preschools under the Anchor Operator and Partner Operator schemes; (b) when was the teacher-child ratio last adjusted; (c) whether the Ministry will review the current ratio; and (d) whether the Ministry will consider a tiered staffing model with distinct ratios for early childhood educators and ancillary care assistants.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) does not have data on the average daily non-contact time for educators in preschools.

When the Early Childhood Development Centres Act was enacted in 2017, minimum requirements for staff-to-child ratio for preschools were reviewed to ensure the safety and well-being of children. These ratios are calibrated based on the programme level of children, type of programme hours, and the qualifications of staff. For example, one qualified early years educator is required for every eight children at the Playgroup level during programme hours. During non-programme hours, or if an additional assistant early years educator is deployed during programme hours, this can increase to 12 children.

Preschools can and do operate with more than the minimum staff requirement to cater to their programming objectives and manpower deployment needs such as staff leave and training. On top of staff-to-child ratios, preschools may also deploy additional non-certified staff to assist certified educators with setting classroom routines, and the daily care and supervision of children.

Source: Singapore Parliament Reports (Hansard)

Mobile Dead Zones on the MRT

In Parliament on 6 Mar 2026 I asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information whether a public dashboard could be created to track mobile network dead zones across our MRT network. It is frustrating when your data cuts out mid journey so I wanted to know if we can hold operators more accountable by making the list of these persistent signal gaps public.

Do you hit specific dead zones during your MRT trips and where? Let me know in the comments.

This is the full text of the exchange:

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) compiles a list of specific mobile network dead zones across the entire MRT network; (b) if so, whether this list and the rectification status of each site will be made public via a dashboard to ensure operator accountability; and (c) how many persistent signal gaps have remained unrectified for more than 12 months.

The Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for Digital Development and Information): Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are required to meet the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA’s) 4G Quality of Service standards, and IMDA conducts regular checks to ensure these are met. This includes the requirement to provide more than 99% mobile coverage in all Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) tunnels and MRT stations in Singapore. The Quality of Service performance results for each MRT line are published on IMDA’s website.

Where there are coverage gaps found along the MRT network, IMDA works closely with MNOs to carry out enhancements that address the gaps. MNOs typically take six months to complete these enhancements, working within the limited hours of maintenance windows for tunnel access.

Mr Speaker: Mr Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. For the persistent dead zones that have remained unrectified after six months, does the Ministry impose any escalating financial penalties on the providers in order to ensure that there is a stronger commercial incentive for them to resolve the issues more speedily? And second, does IMDA track whether certain mobile operators have a higher proportion of these long-term dead zones and will this track record of non-compliance be factored into the pricing or allocation of future spectrum allocations or spectrum options?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, as I said earlier in my reply, MNOs typically take six months to enhance coverage. Over the last three years, no persistent signal gaps within the MRT network remained unrectified.

Source: Singapore Parliament Reports (Hansard)

https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-4084

Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill

6 March 2026

The Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill marks a shift in our approach to drug-laced vaping and the persistent harm of tobacco smoking. Renaming the Act to the “Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993” rightly reflects a focus on modern delivery systems for nicotine and psychoactive substances.

I support the amendments in this Bill which control the purchase, use, possession, import and supply of vaporisers and specified psychoactive substances.

However, I would like to address in my speech the use of tobacco products in the form of smoking.

The Public Health Imperative

Smoking remains a primary driver of preventable disease and death in Singapore. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, in 2023, Singapore saw 2,043 deaths from tobacco, and 66,152 disability-adjusted life years—which are the years of life lost and years lived with disability.

These statistics represent thousands of families whose lives are upended by chronic illness, disability and premature death. Our objective should not be merely to regulate a harmful habit, but to systematically dismantle the structures that allow it to persist in our society through successive generations.

Protecting Residential Airspace

Crucially, the Bill broadens the regulatory landscape by amending the “long title” to explicitly include the control of tobacco product use. This transition from regulating commercial transactions to overseeing actual product usage provides the necessary legislative basis to address how these products impact the immediate environment of our residents.

The expansion of smoking bans in public places could have unintentionally pushed smokers into their homes to light up. I have received numerous complaints from my residents about smoke drifting into their homes from nearby units.

Currently, the authorities are only empowered to provide guidance to smokers to be more considerate. In response to a parliamentary question on 10 September 2024 by my Hon. Friend, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim, the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment said that the “exhalation of cigarette smoke to the open air outside of a HDB flat is not a violation of the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Regulations when the individual is smoking within the flat, as smoking is not prohibited in residential homes.”

While smoking within five metres of an HDB void deck is prohibited, smoking at home and blowing smoke into that same protected space is allowed. This highlights a gap in how we protect the air in and around our homes.

Clause 37 of this Bill defines smoking as both the inhaling and expelling of tobacco smoke. This specific focus on the expulsion of smoke suggests that the impact of these emissions on neighbouring units can fall within the Bill’s regulatory ambit. I urge the Minister to utilise the powers under Clause 21 to set standards for the use and emissions of tobacco products, ensuring that private enjoyment does not result in the involuntary consumption of secondary emissions by neighbours.

