Hansard, Tuesday, 20 January 2015

1 Mr K Karthikeyan asked the Minister for Health whether hospitals administer different drugs and treatment for the same medical conditions based on private or subsidised wards and, if so, whether the Ministry conducts checks on hospitals for such practices.

(for the Minister for Health): In our public hospitals, care is provided based on the patients' clinical condition, rather than their subsidy status. Doctors and the healthcare team administer drugs and treatments appropriate to each patient's clinical needs. Where clinically appropriate to do so, generic drugs are used for both subsidised and private patients. However, as each patient has his own risk factors, clinical presentations and associated diseases, there may be differences in the treatment and drugs used for different patients, even for the same condition.

Some of the drugs or treatments thus prescribed could be non-subsidised as there are more cost effective alternatives available. Nonetheless, where non-subsidised drugs or treatments are assessed to be clinically required and cannot be replaced by subsidised alternatives, patients from lower-income households are provided assistance to help them access these drugs or treatments.

Public hospitals have various governance frameworks in place to ensure that patients receive care appropriate to their clinical needs. This includes accreditation committees to ensure appropriate use of new technologies and procedures and that procedures are performed by properly trained doctors. The Pharmacy and Therapeutic (P&T) and Medical Device (MDC) committees ensure clinically appropriate use of drugs and medical devices/implants respectively. There are also pre-operations conferences for peer review of elective surgeries to ensure that they are appropriate, safe and not unnecessary.

I had a recent case with my union member who went to a hospital to do a stomach operation. There is a range of painkillers. The nurse

Page: 11

gave him Panadol. He said, "I just did a stomach operation. Is there any way I can get an injection?" The doctor and the nurse were talking and he overheard the conversation: "C Class ward; Panadol is enough." This gave him a feeling that you would get subsidised treatment when you are in a C Class ward. Is there any way we can talk to the hospitals and see how they communicate and how they make things straight? That is my only concern.

First, let me thank the Member for raising this Parliamentary Question (PQ), as well as for sharing this example. It is important for us to explain and clarify. Let me reassure the Member that hospitals do not differentiate the treatment routes based on the subsidy status of the patients, as long as the treatment route is required and necessary.

In this instance, it is, indeed, unfortunate that there is this perception. We need to get more details to better understand the case. Let me briefly elaborate.

There are clinical guidelines for pain management in different clinical conditions, which provide clinical guidance on the choice of pain relief drugs, and these are in line with international practices.

Typically, for pain management, as the Member has highlighted, clinical guidelines may give guidance to provide baseline pain management; further pain drugs may be added, if required; as well as to start with the least invasive drugs. This approach is quite typical across the different clinical conditions. The patient may, first, be prescribed oral Panadol. This could progress to stronger, more potent drugs, through injections, for instance. These are not without side effects.

Basically, throughout the spectrum of drugs required for pain management, you can find subsidised drugs. So, the patient does not really have to pay more for these subsidised drugs. There is no Panadol injection, but as the Member has mentioned, there are morphine, pethidine, nico injections which are in the Standard Drugs List. As I have said, these are stronger painkillers and may not be without their side effects. So, we need to ascertain if the patient's conditions will warrant these and if these are suitable for the patient. We would need further details to better understand the case.

What I would like to reiterate is that the drug and treatment prescribed are what the doctor and the healthcare team deem as clinically appropriate, based on the patient's conditions and not based on the subsidy status of the patient.

Page: 12

2 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Health in respect of the latest statistics by the National Registry of Diseases that a disproportionate number of diabetics and patients with kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes come from the Malay population (a) whether the Ministry has plans to address the issue with the Malay community; and (b) whether the Ministry has conducted specific research on the causes and devised strategies to address them accordingly.

(for the Minister for Health): Mdm Speaker, there are ethnic differences in the rates of non-communicable diseases in Singapore. While Chinese had the highest incidence of cancer, Malays had the highest incidence of kidney failure, heart attacks and stroke in 2013. These non-communicable diseases all have common lifestyle risk factors, such as obesity, smoking, unhealthy diet, a lack of sufficient physical activity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, the impact of these risk factors can be reduced through the adoption of a healthier lifestyle, including having a balanced diet, sufficient physical activity, not smoking and going for regular health screening.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) have a variety of preventive health programmes and activities targeted at the general population, including children, adolescents, adults and the elderly, to keep Singaporeans healthy and free of illness and disability for as long as possible through the adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle habits. To further encourage positive behavioural change, we launched the Healthy Living Masterplan in 2014, which aims to make healthy living accessible, natural and effortless for all Singaporeans.

While rolling out population-based programmes to all Singaporeans, HPB has, over the years, tailored programmes specific to the cultural context of the various ethnic groups. Take, for example, the Holistic Women's Health Workshop Series, which aims to empower women to take charge of their own and families' health over a range of health topics. This series of workshops is not only conducted in English, but also contextualised for the Chinese- and Malay-speaking audiences.

Since 2012, HPB has been partnering Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) and mosques in the Ramadan I Quit smoking cessation programmes. In 2014, of the 1,507 participants, one in five quit smoking and another one in four reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked.

In 2013, HPB partnered the Singapore Muslim Women's Association (Persatuan Pemudi Islam Singapura or PPIS) and mosques to launch the 2014 Health calendar for Malay women.

Page: 13

Serving as a healthy living educational tool, the calendar incorporates healthy recipes, health tips and screening messages to help users make healthier choices for themselves and their families. The response was positive and we have increased the distribution of the 2015 calendar tenfold to 30,000 households. In fact, this initiative has proven so popular that we have just launched a Chinese version of this calendar for the Chinese community, too.

Such initiatives and programmes are guided by the data and research that MOH and HPB conduct on the population, such as the National Health Survey, National Health Surveillance Survey and National Nutrition Survey. These surveys gather quantitative data on the health behaviour of the community and are complemented by ongoing qualitative feedback processes for further fine tuning of programmes.

My Ministry continuously reviews our research methodology to ensure that we have the latest data on the health status of the population. We will also continue to incorporate best practices and research findings from other countries, where relevant, and update our health prevention programmes and strategies tailored to the local context, including the Malay community.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. Two clarifications. First, in profiling the Malay community as being more prone to certain sorts of diseases, have these co-rrelations been identified through studies of profiles of the population or is it more genetics? I am just wondering if more in-depth research has been done.

