Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698080022049.pdf (Singapore)
THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE FIRST SESSION ORDER PAPER TUESDAY, 10 JANUARY 2017 No.

31 12 noon QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER* *1.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether the running of hawker centres by social enterprises on a not-for-profit basis has achieved its desired outcomes; (b) whether it has reduced the overall operating costs for hawkers and food prices for consumers; and (c) whether it has helped attract new hawkers to the trade.

*2.
*2.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether it is compulsory for wet market stallholders to display their prices prominently; (b) if so, how does the Ministry enforce this; and (c) how many stallholders have been found to be in breach of such regulations over the past five years.

*3.
*3.

Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (a) what is the progress made by Singapore companies' investment in skills training to support skills mastery and employees' transition to new growth areas in their respective companies; and (b) how do the training efforts of Singapore companies compare with the best-in-class globally in terms of training hours, dollars spend as a percentage of payroll, and track record in supporting employees to gain new skills.

*4.
*4.

Ms Foo Mee Har: To ask the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) whether the Government tracks the utilisation of Skills Future credits to prepare Singaporeans for alternative careers and how successful the scheme has been in preparing Singaporeans for new jobs especially amongst older workers.

*5.
*5.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) what is the progress on the setting up of school-based Student Care Centres (SCCs) in all primary schools; (b) whether the Ministry is seeing increasing demand for more places; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to increase the number of places in each school.

No.

31 *6.
No.

31 *6.

10 JANUARY 2017 2 Assoc Prof Daniel Gob Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) whether the Ministry will be accepting and adopting all the suggestions made by the State Coroner to mitigate the risks of suicide and adverse psychological effects for young people under police investigation.

*7.

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Prime Minister whether the appointment ofthe new Attorney-General, to take effect on 14 January 2017, accords with Article 35 of the Constitution.

*8.
*8.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether Traffic Police (TP) intends to require licensed drivers to notify TP when they develop prescribed diseases or disabilities under the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Driving Licences) Rules after being issued with driving licences so that TP may assess and determine whether their driving licences should be suspended or revoked.

*9.
*9.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether Traffic Police (TP) intends to require a medical professional to inform TP of licensed drivers whom he/she has examined and are reasonably believed to be suffering from prescribed diseases or disabilities under the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Driving Licences) Rules so that TP may assess and determine whether the drivers' driving licences should be suspended or revoked.

*10.
Assoc Prof Daniel Gob Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether he can provide details on the three-year "Break the Silence" public education campaign to encourage witnesses to safely intervene in family violence situations; (b) whether the Ministry will set up a dedicated hotline for victims and witnesses of family violence to report abuses; and (c) whether the Ministry will provide urgent advice to victims and witnesses and coordinate interventions by specialist centres and the police.
*11.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the number of people who have committed suicide or attempted suicide each year in the past five years; (b) how many were aged 60 and above; (c) how many ofthese seniors were living by themselves and how many were living-with their families; and (d) what resources and programmes are currently in place to help to address the likely causes of such suicides and to prevent the suicide rates from increasing.

*12.
*12.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry will consider requiring all building owners to erect vertical barriers along the handrails of escalators as a safety measure; and (b) if not, what other safety measures are in place to protect people especially children from injuries or fatal accidents as a result offalling over the handrails.

No.

31 10 JANUARY 2017 3 *13.


Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for National Development in the past three years, what is the number of cases that HDB has received seeking repair assistance for spalling concrete, ceiling and sewage pipe leaks in a period of a year beyond the defects liability period under the Home Improvement Programme.

*14.
Mr Kok Heng Leun: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) since its inception, what is the respective amount of funds that has been disbursed from the Cultural Matching Fund to (i) national companies and museums (ii) major grant and seed grant companies (iii) other cultural and arts organisations not covered in (i) and (ii); (b) what is the number of receiving entities within each of these categories; and (c) what is the amount that has been respectively disbursed to the (i) visual arts (ii) performing arts (iii) literary arts (iv) traditional arts and (v) heritage sectors.
*15.

Mr Azmoon Ahmad: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) whether there is any the Malay-Muslim Community plan to review Development Fund (MMCDF) disbursements since the Fund's initiation more than 20 years ago; and (b) whether the approval process for grants under MMCDF can be simplified.

the arrangements for *16.


Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health for patients with mobility needs who are physically unable to visit the nearest polyclinic, what measures are available to arrange a subsidised medical assessment at home so that the patient can qualify for assistance from the Agency for Integrated Care, SG Enable and related agencies.

*17.
*17.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will explore ways to up-skill and enhance the capabilities of enrolled nurses and nursing aides including those serving in nursing homes through measures such as training and certification.

*18.
*18.

Mr Saktiandi 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.

No.

31 10 JANUARY 2017 4 *19.

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 ofthe 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.

*20.
*20.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport in respect of the recent signalling problems with the Circle Line caused by signal interference, what measures will be taken to ensure that commuters are not inconvenienced by the same signalling problems again.

*21.
*21.

Mr Png Eng Huat: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what are the positive and negative experience and feedback gathered on the implementation of the "Courtesy Crossing" under the Silver Zone initiative; and (b) what is the number of Silver Zones with public bus stops but with no bus lay-by.

