Hansard, Friday, 4 March 2022

1 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower for wrongful dismissal claims lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) since April 2019 (a) how many mediation requests have been refused by TADM; (b) what is the proportion of these requests which have been refused; (c) what are the typical reasons for such refusal; (d) whether TADM mediators assess and advise disputants on the validity of their claims; (e) if so, what laws empower them to do so; and (f) what qualifications are TADM mediators required to have.

Under the Employment Claims Act (ECA), wrongful dismissal claims must be filed within one month from the last day of employment. They must then undergo mediation at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). The intention is for mediation to be the first line of response, failing which claims can be adjudicated at the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT).

Each year, about 60 employees, or 6% of those seeking TADM mediation services for wrongful dismissal claims, exceeded the time limit for filing. While such claims are no longer eligible for mediation under the ECA, TADM still assists both parties to resolve the disputes if they were prepared to settle the matter amicably.

For claims within the time limit, TADM assesses the facts of each claim based on the Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissal. If TADM assesses the case to be unsubstantiated, it explains to the claimant the reasons and does not continue with the mediation process. Usually, this is because the facts as reported by the claimant showed that the employer had contractually terminated the employment in accordance with the Employment Act or the employment contract, and the employee could not cite any other facts suggesting that the termination was wrongful.

Some claimants withdraw their case at this stage, after hearing TADM's assessment. Others continue their case at the ECT. TADM's approach of referring cases to ECT without mediation reduces potential burden on employers, who should not have to attend mediation for unsubstantiated claims. It also does not affect claimants' rights in any way. About 130 cases each year, or 12% of all wrongful dismissal claims, were referred to the ECT in this way. The outcomes at the ECT generally validate our mediators' assessment. A large majority of the cases were either dismissed by the Magistrate or withdrawn by the claimants at the ECT – an indication that the process is working well as intended.

In addition to robust in-house training on the law and the dispute resolution process, all TADM mediators undergo training by the Singapore Mediation Centre. Many of TADM's mediators have prior HR experience from varied sectors or were previously employed in the former Labour Court. TADM mediators also participate in continuing education, including studying and learning from the grounds of decisions issued by the ECT. This fosters a culture of continuous learning and ensures continuous alignment with the Courts in facilitating a fair outcome for both claimants and respondents.

Mr Perera.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for his answer. Just a few supplementary questions. I believe the Senior Minister of State said 6% of the wrongful dismissal claims that go into TADM had lapsed because they do not meet the time bar and 12% are referred to ECT. So, that still leaves 82%. Of the remaining 82%, I am just wondering how many are actually dropped due to lack of evidence and how many are actually successful, whereby TADM upholds that there had been wrongful dismissals? Just wondering if I could have that statistic.

My second question is to ask the Senior Minister of State if he could characterise what the lack of evidence issue really is in most cases. Is it a lack of, for example, written email or audio-graphic or video-graphic evidence? Is that usually the reason why the cases cannot be moved forward?

Sir, TADM does not actively track cases that are assisted on a voluntary basis, as I have said. Once they exceed the time bar, then, it is up to the parties to see if they want to proceed with some mediation by TADM, on a voluntary basis. TADM is prepared to assist them if they are both willing to still have a conversation to resolve the issue amicably. The answer is, we do not track the cases that are assisted on a voluntary basis. It is probably going to be a biased tracking anyway, for those who are prepared to proceed.

In terms of the evidence where the wrongful dismissal does not have sufficient evidence, usually, as I have said, it is due to cases where the contractual terms are the reason for the termination and the claimant cannot substantiate sufficient evidence. For example, the evidence referred to would be documentary proof, it could be email correspondence. Sometimes, they are also unable to cite specific incidences in which they believe that they are wrongfully dismissed. These are the kinds of things that the TADM team look at when it assesses the ground for dismissal.

2 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the plans to improve information sharing and integration of processes between the three healthcare clusters to enhance patient experience; and (b) whether the Ministry is exploring the use of a single mobile app for the different healthcare systems so that patients and caregivers need not use multiple apps.

Sir, there are ongoing efforts to improve information sharing and the delivery of digital services to enhance the patient experience.

The National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system enables sharing of patient summary health records across care providers, including the three public healthcare clusters. We will progressively build up its coverage to include information from more healthcare providers to support care continuity.

A common pharmacy system for the three public healthcare clusters is underway, to allow consolidation of patient information, which allows providers to have a more holistic view of patients' medications and facilitate the filling of prescriptions. MOH and the healthcare clusters are also developing a national charging and billing system to streamline processes and enable a more consistent experience for patients.

Common digital services across the clusters, such as the scheduling of appointments and bill payments, are available on the national HealthHub mobile app and web portal. HealthHub also displays personal health records drawn from national systems, including for example, the COVID-19 vaccination records and COVID-19 test results.

These common services are also made available through the clusters' apps. This reduces duplication of development effort and facilitates consistent user experience, regardless of the platform a person prefers to use to connect with our healthcare system.

Meanwhile, the presence of healthcare cluster-specific apps enables those healthcare providers to customise features tailored to their specific facilities and services, and also to innovate on user-interaction features that could better engage their patients. Over time, some of these new innovations that are well-received and successful in engaging patients can be incorporated as common services that are then made available to all patients in their preferred platform, be it HealthHub or one of the cluster apps.

We will continue to improve our digital services and enhance our offerings to improve the user experience.

Mr Yip Hon Weng.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. Will the Ministry consider integrating all healthcare functionalities into the LifeSG app, since more than 70 Government services are on that app already? This is to make it more convenient for residents as they have only to use one app to interface with Government, as opposed to having to download many different apps to interface with the Government.

Sir, we continue to study all the different modes for patients and citizens to interact with Government. LifeSG is one of those that aggregates a number of services. There are other portals and means through which citizens engage with Government. And the engagement with Government is different from the engagement with your healthcare provider.

So, where it works for the patient experience – maybe for safety, for information gathering, or for user experience – we will always be considering how to optimise and streamline. The nature of many of the products' platforms that the Member refers to, is that they are the front-end for common core services. The backbone is common, the data standards are common, the information sharing processes are common. But then, engaging with a particular provider allows a user experience, as well as facilities specific services to then be deployed.

So, it is not an "either or". The example that the Member gave with LifeSG is salient to this because in LifeSG, many of those functions are also accessible through other means, where it is appropriate for either the provider or for the citizen. We will continue to review the entire space.

3 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Social and Family Development what are the measures put in place by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to ensure that pre-schools remain a safe environment for our children and that any cases of violence by staff against any child can be detected and reported at the earliest opportunity.

Sir, it is essential for preschools to ensure a safe and conducive environment for children to learn, play and develop. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) takes a serious view of child mismanagement in preschools.

Under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations, all preschools are required to adhere to safety requirements and ensure the safety and well-being of enrolled children. For instance, actions such as corporal punishment; giving harsh, humiliating, or degrading responses of any kind; and deprivation of meals are prohibited.

Preschools are required to put in place practices to enable respectful, responsive and reciprocal staff-child interactions that support children's learning. Preschools must also make sure staff use positive and developmentally appropriate methods to interact and communicate with children and infants.

Apart from communicating clear guidelines on appropriate child management to staff, centre leaders are also expected to carry out regular observations of staff-child interaction. They should also provide timely feedback to staff on concerns regarding their management of children and intervene, if necessary.

ECDA works with educational institutes and training providers to incorporate child safe practices in the training curriculum for early childhood educators. In their pre- and in-service training, educators learn about appropriate child management strategies, as well as practices which are prohibited under our regulations.

ECDA also promotes sharing of good child management practices among educators during our regular engagements with the sector and our visits to preschools.

To check preschools' compliance with regulatory requirements, ECDA conducts regular unannounced supervisory visits. ECDA also conducts investigations promptly every time we receive feedback on suspected child mismanagement. Preschools found to have inadequate child management measures in place may be issued warning letters, subjected to financial penalties, have their licence revoked or licence tenure shortened.

Notwithstanding the measures highlighted earlier, unfortunately, there can still be incidents of child mismanagement. In the event of alleged child mismanagement, preschools are required to report the incident to ECDA within 24 hours. For serious cases, such as where there appears to be clear intent to harm the child, the case will be referred to the Police for criminal investigation.

Ms Hany Soh.

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I have three supplementary questions in this regard. Firstly, I understand there was this case that was published in February in relation to a preschool teacher harming an infant. The teacher, particularly, withheld material information and as a result, there was a delay in terms of detection of the injuries that were suffered by the infant. It is rather unfortunate. To prevent this kind of incidents from happening again, I wonder if ECDA is able to facilitate to ensure that it is easier for parents to request for videos or CCTV footage where such incidents had purportedly happened.

The second supplementary question is, we also understand that taking care of young children, especially infants, is very challenging. It requires a lot of patience and caring from carers. I wonder if preschool teachers, in particular, those tasked to take care of infants, have to undergo a series of training to be more mentally resilient and are monitored by the principals in this aspect on a regular basis?

The final question is, flipping the coin around, I would like to enquire if there any measures in place for preschools to touch base with children who may not have been attending preschools on a regular basis recently, due to purportedly COVID-19-related situations, to ensure that they are actually not suffering from any domestic violence in the meantime.

I thank the Member for her three supplementary questions.

The first point about the case that she highlighted; the case is before the Courts. I would just like to assure the Member that while the investigations were ongoing, that the preschool had suspended the staff in December 2019 and then terminated her employment in January 2020. There was also a warning letter issued to the staff for child mismanagement. Subsequently, she is not allowed to continue working in preschools.

The Member mentioned a specific point about CCTV footage. Indeed, when there are cases of alleged child mismanagement, the preschool is required to do what they can, including looking at CCTV footage, to be able to present the material to parents, as well as to the Police to aid them in their investigations.

On the other point that the Member raised, indeed, ECDA ensures that when it comes to pre-service training as well as in-service training, that there is a need to enable our preschool staff to have the appropriate child management strategies. So, for instance, in pre-service training, individuals have to undergo ECDA-accredited early childhood programmes, which cover the following areas: firstly, classroom management and positive guidance strategies; secondly, they have to adhere to the code of ethics in engaging children in preschools; and they are also reminded about the practices that are prohibited under the ECDC regulations. And I had mentioned that earlier in my main response, which is about the use of corporal punishment, deprivation of meals and so on. These are all strictly prohibited.

At the same time, in-service training is also very important and that is why ECDA works with the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) and private training providers, to provide Continuing Professional Development courses to support staff in the management of children's behaviours.

On the third point the Member mentioned, indeed, we are concerned about cases whereby the children may be experiencing family violence or domestic violence at home. So, one of the things that we are looking at strengthening is about body safety awareness and training. So, MSF is consciously reaching out to preschools to facilitate training in family violence, as well as in domestic violence, so that their educators are aware of what are the signs to look out for.

And where there are instances when a child is consistently missing school, the preschools are encouraged – and I hear this on the ground as well – to call the parents to find out what is happening. And where there are concerns that there might be issues of neglect or potential abuse happening at home, the preschool educators are also encouraged to work with MSF's Child Protective Services (CPS). When the CPS is involved, they will call the parent, arrange for video calls, make visits to check on the child's well-being.

I would like to assure the Member that we take the safety of our preschoolers very, very seriously. And we will do what we can to ensure that we protect our preschoolers from violence, abuse and neglect.

4 Ms Mariam Jaafar asked the Minister for National Development (a) to date, what is the number of community gardens and urban farms that have been set up on unutilised HDB multi-storey carparks (MSCP); and (b) in view of Singapore’s "30 by 30" goal, what is being done to facilitate and accelerate the conversion of unutilised HDB MSCP rooftops to community gardens.

Mr Speaker, as part of greenery intensification under the HDB Green Towns Programme, suitable HDB Multi-Storey Car Parks (MSCP) rooftops are being converted to community gardens or commercial urban farms. The introduction of urban farms helps to bring food production closer to the community.

Although the production volume is not significant, it contributes to Singapore’s "30 by 30" food production goal. To date, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and HDB have tendered out 16 MSCP sites for commercial urban farming, while HDB has repurposed six MSCP rooftops into community gardens.

SFA and HDB consider multiple factors when identifying suitable MSCP sites for urban farming. These include the utilisation rate of the MSCPs, the loading which the rooftops at each site can bear, the availability of water and electricity supply, waste discharge facilities, as well as the current and future developments plans for the surrounding HDB blocks. Agencies are evaluating the outcomes of the first two tenders before deciding on future plans.

In addition, NParks will continue to work with HDB, Town Councils, Residents' Committees and Neighbourhood Committees to encourage the setting up of more community gardens, including at suitable MSCP rooftop sites or by converting parts of the common green in estates to community gardens.

Ms Mariam Jaafar.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I have three questions.

A reminder to Members to keep the supplementary questions to two, please.

Okay, two supplementary questions. Community gardening is something that has become very popular. My first question is to HDB. Often, in converting our MSCPs to community gardens or urban farms, we do run into challenges. For example, HDB requires the hiring of a Professional Engineer (PE) for various regulations and rules, which to be honest, I find that some of them are a little bit questionable. For example, can they bear the load? That is something HDB is supposed to have already assessed. And also, if they can bear cars and lorries, I think they can bear vegetable pots, and requiring a sprinkler for hydroponics and we have water all around us. Things like that.

The first supplementary question is, can HDB review some of these rules to narrow down the sets of requirements, so that the burden of hiring the PE is a little bit lower and therefore less costly for us?

My second supplementary question is, it is not just HDB, but we have other SFA regulations to deal with. For example, can people come up to the car park to buy the vegetables? In the business space, we have had the Pro-Enterprise Panel that has helped a lot to relieve some of these regulations and rules to make things much more business-friendly. If we are serious about our Green Plan, should we have a Pro-Sustainability Panel to similarly look through such issues, so that ground-up and community efforts in the heartlands and by our enterprises can just go a bit faster in loosening some of these regulations?

Mr Speaker, let me address Ms Mariam's second question first. She spoke about whether there could be a Pro-Enterprise Panel equivalent to look at the streamlining of rules to make it easier for operators and partners, in terms of using the MSCPs for urban and commercial farming. Just to share with the Member, indeed, SFA has been working closely with and supporting the farms awarded from the first MSCP tender.

For example, there is a Regulations Workgroup, which is led by SFA and Enterprise Singapore, and it conducts multi-agency consultation sessions for the successful tenderers of the rooftop sites for urban farming. As part of the continuing efforts by the Regulations Workgroup, an industry guide was launched in 2020 last year to provide companies in the farming industry with one consolidated knowledge resource.

SFA has also worked with HDB and other relevant agencies to prepare a guide, specifically on the setting up of urban farms on HDB MSCP rooftops. The guide consolidates key information of the various regulatory approvals under the purview of different agencies and maps out the agencies' approval processes involved in the set-up. I assure the Member that we will continue reviewing this and continue working on this as we progress on the projects.

On the first question, I appreciate the Member's questions around what kind of regulatory approvals are needed and what kind of qualifications, for example, for Professional Engineers are needed. Just wanted to share with the Member that these are the first two tenders, we are going through the processes, we are learning along the way and we will certainly streamline them.

But it is actually not so straightforward to set up an urban farming infrastructure on a MSCP. For instance, HDB car parks are designed primarily for parking and not for other uses. Just one simple example, we think of power or electricity. Actually, HDB carparks only come with three-phase 30 amps electricity supply. Farm operators, especially for those in high technology farming, may require three-phase 100 amps electricity supply. It requires extensive work to upgrade the main switchboard, power cables, even perhaps building a new consumer switch room. So, this infrastructure requires certifications and we do require time and proper supervision.

5 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the key learnings from the process leading to the landmark conservation of Golden Mile Complex in 2021; (b) whether the report on the two-year study on the conservation, or a summary thereof, can be made public; and (c) whether other modernist icons like People's Park Complex can be considered for conservation in view of heritage protection and carbon footprint reduction imperatives.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Golden Mile Complex is considered one of the most architecturally, historically and socially significant modern buildings in Singapore. It is a symbol of the architectural and engineering ingenuity of Singapore's Pioneer Generation of building professionals, including Gan Eng Oon, William Lim, Tay Kheng Soon, Koh Seow Chuan, Chan Sui Him, Joseph Wang, Woh Hup and many others. It encapsulates the people's bold vision and imagination for vibrant, inclusive and high-rise living during Singapore's early nation-building days.

The decision to conserve Golden Mile Complex in October last year was made after a careful and extensive process of study and engagement with the building owners, as well as with developers, heritage experts and other stakeholders.

Many of the learning points from these studies and engagements were unique to Golden Mile Complex, considering its specific site context, as well as its pioneering status as the first modern, large scale, strata-titled development conserved in Singapore.

For example, beyond the strong conservation merit of the building, URA had also recognised the financial interest of the building owners in this decision, as they were planning for a collective sale. To address the owners' concerns, URA had engaged the collective sale committee, industry stakeholders and relevant Government agencies to explore feasible adaptive reuse schemes for the building, as well as the unprecedented development and tax incentives to make development options for the site more attractive to potential buyers under the Conservation Scheme.

