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Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners 1 Mr Darryl David asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view of the announcement by ICA on 13 February 2024 that all foreign visitors to Singapore can soon clear immigration at the air, land and sea checkpoints using automated lanes by the second half of 2024, whether there will still be dedicated lanes at these immigration checkpoints set aside exclusively for Singaporeans and permanent residents.
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners Mr Speaker, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will still set aside lanes for dedicated use by Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs). The proportion of dedicated lanes will be flexibly adjusted to meet prevailing operational needs, taking into account the traveller profile.
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners Mr David.
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners I would like to thank the Minister of State for the reply. I am heartened to know that there will still be dedicated lanes reserved for Singaporeans and PRs and, more importantly, that these lanes will also be used or made available, based on the demand at the checkpoints. Just a supplementary question, Sir, which is, I understand that right now, there could be some Singaporeans – especially the younger ones – those who cannot use the automated lanes – children and so on – and their families, therefore, have to travel with them. I would like to ask the Minister of State if there are some measures that could be taken also to enhance the flow of such families of Singaporeans or PRs who might not be able to use the automated lanes through the checkpoints?
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners Sir, I thank the Member for the question. It is a very important question and a good question, I must say. In fact, I visited Terminal 2 recently, during the festive period, to thank our officers for working during the festive period; and among the facilities that I saw was the special assistance lane. These are for families, especially those with young children, and also for those with additional needs. We had the lane very, very, very wide and it enables even those with very young children to go through. They can pass through as a group, as a family. So, if you look at what we have shared recently during the statistics release, we are building some of these lanes. For some, we have completed; for example, Terminal 2 that I visited, it is completed. And we are among the first, if not, the first in the world, to have these facilities.
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners This is something that we continuously think about, especially when we go towards the New Clearance Concept, where we want to enhance the travelling experience for not only our residents and PRs, and Singaporeans in particular. Because this is something that we want to make sure of: that when they go out of Singapore and then, they come back to Singapore, they feel not only happy when we land at Changi Airport or pass by our checkpoints, but they have the ease of entry to make it easy for them.
Dedicated Lanes at Immigration for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents after Introduction of Automated Lanes for Foreigners So, we will continue to look at how we can enhance the travelling journey process of our Singaporeans.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence 2 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) why was GST charged wrongly by Government agencies; and (b) whether the Ministry can share on plans, such as to leverage more on technology as well as simplified rules and processes, to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence 3 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) what are the root causes for the wrong charging of GST on the 18 Government fees which were incorrectly designated as processing fees rather than regulatory in nature prior to the November 2023 review; (b) whether the Ministry maintains an overview of such fees; (c) whether the Ministry previously provided specific guidance to agencies on such interpretations; and (d) whether there have been prior appeals or legal challenges to the interpretation of fees and, if so, what are the outcomes.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Speaker, my response will cover Oral Question Nos 2 and 3, and Written Question Nos 2 and 3 on today's Order Paper, as well as related questions by Mr Don Wee1, Ms Joan Pereira2 and Mr Leong Mun Wai for subsequent Sittings.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence May I please have your permission to proceed, Sir?
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Please proceed.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Thank you. Sir, Government fees may be regulatory or non-regulatory in nature. Fees imposed for purposes of control and regulation are regulatory in nature, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) should not be charged; whereas fees for the provision of services such as the use of public sports facilities or rental of hawker stalls and exhibition spaces are non-regulatory in nature and GST applies in such cases.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Each Government agency, like any GST-registered business, has to assess whether its fees should be GST-chargeable whenever a fee is introduced or revised. Agencies do so based on the law. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Inland Revenue of Authority of Singapore (IRAS) also provide guidance to agencies on what constitutes regulatory fees.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Members asked how the issue was identified. It was picked up by MOF and IRAS as part of our regular internal review of the GST regime. We discovered inconsistencies in the application of GST on certain Government fees in November 2023 and concluded the review in January 2024, with 18 regulatory fees identified to have charged GST wrongly and need to be refunded.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence As most of these 18 fees are for the processing of applications, rather than licence fees, agencies had deemed them to be taxable provisions of services. For example, an agency had charged GST on the application fee for a licence but had not charged GST on the licence itself. The correct treatment should have been to not charge GST on both the application fee and licence fee.