Two, in terms of outreach, it is great to see outreach, such as quit smoking campaigns, being done at the mosques. The number of people being reached out to is about 5,000, and the Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that one fifth had quit smoking, for example. This is good outreach, but I think the numbers are still a bit small. There are also many other diseases that need to be managed as well. Is the Ministry considering more of such outreach or more of such collaborations in the community to address the other health issues?

I want to thank the Member for the supplementary questions. As I had mentioned earlier, all the non-communicable diseases have common lifestyle risk factors, which are linked very directly to obesity, the food that we eat, as well as the lack of sufficient physical activity. These affect diseases like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Essentially, what we have been trying to do is to encourage people to eat moderately, a balanced diet, to have physical activities and go for health screening.

Page: 14

It is important that we embark on this. At the same time, we have noticed that different ethnic groups have different lifestyles. Even though all of us eat, but Malays have their common way of eating and the dishes that they like. Similarly for the Chinese and the others.

We have moved into a targeted approach, which I had shared earlier. The calendar is very popular this year. We not only give aspects of the calendar, but we also relate to their lifestyle, in terms of the food that they cook and their common habits, so that we can reach out to the different sectors of the community. We realised that, over time, they become excited about how to live healthily. With that aspect, we want to focus on these lifestyle factors.

Beyond that, in terms of genetics, we do not have significant evidence to show such a phenomenon. Based on what we have and what research we have done locally, we realise that such lifestyle practices play an important role. And we can reduce the risk to such non-communicable diseases among the community if we focus on the aspects of healthy eating, physical activity as well as going for proper and appropriate health screening.

With regards to outreach, Members will see that, over time, we have been able to reach out to more and more Singaporeans in terms of the programmes that we have. For example, the calendar, we have increased it tremendously in terms of numbers. When we did it last year, we received many requests from the community, asking for more. We gave out more publicity materials than what we gave out last year. Demand has gone up so much that we had to ask for more materials.

Secondly, if you look at the anti-smoking campaign, the "I Quit" programme, you would realise that the numbers have not only gone up, the number of families coming on board to be part of this process of their family members has also gone up. I was there in the last few years to share the load and to reach out to the community. I was so touched by the community support not only among the children and spouses, but also among grandparents coming to support to get their children to quit smoking.

Beyond these figures, anecdotally, I feel that there has also been an increase in terms of awareness about healthy living. For example, locally in my area, over two years, the number of Malays coming on board to be a part of an exercise group, which I join often, has gone up by three times. I met them recently and I am so happy because I usually ask how many would need a calendar. In the past, it was about 10 to 15. This year, close to 40 to 50 asked for it. When I went down and met them, there was a sense of passion, commitment towards healthy living.

Page: 15

Also, you see more stakeholders coming together to be part of it. For example, we have the Geng Sihat over the last weekend – Mdm Speaker was also part of this process to reach out to the community.

We are beginning to see more and more small pockets of those in the Malay/Muslim community coming together to reach out, to live healthily and, at the same time, create an atmosphere that healthy living is the right thing to do.

I would like to assure the Member that we would continue this effort. We feel that it is important for the community to be healthy and this will help the community to achieve a better life in Singapore.

3 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many HDB flats have been compulsorily acquired in the past three years; (b) what are the main reasons behind the compulsory acquisition of these HDB flats; (c) what are the alternative accommodation provided to families affected by the compulsory acquisition; and (d) what measures are in place to enable these families to own HDB flats again.

(for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, for the three-year period from January 2012 to December 2014, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) compulsorily acquired 202 flats. HDB takes Compulsory Acquisition (CA) action against flat lessees who have committed major lease infringements, such as the unauthorised subletting of flats. CA action is also taken, as a last resort, against HDB mortgagors who persistently refuse to resolve their arrears, or work towards a sustainable solution, despite the assistance given.

HDB will assist households affected by CA due to mortgage arrears to find alternative accommodation. For those who can afford smaller flats, HDB will help them buy one and may offer them another loan for the purchase, if necessary. Those who are unable to afford another flat and have no family support or other housing option, are allocated rental flats.

I thank the Minister of State. I have three supplementary questions. First, after how many months of mortgage arrears have to be accumulated for HDB to start the process of CA? Second, how does HDB help home owners manage their arrears? And third, could HDB consider assisting home owners with alternative accommodation even if they decide to sell their flats on their own instead of through CA?

Page: 16

Mdm Speaker, it is not in the interest of HDB flat owners to accumulate mortgage arrears. It is not just a heavy financial burden on them but also tremendous emotional strain. HDB, therefore, intervenes early, proactively and sympathetically to help flat owners resolve their arrears issues.

There are many measures that can be taken to help these HDB home owners. Some are short term, to deal with their short-term financial difficulties. Some are longer term for those facing prolonged difficulties. For instance, loan instalments are usually paid on the first of each month, but HDB gives lessees up to the end of the month if they face temporary cash flow difficulties. If they still face problems doing so, HDB will make a call, arrange a meet-up or even do a home visit, to better understand the situation and to offer help. The Member may note that every HDB branch has housing counsellors who offer financial counselling and explore sustainable housing options for home owners in mortgage arrears.

What are some of these options? First, HDB can help the flat owner reschedule his mortgage loan, including extending the repayment up to the maximum loan period, if that would help.

Second, under the reduced repayment scheme, owners in difficulty can pay lower monthly instalments of between, say, 50% and 75% of their normal instalments for, say, up to two years.

Third, they can defer their mortgage payments if they face serious financial difficulties. This will be for an initial six-month period. It can be extended based on review.

Fourth, home owners can pay their arrears by instalments.

Fifth, they could sublet a spare room if there is one to generate additional income for themselves.

Sixth, they can also include their working adult children to help pay the loan without affecting their children's eligibility to apply for HDB loans in future.

Seventh, apart from financial measures, we also recognise that mortgage arrears are normally a symptom of other difficulties that the owners face. For instance, medical problems, medical or family issues, loss of job, loss of a loved one and the breadwinner, and so on.

HDB's counsellors, therefore, look beyond housing loan measures that I have just detailed above, and work with other agencies to help these families more holistically. These

Page: 17

include Family Service Centres for family counselling; e2i, WDA or the CDC for job placement or job upgrading; the SSO for financial assistance; VWOs and so on.

Eighth, for those who are still unable to manage, as I said earlier, HDB will help them right size to the flat that they can afford and offer another housing loan to assist them, if necessary.

Ninth, if they cannot afford another flat, then HDB will allocate them a rental flat.

