Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698848962555.pdf (Singapore)
FOURTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE (SECOND SESSION) ORDER PAPER WEDNESDAY, 5 JULY 2023 No.

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QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER* Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry has data on the number of students from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the Integrated Programme (IP) who have been admitted to diploma in nursing or degree in nursing programmes at local Institutes of Higher Learning in the past three years.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry regarding the requirement for all homes to have residual current circuit breaker (RCCB) by July 2025 (a) what assistance will the Government provide to homeowners who are unable to assess if their circuit breakers satisfy the requirements; and (b) whether a subsidy will be made available for seniors or low-income families to install RCCBs at an affordable cost.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) when did the Ministry became aware of Grab Holdings’ decision to cut 1,000 jobs or 11% of its workforce, given Grab Holdings’ statement in September 2022 that it had no plans to undertake mass layoffs; (b) what proportion of those jobs that are cut are held by Singaporean workers; and (c) whether the Ministry is engaging with Grab Holdings with a view to facilitate the transition of displaced workers into suitable jobs.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in light of recent cases of companies being fined for illegally dumping toxic and hazardous substances into public sewers (a) how are fines for first-time and repeated offenders determined for such offences; (b) whether the Ministry will consider reviewing the adequacy of existing penalties to provide greater deterrence against such offences; and (c) how are workers who maintain the public sewerage system protected from the effects of toxic and hazardous substances in the aftermath of such dumping acts.
Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the maintenance of the Centralised Cooling System (CCS) unit within the flats in Tengah new town is under the purview of the Town Council, HDB or the flat owner; and (b) whether HDB will consider offering CCS to all new BTO developments.
Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) since the publication of the national guide for early childhood educators on Outdoor Learning by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in September 2019, whether the Ministry has taken stock of how many preschools are implementing the recommendations in the guide; (b) if so, what is the progress; (c) what are the challenges encountered by preschool operators incorporating more outdoor time in their curriculum; and (d) how is the Ministry helping to address these challenges.
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Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the likelihood of severe transboundary haze affecting Singapore this year; (b) what are the measures needed to prepare for such a possibility; and (c) how can the public be better prepared to mitigate the impact of severe transboundary haze.
Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry whether an update can be provided on the new tourism development in the Jurong Lake District.
Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry has projected any figures for the anticipated increase in informal caregivers needed over the next 10 to 20 years as the population ages; (b) if so, what are the projected figures; and (c) how will the Government build up the capacity and capability of care workers to relieve the load on family caregivers.

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Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how did Singapore perform in 2021 and 2022 for PM2.5, PM10, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions respectively; (b) whether the Government has conducted any review of the failure to meet the 2020 air quality targets; (c) whether there are any updates to Singapore’s long-term air quality targets; and (d) whether there are new plans being developed to meet the long-term targets and, if so, what are they.
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Mr Seah Kian Peng: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information given the declining traditional letter mail volumes, what measures are being taken to ensure that Singapore Post’s domestic post and parcel business remains viable and there is continuity of postal services for Singaporeans.

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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether he can provide a status update on the Single Room Shared Facilities initiative; and (b) what suggestions are received to enhance the said initiative.

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Dr Lim Wee Kiak: To ask the Minister for Health (a) when can the results from the measures announced to reduce waiting time for admissions to public hospitals be expected; (b) what is the longest projected waiting time for beds; (c) when will the Ministry start to mobilise private hospitals and healthcare facilities; and (d) what steps have been taken to ensure that patients who are not admitted within a day receive timely and quality care.

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Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Government will consider introducing mandatory caregiving leave for private sector companies.

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Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether an update can be provided on the current Zika situation; and (b) whether Project Wolbachia has potential to be used to combat Zika, alongside dengue.

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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current per capita cost of running Day Activity Centre services for adults with disabilities with moderate to high needs; and (b) what is the current per capita grants provided by the Government for such Day Activity Centre services.

No.

