ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE - FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1995 TO 31ST MARCH, 1996
First, I would like to thank the various Members who have given their comprehensive comments on community development issues, sometimes passionately. Before I respond to these concerns and suggestions, I have a piece of good news for the Member for Tanjong Pagar GRC on the issue of child care subsidy. The Government has decided to increase the monthly child care subsidy for each child from $130 to $150. This is actually a 15% increase. That is for the full-day child care. For the half-day, we have decided to increase from $65 to $75. The new rates will take effect from April this year. The increase would mean that the Government would have to spend close to $40 million in child care subsidies in the next financial year. 2.00 pm Dr Soin has shown concern that even with the subsidies, it may not be enough for low income families. She had mentioned the centre-based subsidies of $100 and $50. Child care centres, in fact, have on their own, come in to help through reduced fees, waiver of registration fees and deposits, free uniforms, and also subsidised activities. But I agree with her. I think we can certainly do more and we will look into the suggestions that she has proposed. The Member for Cheng San GRC suggested that similar care be given to school-going children. While school-going children also need proper guidance and supervision, they require, in fact, fewer hours of care a day. Where parents can arrange for family members, neighbours or friends to look after their children, I encourage them to do so. This, indeed, would be a better alternative as the children would receive more personalised care and attention from relatives, from people they know, from people they love. The 1990 Census survey showed that for children aged between seven and 12 years old, most of their parents are able to take care of them. In fact, 76% of children are cared for by their parents and 11.9% by grandparents. So only about 3% of children are left on their own. Though no Government grants will be given to BASC, I assure the Member we will continue to assist the VWOs and other non-profit organisations by helping them to secure Government premises at subsidised rates. Currently, in fact, most VWOs running BASC have a sliding scale for fees which is based on family income. Those VWOs who are charging low fees or nominal rates are, in fact, also helping lower income families. The Member for Yuhua touched on the heart of our policies when she says that community development starts with the family and that we should help families that need help. Indeed, it is the very strength and weaknesses of the family that determine the social fabric of our society. The family today is not the same as the family of the past. Change is inevitable, but change, when it happens too fast, can be a source of stress on the family, and stress can also come when members of the family have difficulties fulfilling their roles and responsibilities. So, unless the family can handle the stress well, it may end up as a dysfunctional family. Family Service Centres (FSCs) have been set up to help families under stress with their problems. There are 14 such centres now funded by the Ministry and we plan to have 24 by the year 2000. I would like to inform the Member for Cheng San GRC that FSCs must adopt a non-sectarian approach and must be open to all persons regardless of race, language or religion, if they want to receive funds from the Government. FSCs do try to engage staff who are multi-lingual. Where it is not possible to do so, FSCs have turned to the clients' family members, volunteers, neighbours, or even HDB officers for interpretation or translation facilities. And I am pleased to inform the Member for Cheng San GRC that all the 14 FSCs so far, with the exception of one that is run by SINDA, have clients from the four main ethnic groups. The Member is right in saying that FSCs must have trained social workers and counsellors and each FSC to be managed by staff with the relevant background and experience. While in service, the staff attend courses, seminars, workshops on various topics. A one-time grant is also given to the Family Resource and Training Centre (FRTC) to develop a curriculum for a two-year Diploma Course for social workers in FSCs and to run the first course for 20 staff. These staff in turn would be able to train other colleagues when they complete their course. Sir, FSCs discharge a variety of functions, one of which is marital counselling. I agree that couples intending to divorce should view video tapes on how to resolve their marital conflicts and attend counselling sessions as proposed by the Member for Cheng San GRC. However, it would be difficult to force unwilling couples to do so. We will, however, in our public education programmes, encourage couples with marital problems to seek help from FSCs early. FSCs and agencies dealing with marital problems will be encouraged to persuade their clients view these videos during the counselling sessions. The training and career prospects of social workers have been raised by the Member for Yuhua and also Dr Soin. Dr Soin also expressed interest in the career advancement of social workers. A few years back I would have agreed entirely with Dr Soin that social work was a very poor cousin indeed among professionals. I think the situation is improving and it is no longer the situation today, especially after the Government's salary revision for the Welfare Scheme of Service in 1994. She also mentioned about the NCSS reviewing the salary scales of the voluntary sector and has recommended a scale comparable to that of the civil service. The new scale should be able to attract and retain good social workers. But, again, I agree with her that we will continually seek to improve the working conditions or the career prospects of social workers. There is constant dialogue between NUS, NCSS and the Ministry on the social work curriculum to ensure that what they do and their career prospects are always improving. For example, following the Ministry's feedback, NUS has amended its syllabus to place more emphasis on family work. And training does not stop at the graduate level. The Diploma course, run jointly by the NUS and FRTC, which I mentioned