From January 2012 to December 2014, HDB assisted 9,752 families with one or more of the measures that I have just described above. It is only when all these attempts to solve their arrears problem fail, such as when the home owners persistently refuse to solve their arrears or work towards a sustainable solution, that HDB has no choice but to exercise CA.

The Member has asked for the timeframe. Under the legislation, CA can be taken if arrears pile up for up to three months, but in practice, HDB works with lessees, as I have just mentioned above, and this can take quite some time. It is an ongoing process.

I wish to ask the Minister of State once the date of CA has been firmed up, is there a formal written notice sent to the lessee? Second, how long is this notice period?

Mdm Speaker, yes, HDB issues a Notice of Intention to compulsorily acquire a flat and, down the line, after all measures have failed, in addition to what I have just detailed above, a revesting notice is issued. Between the Notice of Intention and the actual acquisition, if HDB does need to resort to that, it can be many months, even up to a year or beyond. That is a reflection of the effort that HDB officers put in to try to resolve the issues with the families directly.

I thank the Minister of State for the clarification earlier. I just want to move slightly to a different note. I know, most times, we have been sympathetic and I credit HDB for being sympathetic in a lot of compassionate cases out there. But in my estate, for example, we have a lot of middle-income families and, most times, we look at right sizing and when they go into arrears, it is really about credit card and other sorts of debts.

HDB has not mentioned one of those as a criterion that you consider but, most of the time, when they right size, the cash that they get is also used to pay for a lot of these debts. What is HDB's view on this because, many a time, when they want to right size, you take into account all these cash surpluses that you get as part of the settlement. I think for many of

Page: 18

them, they also get stuck in trying to get a new flat or to right size. So, what is HDB's view on credit card and other forms of debts?

An HDB flat is a home and HDB does not encourage people to monetise the flat, then use it to settle debts, leaving themselves without a shelter. Having said that, we recognise the realities and difficulties of life. Families may choose to settle all these debts to the detriment of their housing needs. It is, therefore, as I said in my answer earlier, that, in the last resort, HDB offers public rental housing or interim rental housing as these families take time to sort out the various issues.

I also said earlier, in my response to the Member Zainal Sapari's supplementary question, that HDB counsellors look beyond just arrears management and work holistically across the board with various agencies to tackle these issues, such as credit cards, money lenders, social assistance, healthcare and do their best to sort out these issues holistically.

4 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for National Development (a) what implication does HDB's net deficit of $1.97 billion in Financial Year (FY)2013/2014 have for Singapore; and (b) whether this deficit trend will escalate in the future years.

Madam, the Housing and Development Board (HDB)'s deficit is the outcome of Government policies to provide Singaporeans with good, affordable public housing and quality living environments in HDB towns.

HDB's deficit is largely due to the subsidy extended to buyers of new flats and the disbursement of Central Provident Fund (CPF) housing grants to eligible buyers of resale flats.

The spike in HDB's deficit in Financial Year 2013 (FY2013) was due to HDB's ramp-up in its flat-building and upgrading programmes. The deficit will remain high in the next few years, as flats launched in the ramp-up phase are progressively completed and handed over.

For future years, the deficit level will depend on several factors, such as housing demand, policy changes, HDB's building and upgrading programmes, as well as development costs. HDB will continue to use its allocated resources judiciously to provide affordable and quality homes for Singaporeans.

Madam, I thank the Minister for his response. I have two short supplementary questions for the Minister. I would like to ask the Minister how

Page: 19

HDB financials would be impacted by other HDB initiatives, such as the Home Improvement Programme where the Government subsidises up to 95% of the upgrading cost. And I understand there are plans to ramp up this initiative covering about 100,000 flats in the next two years.

Second, I would like to ask the Minister whether he expects the deficit of $1.97 billion as part of the budget process from committed projects. How much of the deficit was anticipated and how much was due to cost overruns? And how does the Government cover the deficits that HDB incurs?

Madam, indeed, other HDB initiatives, like HIP, will contribute to the deficit of HDB. But the single biggest ticket item in our deficit is the subsidy and housing grants under the Home Ownership Programme. For upgrading, as we ramp up some programmes, there are other upgrading programmes which we are ramping down, for example, LUP, which is a big $5 billion project.

How do we finance it? HDB operates under what we call the deficit financing model. So, whatever the deficit is for the year, we receive a grant from the Ministry of Finance (MOF), so that, in the end, we will balance our account. That grant is reflected in the overall Government Budget for the year, which we debate during COS.

Was the almost $2 billion deficit expected? Yes, it was expected because as we ramp up the numbers – 25,000 homes – you should expect that the deficit will grow accordingly. But going forward, I do not see us building 25,000 units per year for a long time. In fact, this is already Year Four, and we have started the process of tapering it down for the simple reason that the number of family formation is not of that order. While I hope even more Singaporeans will get married and have larger numbers of babies, I do not see that happening in the near future or the medium term.

5 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for National Development (a) what has been the number of events held at the Speakers' Corner for the past one year; (b) how does this compare with the year before and the year that it was started; and (c) whether there is a need to review regulations over the use of Hong Lim Park.

Last year, there were 136 registrations of events in the Speakers' Corner. The corresponding figure for 2013 was 169.

Page: 20

The National Parks Board (NParks) took over the administration of the Speakers' Corner from September 2008. For the whole of 2009, the corresponding figure was 129.

The regulations governing the use of Hong Lim Park have worked well over the years, with no untoward cases until the incident of 27 September last year. As legal proceedings against certain persons related to the incident are still ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment on whether there is a need to review the regulations over the use of Hong Lim Park.

6 Mr Seng Han Thong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) if he will give an update on PUB's action plan to strengthen Singapore's flood resilience; (b) whether the action plan that covers the entire spectrum of drainage and flood management has worked or not; and (c) whether it needs further enhancement in the larger context of long-term plans in view of global climate change.

Mdm Speaker, the increasing frequency of high-intensity storms as well as the progressive urbanisation of our landscape has posed challenges for the management of flooding in Singapore.

My colleagues in the Public Utilities Board (PUB) have been very busy over the last few years. PUB adopts a comprehensive "source-pathway-receptor" approach to preventing and mitigating floods. This involves measures, first, to reduce the storm water run-off, that is, at the source itself, where the rain falls; second, to enhance drainage capacity, that is, to increase the flow within the drains; and, third, to reduce the flood risks at vulnerable low-lying areas.

