Hansard, Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams 1 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry has been able to track the effectiveness of ScamShield in preventing scams since it was launched; (b) what percentage of the local population has downloaded this mobile application; and (c) whether the Ministry intends to introduce ScamShield or similar measures to identify and block scammers from using social media, e-commerce platforms and messaging mobile applications like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram to trick victims.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams 2 Mr Derrick Goh asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the public adoption rate of ScamShield since its launch; (b) what is the Ministry’s assessment of the effectiveness of ScamShield; and (c) whether ScamShield complements malware detection apps used by banking customers.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Speaker, with your permission, may I take Question Nos 1 and 2 together?

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Please go ahead.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams The iOS and Android versions of the ScamShield mobile app were launched in November 2020 and September 2022 respectively. As of October 2023, there have been about 750,000 downloads. We do not track the number of unique users. A user may download the ScamShield app on multiple devices.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams ScamShield has been effective in protecting users from scam calls and SMSes. Since March 2022, about 80,000 unique scam-tainted phone numbers have been blacklisted and blocked by ScamShield and about five million SMSes have been flagged to users as potential scams.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams On top of phone calls blocked by ScamShield, the Police work closely with telecommunication companies (telcos) to block mobile lines suspected to be involved in scams. In the first half of 2023, more than 3,700 mobile lines which were believed to be used in scams were flagged by the Police for termination. In addition, telcos blocked about 180 million suspected scam calls at the network level during this period.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) team is making enhancements to the ScamShield app so that users can more easily report scams. It is also working to improve the accuracy of scam SMS detections and to help users more easily set up the correct permission settings.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about measures to identify and block scammers from using social media, e-commerce platforms and messaging mobile applications. While ScamShield is not designed to block scammers on these platforms, it serves as an additional layer of defence and has a reporting function that allows users to alert the authorities about the scam calls and messages they receive. It also complements the Government’s efforts to combat scams. For example, the Police, upon detecting or receiving reports from the public on scammers who are using social media, e-commerce or messaging apps, will ask the platform operators to remove these accounts. In the first half of 2023, more than 10,000 WhatsApp lines and 1,500 online monikers and advertisements that were believed to be used in scams were flagged out by the Police for termination.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams The Online Criminal Harms Act, which will be operationalised progressively from the first quarter of 2024, will allow the Police to tackle online scam activities more effectively. Specifically, it provides the Police powers to direct online services to prevent suspected scam accounts or content from interacting with or reaching Singapore users. Police can also require designated online services to implement systems, processes or measures to counter scams, such as requiring the verification of user identities against Government-issued identification documents.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Derrick Goh asked whether ScamShield complements the malware detection apps used by banking customers. The short answer is yes.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Major retail banks have introduced anti-malware security features on their banking apps, which seek to protect banking customers by detecting the presence of malware on their devices, and triggering actions such as blocking access to the banking app. While ScamShield is not designed to detect or block malware, it complements the anti-malware security features on banking apps by protecting users from other attack vectors, namely scam calls and scam SMSes, hence, further mitigating the risk of users falling prey to scams.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Yip Hon Weng.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I have two supplementary questions. First, to encourage usage of ScamShield, would the Ministry consider working with the Ministry of Communications and Information and have the app pre-loaded on all new handphones? If the app is pre-loaded on new handphones, it would be easier for us to roll out educational campaigns to encourage all to use ScamShield, especially for our seniors.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Second, I understand that the Minister of State has shared that for scammers using social media, e-commerce and messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, the Ministry of Home Affairs actually works with the developers to remove these accounts from these platforms. So, my question is, are they given a timeline as to how fast they are supposed to remove such scam accounts?

