ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR

1ST APRIL, 2007 TO 31ST MARCH, 2007

(Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007)

          Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [7th Allotted Day].

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Matthias Yao Chih) in the Chair]

     Head I - Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (cont.)

     Resumption of Debate on Question [8th March, 2007],

     "That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100." - [Mr Sin Boon Ann].

     Question again proposed.

     The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mr Teo Ser Luck): I think I am going to have more than 30 seconds, so I can speak slower.

     Sir, MCYS' vision is to nurture inspired and committed youth who will make a positive difference to the country.  I am glad Mr Sin Boon Ann asked how we can connect with the youth and ensure a deep-rooted sense of their identity as Singaporeans.  We have done a lot of work, set up many programmes.  We want to give the youth a say in issues that matter to them, a stake and ownership in the long-term well-being of the community, and support to achieve their hopes and dreams and whatever they want to undertake, especially for our at-risk youth.

     My Ministry has spent the last year consolidating and expanding our youth programmes.  These youth programmes can be broadly categorised into three different areas:

     (1)  Youth expression;

     (2)  Youth spaces; and

     (3)  Encouraging youth volunteerism. 

     This is in keeping with the spirit of our approach, and all of these programmes are youth-led and youth-driven.  We do not believe in a top-down prescriptive approach.  It is best to let the youth do the things that they are passionate about.
 
     For youth expression, one of the key initiatives is our SHINE Youth Festival in July, which is a platform for all our young people to organise events showcasing their talents and their contributions to the community.  I am glad to say that SHINE surpassed its previous year's performance to reach a total of 180,000 youth over 117 events.  We are also present in the new and mainstream media.  For the new media, we have created platforms for youth expressions that include Youth.SG, an Internet portal, which is run by youth for youth.  The Straits Times' YouthInk pages, run every Monday, has featured more than 200 youth writers to date.

     Not only that.  Besides platforms for them to have their views expressed on paper or the Internet, they can also talk to our leaders directly.  We have feedback and consultation platforms, such as the Community Outreach Group Dialogues, spearheaded by some of the younger Members of the House and also the Prime Minister's Dialogue which provides opportunities for youth to air their views on national issues and share their aspirations. 

     These programmes complement National Education, and I am glad that MOS Lui Tuck Yew mentioned that there would be increasing emphasis on National Education in schools.  This will help our youth to develop what Mr Sin Boon Ann refers to as a strong sense of national identity, and re-affirm their commitment to Singapore.  It is not easy but we must try.  We must give them a sense of ownership and a chance to participate in school through National Education and outside of school through the programmes set up by MCYS, so that we give them the experience that they will remember and reach deep down in their hearts, they can get that sense of identity that they are Singaporeans and they are for Singapore.  Globalisation may take them all over the world, whether for work or studies, but we know that, if they have that influential experience and they remember that experience deep down in their hearts, ultimately, they would come back home.

     So MCYS wants to develop more spaces to cater to our young people.  They provide a common space for them to congregate, share experiences and engage in constructive activities.  I would like to highlight our *scape project which is well publicised.  It is a national youth community space under development in Orchard Road today.  This project is conceived by our youth and they set the specifications for this space.  They also voted for their favourite design, and there were about 5,000 youth who cast their votes for 39 designs.  The winning design was among the top three favourites chosen by them.

     We are very heartened by Mr Zaqy Mohamad's praise of *scape as an interesting city youth venue and note his call for similar developments in the heartlands.  I think it is worth consideration, and I believe many of us would remember the days that we played at the void decks.  I honed my soccer and table tennis skills at the void deck.  Those were our spaces in the past.  So we will be prepared to consider developing more facilities like *scape elsewhere but, first, we need to develop this *scape at Orchard Road and pick up the relevant lessons from that experience before we do an effective job at the community level.  However, we are also developing an international standard Skatepark at East Coast Park.  The concept design, which was developed with our local extreme sports gurus and enthusiasts, is now ready.  Members of the House who do inline skating, this will be the place for you.  I know that Prof. Jayakumar is a great inline skater.  I have told him and he is all excited, so I cannot wait to see him skate there.

12.15 pm

    Dr Muhammad Faishal enquired about the trend of youth volunteerism and, in particular, about how the youth from 25 to 35 years have been engaged. 

     Based on the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre's (NVPC)  biennial survey on volunteerism, the volunteerism rate for youth aged 15 to 24 years old has risen from 17% in 2002 to 28% in 2006. The volunteerism rate for older youth, however, does not show a clear trend, and this is the age group of 25 to 34 years old.  It fluctuates within a range of 11% to 15% between 2002 and 2006. 

     But for the working youth in this group, NVPC still promotes volunteerism through corporate employee volunteering programmes, such as the new ComCare Connection initiative. This initiative matches corporations with suitable VWOs that help needy Singaporeans. 

    We must bear in mind that their priorities lie with starting a family, raising their children and building their careers.  But I assure you that my Ministry will look into engaging these young adults, because they are the heart of our nation, and we want to tailor the volunteering opportunities that would take into account their needs and priorities.

    In the meantime, we continue to engage volunteerism through our Youth Expedition Project, or YEP, or our Young ChangeMakers (YCM) programme. YEP is open to youth aged 15 to 35 years old and provides funding and advisory support for youth to volunteer overseas.  About more than 11,000 youth have already participated in YEP and the older youth volunteer in the programme in the capacity of team leaders, leading the younger youth in these overseas expeditions. 

   YEP also helps our young people to better appreciate what they have in Singapore when they are exposed to the harsher realities of life faced by the people they help overseas.  This also contributes towards a stronger national identity, as mentioned by Mr Sin Boon Ann, as our youth now better understand the values that have contributed to our success as a country.

    In order to have a more effective outreach and better programmes, it is necessary to have a 3P approach between the private, public and people sectors.  Dr Maliki would be pleased to note that we will continue to build on these programmes based on these principles. We are working with private sector organisations to enhance our youth initiatives. 

    One example is the Young ChangeMakers scheme, which gives out seed funding to youth to run local community projects, and it can be any projects; they come forward, we will support and fund them. I am pleased to announce that Nike Singapore has partnered with Young ChangeMakers to set up a grant to support sports-related youth community projects.  So, any young person within the organisation or your area who would like to organise, say, a soccer game for the handicapped or the underprivileged children, or set up a clinic to teach a new sports, this programme will help fund it and help support them.  More importantly, this taps on the strengths of the different sectors, creating a win-win partnership and a long-term engagement.

     Dr Maliki and Ms Ellen Lee also asked about our plans to reach out to at-risk youth and out-of-school youth. We recognise that the work with at-risk youth and out-of-school youth cannot be undertaken by any one Ministry.  It has to be inter-agency, inter-Ministry. The National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation, or NYGR in short, coordinates these multi-agency efforts in this area. Working with the NYGR, MCYS adopts a three-fold approach.  First, prevention and guidance. Second, detection and enforcement. Third, rehabilitation and restoration. 

    For students who are still in school, STEP-UP is a programme that funds VWOs to provide school social work services to students.  It focuses on students at risk of dropping out or becoming potential delinquents.  MCYS has increased the funding provided to STEP-UP and as of January 2007, the number of schools on STEP-UP has increased to 152, nearly 40% more than the 109 participating schools in 2006. 

    For out-of-school youth or OSY, Youth Link is a new scheme that provides support and outreach to them.  MCYS works with the VWOs to provide guidance to these youth, and to ensure that they find meaningful engagement in employment, alternative education or skills training.  For the first time, staff from the VWOs would be invited to sit in the exit interviews before students formally leave the school, so as to facilitate proper follow-through for these students.