Smoke-Free Generation

Beyond residential smoking issues, we must move beyond managing the prevalence of smoking and start legislating for its eventual elimination for future generations.

I reiterate my call from 5 March 2024, and echo my Honourable Friend, Ms He Ting Ru, regarding a cohort tobacco ban. This would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to—or for them to be used by—anyone born after a specific year. This will ensure that younger generations of Singaporeans never start smoking, creating a smoke-free future for our children, and our children’s children. I would like to emphasise that this does not further restrict the smoking rights of existing smokers.

I was glad to hear Minister of State Rahayu Mazam say during the Committee of Supply debate on 5 March that the Government remains open to a cohort smoking ban and will study its effectiveness and how it can be applied to Singapore’s context. I hope we can move forward on this expeditiously.

In fact, a crackdown on vaping without equally aggressive cigarette controls risks inadvertently pushing our youth toward smoking. We would not want this Bill, which curbs vaping, to cause a resurgence in cigarette smoking by young people. Therefore, anti-vaping strategies, which I support, must be structurally linked to a definitive tobacco phase-out.

Reducing Addictiveness

Next, we must examine the chemical composition of tobacco products on the market. Nicotine is the primary driver of smoking addiction, and by restricting its concentration, we can reduce the pharmacological “hook” that makes it so difficult to quit using these products.

Under Clause 6 of the Bill, which introduces the new Section 14, the Minister is granted the power to set maximum allowable amounts for substances within tobacco products or their emissions.

I urge the Minister to exercise the powers granted under Clause 6 of the Bill to set a stringent cap on the nicotine yield in the smoke of all tobacco products. I understand that in the European Union and the United Kingdom, the maximum emission level is strictly limited and the nicotine yield cannot exceed 1.0 mg per cigarette. Can I ask the Minister what nicotine yield limit he intends to prescribe for Singapore under the new Section 14?

Smoke Trails

Finally, I hope the Government can address the harm of second-hand smoking on the move. Even in non-prohibited outdoor areas, a smoker walking ahead of a crowd creates a smoke trail that everyone behind is forced to inhale. This requires greater public education and clearer guidelines on pedestrian etiquette and social responsibility.

Summary and Conclusion

In summary, Mr Speaker, while this Bill provides the necessary tools to control vaporisers and psychoactive substances, we must take this opportunity to protect residents from second-hand smoke.

We must pair enforcement with a tobacco cohort ban to meaningfully reduce our national disease burden. By addressing the gaps in residential smoking and committing to a clear endgame for tobacco, we can better safeguard the health of all Singaporeans.

Mr Speaker, I support the Bill.

MOH: Outpatient MediSave Use

4 Mar 2026

Committee of Supply Debate 2026, Ministry of Health

I repeat my call for MOH to expand coverage for all chronic diseases under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), and not just 23 approved conditions. This would ensure any condition requiring long term management can be subsidised under CHAS and paid for via MediSave.

Even for conditions on the CDMP list, the MediSave 500/700 withdrawal limits can be restrictive. I last raised this issue in 2021 and the Senior Minister of State argued that the risk of over consumption necessitates these caps. However, how does this apply to public healthcare institutions where salaried doctors follow strict protocols?

The real risk is not over consumption, but under treatment. When patients are forced to choose between their cash and their care, some may choose to skip medications or appointments to save money. Self rationing today can lead to a massive bill tomorrow for an emergency hospitalisation. This is a tremendous cost to both individual patients and the healthcare system. Has the Ministry assessed the clinical cost of medical non-compliance caused by rigid MediSave withdrawal limits?

Singaporeans want to be self reliant and not have to appeal for subsidies or medical assistance. The Ministry should allow more flexible MediSave withdrawals at public healthcare institutions for patients over 60, especially for those with significant MediSave balances.

MOT: Safe Cycling on Footpaths

Committee of Supply Debate 2026, Ministry of Transport

Walking along our footpaths should be a stress-free experience, yet many pedestrians—especially the elderly and parents with children—often feel they must be on permanent alert. Some cyclists ring their bells persistently on crowded footpaths, as if expecting pedestrians to step off the path to make way for them. I have personally experienced this, and many of my residents have shared similar stories with me.

LTA needs to reinforce that pedestrians always have the right of way. Public education must clarify that bells should be used only to alert, not to demand a clear path. We must also educate pedestrians to keep left and avoid sudden changes in direction, for their own safety.

Residents frequently encounter cyclists zooming through bus stops, endangering passengers as they alight. Similarly, those exiting lifts at their flats face risks from cyclists speeding past.

At night, the danger increases without illumination. Between 2023 and 2025, 167 summonses were issued for missing lights, but these were mostly on roads, not footpaths. This indicates a safety gap on footpaths. Why is there not more active education and enforcement of light requirements on footpaths?