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams I thank the Member for his two supplementary questions. On the first question about pre-loading ScamShield, we have considered this before, but we have decided not to proceed. The reasons are as follows.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Firstly, not all users may consent to having ScamShield pre-loaded on their mobile devices.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Secondly, for ScamShield to work effectively, users actually have to set up permission settings. So, even if we were to pre-load the app, if the user does not know how to execute the permission settings, ScamShield will not be able to work effectively.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Thirdly, there is always a possibility that mobile users could deactivate or delete the app after we pre-load it.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams So, for these considerations, we decided not to pre-load the ScamShield app, but we will keep this option open if our efforts to further encourage the download of the ScamShield app does not make progress.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams On the second question, we work with the app developers as well as the platforms whenever we are informed about scams that are being perpetuated on social media platforms as well as other messaging applications. There is no fixed timeline in place, but we require the operators to remove the content as soon as possible. Sometimes, some of these platforms tell us that they require some time to investigate to make sure that on their end, it adheres to their community standards or that truly, they have conducted their investigations and that, it is, indeed, potentially a scam, and they would then need to go through their processes to remove the advertisement or the otherwise potential scam message.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams So, because of these factors, there is no specific timeline that the Police has set out, but depending on the likely harm and impact, the Police would do what is within their powers to encourage the platforms to remove those scam messages as soon as possible.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Derrick Goh.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I ask the Minister of State to share if there are plans to upgrade ScamShield protection to cover other channels like emails, WhatsApp messages and, perhaps, malware, which the Minister of State said do not help in protection so far? The reason is, Mr Speaker, the Police have reported that we have already seen losses of $660 million last year and $330 million in the first half of the year. Apart from these losses are the emotional stress on victims. So, a positive reply would be appreciated.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams I thank the Member for his question. We should see the use of ScamShield vis-à-vis all the other efforts that the Police together with stakeholders are implementing to prevent the scourge of scams from further impacting our community and society. ScamShield largely performs the function of crowdsourcing so that we know what are the reported scam numbers and scam messages that the Police would verify backend and then, block. But, as we know, there are other stakeholders who are involved. I have talked about how the telcos at the network level have effectively blocked 180 million scam calls at their level in the first half of 2023.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams So, we have to look at the use of ScamShield together with all these other channels that we are using to prevent the scourge of scams from further impacting our community.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams On the point of malware, the Member would note that in recent times, the major retail banks have already rolled out anti-malware applications via the digital banking apps. The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has also shared a list of anti-malware security apps that members of the public could download on their own. Some of these apps are for free. So, we need to consider, apart from the ScamShield app, all these other initiatives that would be helpful to the public in preventing scams from further impacting society.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Derrick Goh.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Mr Speaker, Sir, not every user of mobile phones are banking customers or mobile app users. So, to this point, would the Minister of State consider looking at a potential upgrade of ScamShield? And secondly, would the Minister of State consider further upgrades to ScamShield if further monitoring of existing initiatives do not work out as well?

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams I thank the Member for his questions. I shared in my main reply that, indeed, the GovTech team, specifically, is working on improving the ScamShield app. The current area that they are looking to improve is to increase the value proposition of the ScamShield app to users. For instance, a feedback we have received is that users are not aware if the ScamShield app is actually working in the background of their phones. The reason for that is because currently, ScamShield does not actively inform the user how many calls and SMSes have been blocked. The app works silently in the background. So, that is something that the GovTech team is working on.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams Other potential improvements are about in-app reporting of malicious calls and SMSes to make it more user-friendly for users of ScamShield to be able to use it, rather than have to copy and paste the scam messages and to have additional steps when it comes to reporting.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams These are the areas that the GovTech team is working on. We feel that it is through improvements in the features, functionality and the user experience of the app which would be key to enhancing the app's download rate.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams On the point of malware, indeed, we are not just relying on the actions of the banks, we are not just relying on the digital banking apps of the banks to prevent malware. Indeed, I am aware that there could be mobile users who, unfortunately, download malware unsuspectingly, for instance, when they click on links that are tainted APK files, for instance.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams From the perspective of cyber hygiene, this is something that the CSA is working on actively on the ground, together with digital ambassadors and the Infocomms Media Development Authority, to encourage better cyber hygiene practices, so that our members of society do not unwittingly download malware. We also promote messages such as ensuring that any downloads of apps should be done from the official App Store or Google Play Store, for instance.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams You would also have read that there are other stakeholders such as the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, which has recently announced the default daily withdrawal limits, the CPF withdrawal lock, so on and so forth – all of which are other ways to prevent our population, our society and our members from losing their monies through scams.