Close engagement with stakeholders, including the wider public, was key. Following URA's announcement and public exhibition of the proposal, we assessed the feedback received and further worked with the owners to refine the incentive package. Many members of the public had also written in to MND and URA to express their support for the conservation proposal. When we proceeded to conserve the building last year in October, we made public the conservation merits of the building and accompanying incentive package that had resulted from the prior years' study and engagement.

We are not at liberty to reveal the more commercially sensitive details of the incentive package, or our studies. This includes a detailed technical study and building audit that we had done for Golden Mile Complex, which we had obtained the owners' consent to conduct, on the condition that we keep the findings confidential to the owners.

There is still a learning journey ahead of us for Golden Mile Complex, even after its conservation, as the building owners seek collective sale. We will work with them and the industry to explore viable adaptive reuse outcomes for the building. We will also need to strengthen the expertise of our building industry professionals and firms to rehabilitate and conserve such buildings and work with a future developer, if any, to put the building to a meaningful new use. We will closely engage the stakeholders each step of the way.

As URA continues to study other modern buildings of heritage significance, we will likewise take a systematic, calibrated and consultative approach towards conservation, so that through both conservation and redevelopment, we can steward our limited land to meet the needs and aspirations of current, as well as future generations of Singaporeans.

Order. End of Question Time.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix, unless Members had asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn.]

[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [3rd Allotted Day]. (proc text)]

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

[(proc text) Head V (cont) – (proc text)]

[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [3 March 2022], (proc text)]

[(proc text) "That the total sum to be allocated for Head V of the Estimates be reduced by $100." – [Mr Liang Eng Hwa]. (proc text)]

[(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]

Mr Chairman, we are now in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our enterprises and our workers have shown tremendous resilience, particularly our frontline workers and our healthcare workers, amidst a challenging and constantly evolving environment. Our strong economic fundamentals, such as our excellent infrastructure, our vibrant innovation ecosystem, our extensive connectivity to the region and the world, and our trusted and robust regulatory environment, also provided us the ballast to ride out the storm. Together, we achieved a strong recovery last year.

We rebounded from the worst recession since Independence, growing by 7.6% in 2021. In particular, the manufacturing, information and communications, finance and insurance and wholesale trade sectors recorded strong growth. We also remained attractive to global investors, securing commitments of $11.8 billion in Fixed Asset Investment and $5.2 billion in Total Business Expenditure in 2021. These projects are expected to create more than 17,300 jobs and close to $17 billion in value-added per annum. Labour market conditions have also improved considerably. Median real income grew by 0.9% after accounting for inflation and our resident unemployment rate has come down to 3.2%, which is close to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The Government has leaned forward to provide generous support to help enterprises through the past two years. We recognise that the recovery has been uneven across sectors and we will continue to extend assistance in a targeted manner. The Finance Minister announced that we will be supporting firms in sectors which have been most affected by COVID-19 restrictions, through a Small Business Recovery Grant (SBRG) of $1,000 per local employee, up to $10,000 per firm.

He also announced an extension of various loan schemes administered by Enterprise Singapore, to facilitate access to financing for Small and Medium Enterprises, or SMEs. We will also do more to give the tourism industry a further lift, as we prepare for international travel to return eventually. Minister of State Low Yen Ling will provide more details in her speech.

I am heartened that many of our enterprises do not want to just sit on their hands and wait for the pandemic to pass. Instead, they want to make full use of this time-out period, to uplift themselves and their workers, so that they are ready to sprint ahead when the pandemic subsides. Last year alone, Enterprise Singapore supported over 22,000 enterprises in their transformation efforts, an increase of 44% compared to the year before.

Transformation will become even more important in the years ahead. Ms Mariam Jaafar and Mr Edward Chia asked about the economic headwinds we may face in the coming years and what we are doing to enhance Singapore's competitiveness.

There are several major challenges. Our external environment is increasingly volatile and uncertain. Pandemics and extreme weather conditions are becoming more common. Technology and business cycles are shortening and changes in international economic regulations, such as the impending BEPS 2.0, will affect how we attract and anchor investments here. Geopolitical shifts, big power contestation and rising protectionism are also underway. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine is yet another reminder that peace and security, the foundation for economic growth, cannot be taken for granted.

As a small and open economy, we cannot insulate ourselves from these external factors. We will need to muster the agility and fortitude to adapt and stay ahead. As Ms Mariam Jaafar said in her speech, we must work hard to secure our position as a stable and trusted global business hub, which includes steadily reopening our borders, committing to a strategy of COVID-19 resilience and welcoming investments, ideas and people from all over the world.

We also face challenges at home. I know many are concerned about how doing business is getting more expensive and costly, as Mr Liang Eng Hwa pointed out. The Minister for Finance in his round up speech explained what the Government is doing to support businesses and assured the House that we will monitor the situation closely and step up our support if necessary.

While there are headwinds, there are also many exciting developments in key sectors across our economy. To position ourselves for growth and seize these opportunities, we must continue to invest in our fundamentals and build up strong capabilities in our enterprises and our people.

We have already started on this important work. The Future Economy Council is refreshing all 23 Industry Transformation Maps, or ITMs, to refine our transformation strategy up to 2025. Mr Sharael Taha, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Pritam Singh asked about the progress of the ITMs. We are currently working closely with industry stakeholders, unions and academia to update our ITMs, to address emerging trends and opportunities. These include digitalisation, resilience and as Mr Sharael Taha suggested, sustainability. Jobs and skills, including the upskilling of workers, is also a key thrust of ITM 2025.

Let me use the Precision Engineering ITM as an example. The Precision Engineering ITM aimed to add 3,000 PMET jobs from 2015 to 2020. The sector is doing well and as of 2019, the number of PMET jobs in the sector has already increased by about 4,000. The ongoing ITM Refresh seeks to enable the sector to capitalise on digital manufacturing and create good jobs in growth areas such as additive manufacturing and robotics. The other ITM 2025 reviews are also in progress and will take into account the outcomes achieved from the earlier round of ITMs. More details will be shared when ready.

Ms Jessica Tan asked about growth and emerging opportunities and business sectors. For the longer term, we need a collective vision for the economy – the Singapore Economy 2030 vision – which will outline our ambition, provide direction and coordinate actions across key pillars of our economy. Together, these efforts will put our industries, enterprises and workers on a firmer footing for long-term, sustainable growth.

Let me share our vision for the four key pillars of the Singapore Economy 2030, namely services, manufacturing, trade and enterprises.

Let me start with the services sector, which Mr Don Wee talked about. Singapore has a large and diversified services sector. It represents more than 70% of our economy, comprising industries such as finance and insurance, information and communications, professional services and logistics.

The bulk of our services sector is export-oriented and has shown remarkable resilience through the pandemic. Looking ahead, there are two major waves of opportunities – sustainability and digitalisation. I will speak more on sustainability and our Green Economy Strategy, as part of the Joint Segment on the Singapore Green Plan, next week.

Digitalisation is a secular trend which will disrupt all our industries. Technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as augmented and virtual reality, have the potential to fundamentally transform how we interact with the world around us.

As more companies accelerate investments in digitalisation, there will also be increased demand for services such as consultancy and marketing. For example, as businesses move online, companies will need the expertise of marketing services firms to create more personalised advertising campaigns with the use of data analytics and marketing technology, or "martech" tools, and to engage customers through immersive user experiences through gamification, and augmented and virtual reality. Firms will also need to build new capabilities through collaborating with partners from other industries to co-create multidisciplinary solutions, including in areas such as logistics.

I am glad to see many homegrown companies leveraging global opportunities afforded by the digital economy. Many of you would have heard of Nium, a Singapore-based fintech unicorn that builds white label cross-border payment solutions. Today, its software is getting money to people and businesses in over 190 markets.

Another example is AP Media, a Singapore marketing firm that specialises in interactive and video content production. At the height of the pandemic, AP Media developed a livestreaming and virtual conference tool which was used for Singapore's first virtual fashion show called "The Front Row". The online portal houses a 3D arena, which visitors can virtually navigate runway shows, panels, workshops and podcasts. AP Media's creative technology has since been deployed in several international projects, notably Louis Vuitton's fashion show and Razer's Global Virtual Conference.

Mr Edward Chia spoke about consumer-facing businesses. Digitalisation can also be a powerful transformation tool to help consumer-facing businesses. They help them improve productivity and to engage new customers. Sephora is a good example. Singapore houses Sephora's Digital Centre of Excellence in areas such as marketing, creative and design and data analysis. One of the solutions it created in-house here in Singapore is the Virtual Artist Kiosk, which relies on augmented reality to reflect the various lipstick colours on their consumers through a digital screen. Real-time analytics, such as user engagement and the popularity of products, are then channelled back to Sephora's platform.

Second Minister Tan See Leng will speak more about what we are doing to help firms seize opportunities in digitalisation.

Even as we invest in our services ecosystem, we will continue to build up a strong manufacturing sector. Thanks to our continued investments over the years, we have a thriving and competitive manufacturing ecosystem which exports products all over the world. For example, we account for 11% of the global semiconductor market and 20% of global semiconductor equipment is manufactured in Singapore. We are also a major player in the biomedical industry and pharmaceutical companies have been producing lifesaving drugs from Singapore to supply to global markets.

Mr Baey Yam Keng asked for an update on our Manufacturing 2030 vision and the opportunities in this sector. We launched Manufacturing 2030 last year, with the aim of increasing manufacturing value-add by 50% in 10 years. We have already made good progress. Last year, the sector grew very significantly by 13.2% and received $8.5 billion in total Fixed Asset Investment, creating over 6,000 jobs when these projects are completed.

Let me share with you a few examples where we are leveraging technology for manufacturing, in particular advanced manufacturing, to allow us to produce goods higher up in the manufacturing value chain.

GE Aviation Engine Services Singapore, which I visited last year, recently became the first maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the world to use advanced additive manufacturing technology to repair airfoil components in commercial jet engines. This will further entrench its position as GE Aviation's largest site globally for engine component MRO and strengthen Singapore's aerospace industry.

Advanced manufacturing in food-related value chains also offers exciting growth opportunities, especially in areas with strong synergy with sustainability. Plant-based food, for example, is projected to grow by 100 times by 2050 across the world.

Oatside is one such local plant-based startup and Singapore's first homegrown oat milk brand. It focuses on sustainable sourcing and production and is tapping on Enterprise Singapore's Market Readiness Assistance grant to gear up for expansion in Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, China and the Middle East.

I thought Members would be excited to try this local product, so I have arranged for Oatside milk to be served in the dining areas here at Parliament. You can try the milk on its own or have it with some freshly made coffee from Hook Coffee, a local coffee company that has expanded significantly through leveraging e-commerce.

To make a further push towards our Manufacturing 2030 (M2030) ambitions, we will redouble efforts to grow a vibrant core of Singapore Global Manufacturers that are deeply innovative and can deliver distinctive offerings to their customers. Our economic agencies will provide bespoke support for manufacturers with strong potential, to deepen their capabilities and expand their global reach.

One example of a globally oriented Singapore manufacturer is Akribis Systems, a global leader in motion control solutions. Akribis owns core technologies in direct drive motor components, robotic actuators and linear stages which are critical to build high precision equipment for the semiconductor, electronics and medtech industries. Akribis is headquartered in Singapore and has a factory and innovation centre here. It has significant global reach, with its overseas businesses contributing to over 75% of its total revenue.

We must continue to strengthen Singaporeans' interest in manufacturing and develop a strong local pipeline of talent. We also need to ensure that Singaporeans can access the good job opportunities in the sector. To do so, companies need to offer attractive career progression pathways in line with technological changes and ensure these prospects are accessible and exciting.

We will therefore launch the M2030 Careers Initiative to work with the industry to achieve this, targeting especially our graduates from the Polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), who have been trained with industry-relevant skills.

To level up the industry's talent development capabilities, the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association (SPETA) will work with industry partners such as the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association and our Institutes of Higher Learning to develop a Manufacturing Employer Handbook. The Handbook will provide a range of human capital best practices and resources, to support companies in developing structured career development and progression pathways for their employees. SPETA will identify and work with at least 20 companies to pilot the adoption of these practices and pathways.

We are also working with companies to offer additional high-quality internship opportunities for students in the ITE. We aim to secure at least 200 places from 60 companies by the end of 2022. These internships can go a long way in shaping students' perception of the sector and kindle their interest.

One example is KABAM Robotics, a robotics solution provider headquartered in Singapore in the service robotics industry. KABAM currently has three interns in roles such as software and hardware development and is looking to bring on another five soon. One of its past interns, Ms Rachel Lim from the Temasek Polytechnic School of Engineering, was given the opportunity to work in the Products team to support the design, development and assembly of robots, as well as conduct performance testing and analysis. Rachel enjoyed her stint so much that she has decided to join KABAM as a full-time Product Engineer starting next week. I look forward to more of such conversion stories in the near future.

We will also work with selected companies to pilot the Accelerated Pathways for Technicians and Assistant Engineers Grant for Manufacturing, or APT(M) Grant. This will support companies to hire and train ITE graduates for critical technician and assistant engineer roles through on-the-job training, with career progression pathways and competitive salaries.

Let me now talk about trade. Given our small domestic market, global connectivity is essential to help our enterprises grow beyond our borders. As one of the world's leading business and transport hubs located in one of the most economically dynamic part of the world, we are in a very strong position to take advantage of growth opportunities in the region.

Ms Janet Ang asked how we will secure Singapore's status as a key node in the global trading network. Mr Edward Chia also asked how we are helping our companies seize regional opportunities. We are embarking on a few key moves.

First, we are proactively strengthening regional economic integration through ASEAN and other platforms. This is particularly important in a bifurcated world with increased protectionism and global competition. Greater regional cooperation and integration will not only enhance access to markets and create opportunities for our businesses, but also enlarge the economic pie for our entire region.

We are playing a leading role in key regional Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, which is the world's largest FTA, and as the Chair of the Commission of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, this year.

We will also continue to facilitate trade by shaping the rules of the game and setting high standards in emerging areas. We are pioneering new agreements, such as Digital Agreements, which facilitate cross-border data flows and digital trade, as well as Green Economy Agreements. We will continue to work with like-minded partners such as UK, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and others, to secure benefits for our companies and our people.

Ms Mariam Jaafar asked about FTAs. It is important to help our enterprises, especially the SMEs, utilise and benefit from FTAs. Singapore's network of 27 FTAs has brought many benefits to our companies, including tariff savings, stronger intellectual property and investment protection, a more conducive business environment and increased regulatory transparency. We will continue to work with industry partners, including the Singapore Business Federation, to proactively engage SMEs and provide them with the necessary support to take advantage of our FTAs.

Second, we will embark on a Trade 2030 strategy to grow our trading volume, widen the types of trading activities in Singapore and expand trade with other parts of the world. From 2020 to 2030, we aim to grow our export value from $805 billion to at least $1 trillion and double our offshore trade value from US$1 trillion to US$2 trillion. We also want to capture more re-exports and transshipment flows, to embed Singapore more deeply into the global supply chains.

To achieve this ambition, we need to redouble our efforts to build a strong ecosystem in trading companies and activities.

We will boost our efforts to attract leading Global Traders and increase value capture for Singapore by anchoring more of their upstream, downstream and innovation activities here. These Global Traders will also serve as platforms to help other Singapore companies to break into overseas markets.

We will also accelerate efforts to grow a strong core of Singapore Global Traders, which are locally grown traders that command global scale and are highly innovative. To do so, Enterprise Singapore will tap on its full range of programme offerings, such as Scale-up SG and the Enterprise Leadership for Transformation Programme, and provide bespoke support tailored to each firm's unique circumstances and ambitions. These will cover areas such as talent development, innovation, internationalisation and financing.

For instance, Fish International Sourcing House (FISH), is a homegrown seafood trader and graduate of the Enterprise Leadership for Transformation Programme. It has established presence in over 90 markets. To grow its trading business further, the company plans to invest more than $20 million to set up a 240,000-square feet seafood processing and innovation centre in Singapore, which will enable it to seize new growth opportunities. In addition, FISH intends to almost triple its current headcount of 25 by hiring another 45 employees over the next few years. FISH is also poised to have an impact on our larger trading ecosystem by partnering Singapore enterprises and helping them break into new markets, by allowing them to leverage its existing strong overseas distribution network to grow.

Growing our trading volume will create good jobs for our people. The trading sector is one of Singapore's largest employers with over 300,000 employees in 2020, of which the majority are locals and close to 70% are PMET jobs. To take on the many attractive opportunities that will emerge from the continued growth of this sector, we must build a workforce with skills and knowledge needed.

We have embarked on a suite of workforce upgrading initiatives for the trade sector, such as the creation of a Jobs Transformation Map and a Career Conversion Programme for Wholesale Trade Professionals. In addition, we are working with industry and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to develop more talent in the trading of commodities such as Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and carbon credits.

Let me now talk about enterprises. Our Singapore Economy 2030 vision needs to be supported by a vibrant ecosystem of Singapore enterprises that are future-ready, globally competitive and possess deep innovative capabilities. These enterprises will then create new jobs and meaningful careers for Singaporeans.

We will therefore embark on an Enterprise 2030 strategy, to scale up efforts to identify and support promising local businesses, including through the Singapore Global Enterprises initiative to support their growth into global champions. Second Minister Tan See Leng will elaborate on the concrete steps that we will be taking.