earlier, is one example. We will certainly continue to work with the University and also other agencies to prepare social workers for the challenges they will face in their work. When it comes to getting volunteers, as mentioned by the Member for Yuhua, both NCSS and MCD have award and incentive schemes to recognise the contributions of the volunteers and these schemes are reviewed periodically. However, I think it is important for us to note that many individuals volunteer their services out of personal conviction to do something for the less fortunate in the society. And it is this sense of personal achievement that motivates the volunteers more than any award or incentive schemes that NCSS or MCD can devise. The Member for Yuhua called for a review of the Women's Charter. MCD is reviewing the Women's Charter to see how we can give recognition to women who stay at home and ensure that their non-material contributions to the family will be recognised. This is especially so in the division of matrimonial assets in the unhappy event of the marriage breaking up. We will keep the Member and also Parliament informed on the outcome of this study. On the problems of the aged, I share the concern of the Member for Tanjong Pagar GRC and also the Member for Cheng San GRC about the ageing population. Indeed, by the year 2030, one out of four Singaporeans will be 60 years old and above and they form a very large pool of experienced and resourceful persons. I agree that they can only contribute if they remain active mentally and physically. I cannot agree more with the Member for Tanjong Pagar GRC about the desirability of the aged to stay in the community and also in the arms of the family. In fact, MCD is looking into this aspect and the Ministry is in the process of restructuring itself to put more emphasis on the family, and not only on dysfunctional families but also on well families to see the family as a whole, including the aged and children. The Member for Cheng San GRC mentioned the Senior Citizens' Week as one of the programmes organised by the Ministry. One of the objectives of the Week is to prepare individuals for their retirement years, and it is an occasion for us to recognise the contributions made by our senior citizens. Private companies, as mentioned by the Member, have been offering concessions to senior citizens, especially during the Week. Nevertheless, MCD will continue to encourage more companies to join in the effort. Senior citizens who need help for medical care are looked after by the voluntary welfare organisations and the Ministry of Health. The support programmes include meal delivery services, home medical care, hospital geriatric services and care, nursing homes, and respite facilities. For those who have no dependants or who cannot live with their families for one reason or another, there are 20 sheltered homes. Two more are in the pipeline. For those who are frail and require medical attention, there are 45 nursing homes. More recently, the Ministry, together with HDB, has implemented a congregate housing programme to support low-income senior citizens living in 1- and 2-room rental flats. Under this programme, three blocks of rental flats in three housing estates with a high concentration of low income senior citizens are being upgraded to be more user-friendly to the elderly. Each block will be adopted by a voluntary organisation which will give help to the elderly and they have been given grants by the Ministry to cover the development and recurrent costs as well as space to operate in. The Member for Cheng San GRC has asked that I raise the issue of concession for senior citizens to travel during peak hours on buses and trains. I think the rationale for not giving them concession during peak hours has been given by the Minister for Communications before and I shall not raise it again. Nevertheless, I will raise the issue on behalf of the Member for those senior citizens who need to travel to work. I will raise this with the Ministry of Communications. Sir, we are constantly monitoring the needs of the elderly and adjusting our programmes to meet their needs. The Ministry of Health and my Ministry are in fact spearheading a national survey of senior citizens. Besides assessing the needs of senior citizens, we hope the survey will, for the first time, establish the needs of the aged and also the care givers. The survey findings will, hopefully, be available by the end of this year. These findings should help us to come out with policies and programmes to ease the stress on the family. I now come to the issue of helping the less fortunate brought up by the Members for Cheng San GRC, Mr Chandra Das and Dr Michael Lim. NMP Encik Imram also asked about financial assistance plans for the disadvantaged. Sir, this group of people will need help, especially help to escape from their poverty. We have, for example, the Small Family Improvement Scheme (SFIS) which finances the education of children of these families, besides helping the families to own their homes. Besides the SFIS, there is a whole array of programmes and services for the less fortunate in our society actually. I think it would take time for me to mention the whole list but if Members are interested, I can send the list to them because it will take some time for me to list them individually in this House. Mr Chandra Das from Cheng San GRC has asked about the 25th Anniversary Endowment Fund set up in 1991 with an initial capital of $31.3 million to help the destitute and low income families. 