Since 2011, our drainage design standards have been changed and they have been raised by between 15% and 50%, depending on the size of the catchment. PUB has, therefore, been carrying out an island wide drainage improvement programme to enhance the capacity of all our canals and drains to meet these new standards. That is why many of you would have noticed that there is a lot more work going on in drains, I am sure, even in your own local neighbourhoods over the last three years.

In fact, since 2012, drainage improvement works at 187 locations have been completed. Ongoing, currently, is work at another 115 locations, including the Stamford Detention Tank, the Stamford Diversion Canal and the Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal. This year, drainage improvement works in an additional 19 areas will also commence and these include improvement works to Tampines Canal to alleviate flood risks along Tampines Road itself as

Page: 21

well as new drainage infrastructure in Marina South to serve upcoming developments in that area.

To reduce run-off "at-source", all new developments or redevelopments of 0.2 hectares or more since January 2014 have had to control the peak run-off entering the public drainage system. Developments can achieve this by implementing on-site detention or retention measures in order to reduce the peak run-off, which means, when the rain falls, it does not immediately enter the public drainage system. To date, about 75 developments have submitted plans that have incorporated such on-site features.

At the "receptor" level, PUB has raised the requirement levels for platform and crest levels for all new developments and redevelopments since 2011. This is to provide an additional safeguard against future sea level rises. PUB has also been working with specific building owners to provide technical advice on relevant receptor solutions such as flood barriers and road crests, where necessary.

In addition to all these structural enhancements, PUB has also instituted measures to help the public better prepare for floods. PUB has a network of 171 water sensors installed in all the major drains and 161 closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) installed at flood-prone areas in order to provide remote monitoring of drain and flood conditions at critical junctions. All this data is available publicly in real time. If you use any of the apps from my Ministry, you will be able to see the video feeds in real time. The drain sensors are tweeted in real time also, if the water levels reach significant points.

Since August 2011, PUB has also instituted a free SMS alert system to provide early warnings of heavy rain and rising water levels in canals to members of the public who subscribe to this free service.

Our approach to flood management and to tackling storm water at the source, pathways and receptors, has served us well over the last few years. It is too early to declare victory but we have made progress and I would say my colleagues are cautiously optimistic. We will continue to work hard and, over time, the results will speak for themselves.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for his cautiously optimistic answer and for the hard work by the PUB. And, really, this time round, we did not suffer any flooding in the Orchard Road area, not even ponding. May I ask whether there are other initiatives besides the recommendations of the expert panel in 2012?

We have substantially implemented all the recommendations that were put up by the expert panel. We are actually projecting a future with even greater

Page: 22

challenges. As global climate change occurs, we anticipate further rises in sea levels. We also anticipate more intense storms. So, even the levels of drainage standards we have imposed now may not be adequate for the future. So, this is an ongoing programme. Members will also appreciate that these are major and expensive works and they are disruptive. So, we have got to phase them out and ensure that we do not unnecessarily disrupt lives or spend too much money in advance of those needs. So, there is an element of judgement needed.

I will just give Members a figure, so that you can get an idea of it. If you go back to the 1970s, Singapore had about 3,200 hectares of low-lying flood-prone areas. Today, the flood-prone area has been reduced to about 34 hectares; 3,200 hectares to 34 hectares. But to reduce 34 hectares to an even smaller number, it is like ascending the last bit of the mountain. It will get progressively more difficult. But we make this commitment that we will be open and we will acknowledge problems. That is part of the reason for our tweets on drains, that is, to send a message to the people that we will not ignore problems, we will be completely open and forthright about them.

The other point is that we have a simple heuristic within PUB. If an area has had a flood, we will conduct a full investigation, identify the source, if need be, upgrade the drain. You will see continuous improvement. If any of you have got any specific concerns in your respective areas, please let us know.

7 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the availability of corporate retirement plans will be widened, given the low level of such plans in Singapore which contributes to Singapore's low score on retirement adequacy in the Mercer Melbourne Global Pension Index.

(for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance): Mdm Speaker, Mr Yee has asked about the relative absence of corporate retirement plans, which he believes has contributed to a low score for Singapore in the Mercer Melbourne Global Pension Index.

Madam, in this study, Singapore was ranked overall ahead of other Asian countries as well as developed countries, such as Germany and the United States (US). Mercer described our system as one with "a sound structure, with many good features, but has some areas for improvement."

Given that employers in Singapore make mandatory contributions to their local employees' Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, the observation in the study about corporate retirement plans is relevant mainly to foreigners working here, for whom the CPF

Page: 23

is not applicable.

The Income Tax Act already provides tax deductions to employers if they wish to provide corporate retirement plans for all of their employees, including foreigners. In addition, foreigners who wish to save on their own may tap on the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS). They will enjoy tax benefits on the SRS contributions they make. We will continue to review the SRS scheme from time to time.

For the majority of Singaporeans, the CPF remains at the core of our social security system. Beyond mandatory contributions, both individuals and employers can make voluntary contributions to the CPF accounts and enjoy tax benefits. For the less well-off, the Government provides support through top-ups to their CPF accounts, such as through Workfare and housing grants and the enhanced interest scheme.

Madam, I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Yes, I am aware that Singapore did overall score quite well in the Mercer Index, but the point was that on the adequacy requirement side, we actually scored 56.4, which is below the global average of 63, and adequacy requirement is something that is very important to Singaporeans, given rising costs.

I would like to ask specifically about section 5 of the Income Tax Act which provides for this sort of corporate retirement plans. There are reports saying that there are only about 20 companies in Singapore that currently implement such plans. I would like to know, given that this scheme was there since 1994, why is the take-up rate so low, and is there a way to use corporate retirement plans to supplement our CPF and SRS schemes? And is there a study to see whether our companies are not taking up these section 5 plans? Is it because maybe the tax benefits are not good enough or it is not widely known and publicised to the companies?

Mdm Speaker, since the Member Mr Yee had talked about Singapore's specific score on retirement adequacy, with your permission, I would like to take a step back and I do not mean to be technical or to suggest that the index is unhelpful in any way. But I think each time we look at such indices, there is some value to investing the time to understand how they are constructed and what they actually measure.

As far as we know, where corporate retirement plans are concerned, the index assigns a higher score to countries which provide tax advantages for such private plans. In other words, there is a particular item in this index and if a country provides tax advantages for providing private plans, then you would score higher on it. It does not matter whether there are, within that country, schemes like the CPF or even the fact that there are tax benefits for

Page: 24

voluntary contributions to the CPF, for example, through the Minimum Sum Top-Up Scheme; none of those things matter.