Our Singapore Economy 2030 vision would be neither achievable nor meaningful, if it is not anchored on an unwavering belief in uplifting our people. Enterprises also need a strong workforce with the right skillsets and capabilities to succeed.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how the Government is building a future-ready workforce. This must be a whole-of-economy effort with close coordination and collaboration between workers, companies and the Government. The Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing and Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng will be elaborating on initiatives to develop our local workforce, and help displaced workers upskill and reskill, so that they can continue to fulfil their potential by taking on new job roles or moving to emerging sectors in a nimble fashion.

I agree with Ms Janet Ang that company-led training (CLT) is critical. Companies need to step up, to consistently and persistently invest in human capital to recruit, retain and nurture talent. Workers too need to play their part and be open to learning new skills and adapting to new roles.

As the Minister for Finance announced in the Budget speech, we have relaxed the eligibility criteria for the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) for one year, to enable more small and microenterprises to tap on the credits and upskill their workforce.

There is simply no substitute for well-structured on-the-job training. Besides ensuring that workers are trained in relevant skills, such investments by employers can also help create a highly engaged and productive workforce.

I agree with Ms Foo Mee Har that initiatives like the Company Training Committees, or CTCs, play an important role in this regard. NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat had earlier spoken at length about how CTCs have supported companies in their transformation efforts during the Budget debate. I would like to assure Ms Foo that even smaller companies such as SMEs can also benefit from CTCs.

One example is Vicinity Studio, a local content production company founded in 2017. The company worked with its union – the Creative Media and Publishing Union, or CMPU, and the NTUC Training and Placement ecosystem to conduct an Operations Technology Roadmap, and developed a three-year workplan to transform its business and workforce. This helped Vicinity take steps to improve its HR capabilities and staff competencies. The studio has since grown its business and hired 13 additional new staff, some of whom are interns and SGUnited Trainees.

I urge enterprises to tap on these available resources and work with us to strengthen our economy and workers together.

Sir, let me conclude. Our enterprises and workers have come far in the fight against the pandemic. The pandemic is not yet over, and the future will continue to surprise us and challenge us in more ways than one. The conflict in Ukraine will add bumps on our road to recovery and growth. But let us look ahead into the future with confidence and resolve. We will need to work hard to build on our strong fundamentals, strengthen our agility to respond to uncertainties and amass the fortitude to make adjustments that can be painful in the short run, but will pay handsome dividends in the long run.

The chapters of our Economy 2030 vision are filled with exciting stories waiting to be written. As we continue our work to grow and develop our economy, we can look forward to a wide spectrum of new career and business opportunities for our workers and enterprises to explore. Some of these may not even exist today.

As long as we continue to stand together as one, as we have done through the pandemic, and look upon the future with a spirit of enterprise and discovery, I have every confidence that we will make progress towards building a future economy that will meet the aspirations of our workers and companies, and inspire generations of Singaporeans to come. [Applause.]

Second Minister Tan See Leng.

Our local enterprises are a critical part of Singapore's growth story. They account for almost 70% of jobs in Singapore and have the potential to help us venture into new growth areas, create solutions for the world and reimagine Singapore's economy.

Riding on global economic recovery last year, we registered a strong economic performance and we had projected GDP growth of 3% to 5% for 2022.

Minister Gan has earlier shared in this House that it is still too early to estimate the actual impact on Singapore's economic growth this year, given the conflict in Ukraine. The situation is fast evolving and there will be greater uncertainties.

In an increasingly volatile environment, the only way to navigate these challenges is to strengthen our resilience and accelerate our transformation.

Despite the pandemic, many of our local enterprises have not sat still. They have pressed on with transformation and they are now in a stronger position to rebound and capture growth. They have sought to turn the crisis into an opportunity of a generation.

This is the spirit that will power the Enterprise 2030 strategy.

Ms Jessica Tan and Ms Janet Ang asked how we are supporting our local enterprises to grow and compete globally. The Enterprise 2030 strategy is our response to ensure that we build and sustain a vibrant ecosystem of Singapore enterprises that are future-ready and possess deep capabilities to compete globally.

We will achieve this in two ways. First, we must support the growth of high potential companies to become global champions. Second, we will strengthen the core capabilities of the broader base of local enterprises in industry transformation. Let me elaborate each of these strategies.

Over the last few years, we have witnessed the emergence of a new generation of local champions.

We now have 22 homegrown startups that have reached unicorn status. Many of our homegrown companies such as Secretlab, Hegen and Nanofilm, have made a name for themselves internationally. These are the bright spots in our enterprise landscape.

We will intensify our efforts to identify, nurture and to grow many more promising local enterprises. To do so, we will launch an initiative to cultivate a new generation of "Singapore Global Enterprises" which are locally grown and globally competitive.

Both ESG and EDB will provide more bespoke and enterprise-centric assistance to enterprises with strong growth potential and global ambitions which are tailored to their specific needs and individual growth ambitions.

We will also harness resources across whole-of-Government and our partners to support each of these high potential enterprises in areas such as innovation, internationalisation and fostering partnerships with other firms.

For a start, we will enhance our support for these high potential companies in four ways: firstly, developing global-ready executives; secondly, creating new corporate ventures; thirdly, facilitating Mergers and Acquisitions; and fourthly, creating enhanced access to financing.

Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how we will continue to ensure that firms have access to the talent they need. As Mr Liang Eng Hwa have pointed out, the answer lies in "growing our own timber", providing the space and opportunity to nurture and support Singaporeans to be part of the growth stories of many more promising enterprises.

We will launch the Singapore Global Executive Programme (SGEP) to boost the human capital capabilities of our high potential local enterprises and support them in talent attraction and retention, as well as leadership succession programmes to develop a pipeline of future leaders, not just locally, but globally.

We have also been exploring new ways to support companies in creating new business ventures. Last year, EDB launched the Corporate Venture Launchpad, which is a pilot programme to support companies to incubate and launch new businesses within a six-month sprint. As part of this programme, Keppel Land is venturing into digital well-being, companion care and connectivity solutions for eldercare, in line with its ambition to become a leading player in the Senior Living sector. Given the positive feedback from the pilot programme, we will expand the Corporate Venture Launchpad to support a wider range of companies.

We know that it takes courage, it takes gumption to scale a business. To help our enterprises on this journey, EDB will be launching a Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) grant to co-fund the qualifying spend on Singapore-based professional and financial advisory services incurred on the M&A deal.

We have also launched three funds recently to provide capital to accelerate the growth of our enterprises, broaden the range of fundraising options and help them work towards an eventual public listing or liquidity event in Singapore. These funds are the Local Enterprises Fund @ 65 and the Anchor Fund @ 65 which are set up in partnership with Temasek, as well as the Growth IPO Fund managed by EDBI.

Ms Jessica Tan asked about the progress of the Local Enterprises Fund. 65 Equity Partners, a wholly owned investment platform of Temasek, has been managing this fund and engaging promising local enterprises. We have seen good interest in the fund since its launch. But these are still early days and many of these plans will take time and a certain runway to finalise.

Let me now move on to my second pillar of Enterprise 2030 – to strengthen the core capabilities of our local enterprises.

We will step up efforts to help the broad base of SMEs in four key areas: one, capabilities development; two, internationalisation; three, digitalisation; and four, innovation.

First, in capabilities development. We have rolled out a comprehensive suite of programmes to support our enterprises and workers. I will elaborate on our key shifts.

Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Edward Chia and Ms Janet Ang asked how the Government will foster stronger partnerships between MNCs or Large Local Enterprises (LLEs) and SMEs to seize new opportunities.

We will work with SkillsFuture Singapore to onboard MNCs and large local enterprises who are "Queen Bees" to curate industry-relevant training courses in emerging growth areas, such as robotics and Industry 4.0.

Another initiative is the PACT scheme. PACT stands for Partnerships for Capability Transformation. Under this scheme, we have supported collaborations between large companies and smaller SMEs through co-innovation, internationalisation projects as well as costs of supplier qualification processes.

Since its inception in 2010, the Government has set aside more than S$150 million to support these projects which have benefited over 2,000 Singapore-based companies.

I am happy to announce that we will be extending the enhanced support levels for PACT to 31 March 2023. Companies can qualify up to 70% for manpower and consultancy costs and up to 50% for hardware and equipment costs. I strongly urge interested enterprises to get in touch with our agencies for more details.

Second, on the internationalisation thrust. I thank Ms Janet Ang for her suggestion that LLEs can take a step further to lend their networks to create business opportunities for local enterprises. We have been working with many LLEs to do so and we will adopt a more concerted "Team Singapore" approach in our internationalisation strategy and bring onboard SMEs to collectively access overseas markets.

I am encouraged that 1,600 local enterprises embarked on internationalisation projects last year. This is in spite of current travel restrictions. Many of these enterprises have gained a foothold in key markets through our support networks such as the GlobalConnect@SBF, as well as leveraged on ESG's international matchmaking platforms, such as the Open Innovation Network to connect and co-innovate with other industry players. We will intensify efforts through these international partnerships and networks to help SMEs deepen their presence in key markets and pursue opportunities in new ones.

Third, digitalisation. Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Desmond Choo asked how we are helping firms to digitalise, strengthen capabilities and capture new opportunities in the digital economy.

One way we are doing so is through the SMEs Go Digital initiative, which supports SMEs in the adoption of digital solutions for basic business functions, online transactions and other more advanced solutions. More than 80,000 firms have benefited from the initiative since it was launched in 2017. In addition, firms can also tap on funding support from ESG's Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) and Enterprise Development Grant (EDG).

As announced in the Budget Speech, we will expand the range of solutions under the PSG, to include new technologies and more sector-specific solutions to deepen capabilities in areas, such as cybersecurity and data analytics, which will increasingly become essential skillsets.

I would like to thank Mr Desmond Choo, Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Derrick Goh for their feedback to strengthen the digitalisation capabilities of our SMEs.

On Mr Desmond Choo's suggestion to help SMEs tap on a pool of tech talent, this is exactly why IMDA has launched the Chief Technology Officer-as-a-Service (CTO-as-a-Service) scheme. As the name suggests, SMEs can engage a pool of digital consultants for in-depth advisory and project management services. MCI will share more on the digitalisation initiatives later on, today, at the Committee of Supply (COS) debate. We will also study Ms Foo Mee Har's suggestion to replicate the CTO-as-a-service scheme to other functions.

On Mr Derrick Goh's point to provide more holistic support for companies, I want to highlight that the schemes I mentioned earlier are part of a comprehensive suite of tools to support our enterprises in each stage of their growth. Indeed, more can be done to raise awareness and help our SMEs understand how the various tools can support their needs, as mentioned by both Ms Rahayu Mahzam and Mr Shawn Huang. I encourage enterprises to reach out to Enterprise Singapore and our network of SME Centres for free one-on-one business advisory.

Last, but not least, innovation. Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked how the Government is supporting enterprises in their innovation and R&D journey. Under our RIE 2025 plan, we will sustain investments in research, innovation and enterprise at 1% of Singapore's GDP, or $25 billion, from 2021 to 2025.

Over the years, we have taken a more enterprise-centric approach to help SMEs build their innovation capabilities and translate their innovations into new products and services. Since 2003, more than 950 A*STAR research scientists and engineers have been seconded to support over 850 local SMEs in product development as part of A*STAR's Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading programme, or T-UP. ESG has also enhanced its Innovation Advisors Programme to partner industry veterans with SMEs to commercialise their research. These are significant efforts to help our SMEs scale up their capabilities in-house.

We have also reaped the fruits of our labour. In the fight against COVID-19, the A*STAR's Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) collaborated with the Diagnostics Development Hub and Tan Tock Seng Hospital to develop the Fortitude COVID-19 test kit, the first lab diagnostic kit to receive Provisional Authorisation from Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for clinical use. The Fortitude kits have been deployed in Singapore and more than 40 countries globally.

Apart from COVID-19-related innovations, we are also encouraged to see more local firms innovating and moving up the value chain. I visited another local startup, ION Mobility, last year to unveil its flagship product, the ION Mobius. It is a smart electric motorbike which was conceptualised, designed and assembled in Singapore. In fact, its proprietary battery pack allows riders to cover a distance of up to 200 kilometres on a single charge. And its interface settings can also be changed with the rider's smartphone.

We have invested substantial resources and efforts in building innovation capabilities, and I agree with Mr Desmond Choo that, beyond Government support, importantly, our enterprises must also embrace the spirit of innovation as a core capability. I am excited to see how our enterprises will push the boundaries to create solutions for the world.

After having set out our longer term plans, I would like to address some of our near-term challenges. The Minister for Finance and Minister for Trade and Industry have touched on many of these issues. I would like to explain how we are addressing rising electricity prices and manpower constraints.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on our energy supply. Mr Derrick Goh also asked how we are supporting consumers due to rising energy prices and whether these measures could be extended. While Singapore's sources of fuel are diversified and the conflict in Ukraine poses limited direct risks to our supplies, we will be affected by the high or volatile global gas prices arising from the conflict.

However, I would like to assure all consumers that we will spare no effort to ensure that Singapore's energy supply remains secure and reliable. As the Minister for Trade and Industry and I have explained in this House, MTI and EMA have put in place various measures to safeguard energy security and to help consumers cope with rising electricity costs. These include ensuring that generation companies have sufficient fuel reserves, establishing a Standby Fuel Facility which generation companies can tap on to produce electricity and working with the generation companies and electricity retailers to offer fixed price contracts under the Temporary Retail Electricity Contracting Support (TRECS) scheme. EMA is also working with them to offer longer term fixed price contracts to consumers who wish to have more price stability. We have since extended TRECS from March to May 2022 and we will extend it further if necessary.

I understand the cost pressures faced by households and businesses. We will continue to monitor market developments and will not hesitate to introduce further measures, if necessary, to support vulnerable consumers. Eligible households will continue to receive U-Save rebates to support them with their utility expenses and businesses which need financing support can tap on the loans offered by ESG.

I agree with Mr Liang Eng Hwa that we can enhance energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. In fact, we have rolled out a series of measures to encourage consumers to do so by redesigning electricity bills to benchmark individual consumption across other similar users and mandating energy-intensive companies to implement energy conservation and energy management practices. However, we cannot embark and succeed on this journey alone. We urge all consumers to use energy prudently and adopt energy conservation as a way of life.

I would like to assure this House that even as we address the near-term challenges in the energy sector, we remain committed to planning for the future. We are pressing ahead with our efforts to advance the energy transition and decarbonise the power sector. Minister Gan Kim Yong will elaborate more on this in the Joint Segment on the Singapore Green Plan.

Let me now turn to manpower. Domestically, the labour market in Singapore has tightened over the past year due to economic recovery and international border restrictions. Many businesses continued to find it challenging to access the manpower they require, especially in areas where there are skill shortages. As Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Saktiandi Supaat pointed out, access to highly-skilled manpower is a critical challenge we must overcome together, given our ageing population, economic uncertainties and the competition for global talent.

Therefore, we have made various adjustments to our foreign worker policies to be more targeted and selective in bringing in high-quality and diverse foreign workforce to complement the local workforce. Mr Cheng Hsing Yao asked whether our foreign workforce policies are dynamic and flexible enough to meet our economic needs. Indeed, this is critical.

For example, we had recently launched specific schemes, such as the Tech.Pass and Tech@SG to provide firms with access to specialised talent. These schemes have been well-received by companies, with around 180 Tech.Pass holders and more than 50 firms on Tech@SG. We will continue to actively monitor and review these schemes to ensure that they are effective. I will also share more on the refinements to address skill shortages later on this afternoon at MOM's COS debate. Mr Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We are committed to support our local enterprises to leverage growth opportunities in a post-COVID-19 world. Beyond targeted measures to address immediate cost pressures and greater uncertainties brought by the conflict in Ukraine, we need to accelerate industry transformation efforts in the light of the larger transformation and restructuring of our global economy.

As part of our Enterprise 2030 strategy, we will encourage and support the growth of high potential companies to become global champions and strengthen the core capabilities of the broad base of SMEs. In particular, we will intensify efforts in capability development and supporting internationalisation, digitalisation and innovation in our local SMEs. We will support our SMEs on this journey, so that we can seize opportunities, achieve breakthroughs and build a more resilient and vibrant economy together.

(In English): We have set out our strategy under Enterprise 2030 which will allow us to set our sights further, plan for the longer term and put in place the building blocks right now. Importantly, we will need to continuously innovate, think outside the box and transcend our own physical boundaries and constraints to seize the opportunities of the future economy.

I strongly urge and encourage our enterprises to equip themselves for the future, press on with transformation and set their sights to become the next Singapore Global Enterprise. The Government will continue to support them in this journey. [Applause.]

Chairman, we have gone through two long and hard years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenging and uncertain business environment which upended lives and operations, Singapore enterprises have shown incredible resilience and mettle to transform and thrive in the new normal.

As encouraged by Minister Gan Kim Yong and Second Minister Tan See Leng, we have the chance to seize the new opportunities that are before us and to forge a new path forward for our economy. Let me elaborate on our plans to support our businesses as we chart the path ahead together. We will leave no stones unturned to enable our people and businesses to emerge even stronger than before.