Adoption Rate and Effectiveness of ScamShield in Preventing Scams I do not think we should see the use of the ScamShield app as the only channel and the only app that would prevent our members of society from becoming victims of scams. I would urge all of us to look at the suite of measures in its totality.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform 3 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Communications and Information with respect to the announcement by the National Library Board on 7 November 2023 that it will cease its subscription to an e-learning platform from 15 December 2023, whether the Ministry has considered any solutions to defray the cited reason of a significant increase in cost so that public will be able to continue benefitting from access to the platform.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Sir, the National Library Board (NLB) is committed to making e-learning resources accessible to all, as part of its expanded range of content formats to support reading, learning and discovery.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform The current contract for Udemy Business will expire on 15 December 2023. NLB has decided not to award a fresh contract to Udemy Business because the new licensing model will cover a much smaller number of courses than what is available today and restrict the number of users allowed to access these courses. The new licensing model is also several times more expensive than the current contract. Notwithstanding this, Singaporeans who have a continued interest in courses offered by Udemy Business can use their SkillsFuture Credit for such courses and submit their claims directly to the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) for reimbursement upon completion of their course.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform NLB will also continue to identify suitable e-learning resources to replace the offerings by Udemy Business and expects to make available new resources in the coming months. NLB will continue to work with SSG and other local and overseas partners to provide more online learning resources and encourage lifelong learning among Singaporeans.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Ms Hany Soh.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Thank you, Speaker. I have three supplementary questions for this question.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Firstly, can the Senior Minister of State share on a per user basis, what would be the cost involved if the subscriptions were kept, as opposed to how much it cost before the cost increases?

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform The second supplementary question is in relation to alternative platforms for the users, how do they measure up against the current Udemy Business platform?

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform And finally, how will the Ministry or, specifically, NLB assist members of the public with the transitions from the current platform to its replacements, especially when it comes to addressing their needs on work or studies?

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Sir, the refreshed proposal from the Udemy Business on its online resources is through an open tender or an open procurement approach. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to share some of the commercial sensitivities that might be tied to the proposal. But, perhaps, allow me to elaborate. It is not just about the cost per user. It is about the restricted access to the courses that are available under this new licensing model, which we do not think will meet the needs of the learners in Singapore.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Allow me to use an analogy to explain. In the past, you go to a restaurant, you pay a price at the door, you go in. If it is a buffet, you choose what you want and you eat all you can. You can go to the cooked food section, there is a seafood section, a salad section, there are hot stations where they prepare food for you, then you have the drinks section and the desserts section. Choose what you want and eat all you can for a fixed price. But with a new model, maybe a restaurant tells you that the price that you pay at the door is a few times higher now; and when you go into the restaurant, you are only entitled to a plate of rice and maybe two or three dishes from the cooked food section. Anything else, you would have to top up or pay extra. So, now, you are no longer able to go to the salad section, you cannot go to the drinks section, you cannot go to the desserts section and you cannot go to the seafood section.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform So, the question for us is: with a much more expensive and costly model, does this still meet the needs of our learners?

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform We assure the Member Ms Hany Soh and other Members that NLB is very concerned about the nutritional needs of our Singaporeans, especially the nutrition of the mind, their learning needs. We are actively exploring what other platforms can provide such needs for our learners.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform At the same time, we also shared with many members of the public who wrote in about some of the other alternative resources. For example, you have LearnX, which is on learning.nlb.gov.sg. It is a platform where NLB provides curated resources for our learners. We also shared a list of other platforms that are available for learners to tap on in the meantime, as we look at other resources, other online platforms for our learners, in the future.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform So, I wish to assure Members that this is something that NLB is very, very keen on because we want to support the lifelong learning and discovery needs of Singaporeans of all ages.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Mr Gerald Giam.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply.

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform I just heard the Senior Minister of State say that learners can use the SkillsFuture Credit to claim for Udemy courses. But the last time I checked on the SkillsFuture website, Udemy courses are not available. It used to be, a long time ago, but it was discontinued for some time already. And, as far as I know, there is only one online course provided called eCornell. So, can the Senior Minister of State confirm that what he said just now is still accurate?

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform Sir, I would have to get back to Mr Giam for his question. [Please refer to "Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information", Official Report, 22 November 2023, Vol 95, Issue 117, Oral Answers to Questions section.]

Solutions to Defray Cost Increases in National Library Board's Decision to Cease Subscription to E-learning Platform From the information I am given, it is possible for Singaporeans who have continued interest in courses offered by Udemy Business to use their SkillsFuture Credit for such courses and submit these claims directly to SSG for reimbursement upon completion of their course. But perhaps, if Mr Giam would like to seek specific clarification on specific courses, he can write to us. We will take a look and check it out.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook 4 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether an update can be provided on the digital cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through the Nongsa Digital Park (NDP) and its outlook; (b) whether the cooperation in the NDP special economic zone has led to higher growth for Singapore’s information communication technology sector; and (c) how much has this cooperation led to more jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook Mr Speaker, Sir, Nongsa Digital Park is a commercial project in Batam attracting and housing tech talents to support the needs of companies in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Nongsa Digital Park is doing well. Around 1,000 tech talents in Nongsa Digital Park are currently servicing some 250 Singapore-based companies.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook Singapore-based data centre players, such as Princeton Digital Group, GDS Holdings and Gaw Capital, have also announced data centre investments in Nongsa Digital Park to serve Southeast Asia. These projects support Singapore and Indonesia’s digital economies and create jobs for both countries.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of State for her reply. It is good to hear that there are 1,000 tech talents involved. But can I ask the Minister of State two supplementary questions?