2.15 pm Mr Das may like to know that, since its inception, the fund has given out a total of $4.96 million to voluntary welfare organisations to finance their respective programmes. The 25th Anniversary Fund was set up to mark a special event, a quarter century of the nation's independence. It is the culmination of a year-long effort. It is just like a wedding anniversary where you have the silver, golden and diamond jubilees. The Government has no intention of setting up a similar fund for the nation's 30th anniversary. We will, however, continue to raise funds for charity during the National Day celebrations, as we did last year and every year. I come to Public Assistance. Sir, Public Assistance (PA) rates have always been an issue of contention. Critics always claim they are never enough and that the eligibility criteria are too strict. I understand these feelings and I empathise with the compassion most of us must feel for the disadvantaged among us. But the Government is not unfeeling either. Ours is not a case of dismissing the problem. Neither, Sir, is it a matter of how much surplus we have or the lack of it. Rather, ours is a matter of philosophy, a matter of approach to helping this group of people in our society. I know some may snigger at this statement, but the experience of many other countries serves to convince us that what we are doing is indeed not wrong. I would like to remind Members that the PA scheme is meant to provide a basic subsistence living for the truly destitute. It is for those who have no means of support or income and who are unable to work for one reason or another. If we give PA to those who can work, we may unwittingly perpetuate their dependence on aid and take away their desire to be independent. The Member for Cheng San GRC can be assured that every effort has been and will be made by my Ministry to assist PA recipients who can work, to undergo skills training and find employment. The Member also spoke on the need for free transportation for PA recipients travelling to work. While no free transportation is given, 87% of the PA recipients are senior citizens actually and they already enjoy concessions by the bus companies and SMRT. For those who need to visit Government or restructured hospitals or outpatient clinics for medical treatment, they are reimbursed for the transport expenses, including taxi fares for the frail and aged. Sir, it is true that PA recipients may not benefit from rebates and SOTUS given to Singaporeans. But rebates and SOTUS are not meant to be a financial assistance scheme for the destitute anyway. While PA recipients do not benefit from rebates or SOTUS, they do enjoy other benefits. One such benefit is the waiver of rents and conservancy charges announced by the Minister for Finance recently. But what is not widely known, or often dismissed, is that, apart from their monthly allowance, PA recipients also receive many other forms of assistance from the community, for example, free medical treatment in Government or restructured hospitals and outpatient clinics, free textbooks for their children, remission of supplementary school fees and pocket allowances from school for their children as well as assistance in cash or kind from voluntary welfare organisations. Sir, PA rates are pegged to the actual consumption values of the households on the scheme. They are reviewed once every two years. The last revision was in 1993 and the rates were revised again last year to offset the impact of GST. A research company has just completed a survey to find out the consumption values of PA recipients. We are now studying the survey findings and, if necessary, the PA rates will be reviewed this year. Sir, the Government has been and will always be flexible in administering its financial assistance schemes. I would like to reiterate once again that community development is not, cannot and must not be the sole responsibility of the Government. It is through the joint efforts of the Government, the citizenry and organisations in the community that we can build a cohesive, caring, compassionate society and assist in creating a civic society in Singapore. Our many helping hands policy is, therefore, a correct one. And talking of the many helping hands policy I like to refer to the comment made by the Member for Cheng San GRC. In implementing the many helping hands policy, the Government has always adopted a very low profile. We want to give recognition to the work and contributions of individuals and organisations. This, however, must not be interpreted as the Government's hand disappearing, as has been suggested by Mr Das. I can assure the Member that the hand is, has been and will continue to be a very active and supportive one. The hand may be invisible but it is there. Between FY90 and FY94, the Government in fact paid almost $80 million to voluntary welfare organisations to cover their development and operating expenditures. In the coming financial year, the Government will be spending another $20 million to help the organisations to run their programmes and facilities. All these figures, mind you, do not include other subsidies, such as rental of premises, medical services and free education. I would like to say sincerely and honestly that our safety net is wide enough to catch all and whoever needs help will be helped to be independent and to move forward together with others. That is what community development is all about. The Member for Yuhua specifically asked whether funding will be given to unions, statutory boards and corporations to set up social service centres. Sir, they will receive the same funding and incentives as other organisations in setting up similar facilities. I now come to the last item on football mentioned by the Member for Hong Kah GRC. Sir, in promoting sports, the Singapore Sports Council adopts a pyramid concept. At the base of the pyramid is the Sports for All where we encourage all Singaporeans to exercise and to take part in sports activities. The top of the pyramid is the Sports Excellence programme where effort is focused on the development of international champions. The Sports for All and Sports Excellence policies have served us well and they are meant to provide Singaporeans with a very wide choice of sports to pursue, either for recreation or for competition. The Member is interested in giving football a much higher profile for Singapore. Indeed, football is the third most popular sport among Singaporeans, after swimming and badminton. Partly because of its popularity, football has been identified as one of the seven core sports actively promoted under SPEX 2000 programme. The SSC will continue to promote football when the local league gets underway. A task force, appointed by FAS, has just completed its review. The FAS, together with the SSC, will study the recommendations to make sure that football remains not only a popular sport but also one that we will excel in. I do not want to pre-empt the recommendations nor the outcome of the review but I can assure the Member that MCD will give its support to any proposal to make football a sport which Singaporeans can be proud of and which can bring the country together.