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Businesses or individuals who wish to appeal against the GST treatment for any Government fee can lodge an objection with the Comptroller of GST or an appeal with the GST Board of Review. To date, there have been no cases relating to Government regulatory fees.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Sir, we have put out the facts and the remedial actions that will be taken. As announced on 14 February, the agencies involved have ceased charging GST on the 18 fees and will refund all affected taxpayers with interest of 5.5% per annum.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence The refund will minimally cover transactions since 1 January 2019 as the agencies, as GST-registered entities, are required by law to keep records for five years. Where records and updated banking details are available, agencies will proactively and automatically credit the refunds to individuals and affected businesses. Otherwise, agencies will contact taxpayers to provide or update such information before refunds are effected. If affected taxpayers are not contacted by agencies by 30 June 2024, they can reach out to the agencies to seek a refund. In cases where the affected company has been dissolved or the individual is deceased, agencies will make refunds to the Official Receiver and the executor, administrator, or Public Trustee respectively.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence The agencies should be able to refund the vast majority of the affected taxpayers. But if there are any unrefunded amounts, then they will be considered part of the Government’s GST collections and broader tax revenue used for nation building purposes.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Yip Hon Weng, Mr Huang and Mr Leong Mun Wai asked how the Government will guard against future recurrence, for example, by leveraging on technology. As the issue did not arise from a lack of technology but from differences in the interpretation of law, we will simplify and clarify the rules and processes to provide greater clarity on regulatory fees where GST should not be charged. MOF will table a Bill soon to amend the GST Act to clarify the GST treatment for such fees, and to prescribe a list of regulatory fees where GST should not be charged. This will make clear which fees are regulatory in nature. This approach will also help to address any cases where GST should have been applied, but agencies failed to do so.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Leong suggested to exempt all Government fees and charges from GST. As mentioned earlier, there are fees that are charged for the provision of services, like public sports facilities. Some of these services could well have been outsourced to private sector providers, or there may be businesses providing similar services. GST should therefore be applied consistently to such services, regardless of whether the entity providing the service is from the public or private sector, so that there is parity in tax treatment. Other countries with GST systems also adopt similar principles.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Sir, the Government is committed to upholding high standards of governance and integrity. We will continually review and improve our processes, and where feasible, we will incorporate the suggestions from hon Members.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Yip Hon Weng.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for his response. I have two supplementary questions. How will this incident inform future internal audit processes by the Government of similar fees and charges? Secondly, what is the assessment of the potential impact of this error on public trust in Government financial management, and what steps will be taken to rebuild trust and prevent similar issues from happening in the future?
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Speaker, to Mr Yip's first question, we are going to table a Bill in Parliament soon to amend the GST Act. As I explained in my main reply, we will prescribe a list of the regulatory fees where GST should not be charged. I think this will provide clarity and take away the uncertainty for all stakeholders, whether is it the agencies or public officers who are involved in administering these fees, or taxpayers, because there is a prescribed list of such fees where GST should not be charged.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Sir, I also want to highlight that we take this issue of integrity and governance very seriously. That is why when MOF and IRAS came across the inconsistencies in November last year, we did a thorough review of all the regulatory fees and charges. By January, we completed the review and we identified that there are 18 fees altogether that would need to be rectified and the GST that is wrongly collected, will have to be refunded to taxpayers. I think this is the approach that we will take. It does not mean that we do not make mistakes, but when we discover that mistakes are made, we will be upfront, we will be open and we will deal with those mistakes. We will rectify the errors and we will make good.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Sir, just two questions for the Minister. First, could the Minister clarify – why was this not spotted by the Auditor-General over the past years when they audited the Government processes and accounts?
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Second, the Minister said that the refund would be made together with interest at 5.5% per annum. Could I ask the Minister how does the Ministry compute the interest payable on the GST that was collected erroneously? Previously, when I wrote to Government to ask about how interest was charged, the Government told me that MOF has a policy of charging 8.1% on interest for refunds, when residents could not pay back the Ministry, whereas the Government is refunding at 5.5%. So, how does the Ministry determine this interest payable?
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence Mr Speaker, I believe Mr Lim will agree with me that the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) is an independent statutory organisation, so, I cannot answer on behalf of AGO. But I believe AGO has put out its explanations as well, on this matter.