First and foremost, we know that access to financing is the lifeblood of business survival and growth. To ensure that our enterprises have ready access to financing at various stages of their development, the Government has put in place a range of support measures specifically for this purpose. In the last two years, close to 28,000 companies have secured financing from the Enterprise Financing Schemes (EFS). And we will do even more.

As the Minister for Finance Mr Lawrence Wong recently announced in Budget 2022 just two weeks ago, we will extend the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme (TBLP), as well as the enhanced EFS Project Loan (EFS-PL) and EFS Trade Loan (EFS-TL). We will also be making further enhancements to schemes, such as the EFS Merger and Acquisition (M&A) scheme. These improvements come on the back of industry feedback and engagement.

One company that has benefited from the EFS M&A scheme is GKE Corporation Ltd. This is a third-party logistics provider that provides warehousing, freight services, transportation, marine logistics and port management services. They took up an EFS M&A loan of $6 million to fund the acquisition of a chemical tolling company. This strategic acquisition will help GKE acquire deeper technical expertise in specialty chemical manufacturing and capture a broader segment of customers as a market leader for chemical logistics.

To support more companies like GKE in their growth plans, we will be expanding the EFS M&A Programme to include domestic M&A activities from 1 April this year to 31 March 2026.

In addition, we will provide fresh avenues of financing for the green economy. The Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) that was just launched last October has an Enterprise Financing Scheme component called EFS-Green, designed to help our local enterprises capture opportunities and develop capabilities in sustainability. Sectors involving Clean Energy, Circular Economy, Green Infrastructure and Clean Transportation are well-placed to tap into this source of funding.

These enhancements to keep the financing tap on will reassure Ms Rahayu Mahzam that companies can access the vital support they need to seize green shoots of opportunities and tide through the pandemic. We will continue to monitor the schemes' efficacy and fine-tune them to give our local companies our fullest support.

Apart from financing, I would like to assure Mr Shawn Huang and Ms Rahayu Mahzam that our enterprises have a one-stop portal called GoBusiness to rely on for all the latest information and e-services for doing business in Singapore. In addition, by answering a few simple questions on the portal, they can receive tailored recommendations from its e-Adviser feature – from the kind of Government grants suited for their transformation journey, to how to start and grow their business.

As of January 2022, close to 43,000 businesses have used the GoBusiness portal to apply for Government assistance, and over 56,000 have benefited from the e-Advisers' personalised recommendations. We encourage our companies, entrepreneurs and business owners to make full use of this business-friendly online resource.

On this note, I want to assure Mr Derrick Goh that while the Government aims to achieve greater efficiencies through technology and streamlining processes, we are also mindful of the need to ensure an inclusive playing field of opportunities. We hear his concerns that the use of the demand aggregation procurement by VITAL could limit opportunities for SMEs to be appointed on the Government's panel of suppliers and providers.

In the demand aggregation tender involving the events management industry late last year, a decision was made after feedback from the industry, to structure the contract such that, in addition to lower financial barriers, smaller event management companies could have a chance to be appointed onto this panel. This also led to a doubling in the number of bids attracted. So, I want to assure Mr Derrick Goh that, wherever it is appropriate, we aim to structure the procurement in such a way that a range of suppliers of different profiles and sizes can take part, so as to offer business opportunities for as many enterprises as possible.

Chairman, COVID-19 has hit some sectors very hard and we will continue to avail support to those that need it. As Mr Edward Chia pointed out, consumer-facing businesses are bearing the prolonged impact of the pandemic. The Small Business Recovery Grant (SBRG) will provide up to $10,000 per firm in the most affected sectors to help these SMEs regain their footing and build back their strength.

In the last two years, the food services and retail sectors have battled waves of disruptions time and time again, from restrictions to closures, to changing consumer preferences and also pressures to digitalise, as well as manpower shortages. With the accelerated pace of change and the fast-emerging consumer trends, the food and retail sectors have to continue to transform themselves.

Today, I am happy to announce that we will be introducing the $70 million Food Services and Retail Business Revitalisation Package to help our food services and retail companies overcome these challenges. We want to help them recover, we want to help them get stronger and we want to help them forge ahead with new strength.

The new Food Services and Retail Business Revitalisation Package will: one, extend crucial support for our businesses in these sectors to improve their productivity and equip them with the capabilities to pivot and transform, so as to stay competitive and relevant; and two, help our food services and retail companies to beef up their manpower in the hiring and training of locals.

Hence, we will extend the 80% support level of the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) and relevant solutions under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) for the food services and retail sectors till 31 March 2023. This extension under the Food Services and Retail Business Revitalisation Package will give our F&B and also our retail businesses more scope and more opportunities to adapt and transform and better position themselves for the future.

Let me share one example. Since 2020, Dian Xiao Er – I think this is a name that some of us are familiar with – has tapped on the EDG for three projects to enhance their central kitchen. One of the projects involves the development of a first-of-its-kind automated duck conveyor system, which then helps to cut the preparation time for 1,500 ducks by about one-third. I note that it is 12.00 noon and for me to talk about 1,500 ducks, I think, is very tempting to the Members in the Chamber. But back to this example.

With less manual work that is required in the duck preparation process, Dian Xiao Er retrained their staff to take on other roles. What other roles? For example, by taking on duties in their manufacturing central kitchen. The company estimates that these three EDG projects have saved them at least $60,000 per month on operating costs. By sharing this example, I hope that our food services and retail companies will make full use of the newly introduced $70 million Food Services and Retail Business Revitalisation Package to enable more such companies like Dian Xiao Er to continue pursuing their business transformation efforts, so as to stay competitive and future-ready.

Chairman, we also recognise that manpower challenges continue to feature at the top of the food services and retail sectors' concerns. Together with industry associations, such as the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) and the Singapore Retailers' Association (SRA), we will double up on our efforts to support the hiring and training of local jobseekers.

This will include promoting local talent development programmes, such as the SGUnited Career Pathways scheme and the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), as well as intensifying our outreach to jobseekers and supporting the sectors' training needs.

I am also pleased to update the House and Mr Edward Chia that all Government landlords and major private sector landlords have adopted the Code of Conduct for the Leasing of Retail Premises since 1 June 2021. We can look forward to updates to the Code from the FTIC, which is the Fair Tenancy Industry Committee, in the coming weeks. These updates will then provide us with additional clarity and details on the implementation of the Code as its legal enactment gets underway.

Chairman, our tourism sector keeps Singapore connected to the rest of the world and maintains our position as a global-Asia node. COVID-19 has hit the tourism sector very hard. But despite the challenges, we have continued to quickly adapt and pivot to new propositions to come back even stronger. We will continue to support our tourism sector's efforts to recover, innovate and to come back stronger than before.

To answer Mr Shawn Huang's questions about our plans to support our tourism sector's recovery, allow me to share some of our strategies and plans.

First, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will accelerate its SingapoReimagine international recovery campaign, in tandem with the resumption of international travel. STB is now working with a wide range of partners around the world, such as airlines, travel agents and media outlets, to maintain Singapore's position as a global-Asia node to attract more travellers here.

Second, we will help tourism companies develop attractive new products and experiences. Members will remember the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV) scheme last year, which generated nearly $300 million in SRV-related bookings and transactions and up to $100 million in ancillary spending. The SRV was part of a larger effort, which is the SingapoRediscovers campaign, which is still ongoing.

Through this campaign, STB works with hotels, attractions and tour operators to create new products and experiences that appeal not only to Singaporeans but also to visitors when they return to Singapore. For example, the tour operator Let's Go Tour Singapore developed new and unique programmes in the course of the SRV scheme and, as a result, they enjoyed a three-fold jump in their revenue compared to pre-COVID-19 times. STB will continue to engage and also support tourism companies so that Singapore will have a broader and richer range of unique experiences and products that differentiate us from other cities.

Third, we will defend our position as a leading destination for high-quality business and leisure events. We hit a "pause" button on these because of COVID-19, but STB is now gearing up to resume large-scale, and also, high-quality business and leisure events from this year. I think Members will remember, just two weeks ago, the Singapore Air Show 2022. It welcomed an estimated 13,000 trade attendees and almost 600 exhibitors from over 39 countries.

Later this year, we will welcome many more industry-leading events, such as the Global Health Security Conference 2022, the FIND – Design Fair Asia 2022, as well as the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix and the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. These events will not only directly benefit the tourism sector but will also ensure that Singapore remains a "top of mind" destination.

Fourth, we will continue to co-curate innovative tech and digital solutions with the tourism sector. Over the past three years, STB's Singapore Tourism Accelerator Programme supported 34 promising tech startups in developing solutions to future-proof the tourism industry. Let me quote one example.

One of them is Bazaar and this is a local startup which offers augmented reality solutions. Bazaar developed gamified wayfinding solutions for Marina Bay Sands to enhance its customer engagement. And beyond the Accelerator Programme, Bazaar is now planning to tap on opportunities in the metaverse to support tourism businesses in developing immersive experiences for their customers.

Fifth, we will double down on efforts to upskill the tourism sector workforce to ensure that tourism workers are ready to meet changing job demands. Over the last two years, STB and Workforce Singapore (WSG) supported over 140 tourism companies through various CCPs. This helped more than 1,300 workers take on redesigned and enhanced roles. STB has also set up the Tourism Careers Hub pilot jointly with NTUC and the five main travel Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) to provide job facilitation, skills training and also, business transformation.

Chairman, to complement the suite of support that the Government has directly rolled out to businesses, we will continue to work with partners, such as the TACs. on collective actions to transform and better position our industries for the future.

As the eyes, ears and mouth for their members, TACs play an important role in the sectors that they represent and this was a point that was highlighted by many of the Members yesterday – Mr Raj Joshua Thomas, Ms Janet Ang and other Members as well. I am always of the view that the TACs' roles actually can be easily summarised by "ABC". Why? Because "A", the TACs advocate their members' interests; "B", they help their members by bridging the communications between the members and the Government; and "C", they help their members by collaborating with others, including from other sectors to capture new opportunities for the industry.

Two months ago, I attended the launch of the TAC Competency Framework and the TAC Growth Model. I note that Mr Raj Joshua Thomas also highlighted this in his speech yesterday. The Framework and Growth Model were developed by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) with the support of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). Through this initiative, SCCCI and SBF aim to reach out to at least 150 TACs on upskilling their secretariats, to raise TACs' capabilities and to add value to their business members.

I would like to assure Ms Janet Ang, Mr Raj Joshua Thomas and Mr Derrick Goh that this year, the Government will redouble our efforts to uplift TACs by building their capabilities, developing their leadership and also enhancing their talent attraction strategies. I would like to announce three new programmes that aim to uplift TACs' capabilities, especially in digital adoption and leadership development.

Firstly, to help our TACs digitalise, SBF will partner SGTech to launch the Digitalisation of TACs programme or, in short, Digi-TAC. Eligible TACs can access a range of digital solutions and training courses that is curated to equip TAC staff with basic e-capabilities that will help raise their productivity and efficiency.

Secondly, SBF will launch a new TAC Fellowship Programme to enable TACs to develop their leaders and build a leadership pipeline. We will support secretariat members and TAC leaders nominated by their TACs to attend the TAC Leadership Development Programme, so as to boost their leadership capabilities.

Thirdly, to boost the TAC talent pool, SBF will, with support from Enterprise Singapore and SCCCI, develop a TAC Leadership Accelerator Programme. This programme seeks to attract talented, high-performing mid-career professionals with industry-relevant experience to join our TACs and to take industry transformation efforts to a higher plane. To become effective leaders in industry development, the candidates will undergo a mix of classroom training and mentorship programmes and also gain on-the-job experience in the participating TACs.

I am very heartened that SBF, as the apex business chamber, has stepped forward as an anchor and advocate for a stronger TAC community to help our businesses grow. More details on the new programmes will be made available this year.

Chairman, in the area of partnerships with the industry, MTI is working closely with the different industry representatives to form the Committee Against Profiteering (CAP). I am grateful that many Members of the House welcomed the aims and the work of the CAP that Minister Lawrence Wong announced during the Budget two weeks ago.

I want to assure Mr Sharael Taha that CAP will investigate businesses that raise prices of essential products and services unjustifiably using the GST increase as an excuse. I have heard many Members during the Budget debate talk about this and they have rightly pointed out that with the global spectre of inflation, some businesses may have legitimate reasons to raise prices. So, our job in the CAP will be to look into errant practices that are flagged out by the public and bring to task those who unfairly profiteer using GST increase as a reason. We want to ensure that businesses keep their prices transparent and do not misrepresent the reasons for any of their price increase. The committee will share more details on its work in the coming weeks.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and its President Mr Melvin Yong for the strong partnership in safeguarding the interests of our consumers. We assure Mr Melvin Yong that we will review the constructive suggestions that he made yesterday to strengthen our consumer protection regime. We will work closely with CASE and the industry to better protect and empower consumers and at the same time, create greater opportunities for businesses in Singapore.

Chairman, I would now like to take the opportunity to touch on another important group of businesses, one that is very close to our home, one that is very close to our hearts – our heartland enterprises.

Mr Shawn Huang said it very well yesterday during the delivery of his cut. He said that our heartland enterprises are the heartbeat of our community and I completely agree with him because the shops in our heartlands form a central thread of Singapore's social fabric and our everyday lives. Many Singaporeans grew up with these "mom and pop shops". They play an important role in our neighbourhood, providing convenience and affordable goods and services at our doorstep, as well as jobs for Singaporeans near their homes.

Our heartland spaces are also fertile ground for the birth and growth of many well-loved local enterprises. For example, do you know that our very own homegrown bakery Bengawan Solo started out in an HDB block at Marine Terrace? Over the years, it has expanded to become a household name, serving both local and international customers.

With their affordable rent and ample pool of residents as customers, heartland spaces are ideal incubators for the next generation of notable Singaporean brands. Many budding entrepreneurs have seized this opportunity and have launched their dreams in the heartlands. We can now often find businesses with very fresh and very cool concepts in our neighbourhood, like gourmet burgers or even novel pets.

I have come to know Mr Lee Syafiq of Ashes Burnnit. He leads a very young team and he himself is only 30 years old. He and his team serve up delicious gourmet burgers across four hawker centres and coffeeshops in Singapore.

We want to do more to nurture and launch fresh waves of entrepreneurs in our very own heartlands.

In recent years, heartland enterprises face various challenges arising from changing consumer behaviour and rising competition exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work with our partners and not let up in our efforts to help our heartland shops stay competitive and stay relevant.

One of the key initiatives that we rolled out in October 2020 was the Heartlands Go Digital (HGD) programme, which aims to help our heartland enterprises respond to the COVID-19 situation and also adapt to new consumption patterns and leverage digital commerce.

I am happy to report that as of February 2022, 85% or about 14,500 of our heartland enterprises have adopted e-payment solutions, such as NETS, Fave, Grab and PayNow. In fact, more than half – 58% of our heartland enterprises and that translates to about 9,900 heartland enterprises – are now onboard digital channels and onboard e-commerce platforms such as Carousell, Fave, Shopee and have set up a Google My Business page to create an online presence.

Think about it. This progress is a great step forward for many of our "mom and pop shops" that were only using cash and operating strictly as a brick-and-mortar store just two years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our heartland enterprises truly deserve our admiration and our praise for their resilience and their can-do spirit. MTI and ESG will build on this momentum to bring our heartland enterprises onto a higher plane and into a brighter future.

Enterprise Singapore will be launching a new initiative called Our Heartlands 2025, which we estimate will cost about $50 million to help our heartland enterprises increase revenue, improve their operational efficiency thereby reducing cost and expand their customer base both online and offline.

The four-year programme to energise and support heartland shops will seek to: one, deepen the digital and manpower capabilities of our heartland shops; and two, upgrade the capabilities of our TACs. Let me now share some new initiatives under this roadmap.

Firstly, deepening digital and manpower capabilities will help businesses diversify their revenue and increase operational efficiency thereby reducing cost. Mr Shawn Huang will be glad to note that under Our Heartlands 2025, we aim to further expand our digitalisation efforts, so that nine in 10 shops will adopt at least one digital solution.

Under this new roadmap, heartland enterprises will be equipped progressively via the Heartlands Go Digital programme. In addition, we will accelerate our outreach to merchants and encourage them to take up solutions and training in financial and inventory management as well as venture into online sales through other e-commerce vendors and subsidised solutions.

Besides digital capabilities, we will widen the reach of the current Heartlands Visual Merchandising Programme to increase their offline capabilities and attract customers and improve sales.

Another key thrust of Our Heartlands 2025 programme is to improve and deepen the capabilities of our TAC partners who are active in our heartlands. As I had mentioned earlier, TACs are important partners in helping our enterprises grow and transform.

To support the needs of our heartland enterprises and their transformation journey, we will strengthen and develop capabilities of the Federation of Merchants' Associations Singapore (FMAS) and the Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS) as well as our local merchants' associations (MAs).

This will involve training their secretariat in aspects such as project management, precinct rejuvenation and financial management. We will also support FMAS in launching a shared secretariat for local merchants' associations. This will free up more time and resources for the local merchants' associations to help their member shops adopt solutions to increase their revenue and to improve their efficiency.

Chairman, we are committed to helping our heartland shops gear up for the future through Our Heartlands 2025. In the next few years, we hope to see them grow their revenue, boost their operational efficiency and attract new customers into our vibrant heartlands.

