Hansard, 2008-02-25

PERMISSION TO MEMBERS TO BE ABSENT 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 (2008) To (2008) Mr Baey Yam Keng 19 Feb 20 Feb 26 Feb 27 Feb Dr Lim Wee Kiak 22 Feb 22 Feb 07 Mar 09 Mar Mr Charles Chong 25 Feb 01 Mar Mr Chiam See Tong 25 Feb 07 Mar Dr Vivian Balakrishnan 25 Feb 29 Feb Mr Lee Kuan Yew 29 Feb 08 Mar Prof. S Jayakumar 29 Feb 08 Mar Mr Gautam Banerjee 01 Mar 10 Mar Mr Zainudin Nordin 01 Mar 02 Mar 08 Mar 17 Mar 19 Mar 22 Mar RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew 08 Mar 15 Mar Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad 11 Mar 13 Mar Mr Wong Kan Seng 11 Mar 13 Mar

PERMISSION TO MEMBERS TO BE ABSENT ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

MOTIONS [Mr Speaker in the Chair]

MOTIONS - ORDER OF BUSINESS Resolved,

MOTIONS - ORDER OF BUSINESS That, under Standing Order 10(2), the business motion standing under the name of

MOTIONS - ORDER OF BUSINESS the Leader of the House as listed on the Order Paper for today, be taken now. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

MOTIONS - QUESTION TIME - Business Motion Resolved,

MOTIONS - QUESTION TIME - Business Motion That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, Question Time may continue for up to 30 minutes from the commencement of a sitting on the days allotted to the debate on the Budget Statement and the Committee of Supply on the Expenditure Estimates for FY 2008/2009. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS 1. Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether he can provide the number of incidences of MRT service interruptions over the past three years and the underlying reasons; (b) what is the acceptable rate; and (c) what measures are put in place to ensure the reliability of the train services so as to minimise inconveniences caused to commuters.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS 2. Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Transport in view of the recent disruption of train services, whether the Ministry will consider regulations to require a public transport operator (PTO) to pay compensation or damages to its passengers if there is a breakdown in the services provided by the PTOs which is in excess of one hour.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I would like to take Question Nos. 1 and 2 together?

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Yes, please.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Sir, Dr Lam asked about the number of train service disruptions over the past three years. From 2005 to 2007, the North-South-East-West Line and North-East Line had a total of 66 incidents with train disruption of more than 10 minutes, of which 19 lasted for more than 30 minutes. Out of these 19 incidents, 12 were due to track intrusions and two were due to other incidents caused by passengers, such as the activation of emergency buttons. Five were however due to systems fault, such as problems with signaling and trains.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Under the licensing framework, the train operators are required to adhere to the Operating Performance Standards (OPS) imposed by LTA. LTA monitors and measures the operators’ performance in the areas of service quality, safety assurance and equipment performance through indicators such as Train Service Availability, Schedule Adherence and Severity of Service Disruption. If the operators fail to meet the performance standards without acceptable reasons, LTA will take the necessary punitive action against the operators.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS The operators also have in place a Safety Management System, which requires them to continually enhance safety by identifying potential hazards and mitigating them to an acceptable safe level. Besides carrying out internal safety audits, LTA also requires the operators to engage third party assessors to audit their system regularly.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS In spite of these measures, train service disruptions will occur from time to time. The train operators have Rail Incident Management Plans (RIMP) and Standing Operating Procedures (SOP) in place to handle such situations. The plans and procedures cover areas such as service recovery, provision of alternative transport such as bus bridging, crowd control and public communications. These plans were activated during the recent incident. LTA will work with the operators

