Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698831915696.pdf (Singapore)
THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE FIRST SESSION ORDER PAPER FRIDAY, 29 JANUARY 2016 No.6 1.30 pm QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER* *1.

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Ms Joan Pereira: To ask the Minister for National Development in view of complaints by owners of HDB BTO projects, how does HDB ensure the quality of its flats and what recourse do owners have when defects have tiot been rectified to their satisfaction.

Asso~ Prof Fatimah Lateef: To the Minister .


for National Development (a) how does the current number of heavy vehicle parking lots measure up with the current number of such vehicles and the demand for these lots; and (b) whether.

there are plans to review the location and availability of such lots.
.ask Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether any of the MR T's components or systems are operating past the manufacturer's recommended end-of-life date and/or end-of-life operating cycle; (b) if so, what is the planned approach to replacing these components or systems; and (c) what measures does the Ministry plan to take to ensure a systematically timely replacement ofMRT parts and systems.
Dr. Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Transport in view of the recent .instance of a child being hit by a cyclist at Serangoon Park Connector, what are the measures taken to safeguard vulnerable persons on footpaths such as children and the elderly.

Assoc.

P:t;of Fatimah Lateef: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Devel9pment what are the current waiting times for children and adults with disabilities to get their assessments made by psychologists, speech therapists · and other trained personnel.
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29 JANUARY 2016 2 Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether he can , provide-data op the long-term impact of Singaporean children's exposure to· haze in terms of the likelihood of developing respiratory illnesses,.

including .

chronic conditions such as asthma, later in life; and (b) what is -the estimated health care cost of this impact.
Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for .Home Affairs what are the measures that the Ministry is considering to put in place to ensure accident victims and seriously ill patients continue to receive timely ambulan·ce evacuation to hospitals.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for · National Development whether HDB can include the construction· of portable/fixed · ramps at main entrances of HDB flats that have more than a single step as.

funding.

part of package/scheme.


for Active Seniors the Enhancement .

(EASE) the Minister for· National Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask to owners/lessees of commercial Development what can be done premises/land who fail to properly maintain their perimeter/surrounding areas· including footpaths and roads which the public and pedestrians have access to.

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Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for National Development whether: NParks will consider providing (i) free parking at its facilities for the- public · for the first two hours and at off-peak times; and (ii) free parking for residents holding a season HOB parking label within a reasonabJe vicinity and, if not, a concessionary parking rate for such residents.

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Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for.


National Development (a) · whether the Building and Construction Authority will approve the insta)lation of gondola points in· the private areas of ·flats in.

high-rise residential · developments; and (b) what· recourse do home owners have to· request .. developers to use alternative gondola systems that are not installed at·the· · expense of their family safety.

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Mr Liang Eng Hw~: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) why are the fares for DTL stations between Bukit Panjang and Newton.

and: between Bukit Panjang and Bugis inconsistent and exceptionally high; and (b) whether this is a fair and logical basis to compute fares for commuters.

· No.6 29 JANUARY 2016 3 *13.

Mr Leon Perera: To.
ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is the breakdown of the number of patents developed by Government research centres/institutes and autonomous universities in the past ten years which have been commercialised by the private sector by way of (i) licensing via A*STAR's Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL); (ii) licensing without· going through ETPL; (iii) mechanisms other than licensing via ETPL; and (iv) mechanisms other than licensing without going through ETPL; and (b) for each group, what is the breakdown by Government-linked companies, public-listed companies, MNCs and local SMEs.
* 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.

AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLICBUSINESS Introduction of Government Bill 1.
Minister for Home Affairs: Registration of Criminals (Amendment) Bill.

ORDER OF THE DAY AND NOTICE OF MOTION (Fhat marked • is Order of the Day) •1.

PRESIDENT'S SPEECH (ADDRESS OF THANKS): Resumption of Debate.
on Question (25 January 2016) (5'h 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 he delivered on behalf of the Government at the Opening of the First Session of this Parliament.".'

- (Mr Christopher de Souza).

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Mr Low Thia Khiang (Aijunied) · · Mr·Chen Show Mao (Aijunied) Ms Sylvia Lim (Aijunied) Mr Muhamad Faisai'Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied) Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang) Mr Pritam Singh (Aijunied): i i, 1 · section 53 of the Parliamentary Elections Act- NON-CONSTITUENCY MEMBER: That this Parliament, pursuant ·to (a) declares that the seat of Ms Lee Li Lian, who was elected a non- .

constituency Member of Parliament under.


section 52 of the Act, · .<has become vacant by reason of her having· failed to take and : .

, subscribe before Parliament the Oath of Allegiance under Article 61 · 6 · · .. o~ the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore at the first and second sittings ofthe first session of the present Parliament; and 3 (b) ,resolves that the seat be filled in accordance with-sections 52(2) and 9 52(3B)(a) ofthe Act.

·,' i:'l' QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 1.


'J'an Lip Fong: To as_k the Prime Minister whether · the Mr .

D..ennis Goverpment will consider allowing early voting.

by .

postal ballot at the .. general elections, given that there are more than 200,000 Singapore citizens living abroad and .most do not vote using the current overseas voting facilities.

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Mr· Patrick-Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Prime Minister how many mid- .
· career professionals, managers and executives aged 40 years and· above have .. · · MinistJ;ies :and statutory boards hired as (i) permanent and (ii) contract staff each year from 2011-2015.

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Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport what has been the total ·cumulative number of applicants for the off-peak bus/MRT travel pass thus far.

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Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Manpower what is the breakdown of Singaporean, permanent resident and foreign professionals, managers and executives in Singapore annually from 2013 to 2015 according to the various industries/sectors which include manufacturing, construction, services, banking and finance, IT and communications.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Manpower what is the unemployment rate of Singaporeans and Singaporean permanent residents.
who are professionals, managers and executives from 2011 to 2015 broken down by age and gender.

Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many low- wage workers, and what percentage of them, have received the dollar quantum payouts of $60, recommended by the National Wages Council (NWC) in 2015; and (b) whether these payouts can be m~de compulsory for workers from the bottom 1Oth percentile of the workforce.
Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what are the types of jobs thus far identified in the Career Support Programme (CSP) that pay at least $4,000 a month; (b) whether the Ministry will be monitoring the employment status of those on the programme after the period of wage support ends so as to assess the value and sustainability of the CSP.
Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for Law (a) from 2013 to 2015, how many workers did not receive their due salaries when their companies were liquidated; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider amending legislation to provide for the salaries of workers as a first charge on a company's liquidation.

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Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many new HDB flat buyers were made to pay the resale levy in 20 I 0-20 15; (b) ofthese buyers, how many paid up in full; (c) how many buyers requested to have the levy wholly or partially waived; (d) what were the n:;tain reasons given for requesting these waivers; and (e) what proportion of these requests was successful.

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Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask ij}e Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the causes leading to the water supply disruption in Clementi Town on 28 October 2015; and (b) what are the actions taken by · PUB to prevent a similar occurrence from recurring.

No.6 29 JANUARY 2016 6 11.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources how does PUB determine the deployment of water wagons and an onsite technical team during a water supply outage.

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Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister f.or the Environment and Water Resources whether there are plans to build a wet market at Simei and, if not, whether the Ministry will consider conducting a study to assess the feasibility of the same.