Furthermore, while footpaths next to cycling paths became pedestrian-only in July 2025, the converse is not true—pedestrians are not prohibited from walking on cycling paths. If a dedicated pedestrian-only path exists, why is it not mandatory for pedestrians to use it? Mixing users increases accident risks. Will the Ministry reconsider a legal prohibition for pedestrians to use cycling paths where a dedicated alternative is provided?

MOM: Youth Wage Credit Scheme

3 Mar 2026

Committee of Supply Debate 2026, Ministry of Manpower

Singapore’s school-leavers face a challenging job market as AI automates many entry-level tasks. Firms are increasingly prioritising candidates who are immediately productive over fresh graduates. The unemployment rate for residents below 30 was 5.5% in September 2025, almost twice the national resident unemployment rate.

Without access to quality roles soon after graduation, many of our youth risk a “long-term scarring effect,” where early joblessness correlates to lower lifetime earnings, skills atrophy and even social and civic alienation.

Before I continue, I wish to declare that I am the director and shareholder of a company which is an SME.

To support young Singaporeans in facilitating a smoother entry into the workforce, I propose a Youth Wage Credit Scheme. This initiative incentivises micro and small enterprises to offer ITE, Lasalle, NAFA, polytechnic and university graduates their first permanent positions.

It will provide a 20% wage credit over the first three months of employment, covering the critical probation and initial training period. The government could co-fund 20% of their salary, with the payout capped at $1,000 per month. This ensures that graduates gain access to quality roles and structured training while the government offsets the initial costs of onboarding.

Targeting these wage credits at micro and small enterprises empowers these smaller businesses to offer more competitive wages, helping them compete for talent against medium and larger enterprises.

To address employers’ concern of young recruits leaving soon after being trained, the government could fund an additional 20% of a one-month retention bonus, to be paid out only on the first anniversary of employment.

I propose that this scheme be implemented for an initial three years, with a robust assessment of its effectiveness before any extension.

This scheme would complement the GRIT (Graduate Industry Traineeships) Scheme. However, while GRIT offers temporary three to six month placements, it does not guarantee the stability of full-time employment. This proposal encourages permanent hiring from day one. Crucially, while GRIT is limited to just 800 places, this wage credit could support a much larger portion of the 53,000 or so students graduating each year.

The Youth Wage Credit Scheme shifts the focus from temporary traineeships to immediate, stable SME employment. By incentivising permanent hires, it buffers against AI-driven displacement and ensures Singapore’s next generation enters the workforce with greater security and confidence.

After-Hours Childcare Services and Support Options for Parents

In Parliament on 26 Feb 2026, I asked the Minister for Social and Family Development how many preschools offer care beyond 7pm. Currently, only 20 centres provide this service, a decrease from the 40 centres available in 2021.

I highlighted that for parents working in the CBD, reaching heartland preschools by 7pm is often a “logistical impossibility” without expensive daily commutes by taxi. I raised concerns that rigid cutoff times and a lack of domestic help disproportionately affect lower- and middle-income families, which could exacerbate social inequality.

To address this, I suggested that the Ministry consider requiring one designated preschool per HDB estate to stay open until 7.30pm. To prevent teacher burnout, I proposed that these extended hours be staffed by ancillary care assistants rather than core educators. I also asked if ECDA has conducted a proactive survey to gauge actual demand, as we cannot assume interest is low if parents have simply resigned themselves to the current reality.

The Minister of State noted the declining trend in centres and explained that the Ministry views extended hours as a business decision for operators. He emphasised the government’s focus on encouraging flexible work arrangements and cited studies suggesting that excessive hours in preschool can negatively impact a child’s literacy and numeracy development.

This is a video of the full exchange:
https://www.youtube.com/live/yCpJWbl1YH0?si=NMWhoHPZ3fGvAdPh&t=2126s

MDDI: Cyber Defence

2 Mar 2026

Committee of Supply Debate 2026, Ministry of Digital Development and Information

On 9 February 2026, the government revealed that Singapore’s major telecommunications operators were targeted last year in a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign by the group UNC3886.

Such intrusions are a stark reminder that the digital battle space has expanded into a theatre of strategic sabotage. Advanced persistent threat actors pre-position malicious code to sit dormant for years, designed to be activated during a crisis to trigger power failures or disrupt transport and payment systems. For Singapore, this poses a direct threat to our national survival, as a coordinated disruption to civilian telecommunications, payment systems, and transport networks would directly cripple the SAF’s ability to mobilise and deploy troops at speed.

While the containment of UNC3886 demonstrates our technical proficiency, we must leverage this capacity to signal clear consequences. The government must work with international partners to communicate strategic red lines, explicitly stating that the pre-positioning of malicious code in our critical infrastructure is an unacceptable provocation.

We must leverage our attribution capabilities to call out such actors directly, while carefully weighing the diplomatic sensitivities of naming state-linked groups. We should move toward a posture of active deterrence through precise signalling and the threat of calibrated counter-measures. By doing so while remaining consistent with international law, we can avoid unintended escalation. Ultimately, we must effectively change the cost-benefit calculus of any potential aggressor.