    Besides Youth Link, MCYS also funds the Learning Centre Programme which supports OSY by providing alternative education centres for out-of-school youth.  For example, one such beneficiary is Farid.  His difficult family circumstances caused him to lose interest in school, and he dropped out of school and ran into trouble with the law. He was finally placed in this Max Out Programme offered by Yayasan MENDAKI.  It is an OSY programme co-funded by MCYS.  He started to ace his subjects and he passed his N-levels with good results and he is now sitting for his O-levels. These are inspiring stories that tell us that we must give these young people a second chance, so that they have a chance to succeed in their lives.

    For youth who are completing their rehabilitation programme in the children's home or juvenile institutions, re-entering the community can be very daunting.  Hence, Podz Youth Mentoring  programme was started last November with four social service agencies. These agencies run a mentorship programme that begins during the youth's stay in the institutions and continues after that for up to six months after they have been discharged.  By the end of this year, MCYS aims to have 300 youth attached to this programme and to the mentors. 

    Our system may be comprehensive in coverage but it is definitely not perfect. We will continue to work hard and work with the people and private sector to take in feedback from the practitioners on the ground. This will help us refine our programmes and help these at-risk youth to build a positive self-image and build a better future for themselves.

    Let me now touch on sports.  It is something close to my heart. Following the recommendations of the Committee on Sporting Singapore in 2001, chaired by Mr Speaker when he was the Minister, it led to a major infusion of resources into the local sports scene.  So far, we have set up the Sports School, launched the Sports Hub project and there is enhancement to the support for athletes and NSAs. We have also developed a calendar of marquee events, investing in programmes to promote mass participation.  According to our latest figures, one in two Singaporeans participate in sports or exercise at least once a week. 

    At the elite and international sports performance level, national athletes have done us proud.  They won a record of 139 medals at the SEA Games (42 of those are golds), 18 medals at the Commonwealth Games (five of them are golds), and, of course, you will know, 27 medals at the Asian Games (8 of them are gold medals).

    But we must continue to build on that and we will build on the foundation that has brought us both success in sports excellence, sports for all and glory for the nation.  I would like to assure Mr Michael Palmer that our efforts will also extend to the disabled athletes and the disabled.

    My Ministry and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) currently provide support and funding to the Singapore Disability Sports Council, or SDSC in short, as the national agency that champions sports for all forms of disability, at both elite and recreational levels. He would be glad to note that the funding has increased for them.  Disabled athletes can also tap on the current schemes in the Singapore Sports Council, such as Athletes Career and Training programme, or ACT in short, and the Programme for Elite Athletes Career (PEAC). Take, for example, our swimmer, Theresa Goh.  She has been a beneficiary of ACT since 2004 and is now on PEAC where she is based at Standard Chartered Bank. She works and trains at the same time. And with a detailed plan that was mapped out by SDSC, with her coach, Mr Ang Peng Siong, Theresa, while she is working, is now training for the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.

    At the recreational level, the SDSC has also started a Learn-To-Play programme which will help to promote inclusiveness, tap on sports, even as a form of rehabilitation.  Taking into account the recommendations in the Enabling Masterplan, we will look into ways to strengthen SDSC's outreach and capabilities to spearhead disability sports. Mr Palmer will also be pleased to note the developments over at the Singapore Sports School.  If he has read the papers, it was featured that swimmer Khristine Quek enrolled to be its first disabled student in the Sports School.  So the disabled and disabled athletes should get a chance to participate in sports and excel in them if they could. That will be our objective.

    The Sports School is also an ideal "hothousing" environment for integration of our foreign-born athletes, an issue raised by Mr Seah Kian Peng. When Tao Li, our Asian Games gold medalist, first joined the Sports School, she found it hard to communicate with her schoolmates, whether in Mandarin or English. After training, studying and living with her local peers for over a year - I personally spoke to her - whether for good or for bad, she learns Singlish. For that, I think she is totally entrenched into our local culture, and you cannot tell her apart from her peers now.

    We adopt three principles in foreign-born athletes policy - openness to global talent, fairness in treatment between local and foreign-born athletes, and integration into our way of life.  The NSAs have a role to play to ensure that the integration plans are in place.  That would include home-stays with locals, visits to cultural and historical sites, language classes and even learning how to sing our National Anthem.  More importantly, some NSAs have gone beyond to equip them with the life-skills, so as to prepare them for a career after sports. That could be coaching or administrative skills.  I am sure Mrs Jessie Phua will agree with me on the logic behind providing this support to foreign-born athletes.  Going forward, I will ask the Singapore Sports Council to play a more active role to help NSAs to manage this integration process.

     I will now address Mr Ang Mong Seng's questions in Mandarin since he has asked them in Mandarin.

    (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Mr Ang Mong Seng has earlier asked MCYS to consider whether or not it will allow more sports teams to train at the Sports School. The Sports School welcomes all National Sports Associations to attend training at the Sports School so that they can make full use of the wide range of facilities, including training venues, hostels and residential facilities, canteens and even supportive services such as sports science and sports medicine, etc. 

     As pointed out by Mr Ang, this is a lot more cost-effective and, at the same time, students at the Sports School can compete against national athletes, and thus competency standards can be raised. On a national level, this is a win-win situation for both the National Sports Associations and the Singapore Sports School.  Moving forward, the Singapore Sports School will cooperate with more foreign sports associations and encourage them to come for training at our Sports School. In this regard, I hope that advisers and leaders from various sports associations can work hand in hand with the Sports School.

    Having said that, I am relieved to hear that Mr Ang is looking forward to see our athletes achieve better results, and move up the ranks, just like pop songs moving up the music chart.  However, this is not a pop song.  Of course, I also hope that our sports performance will move up in rank, just like Stephanie Sun's songs slowly moving to the top of the chart.  However, this may require years in training and managing but, nonetheless, we will work hard towards this goal.

     (In English ): Sir, to help promote sports' mindshare amongst the wider population, we are developing our own marquee sports events.  A good example is the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.  Since it began in 2002, it has grown in scale and appeal, with participation climbing steadily from 6,225 runners in 2002 - and I was one of them - to over 31,000 runners last year, and I was one of them.  By 2010, we will grow the Marathon to accommodate 50,000 runners.  Is it not great to see the whole road flooded with runners early on a Sunday morning?

12.30 pm

     As for resources for NSAs, last week, Mrs Jessie Phua commented that sports appeared to have been sidelined from this year's Budget package.  I would like to reassure her that my Ministry and SSC will continue to fully support the sports sector, particularly the NSAs.  In fact, direct grants for NSAs have gone up from $31.1 million for FY2006 to $31.9 million for FY2007.

     I like Mrs Phua's idea of introducing a Sports Marketing group because you build on the Sports Business network.  I believe SSC can facilitate this process where NSAs would have a chance to work on a strategy with the private sector to secure more sponsorship dollars.  This is one way in which we can strengthen our value add to the NSAs and help them develop some level of self-sustainability.  With all working hand in hand, there would be better opportunity, so that it would not be just a banker giving out grants but a facilitator - someone who goes out there to help the community to come together. And that should address some of Ms Jessica Tan's concerns about the lack of funds and sponsorship.

     Mrs Jessie Phua has also expressed some concern about whether sports can enjoy tax incentives.  Currently, any group or association that is not operating for profit and is engaged in the promotion of sports can apply for the Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status.  This would include the NSAs.  This incentivises the public and corporations to donate to sports causes, as the donors can obtain double tax deductions for their donations.  To date, a total of 27 NSAs and 10 other sports groups have been accorded IPC status.