*22.
*22.

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) whether skills training course materials are vetted for plain and simple language so as to keep courses as open as possible to older workers with limited language skills.

*23.
*23.

Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) whether there are efforts made to familiarise senior management and school leaders on the importance oftripartism and its role in creating an environment conducive for Singapore's growth; and (b) whether the Ministry has plans to collaborate with NTUC and its affiliated unions, through its current zonal-level sharing platforms, to understand and strengthen knowledge in tripartism further.

*24.
*24.

Mr Zainal Sapari: To ask the Minister for Finance (a) what is the average length of Government agencies' contracts for procurement services in the three traditionally outsourced clean, green and safe sectors; (b) what has been the shortest and longest contracts that have been given out by the Government; and (c) how does the Government determine the appropriate length for each of the contracts.

No.

31 10 JANUARY 2017 5 *25.


Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Health (a) what are the reasons for setting the criteria disallowing women below the age of 35 to take part in the three-year clinical trial for Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS); (b) whether the Ministry will consider lowering this age limit for women; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider allowing women below the age of 35 to take part on a case-by-case basis.

*26.
*26.

Assoc Prof Daniel Gob Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for Health (a) how many foreign domestic workers (FDWs) have undergone the Agency for Integrated Care's Basic Eldercare Course; (b) what percentage of FDWs subsidised by the FDW grant and who are caring for elderly Singaporeans have undergone the course; and (c) how many FDWs have been trained under the eldercarer training scheme and have been deployed.

*27.
Mr Kok Heng Leun: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether families of death row inmates can be provided with at least three weeks' notice before the sentence is carried out to allow them sufficient time to come to terms with the sentence and make necessary arrangements; (b) what processes are in place to help such families deal with the trauma of the loss of their loved ones; and (c) whether family members of death row inmates can be allowed to have physical contact during the last few visits after the date of execution has been set.
*28.

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 ofHDB in helping to resolve such matters since ECs are part ofthe stable of public flats offered by HDB.

*29.
*29.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development what measures will the Government take to support the building and construction industry which is facing challenging times in the face of an economic slowdown.

*30.

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.

No.

31 10 JANUARY 2017 6 *31.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport given that bicycles and personal mobility devices (PMDs) will share the use of footpaths together with pedestrians (a) what are the criteria used to determine whether an existing footpath will be widened; (b) what is the recommended minimum width for footpaths to ensure safe shared usage between cyclists and pedestrians; and (c) whether Ministry will conduct an islandwide review to ensure that existing footpaths which are often used by cyclists and PMD users are widened in accordance with this minimum width.
*32.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Transport whether he will consider allowing motorists to make payments for failed ERP deductions electronically within a reasonable period of time after the failed deduction without incurring the administrative fee or incurring a less punitive fee.

*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 PUBLIC BUSINESS Introduction of Government Bill 1.

·Minister for Transport: Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill.

ORDERS OF THE DAY 1.

Mediation Bill [Bill No.

37/2016]- (Minister for Law)- Second Reading.

[For notes on the Bill, see Supplement No.7 dated I 0 January 2017.]

2.
2.

Civil Law (Amendment) Bill [Bill No.

38/2016]- (Minister for Law)- Second Reading.

[For note on the Bill, see Supplement No.7 dated 10 January 2017.]

No.

31 10 JANUARY 2017 7 3.

4.

The Kwong-Wai-Shiu Free Hospital (Transfer ofUndertaking and Dissolution) -Bill [Bill No.

39/2016]- (Minister for Health)- Second Reading.

:' :I Active Mobility Bill [Bill No.

40/2016}- (Minister for Transport) -Second Reading.

· •• I [For notes and amendments on the Bill, see Supplement No.7 dated 10 January2017.}
QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER 1.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Prime Minister (a) whether the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has identified the possible source responsible for the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on StarHub in October 2016; (b) what response the CSA and the Government intend to take against the person or entities responsible; and (c) what steps the CSA and the Government intend to take to prevent and mitigate similar attacks in future.- 2.
Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Government has changed its policy on restricting eligibility for employment in the police; auxiliary police and private security industry to Singaporeans, permanent residents and Malaysians; (b) if so, which additional source countries have been approved for each of the three sectors respectively, and from which effective dates; and (c) what is the prevailing quota or dependency ratio ceiling set by the Government, if any, for the employment of foreigners to Singaporeans for each sector respectively.
2017 s. L. 204 S. L. 205 PAPERS PRESENTED Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No.

2) Regulations .2016 Road Traffic (Driving Instructors and Driving Schools) (Amendment) Rules 2016 Date Presented 6 January 2017 9 January 2017 No.
31 10 JANUARY2017 8 2017 S. L. 206 S. L. 207 s. L. 20~ PAPERS PRESENTED- continued Road Traffic (Driving Instructors and Driving Schools) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2016 Road Traffic Requirement Licence) (Revocation) Order 2016 (Exemption for from Instructor's Road Traffic (Exemption Requirement for Licence) Order 2016 from Instructor's Date Presented 9 January 2017 9 January 2017 9 January 2017