Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698846284305.pdf (Singapore)
,---- THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE FIRST SESSION ORDER PAPER TUESDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2017 No.

33 1.30 pm QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER* *1.

*2.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry can provide an update on investigations into the recent termination of multiple employees of Surbana Jurong.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what constitutes due and fair process in terminating employees due to poor performance; (b) what recourse do employees have to access crucial evidence on performance held by employers to prove unfair dismissal; and (c) what are the penalties for employers who disguise retrenchment as termination due to poor performance.

*3.
*3.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: To ask the Minister for National Development what is the pricing mechanism of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats compared to unsold BTO flats released under a Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise that results in the BTO price for the same flat exceeding the SBF price in some cases and not in others.

*4.
*4.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) in the past five years, what is the rate of rejection by applicants who are invited to select a flat for the sale of BTO flats or sale of balance flats exercise; (b) what is the top three reasons given for the rejection; (c) what is the period of time taken to complete inviting all applicants to select their flats; and (d) whether HDB will allow interested and unsuccessful applicants to stay in the queue to select a flat.

*5.
*5.

Mr Leon Perera: To· ask the Minister for National Development whether motorists can be allowed to use the old parking coupons at pro-rated rates.

I i I No.

33 7 FEBRUARY 2017 2 *6.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development why are there three occupants in a one-room rental unit in Senior Group Homes instead of the standard number of two occupants under the typical HOB rental housing scheme.

*7.
*7.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry will consider extending the Senior Group Home scheme to suitable adults with special needs whose families are no longer around or able to look after them.

*8.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether ail taxis are equipped with airbags, particularly for the front seats; (b) if not, which taxi companies have not done so; and (c) whether the Ministry intends to make the .
installation mandatory in line with international road safety standards.

*9.

Mr Ang Hin Kee: To ask the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will consider making it mandatory for all vehicles which provide hire and reward services to be instailed with safety devices and safety features to avoid incidents that compromise road safety for their passengers and road users.

*10.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Prime Minister in light of the merging of career tracks for graduate and non-graduate civil servants (a) whether different educational qualifications affect compensation, starting pay, training, career progression and exposure for individuals at the same grade; (b) whether civil servants who are recipients of Government or statutory board scholarships have compensation, starting pay, training, career progression and exposure that are different from other civil servants; and (c) how does the Current Estimated Potential model take educational attainment into account.
*11.

Ms Sun Xueling: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether there are plans to offer online banking licences to internet companies focused on providing solutions for mobile payments; and (b) what will be the pre-requisites in terms of infrastructure and company capabilities for such licences.

*12.
*12.

Mr Kok Heng Leun: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will consider giving Long~Term Visit Pass (LTVP) holders who are married to Singapore citizens, similar health subsidies as LTVP Plus holders.

*13.
*13.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what has been the percentage change in the price of natural gas supplied to Singapore's power generation sector for every year since 20 I 0; and (b) how does this compare to the percentage change in electricity prices for (i) consumers and (ii) SMEs in each year over the same period.

I I No.

33 7 FEBRUARY 2017 3 *14.


Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) how much has been disbursed under the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES!
Schools) programme in each year since its inception, broken down by disbursements to polytechnics, ITE colleges and JCs/secondary schools; (b) how many schools have made use of the grant in each year since its inception, broken down by polytechnic, ITE college and JC/secondary school; and (c) how does the Government follow up on its implementation in each school that has received the grant to ensure that the learning outcomes are met.

*15.
*15.

Mr Desmond Choo: To ask the Minister for Finance how does the Government ensure that workers engaged for government contracts are paid for their work when either the main contractors or the latter's sub-contractors go into liquidation.

*16.
*16.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) with regard to students studying in ITEs and polytechnics (a) what proportion of internships include an allowance; and (b) for internships that do not include an allowance, whether a fund can be established to pool corporate donations for the purpose of providing allowances to students with limited means.

*17.
*17.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how serious is the problem of students who sport a tattoo on a visible part of the body; (b) what are common reasons that a child will sport a tattoo; and (c) what is the policy on how to handle such pupils if the tattoo is on a visible part of the body.

*18.
*18.

Mr Desmond Choo: To ask the Minister for Manpower in light ofthe increase in numbers of workers participating in the "sharing" economy with many being freelancers or self-employed (a) whether has there been a deflationary impact on wages in sectors with a high concentration of such workers; and (b) how can the Government help these workers to be financially adequate in their retirement.

*19.
*19.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the Ministry's assessment on the take-up of the Professional Conversion Programme; (b) what are the challenges in matching and retraining vulnerable professionals amidst increasing retrenchment; (c) what are the take-up rates by workers from different race groups; and (d) whether the Programme has challenges reaching out to specific groups.

No.

33 7 FEBRUARY 2017 4 *20.


Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider providing a longer grace period of 15 minutes for parking in car pilrks with electronic parking systems during peak hours in areas where there are childcare facilities and schools.

*21.
*21.

Mr Png Eng Huat: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what is the number of feedback and complaints which the Ministry has received from residents of newly-built executive condominiums (ECs) on defects and design flaws in the past five years; and (b) what is the role of HOB in helping to resolve such matters since ECs are part ofthe stable of public flats offered by HDB.

*22.
*22.

Mr Seah Kian Peng: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether there has been in increase in the number of homeless individuals since 2015 and, if so, what are the underlying reasons; and (b) what are the places that the homeless occupy for their makeshift/temporary homes.

*23.
*23.

Mr Sakthindi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) since the signing of several agreements at the Africa-Singapore Business Forum in August 2016 (a) what are some of the specific projects that will be taking off; and (b) how can we further strengthen economic ties with African nations.

*24.
*24.

Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) since the launch of the SME Working Capital Loan Programme in June 2016 (a) how many SMEs' applications under the programme have been rejected; (b) what are the reasons for these rejected applications; and (c) what other Government financing assistance can such SMEs seek.

*25.
*25.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether the latest reciprocal road charge on foreign-registered vehicles entering Singapore will impact domestic inflation and food prices; and (b) whether the road charge can be waived for commercial goods vehicles.

*26.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry has studied the impact of the growth of the private car hire app industry on taxi drivers' incomes; (b) whether there is a difference in income between day hirers and midnight shift hirers; (c) whether taxi drivers' incomes have improved since the recent changes to the Taxi Availability Framework; (d) what more can be done to level the playing field and enhance the income of affected drivers; and (e) whether there are plans to engage taxi companies to adapt fare surcharges and rentals to help them cope with competition.
!

L No.

33 7 FEBRUARY 2017 5 *27.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: To ask the Minister for Transport with the greater anticipated use of PMDs and bicycles on footpaths (a) how can the Ministry help facilitate injury or damage claims between two parties, to prevent small claims from being settled by costly civil suits; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider setting up a claims tribunal to facilitate injury claims in the absence of compulsory insurance.

*28.
*28.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Prime Minister what are the measures that MAS takes to ensure that the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) oflocal banks are fully inter-operable to enable cash withdrawals and bank transactions to be more accessible to the elderly and those with mobility needs.

*29.
*29.

Mr Pug Eng Huat: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth for FY20 15/16 what is (i) the amount of income earned by grassroots organisations (GROs) from community trade fairs (ii) the percentage of the earned income used by GROs for welfare assistance, scholarships and bursaries and (iii) the amount of sponsorships in kinds and cash collected by the GROs for staging community events.

*30.
*30.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Finance whether recent political developments in the US and political uncertainties in Europe with upcoming elections raise concerns on the long-term investment outlook and whether it will affect the returns of our reserves.

*31.
Mr Low Thia Khiang: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) how many public opinion polls have been put up for tender on GeBIZ between 2014 and 20 16; (b) how many of such tenders have not been put up on GeBIZ; (c) what has been the total amount spent on public opinion polls during this period; (d) what is the total number of respondents covered in these polls; and (e) what criteria does REACH use to determine if the findings of a poll are of interest to the public and hence worthy of publication.
*Members may postpone their Questions to a later sitting day if their Questions are not reached by the end of Question Time.

The postponement forms are available at the Chamber entrances.

To ensure timely notice of such postponements, Members should submit their notices to the Clerk by 4.00 pm.

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

No.

33 7 FEBRUARY 2017 6 1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


ORDERS OF THEDA Y International Enterprise Singapore Board (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

1/2017] -(Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry))- Second Reading.

Parks and Trees (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

4/20 17] -(Minister for National Development)- Second Reading.

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

5/2017]- (Minister for Transport) Second Reading.


QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he can provide a list of the persons appointed by the Government as Non-Resident Ambassadors from 2011 to 2016.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the police · conducts any additional checks or applies additional considerations when approving applications for a massage establishment licence to operate in/around residential areas; and (b) in view of the risk of vice-related activities being conducted at massage establishments, whether all massage establishments can be restricted from operating in/around residential areas.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development how many children are currently enrolled in full-day childcare at the K2 level.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what are the criteria applied when URA considers whether to approve an application for the setting up of a business to operate as a spa with no massage services; and (b) in view of the risk that such businesses may end up providing massage services in contravention of the law, whether such businesses can be restricted from operating in/around residential areas.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many certified early childhood educators are there in Singapore; (b) how many are currently undergoing training; and (c) on average, how many are trained each year.

No.

33 7 FEBRUARY2017 7 6.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many Primary One students are currently enrolled in after-school care; and (b) among these students, how many are enrolled in school-based Student Care Centres.