     For institutions to register as charities, they must be set up to benefit the community.  As Mrs Phua rightly pointed out, these would include Sports for All activities.  My Ministry acknowledges her point that all three pillars - Sports for All, Sports Excellence and Sports Industry - are interlinked and mutually reinforcing.  We are in discussions with other relevant agencies on whether we can collectively recognise these other sporting limbs for charitable purposes.

     Mrs Jessie Phua also talked about the financial strain on NSAs having to pay for their land leases.  The Singapore Land Authority currently leases land directly to SSC at sports and recreation rates, which are generally lower than commercial rates.  SSC, in turn, leases the land to NSAs at subsidised rates as part of its overall outcome-based approach to support NSAs.  Mrs Phua has used the analogy, "left pocket, right pocket" to describe this arrangement.  The principle behind this is to instil discipline on land usage.  Regarding her suggestion on providing incentives to encourage the private sector to provide sports facilities, we will study it with other relevant agencies, and we will see how this can be done in a manner without distorting the market.

     MCYS recently set up a Sporting Culture Committee involving members from the people, private and public sectors.  I thank Ms Jessica Tan for her passion about sports, as she moved her cut yesterday.  She will be pleased to note that the Committee will look at sports from the "culture" angle, ie, injecting a strong sporting identity into our people so that we can all live and breathe sports. 

     The Committee has met several times and consulted the sporting fraternity.  Many key ideas and recommendations came up.  One key idea is to provide more opportunities for each child to learn a few sporting skills in school life and make sports a life-long pursuit. Currently, through MOE's Physical Education (PE) Curriculum, and a good example that was brought up of Sengkang Primary having PE everyday, all students acquire the knowledge and skills to play a variety of games from primary to pre-university levels.  We will continue to build on this by working with MOE to roll out the Sports Education Programme (SEP) to the schools, whereby students would have opportunities to try out more sports, even at the non-competitive level.  So even if they cannot represent their school at competition level, we must allow them the chance to play any sports in school and continue with that passion.

     The Committee has also highlighted the need to remove physical barriers or obstacles that may discourage participation.  To address this point, we will be ramping up our efforts to improve the accessibility to sports facilities.  Currently, there are 50 school fields opened up for booking by members of the public.  By the end of this year, we will open up another 70 fields making a total of 120 schools open for the public.  I urge all advisors here to talk to the schools in their area to also open up the fields for their community and enrol in this programme.

    Many good recommendations came up, eg, to have regional integrated sports hubs all around Singapore, and not just at Kallang.  I think the details would need to be worked out.

     The Committee will also look to provide enhanced support for top-tier athletes.  One area of focus is Sports Medicine and Sports Science (SMSS).  SSC recently announced its collaboration with the Changi General Hospital, to integrate their SMSS services.  This is just a first step towards a more ambitious effort to develop a national network of strategic partners between the tertiary institutions, foreign universities, research outfits and private providers.  The aim is to position Singapore as the SMSS hub for the region, catering to elite athletes or even weekend warriors like many of us.  It is important to note that this sector would help bring sports performance to the next level.  Because, as Members can see, many athletes of Asian countries are also not restricted by their physique and win at international and Olympic levels, and sports science is the way to go.

      The work of the Committee is still ongoing and we are working towards completing the final report by the middle of the year.  Just this week, I met several guests from Finland.  In Finland, they have a population of 5.3 million, but they have 7,800 sports clubs.  We have a population of 4 million, but we have nearly 1,000 sports clubs.  I hope the work of the Committee will bring us closer to the vibrant sports scene like in Finland. 

     In parallel with our sports participation and excellence thrusts, we are now developing our sports industry.  As part of our manpower development plans, we have rolled out a new Undergraduate Sports Scholarship Programme.  We target to award two overseas and two local undergraduate scholarships each year.  Tenable for studies in sports-related and other disciplines, these scholarships will raise the profile of sports-related careers or sportsmen who can be effective and can be leaders in any field, and also help to attract top-tier talent into management and leadership careers within the Ministries or agencies.  I hope to see major companies  - sports or non-sports related  -  to come forward and co-sponsor the scholarships with SSC.

     Sir, we have ambitious aspirations for our youth and for sports in Singapore.  We want to enable our youth to be self-reliant and that, in tough times, they would be resilient, independent and have the strength to face the challenges.  They must have a sense of belonging and identity to contribute to Singapore.  For sports, we need to have a sporting culture that would build a healthy and active society, create a chance for the talented to achieve the highest sporting glory and bond the nation together.  This is borne not just from a desire to have our young people and a strong sporting culture bring life and dynamism to Singapore.  This is also anchored in the belief that, as Singaporeans, we can achieve something beyond the familiar.  We can overcome the challenges, we dare to take risks and we would never give up and always be the best that we can be.  My Ministry and all our partners will continue to work alongside our people for a brighter and more exciting future that is built on the full potential of all Singaporeans.

Counselling for Gamblers

     Mr Chan Soo Sen (Joo Chiat): Sir, all of us look forward to the good economic benefits that the Integrated Resorts can bring about.  So do I.  Imagine the investments, the construction activities, the many job opportunities as well as the tax income.  However, I am sure many Members share my concern over the gambling activities that the casino within the IR would bring about.

     Gambling is a vice.  It is highly addictive.  It destroys personal character.  It destroys family and it destroys community.  It can lead to many undesirable activities, including criminal activities.  I would like to ask the Ministry whether we have developed a strategy to prevent and deal with all these ill effects, and whether the House may be updated on the programmes that have been initiated or to be initiated to deal with this.

     Sir, I am particularly concerned about the more vulnerable people who may be targeted by the operators.  My heart especially goes to those people who currently have no income, eg, older persons who have just withdrawn their CPF, housewives or unemployed persons who have just received their retrenchment benefits.  If they were to get too carried away, they risk losing everything plus their family and the community who are supporting them.  What steps have been or will be taken to educate our people on the ill effects of gambling, and to ensure that they do not start in this road of no return?

     I would also like to know whether programmes and schemes will be initiated to develop our capabilities in counselling the gamblers as well as their family members, together with the kind of support that we could offer to them in order to kick this bad habit.

     Sir, I understand, for example, that drug is a kind of vice.  And we know that there are private armies that help to protect drug activities.  But I am also told that in some of these more disciplined private armies, any of the members found to be consuming drugs may be shot.  They know very clearly that these are the things for them to make money, but these are also the kinds of thing that can consume them.  As a nation, it is vital that our people be educated that, while these IRs will bring us much economic benefits, we must arm and protect ourselves against all its ill effects.

Community Engagement Programme

     Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, our country has gone through more than 40 years of nation building.  Since the early days of our independence till today, we have been promoting racial harmony, building community bonds and strengthening social cohesion through many efforts at grassroots level and national platforms.  Every year, Singaporeans celebrate the Racial Harmony Day on 21st July.  Our students attend National Education programmes at schools.  Our young men serve National Service where they share common experiences and develop lifelong friendships and bonds.

     Singaporeans have enjoyed long and uninterrupted peace and stability in this country for quite some time now.  But this does not come about by chance.  We have implemented policies and work hard on programmes that are crucial in helping us to maintain racial and religious harmony.  Some of these policies are difficult.  We do it because we know that if we leave it to chance and take a casual attitude towards one of the key pillars of our success, the price to pay may be too high.