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook First, can the Minister of State elaborate further on the type of sectors that the 250 companies come from? My second supplementary question is, can the Minister of State also give us an update on the Nongsa Digital Town she mentioned? How is this digital bridge helping Singapore-based companies access the growth of Indonesia's digital economy?

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook Mr Speaker, I want to thank the Member Mr Saktiandi Supaat for his two supplementary questions. If I could elaborate and share a bit of context, Nongsa Digital Park is Singapore's digital bridge to Indonesia's digital economy. Many will remember it was launched in 2018. It has only been five years and for most of the five years, we were mired in the pandemic. Despite that, it now serves about 250 Singapore-based companies.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook The close proximity of Batam, Bintan, Karimun – which we refer to as the BBK region in short – and the park's status as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), these two key factors offer our Singapore-based companies advantages to tap the promising growth opportunities of Indonesia's growing digital economy.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook He asked about the profile and the sector. I am happy to update him that the 250 Singapore-based companies that I have shared earlier in my reply harness the tech talent services in Nongsa Digital Park and they include multinational corporations (MNCs), small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as startups from industries such as the financial sector, digital and creative media as well as software engineering, just to name a few.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook I will cite a few companies, just to give him a sensing. Some of these big companies are AIA Singapore, which is an insurance MNC; Infinite Studios, which is a media company; and Infineon, a semi-conductor MNC. And another quick example is VA Insight, which is a Singapore-based software engineering company.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook As for his question about other sectors, earlier on in my main reply, I talked about data centres and the three quick examples I shared – GDS Holdings, Princeton Digital Group as well as Gaw Capital – all these are important projects during this time. It is a vote of confidence in the potential of the Nongsa Digital Park.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook I must specify that there is a difference between the Nongsa Digital Park, under which there is a launch of the Nongsa Digital Town. The Nongsa Digital Town, if you remember, was only launched two years ago by Minister Chan Chun Sing, in his capacity in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), and his counterpart. The objective of the Nongsa Digital Town really is to further bridge the tech companies and talent in Singapore and Indonesia. I am happy to share that the Nongsa Digital Town is actually designed by Surbana Jurong, and in close partnership, developed by PT Citra Sinar Global.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook He asked in the second supplementary question about the progress. It has been two years, it is undergoing construction and when completed, the Nongsa Digital Town will house an additional 8,000 tech talents that will continue to serve Singapore-based companies. The Nongsa Digital Town will have co-working spaces, digital training centres, offices, lifestyle centres and hotels for business travellers. The initial phase of the development – there is one interesting development called The Hive, and it will be completed in the second half of next year. When completed, it will comprise a mixed development of food and beverage (F&B) outlets, co-working spaces and also community spaces.