Reasons for Wrong Charging of GST by Government Agencies and Review of Processes to Prevent Recurrence The second question about interest rates, the rate of 5.5% was set referencing the prevailing interest rate for Government refunds over the affected period and that is the average prime lending rate, compiled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from leading banks and licensed companies. Sir, I cannot comment on the earlier figure that Mr Lim cited. Maybe he could forward to me more information and we will look into that.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power 4 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the Government has set specific targets for Singapore's global share of aggregate computing power over the next five to 10 years; (b) if so, what is this target share and by when; (c) which agency is responsible for this initiative; and (d) what interim milestones will the Government use to track progress.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Sir, no such target has been set. The amount of computing resources needed in Singapore will depend on the workloads that the private and public sectors expect to process and how these workloads are distributed. This will change dynamically in response to needs and available alternatives.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Mr Gerald Giam.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. Can I ask if the Government is pushing for more data computing power in the country, in other words, building more data centres? If so, how would the Government ensure that Singaporeans directly benefit from these developments and we create a more level paying field for everyone to access such computing power, including microenterprises, students and individual Singaporeans?
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Secondly, what are the Government's sustainability considerations with regard to data centres, given that data centres consume a tremendous amount of energy which contributes to the carbon footprint and environmental impact in Singapore.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Mr Speaker, Sir, are we pushing for more data centres? The answer is yes. I would refer the Member to our digital connectivity blueprint as well as documents associated with how we have called for more applications for data centres which conform to sustainability measures – in answer to his second question. These have been published, where we are pushing for the data centres that are located in Singapore to be more environmentally friendly, to be more sustainable in terms of the energy used for computing, the software that runs on them, as well as how they maintain their facilities, the cooling standards.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power How will Singaporeans benefit? Well, again, I would refer to the various documents that we published, looking at how we are digitalising a variety of industries and this digitalisation of the industries should, through these strategies, result in better jobs. We are also trying to make sure that Singaporeans have the training and skills necessary to take advantage of these opportunities that are brought here.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Sir, I understand Senior Minister of State Janil's argument about why the total amount of processing power that the country will have will depend, of course, on a balance between the public and the private sector. But given the stated goal of the Government in its national AI strategy to push for applications within the Government, I wonder if there are at least plans to consider ramping up, especially graphical processing units acquisition, because this is so critical to ensuring foundational AI model development, including that by the Government sector.
Specific Targets for Singapore's Global Share of Aggregate Computing Power Sir, the answer is yes. I would refer the Member to the digital connectivity blueprint which stated exactly that. That is distinct from the question that Mr Giam had asked, which is, whether there is a target of the proportion that we would have or the amount of compute, and that is a separate issue which is how we match needs to the demands. So, are we ramping up? Yes. Do we have a set absolute target? No such target has been set.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 5 Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth how does the new Singapore Government Partnerships Office plan to build and maintain respectful, age-appropriate and on-going partnerships with children and young people under 18 years old.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 Sir, citizens, including youths with Singpass access, can submit their partnerships proposals through the Partners Portal on the Singapore Government Partnerships Office's (SGPO's) website. These proposals would then be referred accordingly to Government agencies which would work in partnership with these citizens to realise their proposals.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 In the case of partnerships with citizens under 18 years of age, SGPO has given guidance to Government agencies not to enter into any legal contracts with them. SGPO has also advised agencies to obtain written consent from the citizen's parent or guardian as part of the process of taking the proposal forward and to ensure that the nature and risks of the undertaking or activity are disclosed fully to the guardian or parent when obtaining consent.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 Assoc Prof Razwana.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his response. I welcome the opportunity made available to young people over the age of 18. My concern here is: how are we getting inputs from our young people?
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 So, my supplementary questions are, if the Ministry is not in a position to engage directly with children and young people under 18 years of age, how does the Ministry tend to ensure that the views of children and young people are known and considered by the partnerships office?
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 My second question is: would the Ministry consider working with children and young people under 18 years of age, parents and guardians, schools and sporting and community groups to scope possible mechanisms to ensure that the views of children and young people are known and considered by the partnerships office?
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 Sir, I thank Assoc Prof Razwana for her supplementary questions. On the first supplementary question, SGPO actually collaborates with various Government as well as non-Government entities to take in the viewpoints of all stakeholders, and that includes children and young persons as well. While direct engagement may be a challenge for certain age groups, we remain committed to create avenues for representation, including partnerships with youth-focused organisations, grassroots organisations, grassroots' initiatives and through surveys, as well as other outreach mechanisms. So, like the Member, we want to ensure that there is meaningful inclusion as well as consideration of children and young persons' views and perspectives.
Singapore Government Partnerships Office's Plan to Build and Maintain Respectful, Age-appropriate and Ongoing Partnerships with Children and Youths Under 18 My answer to the second supplementary question is broadly linked to the first one and the answer is yes, we will be working to scope possible avenues to take in the views of children and young persons.