12.45 pm

     Nevertheless, Sir, just as we are careful and as we give lots of attention to these issues, we are not totally shielded from the outside world and there will always be elements in our midst that are mischievous and are willing to test the boundaries.  Unfortunately, there also exist people with sinister minds that wish to exploit our vulnerability, to divide us and, worse, wreak havoc and chaos in our society.

     With respect to all these programmes and policies, may I ask the Minister if these efforts are effective in achieving their objectives?  How do we measure, if ever is possible, the level and the quality of race relations in our country?  Last year, our Prime Minister launched the Community Engagement Programme (CEP).  How does this programme differ from the past efforts in objective and substance?  What are the new resources that will be made available for these efforts?  What are the new strategies and methods that are being deployed for CEP?

Race Relations

     Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah) (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Mr Chairman, MCYS' efforts in running the IRCC and CEP  is a good first step in creating a closer network among the various faiths and races.  More should be done to enhance the understanding particularly among youths who are exposed to radicalism due to our status as a people, trade and information hub.

     The step in involving community and religious leaders in the IRCC is welcomed but the first assumption we make is that the message to be made known and racial understanding that we want to promote will flow down to the ground.  The second assumption is that the openness and respect that happen at the leadership level reflect the same attitudes on the ground.  Both these assumptions are not always true.

     I would like to pose a number of questions to MCYS.  In the Ministry's point of view, what are the effects on the social fabric of Singapore brought by the trends of fundamentalism and radicalism from the Middle East?  Are these trends affecting the general society's view of the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore?  For example, the issue on choice of employees. Secondly, what is the effect of increased religiosity among youths on the approach taken by the Ministry to enhance racial integration through IRCC and CEP?  And what are the Ministry's efforts to reach out to these youths more effectively?

     In order to inculcate tolerance and respect in our multi-racial and multi-religious society, MCYS also should step up its efforts in several areas. For example, I hope that MCYS can also provide the community with platforms that they can refer to in order to seek clarification and understanding while having meaningful debates and comparing various ideologies with various religious and racial organisations in Singapore. In doing so, we can create a more open and tolerant environment, and not one that totally relies on approaches such as censorship or avoidance from facing these issues.

     The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Sir, I thank Mr Chan Soo Sen for his most eloquent warning about the dangers of problem gambling.  As the person who was responsible for leading the MTI team that evaluated the economic benefits of having IRs and then also being in MCYS at that time when we made the final decision, I can assure him that no one was more painfully aware than I was of the trade-offs and the dilemmas that confronted us in this decision. 

     Problem gambling is an ever present threat.  It is a threat today even before the IRs have arrived.  We formed the National Council on Problem Gambling and over the last two years of its existence, it has actually engaged on an aggressive public education campaign to warn people about the dangers of gambling.  I fully agree with him and, also, the comments that were made by Mr Christopher de Souza during the Budget debate that we need both prevention and treatment.  We need to warn and treat people.  So we will go about this in the following way.

     Firstly, at the community level. On the ground, we must make sure that our social service professionals are able to recognise people at risk, recognise the warning signs and refer them.  In order for our social workers to be able to make this preliminary diagnosis, they need training.  MCYS has embarked on a training programme together with the Institute of Mental Health which runs programmes call the Community Addictions Management Programme.  And this will give our social service workers on the frontline the ability to diagnose and recognise early danger signs and then make appropriate referral.

     Secondly, we also want to have treatment facilities in the community.  So, in September last year, we appointed two VWOs - the Thye Hwa Kwan Moral Society and the Care Corner Counselling Centre - to run specialised intervention centres.  These will have professionals who are specially trained in the management of addiction and it will handle cases which are referred by other family service centres as well as cases which are referred back to the community by the Institute of Mental Health, ie, cases which are now more stabilised but still require ongoing supervision.

     The third level, of course, is at the Institute of Mental Health under the Community Addictions Management Programme and this will be specialist care for people with real problems and who are unable to control their gambling addiction.

     Let me move on to the points made by Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Zainudin Nordin and, I think, Mdm Cynthia Phua also spoke about it during the Budget debate, and that is the state of our race relations.

     Our success in maintaining a harmonious and cohesive society speaks for itself.  Let us celebrate the fact that despite local incidents, for instance, the arrest of local JI operatives, and despite overseas incidents, such as September 11, Bali bombing, London bombing, the Danish cartoons, we have been able to maintain cohesion and unity in our society.  We have not let these events serve to divide and break us apart.  That is something worth celebrating but not taken for granted.

     We conducted a survey last year on the social attitudes of Singaporeans and I am glad to report to this House that about nine in 10 Singaporeans reported that they were satisfied with the current state of race and religious relationships in Singapore and were optimistic about the future.  Again, as I said, positive but do not take it for granted.

     We must continue to build on the strong foundation. And we have moved on with what we call the Community Engagement Programme, and Members asked me what is different.  In the past, we were focused more on persuading people and raising awareness of the need for racial harmony and understanding.  We have now moved on to the second phase to actually put in place a crisis response framework, which means we want the religious and community leaders to know what to do or what to say the morning thereafter.  This involves a greater level of interaction of training and development of trust and confidence.  That is why we have also asked that the Inter-Racial Confidence Circles (IRCCs) be reconstituted so that at the local level, every religious or community leader that matters is represented in the IRCC.  It is not meant to be just another collection of the grassroots leaders who are already overworked, to begin with.

     MCYS will also be providing a grant of $10,000 to each IRCC and also secretariat assistance so that IRCC can get on with its business of building trust and interaction without being bogged down by administration or a lack of funds.  It is also crucial, as Mr Zaqy has pointed out, that our young people understand the importance of racial and religious harmony, and I agree with him that schools, but more important families, have a crucial role to play in this.  You know there are in the lives of our young people "teachable moments", and parents and teachers have to look for these teachable moments when the young are most receptive to the messages that reinforce racial harmony and religious understanding.

     My Ministry will also work with our community partners to promote greater interaction amongst youth and one platform we have come up recently is the Singapore Inter-Faith Youth Forum.  And this came about because some young people who were taking part in the National Youth Forum decided that it was important that the young - these are young religious leaders - have their own forum which they could share experiences and seek greater understanding.  So the fact that these platforms are rising from the young is, I think, a very positive sign.

     Let me end by sharing some views on this issue of advertisements - job advertisements and sometimes even housing advertisements - which overtly mention race.  Let me speak in my dual capacity as Minister for MCYS and Second Minister for MICA.  I know that all of us have personal private biases, sometimes even prejudice.  I also know that we cannot eliminate all vestiges of racial prejudice and discrimination overnight.  But having said that, we must not allow prejudice to become publicly and socially acceptable.  We must not have young people standing up and saying, "I am a racist and I am proud about it.".  We must not have such a situation and that is why we must ask the mass media and advertising industry to root out and eliminate such advertisements.  We must actively resist overt displays of racial stereotyping and prejudice because if we do not do so, we will destroy the social fabric and social unity on which peace, harmony and progress of our nation depends on. 

Muslim Affairs

     Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong) (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, we have heard from MOF and MOM that our economic progress will further improve and 450,000 jobs will be made available within this five-year period.  Our society will have to be prepared to face a globalised future which is more competitive and makes use of the opportunities provided by the Government.

     Our society has made substantial progress in education and employment, but I am worried that there is still a section in our society who finds it hard to adapt themselves to the changes that we are experiencing and they will be left far behind. 

     They also face social problems like divorce, drug abuse and dropouts from school.  Many also do not have the skill to perform high-value jobs which pay better to provide for their families and, more often, they experience unemployment.  The WIS scheme will help and motivate this group. At the same time, we have to give more focused and special attention in improving their standard of living.  If not, I am afraid that there will be a group of underclass in the Malay-Muslim community who feel that they are being isolated and this will bring about other problems.

  
     Last year, MUIS announced that it will use the zakat monies to help these needy families to upgrade themselves. Can the Minister provide more information on what has been done in this effort?  A special group which also requires a lot of attention is the single mother.  Can the Minister also provide an explanation on the efforts that have been carried out to help them?  How can we ensure that the vision of an inclusive society that has been drawn up for Singapore can be felt and will involve each and everyone in the society?

Divorce Rate

     Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade) (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] A 24-year old Malay lady who is a single mother has six children whose age ranges from six months to seven years old.  Two of them are her step children from her second husband and she is only 24 years old.  When I was 24 years old, I had just completed my studies and was not ready to get married and had not started working.  But for this lady, she has six children. 

      The divorce rate within the Malay community is higher as compared to other communities in Singapore.  There are various contributing factors, for example, financial problems, the couple being too young and not mature and ready to settle down to married life, and other external factors.

     Are the strategies that we have now adequate to tackle these problems?  Is the Ministry considering to carry out other efforts to reduce the divorce rate? And how about the marriage preparation courses that have been conducted?  Are they effective and do they produce the desired result?  I also would like to recommend that, with regard to the Malay community, we consider increasing the minimum legal age for getting married.

Religious Leadership

     The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, religious development and religious leadership is important for the well-being of the community, including the Muslim community.  Education in Islamic values in this changing world is especially important because it will be the anchor that will strengthen the character and living values of the individual and the society.  The religious development, including development in education and religious leadership, is also necessary to inculcate good values, in terms of political notion that could lead the community away because the actions advocated may be against the religious teachings but are hidden as being on religious ground. In other words, we want religious education to be enhanced and improved to ensure that we can face the challenges of terrorism.

     Therefore, the asatizahs'  recognition scheme is important as a basis to recognise the qualification of our religious teachers.  In many other careers or fields, recognition is an important element.  In schools, our teachers are recognised by the NIE qualification and, today, the Ministry of Education has set a higher level of qualification, five 'O' levels for teachers who wish to teach at pre-schools.  Hence, we need a better level of qualification and recognition for our religious teachers or asatizahs.

     In short, my question is: who will qualify to be recognised as asatizahs or religious teachers?  I would like to ask the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs to inform us of the number of religious teachers who have been recognised and how MUIS supervises the non-formal religious teachers, such as the Koran teachers who teach at home. How does MUIS provide opportunities to asatizahs to improve their qualifications through training courses?  And what about opportunities for them to further their education to the Diploma level, which MUIS collaborated with Al-Azhar University?

Madrasahs

     The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, we know that compulsory education has been enforced a few years ago. Madrasah students are also not excluded from the compulsory education system.  Starting from 2008, they would have to sit for the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE).  They have to obtain a minimum aggregate which has been set in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and English.

      Sir, this is the right direction to ensure that they will be able to adapt themselves to the new economy, be it a career in religious or secular field.  Their future will be more assured because of their abilities and the availability of options should they wish to change to the secular stream, thereby exposing them to  unlimited job opportuities in this era of globalisation that we will be going through.

     Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to provide us an update on the preparation and the ability of madrasah students to sit and pass the PSLE examination.  What will happen should they fail?  Are the peparations carried out by the students and madrasahs themselves sufficient?

     In ensuring that the competency of the madrasah  students in the three main subjects is improved, we must also ensure that the students in our secular system receive adequate religious education as a foundation for their moral and character development.  MUIS has revamped its part-time religious education system a few years ago.  So far, what is the response by the community to part-time religious education?  How many percent of our students from the secular stream are now enrolled in part-time religious classes?  Does MUIS have an optimum objective of the enrolment rate of students in these part-time religious classes? We also understand that many of our youths are not attending such courses.  I would like to know if the "Teens Alive" programme is effective in attracting youths to attend these religious classes.

Community Engagement Programme of Malay/Muslim Community

     Mr Zainudin Nordin (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, in the past years, a number of incidents have occurred which have raised tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims, such as the Danish cartoons, the Pope's speech, etc.  Singapore is a young, multi-racial and multi-religious society and these stresses will have an impact on us. It is better that we be prepared before an undesirable incident happens in Singapore.  It is critical that Singaporeans develop a strong understanding of each other's faith so that we can build bonds and this will enable us to withstand the stress during the crisis.

      Sir, the CEP programme launched by the Prime Minister last year aims to achieve these objectives.  We understand that it is the responsibility of every community to promote racial harmony and inter-faith understanding.  What is the effort by the Malay/Muslim community in this respect?

     The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Mr Chairman, this year's Budget has focused on the segments of Singapore society which requires more help strongly underpins the Government's commitment that no one will be left behind as the country progresses in an era of globalisation.

     Mdm Halimah requested for an update on the use of zakat funds.  Sir, financial stability is the key priority as it is the basis from which we build strong and stable families. Rather than giving direct handouts, MUIS has been working with community organisations and other service providers to empower and build self-reliance among the recipients. This is similar to the philosophy behind the Workfare Income Supplement.

     MUIS' Empowerment Partnership Scheme, or EPS, started in 2004 complements national schemes available to all needy Singaporeans and helps ensure that the needs of families are holistically addressed.  Allow me to give an example.  40-year old Mdm Suzana and husband - with three children and an elderly mother to care for - first got into the EPS when they ran into financial difficulties. She picked up business skills from the self-employment assistance programme offered by the CDC. By putting together her cooking talent and the new business skills, she managed to grow her $700 monthly household income three-fold.  I commend Mdm Suzana's self-reliance, determination and success in uplifting her family.

     Moving forward, to better support such families, MUIS will be investing up to $1.2 million over the next two years on selected programmes run by  community organisations with a good track record.  MUIS, Sir, will also be developing a blueprint to see how zakat can be used to complement the national help schemes, and to better help the low-income families within the community.

     Sir, under the Employability Network of the Community Leaders Forum, there are a number of other economic empowerment programmes that have provided employment opportunities.  In fact, Mdm Halimah herself had already announced three such initiatives - Suri Stitch, Suri Salon, and Suri Spa - which are all social enterprise projects funded by the ComCare Enterprise Fund.  These projects will help more of our womenfolk to be economically active, including single mothers.  I urge more in our community to take advantage of the many programmes available to upgrade themselves and to enhance their family's financial well-being. 

     Sir, let me now address Dr Fatimah's concern on high Muslim divorces and the measures taken to strengthen Malay families.  To address the issues upstream, the issues of teenage sexuality and marriages, involving minors, the NURteensLine and the NUR Drop-In Centres, projects funded by the ComCare Social Support Projects Fund, were introduced in December 2005. Since then, the NURteensLine has received more than 1,000 calls and SMSes. A third of the calls received centred on sexuality issues and parent-teen relationship.  Sir, I am happy to announce that two new Drop-In Centres have been set up this year, one in Bukit Batok and the other one in Yishun, bringing the total number of NUR Centres to five for the Malay/Muslim community.

     Sir, over the last two years, MCYS and MediaCorp's Suria have worked together to promote awareness within the community on teenage issues.  SEKSa - a series which coaches parents on how to bond and broach sensitive topics with their children - follows on the runaway success of another programme, Hanyut, which through the various efforts, reached out to 600,000 people.  I am told that SEKSa is currently the top info-ed programme on Suria.

