Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698830695288.pdf (Singapore)
THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE FIRST SESSION ORDER PAPER THURSDAY, 24 MARCH 2016 No.JO 1.30pm 1 OATHSOFALLEGIANCE Mr Azmoon Ahmad (Nominated Member of Parliament) Ms Chia Y ong Yong (Nominated Member of Parliament) Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member of Parliament) Mr Ganesh Rajaram (Nominated Member ofParliament) Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member of Parliament) Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin (Nominated Member of Parliament) Asst ProfMahdev Mohan (Nominated Member of Parliament) Assoc ProfRandolph Tan (Nominated Member of Parliament) Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member of Parliament) QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER* *1.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) to date, how many single parents have successfully applied for a home under the Assistance Scheme (Divorced/Widowed Parents) (ASSIST); (b) for cases where applicants had financial difficulties, how many were reviewed by HDB and what were the outcomes of the review; and (c) are there sufficient flats and temporary housing to meet the demand by single parents.

for Second-Timers · *2.


Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether HDB can review the eligible income criteria for HDB rental flats especially for families with children affected by divorce settlements; and (b) whether HDB can give special priority to families with school-going children in applications for HDB rental flats or units under the Sale of Balance Flats scheme.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 2 *3.


Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of Long Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) granted after 30 September 2014; and (b) what is the annual number and percentage of unsuccessful LTVP+ applications since LTVP+ was introduced.

*4.
*4.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Finance whether the Ministry will consider requiring environmental audits according to international best practices to be done on firms in which GIC and Temasek Holdings have a financial interest and which firms can potentially be contributing to the haze problem.

*5.
*5.

Mr Desmond Choo: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current breakdown of Employment Pass, S-Pass and Work Permit holders and the resident workforce in the tech and IT sector; and (b) what are the efforts to ensure that foreign manpower are not over-represented in this sector and the efforts to promote more locals to join the sector.

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Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry is aware of companies circumventing the employment ratio of local to foreign workers by offering lower grade jobs to locals and using the quota to recruit foreigners for supervisory jobs; (b) how many companies have been found indulging in such practices in the past five years; and (c) what action has been taken against them.

*7.
*7.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Defence what are the punishments that have been given to the two SAF officers for their roles during a training exercise in 2012 in which a national serviceman died as a result of an allergic reaction to smoke grenades after their conviction under military law.

*8.
*8.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) what are the forms of assistance schemes available to national servicemen who suffer a recurrence of injuries sustained during his service period; and (b) whether there is a limit set in terms of the amounts and tenures.

*9.
*9.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information in view of IDA's announcement of 15,000 vacancies in the tech and IT sector (a) what kind of jobs are these; (b) which companies/industries will these jobs be found; (c) at what level of the organisation hierarchy are these jobs set; and (d) what are the skills required for these jobs.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 3 *10.


Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs for each year between 2013 and 2015 (a) what is the total amount of monies that have been disbursed from the Malay-Muslim Community Development Fund (MMCDF); (b) how many organisations or agencies have benefited from this Fund; and (c) to what purposes have the monies been utilised.

the Minister *11.
the Minister *11.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how many homes are there currently that cater for adults with intellectual disabilities and what are their respective capacities; and (b) in the past three years, what has been the average waiting time to get into such homes.

*12.
*12.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how many homeless cases have been identified by the Ministry every year between 2005 and 2015; (a) whether there have been studies conducted to devise solutions to mitigate this issue; and (c) what is the Ministry's strategy and approach in tackling this problem.

*13.
*13.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry will review the grant to help families hire foreign domestic workers to care for elderly persons with disabilities; (b) how many households are currently receiving this grant; and (c) what is the Government's annual expenditure on this grant since it was introduced in 2012.

*14.
*14.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: To ask the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) (a) what are the·criteria for the disbursement of the Opportunity Fund Grant to schools, including the polytechnics; (b) what type of co-curricular activities are covered by this Fund; and (c) to date, what is the number of students who have benefited from this Fund.

*15.
*15.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many allied educators are currently employed in primary and secondary schools; (b) what is the average, highest and lowest number employed respectively; and (c) how many of these educators are trained in handling students with special needs.

*16.
*16.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry will investigate if there are sufficient funds in each Town Council (TC) to replace their lifts when their recommended life cycle comes to an end; (b) under what conditions do TCs need to bring forward lift replacements; and (c) whether these warrant an increase in service and conservancy charges or a higher allocation percentage to the sinking fund.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 4 *17.
Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether HDB can reconsider to (i) offer the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) to ineligible flats due to cost considerations (ii) offer LUP again to those blocks of flats that have not been successful ifthere are changes to the owners of the benefiting units; and (b) whether HDB will withdraw the right of the owners of the benefiting units to ballot if their units have been rented out or they could not be contacted for whatever reasons.

*18.
*18.

Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for Manpower whether HDB can reconsider allowing HDB home owners who do not have sufficient savings in their CPF ordinary account to utilise their CPF special or retirement accounts to manage their home mortgage arrears.

*19.
*19.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the status of the labour shortage in the maritime industry; (b) how has the labour crunch affected the industry; and (c) whether the Ministry will adjust the current foreign worker quota to help ease the situation.

*20.
*20.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether any Government studies have been undertaken on the feasibility of online voting for overseas Singaporeans using SingPass which can overcome security and secrecy concerns relating to postal voting; (b) if so, whether they can be made available; and (c) if such studies do not exist, whether the Government can share with Singaporeans the obstacles preventing these studies from being undertaken.

*21.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister.


for Trade and Industry (Industry) whether the Ministry will consider enhancing the protection of consumer interests by requiring merchants and sellers to set up and maintain client accounts to keep the deposits/payments separate from their daily operating accounts and making unlawful withdrawals from these accounts a criminal offence.

*22.
*22.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development how many private estates there are that are currently above 30 years old and whether there is a plan to upgrade these estates through the Estate Upgrading Program by a certain due date.

*23.
*23.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether NParks has a maintenance schedule for the nature parks such as that for repairing foot paths and lights; and (b) whether there are any plans to upgrade the foot paths and facilities at the Bukit Batok Nature Park.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 5 *24.


Assoc Prof Fatimab Lateef: To ask the Minister for National Development whether there can be a review of the monthly parking fees at HDB estates in particular the fee difference between surface and multi-storey carpark lots.

*25.
*25.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many Government and statutory board car parks as a proportion of the total number of these car parks provide free parking on Sundays; (b) how has this proportion varied from 2005 to 201 0; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to change this proportion in the years ahead.

*26.
*26.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry can provide an update on the feedback received from the public consultation on the Fresh Start Housing Scheme.

*27.

Ms Joan Pereira: To ask the Minister for National Development what assistance plans does HDB have in place with regard to mortgage payments by those in their late 40s or 50s who have been retrenched, particularly where the husband and wife both lose their jobs at the same time.

*28.
*28.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what are the measures that HDB has put in place to (i) ensure the quality of Home Improvement Programme (HIP) upgrading works; (ii) minimise disamenities to residents undergoing HIP; and (b) what are the penalties imposed on contractors performing substandard HIP work.

* 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.

NOTICE OF MOTION 1.

Minister for Finance: BUDGET STATEMENT: That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 6 1.

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QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what is the role of district Mayors in the respective Community Development Councils (CDC) and whether their role is still relevant given that the ComCare assistance programmes have been transferred to the Social Service Offices under the care of the Ministry of Social and Family Development; and (b) what is the annual income of a Mayor.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: To ask the Minister for Transport whether the underground pedestrian walkway at the Potong Pasir and other affected MRT stations can remain open for public use even after the MRT stations have stopped their operations in the early morning hours.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry will consider imposing the full-day bus Jane traffic rule only for stretches of roads which face heavy congestion, instead of all bus lanes in the city area as per the current regulations; and (b) whether taxis will be allowed to pick up and alight passengers along roads marked for bus lanes during bus lane operation hours, as vehicles providing public transportation services.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) how many cases of illegal parking or misuse of taxi stands and taxi stops have there been over the last three years; (b) what is the breakdown in terms of the number of such cases committed by taxis and non-taxis; and (c) what efforts will the Ministry embark on to reduce such cases.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the reason why some pedestrian overhead bridges are sheltered while others are not; and (b) whether shelter can be provided for the pedestrian overhead bridge at Braddell Road near Carmichael Road and its linked walkways to the surrounding bus stops.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the reason for the delay in completion of the sheltered linkway at Woodleigh Close under the Walk2Ride programme; and (b) what is LTA's estimated date of completion oftliese works.

Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Manpower how does the average CPF balances of members vary by gender and what is the breakdown of gender differences by the respective age groups.

No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 7 8.


Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) in 2016 so far, what is the number of CPF members who choose to pledge their properties in order to withdraw their Retirement Account savings above their Basic Retirement Sum; and (b) how much ofthe amount withdrawn has been used to top up their spouses' CPF accounts.

9.
9.

Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Finance about (a) the productivity growth of the Government over the last 10 years and (b) the areas which showed the most improvement.

10.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for National Development for each year between 2013 and 2015 (a) how many cases of appeals have been received from the respective Members of Parliament on behalf of their residents for public rental flats and interim rental housing respectively; (b) of the total number of appeals, what is the number of successful appeals; (c) what are the main considerations for favourably granting these appeals; and (d) whether for complex cases, referrals will be made to Family Service Centres or voluntary welfare organisations to have the respective cases further assessed before a decision on !heir appeals are made.
PAPERS PRESENTED 2016 Pres.

Co. 1 Pres.

Co. 2 Pres.

Co. 3 Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the Women's Charter (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 6/2016] Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the Registration of Criminals (Amendment) Bill [Bill .No 8/2016] Report of the Presidential Council for the Central Minority Rights on Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 4/2016] Date Presented ~ .... 16 March 2016 ..... 16 March 2016 · ..... 16 March 2016 Pres.
Co. 4 Report of the Presidential Council for the Banking Minority Rights on (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 1/2016] ..... 16 March 2016 No.JO 24 MARCH 2016 8 PAPERS PRESENTED- continued 2016 Pres.

Co. 5 Pres.

Co. Pres.

Co. Pres.

Co. s. Parl.
6 7 8 75 2 Date Presented Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the Pioneer Generation Fund (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 5/2016] Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the National Environment Agency (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill [Bill No 7/2016] Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 10/2016] Report of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights on the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [Bill No 11/2016] ..... 16 March 2016 ..... 16 March 2016 ..... 16 March 2016 16 March 2016 Advice of the Council of Presidential Advisers on the Re-Appointment of Chief Valuer under the State Lands Act ..... 17 March 2016 of the Special Select Report for Committee Appointment as Nominated Members of Parliament on Nominations ..... 17 March 2016