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Affected commuters may take the free shuttle buses provided or seek a refund from SMRT within three working days of the incident. During examination periods, the operators will provide alternate transport, such as taxis, to affected students so that they will not be late for their examinations.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Mr Lim asked about legislation to require train operators to pay compensation and damages arising from train service disruptions. Under the Rapid Transit Systems Act, LTA can impose a financial penalty of up to $1 million for each incident if the operator is found to be negligent. This acts as a deterrent to ensure that the operators upkeep the system well. It is also in the interest of the operator to minimise any train disruption, and if it does occur, to expedite the recovery process, as prolonged disruptions would have a detrimental impact on their business.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS to refine the RIMP and SOPs if needed, taking into account lessons from this incident.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Sir, will the Minister of State agree that passengers using public transport may suffer losses, in that they may be penalised for being late at work; they may miss an important business appointment; they may have to take taxis to work or other alternative transport? If so, is there any reason why the public transport operators should not be required to compensate these passengers if the delay is due to system fault or signalling fault? The financial penalty imposed on the public transport operators is of little comfort to these passengers if they have to incur additional expenses or costs.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Keep your question short, Mr Lim. We only have half an hour for Questions.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Yes. That is all.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - MRT TRAIN SERVICE DISRUPTIONS Sir, it is not appropriate for LTA to prescribe the kind of compensation or damages that the operators should be giving to commuters who are inconvenienced by disruptions. Nonetheless, we note a few points. Firstly, there is a refund mechanism; secondly, there is the financial penalty of up to $1 million for each incident, which is no small matter and which is something the operator would take account of if it persists in not meeting standards. Lastly, and most importantly, there are Service Availability Operating Performance Standards for the transport operators. For the Member's interest, for the second half of 2007, SMRT's Train Service Availability was 99.94%, which is above the 98% stipulated by the standards.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE 3. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of the spread of the chikungunya disease for the first time in Singapore, what efforts have been made by the authorities to work with the businesses in the affected area to curb the spread of the disease.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE Mr Speaker, Sir, the chikungunya disease is transmitted by the bite of infective Aedes mosquitoes. The key to stopping the disease transmission is therefore to deprive the mosquitoes of a place to breed. To this end, the NEA has, since the notification of the first local case, carried out more than 4,800 inspections in the affected area to remove all possible mosquito breeding habitats. These include discarded receptacles, plastic pails and poorly-maintained roof gutters. NEA has also been working with PUB, URA, LTA and SLA to improve the overall sanitation and housekeeping of premises in the affected area, so that they do not become conducive to mosquito breeding.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE Apart from the business operators, NEA has also been advising people visiting and working in the affected area on disease prevention tips through pamphlets that are printed in various languages, including Bengali and Sinhala.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE It is through denying the mosquitoes a place to breed that we can prevent mosquito-borne diseases, such as chikungunya fever, from taking their root here.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE We were able to break the transmission of the disease because of the close coordination among the agencies and the community. Although the chikungunya outbreak is over, we should all remain vigilant to prevent any recurrence, as we are still susceptible to the importation of the disease.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE We recognise that the business operators in the affected area have an equally important role to play in preventing the spread of the disease. NEA has therefore partnered the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (LISHA) to educate the operators and premises owners on the importance of good housekeeping and regular checking for potential mosquito breeding habitats. As roof gutters are known to be a potentially productive breeding habitat, premises owners have also been asked to remove the gutters if they cannot be properly maintained.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE Sir, I would like to ask the Minister how many cases were hospitalised and at what duration were they being discharged. Although it has been reported that it is under control, are there any indications of any new outbreaks?

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE Sir, as reported, there were 13 cases altogether for this recent outbreak. To the best of