    Other community initiatives have similarly attracted wide attention and support. The month-long Lebih Sexy Katakan "Tidak!"(or in English, It is Sexier to say No!) initiative has since reached out to more than 400,000 people from all walks of life. Keluarga AKRAB - a movement of Family Excellence Circles, or FEC, introduced in 2005 to strengthen families - has now grown to involve more than 300 parents.  More FECs have been formed with more partners coming on board.

     Sir, we are also focused on helping those who intend to or have just started out on marriage life.  A premarital counselling programme piloted for minor couples is showing heartening results.  17% of 333 couples who underwent counselling decided not to proceed with marriage for the time being.  I am sure this is good news for Dr Fatimah.  For those who decide to proceed, PPIS-Jurong FSC and AMP will be managing two centres dedicated to support them through their marriage. We want to make sure that the marriage lasts.  These centres will be operational in the second quarter of this year.

     Sir, such efforts are starting to deliver some results.  Preliminary figures from the Registry of Muslim Marriages show that there has been a 25% drop in the number of minor Muslim brides and grooms over the past two years. Between 2004 and 2006, the number of minor brides dropped from 564 to 506 to 422, while the number of grooms dropped from 159 to 140 to 118.  Our community and leaders have come together to make this happen.  However, marriages involving minors are twice as likely to end up in divorce when compared to other marriages.  Thus, while we should continue extending our support to the married minors in our community, we need to have a long-term approach to prevent such issues from getting acute and entrenched.  One measure, which Dr Fatimah has raised, that we are studying is raising the minimum age of marriage under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, or AMLA.  This is currently set at 16 for the bride and groom, lower than the minimum age under the Women's Charter which is 18.  We will be studying this further with the community.

     Sir, let me now move on to the issue of religious development raised aptly by Mr Hawazi, which is central to the well-being of the community.  MUIS, together with its partners and stakeholders, has helped to ensure the practice of Islam in Singapore remains progressive, confident and compatible with our multi-racial and multi-religious context.

     Our asatizah, or religious clerics, play a key role.  And here, I thank our senior asatizah for their selfless contributions to the work of the Religious Rehabilitation Group, or RRG, and going further to organise public forums and dialogues to dispel misconceptions, thereby strengthening Islam further.

     The Asatizah Recognition Scheme, as raised by Mr Hawazi, introduced last year through the efforts of MUIS working hand-in-hand with Pergas, has received positive feedback and acceptance from the asatizah and the community.  To date, about 700 have registered through the scheme.  The religious teachers' directory has become a trustworthy reference that also safeguards against any fake preacher pushing self-serving beliefs.  Recognising the important role of asatizah, I am pleased to announce that a full-time structured leadership development programme will be made available for our asatizah to enhance their leadership capabilities.  Such courses can provide asatizah with deeper insight into the principles that govern Singapore and enhance the ability to make a greater contribution to society.  Ustaz Murat Aris, a MUIS officer, recently attended a month long Governance and Leadership Course organised by the Institute of Policy Development.  I am hopeful that more of our asatizah will be able to participate in such programmes.

     Mr Hawazi also raised the question of informal teachers.  Sir, MUIS will endeavour to bring them into the scheme as quickly as possible and, where necessary, will advise them on how their skills can be upgraded so they can become part of the scheme. 

     Sir, let me now turn to the issue of madrasahs, raised by Dr Maliki, and the question that Mdm Halimah wanted to ask. Our madrasahs are expected to meet the PSLE requirement in 2008.  The madrasahs and MUIS have been working closely to ensure that madrasah students are prepared for PSLE.  They have concentrated their resources and efforts in three key areas: teacher development, curriculum review and student development.  To date, MUIS has spent $7.6 million to strengthen the capacity of madrasahs in these three areas.

1.15 pm

     Sir, a structured training programme has been put in place to ensure that all madrasah teachers are formally certified.  MUIS will commit a total of $1.3 million to ensure that all madrasah teachers obtain at least a Diploma in Education.  I am heartened to note that our madrasah teachers are committed towards continuous training, taking up courses offered by both local and foreign institutions.  I commend our madrasahs, both the management and the teachers, for their dedication and efforts to keep abreast of the latest pedagogical skills and technology.

     Sir, our madrasahs have significantly increased the contact time for English, Mathematics and Science (EMS) to match the exposure time that these subjects get in Government schools.  MUIS has spent $5.9 million to revise the curriculum for Islamic studies and Arabic language for Primary 1 to Secondary 4. With the revised curriculum, our madrasah students can continue to get a strong foundation in their religious curriculum, while receiving the increased exposure to English, Mathematics and Science.

     Student development is another important area which the madrasahs and MUIS have been focusing on.  To better support their students, the madrasahs have worked with private operators and Mendaki to provide good learning support programmes.  To date, 369 pupils from five madrasahs have benefited from the M-Power (Mathematics) Programme organised by Mendaki.  MUIS is also working to allow each madrasah student to receive a student grant that can be used to pay for enrichment programmes that would expose him or her to a wider range of opportunities.

     Dr Maliki has asked whether the madrasahs are ready for the PSLE.  We are confident that with the support that we have given, our madrasahs will be able to face the challenges of the PSLE.  Notwithstanding that, as agreed during the debate on the compulsory education, the 400 students who are exempted from the madrasahs will remain and for those madrasahs that cannot meet the PSLE standards, MUIS will continue to provide assistance to ensure that their secondary and post-secondary curriculum continue to be updated and improved. 

     Sir, madrasahs are important institutions for developing our religious elite.  We want to see our madrasah students succeed in both their religious and academic studies so that they have as many options available as possible for further studies and their future careers.  So we must make it a target for us in our community that all of the students pass the PSLE benchmark.  As such, considerable resources have been channelled by MUIS and the community to the madrasahs.

     Dr Maliki has also asked about the revamp of part-time religious education.  The needs of the vast majority of the Muslim students who attend or have attended national schools are indeed a priority.  MUIS has expanded the range of the age-specific part-time religious education programmes to include the youths as well as tweens; those just before becoming teenagers.  The response to the part-time religious education programme has been positive.  So far, about 26,000 students are attending the part-time religious education classes in our mosques, and this figure does not include those who are following other part-time religious education classes offered by other organisations.  

     Let me just cite one example on the effectiveness of the programme.  Siti Hairani Aznor, a young working adult who had signed up for the two-month YouthAlive primer course said that she now has a better appreciation of the contributions of Muslims in various fields over the centuries.  I am happy to report that there will now be more of such learning opportunities for more youths as the part-time religious education syllabus is expected to be rolled out in all our mosque religious classes or part-time madrasahs by 2010.  MUIS has also started a new annual programme called the Shared Perspectives Seminar, which is targeted at youths, and will prompt discussion on issues relevant to our faith and the role and place it occupies in the current times.  This is a point that was raised by Mr Zaqy Mohd.  The first seminar will be held next week.

     Sir, finally, on the issue of community engagement raised by Mr Zainudin Nordin who wants to know about our efforts. Singapore, as we all know, is a multi-racial and multi-religious country.  Muslims must remain open, appreciate the faiths of fellow Singaporeans and also help them to understand Islam.  This will help Singapore stay strong, vibrant, united and resilient.

     At the local level, Muslims have participated in many inter-faith and inter-ethnic initiatives.  MUIS and the mosques have been actively involved in the National Steering Committee on Racial and Religious Harmony chaired by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, and the newly-repositioned Inter-Racial Confidence Circles (IRCCs).  The Harmony Centre, launched by our Prime Minister just five months ago, has already received more than 2,300 visitors and many warm reviews from people of all faiths.  To better promote its message of peace and inter-faith understanding, the Harmony Centre will be launching its own website in the second half of this year. 

     At the international level, MUIS Academy recently inked an agreement with Hartford Seminary, a premier institution from Connecticut that is well-known for its research into Muslim-Christian links. Through this link-up, MUIS will be organising inter-faith seminars and courses for people of all religions.  MUIS also launched the Distinguished Visitors Programme last May and welcomed His Eminence Dr Sayyed Muhammad Tantawi of Al-Azhar as our first distinguished visitor.  MUIS will continue to invite more eminent speakers, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to share their insights.

     Sir, our Muslim community is confident and forward looking.  We have steadily been putting in place a solid base - empowering individuals, connecting with our youths, strengthening families, and enhancing the progressive practice of Islam.  Our model has been studied, recognised and commended by many international authorities and observers.  Our haj and halal certification services are sought after by many other countries, and we have even shared our madrasah curriculum with them.  A UK group of Muslim parliamentarians and community leaders visited us last July and were impressed by how Muslims here integrated and contributed to the wider society.  Indeed, the Executive Director of the Islamic Society of North America, Dr Louay Safi, felt that Singapore can be a model for places where Muslims are a minority.  So while we recognise the issues that concern us, we should be proud of what we have achieved.  Let us work even harder to achieve our vision of being a community of excellence. 

     Allow me now, Sir, to sum up in Malay.

     (In Malay):  [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] The Malay-Muslim community in Singapore has shown strong determination and has achieved very encouraging results.  We are on the right track in determining our future direction and in tackling social issues and the challenges of a globalised world.  Our religious life is dynamic and progressive.  Our objective is to achieve a better standard of living for our community in line with our vision of being a community of excellence and a community that is active in bringing well-being and prosperity to our country.

  
     I would like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to community leaders, asatizahs and Malay-Muslim organisations for their active participation in efforts to move the community forward.  As the proverb says, "berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing " we work together no matter what the challenges are.  With the sense of unity in purpose and a common goal, I am sure we can overcome the challenges that we are facing now and will face in the future.  Although sometimes we do not achieve consensus in some matters, it is important that we should not allow this to affect our main objective of bringing progress to our community together.  For this purpose, it is important that we put aside whatever personal or group interests that we may have in the interest of the community.

  
     The Community Leaders' Forum has now been a platform for discussions and this is in line with our culture and religion.  This will continue to be our thrust of practice and achieving consensus.  We must practise the principle of consensus among our community.

          The Chairman:  We have some time for clarifications.  Can I request that we take the clarifications for Minister Yaacob first before we move on to the rest?  There will be time for every one else.  Mdm Halimah.

     Mdm Halimah Yacob (In Malay ):  Sir, I would like to ask the Minister two questions.  Firstly, is the sum of $1.2 million sufficient to assist the less fortunate families?  Secondly, how many such families have been assisted under the MUIS fund?

     Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the $1.2 million is over and above what has already been spent.  As mentioned in my speech, the money will be spent on new projects to be run by Malay/Muslim organisations that have shown some track record.  Over the last two years, about 1,302 families received zakat monthly every year.  But about 400 families have participated in this programme and 104 families have since successfully graduated from the EPS.  What we do is that we mined the data from our zakat recipients, identified their families, and we put them onto these programmes so that we could then empower them and get them off the zakat altogether.

     Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, clarification and supplementary question with regard to the Minister's response to the issue of part-time religious education for the young.  It is also in relation to Dr Fatimah's point about some of the problems of divorce rates and teenage pregnancies. 

     Sir, there has been some observation that Malay parents tend to be lax with regard to religious education amongst the teens.  I would like to ask the Minister if MUIS also recognises that trend that the young tend to be not attending part-time religious education and the community feels that religious education is one of the keys to solving some of these problems.  Could the Minister comment on what MUIS plans to do to try to further increase the registration rates, especially for the teens, to take part in these part-time religious education classes?

     Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, we agree wholeheartedly with Dr Maliki that we have to reach out to the young and that is why the part-time religious education approach was in fact reviewed and changed to fit what we call age-specific requirements.  So, in YouthAlive, and now we have TweensAlive, we have changed the approach in terms of the pedagogy, moving away from chalk and talk, and now using overheads, experiential learning and story telling.  Based on the initial feedback, the response has been positive.  But I do agree with Dr Maliki that we need to step up.  That is why this programme is not only run by our mosques but also with private service providers who have decided to adopt the curriculum and run this programme on our behalf.  The approach is that we will try as many avenues as possible to reach out to the youth sector.  But, more importantly, I think it is important for us to help get our parents to also recognise that entrenching our kids in religious education at a very young age would build the resilience in them to face future challenges.

     Mr Zainudin Nordin: Sir, I just would like to ask the Minister if we have the capability and capacity to handle the youth sector.  Do we have enough social workers and youth workers?  What efforts are being put to increase the numbers?

     Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, it is one of the gaps that we have identified earlier in the Malay/Muslim community - the lack of youth workers trained to deal with out of school youths and youths at risk. We have stepped up our training programme.  Last year, we spent some money through Mendaki to train about 20 youth workers.  I am happy to announce that, this year, we will step up the youth training programme even further to invite experts from overseas, such as Australia, to train a lot more youth workers within the Malay/Muslim community.  The challenge is really to be able to equip our youth workers with the relevant social skills to deal with kids who not only bring their own personal problems but, because they come from families which may be dysfunctional, there are other inter-related problems that our youth workers will have to handle.

     Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Sir, regarding the number of young couples in the Malay community, I would like to ask the Minister to work with MCYS in terms of extending help to these young families under the HOPE scheme.  Under the HOPE scheme, the qualification is very high.  It is at GCE "O" level.  So the Minister might want to work with MCYS to see how we could help these young families and bring down that qualification level to help them with some of the financial schemes.

     Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I think the HOPE scheme is designed to really catch a large group of young people with very low education.  As mentioned by Mrs Yu-Foo yesterday, the self-help groups, including Mendaki, have been roped in to help to get more potential HOPE beneficiaries onto the programme.  For the Malay community, it is a sensitive programme but I am glad to note that more Malay couples are now joining the programme.  I would also like to thank MCYS for their assistance, because the programmes that we have been conducting within the Malay/Muslim community have received a lot of support from MCYS.  The approach that we have taken in the Malay/Muslim community is mainstreaming.  As and when there are programmes within MCYS or other agencies, we will mainstream the Malay/Muslim community.  Where there are specific gaps, then we will step in.  So, as mentioned in my reply, we are going to start two centres to deal with minor couples. This phenomenon is largely happening in the Malay community. They want to get married, they are still very young,

but we need to guide them because they are likely to add to our divorce rate. These are efforts which are targeted at young couples who have decided to get married but whom we know are vulnerable to divorces.

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     Mr Zainudin Nordin: Sir, with regard to the point raised by Dr Fatimah, is there any possibility of changing the age limitation for Muslim marriages?

     Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, as I mentioned in my reply, we are studying this.  I hope Mr Zainudin Nordin will support us.

          The Chairman:  Any other clarifications for Dr Yaacob?  No? Terima kasih.  Mr Sin Boon Ann.

     Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, the Minister, in his reply to my queries, responded by saying that one way of dealing with globalisation is to try and minimise the gap between the rich and the poor, and part of the strategy lies in topping up the income of the poor through Workfare.