Update on Digital Cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia through Nongsa Digital Park and its Outlook So, I want to use this platform to assure Mr Saktiandi Supaat that MTI and our economic agencies will certainly work closely with our Indonesian counterparts and industry stakeholders to continue to expand partnership between Singapore-based companies and the BBK region. We will do so by leveraging the complementary strengths of Singapore and the BBK region – I mentioned the close proximity – and also identify mutually beneficial opportunities in Indonesia's digital economy.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity 5 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry keeps a record of the current number of elderly caregivers who are caring for adult persons with intellectual disabilities, in particular those who are low functioning and, if so, what is the number; (b) what are the current avenues available to help such caregivers in the event they lose their mental capacity due to reasons including an early onset of dementia; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider developing and implementing early identification and support programmes for such caregivers.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity Mr Speaker, we do not directly track the number of elderly caregivers who are caring for adults with intellectual disabilities. However, based on our records, there are about 900 adult persons with intellectual disabilities who are enrolled in our disability care services and living at home with at least one caregiver aged 65 years and above.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity We encourage all seniors, including caregivers of persons with disabilities, to plan early for their own long-term care needs. This includes drawing up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), which allows a person aged at least 21 to voluntarily appoint other individuals to make decisions and act on their behalf if they lose mental capacity. For those who lose their mental capacity without an LPA, their family members can apply to the Court to be appointed as deputies and make decisions in their best interest. If there is no suitable person who can apply to be their deputy, a professional deputy can apply to the Courts to act on their behalf.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) offers the Assisted Deputyship Application Programme in Special Education schools and MSF disability care services to assist caregivers of persons with disabilities and no mental capacity to apply for deputyship. More than one caregiver can apply to be appointed by the Court as deputies for an adult person with disability and no mental capacity. Should one of the appointed deputies lose mental capacity, the other deputy or deputies can continue to support the person with disability.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity We encourage caregivers of persons with disabilities to plan ahead and approach SG Enable and the Special Needs Trust Company early for future care planning support for their loved ones, including deputyship matters, financial planning, respite care and peer support.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity Mr Dennis Tan.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answers. Will the Ministry consider developing and implementing an early identification and support programme for such caregivers that is on a multi-agency basis, beyond MSF and perhaps with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), with the Active Ageing Centres (AACs) on the ground, and in fact, including other stakeholders like the Law Society and doctors? I say lawyers and doctors, because they may have to interface with such families in the course of their related work. Rather than to leave it to the families to seek help when they have illness like dementia, because at that point in time, they may not have sufficient extended family support. So, I would urge the Government to consider looking into this.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Some of that work is already ongoing. In the reply by MOH to hon Member Mr Gan Thiam Poh's Parliamentary Question in May 2022, MOH has made clear that the outreach by AIC on LPA awareness, on things such as future care planning, is already ongoing. AIC, together with the community partners on the ground, is already doing a lot of work to make sure that the drawing up of an LPA and other related end-of-life or future care planning instruments are as well-known or as propagated as possible.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity But I do note that there is always capacity to do more.

Elderly Caregivers of Adult Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Help for Such Caregivers who Lose Mental Capacity Also, in addition, the fee waiver that has been announced in March 2023 and the extension of an additional three years, these are further incentives on the ground to help encourage the drawing up of LPAs in advance. There has been some momentum, from what I know, there has been quite a bit of community ground-up efforts as well to encourage the drawing up of LPAs as well as advanced care plans. But we note that there is always room and capacity to do more.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions The following question stood in the name of Ms Yeo Wan Ling –

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions 6 To ask the Minister for Transport in light that passengers of private hire cars and taxis have taken to videoing in-vehicle disputes on devices such as handphones, whether LTA will consider allowing such drivers to install passenger facing video recorders with audio functions.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions Question No 6.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions Since 2019, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has allowed taxi and private hire car drivers to install passenger-facing video recorders with audio functions in their vehicles, with prior permission from LTA, and only at LTA-authorised installation centres.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions To protect passengers' privacy and guard against misuse, recordings made by these devices can only be accessed for investigation and enforcement purposes, such as in fare-related disputes and by authorised Government personnel and LTA-authorised persons only. They must also be stored securely.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions Vehicles with such devices must be affixed with a notice to inform passengers and passengers must also be informed by operators should such a vehicle be matched to them. This is to give passengers a choice on whether they wish to take a vehicle equipped with such a recording device.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions Taxi and private hire car drivers may not install and use unauthorised recording devices, such as their personal mobile phones, to record audio and/or video within their vehicles.

Allowing Private Hire Car and Taxi Drivers to Install Passenger Facing Video Recorders with Audio Functions We encourage both point-to-point (P2P) drivers and commuters to treat each other with respect and act graciously when providing or using P2P services. In cases where drivers have been harassed by passengers who have used recording devices and shared these recordings online without the drivers' consent, drivers may seek recourse, including under the Protection from Harassment Act.

Job Openings for Fresh Graduates and Impact of Decline in Firms' Intention to Hire 7 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how does the job openings for fresh graduates in the third quarter of 2023 (3Q2023) compare against the same period in 2022; (b) what is the proportion of recently employed fresh graduates who secured (i) contractual and (ii) full-time roles; and (c) considering that the 3Q2023 Labour Market Advance Release reported a decline in the proportion of firms with an intention to hire due to worsened business expectations, what is the Government's assessment of the impact on fresh graduates.

Job Openings for Fresh Graduates and Impact of Decline in Firms' Intention to Hire Mr Speaker, Sir, there is no data on job openings for fresh graduates, which I shall use as a collective term to also include graduates who just finished National Service. This is because employers do not usually specify the demographic requirements of job applicants in their job advertisements, as this is a breach of the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP).