Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698846029961.pdf (Singapore)
FOURTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE ___________________ FIRST SESSION ___________________ ORDER PAPER FRIDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 No.

6 12.30 pm 1 QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS* *1.

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Manpower in light of more companies being put on the Fair Consideration Framework watchlist, whether the Ministry will consider naming the errant companies to serve as a deterrent to others.

*2.
*2.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry will name the companies that have been placed on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) watchlist for potentially discriminatory hiring practices; (b) whether any of the companies previously placed on FCF watchlist have been removed from the watchlist; and (c) if so, what are the criteria used.

*3.
*3.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether she can provide an update on the latest tripartite discussions relating to fair employment practices, in particular discriminatory hiring and human resource practices, including nationality, race, age and religious-based discrimination.

*4.
*4.

Ms Ng Ling Ling: To ask the Minister for Manpower in the past six months (a) how many workers aged 50 years and above have become unemployed; (b) what is the average length of time for them to be employed again; and (c) whether such data can be reported by the Ministry to the public periodically.

*5.
*5.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Manpower how many Singaporeans have (i) been retrenched this year (ii) been placed on unpaid leave due to the COVID-19 situation and (iii) had their pay reduced by more than 50% since the start of the circuit breaker period.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 2 *6.


Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is being done to ensure that companies do not misuse the SGUnited Traineeships Programme and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme to fulfil their manpower requirements; and (b) whether companies that have recently retrenched their workers are allowed to hire under the these traineeship programmes.

*7.
*7.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether there will be further assistance for the self-employed beyond the Self-Employed Income Relief Scheme (SIRS).

*8.
*8.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current amount disbursed under the Self-Employed Relief Scheme as compared to its budgetary allocation; (b) whether there are plans for more allocations should the economic outlook remain bleak beyond the next one year; and (c) what are the various reasons for the rejection of appeals under this scheme.

*9.
*9.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what is the current number and percentage of Singaporeans in senior management roles at non-retail banks; (b) how has the number and percentage of Singaporeans across the entire finance sector changed over the last ten years; and (c) what is the monthly salary of the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners respectively across the sector's workforce.

*10.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) to date, what is the total number of employees supported by the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100-$250 million and more than $250 million respectively; (b) what is the total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies with breakdowns according to (i) SMEs and non-SMEs respectively; and (ii) employers' aggregate revenues of less than $10 million, between $10-100 million, between $100- $250 million and more than $250 million respectively; and (c) what is the total number of employees supported by JSS and total dollar quantum of JSS payouts granted to companies that do not experience a fall in aggregate revenues in the first half of 2020.
*11.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministerial Statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister on 17 August 2020 in respect of the fifth set of COVID-19 support measures will be considered and debated in Parliament; and (b) whether the revised spending plan will need to be approved by Parliament.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 3 *12.


Mr Lim Biow Chuan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance what is the basis for announcing the additional $8 billion financial measures on 17 August 2020 and whether Parliament will be able to seek clarification on the financial measures.

*13.
*13.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) what is the reason for the recent Ministerial Statement on further support measures being delivered via a broadcast and not in Parliament; (b) whether this is permissible under parliamentary procedures; and (c) whether and when MPs will have the opportunity to debate the measures in the Ministerial Statement in Parliament.

*14.
*14.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Health since 1 May 2020 (a) what percentage of patients have been tested for COVID-19 after presenting symptoms of acute respiratory infection at GP clinics or polyclinics; and (b) what percentage of contacts with prolonged exposure to patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have been tested for the disease.

*15.
*15.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Health (a) since 1 June 2020, how many people have been (i) randomly tested for COVID-19 (ii) diagnosed with COVID-19 as a result of random testing; and (b) what are the plans to step up random testing for COVID-19 in the community.

*16.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Health what is the current mean and median lead time between when COVID-19 swab testing is conducted and when the results of the test are made available to relevant parties.
*17.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Health what are the COVID-19 vaccine plans for Singapore.