In fact, if we think about it, even in the absence of private plans on a large-scale basis, employers in Singapore are already required to contribute 17% to an employee's retirement savings through CPF. That is our CPF contribution rate. And you compare that to Australia where the mandatory contribution is 9.5%, and Denmark which came up tops in this study, the mandatory contribution is between 6% and 11%. If you look narrowly at this score, then you could be led to draw a certain conclusion and forget the fact that even in the absence of large-scale retirement plans – private plans, corporate retirement plans – actually, employers in Singapore are already contributing quite a lot to employees' retirement savings through CPF.

Putting this aside, the key question is whether the so-called shortcoming is something that should be a major concern to us. I would like to reiterate the point, Madam, that it is relevant mainly for foreigners working here for whom the CPF is not applicable. Members would agree with me that our primary concern should be for Singaporeans, unless Mr Yee thinks otherwise.

8 Mr Seng Han Thong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) how many appeals on the Pioneer Generation package has the Ministry received as of December 2014; (b) how many of such appeals have been dealt with and what is the rate of success; (c) what are the main grounds of the unsuccessful appeals; and (d) what are the main grounds of the successful appeals.

(for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance): As of 31 December 2014, the Appeals Panel has received about 2,900 appeals, of which about 2,480 have been evaluated, comprising 85% of all appeals received.

As we explained in response to an earlier Parliamentary Question (PQ) and during the debate on the Pioneer Generation Fund Bill, the Panel recognised that the Government had already adopted a more inclusive approach by extending the Pioneer Generation Package to all those born in 1949 or earlier.

Whatever the age set, there will always be those who marginally fall short of it. It would, therefore, not be feasible or fair to let age-related appeals without extending the new age

Page: 25

criterion to all Singaporeans.

Hence, as provided under the Pioneer Generation Fund Act, the Panel decided that it would only consider appeals relating to the citizenship criterion.

As part of the evaluation process, the Panel considers whether the person had obtained Singapore citizenship shortly after 1986 – the year set as the citizenship cut-off date for eligibility of the Pioneer Generation Package. In addition, it looks at factors, such as whether he or she had been in Singapore since the early years of independence, contributed to our society and demonstrated clear efforts to sink roots in Singapore. To date, the Panel has approved 642 of such appeals.

Madam, may I ask the Senior Minister of State whether she will take into consideration the lack of means or poverty as one of the mitigating criteria in appeals for the Pioneer Generation Package, so that we can be more flexible to applicants in such circumstances?

Madam, in response to Dr Neo, we are very mindful that there will always be members of the Pioneer Generation who saw Singapore through the most difficult periods of our development and they themselves may still have difficulties today. The approach that we would like to take is to reach out to all the Pioneers, as many as we can, and help them to benefit from the package.

It bears repeating that in setting the criteria, in terms of age, as I explained earlier, we had already been more inclusive. In terms of the citizenship criterion, the cut-off was set at 1986 and, in fact, it is 21 years after Independence.So, even in that criterion, I think that we have tried to be as generous as possible. So, for the members of our community who are not in any way able to benefit from the Pioneer Generation Package, if they are Singapore Citizens, there are other benefits that apply to them, including the MediSave top-ups that we have made available for five years to all those aged 55 and above. For the subsidies, for the forthcoming implementation of MediShield Life, they would likely also be able to benefit from it. And with these other forms of support, there is still a need, I think we would very much like to know who these individuals are and find other ways to help them.

I noted that the large majority of the unsuccessful appeals is age-related. However, there are cases of appeals linked to the ignorance of their parents or a twist of events that rendered them stateless when Singapore suddenly became independent in 1965 and many of them acquired their citizenship after 1986. And they feel to be part of the Pioneer Generation, not because of medical benefits. Will a case of this

Page: 26

nature be given special consideration?

Madam, I would like to invite Mr Seng to let me know who these individuals are and then we can reach out to them and see whether there is some way that we can help them.

They are Pioneers but they did not receive this package and we have sent in, but replies are pending.

We will take another look at it.

9 Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng asked the Minister for Manpower following plans by the SkillsFuture Council and WDA to develop sectoral manpower strategies for growth sectors, such as biologics, precision engineering and services, what are the plans to develop similar manpower strategies for the traditional industries where many SMEs are involved in.

Mdm Speaker, the Sectoral Manpower Strategies (SMS) is a key initiative under the SkillsFuture Council that brings together employers, unions, education and training providers, and the Government to anticipate the future skills that will be needed and set out a strategy for developing those skills in our people. Each SMS seeks to achieve three objectives.

Firstly, identify the current and future skills and manpower needs in the sector and where there will be quality jobs for our people. To do this, each SMS will need to identify the future skills that will be needed, given the industry outlook, stage of development, competitive landscape and impact of key driving forces, such as technology advancement.

Secondly, based on the skills needs identified for the sector, articulate and develop clear career progression pathways that will set out the key competencies and skills needed to progress at each stage of the individual's career. These career pathways will be closely integrated with education, training and development so that there is greater fluidity between learning and working as the individual progresses in his career. In doing so, SMS achieves two objectives – it builds a future supply of talent to meet the sectors' needs and provides for more meaningful pathways for workers who choose to work in those sectors.

Lastly, each SMS should include plans to better attract, retain and develop talent, so that workers can acquire deep skills, contribute in their chosen areas of expertise and have

Page: 27

fulfilling careers, with progression not just in wages, but also to gain a deeper sense of pride and satisfaction that comes with mastery of skills.

On a broader level, SMS encourages a shift among employers – from a "plug and play" mindset where employers seek to hire workers who already have all the necessary skills, without further thought of development and training. This has changed. So we need to move on to an approach where employers will proactively develop every worker, providing career pathways and valuing their contributions as they advance. And some companies are already doing that. The Government will be a key enabler in these efforts, by providing resource support and helping to coordinate and enhance the linkages between all players.

But the key really lies with industries, sectors and, especially the companies, in taking that step to develop their workers. As a start, we will focus our efforts on a set of lead sectors that have more pressing manpower needs. These lead sectors cover essential services, such as healthcare and social services; new growth sectors that provide exciting job opportunities for Singaporeans but do not necessarily have a ready pipeline of workers, such as biopharmaceuticals; and sectors facing significant manpower challenges, such as construction, retail and F&B. We will progressively expand our efforts to other sectors.