11.30 am 6 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education for each year in the past five years (a) what is the number of teacher counsellors employed in schools in Singapore; (b) what is the average percentage of teachers who are teacher counsellors in each school; and (c) how many hours of counselling training do these teachers undergo.
11.30 am Mr Speaker, teacher counsellors are part of an ecosystem of tiered support for our students, which includes the school counsellors, community resources, other teachers, peers and parents. Working together, they provide a caring environment for our students to grow and thrive.
11.30 am For all students, in addition to imparting academic content, teachers impart important habits and skills to strengthen our students' socio-emotional well-being and resilience. This is done through lessons and regular interactions with students. Among teachers, form teachers play a key role in supporting students' well-being and growth through building a positive class community. Schools have also put in place peer support networks to enable students to offer socio-emotional support to one another.
11.30 am Students who require more specialised counselling support are attended to by trained school counsellors beyond the peer support and teacher counsellor support frameworks. Every school has one to two school counsellors, who can be augmented by flexi-adjunct school counsellors, depending on the needs of the school. Students who require more specialised interventions are referred to health professionals and community resources like REACH and Family Service Centres.
11.30 am Teacher counsellors supplement counselling support in schools by taking on a few less complex cases or support programmes that promote student well-being. There are close to 800 teacher counsellors deployed in our schools today. Teacher counsellors undergo relevant training to better support their students, such as a part-time Certificate in School Counselling course and other short courses, such as a one-day course on Psychological First Aid. To manage their workload, teacher counsellors have reduced teaching load or are offloaded from other school duties.
11.30 am We also believe that parents play a key role in helping their children acquire self-management skills, take responsibility for their actions and bounce back from setbacks. Schools will continue to work closely with parents to develop their children's social and emotional competencies, including through our Parent Support Groups.
11.30 am Mr Louis Ng.
11.30 am Sir, I thank the Second Minister for the reply. I think the Second Minister gave the number of teacher counsellors for all the schools. But could I just ask for part (b) of my question on what percentage of teachers in each school are teacher counsellors?
11.30 am Second, it is an important point that a lot of counsellors tell me that to be a counsellor, they require at least a Master's degree in counselling, because it is difficult work and requires specialised training. So, could I ask again whether we are setting our teachers up for failure by asking them to do even basic counselling work? The Second Minister mentioned maybe a one-day training; is there sufficient training for these teachers to be able to carry out this specialised work?
11.30 am Third, it really is also what I have been pushing for. The teachers are overworked. Is it really needed for them to do this extra work, or could the Ministry of Education (MOE) set aside some funding to hire more school counsellors who are able to help the students better and essentially help the teachers as well?
11.30 am Sir, on the question of the proportion, it varies from different schools. As I have mentioned earlier, there are about 800 teacher counsellors who are spread out to all our schools. So, it is hard to say what is the percentage across all the different schools. But suffice to say, first, I want to reiterate the distinction between school counsellors and teacher counsellors.
11.30 am The one that Mr Louis Ng talked about in terms of requiring specialised training, for example, Master's degree in counselling, they are our school counsellors. They are the ones who will do the real counselling work for the cases which are more complicated, more complex, that require more intervention. And most of the cases in schools are handled by the school counsellors. And the school counsellors do not do the teaching. They just do the counselling work.
11.30 am But the question that Mr Ng asked is about teacher counsellors. The teacher counsellors augment the work of the school counsellors. And that is the reason why the training is on psychological first aid; they are the ones who help the less complex cases. They are the ones who, when the school or the class form teachers identify a student who is manifesting some challenges, they are referred to the teacher counsellors and the teacher counsellors will try to support and help them. And they are less complex cases.
11.30 am So, the teacher counsellors are not expected to do the kind of counselling that require Master's level qualification. They are asked to support less complex cases. And when we talk about the teacher counsellors, I just want to highlight that when we identify the teachers, we do not just identify whoever that we think, "Oh, you should do it and the school needs these teachers". We identify teachers who are suitable and have interest. They, first, must have the interest to want to do more than just teaching and a predisposition to provide counselling, intervention support, as well as those with some prior counselling experience and training. There are some teachers who were former social workers. So, they already have got some training in counselling experience.
11.30 am Some teachers who came from the social service sector do have some experience already and we ask them whether they are prepared to do so. So, they are teachers who have already had some background. They take on the role and they are very committed and we know they have done a lot of work.