*18.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Health what is the Government's strategy for vaccinating Singaporeans and Singapore residents against COVID-19 once such vaccinations are available here.

*19.
*19.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry how will the Government continue to attract foreign direct investments during these challenging times and moving ahead given that Singapore is one of the most expensive cities and companies are reviewing their investment plans, restructuring, and offshoring their businesses after experiencing remote work/ or work-from-home arrangements.

the viability of No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 4 *20.


Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what are the reasons for the recent surge in dengue cases; and (b) what are the short- and medium- term measures to reduce overall dengue cases.

*21.

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the reduction in grass-cutting and tree-pruning activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the rise in dengue cases in housing estates.
*22.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the number of dengue cases in the past six months; (b) what has been the progress of anti-dengue efforts; and (c) what has been the progress of Project Wolbachia.

*23.
*23.

Ms Tin Pei Ling: To ask the Minister for Education in light of the recent assault case involving an NUS student (a) what are the values and behavioural standards that students are expected to uphold; and (b) what measures are in place to ensure the safety of all students.

*24.
*24.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Education what measures are in place at the autonomous universities to assess the risk of assaults to their students and ensure the safety of other students, including women, in the event a student is accused or convicted of a crime involving violence.

*25.
*25.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Education to what extent our medical and dental schools draw reference from the respective professional bodies' ethical code and guidelines for practitioners and past grounds of decisions or jurisprudence arising from the professional bodies' disciplinary tribunals, when assessing fitness to continue in the course for students who have been convicted of crimes involving violence.

*26.
*26.

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs how have the different age groups in the Malay/Muslim community responded and adapted to meet the community's religious needs in light of the COVID-19 restrictions.

*27.
*27.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) which estates currently remain more disproportionately affected, in terms of essential service provision by foreign workers, by COVID-19-related dormitory shutdowns; and (b) whether there is a plan to assist in the temporary redeployment of workers across different estates to facilitate the clearing of backlogs in the more affected estates.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 5 *28.


Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Prime Minister (a) how many active users does the TraceTogether app currently have; (b) how many contacts of COVID-19 patients have been identified and contacted with the help of data retrieved from the TraceTogether app since its launch; and (c) how many of these contacts tested positive for COVID-19.

*29.
*29.

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

*30.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the progress of the Thomson-East Coast line given the delays related to COVID-19; and (b) whether this spillover will lead to delays for other major planned MRT projects.

*31.
*31.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether there has been an error in declaring a dormitory to be cleared of the COVID-19 virus when a subsequent new cluster is found to have originated from that dormitory.

*32.
*32.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what measures have been put in place to address mental health challenges faced by migrant workers during this period including those who are barred from leaving their living and work spaces; (b) when have these measures been put in place; (c) what is being done to help workers who develop mental health conditions when under confinement; and (d) what steps are taken to ascertain the effectiveness of such measures and to improve on them.

*33.
*33.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Health in light of reports that Singaporeans are more stressed working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic (a) whether there is an increase in mental health cases over the last few months; (b) what current measures are in place to help affected Singaporeans; and (c) whether further measures are needed as work-from- home arrangements continue amidst the pandemic.

*34.
*34.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health (a) over the past three years, how many Singaporeans at public hospitals and specialist centres have requested to change from a paying class to subsidised care; (b) how many of such patients have accessed paying class care through (i) employment-linked insurance or (ii) personal integrated shield plans; and (c) of these, what proportion subsequently received subsidised care at the same rates as de novo subsidised patients.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 6 *35.


Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for Health whether there are plans to review the claim amounts from MediShield Life for long- term or chronic outpatient treatments given the increased healthcare costs and our ageing population.

*36.
*36.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) whether he can provide an update on the recruitment rate for the Cyber NSF Scheme and the Cyber Military Experts Scheme; and (b) what are the measures to attract more cyber talents to the Ministry to support digital defence.

*37.
*37.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Prime Minister (a) with the conclusion of Project Ubin, what are the steps towards live adoption of a blockchain- based multi-currency payments network prototype; and (b) how soon can a pilot launch in Singapore be expected.

*38.
*38.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether senior citizens from low-income households qualify for subsidies to access broadband services in their homes under the Digital Access Programme; and (b) whether the cost of installing a broadband point in their homes can be subsidised under the programme.

*39.
*39.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information how will the Ministry enhance internet connectivity islandwide and ensure that our connections remain secure and robust especially when work-from-home becomes more prevalent.

*40.

Ms Tin Pei Ling: To ask the Minister for Education whether coding can be mandated as part of the mainstream curriculum instead of enrichment programmes for students.

*41.
*41.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: To ask the Minister for Education whether the Ministry can increase university enrolments for the coming few years so that all Singaporeans with grades that qualify for entry into Government- funded universities can do so amidst COVID-19.

*42.
*42.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Education whether there have been cost savings at tertiary institutions arising from the replacement of face-to-face lessons with online learning and, if so, whether these cost savings may be passed to the students in the form of tuition fee rebates.

*43.
*43.

Ms Raeesah Khan: To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Graduate Employment Survey (GES) can be extended to a five-year and ten- year period after graduation to enable longitudinal data analysis of wage outcomes for graduates of Private Education Institutions (PEIs) and Autonomous Universities (AUs); and (b) whether anonymised data from the GES for both AUs and PEIs can be shared with academics for research on the trends suggested by the data.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 7 *44.


Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Education in light of the fact that 226 children were vying for 38 Primary one places in Princess Elizabeth Primary School during Phase 2C of the admission exercise, whether an additional primary school can be built within Bukit Batok HDB Town to cope with the increased demand for Primary one places.

*45.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Education (a) for each of the past five years, what are the statistics on the over-subscription of Primary one spaces in Sengkang primary schools and for the nation as a whole; (b) whether there is spare capacity in terms of classrooms for Primary one level in Sengkang primary schools compared to the nation as a whole; (c) what is the student-teacher ratio of primary schools for Primary one in Sengkang relative to the average for the nation as a whole; and (d) what are the factors considered in setting the number of Primary one spaces for schools in Sengkang, and Singapore as a whole.
*46.

Ms Raeesah Khan: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the number of families and widowed or divorced mothers who have appealed for early graduation from the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme since its implementation in 2004; and (b) what is the approval rate of these appeals.

*47.
*47.

Ms Raeesah Khan: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development what are the criteria that families and widowed or divorced mothers under the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) Scheme need to meet in order to graduate from the scheme.

*48.
*48.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year in the past five years under the Government- Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) Scheme, what is the median number of days of childcare leave taken per year by (i) female employees and (ii) male employees respectively.

*49.
*49.

Ms Tin Pei Ling: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development given the importance of having both parents involved in raising of a child despite a divorce, how will the Ministry ensure that a maintenance order is fully complied with especially if the parent ordered to pay maintenance has the financial means to do so.

*50.
*50.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how many culprits of high-rise littering cases have been charged in the past five years; (b) whether there has been a rising trend over the past five years; and (c) whether new measures will be implemented to curb the problem.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 8 *51.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what measures is the Ministry studying to assist individuals who are negatively affected by second-hand cigarette smoke from their neighbours smoking within their HDB flats; and (b) whether the Ministry has studied the effectiveness and receptiveness of bans on residents smoking at their balconies and windows implemented at some condominiums.

*52.
*52.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment what are the criteria, such as the number of dwelling units, to set up a hawker centre and wet market within a constituency.

*53.
*53.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the ratio of Singaporeans to foreigners working in the local food production sector; and (b) how will the Ministry attract more Singaporeans to the farming sector to work as employees or as owners and entrepreneurs.

*54.
*54.

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.

*55.
*55.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment with regard to the marine trash washing ashore Singapore during the monsoon season (a) which beaches are usually impacted by the monsoon season (b) how has the schedule of the cleaning of recreational beaches been impacted during the COVID-19 period; (c) what is the schedule of cleaning of non-recreational beaches; and (d) how is the Ministry working with other countries to mitigate the issues of marine trash.

*56.
*56.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: To ask the Minister for National Development whether HDB can consider ramping up the number of flats constructed, especially in mature estates, and reduce the number of upcoming condo developments as families become more financially prudent during this COVID-19 period and beyond.

*57.
*57.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development whether the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on the future designs of HDB flats such as provision for spaces to work from home and, if not, whether HDB will consider factoring such considerations into future flats.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 9 *58.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether it will set up an independent committee comprising stakeholders such as veterinarians, animal welfare groups, dog trainers, and dog owners to study the issue of euthanasia of physically healthy pet dogs; (b) if so, what is the Ministry's timeline for setting up this committee; and (c) if not, how will the Ministry ensure that the stakeholders are adequately engaged.

*59.
*59.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development since January 2020 (a) how many enforcement notices have been issued for bird- feeding offences; (b) how many bird-feeding offenders have been fined; and (c) whether the Ministry will be introducing new measures to tackle illegal bird-feeding.

*60.
*60.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport whether he can provide an update on the progress of the construction of the extended cycling path network and the delay to be expected given the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

*61.
*61.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the reasons for a spike in households' utility bills in July and August 2020; (b) whether there are errors in the meter readings; and (c) whether there are any increases in the prices of utilities.

*62.
*62.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether the Ministry and the Multi-Ministry Task Force on COVID-19 can proactively work with the National Arts Council to come up with proper safe distancing guidelines on outdoor live performances instead of going with a blanket restriction, so that our artistes can make a living.

* 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.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 10 ORDERS OF THE DAY AND NOTICE OF MOTION (Those marked • are Orders of the Day) •1.
PRESIDENT'S SPEECH (ADDRESS OF THANKS): Resumption of Debate on Question (31 August 2020) (5th Allotted Day), 'That the following Address in reply to the Speech of the President be agreed to:- "We, the Parliament of the Republic of Singapore, express our thanks to the President for the Speech which she delivered on behalf of the Government at the Opening of the First Session of this Parliament.".'

– (Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan).

•2.

COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Amendment No.

2) Bill [Bill No.
2) Bill [Bill No.

34/2020] – (Second Minister for Law) – Second Reading.

3.

Leader of the House: COMMITTEE OF SELECTION: That this Parliament, in accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order 100, appoints the following as members of the Committee of Selection:- Ms Indranee Rajah Dr Koh Poh Koon Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng Mr Pritam Singh Dr Tan See Leng Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai Mr Zaqy Mohamad QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 1.
Mr Don Wee: To ask the Prime Minister how many banks with Qualifying Full Banking Licences currently grant loans to local corporations with turnovers below S$10 million.

2.
2.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what policies is MAS studying to address climate risks posed by the high climate-risk sectors that have been identified in the Guidelines to Responsible Financing Practices published by the Association of Banks in Singapore in 2018; and (b) whether the Ministry can share how the MAS will be working with banks to develop their responsible financing policies in relation to these high climate-risk sectors.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 11 3.


Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Prime Minister (a) how many adult Singaporeans currently do not have a bank account; (b) what are the primary reasons for individuals not having a bank account; and (c) whether special bank accounts for Government transactions can be created through POSB for such individuals.

4.
4.

Ms Ng Ling Ling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry has data on retiree landlords who are dependent on rental incomes of their small commercial units for their monthly living expenses; and (b) whether there are further grants that can cover them under the Rental Relief Framework for SMEs beyond the one- month waiver on grounds of financial hardship.

5.
5.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether he will review the personal income tax reliefs in relation to a dependant's income threshold of $4,000 and the child's full- time national serviceman allowances that has increased since 2010.

6.
6.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) to date, how many companies have taken up loans that are backed by the $22 billion loan capital set aside as part of the Government's COVID-19 package; (b) what is the split of loan capital taken up by SMEs and large firms; (c) what is the interest rate that is paid by the banks for tapping on this loan capital; and (d) what is the expected repayment period for banks tapping on the loan capital that is set aside.
7.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many applications has ICA received to extend the social visit pass, Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or Long Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) of foreign spouses of Singaporeans (i) between February and July 2019 and (ii) between February and July 2020, with a breakdown by social visit pass, LTVP and LTVP+; (b) what are the success rates for each category; and (c) what are the most frequent reasons for rejection.

