Hansard, 2005-03-11

Under the provisions of clause 2(d) of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, the following Members have been granted permission to be or to remain absent from sittings of Parliament (or any Committee of Parliament to which they have been appointed) for the periods stated: Name From (2005) To (2005) Mr Lee Kuan Yew 11 Mar 11 Mar Mr Abdullah Tarmugi 12 Mar 12 Mar

ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [8th Allotted Day].

Head I - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (cont.) -

Resumption of Debate on Question [10th March, 2005],

That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100." - [Mr Sin Boon Ann].

Question again proposed.

Sir, yesterday, I shared the passion and compassion of hon. Members when they expressed their views to help needy Singaporeans. A number of Members, including Mr Sin Boon Ann and Mr Wee Siew Kim, have raised concerns on the needy, and would like to know how the ComCare Fund will help such Singaporeans. Dr Warren Lee and Miss Penny Low wanted to know how the ComCare Fund will work in practice.

The Government is committed to do more for needy Singaporeans, to ensure that no one will be left behind. The Prime Minister had announced the ComCare Fund in January this year. The ComCare Fund will allow us to do the following:

Introduce new programmes to better help needy Singaporeans.

Give us the flexibility in helping needy Singaporeans in an effective and efficient manner.

Allow the Government to work closely with our community partners to develop new and creative programmes that help address the needs identified at the community, as they know best how assistance should be channelled.

The ComCare Fund will be the core of our social safety net. As my Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, had explained yesterday, the ComCare Fund will be based on three principles:

Fostering self-reliant individuals;

Family as the first line of support; and

"Many Helping Hands".

The ComCare Endowment Fund will start with $500 million and have a target size of $1 billion. This is a large sum. ComCare will provide up to $55 million a year for assistance schemes as a start. This is 40% more than what MCYS is projected to spend on social assistance in FY2004. On the other hand, the money will be spent very quickly if we use the money as hand-outs and try to help every Singaporean meet every need. We know that the money must be spent prudently and wisely. We are not a welfare state. Our approach is to provide assistance, so that people can become self-reliant and not be dependent on the state.

While the Government will play an important role in the social safety net, we need ordinary citizens, Community Development Councils (CDCs), voluntary welfare organisations, and grassroots organisations to also help hold up this social safety net. They are in the best position to develop creative programmes that will help us build a strong, robust net that can serve our people.

On its part, the Government will take a focused and coordinated approach to assist needy Singaporeans. Today, I will elaborate on how we intend to achieve the objectives of the ComCare Fund while keeping in mind the three key principles of our social safety net.

The desired outcomes of the ComCare Fund are, first, to enable needy families to tide over difficult times and make a living for themselves. Second, we want to make the social safety net simpler to understand and administer it more efficiently.

The ComCare Fund will help those families who have genuine difficulties making ends meet. We will therefore continue to means-test all applicants for assistance. We will also factor in the

family's needs and special circumstances, their savings, and their support network of family and friends.

We will take a client-centric approach towards helping needy families. As my Minister has mentioned, ComCare will comprise three key components, each covering a specific client group. These components are ComCare SelfReliance, ComCare Grow, and ComCare EnAble. Let me elaborate.

ComCare SelfReliance will focus on those who need some temporary assistance in order to return to self-reliance. Programmes under this component target Singaporeans who are out of work, or who face temporary financial difficulties. Existing programmes such as the Work Assistance Programme (WAP), Self-Reliance Programme (SReP) and Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme will come under ComCare SelfReliance. Possible new programmes include those that help to develop social enterprises which provide needy Singaporeans secure a job. We will also look into helping them set up informal micro enterprises.

With ComCare SelfReliance, there will be a closer linkage between social assistance and job assistance. We have already moved in this direction starting with the Work Assistance Programme introduced on 1st October 2003. We will build on the experience we have gained, to develop other programmes that can help needy families in a sustainable manner. We expect to spend $17 million on ComCare SelfReliance programmes in FY2005.

ComCare Grow, the second component, will aim to help children from low income families. We want the children to be better able to cope with mainstream education, and break out of the poverty cycle. A recent study by James Heckman, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in

year 2000, confirmed that gaps in abilities among children from various socio-economic groups open up at early ages. The family plays an important role in shaping these abilities. Programmes that target young children from disadvantaged families have the greatest economic and social returns.

ComCare Grow programmes will, therefore, help children access developmental programmes from a young age. Existing developmental programmes such as the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS), Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC), and the Student Care Fee Assistance Scheme (SCFA) will come under the ComCare Grow umbrella. MCYS will be reviewing these programmes to ensure that the social safety net for these children will be wide enough to catch them before they fall too far. We will also look at new programmes that can be introduced. Dr John Chen's suggestion during the Budget debate to provide money for transport and food to needy children is something that we can examine.

Children from "at-risk" families need more targeted assistance to ensure that they start off on the right footing. This will be done under the ComCare Grow umbrella through the Healthy Start Programme. Healthy Start is a holistic early intervention programme for children from "at-risk" families as well as their parents. It provides the family and the child with mentoring and counselling in addition to subsidies for pre-school support. We tried out Healthy Start as a pilot programme with Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre and Beyond Social Services. The results were encouraging. 78% of the children improved their development level. The net monthly household income increased for 32% of the families. MCYS will therefore be expanding the Healthy Start Programme in FY2005. We will target 1,200 children in FY2005, up from the 350

children that participated in the pilot programme. We expect to spend $24 million on ComCare Grow programmes in FY2005.

The third component of the ComCare Fund, ComCare EnAble, will focus on the needy elderly, as well as others who need long term assistance in order to integrate into the community. ComCare EnAble will therefore also cater to the disabled, and the destitute chronic poor. ComCare EnAble programmes will include existing long-term social assistance schemes such as Public Assistance and Special Grant Schemes, programmes that reach out to the elderly living alone, and means-tested programmes to support families that have to take care of the frail elderly.

Yesterday, my Minister had announced the enhancements to the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF). Assistance technology is a powerful enabler for persons with disability to overcome their disability and integrate into society. ATF will come under ComCare EnAble. With the changes to the ATF, about 1,150 persons with disability will be able to benefit from the scheme. We expect to spend $14 million on ComCare EnAble programmes in FY2005.

Dr Warren Lee, Miss Penny Low and Dr Tan Boon Wan asked about the modus operandi for the ComCare Fund. There will be fundamental changes in social assistance administration. We will take a holistic, flexible, decentralised and partnership approach.

Dr Tan Boon Wan asked about treating needy families holistically. In implementing ComCare programmes, we will take into consideration the holistic needs of the family. Many families who need the social safety net face multiple issues. It is not effective to take a piecemeal approach to helping them. Instead, their needs should be looked into holistically,

so that a better solution, which covers all their needs, is provided.

I agree with Mr Sin Boon Ann that we should simplify social assistance schemes. However, I want to emphasise that simplification must not result in one-size-fits-all solution. We recognise that there are some people who truly need assistance, but may not fit the eligibility criteria of our schemes. ComCare Fund aims to address such cases by providing flexibility in the administration of social assistance.

Therefore, while the nationwide ComCare schemes will still be subject to MCYS guidelines, and will remain means-tested, the CDCs will be given the flexibility to provide assistance to genuinely needy cases that do not fit the eligibility criteria. In determining whether and how to provide assistance, the CDCs will take into account all the circumstances that the needy family face. This will help ensure that no needy Singaporean or family will fall through any gaps.

We intend to decentralise the administration of social assistance to the community. The CDCs have done good work in administering social assistance schemes with the help of advisors and grassroots leaders. The processing time has improved, with 73% of cases being processed within six weeks. There is however room for improvement. On Wednesday, Minister of Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan,

had quoted Alexandra Hospital's experiment with the Toyota Production System which has helped reduce waiting time. We, too, will be watching the Alexandra Hospital's "Toyota" experiment with great interest.

12.15 pm

The CDCs have also developed local assistance schemes to meet the specific needs of their residents. For example, the

North-East CDC has a Home Care Assist Programme, which helps the needy ill or bed-bound elderly by providing them with homecare items, home modifications, transport for follow-up care, and medical equipment. Central-Singapore CDC has developed a RiDE scheme, which provides transport subsidies to needy residents who attend activities at selected day care centres. North-West CDC has a Food Ration scheme which provides food rations to needy residents. South-East CDC has organised Edu Assist 2004 for needy students in their district. South-West CDC has food vouchers for those who need short-term assistance.

CDC officers and grassroots leaders are closer to the residents and have better understanding of their family circumstances. They are better able to customise the assistance according to their residents' needs. With the ComCare Fund, we will empower the CDCs to do even more.

The CDCs will need to strengthen their links with their community partners, such as grassroots organisations and VWOs, so that they can deliver assistance to needy residents more effectively, and those who need help know where to go. This is what I call a "people to people" approach, with people sector organisations helping the people. The "many helping hands" have each its own unique capabilities and strengths. It is only when society marshals its resources that we can effectively help needy families.

MCYS will support the CDCs in the administration of the ComCare Fund by providing the necessary resources. Dr Lily Neo had asked about a register for the destitute.

MCYS will take the lead to develop a centralised database that will capture the essential data of all social assistance beneficiaries. We will look into linking this database with other Ministries which also

deal with the needy. We will also work with VWOs and grassroots organisations to contribute to this database. This database will help to ensure that there is coordinated assistance for needy Singaporeans.

I agree with Mdm Cynthia Phua and Miss Penny Low that social workers play a critical role in helping needy families. My Ministry will help to enhance the capability of these social service professionals. In 2002, we had set up a $30 million VWO Capability Fund. We will use this fund to enhance the capability of VWOs as well as social workers. We will do this through upgrading professional standards, training staff, piloting new services, and helping VWOs adopt systems and technology that help social workers in their work.

MCYS has also introduced scholarships and the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme to attract more people to become social work professionals. 55 people have joined these programmes since 2003. In the coming year, we will do more to increase the take-up rate of these programmes.

I will be chairing a Supervisory Committee, which will consist of the five CDC Mayors, the Permanent Secretary of MCYS, Chief Executive Director of People's Association, the President of NCSS and, more importantly, we are inviting a few leaders from VWOs.

The role of the Supervisory Committee will be to initiate, coordinate and monitor all ComCare programmes. The Supervisory Committee has a lot to do. It will review existing social assistance schemes and simplify them. Overlapping resource allocations between schemes will be reduced. It will ensure that needy Singaporeans are able to understand the schemes, and that they know where to turn to when they need help.

As the Supervisory Committee has only just been set up, it would need time to meet and identify its priorities. Miss Penny Low and Mdm Cynthia Phua have asked what are the KPIs and timeframes for the ComCare Fund. These are things which the Committee will be looking into. I can assure the House that there will be proper KPIs, and a proper system of accountability and transparency for the funds that will be spent.

The needs of Singaporeans will not be static. They will evolve, even as our society and economy continue to change. We have to ensure that Singapore's social capability to help needy Singaporeans grows and evolves to keep pace with the changing needs of Singaporeans. The ComCare Fund is an important vehicle in this context. It will help to ensure that even as Singapore undergoes economic restructuring and reaches for higher economic growth amidst stiffer global competition, no needy Singaporean or family is left behind.

Sir, I want to make a point of clarification with the Minister of State. She mentioned that 75% of the cases are processed within six weeks. What does she mean by "processed within six weeks"? In fact, this morning I have just gone through the list of the cases in my division. I have 105 cases. Out of 105, 93 cases are either pending investigation or recommendation, which means that less than 10% has been decided. That is a very low percentage.

For social assistance cases, when an MP appeals to the Mayor and CDC - I was a Mayor before and based on my experience - let me explain how the CDC operates. Like I said, the Supervisory Committee needs to give more resources to also train the staff to do the job better and to deliver. But I feel that a strong message to get across

today is that for the ComCare Fund, we will take a "people-to-people" approach. What I hope to see is that the CCCs, RCs and the advisors can work together to help the CDCs to investigate the case faster and decide whether the case is a genuine case. In that way, we can help the social workers to speed up their decision.

According to the feedback and report from my Ministry, for 78% of the cases, they have processed them in less than six weeks. Some of the cases are quite straightforward and obvious. So I am sure they can handle them within one week. In some cases where they need long-term financial help, the commitment is more long term. They would need to go and visit them. I understand that sometimes, when they sent letters to them, they could not get a reply, or even when they called them, they also could not get a reply. There are many reasons why they need six weeks, or more than six weeks. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that there is room for improvement. The most effective way we want to see from the ComCare Fund is that the Ministry will work together with the CDCs, CCCs, RCs and the advisors.

Sir, can I ask that the Ministry consider setting a service benchmark for the CDCs, in terms of the response time in relation to the requests to appeal for financial and social assistance? From my own experience, sometimes, I do know that the CDCs may take a while to investigate. But from the recipients' point of view, they are very often left in the dark. If there is a seemingly lack of response, it would make it seem as if CDCs are not doing their work properly. So if you set a service standard, a certain benchmark, at least it becomes more transparent in the way in which services are delivered by the agencies, such as the CDCs.