On that note, we are looking forward to the heartlands attracting more Singaporeans to eat, shop and spend using their Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers. You may recall that about $130 million worth of vouchers were given out just about two months back in December 2021. The Government recently committed another three tranches, which total up to $650 million in CDC vouchers, which will be distributed over 2022 to 2024.

To date, more than 1.1 million Singaporean households, which translate to 90.6% of households, have claimed the first tranche of $130 million CDC vouchers and $62 million worth of CDC vouchers have been spent in the last three months. More than 91% of the participating businesses have received CDC voucher transactions.

The number of participating outlets in the CDC voucher scheme has grown to more than 14,500. We are very heartened that our heartland merchants and hawkers recognise the benefit of the CDC vouchers and hope that Singaporeans will continue to support our heartland enterprises. Chairman, may I have your permission to say a few words in Mandarin, please?

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Chairman, it has been a difficult two years for our SMEs due to the pandemic. During this time, the Government rolled out many initiatives and support measures not only to help SMEs overcome their operating challenges, but also to encourage all businesses to pursue transformation efforts, boost their productivity and improve their sustainability.

We also recognise that some sectors may need additional assistance.

We will be introducing the $70 million Food Services and Retail Revitalisation Package to help businesses seize growth opportunities. The package will: one, extend crucial support for businesses in these sectors to improve their productivity and equip them with the capabilities to pivot and transform, so as to stay competitive and relevant; and two, help companies hire and train more locals and optimise their manpower arrangements.

When speaking of the Food Services and Retail sectors, we cannot leave out our heartland enterprises. Our heartland enterprises offer a myriad of goods and services at affordable prices, inject vibrancy into our neighbourhoods and offer employment to Singaporeans close to their homes. They are crucial to our economy and our community.

I earlier shared about the Heartlands Go Digital programme as well as the Heartland Visual Merchandising programme.

After the introduction of these programmes, we have gathered and listened to feedback from the merchants and merchant associations. After further consultation and planning, ESG and HDB will be launching Our Heartlands 2025, a four-year programme that aims to energise and further the development of our heartland shops. The $50 million Our Heartlands 2025 programme aims to deepen the capabilities of merchants' associations and help heartland shops adopt technology and digitalise. We hope they can innovate and better meet the diversified needs of customers and ever-changing consumer habits, and add to the unique character of our heartlands.

The Minister for Finance announced during Budget that we will be committing another $650 million in CDC vouchers, which will be distributed over 2022 to 2024. We hope the CDC vouchers will encourage Singaporeans to patronise neighbourhood shops and help the continuing recovery of our heartland enterprises.

To date, 1.1 million households, which is about 90.6% of all Singaporean households, have claimed the CDC vouchers distributed last December, with more than $62 million redeemed. More than 91% of the 14,500 neighbourhood shops and hawker stalls on the scheme have logged at least one voucher transaction. I hope more heartland merchants and hawkers can participate in this programme and benefit from it.

Our heartlands are not just places where we can eat and shop, but they are key nodes in our everyday lives where people can have warm and genuine interactions. The Government will continue to work closely with our key partners to create business opportunities for our heartland enterprises, instil vibrancy into the heartlands and build a more cohesive neighbourhood and community together.

(In English): Chairman, we have come a long way in our fight against the pandemic. Despite the challenges, the last two years have also brought new opportunities and growth. This has been possible because of our Singapore can-do spirit. Our journey of learning and transformation continues. As long as we are on this path together, we can take courage and strength that we do not walk alone.

Together, let us chart our way forward and scale new heights as one Singapore. [Applause.]

Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Thank you, Sir. Just two clarifications for the Minister. Firstly, I am glad to see the COVID-19 cases come down in the last few days. I hope we have seen the peak. I would like to ask the Minister whether our growth projections as well as our transformation efforts and the economic plans that we have, would hinge on us further opening up and the further relaxation of our SMMs. Is that an important part to it?

The second clarification is on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Singapore is the chairman for this year and we read about interest from China and Taiwan. I would like to ask the Minister whether he can share whether are we still engaging the United States to rejoin the TPP?

Mr Chairman, I would like to thank the Member for the two very important questions.

First, on COVID-19 and our progress for opening up and our economic recovery efforts. I should first clarify that while the numbers have stabilised over the last few days, which may suggest that we are probably nearing the peak, but anything could happen. So, it is important for us to make sure that we continue to monitor and watch carefully, before opening up in a big way.

It is also important to recognise that with all the measures that we have been put in place, we have been able to keep the critical cases low and ICU capacity has been kept manageable. But at the same time, the large number of cases also means that the hospitals are very, very busy. So, it is important for us to ensure that the healthcare system is protected and to allow the patients to be taken care of properly. This will then give us more capacity to open up.

The Member is correct that it is important for our economy that we continue in our journey to living with COVID-19. There are three aspects of our economic recovery that are very important. First, the safe management measures (SMMs) that we impose, have put a strain on many of our economic sectors, particularly the domestic-facing sectors, such as the F&B and retail sectors. They face significant challenges because of restrictions on gathering and the safe distancing measures that they have to put in place.

Second, it is important to progressively allow workers to go back to work. So far, we have a requirement for 50% of employees to work from home, where practicable. But we have to recognise that it is important for businesses to bring their workers together because there are many team efforts that cannot be done with workers working from home. So, we need to progressively restore working onsite and this will help us to open up our economy and allow the economy to recover faster.

Third, which is also very critical, is our global connection. Singapore is a hub city. We are a hub for business, for travel, for talent, for ideas, for investments. This international connectivity is very crucial. And that is why we are continuing to open up our interconnectivity. We introduced the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL). We are bringing in more and more important visitors. We are also allowing more workers to return from overseas, some of whom have returned to their home countries and are unable to come back. The construction sector, for example, is still facing constraints and we hope to be able to bring back more of these workers through the opening of VTLs. At the Committee of Supply of MOT, I am sure Minister S Iswaran will elaborate on this.

These are the three aspects which are very important and we will continue to look at these to allow the economy to continue on its journey of recovery.

The Member also asked about the CPTPP. This is a very important agreement that we have entered into and this year Singapore will be chairing the Commission for CPTPP. CPTPP is a very high standard trade agreement that requires its members to meet very stringent trade practices. This will benefit the global multilateral rules-based trading system. Therefore, Singapore and CPTPP members welcome economies which are able to meet these high standards, including the US and other economies. But whether the US is able to join the CPTPP is something that we will need to continue to discuss with and engage the US on.

Beyond CPTPP, Singapore has also been encouraging the US to continue its engagement in the Asian region and in particular, ASEAN. We have several collaborations already in place with the US. One is the Partnership for Growth and Innovation which was announced during the visit of US Vice President. We are in the midst of a discussion with the Department of Commerce on how we can take this further in introducing initiatives to encourage businesses on both sides to tap on opportunities in each other's countries.

We are also discussing the possibility of establishing an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to allow collaboration among Indo-Pacific economies. This is multilateral, it is not just between Singapore and the US. We want to continue to explore platforms for collaboration between this region and the US, because the US' participation and engagement in this region and in the economy of this region is very important. We certainly look forward to further collaboration between Singapore and the US, as well as the region and the US.

Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.

Thank you, Chairman. I have three clarification questions: two for Minister Gan and one for Minister Tan.

For Minister Gan, he had gone into some detail in explaining the evolution of our economy toward exportable services. Just to help us get a better understanding, I wonder if he is able to give us some handle on the share of exports that are currently attributable toward services as opposed to more traditional goods.

I ask this in part because the traditional export-oriented industrialisation model for which Singapore subscribed to is such that it is targeted at goods export rather than services. And services export is a relatively new and under tested model. India and the Philippines come to mind and their experiences have not been as promising.

My second question has to do with FTAs and utilisation of these FTAs. Minister Gan had spoken about them. I wonder if he is able to share in terms of the average utilisation rate for all the FTAs that Singapore has signed.

I ask this because, based on the available data, I see that, for example, the Singapore-US FTA's utilisation is only at 15%, the Korea-Singapore FTA is 8%. This goes down to 3% for the Jordan-Singapore FTA and as little as 0% for the Singapore-New Zealand and Singapore-Panama FTAs. The premise of the question is whether we are devoting, perhaps, excess resources to signing new FTAs to the detriment of other positive initiatives by the Ministry.

My third question is directed at Minister Tan. Here I wish to echo Member Foo Mee Har's call for expanding on demand productivity enhancement consultation. This is in part because as a business school professor and also understanding the research, SME productivity shortfalls can actually be extensively explained by managerial deficiencies, such as old-school basics like proper inventory management and HR practices and bookkeeping, not so much the sexy tech upgrades that people often think of. So, here I wonder whether the Ministry will have some efforts to entail public-private partnerships in this particular aspect.

Chairman, I thank Assoc Prof Jamus Lim for the question.

Services trade constitute about 40% of our total exports. So, it constitutes a very important component of our total export and we will continue to help our companies to export our services. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, there are significant opportunities in the export of services, including the green economy as well as digital services. This will also include our professional services.

In terms of the FTA utilisation, for FTAs, we have to look at it carefully. On the one hand, FTAs provide preferential access for our exports in terms of tariff savings because they allow us to have tariff-free access to important markets. The tariff savings constituted, I think if I remember correctly, about $1 billion last year. So, that is an important savings for our businesses. It means that, otherwise, they would have to pay $1 billion in tariffs to other countries.

But FTAs are not just about tariff savings because they also provide greater transparency for the rules and regulations that will allow our businesses to be able to do business in these countries more easily. Certain FTAs also provide protection in terms of our investments in these countries and that will allow our companies that have investments in these countries to have security with regard to their investment, to allow them to be able to operate freely within those markets.

So, I think we have to look at FTAs in totality. It is not just specifically on tariffs but it allows many other forms of access. A lot of these access may not be recorded, including protection of IPs and protection of investments. And also, it provides a framework for data exchange. Some of these are very critical to our businesses when they do business in other countries. So, this is the overall benefit of FTAs for Singapore.

To Assoc Prof Lim's point for on-demand consultancy productivity, today, all our SMEs are welcome to drop into any of our SME Centres or Connect with ESG. On an individualised basis, as I have said, we try to not just have bespoke advice for the larger enterprises but, to the extent that is possible, we try to cater and tailor it to SMEs. You can appreciate the fact that SMEs come from a very wide diaspora of different businesses, different sectors, different industries. So, in terms of trying to help them, to reach them, there is not a one-size-fits-all perspective.

With regard to public-private partnership, we have started PACT, as I have said earlier on. One of the examples that we have done is a company called Excelpoint Technology. I do not have all the details at this particular point in time to share, but I am happy to answer it separately. Importantly, we welcome this type of public-private partnership. If the hon Member Assoc Prof Lim can envisage that there are more of these partners, earlier on, towards the end of my speech, I have constantly encouraged SMEs to take that first step. If there are partners who are willing to partner us to expand the range of service offerings for our own local enterprises, to bring them, to groom them, to develop them into large local enterprises and eventually, to become a Singapore global enterprise, I think we would very much welcome them.

We are all after the same thing in this aspect. What we are trying to do is to grow Singapore enterprises into large local enterprises (LLEs), put them on the world map and, at the same time, offer our Singaporean employees, our Singapore Core, a chance at being able to go global. I hope that gives him the reassurance.

Mr Sharael Taha.

I thank Minister Gan, Minister Tan and Minister of State Low. I am heartened to hear about the plans for the ITM Refresh and Manufacturing 2030. It is exciting to hear how we are pioneering using additive manufacturing to repair state-of-the-art jet engine components.

Minister Gan mentioned that the ITM Refresh will consider workplace transformation and upskilling and retraining workers. I would like to ask if the ITM Refresh can also include the specific requirement to look at job redesign so that we can make a conscious and concerted effort to design jobs that are appealing to mature workers, retiring workers, workers with disability or returning-to-work individuals so that they can contribute and participate in the refreshed economy.

The reason for me asking this is that industries are already finding it hard to find the manpower to grow. We must use the opportunity from the ITM Refresh to realise the latent potential from this group of individuals and we create not just jobs, but inclusive jobs for all. And we retain the experience as we grow our industries.

Sir, job redesign actually is an integral part of the ITM journey because, as Mr Taha has rightly pointed out, we want to help companies transform their business model, so as to take into account emerging trends and opportunities. But, at the same time, as you change the business model, you have to redesign the jobs so that they fit into the new business model.

In the process of redesigning the jobs, we need to train the workers so that they are able to take on these new jobs that have been redesigned. So, remodelling of the businesses, redesigning the jobs and retraining of the workers are actually integral parts of the entire ITM journey. And I will be very happy for MTI to work together with MOM and the tripartite partners and the companies to embark on this journey of redesigning jobs for existing workers as well as senior workers, including the workers who are more experienced, to transform them so that we can provide them with new career opportunities.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Chairman, I would like to thank the Ministers for their answers to my cuts earlier. I have two clarifications.

First is in regard to my question. It is good to hear Ministers' answers that there are efforts to build talent and manpower by sector. But I would just like to follow up on work to enhance the supply of Singaporeans with the requisite skillsets.

In terms of the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP), I am looking at the website of WSG, which mentions that one of the purposes of capabilities transfer programme is to develop a sufficient supply of Singaporeans. Can Minister explain further, whether in this year's Budget, whether there is any amount set aside for enhancements to the CTP?

The second question I have is in relation to Ukraine. Since the Budget Statement was announced, a few things have happened, especially on oil prices. A lot of analysts are talking about the Russian oil price shock now, in terms of supply crisis, logistics crisis and payment crises and many crises that have emerged. The impact on eurozone growth is a big concern now.

So, from an economic growth perspective and its impact on businesses in Singapore, what are our plans and concerns to help businesses, especially those that are exposed to eurozone?

Mr Chairman, I will take the first question and Minister Gan will take the subsequent question.

The first point that Mr Saktiandi Supaat raised, it overlaps the auspices of MOM and MTI. There is significant focus on expanding the Continuing Education and Training (CET) component, even for mid-career workers. Today, under the WSG, we have invested significant resources in developing the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs). The precursor was the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) and we have now morphed it into the CCPs. We are very focused on making sure that we work with companies, we walk with companies, helping them to not just redesign skillsets as to what is necessary for them to pivot and to transform, but on top of that, we have our very close relationship with our tripartite partners. The Finance Minister had also announced that we will be significantly beefing up the Company Training Committees (CTCs). NTUC drives that part of it, together, in terms of working, reskilling and also training as well.

These are just two examples. There will be other programmes, perhaps, if I can beg Member's indulgence to stay for the MOM Committee of Supply debate later. You will see the whole plethora of programmes that we have available.

Sir, all of us know that the crisis in Ukraine is still evolving. The impact, since the war started, has already been felt in many parts of the world. In Singapore, you can also see that energy prices have been on the rise. As for commodities, some of the food suppliers are also indicating that their raw material costs have gone up. We are beginning to feel the impact of the war in Ukraine.

But at the same time, I should also caution that it is still early days. We have not felt the full impact of what the Ukraine crisis will have on the global economy as well as on Singapore's economy.

Broadly, I can try to categorise the impact into three aspects.

First, in terms of supplies. With the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, supplies from Ukraine and Russia, particularly Ukraine, would be affected. Singapore imports very little from Ukraine. Members may remember probably two years ago, even when the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing, we were importing eggs from Ukraine. So, we do have some imports from Ukraine, but we have diversified supplies. We do have sufficient supply of basic food commodities. So, in terms of supplies, the world will see a shortage of supply of products from Ukraine and Russia.

And secondly, the impact is not just on specific supplies, but also on supply chains. Analysts have indicated that the supply chain, which is already very tight with challenges of the pandemic, now, coupled with the Ukraine crisis, will be tightened even further. So, shipping lines may be affected. Flights are already affected, as all of us know.

So, one is supplies; second, supply chains; and third, both of these will lead to higher costs. And higher costs will eventually impact everyone. Singapore, being an open economy, we will not be able to insulate ourselves from all these impacts. But the Minister for Finance has reassured all of us that we will continue to monitor the situation and if need be, we will provide more support and help for both businesses, our workers as well as our households.

Ms Foo Mee Har.

Thank you, Chairman. I have one clarification for Minister Gan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we promoted domestic tourism and spending to achieve some resilience with locals and also to reduce our dependency on overseas visitors given the COVID-19 border closure. So, lots of thanks to the Government for the vouchers.

I would like to ask the Minister then what lessons have been learned about domestic tourism and consumption and whether this can be sustained after the opening of Singapore. What can be done to further promote and strengthen to achieve less reliance on overseas visitors, and also, to have another pillar, that is, domestic spend?

Sir, we have to acknowledge that Singapore has a very small domestic economy. It is not possible for us to support the entire population and our entire economy based on domestic consumption. During the pandemic, foreign visitor numbers dried up. We had significant barriers in terms of travel and tourists would not come because of the quarantine, the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) and all the border measures. And therefore, we had to support our local industry, particularly the tourism industry, and we rolled out the SingapoRediscover Vouchers to help to spur demand for the local and domestic industry. But we cannot do this in perpetuity because we just will not be able to support local industry purely by spending our way through.