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE Sir, some of the things that we will be doing are to step up enforcement against unauthorised use of URA parking lots; enforcing against the usage of premises for unauthorised purposes; ensuring that the open spaces maintained by SLA are not used for unauthorised purposes and that these areas are cleaned daily; enforcing against employers who have housed their foreign workers in unauthorised premises; and finally, to intensify the cleaning and flushing of drains. We will continue to ensure that the affected area remains clean and the environmental conditions are maintained to the standards that we want.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPREAD OF CHIKUNGUNYA DISEASE our knowledge, all of them have recovered. Not all of them required hospitalisation. At the moment, our efforts are to ensure that the area remains free of any infection and therefore NEA has set up an Inter-Agency Chikungunya Fever Taskforce that is implementing various measures to improve the environmental conditions in Little India.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE 4. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how the employment of locals can be further enhanced in light of the decreasing participation rate of Singaporeans in the workforce; and (b) whether Singapore is too reliant on foreign labour in light of the higher participation rate of foreign labour.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE ): Mr Speaker, Sir, with strong economic growth, employment of local residents is at an all time high, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of the local population. From 2005 to 2007, there were 246,000 more locals in employment - about 92,000 in 2007 alone and this is about two to three times the annual average. Supported by robust job creation, the December 2007 resident

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE The employment rate for locals aged 25 to 64 is at a record high of 76.5% (for 2007). And contrary to what the Member pointed out, the resident labour force participation rate for those aged 15 and above is also now at a record high of 65.1% for 2007, up from 63.7% a decade ago and 63.3% in 2004.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE Sir, as we hit record high employment rates, there will be limits to further growth of our local workers. We will do more to encourage women and older workers to return or stay longer in the workforce. But businesses will also need to tap on foreign workers to meet demand.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE Our flexible foreign workforce policies have enabled our economy to grow even though we have limited local manpower. This is a competitive advantage highly valued by companies and potential investors. Companies here are able to expand their workforce quickly to capitalise on growth opportunities, thereby creating even more and better jobs for locals.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE unemployment rate dropped to a decade low of 2.3%, comparable to pre-Asian crisis levels.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE Sir, I would like to ask the Minister of State whether the job matching agencies are reaching out to the relevant groups of Singaporeans who are actually in need of a job and whether they know exactly how and where to approach these agencies.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE My second question for the Minister of State is this. In view of the fact that we are quite dependent on foreign workers, how badly will our economy be hit should a foreign country decide to place an embargo on their nationals coming to Singapore to work?

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE Sir, on the first question of job matching agencies, we

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE With regard to the second question on dependency on foreign workers, our flexibility in our foreign workers policy has been a key strength of our economy. Over the past few years, our experience has shown that we have been able to adapt quickly to changes in the economic environment. We will continue to diversify our sources of foreign workers. We will ensure that our workforce remains resilient and our economy and companies remain responsive to changes in the external environment, so that we can remain competitive and our economic growth can besustained.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - PARTICIPATION RATE OF SINGAPOREANS IN WORKFORCE have distributed career network in Singapore tapping on the network of our community organisations, including the CDCs as well as voluntary organisations, like self-help groups and so on, to reach out to those who are looking for jobs. And as I mentioned, we have been quite effective in raising our overall employment rate and reducing our unemployment rate.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update 5. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) if he will provide an update on Singapore's investments in the respective countries of ASEAN; and (b) whether Singapore continues to draw investments from ASEAN countries.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update Mr Speaker, Sir, ASEAN remains the top investment destination for Singapore companies. According to preliminary data from the Department of Statistics, the stock of direct investment from Singapore companies into ASEAN stood at S$50 billion as at end 2006, accounting for nearly a quarter of Singapore's total direct

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update Singapore also continues to welcome investments from ASEAN countries. Preliminary data from the Department of Statistics shows that the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from other ASEAN countries into Singapore was more than S$10 billion as at end 2006, with the top investors being Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Between 2004 and 2006, FDI inflow from other ASEAN countries into Singapore doubled from S$0.9 billion to S$1.8 billion. According to data published by the ASEAN Secretariat, FDI inflow from other ASEAN countries into Singapore accounted for about one-fifth of total intra-ASEAN investment inflow in 2006.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update We will continue to encourage companies to invest in ASEAN and draw on the unique strengths of each ASEAN nation. Increased intra-ASEAN investment flows are important, as they would result in tighter regional economic integration that will enhance the overall competitiveness of ASEAN.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update investment stock abroad. Singapore companies' investment in Malaysia and Indonesia, our two top investment destinations within ASEAN, amounted to S$16 billion and S$15 billion respectively.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update I would like to ask the Minister how diversified is our investment portfolio in the ASEAN countries and whether the sub-prime crisis has, to a certain extent, affected our investment decisions in ASEAN.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update Within the ASEAN countries, our key investment countries are Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam, as can be expected. The sub-prime crisis has not affected these flows. As I have mentioned, even though our statistics are collected from the balance of payment data and tend to be at least one to one-