8.
8.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Singapore Police Force will allow private security firms to recruit and employ Singaporeans on a temporary basis for specified tasks as private security officers pending their (i) screening, training and passing the requisite tests and (ii) pending their medical screening for those aged above 60 years.

9.
9.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Law in each of the past two years (a) how many cases of neighbour disputes arising from second- hand cigarette smoke have been mediated successfully by HDB; (b) how many cases have proceeded to the Community Mediation Centre and mediated successfully; (c) how many cases are filed with the Community Disputes Resolutions Tribunals; and (d) what is the extent of increase or decrease in the number of such cases after the start of the circuit breaker period.
No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 12 10.

Ms Ng Ling Ling: To ask the Minister for Health (a) how are the primary care providers, including polyclinics and private GP clinics, equipped and resourced to detect early onset of mental health issues and to provide preventive care; (b) what are the subsidies for Singaporeans in seeking such preventive care; and (c) whether there are integration platforms with social services in such care provisions.

11.
11.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health (a) what is the estimated operational lifespan of a motorised wheelchair or scooter that is issued to a senior under the Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF); (b) what proportion of such SMF recipients have since requested a further replacement of their motorised mobility device; and (c) for such requests, what is the median duration after the first device was issued, before the further request arose.

12.
12.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will consider more widespread availability of medication delivery to patients' homes to reduce crowding and waiting time in polyclinics and hospitals especially for those patients collecting routine medication for chronic conditions.

13.
13.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Health (a) since 27 March 2020, how many visitors have been allowed into Singapore for medical treatment; (b) how many of their family members have been permitted to enter Singapore; and (c) what is the breakdown of the countries that these visitors come from.

14.
14.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether Singapore will be joining trials for COVID-19 vaccines developed by other nations and, if so, when will these trials commence; (b) whether there are plans to purchase vaccines currently under clinical trial around the world; and (c) whether a framework has been developed for the manner of administration of a COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore once one has been adopted.

15.
15.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Health (a) Between April and August 2020, what is the total number of imported COVID-19 cases who are non-Singapore citizens; and (b) of these cases, what are the top three countries of embarkation from where these persons came from and what are the respective figures for each of these countries.

16.
16.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information whether the Ministry will increase awareness among merchants who adopt cashless payments on how to verify payments and what they can do to protect themselves from possible scams.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 13 17.


Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) how does the Government intend to respond to the US Clean Network Initiative while maintaining access to technologies from different providers; and (b) how does the Government intend to mitigate consequences or repercussions from any non-compliance with this initiative.

18.
18.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the schedule for the building of the hawker centre in Bukit Batok HDB Town by 2027 may be brought forward to deal with the increased number of dwelling units and to stabilise the food and beverage prices in the area.

19.
19.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry will consider incentivising the use of environment-friendly food and drink containers such as washable or reusable containers.

20.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry how many banks are currently involved in the administration of Government-assisted schemes such as the Temporary Bridging Loan.

21.
21.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the Ministry will consider expanding the Green Lane to allow for business travel to China without sponsors so that small businesses may continue travelling for business to China.

22.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the cost of living has increased during the current COVID-19 period; and (b) if so, what measures are being taken to monitor and manage the situation.

23.
23.

Ms Raeesah Khan: To ask the Minister for Education (a) in the past five years, how many applications that local autonomous universities have received for the Higher Education Community Bursary and the Higher Education Bursary from full-time and part-time undergraduates; and (b) what is the percentage of rejected applications.

24.
24.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: To ask the Minister for Education (a) over the last three years, what is the number of cases of cyberbullying reported in primary and secondary schools respectively; (b) whether there are established guidelines of corrective actions to be taken against the perpetrators; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to further develop cybersecurity infrastructure and legal frameworks to protect children against cyberbullying.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 14 25.


Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development whether, under the Special Needs Savings Scheme, the Ministry will consider allowing parents of children with special needs to specify to whom the remaining money will be distributed in the unfortunate event of the passing on of the child.

26.
26.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) to date, what has been the total number of applications for the COVID-19 Support Grant; (b) what is the number of successful applications; (c) what is the breakdown of rejected applications based on eligibility criteria; and (d) of the rejected cases, what is the number of cases that are successful upon appeal or re-application.

27.
27.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) when will the Vulnerable-In-Community (VIC) Network conduct its planned survey on vulnerable members of society; (b) whether the planned survey will be done periodically; and (c) when will the Ministry release the full survey report to the public.

28.
28.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Transport whether LTA will study the feasibility of introducing sub-spoke bus services that can ply along different routes as compared to the main bus service to better meet the needs of different resident groups connecting to key amenities, such as polyclinics and markets, in the adjacent towns, especially in new estates such as Brickland, without compromising operators' commercial viability.

29.
29.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Transport whether LTA will review and extend the guidelines for covered linkways beyond 400 metres as they are an important part of our infrastructure to link people and amenities.

30.
30.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Transport whether he can provide an update on LTA's decision announced on 6 January 2020 to study the feasibility of implementing noise mitigation measures along the stretch of the Pan-Island Expressway running adjacent to the HDB blocks in Bukit Batok SMC.

31.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) how many unprofitable bus services exist as of July 2020; and (b) what is the total subsidy level for unprofitable bus services each year.
32.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current number of firms under the Fair Consideration Framework watchlist; and (b) whether the Ministry will (i) disclose the names of firms that continue to be on the Fair Consideration Framework watchlist for more than six months and (ii) consider withdrawing these firms' access to Government grants and tax incentive schemes.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 15 33.


Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Manpower from January 2010 to June 2020, what is the annual breakdown of Singaporean, permanent resident and foreign Professionals, Managers and Executives in industries such as manufacturing, construction, services, banking and finance, IT and communications, and professional services.

34.
34.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Manpower from January 2010 to June 2020, what is the unemployment rate of Singaporeans and Singaporean permanent residents who are Professionals, Managers and Executives by age and gender.

35.
35.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) with the introduction of SG United Traineeships, what is the latest take-up rate across different sectors; (b) whether there is a need to further reach out to more Singaporeans to raise awareness of the Traineeship programme; and (c) whether the Ministry will work with companies to eventually convert a larger proportion of the traineeships into permanent positions post-COVID- 19.

36.
36.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the employment rate for Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) recipient firms in March 2020 versus currently; (b) whether the redundancy rate of the JSS recipient firms has increased and, if so, by how much; and (c) what is the unemployment or redundancy rate among firms that are recipients of JSS versus those that have declined the JSS payouts.

37.
37.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many cases of thefts and vandalism of community gardens have been reported in the last five years, (b) whether there has been a rising trend; (c) whether there are measures to make it easier for the gardeners to make reports; and (d) what measures and public education programmes are in place to deter and reduce these crimes.

38.
38.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) under the HDB Public Rental Scheme, how many requests for assistance with rent payments has been received so far for this year; and (b) whether HDB is considering a temporary rent freeze for tenants.

39.
39.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many local species of flora and fauna have become extinct in the last five years; (b) how many local species are currently endangered; and (c) what efforts are being made to improve students and young Singaporeans' awareness of biodiversity and the risks and consequences of species extinction.

No.

6 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 16 40.


Ms Ng Ling Ling: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what are the existing platforms or initiatives that the Ministry has created to promote inter-generational collaboration and actions in tackling the issues facing Singaporeans, including the ageing population and shift in workforce composition going forward.

41.
41.

Miss Cheng Li Hui: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what are the efforts and upcoming plans by the Government to engage youths during this pandemic so that their views, concerns and aspirations can be taken into account as Singapore plans for a post-COVID-19 world.