Sir, like I said, the Supervisory Committee has just been

set up. Definitely, my working committee will look into the procedures, like KPIs and accountability and, as suggested by Mr Sin Boon Ann, how to set a benchmark. I think we need to look into all these areas to improve the communication.

I also want to highlight that, while we look towards working with the CCCs and the grassroots organisations for their support in the scheme itself, which I certainly encourage, I must also point out that they are all volunteers and, therefore, relying or counting on them alone will not be enough.

Miss Penny Low touched on a very important point. Besides the grassroots and the advisors, the VWO is a very important wing. So far, the Family Service Centres are all very supportive. We will definitely work with the VWOs.

Sir, I want to clarify about the service benchmark for CDCs. CDCs do set a certain standard, in terms of delivery of social service, which is six weeks, and most of the time we are able to achieve that. But most of the time, the delay is because the recipient is not responding to the CDC. That is one thing which we have to bring the message across. It is the responsibility of the client also to make an effort to contact the CDC. It is not a one way communication. It is a two-way communication in order to reach out to the needy. This is to clarify her point.

Sir, I would like to again reconfirm that for the six weeks of processing, we must definitely make a decision, whether we want to give the first help and then continue with the other help. But there must be a KPI on that part itself, and not the processing time.

Sir, I have mentioned just now that we are giving flexibility to the CDCs. They may have cases which are very urgent. The Mayor and advisors should make a decision that we should give some interim help. It must depend on the background of the case. Like I said, we will take a holistic approach to look into the circumstances of the case.

There is one more point. Ninety-five cases out of 105 cases currently pending in my division is a very high percentage. So it is not a matter of one or two urgent cases.

Who is the Mayor? What I am trying to say here is that we will feed back and work immediately with the Mayors and the advisors. I am sure Mdm Cynthia Phua will definitely want to work with us and sort out these problems immediately.

Sir, since the Mayor's name has been invoked, I would like to reassure Mdm Phua that, in fact, we treat all cases with urgency. For those cases which are very urgent, especially those that came from MPS cases, we give special attention to it, and we will reply to the MP concerned. For MPs who are still not happy with the rate of processing and rate of reply, they should bring this up directly to the Mayor concerned, and we would give due attention.

Any more Mayors who want to speak? If none, we will proceed to the next cut. Mr Chew Heng Ching is not here. Dr Chong Weng Chiew.

Voluntary Welfare Organisations

Sir, it is not easy to read fast, and I have to apologise for it. First, allow

me to declare my interest in a few charity welfare organisations.

VWOs are central to our "many helping hands" approach to welfare delivery. There are two groups of VWOs: those run by secular groups and those supported by religious groups. Both have their places in our community complementing one another. However, while VWOs with religious connections enjoy the continued patronage and support of their various congregations, non-religious VWOs do not have such an advantage.

A recent national survey commissioned by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre found that 52% of donations made by individuals between April 2003 and 2004 went to churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship. A proportion of these donations are in turn used to fund community projects and VWOs supported by religious groups. Hence, all the more our secular VWOs need the Government support to carry out the mission and tasks effectively. Because they are secular, they are not restricted by guidelines inherent in VWOs linked to religious groups, and thus can work together with all groups in our multi-religious, multi-cultural community to reach broad based targets.

Dr Chong, your time is up. Mr Alex Chan.

12.30 pm

Racial Harmony

Sir, in many multi-ethnic societies around the world, recent world events and terrorism have definitely caused some stresses and strains on inter-communal relations, whether covert or overt. Multi-racial Singapore was not spared

nor insulated from such terrorist threat developments. We had our share

of tests and near misses. If any of the JI plans had happened, for example, Singapore could have suffered an unpredictably protracted period of difficult race relations. Protected by a Constitution, Singapore today has a good history of peaceful community life recognising our multi-ethnicity, multi-cultural heritage and multi-language and multi-religious nature. Today, we have a number of organisations, eg, self-help groups that are specifically race-based and function to serve only within their own community. The logic of this is that each community is best able to deal with her own kind. While we can easily understand the merits of this logic, I feel that in addition to some benefits, we may also have, by such design, created the organisational and administrative boundaries and interstices between such groups.

We recently started to debate the issue of lack of Malay language skills, for example, made evident during the humanitarian efforts in Banda Aceh. In the workplace, we can easily observe that people tend to congregate among their own races, eg, Chinese lunch with Chinese, Malays with Malays. This is, of course, natural. And, in Singapore, there may not be anything insidious about such behaviour. Nevertheless, we have somewhat diminished the fact of having English be one type of social inter-racial glue in everyday life. Sir, my point is that, by our well-intended policies to improve our proficiencies in our mother tongue, we have concomitantly traded off the benefits of having English as a common working language.

Similarly, I anticipate that the formation of more ethic-based self-help groups could also inadvertently have other consequences only because it becomes administratively convenient for policy implementation, because we now have a reporting label and a mail box. It is quite common for official reports and for the media to report things using our convenient racial sort of criteria, eg,

smoking incident, school results, crime statistics. Again, we are all cognisant that this was not the original intent. But once conveniences become available, they do become easily too convenient. So, there seems to be a need to find more opportunities and social glue, both public and private sector NGOs, to offer cross-racial boundary activities that further bind our society.

My questions, therefore, are: How does MCYS keep a pulse on these matters? What is the state of race relations deep down? And what are our future strategies for improving race relations further, beyond campaigns?

Mr David Lim is not here. Miss Penny Low. Two minutes.

Sir, the Singapore Idol reflected the dynamism of youths. To support the Idols, they organised themselves into lobby groups, raised funds via pasar malam stalls, created websites and virtual social groups. In sports, the Tiger Cup also saw youthful crowds waiting patiently at Changi Airport for their soccer heroes to come home. In the tsunami fund-raising effort in my constituency, Punggol-North, some $100,000 was raised mainly through the efforts of the youths. Clearly, when there is a real or perceived cause, with passion and some facilitation, the youthful spirit can go a very long way, whether it is rightly or wrongly. Our challenge then is to engage them either in our policy-making process or facilitate youths so that their energy can be properly channelled, or at least create some space for them to do what they want as long as it is not harmful to themselves or to the society. The worst thing we can do is to block them or frustrate them with many rules and regulations or restricted space.

I would like the Ministry to take a bottom-up approach to find out what really excites our youths. It may be

singing, soccer, civic issues or even roundtable-type clubs or fan clubs for role models. Perhaps the Ministry can also afford to err on the side of generosity so that youth groups, both formal and informal, can take advantage of the various facilities and fundings currently being looked into by MCYS. Better that our youths channel their energy into these programmes than to see them come under the influence of street gangs or deviant behaviour.

Youths are also gregarious and they like to hang out. Now, a lot of them play cat-and-mouse games with mall managements because of the lack of public space for them. Perhaps we should build more laissez-faire youth parks closer to HDB heartlands. This proximity will help and enable youths to gather and channel their energy closer to home and perhaps also under closer supervision of their guardians. I would also like to have an update of the national youth forum and the extensive youth consultation exercise that is on-going.

Sir, MCYS started a youth consultation exercise which involved a large number of young Singaporeans. The objective was to engage them and incorporate their visions, desires and ideas into our national plans and agendas. I think this wonderful initiative should continue to be carried out regularly with on-going smaller sessions as well as larger-scale exercises carried out at least once every three years. Can the Ministry at this point of time provide an update on the recent exercise?

Last year, the Ministry was renamed MCYS. This change of name reflects the importance our Government places on engaging and involving youths in our nation building. However, on the one hand, there are so many youth issues and their corresponding implications for Singapore's future. On the other hand, we have resource constraints and, thus,

MCYS should prioritise its areas of focus. Can the Ministry share with this House its priorities in the area of youth engagement and the plans to address these priorities?

Funding for Sports

Sir, the last 12 months have seen several highs in the sporting scene of heroes in badminton, table tennis and soccer did Singapore proud. Singaporeans were glued to live telecasts and wept, whether we won or lost. What is important is that we have achieved a presence on the international sports scene. What is important is that, once out there, these sports heroes have all of Singapore's hopes pinned on them.

To get to where we are has been a long road, a committed process and, of course, funding. I have noticed that funding for sports has dropped from a high of $111 million in FY2002 to $85 million in FY2005. However, much hope was raised with the announcement by the then-PM Goh of the $500 million fund that accompanied the report by the Committee on Sporting Singapore, known affectionately as COSS by the people involved in sports management in Singapore. I would like to ask the Minister if there is a similar follow-on fund to provide the continuity that the first $500 million had initiated. A significant portion of the first tranche has gone into the Sports Hub and the Sports School.

However, even as the infrastructure and the hardware get attention, I would like to ask the Minister if he can share his thoughts on how he is applying funding to nurture the software as well. By "software" in this case, I mean the funding for youth development, coaches development and the funding to nurture a vibrant sports scene in Singapore, without which the lack of competitive exposure would relegate our plans to a stillborn. I

would also like to ask the Minister if he has plans to work with the STB for bringing in key sports events to fire up the enthusiasm of younger Singaporeans.

On the topic of younger Singaporeans, I would like the Minister to comment on the need to work closely with the schools' sports councils so that as many children as possible be given the opportunity to be exposed to games and not be left out in the cold as schools pursue elitism and competitive glory at the expense of mass participation. Parliamentary Secretary Dr Maliki lamented on the plight faced by his friend's children in this Chamber just two days ago. In order to achieve our objective of mass participation in sports, we have to start in the schools.

Mr Wee, your time is up. Mr Low Thia Khiang is not here. Mr Charles Chong is also not here. Dr Geh Min. Three minutes.

Casinos

Sir, I would like to ask if reliable studies have been done on the social impact and cost of gambling, especially casino gambling, in and on Singapore. In order to see the big picture, we cannot just look at the bright side - tourist dollars, increased revenue - but the dark side, as depicted by the tragedy of Simon Lee and his family.

Studies done abroad show great variation from country to country and even community to community. And this makes it imperative that we do our own studies rather than rely on others. What is the estimated size of the problem? What are the groups at risk? We cannot assume that just because people have gambling in their blood that they are automatically immune to the side effects. I know that reliable data is not easy to collect or quantify and that much of the social impact of problem gambling is indirect, insidious and long term. Even if

it is identified, the costs are likely to be under-estimated. For example, how do you quantify the loss of work ethic or family dysfunction until it reaches breaking point? These, to me, are all reasons for doing systematic studies of the social impacts of problem gambling as soon as accurately and as exhaustively as possible.

For instance, can the recent rise in child abuse, divorce and bankruptcies that we have read about be related to an increase in pathological gambling? The Prime Minister has stated quite correctly, and I agree with him, that the role of Government is to risk-manage, not to risk-eliminate; to provide a safety net, but not a security blanket. But may I say that where the safety net is positioned is crucial. And the best way to risk-manage is to anticipate problems and prevent them, if possible. If not, at least treat them at source. Of course, the worst is to let them balloon out of all proportion. I am sure the Government does not intend to do that. Therefore, we should have reliable data of the social cost of gambling, particularly casino gambling, which I believe is more addictive.

In Singapore, in order to help us decide whether we should have a casino, what form it should take, what social safeguards to have, and where they can be most effectively placed, may I say here I do not agree that they should just be placed at the casino itself. They should be placed on the community level and, most importantly, how we can best manage the social costs that arise. Most of these costs and impacts will be borne by the family and community. We should therefore be given an idea of what they are likely to be, how we can manage them, how we can contain them and, best of all, how we can minimise their impact.

Sir, yesterday I focused on

the first priority of our Ministry, which was to ensure that all Singaporeans have opportunities to maximise his or her potential and that no one would be left behind. Let me now focus on the second area, which is to nurture the relationships that make life in Singapore meaningful and worthwhile. That is what binds us together as family members, as members of our community, as fellow citizens, and it is the nature of these relationships that make Singapore our home. That is why we are interested in issues like the family, that is why we are concerned with volunteerism, philanthropy, the state of racial harmony, sports and many other things that Members have brought up in the last hour.

Many Singaporeans derive a great sense of fulfilment when they are able to look beyond themselves and to do something for the community. They make a real difference to the lives of the people they come into contact with, and we need to encourage and nurture this spontaneous willingness, this expression of their heart to do more and to make a difference. That is why we have adopted this many-helping-hands approach, in which we will work with individuals, companies and voluntary welfare organisations to promote volunteerism and charity work and to encourage all of them to come forward.

I want to say at this point in response to Dr Chong Weng Chiew that I am agnostic as to whether a voluntary welfare organisation is religious or secular as far as its primary motivations are concerned. But what we do insist on is that they express this willingness to serve in a manner which does not discriminate on the basis of race, language or religion. That is why Members of the House will be aware that, in order to get an Institution of Public Character (IPC) status which then enables the donors to claim double tax relief, the work that that organisation performs must be delivered in a race,

language and religion-neutral fashion. So, I think with that framework in place, we can afford to be flexible and, frankly, to encourage all organisations, regardless of whether they are secular or religious, to carry on performing their social services. Indeed, I want to encourage them to do a lot more.

This general approach of supporting organisations, and of supporting and encouraging Singaporeans to contribute their time, energy and efforts has actually paid off in a very real and significant way. If we look at the figures, from 1998 to 2003, donations to IPCs have doubled, and the figure is now more than $500 million a year. If you look at volunteerism rates, that has also increased from 9.3% in 2000 to 15.2%

last year. This is an increase, and I am sure we can do more and we certainly want to encourage Singaporeans to volunteer even more.

12.45 pm

But if we needed any further proof that Singaporeans have a big heart, we only need to look at the spontaneous and tremendous outpouring of compassion, help and donations that were manifested by Singaporeans during the recent tsunami disaster. We need no longer have any doubts in our mind that Singapore and Singaporeans are generous and compassionate people with a very big heart.

We will continue to expand capabilities in the people sector. Voluntary welfare organisations, although you say "voluntary", they do need to be professional as well. We need to enhance the professionalism of both the volunteers as well as the paid staff of these organisations. That is why the NCSS has been working with VWOs to enhance training for social service personnel and also to help them take advantage, for instance, of the capabilities with increased

use of info-communications technology (ICT) for these VWOs. We want VWOs to also move up and make use of all the training and facilities which are available in the modern world.

But there is another aspect, which again was illustrated by our response to the tsunami disaster. That was the fact that VWOs could do so much more by collaborating with each other and by pursuing mutual synergy. That is why I was very heartened that one of the key committees that arose was this Tsunami Reconstruction Facilitation Committee. Yes, it is led by the Red Cross which, after all, raised about $81 million. But it has representatives from a wide spectrum of VWOs who were involved and engaged in the efforts to assist these victims. The Committee embodies the premise that we can do so much more by working with each other. And it is also noteworthy that if you look at the actual organisations that were on the ground, we saw organisations, which may have started on, which were religious. But coming together, we had Muslim, Buddhist and Christian organisations being able to come together, worked together and very often, even have a common front. In that way, they actually carried the Singapore flag very high for all of us. We could all celebrate and be happy that we were able to show that in Singapore, when we say, regardless of race, language and religion, we have actually taken this one step further. We are able to work together to achieve so much more. This, I believe is another reason for us to celebrate.

Let me turn to the issues on youth. Last year, my Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. As some of you have said, this cannot just be a name change. It demonstrates the Government's commitment to engage youth of Singapore in our efforts to shape our common future. My hope is that every young Singaporean will be able to proudly say, at some point

in time in the future, that he has made a difference to some corner, some community, some people or to some cause in Singapore. Because he or she will be able to say, "I had a role to play and I made it, and I helped shape it in that way." Then, that sense of ownership, pride, belonging and engagement will be entrenched and enhanced. We are now in a world in which ownership can no longer be just defined by owning a piece of concrete, a flat or even a home. I think young Singaporeans nowadays define ownership in terms of the intangible dimension. That intangible dimension is the opportunity to contribute and to make a difference.

Some people have said and falsely accused young Singaporeans of being apathetic. Last year, we launched a nation-wide consultation exercise. The first order of the day in my Ministry was to launch this exercise and say, "Look, if we are going to address and engage our youth, the first thing we better do is to listen to them." My Parliamentary Secretary, Dr Maliki, Miss Penny Low and Dr Chong Weng Chiew were intimately involved in leading this consultation exercise. Dr Maliki will give Members a few more details later. But what did we learn from this exercise?

First, young Singaporeans are not apathetic. Second, there is a large reservoir of goodwill, enthusiasm, passion and energy out there, waiting to be tapped and unleashed so that they can make a difference to this home that we call Singapore. Because young people do not know what can go wrong or they do not know the limits, that very ignorance gives young people the liberation to have no limits to their imagination. I think older Singaporeans need to give space to these unbridled enthusiasm and imagination of young people. Consequently, our challenge is not to tell young people that their idea cannot be done, it does not work or we have tried it before and it had

failed. Our challenge is to say, "If you got an idea, now take it on to the next step. Translate it into action. Make it come to reality." In that process of translating it into action, young people will discover what can or cannot work, whether it makes sense or does not make sense. In that process of discovery, they will learn the real lessons of life and, ultimately, make a difference to our society. It is also possible that in this journey of discovery, they will discover some decisions which we had assumed were correct in the past, perhaps no longer apply today. And the young people may genuinely come up with better solutions than we have had in the past.

We are going to be guided by four principles in our engagement with young Singaporeans. First, we want to empower our young Singaporeans. That means, I am not going to prescribe to them, I am not going to dictate to them, I am not going to tell them what to do nor am I going to hold their hands throughout this journey of discovery. We will play a facilitative and a nurturing role. We will provide opportunities and support but it is up to the young Singaporeans to direct their talents and energy in the directions that they wish to go, whatever those directions are.

Second, we will embrace the diversity that young Singaporeans bring to the table. Young Singaporeans are a very heterogeneous lot with very different interests. Some have a very good heart, and they want to help the less fortunate. Others are interested in preserving the environment, while others in arts, sports, culture, in mentoring others, and so on. We need to recognise and celebrate this diversity and let them decide, for each young Singaporean, what he or she wants to do.

Third, we must be inclusive. Our youths come from varied backgrounds and have different needs. Some may be disabled or from less fortunate back

grounds or be at risk because they are out of school or facing difficult social circumstances. They will need our help in order for them to realise their potential. But we must focus beyond their problems and be able to look instead at the potential for each young Singaporean. Therefore, we must focus on giving them opportunities. It does not matter whether a person has failed academically or has taken an unconventional route. Always look at what opportunities lie in front of that person and our job is to give them a chance - to give them a second, third, fourth or fifth chance.

Finally, we must ensure that even as we exhort young Singaporeans to contribute to society, we must also make sure they benefit from it. I am quite glad that the Ministry of Education has done away with CCA points for JC students and even removed the need for a mandatory six hours of CIP for JC students. Because now, they will do what they truly feel motivated to do. Similarly, the voluntary organisations which use the services of these young Singaporeans will now understand that there must be mutual benefit. The young Singaporean must learn something from his engagement and participation in your enterprise.

I have asked for a handout to be distributed to Members. That is because many of you asked me what are our upcoming initiatives. First of all, I want to say that I am really not embarrassed to say, if you look at the handout, there are about 10 different categories. The majority of the ideas in there were harvested from our youth consultation exercise. It shows you our sincerity. It also shows you that we are going to give credit when credit is due. I hope the thousands of young Singaporeans who have spent the last few months working day and night, furiously flashing out ideas,

would now look at these plans and realise that they own these plans.

Let me just quickly give you a flavour of what is contained in that handout. First, the youth voice. Many young Singaporeans have said that they want their voices to be heard. I agree with them. Fortunately for us, we were able to link some budding young writers with some enthusiastic editors in the Straits Times who were also quite coincidentally keen on starting a youth section, written by young people for young people. Three months after the consultation exercise, we launched YouthInk, a weekly section in the Straits Times.

1.00 pm

I have met some of these young student writers. They are a very diverse batch - some doing NS and some are students in universities, polytechnics and ITEs. If you have been reading their articles - and I hope Members of this House have been reading the articles that they have come up with - these are thinking, well-thought and considered opinions and perspectives that they are reflecting in those pages. I hope this will continue as a permanent feature of our newspapers.

Consultation and feedback - many youths said they want to be heard, they want a chance to deliberate and debate national issues. The Feedback Unit will expand its youth outreach efforts. In fact, we are going to put youths in charge of the electronic portal, the website, of the Feedback Unit. Again, it will ensure that the technology and presentations that we use would be such that it attracts and engages youths who want to participate in these discussions.

The National Youth Council also initiated the National Youth Forum last year, a platform for young Singaporeans to learn about policy making, to meet policy makers, and to discuss policy issues. I am glad that there was some controversy last year and there were, in

fact, some strong criticisms of the views that were expressed by young Singaporeans taking part in the National Youth Forum. I think it was a good learning experience for the young Singaporeans to realise that what they say does matter and not everyone is going to he happy, and not everyone is going to agree with what they say. The decision making and policy formulation is a complex exercise, one in which they need to keep their ears open. Ultimately, however, they have to take a position, make a decision and it does not mean everyone will always be happy. I think it has been a very instructive lesson for all the young Singaporeans who had been involved in the forum.

Next, we also wanted to tell them that, "Look, do not just confine yourself to writing, debating or discussing. Go beyond words. Translate your causes and your beliefs into action." Again, in order to give young people a chance to translate things into action, we set up a Youth Portal. This is a first-stop databank. It is a databank and advisory service so that youths who wish to participate, whether their interest is in sports or environment or any cause that they want, would be able to see what organisations are out there, what needs are out there, what resources are available, how can they match that with their interest.

Another initiative we will launch is a project called "Young Change Makers". Basically, what we are going to do in this is to put some money aside, seed money for youth projects, but we would put young Singaporeans in charge of making the decisions as to which projects should be supported, which projects should not be supported. This is peer review in action. It will send several messages. First, it will signal to young Singaporeans that we trust them. We trust them to act responsibly when they are given resources to do so. Secondly, for those who are coming up with ideas, they will now know they better come up with a good idea

which passes muster and which convinces their peers and if the answer is no, do not just blame the people making the decision. Usually, it is the Government having to say no to them and the usual excuse is to say, "Oh, the Government is being unsupportive, unhelpful, being obstructionist." Now, they have to work with and convince their own peers. There would, therefore, be a competition of ideas for these projects.

I also realise, as I said earlier, as we move towards the future in which young Singaporeans choose what they want to do, and not because they are forced to do it. We still need to make sure that at the younger ages we try to inculcate the right attitudes of volunteerism and we promote a better consciousness of social issues. This is something which we will have to do in our schools and, indeed, in our work with younger Singaporeans. NCSS will be launching a competition called 'Youths Embrace Social Service'. The objective of this competition is to promote better understanding of social service issues amongst school-going youths. Again, by making it a competition, it is voluntary. But, in that process of competing, they will learn about social issues and, hopefully, they will then be motivated to do something about it.

The next thing I want to talk about is Orchard Road. I have been fortunate to be in both MND and MTI and now in MCYS, and I have also chaired a committee which has spent the last one year cracking our minds as to how we are going to rejuvenate Orchard Road. Over the last few days you have heard various Ministries made certain announcements with respect to Orchard Road. Well, we have an "Orchard Road Announcement" for the youths.

We are going to set aside 1.2 hectares of land that is beside the Orchard CineLeisure. Right now there is a small scape park. We are going to relocate that scape park to the land above Somerset

MRT. And, you would also be aware of the road closure that the LTA announced yesterday. That allows us now to amalgamate 1.2 hectares of land right in the heart of the city, right in the heart of Orchard Road, in an area which has already been identified by the young as a place they want to hang out. Now, it is not just going to be a hang-out place because we want this to be an iconic youth development, one in which not only our youths will come, but youths from all over the world and indeed tourists will say it is a must-see sight in Singapore. How will we develop this? The first thing is that we will get the views from young people. What do they want to see there? What activities do they want conducted there? Then we will have to bring in architects, designers and the businesses as well to ensure that this place is commercially viable, exciting and interesting and, ultimately, contributes to the overall attractions that Orchard Road will have. So our youths will have now a piece of land they can call their own, truly a space of their own.

Miss Penny Low asked for multiple such parks, saying, "Let us start with this one. Make this succeed and it will be a showcase of what we can do for you, by working with you, and tapping the ideas and the passion of youth."

I want to move on now to helping vulnerable youth. Some Members may be aware of our STEP-UP programme and our Out-of-School Youth Development Schemes. These have been showing progress and we intend to expand them so that more of our youths can complete their education, fulfil their potential and contribute to our society, even if this process of completing their education involves detours and taking those steps repeatedly. But, so long as, ultimately, all young Singaporeans can find something that they are good at, interested in and a

way to make a decent living, with self-respect, then these programmes would have achieved their objectives.

Let me now move on to sports as brought up by Mr Alex Chan. Sir, we want Singaporeans from all races, cultures and backgrounds to interact, play, celebrate and bond together, and sports is one key modality to achieve that. Participation in sports also develops a healthy mind and body, quite apart from its impact on social interaction. Supporting our national athletes and celebrating our sporting achievements have brought us closer together as a nation.

On 16th January, our young Lions took on the Indonesian national soccer team in the Tiger Cup final. I was there. In fact, many Members of the House were there and I think we can all gladly report that the Kallang Roar was back, and is back with a vengeance. All of us there were struck by this sense of collective purpose, the emotional unity that sports brings for all of us.

I also want to thank Mr Wee Siew Kim for his suggestion to work with STB to bring marquee sports events to Singapore. The good news is that we already have a fair number of such events. The one which I remember most obviously would be having the Singapore Marathon which was held in December last year. Mr Ong Kian Min completed the full marathon. I did 10 kilometres. I am not sure whether this is going to be an occupational hazard or a bonus, but I suppose future Sports Ministers would have to run at least 10 kilometres. But these marquee events really bring in more than just tourist dollars. They do more than just put us on the map. In the case of the marathon, we had about 15,000-16,000 people running. The atmosphere was electric, that sense of oneness, that sense of conquering the challenge set out before you, and of achieving something for yourself and for your team, was incredible. That is why

we must continue to attract such sporting events and really push for greater participation.

Mr Wee also asked about funding for sports. In 2001, the Government, together with Singapore Pools, committed $500 million over a five-year period to a Sporting Singapore Fund. In fact, this was brought about during Mr Speaker's tenure in the Ministry. Part of this $500 million was used for infrastructure like the Sports School. To build on this momentum, I am glad to announce that the Sporting Singapore Fund will receive an additional $300 million. This $300 million would be utilised from 2006 to 2010, but the funding for the Sports Hub, which is going to cost an estimated sum of probably another $600-$650 million, will be separately funded. So, I hope Members of this House will be assured that we are putting serious money aside to develop sports, sports infrastructure and a sporting culture in Singapore.

Speaking of sporting culture, we cannot have a sporting culture unless the ordinary Singaporean, young and old, has an opportunity to pursue sports. If you look at football, superpowers like Brazil, I am sure Brazilians are talented and probably have football running in their blood, but I think part of the reason for their success is that the Brazilian young children will kick a ball anywhere there is a field, in fact, sometimes there is no grass even. As long as there is a surface on which a ball can be kicked, they will do that.

In Singapore, our land resources are much more limited. But we have tried, and are trying, to work around these constraints. So there are two things which I want to announce today. First, from next month, MCYS and MOE will open up a total of 50 school fields for public use. We are going to call this the Dual-Use Scheme.

Under this scheme, the schools will still have first right over the use of their fields, certainly during weekdays and on Saturday mornings. But outside curriculum hours and on weekends, members of the public can book these fields for a small fee. You can make your booking through the SSC website, and you can use these fields for any sports or recreational facilities. The only thing I would appeal for is, please do not destroy the fields, do not damage the infrastructure. Otherwise, you will set us back. Assuming we get this implemented successfully, and 50 is only the tip of the iceberg, our intent is to expand this scheme to as many school fields as possible.

Quite apart from school fields, we all know that there are patches of State land scattered throughout our island. I am very glad that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) last year started changing the signs. Instead of saying "No Trespassing", they say, "Enter at your own risk", which is, I suppose, as much as you can hope from a legal perspective to say, "Come and use it if you like to."

Even as we open these pieces of land and we encourage informal play and free play on these pieces of land, I am sure there will be occasions when perhaps the grassroots organisations would look at this field and say, "Maybe we can improve it. Fill in the potholes, so that you do not trip and break your ankle as you play football there." What my Ministry will do is that we will set aside $2 million in a fund which grassroots organisations can apply for on a matching basis. I want a matching basis so that there is commitment. So you identify a piece of land which you want to improve, you raise some funds, we will match your fund and you can then improve that piece of land to make it more playable, more attractive, so that your residents can use it. And, of course, as I have said earlier, I

want the use of this sort of informal facilities to be free. I believe there is still a place for free facilities in Singapore, and this will help encourage the sporting culture, the mass participation that I spoke about.

In addition to that, we will also continue to promote sports by focusing on the different demographic groups. One of the key things is to focus on our young, because if you can get into a sporting habit early enough, then in effect you become addicted to exercise and it becomes a lifelong habit. We will also work with more sports partners and the SSC would build on the successful Sports Partners Promotion programme, which subsidises private sports programme providers. For example, there is a successful recreational soccer league, the ESPZEN, involving more than 40 teams, playing regularly throughout the year, supported by MCYS and the SSC. SSC will further promote participation in sports through its comprehensive network of public sports facilities.

Currently, we have some 18 stadiums, 22 swimming complexes, 14 sports halls, 14 multi-purpose fields and 52 tennis courts. With these, and as I said earlier, if we add the 50 school fields, add 150 pieces of State land, and many more to come in the future, I think Members of this House should rest assured that there will be a wide range of facilities - ranging from those you have to pay all the way to those which are free.

1.15 pm

Sir, many people have asked me whether Singapore will be successful in the next 40 years of our journey. None of us in this House can predict or give an absolute assurance on it, but I think we can all be clear that in this journey forward, we need to bring all Singaporeans along with us. We are a

nation; we are a community; we cannot afford to retrench Singapore citizens from the benefits of citizenship. So there will be a place for every Singaporean as we make this journey and aim for higher heights. There will and must be opportunities for all and perhaps just as important, there must be hope for every Singaporean. We will also need to strengthen the relationships that bind us together as families, as communities and as a nation. Ultimately, it is this combination of opportunities, hope, commitment and cohesion that are our best guarantee of survival and the ability to thrive in the future.

So I hope Members will join my Ministry and indeed all the other Ministries and who have participated in the Budget debate and in the COS, as we all tried our bit to make this a reality and to give Singaporeans hope, optimism and confidence in the future.

Sir, in his swearing-in speech last year, Prime Minister Lee had called on young Singaporeans to "step forward to make a difference to yourselves, to your fellow citizens and to Singapore". The "Youth: Creating Our Future" consultation exercise that MCYS launched in August last year was one major avenue through which we invited young Singaporeans to share their views, galvanise around causes they believe in, and influence the national agenda. Miss Penny Low and Dr Chong Weng Chiew asked for an update of the consultation exercise. I am pleased to share with Members the progress that MCYS has made so far.

MCYS had launched the exercise to hear first-hand our youth's hopes, concerns and ideas so that we can enhance our policies and programmes for our youths. Over six weeks, we reached out to more than 2,000 youths from

diverse backgrounds through multiple channels like SMS, focus groups and email. My Ministry and other relevant Government agencies have been studying the wide-ranging inputs. We plan to publish our responses next month.

Some of the youths did not stop at giving feedback. They decided to turn their ideas into reality. One example, which my Minister had earlier mentioned, was how the weekly YouthInk section in the Straits Times had come about.

Another group, comprising skateboarders, rollerbladers, mountain bikers who took part in the consultation exercise, decided to act on their own suggestion to raise awareness of extreme sports which have been gaining popularity amongst the young. So we facilitated that interest. They have planned two instalments of an event called soul to soul - the interesting name that they came out with - to help promote the sports and discover home-grown talent. The first was held in January this year as a warm-up exercise to gear them towards the larger scale event later this year.

These and other examples convinced us that our young people are really not all NATO - "no action talk only" people. Beyond giving feedback, many, given the opportunity, will take action and channel their energy into causes that they believe in. It emboldened us to take the consultation exercise one step further by asking more of them to develop their ideas in greater depth.

Sir, a few issues had cropped up repeatedly during the consultation. We decided to ask for volunteers among them to develop specific action plans and projects in these areas. This, in essence, is really the bottoms-up approach that Miss Penny Low talked about. 120 of them stepped forward and formed four work groups. One work group - called "Youth Action" - has been looking at

enhancing opportunities for youth to volunteer and connect to community causes. Another group - they call themselves "Youth Connect" - seeks to expand avenues to deepen youth engagement to the nation. A third group - "Youth Reloaded" - is developing proposals to support, empower and include youths who face greater challenges, such as youths at-risk and the disabled youth. The final group, "Youth Biz", wants to nurture entrepreneurship among youth.

We facilitated their work by providing them access to civil servants who act as resource persons. This allows the youths to appreciate policy making processes, as for the civil servants to appreciate the aspirations of the young.

I have had the opportunity to interact with them and to preview their work. As my Minister had said earlier, some of their inputs have shaped the Ministry's upcoming initiatives. Let me share with Members my impressions of these work groups.

First, I am struck by their conviction. The youth involved are a diverse bunch, hailing from different backgrounds and life stages - from students, to working youths, to youths with disabilities. Some had specific ideas to champion. Others wanted to change policies at the national level. What they share however is a belief that Singapore can be a better place, and that they can contribute towards shaping this.

It would have been hard for them to get the work groups going if they did not have this conviction. Unlike many Government-initiated committees, the discussions, the idea generation and the report writing in the work groups are all led and done by the youths themselves, with guidance from the youth organisations who act as co-leaders. MCYS deliberately took a backseat, acting only

as resource persons. I guess this is a fresh change for the civil servants.

Many of the youths sacrificed late nights and weekends to volunteer their time. I know of two groups that meet regularly on Saturdays or Sundays. Ahmad Nizam, President of Mendaki Club and one of our work group co-chairmen, told me, "To the youths, it was not just a project, but a cause to them. They really believe in it. They went all out . . . Most of the time, we were trying to keep up with them."

The second thing that impressed me was their broad outlook. Many of their proposals are aimed at benefiting not only young people, but the wider community. For example, some of them are tackling big and complex issues such as improving the education and employment prospects and quality of life of people with disabilities.

Lastly, I am happy that the youths have a sense of ownership over their ideas, and are keen to follow through on some of them. Sure, many of their proposals are recommendations for the Government to consider and act on. But there are also ideas that youths themselves want to champion and pursue, with some support if necessary.

The Youth Action work group had suggested the idea of a festival for young Singaporeans to celebrate and showcase their talent, energy and contribution. This is to offer opportunities for all youths, youth organisations and community groups to initiate ground-up activities in a variety of areas that capture our youth's imagination, including arts, sports and adventure, community involvement, entrepreneurship and so on. Youth Action has asked for MCYS' support, and offered to organise some of these activities. We have agreed, and will be working with

them to organise this festival, which will take place in the middle of this year.

Similarly, I understand that some members in the Youth Biz work group are exploring the idea of forming an association for social enterprise with other partners. Indeed, our youths are walking the talk!

The work groups will release their reports soon. I am confident that this will give the public a glimpse of the effort, enthusiasm and imagination that I have witnessed over the past few months. The Ministries will study their proposals closely. MCYS will track the status of the recommendations and communicate this regularly to the work group members.

For other recommendations that MCYS or relevant agencies can implement, we will explore how the work group members and other interested Singaporeans can be further involved in the implementation phase.

Of course, not all recommendations that require Government action will be implemented immediately. Some may be before their time; other ideas may not be feasible in the long-term. So I urge our youths not to be disheartened. For proposals that need a longer gestation period, I encourage them to view their effort as contributing to the case for change. The Government will explain why certain proposals need further study or are not feasible at this time. Over time, this approach will promote the evolution of a more informed culture of citizen participation.

Sir, the specifics of the final recommendations aside, I think that the process of the exercise has been most valuable to both Government and the youth involved. Let me explain why.

First, by facilitating youths in evaluating, developing and implementing their ideas, the process helps to move public consultation beyond feedback

towards collaborative action. Several work group chairpersons have remarked that the work group approach is a workable and enriching people-Government partnership. I agree with them. This approach deepens the youth's engagement with the causes they want to pursue and, in the process, enhances the quality of feedback. Their ideas enrich the dialogue we share, and challenge and refresh our own thinking.

Second, our young people themselves stand to benefit and grow from their involvement. The on-going work groups have helped our youths develop a deeper understanding of policy making, and the delicate balances involved. For example, Hamesh Mehta, one of the work group members, said to us, "I feel that I have grown as a citizen, more aware of the various perspectives that I had previously overlooked or ignored. I also began to understand how frustrating and arduous the task of policy making can be and, as a result, realise how important it is to maintain focus and decisiveness."

A few of our youths have also emerged, through this process, as natural leaders in their own right, playing a significant part in driving their work groups. Take, for example, Samuel Chan, who took up the cause of the ex-offenders. The work group experience has motivated him further to pursue his passion. The experience and networks which he has gained, he told us, would help him to eventually form an organisation of youths to champion the cause.

How do we move this work group process forward? Sir, we want our youths to develop a confident voice and be active citizens in community and national affairs. As we explore new and innovative ways to engage young Singaporeans and give them a meaningful stake in national affairs, we will build on this work group experience as one viable way to do so. This is, in fact, a

recommendation of the Youth Connect work group. Dr Chong Weng Chiew had suggested that we do it every three years. I want to share with him that the work group wanted to do it every year. They want this process to be permanent, and possibly even involve a wider segment of Singaporeans.

MCYS will explore a structured way of institutionalising this youth engagement process, taking in the learning points from this exercise. For example, rather than MCYS identifying the issues to be explored, we can consider ways to facilitate youths to initiate work groups on specific projects identified by youths themselves.

Sir, our hope is that future youth work groups will widen the spectrum of engagement initiatives, together with the other initiatives that my Minister has mentioned earlier. This is akin to sowing the seeds of opportunity, so that our youths and the nation can continue to bloom.

1.30 pm

Thank you, Sir, for allowing me to respond briefly to the comment on the Community Development Councils raised by Mdm Cynthia Phua yesterday.

Yesterday, Mdm Cynthia Phua asked about the roles of the CDCs and she gave certain comments on CDCs as local administrators for MCYS programmes. We would like to say that while CDCs administer a lot of programmes locally, being a local administrator, it is not the primary role of the CDCs. CDC is about community bonding. It is about reaching out to people, bringing people together and achieving cohesion amongst the people. Therefore, it is definitely true that we cannot adopt a broad-brush approach, as Mdm Cynthia Phua said.

I just want to give some examples about CDCs reaching out to the people. Last year, the CDCs organised some 560 community projects reaching out to about 1.3 million residents. The Central Singapore CDC, for example, collaborated with the ethnic clubs in the district to organise soccer clinics and training for the young residents involving their parents. The Central Singapore CDC also has a community life arts programme that allows community-based arts groups and residents to get together to appreciate arts. The South East CDC, on the other hand, has initiated the Racial Harmony Youth Ambassadors programme to promote inter-racial understanding using young people as ambassadors.

Besides engaging residents of all age groups through their sports, cultural and community events, the CDCs also play the role of enabling the grassroots organisations in their community bonding efforts. For example, the South West CDC supported the Pioneer CCC in its Community Day Carnival that brought together 12,000 residents for interaction through performances, games as well as healthy lifestyle activities. The North West CDC has also worked with the grassroots and community-based organisations to form 95 Briskwalking Clubs with a membership of 22,600. I am sure a lot of them have achieved good health in the process.

CDCs, of course, administer many social and job assistance programmes. But, in addition to doing whatever MCYS requires them to do, it also adds in a lot of people's element, for example, involving grassroots leaders and residents in social assistance programmes. The South East CDC, for example, while doing job placements, does not just place people on paper, but actually bring the people seeking jobs to the employer and try to

overcome their fear and resistance towards taking on a new job.

Sir, I would like to say that, over the years, CDCs, with the help of grassroots Advisors, like Members and their grassroots leaders, were able to deliver social assistance effectively and efficiently, and will continue to do so.

Clarification, Sir. Sir, I applaud the Government in allocating an expensive piece of land along the Orchard Road area to create space for the youth community. Based on the handout, the space is conceived to become a vibrant space for recreational and social activities, community events and performances by young Singaporeans. How about also a vibrant space for political activities? How about perhaps putting up a Speakers' Corner there?

I suppose he just could not resist. The Speakers' Corner is at Hong Lim. He is most welcome to go there and use it. I do not think we need another Speakers' Corner outdoors. With the changes that MHA made to the regulations on using indoor venues for seminars, forums and political activities, there are more than adequate venues for it. I do not think we should politicise this. This is an attempt to create an area where youths can pursue legitimate social interests which will be commercially viable and also attractive to tourists which will also help add to the buzz and vibrancy of Orchard Road. Do not try to politicise this. There are more than adequate venues for the sort of political activities that he is trying to champion.

Sir, does the Minister not agree that perhaps he wants to get the youths to be more involved in political awareness and the future of the nation? Since that space is going to be the focus point for the youths, is it not correct to allow some political activities to

create more awareness for the youths to participate in the political process?

Mr Low is, I am sure, aware that our youths are not apathetic politically and our youths have avenues to express themselves politically. In fact, if you actually stop to think about the changes which we are instituting, these are upstream environmental changes which will create a much more well-informed and much more engaged youths. Some of these youths will, ultimately, perhaps express their idealism and ideas in the political arena. The contest in the political arena will be whether the Workers' Party or whether we in the PAP are able to attract the best, the most idealistic and the most sensible youths to our respective parties. There are proper venues for political contest. Let us not mix it up. There is no need to make the youth park in Orchard Road a political venue. There is no need for that.

Still on the youth park, I would disagree with Mr Low in wanting to politicise that space itself. The youths want the space to exert their energy and creativity in many other forms, other than the political form. But I would still like to go back to my point in my speech about having youth parks that are closer to homes, ie, within the heartland itself. A lot of youths hang out with their friends after school, not just only on weekends where they go down to Orchard Road; many of them can be found in void decks or shopping centres, and as I said, they play a cat-and-mouse game with the mall management. They do not have a big enough space where youths can congregate in bigger groups to do things, like showing off their skateboard skills, or even dance skills, and so on. If we could establish more youth parks within the heartland itself, then youths, after school, can gather at those places to exert their energy or express themselves. I think that would be quite a welcomed move by the schools also. I

have been speaking to some over 30 principals, and many of them have expressed that many of their youths disappeared after school, not going home, but the teachers do not know where to find them, if they want to find them. But they think that if there is a youth park that is nearby ---

Miss Low, are you making another amendment speech?

No. The chances are they may be able to find them there. So I would like the Minister to reconsider the youth parks in the heartlands.

I do not think the youths will oblige by going to wherever the teachers want them to go. The more important issue is for young Singaporeans to have wholesome activities to pursue, to have good friends and relationships within which to pursue these activities. Space, whether it is a void deck, a field or a venue, is secondary consideration. If you ask any parent, as most of us here are parents with teenage kids, or if I ask any of you, whether you know exactly where your son or daughter is, you probably do not know exactly where. But the more important question is: who is he or she with and what are they likely to be doing? That is the reason why we provide after-school centres, study centres and, ultimately, we need to go beyond just study but to also provide useful outlets for their energy.

Let us focus upstream, find out what they want to do, then give them opportunities, and be aware of what our child is doing and who our child is with. These are basic parenting skills and approach which I would encourage all of us to embark on.

Sir, some points of clarification. I am very excited about the $2 million announced by the Minister. The first question would be, why not more? Second, when will we get the details about how we can tap on these

resources and what are the criteria that the Ministry will put down on how we can use these funds?

I should have anticipated the question of why not more. First of all, I have to cobble together to even find this sum of money. Let us take it a step at a time. We will announce the details later. But the key thing that I want to emphasise is the need for this to be used on a matching basis. So if your grassroots organisation wants to do it, you have got the idea and you are willing to raise funds for it, then we will help. It is not meant to be a freebie that is given. Otherwise, there will be a long queue outside after this, and the money will not go very, very far.

Sir, while I understand that the Government is trying to find various outlets of expression for our youths today, I want to know whether the Government has attempted to undertake a study or survey to determine the state of mental health of our youths in Singapore, and to better understand their present condition, as opposed to looking at alternative ways of finding an outlet for their expression.

MCYS conducts a regular survey on the state of the youths every two or three years. I will take his suggestion and perhaps spend a bit more attention on the indicators of mental health.

Sir, the Minister and Miss Penny Low are over-sensitive to my suggestion to allow political activities at the space. I am merely asking for, not to politicise the space, another avenue in which the youths can express themselves, whether in politics or something which they would like to express. The Minister suggested that they can join the Workers' Party or the PAP, but it may not be the case. They may choose not to join, but

they have something to say. So I think we have got to have that space. If the Minister is concerned that I will go and speak, maybe he can have a cap on the age for people who want to speak there. You can name it Youth Speakers' Corner.

I do not think we need to gag the Member, or anyone else, for that matter. But it is worthwhile thinking why is the Speakers' Corner so under-utilised. Is it under-utilised because of something that we have done, or that we have fixed it, or that we have prevented him from speaking at it? I am not even sure that he has spoken at the Speakers' Corner. Ask yourself, why? The reason why it is not being used is because there is no need for it. In his case, he speaks in Parliament and he is on national TV. In the case of our young Singaporeans today, those who want to ventilate have more than adequate avenues to do so - look at the Internet, look at blogs, look at newspaper Forum pages, discussions going on in schools, pre-U seminars, ITE seminars, ministerial walkabouts and discussions. The fact of the matter is that there are more than adequate avenues.

So to fixate himself on trying to create yet another physical venue for the so-called political expression is being misdirected. I put it to him that it is unnecessary. And it is not that we are afraid of the idealism of youth being expressed. In fact, as a party, we are encouraging that. But, as I said, the political contest, ultimately, for his party and my party, is who would attract the best leaders with the best ideas, and the heart and dedication to lead this country in the future. So it is not about space, it is not about the rules in the Speakers' Corner, or the rules and licensing requirements that MHA puts up. We have a system that works. We have more than adequate avenues for our young. Let us work on that.

1.45 pm

Can the Minister clarify, with regard to the $300 million, is that $500 million plus $300 million, which means $800 million, or does he mean that it is $300 million beyond the first five years, which might then be lower than before?

It is $300 million beyond the first five years, after the first tranche has expired. As to why it is less, it is because we are not building another Sports School. So, this is meant more for the software aspects of it rather than the hardware. I have also said that this $300 million is not going to be used for the development of the Sports Hub, which has a much larger sum involved. So, all in all, the point is that we are not reducing our commitment to invest in sports, sporting infrastructure and sporting participation.

Sir, still on the subject of youth space in heartlands. I do not think I am referring to parenting skills or teachers wanting to keep a watchful eye over the students or in that light. But many of the schools have fed back that the youths do not have a place to go to after school. It is too far sometimes to travel down to Orchard Road itself, and you do not want all of them to hang out at Orchard Road during the weekdays either. Perhaps the question here is: where do we expect our youths to be hanging out after school? Many of them are latchkey kids. Many of them do not go to after-school-care. I am referring particularly to teenagers. So, where do we want them to hang out? They have been found at void decks as well as rooftops, and I think that is a safety issue as well.

We have all been teenagers before, and I am sure all found places to hang out and people to hang out with. Let us not fall into the

trap of saying, "I need to find a corner, a cage or a venue where I will know exactly where you will be all the time." I appreciate what the Member is saying. We want safe places where people can socialise, pursue their interests, and their interests are going to be very varied. There is no reason why schools cannot play a bigger role, especially if we move more and more schools into single-session schools. There is no reason why community centres cannot reinvent themselves and be hangouts for young Singaporeans. In fact, I see Mr Wong is already looking at me. So, I suspect that is going to come about. There is no reason why voluntary organisations on the ground cannot recruit young people to perform and help deliver the services which they are trying to deliver to the community.

So, the point is that it is not lack of space. It is ideas and connecting these ideas to people and providing outlets for this energy to be expressed. And I am very hopeful and confident that, going forward, there will be many more outlets. Let us not just be fixated on the space. Perhaps it is because of my focus on Orchard Road, so people have been distracted. You now think that it is about space, whether it is politics, in the case of Mr Low, or a place to hang out for students after school. It is ultimately of ideas, organising and providing outlets.

Thank you, Mr Chairman, for letting me say a few words. I know I did not make a cut here, but I am just curious to find out from the Minister on some of those sports complexes that are left vacant now, in particular some of those swimming pools. I think we must put them to good use. The Ministry can come up with some plan where we could put the building to good use through shared cooperation, say, between the Ministry, Sports Council and the grassroots organisations. We must

make full use of those vacant sports complexes.

I agree entirely with the Member.

Mr Low, is it on the same issue?

Yes.

Then you will have to wait. Dr Loo.

Sir, I applaud the Government for putting more money to help out-of-school youths (OSYs). I have personally, as SANA President, looked into this problem. I would suggest to the Government, instead of putting more and more money into out-of-school youths, go into the schools, go upstream, before they become OSYs or before they drop out. There are clear signs, eg, truancy, discipline problems, etc. If we send volunteers in and resources there, it is less disruptive. So, if we can reduce the number of OSYs, the problem will be really nipped in the bud, instead of chasing the horse after it has bolted.

Sir, Dr Loo is entirely correct, that we need to move upstream. In fact, if you speak to the teachers or social workers, the warning signs are often there, much earlier before someone actually drops out of school. At MCYS, as well as at the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Youth Crime, and indeed VWOs like his, we are now trying to move upstream. What are the early warning signs? Who are the people who are most likely to detect these warning signs? In the case of schools, it is usually the teachers. To make sure that the teachers have the resources or people to contact, so that in the case of, say, SANA, they can actually move in and start counselling these students before they even drop out.

So, I agree entirely with him that this is an area which we must focus on.

Yes, Mr Low. I will allow you one last clarification on the same issue. We should not let the whole debate to be dominated by this issue.

Thank you, Sir. I am not convinced by the Minister's answer on the proposal. There may be other avenues. But what is wrong with having another avenue for the youths to express themselves? Though the Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park may not have attracted the kind of speakers, how are we to be sure that another Speakers' Corner created at Orchard Road area will not see its vibrancy? However, if Speakers' Corner is deemed politically incorrect, then perhaps we can call it a public speaking area in which the youths or the people can go and talk on whatever issues they want without the need to apply for a licence.

I can only reiterate my arguments that I really do not think it is necessary. There is nothing stopping us from organising a Speakers' Corner festival for young people in Hong Lim, if we really think there is a demand. But my honest opinion is that it would not succeed because there is no need for it, and there are many more avenues. De facto, the situation now is that every indoor venue has the same rules as for the Speakers' Corner.

Sir, I would like to keep to the debate on youth. It is so much more cheerful to talk about their ideals, aspirations, needs and achievements. But I must respectfully repeat my question to the Minister, which was to ask if reliable studies have been done on the social impact and costs of gambling, particularly gambling in Singapore.

I ask this out of concern for the population in general, but I think a lot of people who are concerned about this

issue are concerned about the impact on youths in particular. So, if we have such studies, what is the extent of this problem? Who are the groups which are vulnerable? And if we have not got a study, are we going to be commissioning a study?

I apologise for not answering her question. The Minister for Trade and Industry has announced that a Ministerial Statement will be issued, I believe, on 18th April. We will use that occasion, regardless of which way we decide, to address her queries. I think that will be a much better forum for that discussion.

I think we are almost exhausting the clarification time. Mr Chiam, you will be the last one.

Sir, the handout is on youth initiatives, but when we read the programme, every one of them is started by the Government. There are no innate youth initiatives at all. Sir, I think if we really want to train our youths to be leaders, we should allow them to initiate, rather than let the Government keep leading them by the hand as to what to do, especially in our secondary schools, junior colleges and universities. All our students should be allowed to initiate activities or programmes for themselves, and that is how they learn. They have to do things themselves, rather than the Government leading them by the hand all the time. I wonder whether the Government will encourage more of the youths in our schools, junior colleges and universities to take the lead and do things for themselves.

I am not sure whether Mr Chiam was in the House when I shared with Members how that list came about. This list came about entirely from the consultation exercise that we launched in August last year, followed by

further elaboration by the work groups. So, what you have in your hands are not my ideas. These are the ideas and proposals put up by the youths, and you are welcome to speak to those who are involved in those ideas. You will find that all I am here to do is to provide support, sponsorship, seed funding, and help them get permission from the relevant agencies. This is what I mean by facilitating and promoting, and by encouraging youths to learn the lessons of life by doing it.

So, I agree with the Member that youths must have opportunities to initiate and execute their plans. What you have there is precisely such an exercise.

Let us get back to the COS amendments. Mr Othman Haron Eusofe, five minutes.

Muslim Community

Sir, I would like to touch on the Muslim Religious Council's (MUIS) vision of a Muslim Community of Excellence, that is, and I quote from one of its recent publications, "religiously profound and socially progressive, which thrives in a multi-religious society, secular state and globalised world.". Sir, I would like to ask the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs to provide an update of the programmes which MUIS has in place and also the outcome of its collaboration with Muslim organisations to realise this noble vision.

It is crucial that the members of the Muslim community are given help to adapt confidently to rapid changes that are taking place in the globalised world. We must get them ready to face the challenges of the new knowledge-based economy. Education and lifelong learning are the key to our success. We must help our Muslim workers to be confidently involved in training and skills upgrading in their workplaces. Our children should be

motivated to perform to the best of their ability in their education. They must be encouraged to attain their maximum potential. Working closely together, Muslim leaders, MUIS and other Muslim organisations can do more to help our children to do better and excel in their education.

2.00 pm

Sir, we face various social issues in the community, eg, high divorce rates, single-parent families, teen marriages and so on. It is therefore important that we develop a more effective support network to help families at risk. In this connection, we must be careful

not to inadvertently encourage a mentality of dependency. Rather we want to promote self-reliance and provide opportunities for families at risk to enhance their self-reliance. I would like to take this opportunity to urge more successful Muslims to come forward to volunteer their services to help families at risk. With their contributions, especially new ideas and resources, we can formulate better strategies to tackle the social issues in the community.

Sir, our religious and community leaders have always adopted a moderate approach and an inclusive way in our relations with our fellow Singaporeans. We have strongly rejected all forms of extremist behaviour or ideology. As we continue to strengthen our confidence and trust, we make a significant contribution to build the best home for all of us.

Mr Chairman, Sir, we are embarking on various initiatives to strengthen our cooperation and relations with countries in the Middle East and especially to promote more trade and investments. Sir, I believe Muslim organisations, including MUIS, can make a valuable contribution here. There is a good opportunity for networking with Muslim scholars, business leaders and

other leaders and in the process, get more ideas to realise MUIS' vision of a Community of Excellence.

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to urge MUIS, the members of the Muslim Community Leaders Forum and other Muslim organisations to quickly consider how they can seize the various opportunities that are available now.

Mr Ahmad Khalis is not here. Mdm Halimah Yacob, two minutes.

Student Resource Development Secretariat

Sir, our goal and challenge in Singapore is to develop a Muslim community of excellence. For this to happen, we need to develop our key stakeholders in the community, particularly those dealing with religious education, as they play an important role in guiding the community on religious matters. Our challenge is to remain strong in our religious values but yet be open and receptive to the vast changes that are taking place in the modern world which we can harness to benefit the community.

Sir, asatizah play an important role in the Muslim society. Hence, the kind of asatizah that we have will have an impact on our ability to develop a Community of Excellence. In today's world, where knowledge is the key enabler, we need asatizah who are not only very sound in religious theories but they must also understand global challenges facing the community living in a modern world.

Sir, the role expected of asatizah has changed and it is more demanding now. In fact, with the progress made in Islamic banking in Singapore and globally, there will be a demand for asatizah who are well-versed both in Islamic law and financial products offered in the financial markets.

Are our asatizah able to rise to such challenges and benefit from such developments which will enhance their economic opportunities? I would like to ask the Minister what are MUIS' plans to develop key stakeholders in the community, particularly the asatizah. Are there any programmes or schemes that MUIS will be introducing to enhance their capabilities so that they can provide better guidance in religious matters?

On a related issue, there are a number of students who are pursuing religious education in overseas Islamic universities. It is important that we continue to maintain links with them and provide them with support so that they remain connected to Singapore and stay in touch with the developments here so that they can play a relevant and more effective role when they return to Singapore.

Last year, MUIS announced the establishment of a Student Resource Development Secretariat ---

Your time is up, Mdm Halimah. Mr Zainudin.

Teen Marriages

) (In Malay): Mr Chairman, from the statistics that have been released recently, we found that there are more marriages for Malay/Muslim youths under the age of 17 as compared to other communities in this country.

We also found a worrying increase in the figures for divorce cases involving couples below the age of 20. Another troubling trend is the increase in the figures for divorce cases involving couples between the ages of 21 and 24.

Sir, I would like to know what are the measures taken by MCYS to assist these youths in understanding family-related issues and their responsibilities as

husband and wife. In my opinion, preventive programme is more important. We should do our best to reduce teen marriages.

Sir, we realise that teen marriages have a high risk of becoming an unstable family. I would also like to know the inclusive strategies adopted by MCYS in handling this problem. What are the new resources that will be offered to voluntary organisations who wish to assist these youths?

We are aware that this challenge is a difficult one. I would like to emphasise that educating and explaining to our youths regarding the importance of family institution, value of marriage and married life is one way to overcome the problems of teen marriages.

We should continue to reach out to these youths so that they are aware of the available assistance should they feel pressurised or face problems.

Sir, I would like to thank Mr Othman Haron Eusofe, Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mr Zainudin Nordin for their concern for the Malay/Muslim community's progress.

First, MUIS has been working closely with community partners on a three-year plan to enhance religious development and contribute to the building of a Community of Excellence. The programmes are on track. Our institutions must continue to take in new ideas, seek out better methods and build capabilities that benefit the organisation, the community and Singapore as a whole.

Sir, MUIS has identified several areas where it can help to build the community's capabilities. Allow me to highlight a few.

The first area is on how MUIS can support the development of our religious teachers or asatizah who play a key role in providing religious teaching and advice. This is a point highlighted by Mdm Halimah as a key stakeholder.

To support the development of our asatizah, MUIS expended some $55,000 last year in organising seminars for them and sponsoring some of them for training. MUIS has also enhanced its links with the asatizah. For example, MUIS has facilitated monthly dialogue sessions with our asatizah on wide-ranging issues, including the challenges facing our community. Such sessions promote the sharing of developments and perspectives and help our asatizah remain well-attuned to the world around us. Asatizah who are more attuned can give more timely and relevant advice to their students and the general public on contemporary issues and challenges. Allow me to just cite one example. Mr Mohd Khair, who is the Executive Imam at Al Falah mosque down at Orchard Road and who is an asatizah, is a good example. He has a keen awareness of the community's issues. He is actively involved in the community, for instance, in counselling youth and families facing difficulties. This has helped him to better serve as a religious teacher and prayer leader. But we will do more. Let me just explain three things that MUIS would introduce this year. First, MUIS will conduct study visits to relevant Government agencies, research institutions and other public and private sector organisations to help our asatizah stay abreast of the latest developments in our society, whether these concern socio-economic trends, science and technology or other areas. Secondly, MUIS will assist newly-graduated asatizah by conducting orientation and induction programmes as well as skills training. Finally, MUIS will work with various Muslim community

organisations to formulate a recognition scheme to recognise the abilities of our asatizah, enhance their standing, and assist members of the public to obtain the services of suitably-qualified asatizah. The scheme will help the community better understand the strengths of our asatizah when engaging them and will support asatizah in upgrading themselves through the MUIS' training programmes. MUIS will be forming a Recognition Board comprising religious leaders and key community partners later this year, to consider asatizah for inclusion in the recognition scheme.

Apart from asatizah, there are many other stakeholders who contribute to the community, including mosque leaders and imams, amils for collecting zakat, volunteers and haj operators. We want to better equip all of them to serve the community well. MUIS will therefore streamline and consolidate all its training programmes for its stakeholders under the new MUIS Academy, to be launched at the end of this year. This will maximise our resources and open up more opportunities for MUIS to partner local organisations, as well as those from the region, the Middle East and beyond, including Australia, Europe and the USA.

The MUIS Academy will be a repository of the collective experience and knowledge that our community has gained in managing religious issues. This will enable knowledge to be systematically built up and shared. Increasing numbers of overseas visitors come to MUIS to find out how it operates in various areas of religious development and administration. Through the Academy, MUIS intends to share Singapore's model of religious administration and services with interested Muslim communities abroad. The MUIS Academy can also collaborate with local and international partners on policy studies on religious issues. Sir, I am confident that the community will benefit from this widened engagement.

Sir, let me now touch on an issue that was raised by Mr Othman Haron Eusofe on how we can continue to assist the community to move forward, especially those who are less privileged. Sir, we have to continue to help them pull themselves up and out of the poverty trap. Last year, I announced plans to empower families who are receiving zakat funds. Breadwinners of these families would get skills training, pick up life-skills and get help with job-matching. Their children would receive support in their education and be helped with part-time religious classes at our mosques.

Since the launch of the Empowerment Partnership Scheme and the Education and Training Support Scheme last year, MUIS has worked with various mosques, voluntary welfare organisations and job matching agencies to help some 500 families through a comprehensive assistance package.

Some of these families have shown admirable determination to lift themselves up. Let me cite an example. Mr Rahmat Abdur Rahman managed to secure a job within three months of completing a Forklift Driver's Course and is working towards settling his arrears. His children have made good progress in their education. His family shows that the spirit of self-reliance can be re-ignited and that families can bounce back with focused help.

Sir, moving forward, we want to adopt a more holistic approach to helping needy families. For a start, we will set up a consolidated database of needy Muslim families to ensure better coordination among Malay/Muslim organisations which provide assistance. This will ensure that help is targeted and maximise the community's resources. MENDAKI will work with MUIS and other Malay/Muslim organisations to set up this database.

Sir, Mdm Halimah did not have enough time to ask the question on the Student Resource Development Secretariat. I shall reply her on this point.

How can you answer a question if it is not asked?

Sir, she did ask the question, but she did not get it out in time.

Sir, this is an important topic that I should say something. Since its establishment, the Secretariat has provided support to our overseas students, particularly those in the Middle East. This Secretariat has established links with student bodies in the Al-Azhar University of Egypt and several others in other parts of the Middle East. The Secretariat organised the Singapore Seminar in Cairo last October and will organise a second seminar for students studying in the region this year. The Secretariat will make another visit to the Middle East shortly, to reach out to more students. It will also conduct community and industrial attachments for students on vacation. I hope this will allay Mdm Halimah's fear about how we can maintain contact with our students who are overseas.

I am confident that our students will find the SRDS a useful resource and partner, as it introduces more programmes to meet their needs.

Sir, let me now turn to the point raised by Mr Zainudin Nordin. I hope he does not mind if I reply in English. Mr Zainduin would like to know whether we are seeing an upward trend of minor marriages in the Malay/Muslim community and what resources are being allocated to assist these young couples to cope and manage their marriages.

According to statistics from the Registry of Muslim Marriages, in 2003,

13% of brides and 4% of grooms were under the age of 21. The corresponding figures from the civil registry were 3% for brides and 1% for grooms. Sir, while there is no clear upward trend in the percentage of minor Muslim brides and grooms over the last few years, the fact that our percentage is four times that of the civil registry is indeed a cause for concern.

Studies show that marriages of persons who marry under the age of 21 are less stable when compared to those who marry when they are older and more mature. Many of these couples are not prepared for marriage - they may not have the financial means to support a family; or they rush into marriage as a result of a pre-marital pregnancy.

These circumstances add strain to the young marriages and make them vulnerable to divorce.

2.15 pm

So, MCYS, together with VWO partners, in particular the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) and the Young Women Muslim Association (PPIS)-Jurong Family Service Centre, has implemented programmes to help the couples understand the challenges of marrying young and prepare them for married life. Sir, in September last year, the Family Development Network, under the charge of three Malay MPs, also embarked on a programme called "Program Mahlighai", whereby mature and experienced couples mentor the young couples. In 2004, about $340,000 was spent on programmes to address the issues of minor marriages.

Sir, while these programmes are important, in the long run, we agree with Mr Zainudin, more upstream approaches are needed to reduce the number of our youths getting married at such a young age. For one, we need greater community

awareness and ownership of these issues, and a greater commitment to deal with them at the level of the family.

Sir, anecdotally, we see that our youths are behaving quite differently from youths in the past. They are growing up in a world that is different from what their parents are accustomed to. We cannot pretend that our youths can be isolated from what is happening among or around them.

Islam, our religion, will continue to be central as the spiritual and moral ballast for the community. This is why MUIS is working with mosques and education providers to revamp our religious education programmes for children from pre-school to tertiary levels. This will help give our young people a good grounding in religious values as well as strengthen their integration into society.

Sir, religious education is a useful and necessary step, but not necessarily sufficient. Our community must also put emphasis on developing new capabilities that address some emerging social trends. Parents, for example, need to recognise that our children nowadays are much more exposed to external factors that influence their values and attitudes towards various issues, including sexual behaviour. Parenting styles have to adapt and respond to what our children are going through. Being in touch with teen and pre-teen issues, and being approachable, will make it easier for our children to turn to us for help and advice as parents, uncles, aunts and others. Paying attention to our youths during their pre-teen years is important as our children are indeed growing up faster.

Sir, in parallel, community efforts to educate our teens, pre-teens and couples on family life will need to be strengthened and I agree with Mr Zainudin on this point. We need to reach out to our young in schools, as well as those who are

thinking of getting married and those who are already married.

Sir, the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM), and its VWO partners have undertaken the Healthy Marriage Programme since 2002. Last year, over 4,500 parents and youths participated in this programme which promotes positive values and attitudes about marriage, family, and sexuality.

Sir, another key programme is the Marriage Preparation Course. In 2004, more than 3,200 people attended marriage preparation programmes at mosques and community clubs. While participants' feedback has been encouraging, ROMM will continue to review and strengthen the content and delivery of the course.

Sir, for couples facing marital difficulties, the Syariah Court worked with community partners last year to launch a marriage counselling programme outside the Court. Since its inception, the Marriage Counselling Programme has been extended to five Family Service Centres. Currently, half of the 157 couples referred to the programme are still undergoing counselling or have decided to reconcile. The Syariah Court has also piloted two programmes to help divorcing couples to reconsider their divorces, and help divorced couples to revoke their divorces. Sir, going forward, we will further widen the community's involvement in supporting families to cope with the strains of everyday life. So Mendaki has worked with several partners to set up Keluarga "AKRAB" or Family Excellence Circles. This is a support system where parents form up and meet regularly to learn and share their experiences together. Mendaki has set up seven such networks involving more than 100 parents so far. Team leaders in these networks mentor other families in an informal setting. Mendaki will help set up more such

networks and use them to promote the idea of "learning families" in the community, and empower parents to contribute to their families' development.

Sir, I also understand from the Syariah Court that the number of Muslim divorces registered last year has dropped, compared to 2003. While it is still too early to say if this is a reversing trend, it would appear that our community's efforts are in the right direction. We hope that this trend will be sustained and the hard work of the various community partners will continue to bear fruit. Sir, the Department of Statistics will release official figures of divorce for 2004 later this year.

Sir, our community has demonstrated its will to overcome challenges and, indeed, make significant progress. Our community organisations have worked hard to help our older workers retrain, supported our young people in developing their potential, and helped families remain strong.

Sir, as we strive to build a Community of Excellence, we know that we can never isolate ourselves from the changes in the global arena. Indeed, it would be self-defeating to do so. Malay Muslims here have equipped themselves well to contribute towards a globalised economy in a multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore. MUIS' efforts to help shape the community's religious life in this context are useful and bearing fruit. Individuals like Miss Jameelah Sheik Mohamed, now a researcher at the Genome Institute, show that in Singapore, nothing can stop one from contributing at the forefront of an advanced economy, while remaining rooted to Islamic values.

Sir, as the global environment evolves, some developments may require us to rethink our approaches. Others would even challenge our values as a community. How then should we position our

community to succeed in a complex and uncertain world? We cannot turn back the clock, or bury our heads in the sand. Instead, we have to be forward looking and stay attuned to the changing world. We must be aware of our choices, seizing the opportunities that benefit us, while wisely tackling the issues which test our community's resilience. While we remain rooted to our values, we must be plugged into the modern world and work together to give of our best as responsible Singapore citizens. I am confident that, as we put our hearts and minds together, we will continue to progress and move closer to our vision of a Community of Excellence.

Sir, just one point of clarification. I think there is also an emerging issue here, and that is of Muslim couples remarrying. Can the Registry of Muslim Marriages not just concentrate on the marriages of young couples, but also remarriages? Extend the counselling service to them, because there is also a high percentage of divorces among couples who remarried.

Sir, couples who intend to remarry after divorce would have to go to the Registry of Muslim Marriages, and that is where we offer some of these courses to them. But I agree with the Member that this is also an important trend for us to keep an eye on because some of them get married immediately after divorce and, therefore, they remain vulnerable to subsequent divorces.

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether there is any specific scheme, whether under MUIS, AMP or Mendaki, to help families whose sole breadwinner is in a DRC, because these families face a different problem, and it can be daunting, especially when they have five or six young children.

Sir, I mentioned in my reply the empowerment programme that we launched last year under MUIS. The idea is to help such families within the constituency nearby the mosque. It does not really matter whether one parent is in the DRC or not. But if they meet certain criteria, in terms of income and family size, we will assist them.

At the same time, when members of the public, including MPs, refer such cases to Mendaki, we will investigate. Where possible, the community using our own resources, we will assist. But where we think it is necessary, we will put them onto mainstream programmes. For example, we work closely with the CDCs. When we come across such families, we work with the CDCs and, where additional assistance is needed, we will step in and assist them, to ensure that we close the loop for the family.

Sir, religious teachers have a great influence on our Muslim community, especially at the mosques where they preach. Sometime ago, in this House, I asked the Minister why some of the mosques allow the PAS religious teachers to come to Singapore. PAS is a Malay Islamic opposition party in Malaysia. So I am curious, with MUIS monitoring very carefully, whether we still allow PAS religious teachers to preach at our mosques.

Sir, if Dr Tan remembers the reply I gave to him at that time, for that particular incident, they were not members of a political party. It is not uncommon to find religious groups, be it Muslim or otherwise, that would invite foreign speakers. But we have a scheme in place, where in this case for the Muslim community, when they apply for permission to get a foreign speaker, they will apply through MUIS and we will

investigate and give our blessing and approval. Where we need to get approval from authorities, in this case MHA, we will seek and do so. So I like to assure Dr Tan that there is a scheme in place to ensure that when we bring in foreign speakers into our mosques, we are clear about the status of the person, his position and especially in terms of his views and orientation.

One clarification on the question of religious teachers. I am just wondering what are the criteria of the scheme that the Minister has talked about. Dr Tan's concern was because the religious teacher was from PAS, an opposition party, and he should not be allowed to preach because he was from an opposition party. In other words, if he is a religious teacher from UMNO, the ruling party of Malaysia, then you would approve. Is that the case?

As I mentioned in my reply, we will look at the background of the speaker, his track record, what is the topic that he is talking about. It may be something very innocent like the do's and don'ts of a good Muslim or something on Islamic history. I think we will examine all those factors before we make a decision.

Sir, can I make a clarification on the previous topic? I would just like to ask two things. I went through this and I really appreciate how the Ministry is going one step further instead of stopping at the feedback aspect and getting youths involved.

I just want to know whether there will also be platforms for the youth to be more global-oriented, and whether there will be more platforms to involve more exchanges, perhaps, between youths here and youths overseas and to build relations, at this point in time, with the youths of our neighbours. And, perhaps

maybe even the forming of a Young ASEAN where maybe Singapore could take on that initiative.

The second point is, and I really support what the hon. Member Miss Penny Low has said, that the youths might not be able to go to Orchard Road all the time. The parents might not allow them too. Also, I think giving them a space in the estate would give them ownership. We talk about giving ownership in our community. Even if you do it in small incremental changes, just allocating spaces in certain estates, give them a chance to say, "Okay, what is it that I want to do with this space in my estate", give them more involvement, I think that would be direct involvement in the community.

Thank you for the question on ensuring our youths have a global outlook. We are a very small country and I think it is essential for all of us, and especially our youths, to be aware of what is happening outside our borders. That is why at the National Youth Council, we have our motto, which is: we want world-ready youth.

This has two dimensions to this concept of world-ready youth. One, knowing what is beyond our shores. The second aspect is to also know where we stand in relation to the world around us. What are Singapore's unique characteristics? What are our vulnerabilities? And, also, what are the special opportunities that we have? In other words, why is Singapore being our home, or the fact that you were born in Singapore, of such value to you?

Related to this also is the second dimension of volunteerism, which I am aware she is a champion of. She would be aware that, for several years now, we have a Youth Expeditionary project in which SIF has been leading teams to perform services in various countries in

the region. It benefits the participants in two ways. One is that it is an opportunity to contribute to the surrounding countries. But the other way in which it benefits the participants is that they also, I believe, get a deeper appreciation for what we have in Singapore and the system which we have built up in Singapore all these years. So we will continue to look for opportunities for our youths to participate in such overseas expeditions. But I want to add a cautionary note. I think we have to make sure we marshal our resources and spend money wisely because we do not want these to degenerate into paid holidays overseas.

So having said that, I recognise the value, what I am now looking at is to make sure that it is carefully and judiciously implemented. Overall, I see this as part and parcel of encouraging volunteerism amongst our youths

and maybe some day, perhaps even a corps of youth volunteers in Singapore, who will have opportunities not only to contribute overseas but when they come back, they must engage with the local organisations - our grassroots organisations and voluntary welfare organisations. Because, to me, it is not sufficient if they say, "I built some houses in Aceh or Sri Lanka or anywhere else. I had a fulfilling time.". And then when they come back to Singapore, they say, "I have no further motivation to contribute.". So volunteerism must be a way of life and, like they say in charity, it should also begin at home.

2.30 pm

On the Member's second point, since she and Miss Penny Low are so keen on this issue of space for youth at the neighbourhood level, my standard approach has been to say, why not develop it further, and then come to us and we will see how we can take it from there.

Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. It is a clarification on teen marriages. I agree that it is a very big problem. We see it in our work as medical practitioners and in counselling drug addicts.

I am gratified that the Government has done so many things - counselling, etc. But we all know that they become teen divorcees, teen mothers, and teen single mothers. They really cannot cope.

I remember that in the old days, in every kampong, there was a mummy or auntie - a village auntie to all kids. Of course, she was a great cook and we all ate her food. With the way we run our HDB estates, we have broken this down. Agencies like MCYS, Family Service Centres, whatever, are a little bit far. The village auntie or mummy was close and she was there every day. I wonder whether there is a way to reorganise our housing at some point so that we would have the same kind of village or kampong mummy. It strikes me that my hon. colleague, Mdm Halimah, in the old days, would have been a great village mummy!

Dr Yaacob, do you like to respond to Dr Loo?

Sir, I would volunteer Mdm Halimah anytime!

I get the thrust of the Member's suggestion. In fact, my reply mentioned that in respect of the Malay/Muslim community, we are looking into ways in which the Family Excellence Circles that Mendaki have started, within that context, to reach out to some of the young kids, and to help the parents to change a bit of their parenting style, because kids are changing now.

This is a new trend that is emerging in the Malay/Muslim community that we have to tackle very, very carefully. It requires concerted efforts. MCYS has given us additional budget to be able to

run some programmes to counsel them. It is basically the upstream - when they are young, experimenting with things and learning new things. The Member's point is whether there is a network where they can keep an eye. We are hoping, through the Family Excellence Circles, to be able to do that. In fact, Mendaki has some other programmes where we are reaching out to the youths at risk, who are not the OSY yet but they are at risk As the Member has mentioned, at the early intervention, there are tell tale signs and so we are working with 300-odd kids with some schools to help them.

This support system, as the Member rightly pointed out, is necessary. There are signs that there are groups emerging, but we have got to change the parenting style. Let me give Members one example. During the Chinese New Year period when Members were celebrating, we were out in the park. I was at the MacRitchie Park trying the tree-top walk. I came across a group of Malay parents, both fathers and mothers, with young teenage kids doing the 10 km walk across MacRitchie. I thought it was good that the parents are prepared to do something which the young are interested in - jogging, trekking and what have you. These are the things that we will try and build upon and create what the Member calls the auntie in the kampong phenomenon, so to speak. I share his concern about how we can do that.

Sir, a point of clarification. I am aware about the way we need to educate the parents on the new style of parenting and so forth. I would like to get views from the Minister where he sees the changes taking place. We always get the impression that whenever there are pre-marital pregnancies, some of these Malay/Muslim parents will resort quickly to get their youths married. What can we do to provide a framework and support infra

structure, so that they can have other choices and believe that there are other solutions, apart from getting these youths into marriage very early?

Sir, some of our social service providers, like PPIS, in fact, have been offering advice to parents and to young families on what they can do under such circumstances. In fact, our Registrar of Muslim Marriages, sometimes when he comes across such cases when they apply for marriages because of pre-marital pregnancy, gives them advice and counsels them on whether or not that is the best option. We will try our very best to build up our capabilities within the community to allow such families to revert to the Family Service Centres or the social service providers for them to get some advice. Ultimately, it is a personal choice, but I think we want to share with them some of the implications of the steps should they continue with the marriage.

Yes, Mr Low. I will give you a last clarification, because you have been dominating the clarifications.

Sir, my clarification is on soccer. I understand that we used to have the arrangement where about 10-15 schools were attached to the S-League clubs. According to a New Paper report, this arrangement has been scrapped due to many problems, as quoted by a local football coach, Seak Poh Leong. He said that the arrangement probably could yield us something like 1,500-2,000 players who could be of the age group of the national team. But with the scrapping of the scheme, it probably would shrink to about 200 potential players. I wonder why was the scheme scrapped and whether the FAS would actually focus more on local football and developing local talent for football. Or else I think we might end up with foreign talent in our national soccer team.

I know you are trying to sneak in your amendment into the clarification because you did not raise it just now. Dr Balakrishnan.

That was his cut?

He did not make it, but I sensed it.

Anyway, we are in a generous mood today! I thought we are going to end early.

I will have to look into the details of the arrangements between the schools and the local clubs. As a matter of principle, I think any scheme which allows more young Singaporeans to participate in football, watch it and train at the highest level is good. So we will look into it.

Lest the Member runs away with the impression that the FAS is not interested in youth soccer, let me give him some background information. The system works this way. The SSC and the FAS will work with the schools to identify promising young talent. These students are then channelled into the centres which are called Centres of Excellence, which are run by the FAS, the schools and the S-League clubs. The National Football Academy then picks from this pool the most promising footballers and they then go on to become the backbone for the under-15 or the under-23 squads. And in turn, the best of these, when they become more mature, will move on to the national soccer team.

I also want to emphasise the reason why we are quite optimistic about our current national team is that the average age of this team is 23. So it is basically a youth team but packed with talent and with the potential to do a lot more, and that is why we are confident about it. Another good reason to celebrate our current national team is that - not like

what Mr Low suggests - in fact, I think there are only three players who are not born in Singapore - and there is a good representation from all the ethnic groups. So let us not get carried away with trying to identify ethnicity and source of the players. What we have is a good national team with great potential for the future and we look forward to many more good performances from the team.

As far as youth participation is concerned, I am convinced that the FAS has paid attention to this. And I will look into the specific point that the Member raised.

Sir, coming back to the topic of youth community space at Orchard, Orchard Road is a confluence point - Heeren, Orchard CineLeisure, K-Box and Marche are all there. These are all the teenage things. It seems like it was quite opportune to plonk the youth thing in Orchard Road. But I think the point that was raised by hon. Members - Miss Penny Low and Ms Eunice Olsen - about the idea of having a similar concept in other parts of Singapore is something that we should think seriously about. In this case, of course, we should then be trying to look for where are those other confluences and to allow those things to happen more naturally, as what I think happened in the case of Orchard Road.

My question is: what is the kind of organisational structure that is going to be in place at Orchard Road, presumably, to handle these things? I would like to think that the youths are going to take charge of the activities, which therefore begs the question that at some point, somebody is not going to be a youth, and therefore has to graduate out of being in charge. I think there are things which we need to think about, which should be quite more natural as opposed to contriving something to say, well, this is youth and we put the infrastructure there and, hopefully, the

people can enjoy themselves. And the office bearers get into an aged mode, and then we have a non-youth problem. Maybe the whole thing needs to be studied with a bit more natural rhythm.

Sir, we will take the Member's advice to heart.

I think I have given Members ample time for clarifications. Mr Sin, are you withdrawing your amendment?

Sir, I would like to thank the Minister, the Minister of State and the Parliamentary Secretary for their comprehensive replies, and my colleagues in this House for their participation in this debate. Indeed, as we journey together as a nation, we want to ensure that no one is left behind, particularly the old, the lame and the poor. The commitment given by the Minister that no one will be without shelter, food or medical care is very assuring indeed for all of us here. This gives us much hope as Singaporeans. We need to help each other as much as we can. As Singaporeans, unless we help one another, no one will.

On this reassuring note, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $965,850,800 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $124,555,600 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

I shall now deal with the remaining heads of expenditure in respect of which no amendment stands on the Order Paper Supplement. In respect of the Main Estimates, they are

Heads C, D, E, G and Z. I propose to take these heads of expenditure en bloc.

Question, "That the sums stated for Heads C, D, E, G and Z which appear in the last column of the Schedule of estimated expenditure under the Main Estimates on page 14 of Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005 stand part of the Main Estimates," put and agreed to.

In respect of the Development Estimates, they are Heads C, D and E.

Question, "That the sums stated for Heads C, D and E which appear in the last column of the Schedule of estimated expenditure under the Development Estimates on page 15 of Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005 stand part of the Development Estimates," put and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $24,810,335,690 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2006, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005," put and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $14,402,999,600 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2006, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005," put and agreed to.

Resolutions to be reported.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to certain resolutions.

First Resolution reported -

"That the sum of $24,810,335,690 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2006, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005."

Second Resolution reported -

"That the sum of $14,402,999,600 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2006, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005.�?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions."

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolutions accordingly agreed to.

Order for Second and Third Readings read.

2.47 pm

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

In accordance with Article 148(1) of the Constitution, Heads of Expenditure to be met from the Consolidated Fund and Development Fund, other than statutory expenditure, have to be included in a Bill to be known as the Supply Bill. The purpose of the Supply Bill before Members is therefore to give legislative approval for the appropriations from the Consolidated Fund and Development Fund to meet the expenditures in the financial year, 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2006. The

Heads of Expenditure and the sums that may be incurred in respect of each Head are shown in the Schedule to the Bill. These have been approved by the House in the Main and Development Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2005 to 31st March, 2006 and appear on pages 14 and 15 of Command Paper No. 2 of 2005.

The Supply Bill, when approved, will empower me to issue warrants authorising expenditure up to the amount for each Head as shown in the Bill to be paid out from the Consolidated Fund and Development Fund.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time."

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second and Third Readings read.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of this Bill is to make provision in accordance with Articles 148(2) and 148C(2) of the Constitution for additional expenditure in excess of the provisions authorised by the Supply Act

2004. The additional sums have been presented as Supplementary Estimates, which have been considered and approved by the House as Command Papers No. 1 and 4 of 2005.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time."

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second Reading read.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Minister to prescribe betting and sweepstake duty rates

Sir, in the recent Budget Statement, it was announced that horse betting duty would be changed from 12% of each bet to 25% of gross betting profit (that is, bets less winnings paid out). This change in the basis of assessing betting duty is in line with the practice in jurisdictions like the UK and most Australian states (such as New South Wales and Victoria). 25% of gross betting profit is equivalent to about 5% of each bet. Thus, this roughly represents a halving of betting duty. The change will allow the Singapore Turf Club to offer better odds and lower prices to

their customers to compete more effectively with illegal gambling operators.

Currently, the Betting and Sweepstake Duties Act already allows the Minister for Finance to set the rate of duty for horse betting, sports betting and lotteries through subsidiary legislation. However, the Act prescribes the basis of duty. The duty on horse betting and lotteries is based on the amount of each bet while the duty on sports betting is based on the gross betting profit. Clauses 3 and 4 of the Bill amend sections 3 and 4 of the Act to allow the Minister to set the rate of duty, including the basis of duty, for all types of betting and sweepstakes through subsidiary legislation for administrative efficiency.

Other amendments

Sir, I will now briefly outline other amendments to the Act.

Clauses 3 and 4 amend sections 3 and 4 to allow the Minister to make clear which betting operators are required to pay betting and sweepstake duties through subsidiary legislation.

Clauses 4 and 6 amend sections 4 and 6 to allow the Minister to set operational requirements for betting operators through subsidiary legislation. Such requirements cover the statement to be prepared by betting operators, and the timeframe for submission of statement and payment of the betting and sweepstake duty.

Clause 2 defines the term "Commissioner" as the Commissioner of Stamp Duties, and clause 10 amends sections 6, 7, and 10 to streamline references to the Commissioner of Stamp Duties.

Clauses 5, 7 and 8 make consequential amendments to sections 5, 7 and 9.

Clause 9 inserts a new section 11 to allow the Commissioner to compound

offences under the Act. This is in line with the Ministry of Law's decriminalisation initiative.

Related Amendments to the Singapore Totalisator Board Act - Minister to have flexibility to prescribe the manner of determining the Singapore Totalisator Board's commission

Sir, I now turn to the related amendments to the Singapore Totalisator Board Act. Currently, the Act allows the Minister for Finance to prescribe, through subsidiary legislation, how much the Singapore Totalisator Board can deduct from bets made on the totalisator as commission. Clause 11 of the Bill amends section 12 of the Act to give the Minister flexibility to prescribe the manner of determining the commission, instead of the exact amount. The Totalisator Board can then be allowed to set its own commission to help the Turf Club offer better odds and lower prices.

Other amendment

Sir, I now briefly outline one other amendment to the Act. Clause 11 inserts a new section 9B to allow the Totalisator Board to raise loans from the Government or, with the approval of the Minister, raise loans within or outside Singapore from sources approved by the Minister. This is in line with the Ministry's policy to allow statutory boards to borrow.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. - [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Hon. Members, we have come to the end of the debates to discuss the Budget for FY 2005/2006. Although this is the first year that we are starting on a new format in the Committee of Supply debate, I must say that Members have caught on to this new system rather well; perhaps too well, as I suspect some hon. Members are already trying to get round the system by making additional speeches in their clarifications which, I note, are actually longer than their amendment speeches!

I have received favourable feedback on the new system, both from the front and backbenchers. The number of cuts is now more manageable, there is much more engagement and debate, and the discussion is more focused.

But to be sure, there is room for improvement. While most Members are able to keep to their speaking times, there are also others who need to hone their skills at drafting and pacing their speeches to avoid being guillotined or having to speak at breakneck speed as they approach the end of their stipulated speaking times!

Still, my overall assessment is that we have had a substantial and good debate and I credit hon. Members for making it so. It leaves me now to thank my Deputy Speakers, the Leader of the House, the Whip and their deputies for their assistance and guidance during the debate. I would also like to thank my staff for all their efforts and for bearing with my idiosyncrasies. Most of all, I would like to thank all hon. Members for your participation in this debate. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of hon. Members, I would like to thank you and your Deputies for chairing this

year's Budget debate and Committee of Supply. It has been a long session but not as long as last year. The reason is because, as you have indicated earlier, we have introduced a new way of debate in Parliament for the Committee of Supply and significant changes in the way the debate has been conducted.

I think some Members had misgivings earlier when this new system was mooted. But I can safely say, after speaking to many Members, that the verdict is that the new system is a success.

I agree with you that the new rules have instilled more discipline in Members, not only in the crafting of their speeches, but also in the answers. The same rules apply to everybody, to the backbench as well as to the frontbench, to the ruling Party Members, Opposition MPs, NCMP and NMPs. As a result, there has been more time made available for clarifications, for Members to engage the Ministers on specific issues and, as a result, making for a better debate all round.

There is, of course, room for improvement. We will and we must finetune the system. But we are in the right direction. Last year, we faced the prospect of hyper-inflation in the number of cuts. We had a record number of cuts. This year, however, the number has been sharply reduced. As a result, we have been able to complete the proceedings in 7 1/2 days, instead of 8 1/2 days last year, without, I must say, sacrificing any of the substance.

As many Members spoke this year as they did last year, less cuts were withdrawn or not moved this year, compared to last year. No Member should feel that they have no time to raise issues. Indeed, the time set aside for clarifications was not fully used. I would urge Members to bear this in mind next year, when they estimate the time they need for speeches.

Finally, I wish to remind Members that, apart from the Committee of Supply, there are many other opportunities for Members to make themselves heard. They can raise Questions for Oral and Written Answer; they can move substantive motions or adjournment motions; they can debate on Bills, and this is only in Parliament. Members can also make their views known outside this Chamber. In other words, if they have something to say, there is no lack of opportunities for them to say it.

On this note, Sir, may I thank you, and through you, your Deputies and your staff, for your patience and forbearance, as well as for keeping us in line during these last two weeks.

Resolved,

"That Parliament do now adjourn to a date to be fixed." - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

Adjourned accordingly at

Three Minutes past Three o'clock pm

to a date to be fixed.