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SINGAPORE'S INVESTMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRIES - Update and-a-half years' lag, anecdotal feedback from our companies shows that interest within ASEAN countries is still very strong.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists The following Question stood in the name of Mr Chiam See Tong -

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists 6. To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there are sufficient teachers and therapists for special needs schools; (b) whether his Ministry will improve the benefits of teachers in special needs schools to the equivalent of teachers in mainstream schools in order to attract more people into special needs education; (c) what are the career advancement opportunities for Special Needs Officers employed under his Ministry; and (d) what is the rationale for not having degree level courses for special needs education despite its importance.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Question No. 6, Sir.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Sir, MOE and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) are committed to funding and supporting the Special Education (SPED) schools in delivering the full suite of education and other services to meet the needs of children with special needs. The 21 SPED schools recruit teachers, therapists and other staff according to their need.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists As at 8th January 2008, there were some 700 teachers in the 21 SPED schools and 18 vacant teaching positions temporarily filled by relief teachers. The SPED schools are currently recruiting candidates to fill the vacancies. With regard to therapists, there were a total of 45 therapists which comprised 21 occupational therapists, 11 physio

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists The Ministry of Education and the National Council of Social Service help uplift the quality and image of the sector through the provision of additional funding and greater professional development opportunities as well as recognition for outstanding SPED teachers. These include a training vote for customised training to meet the teacher's individual professional needs. In addition, teachers can also apply for work attachment opportunities to broaden their exposure beyond their school experience, just like teachers in the mainstream schools. Other professional development opportunities include leadership training programmes for principals and middle management staff and specialised training for teachers teaching children with autism. To boost the professionalism of SPED educators and provide recognition for outstanding SPED teachers, the MOE-NCSS SPED Teacher Award has been implemented and the inaugural award presentation was held in November 2007.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists NCSS reviews the pay packages of SPED teachers regularly to ensure they are equitably compensated. SPED teachers' salaries were revised as recently as April 2007. NCSS will continue to explore ways to make teaching in SPED schools a rewarding and fulfilling career.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Special Needs Officers (SNOs) are deployed to mainstream schools to assist teachers in providing support to students with mild to moderate special education needs. The SNOs provide different forms of support which include in-class support, support outside the classroom, specialised remediation, specialised training in lifeskills and the implementation of Individual

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Candidates applying to be teachers in the SPED schools must meet the minimum requirement of 'A' levels, which is the criterion for entry to the NIE pre-service teacher training course, the Diploma in Special Education. Whilst 'A' levels is the minimum academic qualification to be a SPED teacher, SPED schools have been able to attract candidates with higher academic qualifications. Of the 700 SPED teachers currently in the SPED schools, 325 have degrees, ranging from Bachelor to Masters degrees. Therefore, graduate teachers form 47% of the total number of teachers in the SPED schools.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists therapists and 13 speech therapists. For SPED schools which need additional support services for their students, they could engage therapy services from the Therapy Hubs set up by NCSS. Currently, four SPED schools are using such services from the Therapy Hubs. Education Plans for the students. They may progress to be a Senior SNO as they gain more experience and skills to provide increasing levels of support needed for pupils with more complex learning difficulties. The Senior SNOs will provide guidance and professional supervision for junior SNOs and assist school personnel in developing resources and systems to better support pupils with special needs. Some SNOs may choose to advance their careers in the SPED school sector.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Sir, may I ask the Minister of State what is the student-teacher ratio for special needs schools?