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Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the rationale behind the proposal to allow the use of only single-deck beds in migrant worker dormitories; (b) when has this proposal been revised to allow the use of double-decker beds; and (c) what are the reasons behind the revision.

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Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether there are plans to increase the means-testing thresholds for annual values of properties (AVs) given that IRAS has revised the AVs upwards on 1 January 2023 to reflect the rise in market rents; and (b) why is the Ministry not using the AVs as of 2022 for the purpose of means-tested healthcare subsidies for households with zero PCHI.

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Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) how many HDB flats currently have an Annual Value (AV) of $13,000 or more; (b) of these, how many have zero Per Capita Household Income; (c) what were these two figures in 2022 before the AVs were increased on 1 January 2023 to reflect the rise in market rents.

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Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for National Development regarding the use of live chickens and chicks in an art installation at the National Gallery Singapore (a) whether veterinary expert inputs have been sought prior to the deployment of the chickens; and (b) what is known regarding the impact on the animals' well-being during and after participation in the art installation.

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Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry with regard to the potential Johor- Singapore economic region announced by the Malaysian Economy Minister in May 2023 (a) what has been discussed with the Malaysian federal government and the Johor state government; and (b) what is the status of these discussions.

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Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Health whether the estimated number of annual deaths attributable to second-hand smoke for Singapore based on studies such as the Global Burden of Disease has increased over the past 10 years.

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Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether new BTO projects are built with a target Green Plot Ratio and, if so, what is the target ratio; and (b) what is the average Green Plot Ratio of BTO projects completed in the last three years.

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Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Prime Minister (a) in the past year how many fraudulent bank transactions have been made a result of SMS one-time password (OTP) diversions; (b) whether MAS has a timeline for requiring banks to phase out the use of SMS OTPs in favour of other multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods; and (c) whether MAS will require banks to provide customers with the option to stop the use of SMS OTPs in the interim, if they are already using other MFA methods.

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Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Prime Minister in view of the police advisory informing the public that malware was used to compromise mobile devices resulting in unauthorised transactions made from bank accounts, whether MAS will consider reviewing previously closed cases of customer disputes with banks where unauthorised transactions were reported despite one-time passwords not being divulged or received.

No.

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Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) in each of the last three years, what is the volume of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized; (b) what is the number of individuals charged for offences relating to duty-unpaid cigarettes and what percentage of these are foreigners; and (c) whether any further measures will be taken to deter and reduce the import and consumption of duty- unpaid cigarettes.

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Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth following the Singapore national football team’s poor results at the 32nd SEA Games (a) how does the Ministry intend to rebuild our local football ecosystem; and (b) whether the pipeline of our young football talents should be under greater scrutiny.

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Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what are the likely consequences of China's recent declaration of support for the Myanmar junta on (i) ASEAN's Five Point Consensus (ii) intra-ASEAN cooperation on Myanmar and (iii) prospects for peace in Myanmar.

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Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government has conducted reviews on the impact of the (i) one-off Baby Support Grant and (ii) past increases in the quantum of amounts paid out under the Baby Bonus Scheme.

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Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the Government's funding agreement with SPH Media Trust has been concluded and if any funds have been disbursed; (b) if so, whether these funds will be re-assessed in light of the report of the Audit and Risk Committee of SPH Media released on 16 June 2023; and (c) whether the key performance indicators for the funding agreement will include evaluations of SPH Media Trust's risk culture and improvements to its risk management practices and internal controls and processes.
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Ms Carrie Tan: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry will consider including other relatives under the Sponsorship Scheme for seniors with no children or siblings and are in urgent need of hiring a migrant domestic worker due to their declining health; (b) if so, what are the documents needed; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider an expedited approval process for such cases.

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Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether the Ministry has data on the number of jobs that have been created for Singaporeans and permanent residents as a result of the setting up of family offices in Singapore since the scheme was first launched; (b) if so, what is the number; and (c) how many of such Singaporeans and permanent residents earn (i) less than $2,000 monthly (ii) more than $2,000 but less than $5,000 monthly and (iii) more than $5,000 monthly, respectively.