11.30 am Sir, on the workload of teacher counsellors, I want to again make the distinction between the teacher counsellors and the school counsellors. The school counsellors are the professionals who have been recruited by MOE to deal with the more challenging counselling cases. Within the school system, as I have mentioned previously, we have structures and systems in place to ensure a manageable workload for all our staff. For instance, the Teacher Work Management Framework guides schools in managing teachers' workload and ensuring that teachers' well-being are taken care of. This includes recommending off-loading practices for teacher counsellors where, depending on the amount of time that they spend a week on their counselling duties, their workload is correspondingly reduced.
11.30 am So, for example, teaching fewer classes or taking less co-curricular activities or committee duties. So, if you are a teacher counsellor, depending on how much counselling you are doing, you are off-loaded from other teaching duties; just to be fair to the teachers. And the school leaders are given the guideline within this framework to be able to help the teachers.
11.30 am So, besides implementing these off-loading provisions, school leaders also adopt a holistic approach in deploying teacher counsellors to ensure that their work is sustainable. This takes into consideration factors, such as the nature of the subject that they teach, the frequency and intensity of the teacher counsellors' marking load, including class sizes, level, streams assigned and/or student profiles.
11.30 am So, every school has got its school staff developer, and this school staff developer or designated key personnel would monitor and track the training and deployment of teacher counsellors in the school. So, I want to assure Mr Louis Ng that we know the teachers have done a lot of work and they continue to do a lot of work. We recognise that; we appreciate it. We are fully aware of the amount of work they have put in. Some have gone beyond the call of duty in doing so.
11.30 am We will do our best within the school system and not every school is the same because the needs of the schools differ. And with the framework and guidelines we have given the school leaders, we hope the school leaders will be able to be fair to all the teachers within the school manpower. And we also hope that if teachers who feel that they are being loaded with more than what they can handle can go to the school staff developer in the school, talk to the school leaders and manage the workload within the construct of the team in the school.
11.30 am Order. End of Question Time. Introduction of Government Bills.
11.30 am [Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
Supply Bill [(proc text) "to provide for the issue from the Consolidated Fund and the Development Fund of the sums necessary to meet the estimated expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025", (proc text)]
Supply Bill [(proc text) recommendation of President signified; presented by the Second Minister for Finance (Mr Chee Hong Tat); read the First time; to be read a Second time after the conclusion of proceedings on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY2024/2025, and to be printed. (proc text)]
Supplementary Supply (FY2023) Bill [(proc text) "to make supplementary provision to meet additional expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024", (proc text)]
Supplementary Supply (FY2023) Bill [(proc text) recommendation of President signified; presented by the Second Minister for Finance (Mr Chee Hong Tat); read the First time; to be read a Second time after the conclusion of proceedings on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY2024/2025, and to be printed. (proc text)]
6.45 pm [(proc text) Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [16 February 2024] [1st Allotted Day], (proc text)]
6.45 pm [(proc text) "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025." – [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance]. (proc text)]
6.45 pm [(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]
6.45 pm Mr Pritam Singh.
6.45 pm Mr Speaker, it is not mere coincidence that the slogan of Forward Singapore is "Building Our Shared Future", while that of Budget 2024 is the substantially similar "Building Our Shared Future Together". The Government intends for Budget 2024 to be a step towards Forward Singapore.
6.45 pm The Forward Singapore exercise has three major goals for the decade and the next. Singapore must: first, have a strong and growing economy; second, develop a fairer society; and third, deepen our sense of unity. In doing so, the shared future that was distilled from various engagement sessions with the public was a Singapore that will be vibrant, fair, resilient, inclusive, thriving and united.
6.45 pm Sir, it would be fair to say that these are broad strokes that capture the Singapore that all of us seek. In the way it fleshes out the direction of the Government, Budget 2024 is not objectionable, and so the Workers' Party (WP) supports the Budget.
6.45 pm The real challenge to the People's Action Party (PAP), however, is for it to be open, and the extent to which it is prepared to accommodate the diverse views of Singaporeans on how to journey towards the destination envisaged by Forward Singapore. No doubt, PAP has asked for diverse views by demanding that the Opposition come up with alternative proposals, although one suspects they do so rhetorically. WP has responded sincerely and we have not been short of proposals that have ultimately been accepted by the Government in some shape or form, albeit after initial and sometimes significant resistance.
6.45 pm Indeed, this year's Budget includes WP proposals; the announcement by the Finance Minister of a temporary financial support scheme for our workers is a case in point. While the details may differ, the philosophy of supporting our involuntarily unemployed is one which WP championed.