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists The student-teacher ratio differs from school to school. It ranges from eight for some autism schools to 13 or 14, depending on the different types of schools.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Sir, besides providing funding for the Special Education schools, would MOE: (1) consider playing a more active role, eg, rolling out a tiered quality assurance framework, so that there is quality education for the kids; (2) deploy HQ staff to the ground to help install these systems; (3) conduct some due diligence of the starters of these schools, eg, making sure that curriculum and trained teachers are in place before the schools

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists are started; and (4) consider a 360-degree feedback regularly to ensure that quality is assured in the course of providing the education?

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Sir, I would like to thank the Member for the suggestions. Indeed, we are working very closely with the Special Education schools on the ground, and our staff have formed special task forces to work with selected Special Education schools to help them put in place stronger governance systems as well as to help them develop curriculum appropriate for the students, especially those who are pursuing mainstream education curriculum. We are also looking at ways to upgrade the quality and qualification of the Special Education teachers. NIE is providing training for some of the teachers from the Special Education schools as well. Certainly, we will also look at ways to enhance the feedback system from Special Education schools and work towards helping them to improve their quality.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Mdm Ho, one last question.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists I would like to ask the Minister of State what has been the experience of MOE in attracting and retaining the SPED teachers.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists Sir, as I mentioned, we have been able to fill most of the vacancies in the Special Education schools. There are still some vacancies and we are recruiting appropriate teachers. At the same time, we also provide training and upgrading for the Special Education teachers as well as to look at seconding our mainstream teachers to the Special Education schools to provide additional input and professionalism, and to provide support for the Special Education schools. We are at the same time looking at opportunities

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS - Teachers and therapists for Special Education teachers to be attached to our mainstream schools to expose them to mainstream curriculum as well as the systems that we have in mainstream schools. I think these exchanges will also help to make Special Education a more attractive and sustainable career. We are working towards improving the career for the Special Education teachers.

BILLS 12.25 pm

BILLS - SUPPLY BILL "to provide for the issue from the Consolidated Fund and the Development Fund of the sums necessary to meet the estimated expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2009 (both dates inclusive)",

BILLS - SUPPLY BILL recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Finance (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam); read the First time; to be read a Second time after the conclusion of proceedings on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY 2008/2009, and to be printed.

BILLS - SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY (FY 2007) BILL "to provide for making supplementary provision to meet additional expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008 (both dates inclusive)",

BILLS - SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY (FY 2007) BILL recommendation of President signified; presented by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam; read the First time; to be read a Second time after the conclusion of proceedings on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY 2008/2009, and to be printed.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [15th February, 2008],

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1st April, 2008 to 31st March, 2009." - [Minister for Finance].

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Question again proposed.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT 12.28 pm

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Sir, thank you for allowing me to kick off the debate on the Budget. I rise in support of the Budget 2008/2009. I agree with the Minister that this year's Budget is a far-sighted one and focuses on strengthening local enterprises and investing in the people. Together with the measures announced in last year's Budget, I think we have got a good formula for future growth and sustainability. The Budget also addressed some short-term and long-term issues for lower-income Singaporeans and also the elderly.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Sir, having said that, I think the Minister missed addressing a very significant issue of rapidly rising costs, which is threatening many of our companies, as it does, for individuals. When the Finance Minister delivered his speech on 15th February, I was waiting expectantly for him to announce some long-term and short-term measures to address inflation issues, particularly for companies. I thought that the Minister was just part-way through his speech when he ended, quite abruptly, I thought.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Just as the Government helped the lower and middle-income Singaporeans through surplus-sharing package to mitigate the impact of inflation, there are also companies that are struggling to cope with the rapid increase of cost of business in Singapore. I did a quick sum of the amount of help that SMEs got this year in the Budget, and it worked out to the grand sum of $50 million, which is a far cry from the $6.4 billion surplus that the Government announced.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT I do not disagree with the Minister's focus on the longer-term issues which involve the competitiveness of our economy. I feel, however, that the Government should not ignore the immediate threats to our economy and those that our companies are facing as a result of the rapid increase in cost. This is the biggest problem for our businesses today, beyond anything that they could have planned for. It is not just the actual cost numbers but the rate at which the costs increase is an issue. Unless they survive the current cost increases, they might not have the stamina to benefit from the longer-term incentives for innovation announced by the Minister.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT The central issue for Singaporeans this year, and for companies too, is the "I" word - Inflation. And I am sure that many Members of this House will focus on this in their speeches in the next couple of days.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT We have heard from the Minister that inflation and higher cost of living are inevitable in a rapidly growing economy and that we should accept that they both come together. But, I think, we could have minimised this problem, though not completely eliminate it.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Singapore in the past saw many periods of rapid growth, at faster rates than the rates that we are seeing today, and yet inflation remained under control during those rapid growth years.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Some part of our inflation is imported, as the Minister pointed out, because we import everything, and things cost more around the world today as consumption has gone up and production is not catching up. But I feel that a significant part of the inflation has been caused by factors - what I call the "controllable factors" - which the Government could have managed and could have done something about. In the last two years,