In direct response to the Member's question, we will pay particular attention to our small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A large proportion of the companies in the lead sectors are SMEs. We recognise the manpower challenges that SMEs face and how they often have limited resources and bandwidth to plan for the future. So, one clear benefit of the SMS will be to provide SMEs with a clearer sense of the sector's direction and needs and draw together the necessary resources, from which SMEs can tap to support the attraction, retention, training and development of workers in their sectors.

In addition, the Government also helps our SMEs through a range of schemes. These include the Enterprise Training Support Grant, Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV) and the SME Talent Programme. SMEs that need customised advisory services can also approach one of the 12 SME Centres located islandwide. So, through these various measures, we believe that this is the way that we can work together to develop the space as we go forward.

The Minister mentioned that for SMEs, they face certain constraints, but another category of workers who may benefit from the SMS will be your freelancers, sport coaches, cabbies, adult educators, who basically also require skills upgrading in order to prepare themselves for the future. Otherwise, for them, they will have to be the business managers, implementors, finance managers and manpower persons themselves. So, I would like to enquire if the Ministry will consider setting aside some resources or efforts to study the needs of freelancers to see whether or not they can be

Page: 28

incorporated into its overall plan when it comes to implementing these future strategies.

Mdm Speaker, we will be happy to do so, but I would like to emphasise that, apart from specific lead sectors, even as it is today, we are looking at providing a wide range of further development and skills upgrading for a full range of workers. What we want to stress is that there are particular sectors that we are emphasising, because they are large sectors that provide opportunities to many. But we recognise that not just for those who are operating individually. There are many different needs in society.

So, we do intend to develop that space so that lifelong learning is not just confined to these sectors alone. Every Singaporean would have opportunities to develop themselves in their respective areas. We will be quite happy to take on feedback if there are particular areas and initiatives we think that we can introduce and see how they can be incorporated. But the main idea is that every Singaporean should have before him or her the availability of different schemes and opportunities to upgrade themselves, so that they can either deepen their skills in their particular profession or to switch sectors to do something different.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister whether there is anything that can be done to address the acute shortage of manpower in the childcare sector – kindergarten and childcare – because, today, I see the situation of "musical chairs". When there is a new childcare centre being set up, there will be a lot of resignations from a nearby childcare centre because the new one cannot get the staff and just offer higher salaries. I do not think that this will solve the problem. I think we need to do more to train and attract more people into this sector. So, is there anything that can be done to address this shortage?

Mdm Speaker, if the Member would like to file a specific Parliamentary Question (PQ) on this, but, broadly, I would say that there are many different sectors today, and not just the childcare sector, that face a challenge in terms of finding manpower. The reasons are as follows: by and large, the economy is doing relatively well. We do have many sectors that are growing and that represents a demand on manpower. Eventually, I think the market will have to find its own stabilisation point and this applies to the childcare sector as well.

What we do want to make sure is that we provide the training and schemes and support the growth of the sector. But there are many different sectors growing as well and it is difficult to target it specifically. MSF is looking at various initiatives to expand this because we do recognise that there is a real need. We intend to make sure that schemes are available to train manpower.

Page: 29

As to whether we can meet the demands, I think that is a broader issue that can be dealt with separately.

10 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) for each year from 2012 to 2014, what is the total number of applications that MUIS has received for their Financial Assistance Scheme; (b) what is the percentage of applications approved each year and what are the main reasons for unsuccessful applications; and (c) how does MUIS arrive at the eligibility criterion of a $350 monthly per capita income cap as the basis of its assessment.

11 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) for each year from 2011 to 2013, what is the average monthly number of feedback received by MUIS on their financial assistance scheme(s); (b) what are the most common areas of concern; and (c) what procedures and processes has MUIS put in place to enhance the services rendered to needy families.

Madam, can I take Question Nos 10 and 11 together?

Yes, please.

Madam, the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) provides a range of assistance to needy Muslims, including monthly cash assistance and food vouchers as well as one-off assistance, to help pay off outstanding debts for basic necessities, such as utility bills and conservancy charges, academic support and burial expenses. MUIS also helps Muslim families through other support schemes, such as the Empowerment Partnership Scheme (EPS), to help our zakat families attain self-reliance; PROMAS, which is the Progress fund Madrasah Assistance Scheme, provides financial assistance for full-time madrasah students; and the Islamic Education Fund that provides an education fee subsidy for part-time madrasah studies at the mosques. These assistance schemes and programmes are available at the mosques and madrasahs, as well as partner-organisations, to allow greater accessibility for those in need.

MUIS will, typically, advise prospective applicants on their eligibility for zakat financial assistance. The number of applicants has risen slightly over recent years: in 2012, MUIS received 5,210 applications; in 2013, 5,306 applications; and in 2014, 5,454 applications. Within this period, MUIS approved an average of 99% of these applications each year. Unsuccessful applicants might have sought help on matters for which MUIS does not have

Page: 30

an assistance scheme. In such instances, MUIS would refer the applicants to the appropriate public agency.

Madam, in deciding on the per capita income cap, firstly, MUIS takes into consideration the sustainability of the assistance scheme in the longer term. Secondly, MUIS' zakat financial assistance is meant to supplement the existing national assistance schemes, such as ComCare, and to help those who need it most. MUIS took into account these considerations last year, when it raised the monthly PCI cap from $300 to $350 to extend the support to more families and increased the amount of assistance to each eligible family.

Between 2011 and 2013, MUIS received, on average, about 125 enquiries or items of feedback about its financial assistance schemes every month. These were either received directly by MUIS or via the enhanced mosque clusters. Issues ranged from general queries about MUIS' financial assistance schemes, to specific queries by zakat recipients on the status of their assistance.

MUIS studies feedback received from the public as well as from Social Development Officers at our mosques. It regularly reviews the adequacy of its current financial assistance schemes and studies social trends and challenges faced by needy households so as to enhance its schemes and services. As part of this process, MUIS has trained over 520 Mosque Befrienders to conduct regular home visits to long-term zakat recipients so as to better understand and respond to their needs.

Thank you, Madam. I would like to thank the Minister for his response. I have three supplementary questions. I would like to know how often MUIS conducts reviews on its financial assistance scheme criteria. The Minister mentioned just now that the last review was conducted in July last year. I would also like to know when was the last review prior to the one in July 2014. My third question is: who are the personnel involved in the review process?