It is therefore important for us to have a strategy which Ms Low Yen Ling has explained. Our tourism industry is preparing ourselves for the eventual recovery. So, we need to continue to invest in our tourism sector, continue to invest in attracting foreign tourists to come to Singapore when the pandemic subsides.

But it is also important in the meantime to continue to see what we can do to help local industries. I am sure our CDC vouchers – which Ms Low may be prepared to elaborate in a short while – has gone a long way in helping our domestic economy, particularly the heartland shops, retailers and markets and so on. We are rolling out additional CDC vouchers in the heartlands. This will go towards helping our domestic industry cope with the current challenges.

But we have to be quite clear in our mind that it is not possible for the Government to purely support the industry through tax revenues. We need to continue to encourage our external economy, the export of both of our services and our goods, to be able to support our local economy. On this note, maybe Ms Low will be able to elaborate more on our CDC programmes in helping local industries.

Thank you, Minister Gan. I thank Ms Foo Mee Har for the questions.

Like what Minister Gan has mentioned and if everyone in the House remembers, about a year back, when Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the $130 million CDC vouchers, he cited two objectives. The first objective was to thank fellow Singaporeans for their sense of solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also highlighted the second objective, which is to stimulate demand for the products and services at our HDB shops and also by our hawkers.

We can all agree. In the last two years, our HDB shops and our hawkers have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic because they are the front-facing, consumer-facing businesses. Even though now, although dining has opened up, limited to five persons, certainly, in terms of traffic flow, some may say it is not as busy as before the COVID-19 period but necessarily so because of safe distancing measures.

So, in the last nine months, the CDCs have been working with our Government agencies – and allow me to use this platform to thank the whole-of-Government effort in supporting our CDCs. First, a big thank you to GovTech, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO), IMDA – because we worked with IMDA and their SG Digital Office, with their digital ambassadors to support the onboarding of our HDB shops and our hawkers. This was timely because IMDA and MCI had earlier rolled out Seniors Go Digital and Hawkers Go Digital programmes. By then, many Singaporeans and many hawkers and many seniors are very comfortable using mobile phones to scan a QR code and so on.

On 13 December, when the $130 million CDC vouchers were launched by the Prime Minister, we were very, very heartened that within two days, 550,000 households claimed the vouchers; and within 10 days, 830,000 claimed. I believe less than four weeks after the launch, we crossed the one-million mark. More than one million households claimed the vouchers. I just earlier mentioned that to date, 1.1 million Singaporean households have claimed the $100 CDC vouchers. We are happy that over the last two and a half months, we have seen that more than $62 million of CDC vouchers have been spent.

MTI and ESG have been working very closely with FMAS and HECS to conduct a survey on how this has supported and turbocharged the market. We are very heartened to hear from our HDB shops, merchants, hawkers saying that since the launch of the CDC vouchers in December – which also coincided with our inaugural Heartlands Festival which was launched on 28 November – it really brought human traffic, the crowd to the neighbourhood centres. It is because we have designed it in such a way that it coincided with the festive period. If you remember – Christmas, year-end and then the Lunar New Year.

We have heard from our merchants that, on average, their footfall has increased by 20%. We have heard from the merchants who are participating merchants and hawkers of the CDC Vouchers Scheme that their sales have improved 10%, some 30% and, in some cases, 40%.

So, we are very heartened. In fact, many merchants were very heartened to hear Minister Lawrence Wong announced two weeks ago when he delivered Budget 2022, that, this year, he will roll out another tranche of $130 million in CDC vouchers, which means that every Singaporean household will receive $100 of CDC vouchers under the Household Support Package (HSP).

In addition, Minister Lawrence Wong announced that, come January 2023 and come January 2024, each Singaporean household will receive $200 of CDC vouchers as part of the Assurance Package, though for 2023 and 2024, the major supermarkets will be included in the list of participating merchants and hawkers.

So, we want to give assurance to Ms Foo Mee Har and Members in the House that in designing products and solutions like these, hand in hand with our HDB shops and our SMEs, if we bear in mind the objective, which is to stimulate demand for their products and services, the CDC Vouchers Scheme has shown – just like the SingapoRediscover Vouchers did – it can bring a multiplier impact to the economy.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, would you like to withdraw your amendment? Minister Gan.

Chairman, can I just make a quick clarification? I mentioned $1 billion of tariff savings from our FTAs. That number was correct, but it was for 2020. I said last year but, actually, it is for 2020. Just for the record.

Thank you. Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Chairman, allow me to thank Minister Gan Kim Yong, Minister Tan See Leng and Minister of State Low Yen Ling for responding to our cuts and clarifications; and also wishing Minister of State Alvin Tan a speedy recovery.

Sir, the road ahead is full of uncertainty. Our economy is facing challenges and stresses from multiple fronts. But we take comfort that we have a best-in-class MTI team there and now helmed by Minister Gan, who is, of course, no stranger to managing crises. We wish MTI all the best and, with that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $2,804,739,800 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $6,266,508,900 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]

Mr Chairman, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates by reduced by $100."

Singapore is progressing surely and steadily in our digital transformation. With this comes several competing considerations that we need to balance.

On the one hand, for survival and to keep relevant, Singapore has to continually invest in next bound infrastructure and our people. When others look at 5G, we must look at 6G and when others look at Web 3.0, we must imagine Web 4.

0. Our people must have the skills and versatility to take advantage of the new opportunities.

Yet, to preserve social cohesion and inclusive growth, Singapore also must ensure that the less digitally savvy amongst us are not inadvertently left behind or excluded from participating and benefiting from digitalisation, which could widen the gap between those who know and know‐not.

There are other considerations as well – how to leverage digital solutions on a larger scale to solve real problems yet guarding against cyberattacks, how to incentivise businesses to go digital and, in doing so, how to ensure accountability without making the process so cumbersome that businesses "lose steam".

These are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they require careful balancing and calibration.

Take my elderly resident as an example. She wanted to apply for CareShield Life. But the only mode of application was through the e‐service and thus requires Singpass. For the digitally‐savvy, this would be fuss free and save time. But she has no mobile phone or Singpass.

Eventually, her daughter managed to apply for Singpass and linked it to her daughter's phone. What if my elderly resident was a single elderly?

I would like to ask how will the Government uphold economic vibrancy and Singapore's competitiveness while preserving social cohesion. How will the Government ensure that the public and private sectors will go digital with empowerment and inclusion as prerequisites? What will the Government do to protect our people, young and old, and businesses – small and big, from new threats that emerge from this fast-evolving space?

A related point is about digital regulations. As technology advances rapidly and new solutions with new use cases emerge, existing regulations need to evolve, or new ones have to be formulated. But timeliness and finding the sweet spot seem to be challenging.

Consider cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These are high‐risk and speculative and often seen as a tool for illicit activities. Hence, sufficient research and deliberation are needed before formal regulations and policies can be introduced. But meanwhile, will we risk becoming too slow and lose potential opportunities?

With metaverse fast becoming a thing, will our policies and regulations be fast enough to capitalise on its development while addressing transactions, personal data and user interaction issues?

In encouraging enterprises or individuals to digitalise or upskill through monetary incentives, might the process be so tedious such that they decide to remain in their comfort zones and stick to just being good enough and avoid digital transformation altogether?

Hence, I would like to ask how will the Government ensure regulatory changes keep pace with tech advancement. How do we ensure that we provide sufficient guardrails, yet not suffocate innovation? Chairman, do I continue with my next cut?

You can carry on with your second cut.

Sir, what happens online can have spillover effects in the real world. Reports of precious lives lost to "bullycides" and life savings lost to online scams are aplenty. While nobody is immune, children, youths, women and elderly are especially vulnerable to online harms.

Years ago, my resident's fiancée was a victim of "revenge porn". Her ex‐boyfriend uploaded intimate material onto websites such as Revenge Porn, attracting unsavoury comments from people she knew and did not know. Thankfully, the then-IMDA blocked it. But the damage was done.

In general, women and girls tend to be victims of body shaming and hyper-sexualisation online.

In 2020, an elderly resident fell prey to an online investment scam. He was misled to believe that the scheme was endorsed by Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, which is, of course, not true. Due to his lack of knowledge, he gave his one-time password (OTP) away and racked up a huge credit card debt that he could not afford.

While adults having gone through a few hard knocks in life can arguably cope better, youths and children are still in their innocence and need a lot more protection. The inaugural 2020 Child Online Safety Index report found that almost 60% of children aged between eight and 12 in 30 countries were exposed to at least one form of cyber risk, of which 45% were affected by cyberbullying.

Online harms cause distress and have long-term adverse consequences in real life. We must protect our people from such harms, so that they can live freely and fulfill their potential. What are the support measures and resources available to raise awareness, prevent and intervene to reduce online harm?

[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]

Mr Alex Yam. Not here. Mr Don Wee.

Chairman, the onslaught of online scams, the prevalence of fake websites and the ubiquity of misinformation on social media are having a severe detrimental impact on our society. The loss of hard-earned money, loss of trust in official and traditional sources of information and the confusion and harm caused by false information interferes with how a nation can function and operate normally and damages our social fabric.

The digital universe has no border and invaders can potentially enter from anywhere if we do not put up our defences. It is not easy for the man in the street to keep abreast of the latest online scams and newly-evolved digital deceptions.

What measures does MCI have in place to help protect our people from online harm?

Chairman, Singaporeans are now spending more time online, which means they are more open to online content – and some content may hold extreme or even extremist views – online gaming and possible gambling as well as engaging in social media that may not be able to regulate all of its contents.

Different segments of the community may be exposed to varied levels of online harms. The youths, for example, are most susceptible to negative influences like cyberbullying, hate comments or even online shaming. The elderly, too, are not spared from being cyber victims.

I welcome the Alliance for Action to tackle online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls.

What are some targeted measures that MCI will put in place to protect the different segments of Singaporeans from varied forms of online harm?

Mr Chairman, digitalisation is a priority for many countries, Singapore included. However, as mentioned, with increased digitalisation comes exposure to online harms. All segments of the community are vulnerable to online harms. We all know the recent OCBC phishing scam where 790 customers lost $13.7 billion. That is one type of online harm.

Another type relates to content found online, for example, online sexual grooming, doxing, cyberbullying, online harassment or stalking and the sharing of misinformation or unlawful content.

As we know, platforms, such as OnlyFans, have been used to show unlawful content. On the metaverse, there have been reports of avatars being bullied and verbally and sexually harassed virtually. I must commend the Ministry for doing much in educating the public on how to navigate the Internet safely.

However, what can we do to always make sure that we keep ahead of all the online changes and can we do more in terms of regulations? I watch with interest the developments of the Online Safety Bill in the UK which would determine how online platforms should deal with content and how to prevent the propagation of illegal content. Australia also recently promulgated its e-safety legislation. Would the Ministry consider introducing legislation to regulate online content here as well?

Mr Gan Thiam Poh. Not here. Mr Christopher de Souza, you can take both your cuts.

Mr Chairman, Sir, for SMEs, in particular, while the reality of digitalisation as the future is acknowledged, there is much practical difficulty in terms of initial costs, lack of technical expertise and assisting employees in making that transition, particularly senior employees who have worked for years within the existing system. The launch by IMDA of schemes, such as Better Data-Driven Business (BDDB), the Digital Leaders Programme (DLP) and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)-as-a-Service, have created platforms to help many brick-and-mortar businesses pivot towards hybrid online-offline models and are, certainly, welcomed. How will MCI continue supporting businesses to build or enhance their digital capabilities, so as to take advantage of the post-COVID-19 phase of economic recovery?

As we prepare for a post-pandemic future, technology can revolutionise and reinvent much of the way business is done. With hyperscale cloud providers dominating the cloud infrastructure and more industry clouds appearing, cloud computing has transformed in a way that has changed digitalisation. Other technologies, such as quantum computing, the metaverse and digital currencies, are continuing to take over the landscape and seemingly unlock more potential. How can the Government take advantage of the potential of new digital technologies and invest into it, while at the same time, watching against any potential pitfalls? This then, can enhance Singapore's competitiveness and resilience.

Mr Chairman, for Singapore to pioneer the model for a globally competitive digital metropolis, the digital space must be economically vibrant, socially stable and digitally secure for all. Larger businesses tend to have the resources to protect their interests in this digital space. How will MCI ensure that the interests of consumers and small businesses continue to be protected in this digital age?

Ms Hany Soh. You can take both cuts together.

Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] During the pre-COVID-19 days, I used to visit Mediacorp once a month to give law awareness radio talk shows on Capital 95.8FM. During the intervals, I would sit at a corner and listen to the senior radio news presenter presenting dialect news, like in Hokkien or Cantonese. These presenters are usually over 50 years old; occasionally, they would stay behind to wait for me to finish my talk show to have a chat with me in Mandarin or Hokkien, sometimes about getting some legal advice on estate planning.

I have always enjoyed these sessions as they bring back childhood memories of chatting with my Ah Ma. Like her, most of the seniors only know how to communicate with people in dialects and rely on the vernacular radio news broadcasts to stay updated on current affairs.

Recently, in my catch-up with one of the DJs, I came to understand that due to the COVID-19 situation, these dialect news presenters are now required to record their radio news broadcasts from home. It has been a challenging time; some of them have sadly passed away, while some have chosen to retire as they found themselves unable to keep up with technology.

How will the Ministry ensure that radio stations continue to train and retain talents in this aspect in order to continue on with this feature? In my capacity as the Advisor to Singapore Union of Broadcasting Employees (SUBE), I also hope that more welfare support can be given to taking care of these dialect news radio presenters.

(In English): My next cut is on whether a collaboration with Mediacorp will be explored to introduce a cartoon series using rhythmic content akin to Baby Shark or CoComelon YouTube channel songs involving mascots like Captain Green, Water Wally to attract and educate young audiences to become our young budding green champions.

Mr Chairman, I was surprised to learn at the February Sitting that taxpayers may have to pay up to $900 million over five years to support Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Media Trust, the Government-owned publisher of most of Singapore's mainstream newspapers. Since we are raising a lot of taxes in this Budget, we should be careful about such a new and big outflow of taxpayers' money.

Firstly, where is the plan to recoup the $900 million over time? Do we have an exit plan, or will we keep funding SPH Media Trust for many more years beyond the first five years?

Secondly, why did the Government not ask for more money from SPH, the listed parent, before it agreed to taking the loss-making business out of SPH? SPH assets have grown over the years, thanks to the hefty profits of the near-monopoly media business it previously enjoyed. Although in recent years the print business has become a loss-making business due to the Internet, SPH has maintained overall profitability because of its huge property portfolio.

Thus, it is reasonable to expect SPH to continue to fund the transformation of the media business. Hence, the Government's arrangement with SPH is evidently a bad deal as taxpayers have to foot the bill of SPH Media Trust at least for the next five years while the property assets of SPH, which are worth at least $3.9 billion and expected to generate an annual cash flow of $300 million, according to one broker's estimate, are likely to be sold to Cuscaden Peak, a company owned by our local property magnate Ong Beng Seng, for the benefit of existing and future shareholders. Can the Minister explain what is the rationale behind the Government's acceptance of such a deal?

Chairman, as we move towards a digitally-inclusive society, we will not only need to focus on promoting digital literacy and skills, but also on supporting all businesses, especially small and medium‐sized enterprises, and all individuals to guard against both cyber and data threats. This will strengthen our collective defences and resilience against bad actors and preserve overall confidence in our digital future. In this regard, what plans does MCI have to support our businesses and citizens?

Advanced digital infrastructure and cybersecurity technologies are important, but we also need to enhance our fundamentals. To get a Data Protection Trust Mark (DPTM), there are five assessment bodies with IMDA which can assess an organisation. Today, an organisation can take up to one year to get the certification, with a queue to start assessment. The certification is demanding and rightfully so. As of 2 March 2022, there is a total of 81 organisations which have attained DPTM certification. ACRA records state that we have about half a million registered entities.

In practice, we do not need every organisation to be certified. But, in parallel, we must enhance our understanding of basic data protection law and emphasise the importance of critical data protection requirements. Three questions.

How are data protection consultancies regulated in Singapore today? How do we ensure that our data protection ecosystem has the competencies and subject matter experts required to be secure? How can we better build and accelerate our efforts to build trusted, secure and resilient digital infrastructure and technologies? How can we better support businesses and individuals to guard against cyber and data threats?

Ms He Ting Ru. Not here. Ms Hany Soh.

With the growing cyber and data threats, how will MCI better protect individuals and businesses and guard against these risks, helping to ensure that they remain confident enough to continue thriving in the digital realm? Are there any grants that can be provided to encourage companies to adopt approved cybersecurity solutions that can help these businesses?

Mr Chairman, our society and lives are being transformed. We use digital technologies every day, whether in a lived, work or play environment. We spend so much more time in the online space.

However, not everyone has digital access. When the online mandatory theory test for PMD and Power Assisted Bicycle riders was first launched, it was only available via a laptop. Ironically, more people nowadays have a smart phone but not a laptop. Hence, we recommended those without a laptop to use the facilities in our national libraries.

In the past, people go to the libraries to borrow books or to read newspapers and magazines. In today's world, reading or acquiring knowledge and information is no longer restricted to the physical print version. Sadly, the falling rate of reading is a global trend.

In this respect, the role of our libraries needs to evolve. They could play an indispensable role in supporting Singaporeans to navigate this digital world while cultivating a spirit of lifelong learning and bringing the community together.