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Ms Mariam Jaafar: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether a study has been done to quantify the contributions of the family offices set up in the past three years to the Singapore economy and how they compare to other groups including citizens and foreigners under employment passes; and (b) if not, whether the Government will consider tracking this in the future.

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Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) how much has (i) Ministries and (ii) statutory boards spent on management consultancy services in each of the last five years; and (b) what is the nature of the consultancy services provided.

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Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what is the cause of the disruption to DBS Bank's digital banking services and physical ATM services on 5 May 2023; and (b) what is being done to strengthen the reliability and resilience of retail banks with significant market share in Singapore, especially with regard to digital banking services.

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Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how does the Ministry evaluate the prevailing societal norms and values with regard to being single unwed parents; and (b) whether the Ministry considers it timely to re-evaluate the provision of the Working Mother’s Child Relief and the Parenthood Tax Rebate for such parents.

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Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has data on how many non-Singaporean Tamil Language (TL) teachers are currently employed in schools and TL centres; and (b) whether schools will consider hiring more non-Singaporean TL teachers from abroad given the limited availability of TL teachers.

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Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how frequently does the Ministry review the background screening companies responsible for verifying the qualifications of Employment Pass (EP) applicants; (b) how are conflicting verification results resolved to ensure accuracy and consistencies; (c) whether further information can be provided on the selection criteria in assessing these background screening companies; and (d) what steps will be taken to ensure a smooth implementation of the new requirement for employers who may be unfamiliar with the process.
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Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Prime Minister (a) in each of the last five years, what is total value of unauthorised credit card charges that have been reported; (b) what proportion of such unauthorised charges comprised individual transactions that are below S$50 in value each; and (c) what regulatory measures are being considered or implemented to protect Singaporeans against Bank Identification Number attacks.

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Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower of the rise in resident employment by 2,800 in Q1 2023 (a) what percentage of the increase is due to non-residents becoming residents; and (b) what is the breakdown of the increase by full-time permanent employment and part-time employment, respectively.

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Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Prime Minister (a) how many financial institutions have been investigated for breaching anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules in the past five years; (b) how many of these are related to the Wirecard scandal; and (c) what are the additional preventive measures MAS has put in place to minimise anti-money laundering activities following the Wirecard scandal.

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Mr Sharael Taha: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) what will happen to the horses at the Singapore Turf Club after its closure; and (b) whether there will still be land allocated for horse-riding and other equestrian use.

* 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.

107 5 JULY 2023 6 ORDER OF THE DAY 1.

Online Criminal Harms Bill [Bill No.

17/2023] – (Minister for Home Affairs) – Second Reading.

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NOTICES OF MOTIONS Ms Hazel Poa (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency Member): GROUP REPRESENTATION CONSTITUENCIES: That this House calls for the abolition of Group Representation Constituencies.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap (Aljunied): SPORTING SUCCESS: That this House celebrates the accomplishments of our athletes and para-athletes at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia, and calls on the Government to undertake a thorough evaluation of the areas of improvement in Singapore’s sporting ecosystem, and commit to realising clear, achievable goals for sporting success over the coming decade.
2 4 MEMORANDUM Matter proposed to be raised on the Motion for the Adjournment (SO 2(8)(b)).

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon) : Transportation of Workers on Back of Lorries.

QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 1.

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Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Prime Minister how does the average annual state costs for providing Ministerial security at No 26 and No 31 Ridout Road compare with the average for such costs.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) what are the returns for the Dynamic, Balanced and Stable funds under the Saver Premium Fund in their (i) first year (ii) fifth year (iii) tenth year and (iv) since their inception respectively; (b) what are the performance benchmarks against which the respective funds are compared to; and (c) how have the funds performed relative to their benchmarks in the respective time periods.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what are the results of the most recent humanitarian needs assessment conducted by the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) for Rohingya refugees.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs in each of the past five years (a) how many times has an authorisation for a statement to be recorded in the absence of an Appropriate Adult been sought from an investigation supervisor; and (b) how many times has such an authorisation been (i) granted and (ii) not granted.

No.

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Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the returns for the Dynamic, Balanced and Stable funds under the Home Affairs Uniformed Services INVEST Fund in their (i) first year (ii) fifth year (iii) tenth year and (iv) since their inception respectively; (b) what are the performance benchmarks against which the respective funds are compared to; and (c) how have the funds performed relative to their benchmarks in the respective time periods.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in each of the past five years, what is the number of people who have refused conveyance via SCDF ambulances to hospitals after the arrival of the ambulances; (b) what are the top five reasons given by these people for their refusal; and (c) whether SCDF or any other Government agency follows up with such people on their medical conditions after their refusal.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Transport whether Singapore has adopted IMO 2020, a global regulation where the upper limit on sulphur content of ships’ fuel oil is reduced to 0.50%, on ships (i) entering Singapore waters and (ii) registered in Singapore, regardless of their jurisdictional locations.
Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Government has conducted studies on the (i) economic costs (ii) healthcare costs and (iii) excess mortality associated with air pollution from all domestic sources; and (b) if so, whether these findings can be shared.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Education what proportion of undergraduate students currently studying at (i) the National University of Singapore (ii) Nanyang Technological University and (iii) all other autonomous universities are non-Singaporeans from high-income countries and receiving tuition grants or fee offsets for their studies.
Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the uptake rate among parents for voluntary workshops conducted by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) that aim to provide support and guidance on dealing with mental health issues of their children; (b) whether schools will consider including mental health screening in their health screening programmes; and (c) how do schools collaborate with parents to identify and support students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties.
Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Education (a) in the past five years, how many foreign students took the GCE ‘O’ levels and ‘A’ levels in Singapore schools; (b) how many years were they studying in Singapore before they sat for the O levels; and (c) what is the foreign student proportion of junior college enrolment in Singapore.
Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry has studied the feasibility of hospital-provided accommodation at concessionary rates, as part of supporting healthcare workers who cannot easily afford their own accommodation but wish to stay near the hospital workplace, including for what may be operational or operational-related reasons.
Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Health (a) what is the average waiting time for initial and follow-up appointments for mental health treatment at public healthcare institutions; and (b) can more accessible and affordable options be provided to mental healthcare patients who are seeking private treatment due to long waiting times in the public healthcare system.

No.

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Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will consider providing public subsidies for Continuous Glucose Monitoring in place of self-monitoring via finger pricking under the Chronic Disease Management Programme.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether NParks’ review of the cat management framework is on track for completion by late 2023; (b) what are the results of the six-month public consultation exercise on the framework launched in September 2022; and (c) whether the review will give due consideration to responsible cat owners, in deciding whether to allow cats as pets in HDB flats.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what is the current number and percentage of HDB flats with outstanding mortgage loans; (b) what is the median and average loan balance outstanding, broken down by mortgage loans owed to (i) private financial institutions and (ii) HDB respectively.
Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether he can provide an update on HDB’s collaboration with Evonik Industries to studying the incorporation of a high-performance insulation material into the roof panels of flats; and (b) what are the results and likely policy thrusts arising from the study, preliminary or otherwise.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what are the reasons why the audition requirement to renew busking licences cannot be fulfilled with technological solutions such as live video conferencing; and (b) if auditions via live video conferencing are allowed, whether this alternative will not be limited to only those with good busking track records.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what are the current median and average (i) CPF Ordinary Account, Special Account and Medisave Account balances; (b) what is the current total principal amount withdrawn for residential properties, broken down by age deciles respectively.
Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry can require the Employment Claims Tribunal to publicly issue written judgments by default, with sensitive personal details redacted as necessary, to guide the development of employment law and protection of workers and businesses in Singapore.
Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there is available data on the number of cases over the past three years of employees being asked to make restitution for property at the workplace which has been damaged or stolen by external individuals when this requirement is not explicitly stated in the employee's terms and conditions of employment; and (b) if data is available, what are the outcome of these cases.