Madam, as mentioned by the Member, the last time we reviewed this was last year, in July 2014. I cannot remember specifically when we did the one before that, but we do this on an annual basis, looking at the trends at the national level. The personnel involved are the MUIS officers, together in consultation with our Board members who are in the zakat committee. We also used the feedback that we receive and from the general trends taking place at the national level.

Mdm Speaker, I have three supplementary questions for the Minister.

Page: 31

One, where does MUIS get the majority of its funding for its financial assistance programme? Two, would a person be denied financial assistance from MUIS if he or she has been receiving financial assistance from other organisations? Three, recently, there were allegations that some families were denied financial assistance from MUIS but received financial assistance from other religious organisations. What was the outcome of MUIS' investigations into this issue?

Madam, all of our financial assistance schemes are being funded by the zakat fund. Everything else that we collect goes into the general fund which is meant for the purpose of running MUIS. No one will be denied financial assistance if they meet our criteria. They may have received assistance from ComCare or any other national agency, but if they come to MUIS, and if they meet our criteria, we will give them the assistance. As I had mentioned in my reply, the approach is really for us to take advantage of what is available at the national level before coming to MUIS; we will complement that.

On the allegations that the Member mentioned, I am not sure exactly which one the Member is referring to. We receive many of those. But the one that I think that the Member was referring to that was circulating online recently. We have investigated and found that there is no truth at all to those allegations. In fact, the family has been assisted by MUIS.

12 Dr Benedict Tan asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what is being done to ensure that our national athletes receive adequate medical support, given that the Singapore Sports Institute has been without any full time Sports Physician for the past two years.

Madam, the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) runs a sports medical centre that is supported by visiting sports physicians and consultants, as well as a team of in-house physiotherapists and trainers. In addition, it has tie-ups with three public hospitals – Changi General Hospital, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Under these tie-ups, experienced visiting sports physicians provide quality medical support and specialist care to our national athletes.

I agree with the Member that it is important for SSI to have a resident Medical Director to ensure a robust system is in place to oversee the medical needs of our national athletes. Sport Singapore has intensified the search for such a full-time Sports Physician and we hope to find a suitable candidate soon.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to declare my interest. I run two sports medicine centres and I thank the Minister for his reassuring reply.

Page: 32

I have just one supplementary question. The network that the Minister mentioned has the advantages of bandwidth because it is relying on institutional resources. The disadvantage of that is that it lacks in-house capabilities and we need the in-house capabilities for research that is specific to the national athletes. So, a better solution would be to have both in-house as well as the network capabilities. In relation to that, I would like to ask the Minister if the sports medicine network is the permanent solution or an interim solution and whether the Minister is exploring other options or models.

Madam, I would perhaps first want to emphasise that our assurance to the Member and all our athletes is that we want to do everything we can to provide the best possible and timely medical support to all our national athletes. Any athlete who needs medical care should and will get timely and effective medical care. So, we will find the best possible solution to provide such medical support.

What is the model? I do not think there is a silver bullet. We will have to work through various solutions and it probably will entail a mix of both a good network of partners as well as capabilities in-house. And as I had mentioned, we are continuing to build up and strengthen our capabilities within the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI). We are doing that not just in our search for a resident doctor but also building up our team of physiotherapists and trainers.

Beyond providing medical care, in-house and through the network, the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) Medical Centre is also doing more going upstream, for example, doing more in terms of injury prevention, advising athletes on the steps that they should take to minimise injuries, conducting injury-prevention workshops or, for example, working more closely with the National Sports Associations and the coaches to look at the kinds of training regimes that athletes go through to ensure that they do not over-strain and they take the necessary safety precautions.

13 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many small delivery vans will be due for COE renewal in the next three years; (b) whether big lorries and goods vans fall into different COE categories; and (c) with a satellite-based ERP system, whether the Ministry will do an overall review of all their policies relating to motor vehicles, including COE.

(for the Minister for Transport): Madam, about 31,000 small delivery vans will see their Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) expire between now and 2017.

Page: 33

All goods vehicles and commercial buses, whether large or small, fall within Category (Cat) C of the COE bidding system. It is not desirable to have too many categories catering to different vehicle sizes as it can lead to excessive volatility in quota numbers and prices in each category.

Objectively speaking, the COE system has served us well in controlling the overall vehicle population. Road pricing, on the other hand, helps us manage regular road congestion by influencing road usage decisions. The two systems complement each other. A satellite-based Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system will certainly allow us to have more precise usage pricing, such as through distance-based charging on congested roads, and we will be reviewing in the next few years before ERP2 is implemented at the end of this decade, whether any of our policies could be improved. However, fundamentally, in land-scarce Singapore, controls on both vehicle ownership and usage will still be needed.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask two supplementary questions. COE, to a large extent, has controlled the population of cars. However, because the big trucks, big lorries and small vans are all placed under the same categories, a lot of feedback says that because of the fierce tendering system, the smaller companies, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which need the small vans, cannot compete with the big companies who have the capabilities and the muscle to tender for the COEs. I would like to ask: is there any other way to help the SMEs which need the vans for their businesses? Secondly, how many COEs will be available over the next three years, as the Senior Minister of State mentioned earlier that 31,000 COEs will be expiring?

Mdm Speaker, as Er Dr Lee was asking the question and expressing the concern that bigger companies were outbidding smaller companies which need smaller vehicles in Cat C, it reminded me of an argument that was made very strongly just one or two years back that if we removed taxis from Cat A, we would see a very different premium. In any case, we did remove taxi companies from bidding in Cat A, but I think the results suggest that that argument was probably unfounded.

So, to the Member's suspicion, it is not something that we can prove or disprove. But I would say, the point that the Member raised that we want to attend to is that some smaller businesses do face pressures in terms of needing a vehicle for their business. Where we have put our efforts is in trying to be helpful to businesses in general, and small businesses in particular, where they need vehicles for the smooth operation of their businesses. There are several measures to help them manage the cost of vehicles.

Firstly, for example, commercial vehicles are subject to lower vehicle taxes. And when businesses purchase a vehicle, the Additional Registration Fee for commercial vehicles is set at 5% of the vehicle's Open Market Value (OMV), compared to an effective rate of between

Page: 34

100% and 180% of the OMV for cars. Commercial vehicles also enjoy lower effective road tax and are exempted from diesel fuel taxes.

Secondly, businesses are allowed repeated five-year renewals of their COE. Earlier on, I mentioned that 31,000 small delivery vans will have their COEs expiring between now and 2017. A large majority – more than 80% of them – have more than five years of statutory life remaining. They can thus choose to go for two consecutive five-year renewals, instead of renewing directly on a 10-year COE. So, that facilitates their cashflow management.

Thirdly, we introduced the early turnover scheme where businesses can transfer any unused COE life to a new vehicle and enjoy discounts if they replace their more pollutive pre-Euro and Euro-1 diesel commercial vehicles. In addition, they do not need to bid for a new Cat C COE. They only need to pay a discounted prevailing quota premium for such vehicles when they turn it over. And since the scheme was enhanced in March last year, in fact, the discount on the prevailing quota premium is, on average, $23,000, a very considerable amount. That is why we have seen a steady increase in the take-up on the early turn-over scheme.

These are some of the measures that we take to help businesses where vehicles are concerned. These measures are also complemented by other Government schemes to assist all SMEs directly with tax deductions, grants or micro loans.

As to the Member's second question on how many COEs will become available, your guess is as good as mine. It really depends on several factors. It depends on how many vehicles are deregistered and it also depends on what is the permitted vehicle growth rate, which we have already given indication of. But deregistration really depends on the vehicle owners themselves. Analysts have given their own projections and forecasts. I think it is something that we will only really know when the deregistrations take place.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. But we cannot, because of the example of the taxi COEs not achieving the effect that we would like to see, that we should not try to come up with a category for the small vans. The feedback is that many of them, they have already renewed the COEs, but how many times can they keep on extending it? They need the vans for their business. So, I would like to ask whether there is any difficulty in allocating a certain number of COEs for the small vans.

Madam, as I have explained earlier in my reply, it is something that we have to be quite careful in thinking through. The more categories we split them into, it means that, within each category, the numbers that can be made available for bidding each cycle would likely be much more volatile. And we have to ask ourselves whether that is, in

Page: 35

fact, helpful to small businesses.

So, we understand completely where Er Dr Lee Bee Wah is coming from. But we also have to ask whether the alternative that the Member has suggested is, in fact, going to be helpful to SMEs.

And, please, let me assure Members that if it is something that is, indeed, likely to be beneficial, there is no reason why we cannot consider it.

14 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he can provide an update on the measures and plans that will be implemented by Singapore and other APEC members as part of the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption agreed to at the 2014 APEC Ministerial Meeting.

(for the Minister for Foreign Affairs): Mdm Speaker, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption, endorsed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting held in Beijing in November 2014, was a key deliverable of the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group (ACTWG). It reflected a collective commitment towards international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region on the fight against corruption. Singapore welcomed the Declaration and is committed to play our part in areas, such as mutual legal assistance, exchanges of best practices, as well as capacity-building, amongst anti-corruption and law enforcement authorities.

It is important to strengthen pragmatic anti-corruption efforts amongst APEC member economies as corrupt offences and the movement of illicitly acquired assets can be transnational in nature. Singapore has in place a framework for international cooperation with overseas legal, law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (MACMA) enables Singapore to provide mutual legal assistance to other jurisdictions, in relation to criminal investigations or criminal proceedings for offences covered by the Act. While we have legal instruments and other enforcement cooperation mechanisms in place to buttress Singapore's commitment towards fulfilling our international obligations, we must also ensure that such undertakings do not undermine the integrity and sovereignty of our legal framework.

A significant initiative noted in the Declaration was the establishment of the APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET) which is an informal network for anti-corruption and law enforcement practitioners from member economies to share information and exchange best practices. Singapore welcomed the

Page: 36

formation of the ACT-NET and is committed to engage meaningfully to collaborate with, and learn from law enforcement authorities within the APEC community. CPIB represented Singapore at the first ACT-NET meeting in Beijing, August 2014, where members shared best practices on informal and formal requests from foreign counterparts for assistance relating to corruption cases. CPIB also participated in the first capacity building workshop on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery held in Beijing in December 2014.

The Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption also attaches great importance to capacity-building of anti-corruption and law enforcement authorities in the Asia Pacific region. CPIB will continue to render cooperation and assistance to counterparts in areas, such as personnel training, study visits, specific training in areas such as financial investigation and computer forensic.

The following question stood in the name of Dr Chia Shi-Lu –

To ask the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether statistics on the population of vectors (mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, rodents and rat fleas) are available and, if so, whether there has been an increase; and (b) whether there are new measures to bring these vectors under control.

Madam, Question No 15, please.

(for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): Mdm Speaker, I am afraid I have to disappoint the Member for not being able to provide statistics on some of the very specific categories of vectors that he has mentioned in his Parliamentary Question (PQ), particularly on flies, cockroaches and rat fleas. But the Member has our assurance that the National Environment Agency (NEA) actively monitors the disease-bearing vector situation.

NEA implements an integrated rodent surveillance and vector control programme comprising surveillance, control, public engagement, law enforcement and research. From January 2014 to November 2014, over 35,000 rodent burrows were detected and treated by NEA. This reflects how important it is for the owners of premises, especially operators of food establishments, to practise good housekeeping habits, such as adopting good refuse management regimes. The key to rodent control is to eliminate food sources.

Dengue continues to be a problem. As of November 2014, more than 16,000 mosquito breeding sites were found, a drop of 19% from the same period the year before. Amongst

Page: 37

the new measures introduced in 2014, NEA piloted the Gravitrap surveillance programme in clusters and high-risk areas as a control tool and a guide for pre-emptive control operations. Now, there are some statistics we can gather from this Gravitrap programme. But let me explain that this is by no means a comprehensive surveillance of the entire country. But where we have placed Gravitraps, we estimated from the start of the programme that some 32,000 mosquitoes have been caught in these Gravitraps. I am not sure what to make of it, but this is the first year when we have such a statistic. So, we will probably use this as a basis for study going forward. I assure Members that we do not spend time doing a count; I am sure it is by some estimation.

NEA has also tightened surveillance and enforcement efforts in high-risk premises, such as construction sites. Since January 2014, 120 Stop Work Orders have been issued to construction sites to ensure that proper mosquito control measures are in place before construction resumed. In the longer term, NEA is exploring the suppression of the local dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito population through biological control, which is, the use of Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes.

All home and premises owners, Town Councils and managers of public areas have to take responsibility to minimise the breeding of these vectors. NEA's officers cannot be everywhere anytime, all the time.