In the past, library users must first be able to read. Otherwise, the library collection is useless to them. Today, digital literacy is as important as knowing our ABCs. So, how will MCI ensure that the benefits of digitalisation extend to all segments of our society? What measures are in place to bridge skills and knowledge gaps and ensure that individuals have the know-how, confidence and motivation to use digital technology?

In the late 1990s, our libraries were transformed from functional spaces with rows of bookshelves to vibrant community nodes, where the young and old explore wonders of the written word. How are our libraries being refreshed to meet the changing needs and interests of Singaporeans and continue to nurture a love of reading, learning and discovery?

I see SG Digital Office ambassadors in the neighbourhood teaching our seniors how to use their smart phones and encouraging heartland shops to come on board and accept digital CDC Vouchers. The deployment of resources on the ground has been effective, but how sustainable is it? How can we tap on the diversity, insights and capabilities of the wider community and empower ground-up efforts?

Sir, we need to do more to advance digital inclusion. Let us do more to welcome more immigrants to the digital world and integrate them well to be truly digital citizens.

Mr Chairman, with digitalisation becoming more pervasive and an integral part of our society, how is the Ministry working with the private and people sectors to bring digital to life for Singaporeans and prepare them for the digital future?

Today there is a growing need to pay attention to the livelihood aspect of the digital economy which offers some of the most exciting and high-quality jobs across the different sectors.

Under the Smart Nation strategy, we have outlined our ambitions to build a digital economy, a digital Government and a digital society. Can the Minister let us know the progress of this initiative, especially in terms of the whole-of-nation digitalisation effort?

Second, Singapore had outlined funding and aims to develop high-tech digital solutions for industry, including being a lab for deploying new technology solutions. Can the Minister let us know how we are doing in terms of translating novel technologies into commercial products and services?

Last, part of Singapore's advantage has always been our ability to work across disciplines. Such innovative inter-disciplinary technology solutions give us the power to address complex challenges. It also allows us a special position as a trusted digital innovation hub.

Can the Minister give us an idea how Singapore is doing in terms of its ambition to become as honest agent in digital trust? Finally, how will MCI equip Singaporeans with the necessary skills to access the emerging opportunities in the digital economy?

Chairman, in the last two years, we see the accelerated adoption of digital practices in our society. Businesses and individuals have transformed quickly to adopt digital solutions. PayNow mobile users grew to 3.07 million people in 2021, 4.4 million people use Singpass, 118,000 people have been trained under TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) and 74% of firms have adopted at least one digital solution in 2020.

However, there are still some Singaporeans and businesses that have not been able to adopt digital solutions. How is MCI supporting Singaporeans who are less digitally savvy and have not embraced digital and benefit from its use in their daily lives?

In particular, the seniors and Hawkers Go Digital programme have been running for the past two years. However, there are still seniors and hawkers who are apprehensive about going digital. What more can we do to bring them onboard?

For our youths, how do we ensure that the gap between the digital "haves" and the digital "have-nots" do not widen? What more can we do to support our less privileged youths? How can we ensure all youths have access to digital devices, connectivity and the required skillsets so that they are better prepared for the digital economy?

Sir, Singaporeans are one of the most digitally connected people in the world and we start young. According to a survey in 2019, Singaporean children get their first Internet-enabled device at the tender age of eight. That is two years younger than the global average and is amongst the youngest worldwide.

And we seem to love our devices. On average, Singaporeans own 3.3 connected devices per person. Amongst us, 91% own a smartphone, sometimes two, and our broadband Internet speed is amongst the highest in Asia.

Couple these trends that have been gathering pace since the 1990s with changes in our lifestyle due to the pandemic in the past two years – work-from-home, home-based learning arrangements, safe management measures, all those have meant that the human connection that each of us yearn for could often only be achieved through technology-mediated means. Simply put, we cannot live without being digitally connected today.

Technology can either be a boon or a bane through social networking sites, people all over the world can reconnect with long-lost friends, share tips on niche hobbies and rally like-minded individuals passionate about various social causes.

In the same vein, however, these platforms have also allowed terrorist cells from remote corners of the world to link up. Much, therefore, depends on factors, such as the purpose that technologies are harnessed for and the motivations of individual tech users, amongst others.

While most people use the Internet and social networking sites for gainful posted purposes, for work, learning and leisure, some, inadvertently fall prey to ills that lurk in our online spaces.

First, sexually explicit materials. WE CARE Community Services, a community-based addiction recovery centre reported an increase in the number of people seeking help for compulsive sexual behaviour, including excessive online pornography consumption. From 50 cases in 2019, WE CARE handled 100 cases in 2020. That is a 100% increase. Seventy cases were new and many were youths in their 20s.

In many cases, first encounters with sexually explicit materials online start off quite innocuously as a curious conversation between peers or a chance encounter with a sexually explicit site due to random pop-up advertisements. But in Asian societies like ours, where parents tend to avoid awkward conversations on such sensitive topics, young impressionable minds are often left on their own to make sense of the material that they come into contact with. While many do not find themselves mired in addiction, the fact remains, some do. Especially when the consumption of sexually explicit material serves as a stress management mechanism. The question then is: do we know this often invisible issue well enough to design appropriate interventions?

Second, gaming. Gaming itself is not necessarily a bad activity. It can be a good source of entertainment, stress relief or even character building. But things can go south with a small group of gamers when excessive online gaming interferes with one's routines. Relationships with family and friends can become strained and when gaming becomes a compulsion, one becomes restless and irritable when access to gaming is curbed.

We all reeled in shock here in Singapore when we learnt that a teenager with a gaming addiction killed his father, partly because the father had limited his access to his games. The related issue is that of in-game loot boxes or "virtual goodie bags with random rewards" as The Straits Times called it. The odds for some of these loot boxes are sometimes as low as 0.00005% – and that is four zeros behind the decimal point, for the record. Of course, this means that prizes are extremely coveted.

But what is concerning is how addictive loot boxes can become. Experts have warned that the allure of these loot boxes lie exactly in the excitement of not knowing what one is going to get, much like what Forrest Gump says in the box of chocolates. This stimulates the production of dopamine, a mood-lifting biochemical typically produced when we exercise, get sufficient sleep or meditate. But this keeps the gamer coming back for more.

I have talked about my concerns on sexually explicit materials and gaming. But there remain many other issues that needs working through – cyberbullying, misinformation and disinformation, extremism – amongst many others. I stress again for the record here that I am not making a case against the Internet or gaming or any online platforms.

But, while I had scratched the surface in terms of these online deals we need to tackle, what is the Ministry's strategy in mobilising resources, channelling societies attention to developing issues? And what are the conversations we need to have as a society? What roles can families and parents play? How can we all do our part to make the online world – which actually can be a constructive space for networking, knowledge sharing and content creation – one that is safer for everyone?

Sir, last year, MCI launched the Singapore Together Alliances for Action (AfA) to tackle online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls. The launch of AfA came after 300 stakeholders from diverse backgrounds were consulted. Essentially, the launch of AfA is underpinned by the desire to combat online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls.

Importantly, MCI underscores that the AfA would focus on closing the digital safety gap and on taking actions to enhance the freedom and safety of our women and girls in the digital future.

According to MCI, the AfA will start with 48 members across the people, public and private sectors to address the issue of online harms in five key work streams as suggested by participants from the earlier conversations. Namely, they include public education, research, victim support, youth engagement and volunteerism clusters. As such, the AfA will adopt a whole-of-nation approach to close the digital safety gaps.

I am encouraged by the launch of the AfA as it signifies our commitment to addressing online harms in an increasingly lethal society. I would thus like to ask the Minister for Communication and Information if she could share any updates on the progress of the AfA since its launch last year. Additionally, could MCI also elaborate on the number of stakeholders it has managed to get on board the AfA since its launch? Finally, can MCI also delineate some of the AfA's implemented and upcoming initiatives to address online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls?

Ms Hany Soh, you can take both cuts together.

How does MCI bridge the digital skills and knowledge gap among Singaporeans and encourage them to seek out digital opportunities to pursue lifelong learning and enrich their lives? Apart from the assistance provided by our digital ambassadors, can we consider providing more support to IHLs for the latter to conduct more digital technology training courses for the public? It can either be run in a manner similar to SkillsFuture courses or a collaboration with the People's Association whereby IHLs' lecturers and students reach out to vulnerable groups in the community through the residents' community centres, senior activity centres, in order to run these courses.

During this pandemic period, many of our little ones seek comfort in reading, keeping themselves occupied while their parents are busy with online zoom conferences. Besides being a healthy form of entertainment, it can also be a form of bonding as it helps the children to return to their roots by learning traditional stories and rhymes.

What are the ongoing and upcoming efforts to increase the availability and variety of books and e-resources in Chinese, Malay and Tamil so as to encourage our young readers to master their mother tongue languages?

Ms Jessica Tan. You can take both cuts together.

Mr Chairman, libraries play a special role in igniting the joy of reading and nurturing curiosity and enquiring minds. The ability to read is fundamental to enable access to information and encouraging lifelong learning in the young and old. Reading helps develop imagination, creativity, speaking and communication skills. My residents, young and old, shared with me their fondness and desire for a library in our estate.

With the pervasiveness of digitalisation, digital literacy is as important as reading for access to information and lifelong learning. Our network of public libraries has continued to innovate and transform to stay relevant, including offering digital services.

How is MCI leveraging our libraries to encourage a self-directed learning culture and spark curiosity among the public to improve their proficiency in digital skills and literacy?

While digital access allows access to content and programmes, beyond that, the physical libraries do provide community and social spaces for people to come together to learn. A highlight of National Library Board's (NLB) LAB25 are installations called Nodes, to serve as new entry points into NLB's wide array of content. Will NLB consider the installation of Nodes in estates like Simei that do not have a library? Actually, given the important role that libraries play, it would be even better to have a library in Simei.

To help our SMEs stay competitive, innovate and seize opportunities in the digital economy, there are a host of initiatives and resources to make going digital simple and easy for all.

These include schemes like: (a) the Industry Digital Plans (IDP), which are industry-specific, step-by-step guides to digitalisation; (b) InvoiceNow, which enables businesses to digitalise the way they transact; (c) Better Data Driven Business (BDDB) or Business Intelligence (BI) tools, help SMEs gain deeper insights by converting business data into visual dashboards for easier data analysis; and (d) the Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex) – which is an open digital infrastructure that facilitates trusted sharing of data between supply chain ecosystem partners. Can we have an update of how many businesses have participated and utilised these initiatives?

As part of Budget 2022, an additional $200 million will be allocated to enhance schemes that build digital capabilities in businesses and workers. What are these new initiatives? And how will they build on and complement the current initiatives?

Apart from these initiatives, I urge MCI and related agencies to consider nurturing "communities of learning and practice" for digital and tech talent. I believe that this will catalyse an ecosystem for tech talent to share perspectives, experiences and to learn from each other and this will build the vibrancy of the tech community here in Singapore.

MNCs and Local Large Enterprises (LLEs) can play a bigger role in developing digital and tech talent in Singapore. How can we encourage these companies to incubate smaller companies and workers to develop digital/tech talent? These companies have the talent development programme as well as expertise to provide learning and the business environment to build and to scale digital capabilities and I believe that these companies can play a very big role in building a bigger pool of talent base than they need and they should play that role.

Sir, I would like to declare my interest as the Managing Director of a consultant firm that does work in the area of skills development.

The Government has made available a wide range of programmes available to help SMEs to go digital, such as the Productivity Solutions Grant and CTO as a Service. Many SMEs have taken advantage of these grants. Yet, there are still many SMEs which have not started down the digitalisation path in a meaningful way. But for a digital transformation to be sustainable, it is not enough to adopt some digital solutions. To ensure sustained performance, the employees need to go digital, be reskilled and upskilled, and, importantly, must have the opportunity to use these digital skills in their daily work.

Yet, we often hear that Singaporeans who work in SMEs find that they have fewer opportunities to acquire these new digital skills, compared to their peers working in LLEs and MNCs. This will impact their future career options. While the expansion of SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit eligibility will help more companies provide these employees, there is a lot of room to increase the take-up amongst those already eligible.

What more can the Government do to encourage the long tail of SMEs to reskill and upskill their employees now in order to capture opportunities in the digital economy in a sustainable way? How can this reskilling be done at scale? How can larger enterprises and TACs support the SME base? And how can we encourage and ensure that employees, in particular, who do not invest in such reskilling can go after those opportunities on their own, given that they have more limited resources to do this on their own and may not get the opportunity to put these skills to work in their day jobs?

Sir, in my interactions with tech companies and tech leaders in Singapore, regardless of the company size and local or otherwise, the one common feedback I receive is skills shortage in Singapore.

Some shared that they need technical expertise, so that they can conduct research and product development here. Others shared that they set up their International or Regional Headquarters in Singapore. For these firms, they need not only technical talents but also market expertise. For instance, a large software service firm told me that they need talents well-versed in Vietnam and Indonesia to serve the markets there from here. These are large markets for them. The concern is that if firms like this cannot hire or access these talents in Singapore, then they may be compelled to move certain departments or wholly out of Singapore and leave Singaporeans and Singapore for the worse. Our people will lose jobs and opportunities to learn from some of the best around the world.

As such, I would like to ask for an update on the tech and innovation manpower situation in Singapore now. What are the skills and manpower gaps? Over the next three to five years, will we have enough Singaporeans to fill those gaps? What else will be done to address the gaps so that good tech firms remain invested in Singapore and continue investing in our people?

To this end, I would like to share some thoughts, observations and suggestions.

First, continue building up our local talents from young. Many Singaporeans recognise the value and potential of having tech skills, with parents sending their children to coding and robotics classes and mainstream schools offering coding as an "enrichment" for all upper Primary students. This is a good start, but we should build on the momentum and consider introducing computer language as, perhaps, a second language in schools, as well as introducing key concepts and uses of new technology in class. The idea is not so much to train everyone to become coding experts, but to inculcate an intuitive understanding of the logic and applications.

We also need to enhance the global quotient of our young. Expand existing in‐market programmes, such as the Singapore‐China Youth Interns Exchange Scheme (YES) and Asia-Ready Exposure Programme (AEP), and actively push our students to take full advantage of these programmes.

The second is on ecosystem of talents. We need to ensure steady growth of a skilled and versatile Singaporean Core. I am aware that there are efforts to encourage our young to choose STEM courses and majors; this helps to increase supply to meet the talent demand.

At the same time, we need to recognise that not all tech firms or tech‐related jobs need hard tech skills. A local tech leader told me that she met a Polytechnic graduate who studied tech but decided to become a barista because she did not like coding. While there is nothing wrong in choosing a different career, the tech leader wondered if the outcome would have been different if the young barista realised that there was a wide range of options for a career in tech.

While the public and private sectors could do more to increase awareness on the wide range of career options and groom local talents, the Government could also identify specific skills in demand but lacking in Singapore and co‐sponsor scholarships with companies to train local talents from young.

Some of the more progressive tech firms are shifting from pure competition or working solo to partnerships. Could we, therefore, put in place a support system for skilled gig workers who are trained and well-versed in different operating systems and software, so that they form a formidable talent pool for companies here to tap on? In a way, these are "interoperable" talents.

And we also need to continue to be open to good global talents who can and want to contribute. They fill manpower gaps, but are also good people to exchange knowledge, skills and ideas with so that we can grow together.

And the third point is on having more role models. Healthy diversity is beneficial to boosting talent supply and business outcomes. Therefore, we must continue to promote girls and women in tech. Having enough women in tech can shape how girls think of a career in tech – that it is not just for the boys – and give them confidence to give it a shot. Hence, what is the female representation in tech jobs and tech leadership positions in Singapore? What is the female representation in STEM‐related courses in IHLs in 2021 and across IMDA's talent programmes? Is the figure stable, decreasing or increasing?

Similarly, we need more stories of successful Singaporean tech leaders who could be role models to inspire more to join their ranks. Could the Government share whether it actively keeps a record of Singaporeans in tech leadership positions in Singapore and overseas? Could the Government share their stories and invite them to provide mentorship through the likes of the Singapore Global Executive Programme?

Chairman, the digital economy allows us to transcend our geographical constraints and create value for the world. Our digital capabilities must become a strategic competitive advantage for us. We cannot stop, for competition will not stop. And, indeed, we have to go even faster and further, as competition will only accelerate. In this regard, what are MCI's strategies to build up an ICT workforce in Singapore with deep expertise and with ever more and exciting opportunities for Singaporeans?

More broadly, what are MCI's plans to nurture a digitally-enabled workforce at large that can access opportunities brought about by digital technologies across the economy?

At the ecosystem level, how is MCI driving investments in new technologies and their translation into applications to enhance Singapore's long‐term competitive advantage?

Ms Jessica Tan, you can take both cuts.

In my Budget debate speech, I spoke about the fact that, beyond specialised tech roles, the broader workforce will need to be equipped with the knowledge and ability to use technologies in the workplace as an increasing number of jobs in non-ICT sectors are disrupted, digitalised and require the use of technologies.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces were starting to transform to leverage technology to enable virtual work arrangements. If implemented effectively, digital workplaces, including a hybrid of physical and virtual work arrangements, can benefit from increased productivity and improved business results.

But to realise the opportunities and benefits of the digital workplace, it will require the workforce to be proficient with new skills. This is not about developing deep tech skills but rather how to use with confidence new and ever-changing technologies to be able to do their work. The ability of the workforce to effectively use virtual and cloud technology, analytics and social and augmented reality tools will enable workers to do their work more effectively, faster and enable them to better communicate their ideas.

How will MCI support the uplifting of the broader workforce's digital capabilities?

With the pace of digitalisation, how we work, live and play is increasingly digital. Hence, trusted, secure and resilient digital architecture and technologies are essential for Singapore and Singaporeans. Digital connectivity plays a critical role. As we invest in future technologies for increased access and speed, we need to also invest to strengthen our digital infrastructures to address unexpected surges in demand against cyber security risks, as well as threats to the resilience of our digital infrastructures. Cyber security risks will compromise data security and threaten access and availability of services.

To sustain our digital economy and way of life, how can Singapore ensure safe and reliable use of such infrastructures and technologies? How are our digital infrastructures able to minimise the impact of disruptions to enable businesses to continue to operate and with more digital transactions and operations, business critical information and personal information are exchanged? How are we strengthening the security of our digital infrastructures in Singapore to protect our data?

Ms Tin Pei Ling, take both cuts.

Chairman, Singapore ranks among the top countries for technology infrastructure and adoption. We have the highest average Internet connection speed in Asia and the number of 4G subscriptions in Singapore is almost one and a half times that of our population. Our Government continues to invest heavily and our 5G network deployment is well underway. But even as we do so, other countries are not idling. The current S‐curve is saturated and we need to get onto the next.

Hence, to build and sustain a vibrant Digital Economy, what are the next‐bound digital infrastructure developments that Singapore can expect?

Given the borderless nature of the digital space and digital threats, it is not enough to rely on domestic levers and programmes to protect Singapore's cyberspace.

Moreover, as critical infrastructures are very much interlinked and, as countries and markets become increasingly connected digitally, we have become highly vulnerable to disruptions and exploitations by malicious cyber activities. An attack in one area can have widespread ramifications.

Therefore, what is MCI doing in the international arena to address these challenges?

Mr Alex Yam. Not here. Minister Josephine Teo.

Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their questions and interest.

Earlier in the Committee of Supply (COS) debate, I updated Members about the progress of our Smart Nation initiative. Digital technologies are very much a part of our daily lives. They have brought day-to-day conveniences, new and improved jobs for our people, and growth opportunities for our businesses.

But a digital future can be daunting as well. Enterprises struggle to get the right technologies and talents. Workers worry about being replaced. Seniors may feel left out. Parents are concerned about the impact on their children.

MCI understands all these concerns. Our mission is to ensure our people can reap the benefits and rewards of technology, while safeguarding our safety and security. Our vision of Singapore's digital future is one that is economically vibrant, socially stable and cyber-secure.

MCI's theme for this year's Committee of Supply is "Building a Vibrant and Secure Digital Future Together".

The economic opportunities of the digital domain have brought about tremendous transformation and growth in Singapore. Since 2016, the Information and Communications Sector has grown by an average of 9.4%, well above the GDP growth rate. Across the economy, the number of ICT professionals has risen from around 180,000 in 2016 to 216,000 in 2020. The positive impact on the wider economy is evident. Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary and Minister of State Tan Kiat How will say more about these later.

This dynamism is equally evident in our society. Parliamentary Secretary Rahayu Mahzam will provide an update on our efforts to promote digital empowerment and wellness.

To harness the full potential of the digital domain, I will focus on two aspects of growing importance.

First, how we will enhance regulations in the digital domain to better protect ourselves and our loved ones, and to strengthen digital security and resilience. Second, how we will sustain and deepen engagement of every Singaporean in the digital era, to preserve and enhance social cohesion.

According to surveys carried out by MCI, 76% of Singaporeans said they feel comfortable using digital technologies, but only 40% have installed cybersecurity apps on their mobile phones. Among seniors aged 60 and above, 67% use instant messaging and over half search for information online. But only 40% could recognise and avoid phishing attempts.

Clearly, using technology alone is not enough; it is only half the story. We also need to better protect ourselves and our loved ones from its risks and threats.

MCI has three priorities to govern and secure our digital spaces.

The first is to better protect Singaporeans from harmful online content, especially the young and vulnerable. A recent Straits Times survey found that among children aged seven to nine, two-thirds use a smartphone daily, and, yet, a third of the parents do not know who their children interact with on social media.

Last year, a National Youth Council poll found that two-thirds of youths had experienced online harms, such as harassment and unwanted advances. Many developed distrust towards others and experienced stress and anxiety. Last year, a 10-year-old Italian girl lost her life while participating in an online "Hanging Challenge". Users were encouraged to choke themselves until they passed out while live-streaming on TikTok.

Harm can be caused not only to children. In 2019, social media companies struggled to remove reshares of the video showing a gunman firing on Muslims in a New Zealand mosque. In 2021, rioters who stormed Capitol Hill in the US used social media to organise and amplify their messages.

Governments worldwide have responded to online harms with new laws.

In 2017, Germany enacted its Network Enforcement Act, which requires platforms to act on unlawful content reported by users. Last July, Australia enacted an Online Safety Act, which introduces basic safety expectations for online service providers. The UK's draft Online Safety Bill will create a duty of care for online platforms towards their users, including requirements to take action against harmful content.

Dr Shahira Abdullah, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Dr Wan Rizal and Mr Don Wee are right to ask what more can be done in Singapore. Some measures are already in place.

Internet content providers must comply with the Internet Code of Practice. IMDA has powers to take down content that goes against "public interest, public morality, public order and national harmony". IMDA can also direct Internet Service Providers to block access to prohibited websites.

To manage children's access to websites and online services, IMDA requires Internet Service Providers to offer filtering services for parents to subscribe to.

To reduce exposure to age-inappropriate entertainment content, over-the-top and video-on-demand streaming services with content rated NC16 or higher must provide parental controls.

In a 2020 study of online safety for children in 30 countries, international think-tank DQ Institute ranked Singapore fourth. This gives us some comfort. But with the growing risks of online harms, we must step up efforts to keep online spaces safe, especially for our children.

Online platforms accessible by users in Singapore can and must take greater responsibility for user safety. They should endeavour to keep online spaces free from harmful content, including age-inappropriate content, such as violent and graphic content, and content that promotes sexual violence.

To raise the baseline standard for online safety, we plan to introduce Codes of Practice in three new areas.

The first area is child safety. It will require platforms to have robust systems in place to minimise exposure of children and young persons to harmful content. These include content filters for child accounts and mechanisms for parents to supervise and guide their children online.

The second area is user reporting. Last year, MCI formed the Sunlight Alliance for Action to tackle online harms. Members of the Alliance want Internet platforms to be diligent in assessing flagged content and remove harmful content without delay. But many social media platforms tell us that they cannot be fully aware of all the content that needs moderation. Much of it is user-generated and the quantity, voluminous.

User reporting is, therefore, an important way to close the awareness gap and promote prompt follow-up action. It will require platforms to set up easy-to-access mechanisms for users to report harmful content, to be responsive in evaluating and acting on these reports and to apprise their users in a timely manner of the actions taken. This will empower users to highlight harmful content they come across and prevent further spread.

The third area is platform accountability. It will require platforms to provide information on what they are doing to keep users safe. This includes the prevalence of harmful online content on their platforms, the user reports they have received and acted upon, and the systems and processes they have in place to address harmful online content. Users can then compare the approaches taken by platforms and make informed decisions about which to engage or disengage.

Similar to existing Codes of Practice administered by IMDA, these new Codes will have the force of law. They will require relevant online platforms to take more actions to create a safer online environment. We will study how the Codes can be effectively enforced, including through appropriate legislative updates.

We are also working with MHA to provide Singaporeans with more protection from illegal activities carried out online. This includes strengthening our levers to tackle online scams, as well as a broader suite of criminal activities taking place online, such as child pornography, terrorism and content that incites violence.

MCI has frequent engagements with our international and industry partners on issues relating to user safety. We will continue to consult extensively as we develop these new Codes.

But the evolving nature of the digital domain will always test the way we design our regulations, as pointed out by Ms Tin Pei Ling. We need to be clear and unambiguous to uphold security and trust, while not being overly prescriptive or stifling innovation. The scope of coverage must be wide enough without being excessively expansive. Simplicity must not be achieved at the expense of effectiveness.

In many ways, our regulatory approach for the digital domain will be similar to how technology services are launched these days, as Minimum Viable Products that will be improved iteratively. Put another way, perfect must not become the enemy of good. Instead, we must be prepared to regularly update these Codes, introduce new ones or streamline outdated ones, to deal with emerging issues and new technologies. Only by doing so can we harness the rich potential of exciting new technologies while guarding against their attendant risks.

Mr Chairman, another important priority of MCI is to strengthen our cybersecurity.

Mr Shawn Huang, Ms Hany Soh and Mr Xie Yao Quan asked what more we are doing to guard against cyber threats.

Since 2018, the Cybersecurity Act has provided a legal framework for CSA to oversee and maintain our national cybersecurity. The Act is currently focused on securing and protecting our Critical Information Infrastructure. These computer systems deliver essential services in the physical world, such as water and power.

Given the unfolding situation in Ukraine, we must be alive to the heightened risks. Singapore is gravely concerned over the cyberattacks against Ukraine's government websites and national banks. It illustrates how essential services can be disrupted remotely and quite easily. Singapore may be geographically distant from the theatre of action. But we cannot disregard the potential knock-on effects arriving on our shores. This is why, earlier this week, we advised local organisations to beef up their cybersecurity posture.

But even before the current situation in Ukraine, cyber threats have become more prevalent. Between 2020 and 2021, Singapore observed a 73% increase in reported data breach and ransomware incidents. As our digital realm expands, so, too, the threat surface.

The scale and impact of such attacks elsewhere have also become more serious. Attacks on systems that run physical infrastructure, such as energy grids and fuel pipelines, have real, tangible impact. The ransomware attack on US Colonial Pipeline last year, for example, caused fuel shortages across the US East Coast.

CSA has been reviewing the Cybersecurity Act. To strengthen our defences, we need to address three key questions.

First, how do we raise our situational awareness over Singapore's cyberspace?

Attackers are constantly on the lookout for serious vulnerabilities, like burglars looking for faulty locks and open windows. CSA must, in some way, do the same, but for a very different reason – so that we can advise people to fix their faulty locks and close their windows quickly. In cyberspace, this means to patch known software vulnerabilities, before malicious actors compromise our systems and steal our data.

Second, what should be considered as Critical Information Infrastructure, or CII? The Act currently recognises physical networks and systems as CII. With the shift to virtualisation, we must be able to recognise virtual assets as CII, too, such as systems hosted on the cloud. We need to ensure these virtual assets are properly protected, too, including those that may not be hosted in Singapore.

Third, how do we secure important digital infrastructure and services beyond CIIs?

Digital infrastructure and services are the backbone of our connectivity, computing and data storage needs. If disrupted or compromised, there could be serious knock-on effects. Imagine the chaos of not having access to emails, websites and apps.

We will consider how to apply a risk-based approach to protect these infrastructure and services and for them to recover quickly when attacked. We intend to complete this review by 2023, factoring in stakeholder and public consultations. The Act will be updated thereafter.

Mr Chairman, Mr Sharael Taha asked how we could enable businesses to innovate and grow while safeguarding consumers and their personal data. This is also a priority. Data is a critical resource for the digital economy.

In 2012, we enacted the Personal Data Protection Act, or PDPA. It strikes a careful balance between allowing organisations to harness data for innovation and growth and ensuring proper safeguards and accountability. In 2020, to adapt to the evolving digital landscape, we amended the PDPA. Among several amendments, we explicitly recognised business improvement as a legitimate use of data.

Early results from ongoing surveys are encouraging. Close to 90% of businesses agreed that the PDPA helped them prepare for the digital economy. More than 80% of consumers said that the PDPA helped them trust that their personal data is protected from misuse by organisations.

To uphold this trust, organisations must continue to take ownership and be held accountable, especially those that hold sizeable volumes of personal data. This is why the PDPA amendments in 2020 raised the maximum financial penalty for data breaches to $1 million, or 10% of local annual turnover, for organisations whose turnover exceeds $10 million, whichever is higher.

As a result of the pandemic-induced economic uncertainty, the implementation of the new penalties was temporarily held back. With sufficient lead time given to businesses, the penalties will now take effect from 1 October 2022.

We will also strengthen safeguards in other areas.

Currently, consumers and small businesses try to resolve contractual disputes with their telco, or media service providers, directly or through existing dispute resolution options. These can be costly and less consumer-friendly.

To supplement these options, IMDA will launch an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Scheme which is designed to be affordable and effective. When a case is brought to the ADR, it will be mandatory for the service providers to participate in the resolution process.

From April, this will provide a new helpful channel to resolve such disputes.

Mr Chairman, the three priorities I have described to govern and secure our digital spaces will form the building blocks of a vibrant and secure digital future.

But, Sir, technology has also changed the way we interact with one another, our communities and the world. The global media and information landscape have become more diffused, with competing narratives and echo chambers, and more news sources than anyone can keep up with.

Mr Don Wee rightly pointed out the need for trusted information sources and genuine engagement and a holistic approach to target the spread of misinformation. Indeed, these have been critical in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We could not have handled a public health crisis if the public did not trust the health authorities or did not believe the information they were receiving. That is precisely why, from the very outset, we resolved to keep the public informed as fully and expeditiously as possible. We were determined to tell it as it is, never fudge or sugarcoat, never hide.

As the Prime Minister observed recently, if we had been a low-trust society, people would not have understood the need for safe management measures (SMMs) or abided by them. Our infection rates would be higher, far fewer people would be vaccinated, and many more people would have died. To preserve this trust, we must also have appropriate laws. For example, POFMA allowed us to take swift action on 20 occasions to curb COVID-19-related misinformation and prevent falsehoods from taking root.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]

The COVID-19 pandemic has, therefore, underlined the crucial importance of retaining public trust and maintaining trusted sources of information.

MCI has done this by expanding and refreshing our communications channels and launching targeted campaigns like VacciNationSG to support our vaccination drive. Gov.sg's 10 platforms have close to two million more subscribers, compared to before the pandemic. We commissioned e-getai shows for seniors that received over 7.5 million views and catchy music videos with over nine million views online.

To better engage Singaporeans from all walks of life and understand their concerns, REACH expanded its digital outreach through e-Listening Points and virtual dialogues. In 2021, more than 70,000 Singaporeans contributed feedback to REACH, up from 59,000 in 2020.

Through these concerted efforts, polls show that three in four members of the public think that the Government has provided sufficient information on COVID-19 in recent months. Over 86% agreed that these messages helped in their decision to get vaccinated.

It is critical that we maintain these high levels of trust as we strive to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic and see through future crises as Singapore Together.

Our local media companies play an important role in this mission to inform and engage our citizens. They help to keep Singaporeans united by providing a Singapore lens through which citizens can make sense of global events; presenting an authoritative source of information that cuts through the noise of an online space chock-full of clickbait content and misinformation; and producing content in our official languages that celebrates our diverse culture and creates shared experiences for all Singaporeans.

Clearly, our local media companies serve a broader mission beyond commercial success. This is why the Government put our support behind SPH Media Trust. We have explained the background extensively during the Parliament Sittings in May 2021 and February 2022, but I will reiterate two key points.

First, our local media, like media outlets across the world, have seen their advertising and subscription revenue drastically reduced, buffeted by the rise of digital content platforms and new avenues for free content.

Second, while our local media enjoys good reach – today, Mediacorp and SPH Media reach 96% of Singaporeans – there are no easy answers on how they monetise this reach. We hope they can become self-sustaining, but it remains to be seen whether or when this can happen.

Mr Leong Mun Wai said SPH is Government-owned. That is incorrect. If it was, there would be no question today of public funding. He then asked if the SPH listed company could be made to contribute more to the new SPH Media Trust. The shareholders voted and agreed to an initial injection of $80 million in cash and $30 million worth of shares for SPH Media Trust.

If the restructuring proposal involved an even higher contribution, the shareholders could have walked away. The Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) might not have been formed and the SPH media business could have remained on its trajectory of decline with scant hope for revival. In time to come, there would be nothing worthwhile to preserve.

Parliament has been fully briefed on the need for the restructuring and accepted that our local mainstream media is worthy of public funding.

When compared to the investments seen elsewhere in the world, the amount of funding to support our local media's transformation must be meaningful, in order for their efforts to have a chance to succeed. We cannot be half-hearted about it. I have also explained in detail how the Government will keep them accountable.

Let us now direct our attention on charting the way forward, such as those highlighted by Ms Hany Soh on how the media can better meet the needs of different demographics.

For example, Mediacorp is working with their news broadcasters, as well as clan associations to identify new talent to sustain dialect radio news broadcasts. Mediacorp produces an animation series on sustainability and environmental awareness, so that parents and their children know why this is important and how they can contribute to this national priority.

Left to the free market, such programmes are unlikely to be viable. I, therefore, urge Members to give our local media and journalists the fullest support, because they deserve it.