Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694422126731.pdf (Singapore)
FOURTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE ___________________ FIRST SESSION ___________________ ORDER PAPER TUESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2020 No.

8 11.30 am 1 QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS* *1.
Mr Darryl David: To ask the Minister for Education (a) in the last five years, how many international students have been accepted into local universities under the Tuition Grant Scheme (TGS); (b) what are those numbers as a percentage of the total university student population; (c) whether this number of TGS international students will be reduced in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and, if so, whether this reduction will mean more places for Singaporean students; and (d) what will be the consequences for international students who cannot meet their TGS bond commitments in this present COVID-19 employment market.
*2.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Education (a) what contingency plans are in place for foreign recipients of scholarships to serve out their bonds given the tightened restrictions on access to employment and other foreign-worker passes; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider alternative mechanisms for recent graduates to serve out their commitments such as a deferral of the bond period or service of their bond periods with Singapore-owned or Singapore-affiliated companies abroad.
*3.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the total number of passengers who have made transits through Singapore since Changi Airport was re-opened for transit passengers; and (b) whether there is a plan to open further for business travellers and leisure tourists without the need for Stay-Home Notices if effective and reliable measures such as the swab test can be relied on and faster clearances at designated areas in the airport.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 2 *4.


Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what plans are in the pipeline to revive our aviation industry and promote safe air travel through Singapore; (b) how will these plans address the medium to long- term risks to our air hub status; and (c) whether the retrenchment exercise by SIA will affect these plans to revive our aviation industry and, if so, what is the impact.

*5.
*5.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Transport which reciprocal travel arrangements with other countries are expected to be finalised within the next three months.

*6.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Transport whether the Government has plans to aid the recovery of Singapore Airlines in the event of a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic situation and, if so, what are these.

*7.
*7.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) how can the Government help the aviation industry and Singapore Airlines preserve their capabilities and pivot in the post-COVID-19 pandemic landscape; and (b) whether the medium-to long-term plans for the industry need to be revised including the building of Changi Airport Terminal 5.

*8.
*8.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport what are the factors that the Ministry will consider before approving no-destination flights and how important will carbon emissions arising from such flights be a factor for approval.

*9.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Transport whether he can provide an update on the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit (RTS) Link including the implications of converting the RTS into a Light Rail Transit.

*10.
*10.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) how has the COVID-19 crisis affected SAF operations and training in 2020 so far; and (b) how has the SAF coped with the challenges to ensure that the operational readiness of SAF and the quality of all SAF training have remained uncompromised.

*11.
*11.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Health whether the powers under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act may be expanded to provide intervention for the benefit of mentally disordered persons under the care of relatives who do not allow these persons to receive psychiatric treatment even though these relatives do not ill-treat or neglect such persons within the meaning of Section 8(1) of the Act.

*12.
*12.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) when will the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Health be published; and (b) whether the advisory can be expedited to provide better support to workers suffering from mental-health-related issues arising from the workplace.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 3 *13.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what has been the trend of scam crimes in the past 10 years; and (b) what is the police's strategy to reduce such scam crimes.

*14.
*14.

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for National Development to help the construction sector expedite the availability of overseas workers and restart projects post-COVID-19 (a) whether the Skills Evaluation Certificate (Knowledge) test can be conducted in Singapore upon the overseas workers' arrival instead of at overseas testing centres; and (b) whether there can be an exemption for workers with past experience in the same trade in Singapore.

*15.
*15.

Mr Vikram Nair: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) in each of the last three years, what is the number of complaints made in relation to defects in HDB BTO flats within five years of their completion; (b) what is this figure as a percentage of the total number of HDB BTO flats completed in that year; and (c) whether HBD will consider extending the defects liability period with its contractors for a longer period of up to five years to ensure greater responsibility for workmanship.

*16.
*16.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development what has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment prospects and status of those with special needs and persons with disabilities and how is the Ministry progressing with measures to raise inclusivity during this challenging period.

*17.
*17.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry monitors (i) the retrenchment rates for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and (ii) the proportion later found to have been 'disguised retrenchments'; (b) if so, how do these findings compare with employees who are not PWDs; and (c) what is the average duration before a retrenched PWD finds new employment.

*18.
*18.

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many Singaporeans aged 60 and above have been retrenched, or did not have their contracts renewed, as fallout from the economic impact of COVID-19; (b) how will the Ministry address the challenges of ageism in the COVID-19 economy; and (c) whether the Ministry will provide additional assistance to help seniors who are seeking employment opportunities.

*19.
*19.

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether she can clarify how the national guidelines on managing excess manpower and responsible retrenchments and other related policies ensure that Singaporeans are better off compared to permanent residents and non-Singaporeans in terms of job and income security.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 4 *20.


Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Manpower of the total retrenchments of 11,350 workers in the first half of 2020, (a) what is (i) the number of workers with less than two years' service with the company versus at least two years' service and (ii) the median and range of the retrenchment benefit based on the number of months' of salary for every year of service; and (b) whether a baseline retrenchment benefit can be legislated.

*21.
Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in respect of the Workfare Special Payment (a) what is the rationale behind having up-to-date Medisave contributions as a qualifying criteria for the payment; (b) how many low-wage workers who are otherwise eligible for this payment have been prevented from receiving this due to arrears in their Medisave contributions; (c) how many of those who are not eligible for this payment have contribution arrears amounting to more than $3,000; and (d) whether the Ministry will consider removing such contributions as an eligibility criteria especially in this difficult time when liquidity and cashflow is needed by individuals to survive day to day.
*22.

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Ministry can consider being more flexible in administering COVID-19 relief schemes for (i) those who stay in landed properties that they may not own and (ii) Merdeka and Pioneer Generation Singaporeans especially those with chronic health conditions.

*23.
*23.

Mr Darryl David: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment what support is available for small and independent food and beverage outlets attempting to strictly enforce safe management measures but are also fearful about offending errant diners and worried about losing future business given that action will be taken against such businesses, even for first-time offenders.

*24.
*24.

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is being done to alleviate the disamenities and inconveniences caused by the placement of safety distancing barricades and markers at public places; and (b) whether the responses pertaining to feedback from the public concerning safe distancing features are dealt with in a timely manner.

*25.
*25.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the number of Singaporeans who applied for Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) since the two-year extension of application fee waiver in June 2018; (b) what is the total number of Singaporeans who have applied for LPAs; (c) how can Singaporeans be encouraged to apply for LPAs; and (d) whether there are schemes in place to assist those from lower income groups to get their LPAs done.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 5 *26.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government will consider providing extra childcare leave for parents of differently abled children to attend developmental assessments, medical and therapy appointments.

*27.
*27.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of the employers who have received Jobs Support Scheme payouts (a) what is the number of firms that have conducted a self- review declaration; and (b) what is the number of cases of JSS abuse that have been detected and the range of penalties imposed.

*28.
*28.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development in each year of the past five years for both mature and non-mature estates respectively (a) what is the number of HDB flats for each flat type built; (b) what is the average subscription rate for each flat type; and (c) whether HDB will consider increasing the supply of 4-room, 5-room and 3Gen flats to meet demand.

*29.
*29.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for National Development whether a study can be commissioned to ascertain the causes of overcrowding amongst residents in some HDB public rental flats and identify solutions to address this problem.

*30.
*30.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health whether the risk of medication errors is assessed in the procurement of medications in public care institutions such as (i) lookalike packaging where different drugs have similar containers or packages and (ii) changes in drug concentration of syrups that may confuse patients and caregivers especially when medications are administered in the home.

*31.
*31.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Health how often are subsidy levels for healthcare services support schemes like the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) reviewed for healthcare inflation.

*32.
*32.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) in each of the last three years, how many appeals for waiver of the Ethnic Integration Policy are received from HDB flat owners; (b) how many appeals are received from each ethnic group; (c) how many of the appeals are successful; (d) how many owners are granted time extension to sell their flats; and (e) how many of the flats remain unsold at the end of the time extension.

*33.
*33.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development in each of the last three years (a) how many (i) Sale of Balance flats (SBF) and (ii) open booking flats remained unsold for more than two years; (b) what are the main reasons for this; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider lifting the Ethnic Integration Policy criterion for such flats.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 6 *34.


Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for Manpower in view of COVID-19's impact on the construction sector, whether the man-year entitlement period can be shortened to two years or less for workers currently in Singapore so as to facilitate the renewal of workers when companies are unable to bring in new workers to continue their trade.

*35.
*35.

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for Manpower in light of the limited number of dormitories and availability of temporary living quarters and the cost of living spaces for foreign workers doubling in cost, what has or can be done to assist the contractors during this period.

*36.
*36.

Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Minister for Transport what is the number of accidents caused by leisure riders compared to the number of accidents caused by delivery riders on personal mobility devices since the 2017 revision of the Active Mobility Act.

*37.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider providing regular cyclical maintenance for HDB rental flats beyond the typical repair works.

*38.
*38.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for National Development whether HDB will provide a more effective solution for HDB rental flats that are affected by bed bug infestations and excessive hoarding.

*39.
*39.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many reports per month have been received by the police for domestic abuse cases since the start of the circuit breaker period; (b) how many of these reports have been investigated by the police; and (c) what percentage of such family violence cases subsequently resulted in charges being brought by the Attorney General's Chambers.

*40.
*40.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the number of infant and childcare places currently available in Singapore, broken down by URA planning areas; and (b) how many Singapore citizens were born in Singapore over the last five years, broken down by URA planning areas.

*41.
*41.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) in the past three years, what is the annual number of persons who have received the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), broken down by age groups of 35 to 40, 41 to 50, 51 to 60, and above 60; and (b) whether a review will be made to further raise the WIS amount to one-third of their monthly gross income.

*42.
*42.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will legislate the right for all employees to request flexible work arrangements and require employers who reject the request to provide a specific business-related reason.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 7 *43.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will include in a set of guidelines on the euthanasia of healthy pets the requirement for pet owners to explore returning the animal to the person or organisation they adopted the animal from before proceeding with the euthanasia.

*44.
*44.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: To ask the Minister for Transport whether LTA can increase and re-instate the percentage share of COEs for motorcycles back to its historical norm given that motorcycle COEs have been allocated to the Open COE category for the past few years which few motorcyclists utilised.

*45.
*45.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Transport whether there are currently sustainability clauses in the Ministry's contracts with public transport operators to incentivise them to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

*46.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry what measures are being taken to safeguard consumers, especially the elderly, from rogue hair salons engaging in pressure sales tactics in our HDB heartlands.

*47.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the motivations for selective weekend entry restrictions imposed on Lucky Plaza and Peninsula Plaza but not on other malls; (b) whether the restrictions are based on expected footfall; (c) what is the relative footfall for these two malls versus other nearby malls; and (d) whether the Government will consider either subsidizing a partial rebate on rental costs for tenants in these two malls whose businesses have plunged, or closing the malls altogether and allowing tenants to make a case for a rebate from their landlords.
*48.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Education whether the Government will consider allowing family members to transfer their SkillsFuture credits to one another so as to promote better utilisation of SkillsFuture credits by those who have greater training needs.

*49.
*49.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for National Development whether a second environmental impact assessment on the Bukit Batok Hillside Park Development Project will be done to account for the feedback from environmental groups.

*50.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for National Development what has been the take-up rate of the Lift Access Housing Grant so far and whether there is a need to expand the scheme for residents in estates where the Lift Upgrading Programme is not feasible.
No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 8 *51.

Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Minister for Law whether there can be a public defender scheme for vulnerable persons provided by the state for non-death penalty criminal cases.

*52.
*52.

Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what has been the progress made by Singapore banks in combating money laundering over the last 10 years; (b) what has been the effectiveness of suspicious transaction reports filed by Singapore's financial institutions in detecting illicit activities; and (c) how well does Singapore collaborate with overseas authorities to seize such funds and disrupt criminal activities.

*53.
*53.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Transport whether Singapore has plans to build a sheltered walkway on the Singapore' side of the Causeway in light of Malaysia's announcement to build a 1.2km sheltered walkway on the Causeway between Johor and Woodlands.

* Members may postpone their Questions to a later sitting day if their Questions are not reached by the end of Question Time (QT).
For such Questions, Members may email to parl_cop@parl.gov.sg in advance a postponement notice that will be effected after QT.

Members must submit their notices to the Clerk within one hour after the end of QT (SO 22(3)).

Questions will be given a written answer if no such notices are received by the Clerk within the stipulated time.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT 1.

Minister for Transport: Aviation Recovery.

AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLIC BUSINESS Introduction of Government Bill 1.
Second Minister for Finance: Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill.

(President’s recommendation signified).

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 9 ORDERS OF THE DAY 1.

Civil Law (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

33/2020] (Second Minister for Law) – Second Reading.

2.

Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

30/2020] (Minister for Health) – Second Reading.

3.

Housing and Development (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

32/2020] (Minister for National Development) – Second Reading.
MEMORANDUM Matter proposed to be raised on the Motion for the Adjournment (SO 2(8)(b)).

Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon) : Increasing Support for the Sustenance of Livelihoods amongst Performing Arts Workers.

QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 1.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government intends to abolish the use of Current Estimated Potential (CEP) within the Civil Service.

2.
2.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Prime Minister whether MAS can provide guidance to (i) financial institutions not to let their individual and SME borrowers' dismal financial performance in 2020 affect their credit scoring and (ii) credit bureaus to rescind the adverse record of an individual borrower whose repayment ability has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.
3.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what is the number of individuals who have applied for and received approval to (i) defer repayment of residential property loans (ii) lower interest on personal unsecured credit (iii) defer premium payments for life and health insurance and (iv) make flexible instalment plans for general insurance; and (b) whether MAS is considering extending (i) and (ii) beyond 31 December 2020.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 10 4.
Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Prime Minister (a) to date, how many individuals have applied for the Special Financial Relief Programme (Unsecured); (b) how many individuals have been successfully subscribed into the Programme; (c) what are the main reasons for individuals not being able to participate in the Programme; (d) what is the average loan quantum of these individuals; (e) what is the average quantum that an individual saves as a result of converting his unsecured debt into this Programme; and (f) whether MAS can consider reducing the capped interest rate of 8% per annum, increasing the five-year loan tenor and extending the conversion period beyond December 2020 given the continued uncertainties Singapore's economy faces.
5.
Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) what has been the percentage change in National Service deferment for essential in-camp training for March to August 2020 compared to the average over the last three years; (b) which category for deferment has seen the largest increase; (c) whether the Ministry will consider providing make-up pay to 'job seekers' who have turned to jobs in the gig economy instead of allowing these job seekers to defer; and (d) whether the Ministry can work with companies to permit such workers to maintain their incentive levels while they are serving in-camp training.
6.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether there has been an increase in illegal moneylending activities in the period of April to September 2020 compared to the same six-month period in 2019; (b) whether there is an increasing trend of young adults, aged between 16 and 21 getting involved in illegal loansharking and harassment activities; and (c) whether the Ministry has any plans to increase anti- unlicensed moneylending education and enforcement efforts given the current economic downturn.
7.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Law (a) what is the rationale for imposing a cost of $150 to file a claim before the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT); and (b) whether this fee can be waived for lower income residents in order to make the CDRT more accessible to residents with intractable neighbour disputes.

8.
8.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Law whether the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) will consider tracking (i) the number of neighbour disputes that had been previously mediated at the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) and (ii) data on the specific number of orders that relate to damages, injunctions, specific performances, or apologies.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 11 9.


Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Law in light of the current tough business environment, whether the COVID-19 related legislation provides for companies, especially SMEs, whose payments are withheld because of disagreement in interpretation of contract terms to seek recourse and, if so, what are these.

10.
10.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Law (a) since the Protection from Harassment Act was amended in 2019, what is the number of cases handled by the Protection from Harassment Courts; (b) what is the breakdown between applications for protection orders and expedited protection orders and the outcomes for these applications; and (c) what is the average time between the filing of the application and the application being heard.

the past five years, 11.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Health (a) for each year in lupus erythematosus and for systemic spondyloarthritis respectively, what is (i) the average and median number of outpatient visits in public hospitals per unique patient and (ii) the average and median costs of each outpatient visit in public hospitals; and (b) whether the Ministry will start collecting this data if it is not available.

12.
12.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Health (a) how did it occur that 41 cases were wrongly classified as confirmed COVID-19 infections; (b) what were the corrective and public health actions that had been taken in the management of these cases including follow-ups with the affected individuals; and (c) how can occurrences of such misclassification be prevented in the future.

13.
13.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether there are plans for additional resources and hiring to be made available to the restructured hospitals to bolster capacity needed for potentially another wave of COVID-19 infections; (b) what are the current measures at hospitals to ensure that both frontline and laboratory staff do not get worn out; and (c) whether there will be a review to consider additional bonus payments for frontline officers in the public service.

14.
14.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health in the last one year (a) how many patients with an Integrated Shield Plan had their claims rejected by the insurer despite the claims being made for medically necessary treatments; (b) how many of these cases were later processed for the coverage component provided under MediShield Life (MSHL); and (c) what proportion of these MSHL requests were (i) patient-initiated and (ii) insurer- initiated.

15.
15.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Health what measures or guidelines are in place to protect COVID-19-vulnerable workers when there is a broader move to return to regular office-based work.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 12 16.


Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) how does the Ministry deal with content available through streaming services that deal with suicide, mental illness, and other sensitive topics; and (b) what measures are being taken to restrict access to material that may encourage harmful and dangerous behaviour among the young.

17.
17.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what is the final cost of the revamp of the National Archives building; and (b) what is the budget overrun referred to in the Report of the Auditor- General for FY2019/20 and its amount.

18.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether research is being conducted to consider possible sustainable uses for incinerated ash and non-incinerable waste.

19.
19.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment when will Project Wolbachia be extended to Sengkang town and the rest of Singapore to complement existing vector control strategies.

20.
20.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the Government's strategy to attract international pharmaceutical companies to locate their vaccine manufacturing plants in Singapore; and (b) whether the Government has plans to carve out a role for our small and medium enterprises to play a role in the local production of these vaccines.

21.
21.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Education regarding the SGUnited Skills Programme (a) what are the eligibility criteria for the programme, (b) what is the extent of the Ministry's oversight over the private training providers; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider expanding the number of funded places should the applicants be able to find self-sourced work attachments.

22.
22.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether access to career guidance is available in all polytechnics, institutes of technical education, junior colleges and secondary schools; and (b) if not, whether there will be plans to make such services available to all students.

23.
23.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Education as South View Primary School, Chua Chu Kang Primary School and Unity Primary School are oversubscribed by many times during the Phase 2C of the Primary 1 admission exercise, whether an additional primary school can be built within the new Brickland constituency, which is a BTO precinct with many young families, to cope with the increased demand for Primary 1 places.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 13 24.


Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the current pedagogical role of word problems in primary school mathematics; (b) whether the linguistic complexity and reading ease of such word problems in examinations is monitored and, if so, by what metrics; and (c) whether the Ministry has studied the impact of English language fluency on students' Mathematics results in primary school and the PSLE and, if so, what are the findings.

25.
25.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Education whether the distance-based criterion for registration of Primary 1 places should be revised in light of the repeated oversubscription within some estates during Phase 2C for primary schools located within a kilometre from the applicants' residence.

26.
26.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development what support in terms of education and housing are available to young men and women who grow out of residential boys' or girls' homes.

27.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development since the start of the circuit breaker period, how many protection orders and domestic exclusion orders under the Women's Charter have been granted each month.

28.
28.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Transport when will the noise barriers along the MRT track plying through Bukit Batok MRT station be erected.

29.

Ms Hany Soh: To ask the Minister for Transport whether more barrier-free covered linkways will be built to ensure first and last mile connectivity from transportation nodes to all community clubs and centres in Singapore.

30.
30.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many requests and appeals have been received and approved for foreign domestic workers to be allowed entry into Singapore during the circuit breaker period to support residents' needs; and (b) what is the number of approvals by country.

31.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider having homes built with home gardening in mind.

32.
32.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what is the current number of HDB flats rented out to foreigners; and (b) how many HDB flats are currently rented out by owners who (i) rely on the rental income for retirement or (ii) have outstanding housing loans to service.

No.

8 6 OCTOBER 2020 14 33.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for National Development given that piloted solutions like the pneumatic vacuum elevator and the vertical platform lift have been found to be unfeasible (a) whether HDB has further engineering solutions that can improve lift access to the affected units in Keat Hong; (b) what are the criteria used for lift installation under the Lift Upgrading Programme; and (c) whether the inability to provide lift access to affected HDB units can be a factor considered for Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) of these HDB blocks.
34.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for National Development whether HDB will require more legislative power to evict and blacklist disturbing neighbours when the disputes cannot be resolved by the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal, Community Mediation Centre and via a Magistrate's Complaint.

35.
35.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for National Development from January to July 2020 (a) how many of the 370 households who requested for rent assistance already had rent arrears; and (b) what percentage of those with and without arrears respectively received rent assistance.

2020 Cmd.
2020 Cmd.

3 S. 45 S. 46 PAPERS PRESENTED Date Presented Third Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure and Revised Estimates of Revenue for the Financial Year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 National Integrated 2019/2020 Environment Sustainabilty Agency Report Agency for Science, Technology and Research Annual Report and Financial Statements FY2019/2020 ….. 5 October 2020 ….. 5 October 2020 ….. 5 October 2020 S.L.

63 Professional Engineers (Amendment) Rules 2020 ….. 5 October 2020