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT In my comments today, I will talk about our overheating economy and the resulting impact on some of these areas. And, finally, I will present a wish list which I thought the Budget should have addressed this year.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Boom and bust growth policy

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT First, on the boom and bust growth policy. What happened to cause such a rapid rise in costs in Singapore? We seem to have adopted a growth strategy of growing as rapidly as possible in good years to compensate for periods of slower growth or recession, even if it meant a certain quarter of Singaporeans would not be able to keep up. The result of this policy is the widening income gap among Singaporeans, despite all the help that we have been given. At that time, I thought that it was a reasonable policy - the boom and bust policy. But after what we have seen in the last few years, I think we need to adjust our growth policy. The economy grew by about 7% to 8% per annum in the last four years, quicker than in the six years before that, which, I think, was around 3% to 4%. The result is an overheating economy and the symptoms and pains that accompany it, which are: runaway property prices; shortage of workers, leading to wage inflation; significant increases in the cost of transport, healthcare and other services; and inflation of food prices.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT The Minister did mention that the best way to mitigate inflation is sustained rapid

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Other policy decisions also contributed to the overheat. For example, the huge stimulus to the economy provided by the decision to build two Integrated Resorts together and, at the same time, having a huge infrastructure projects on transport ongoing at the same time. We could have, perhaps, chosen to do one Integrated Resort at a time, to try to minimise this impact. These programmes, which were in hiatus during the lean years, caused further overheat;

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT the Government had contributed to inflation by allowing multiple cost increases, both directly or through policy changes that resulted in cost increases. The end result is an era of very high cost increases and high inflation not supported by enough wage increases, especially for the lower and lower middle income Singaporeans and also the smaller companies. growth. But I am not sure if or how this will help. A "grow as fast as you can policy" is inflationary in nature. Further rapid growth will create a further tightening of the job market, pushing wages higher and creating more spending, spiralling upwards as cost increases are then passed on to the consumers.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT when we had money to spend, we spent a lot.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT This, coupled with the lifting of anti-speculation measures, also opened up the floodgates to foreigners taking interest in the property sector here in Singapore. We saw a huge influx of foreign wealth, buying properties here and waiting to make a profit as a result.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT As I mentioned, this growth driven overheating was compounded by both direct and indirect costs added or allowed by the Government. These cost increases impacted the lower-income Singaporeans more than it did the higher-income Singaporeans.

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Effect of grow-at-all-costs policy on the bottom 20%

BUDGET - DEBATE ON ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT If you look at the statistics released by the Department of Statistics, or DOS, from 1998 to 2006, the annual inflation for the lower 20% of Singaporeans was higher than the inflation rate faced by the top 20% of Singaporeans. In 2006, for example, the lower 20% saw an inflation of close to 2% while the upper 20% of