   My question to the Minister is whether he thinks Workfare alone is sufficient.  Workfare extends about a couple of hundred dollars a month to these families.  Given the widening income gap, is Workfare alone sufficient to minimise the difference and to build up a sizable pool of the middle-class?

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Workfare, in the long term, will not be sufficient. The long-term solution is education, training, increased productivity, increased competitiveness and that leading to increased wages.  But Workfare, however, buys us time so that we can enable our people to seek the training and the time to upgrade themselves.  And, more importantly, as Singapore seeks to ride this express bullet train of globalisation, we need to give people, who feel most vulnerable, some assurance that seat-belts are on and they would not fall off this train, even when we go down some roller-coasters.  For all these reasons, we felt that we need to have Workfare in place - to buy time and to assure our people.  But do not get distracted from the fact that a long-term solution is still education and upgrading our competitive capacity and to get better jobs and, ultimately, better salaries.

     Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Mr Chairman, the Minister yesterday announced that PA allowance would be increased by $30 a month, from $260 to $290.  The Minister did not answer my two questions on whether PA allowance commensurates with inflation and whether there has been a study done to ascertain whether PA allowance serves the needs of the recipients.

    Sir, my single constituents told me that they needed to skip one meal a day to live on the $260 per month.  And now, MCYS is going to give them $1 more a day.  But, Sir, $1 a day will not be able to buy them one meal a day in any hawker centre.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: When we did this review of the Public Assistance rates, we took into account both the impact of inflation since the last review as well as the impact of the GST increase.  There will always be arguments about whether a sum that we have decided is enough or not. As I said yesterday, frankly, one limiting factor must be that the sum that we give through Public Assistance cannot be so generous as to erode the work ethic.  As I said again yesterday, if you take a family with three children, the amount they can receive from Public Assistance - I do not have the exact figure now - I think exceeds $900. At that level, you are getting dangerously close to the earnings of a low-wage worker.

     Having said that, I think there will always be unique circumstances when some families find that that sum is not enough.  And that is where the community and grassroots organisations have to come in and look for those mitigating or exceptional circumstances and more help is necessary. So the key point is that as far as the entitlement portion is concerned, I will admit that that is set low.  But have flexibility, have organisations and individuals who are able to assess special needs of special families and then respond accordingly.  That is the system which we have.

    The alternative is to set the entitlement at a very high level. But once you do that, I think you would not have only 3,000 families on Public Assistance, you will see many multiples of families.

     Dr Lily Neo: Sir, the Minister said that the increment was done in such a way so as not to take away the work ethic. Surely, this argument cannot be applied to PA allowance recipients because this is a group of people that can never work either due to poor health, old age or disability. Therefore, this work ethic concept does not work.  The other point is that the Minister said that this group of people can depend on grassroots organisations and others.  Am I to understand that MCYS cannot provide adequately for the most vulnerable group of our society and that PA recipients must go and seek help from others?  He said yesterday that in this globalisation, he would ensure that increasing number of Singaporeans would not feel left out and that he would provide more assistance to the poor to cope with the higher cost of living.  May I ask him: should providing three meals a day not be a priority of his promise?

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I take the Member's point that for Public Assistance, we have fairly strict criteria.  But having said that, I am still not willing to go to the other extreme and say that since we have got strict criteria, we can afford to be generous. This is the same point that Mr Seah Kian Peng raised yesterday.  I have sympathy for that point, but I would still appeal to Members of this House to exercise caution.

    Her second question was: why must they go and seek help?  Why must they ask for it?  I would like to remind her again of my speech yesterday when I said that if it is going to be low on entitlement and high on flexibility, then we do want some effort to be exerted on the part of the recipients. Yes, we do want them to go and ask for help.  But I also said yesterday that, let us not get too carried away and reach a stage where if someone does not know or does not want to ask for help, we ignore that person.  I have also asked the community organisations, neighbours, voluntary welfare organisations and the rest of us, if we see someone who needs more help, enquire about that person and organise the help. 

     Let us talk about meals since the Member has phrased her question specifically about three square meals.  You and I, in fact, all of us, know that there are programmes for meals at home.  There are organisations which specifically bring bread and rations, many of which are bought from FairPrice, gratitude to Mr Seah as well.  But there are schemes like this.  That allows me to say with a clear conscience to both the PAP and the Opposition MPs that nobody in Singapore needs to starve, nobody needs to be deprived of healthcare, and nobody needs to be deprived of a roof over his or her head.  If someone indeed is so destitute and is starving, we have other means and other safety nets for them. We can bring them to the Pelangi Home, and I would invite all of you to come to Pelangi Home and see the standard of care, the facilities, the food and the way we look after them.

     So, please do not run away with the misconception that Singapore is a cold, heartless place where, because we are so strict on criteria and entitlements, people are starving, freezing and denied the dignities of life.  All I am asking Members is just to bear these principles in mind.  Entitlements will always be low, ie, the person has to ask you for help and not bang on your table for help. We will always need the many- helping-hands model, not because the Government is broke.  We can always do more and we can always raise GST further. But that is not the tone of the society that we are trying to create. We are saying that, yes, there will always be problems in society and it cannot be only the Government to do it because, if you want the Government to do it all, it means higher taxes and a large bureaucracy.  As we can see in many other countries who have created elaborate welfare-states based on the best of intentions and the softest of hearts, such systems ultimately failed, they are not efficient and they are going to run out of money. We will see that happen in our lifetime, but we will make sure that that does not happen in Singapore.

    As the Minister for MCYS, those are the dilemmas and the trade-offs that I have to make.  

     Mr Sin Boon Ann : This relates to the same point too.  I am assured by the Minister's reply that no one in Singapore needs to go hungry. But the fact remains that we come across people who are indeed hungry, people who are left out and who basically fall through the cracks.  I suppose this must be something to do with our communication process, our ability to reach out to these people and to tell them where help can be delivered. Surely, the Minister would also, in his deliberations, consider whether or not the communication channel or the outreach channel is adequate and could the Ministry be doing more in this regard to reach out to these needy Singaporeans.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Absolutely.  I shared the story of Tan Sai Siong yesterday to make the point that it just needs sometimes one email or one phone call. Singapore is a very small place.  It is not difficult for Members to contact the Prime Minister or myself directly.  I am not saying that that should be the modus operandi here and everything should be solved that way.  But what I am saying is that, if you do detect families in such distress, do something about it. Do not just complain but ask yourself first what you should do about it and  who else can help. As far as the Government is concerned, what systems, structures, institutions and policies are needed.  I want to get these things clear in our minds that there is a role for the individual to help himself or to seek help.  There is a role for families. There is a role for community organisations. There is a role for interested and compassionate individuals and Tan Sai Siong was an example. And there is a role for Government.  But let us keep all these respective roles organised in such a way that each one does what he or she is best at.

     That is why I am appealing for understanding that our entitlement system will be low. That also means, as the Member has quite rightly said, we need to communicate, we need to keep all channels of communication open and we need to keep our eyes open.  We cannot, like what I said yesterday, whenever you see someone whom you think needs help, just shrug our shoulders and say, "See, that is the Government's job."  Ask yourself what you yourself have done about that individual and about that family. Singapore has got to where it is now, not just because of hard work but also because there have been family obligations and community compassion. And we have been almost schizophrenic in the sense that I believe that we have done better than communist and socialist countries in looking after the poor.

Yet, we have also been one of the most free-market capitalist economies. It is this ability to pick and use the best aspects of both capitalism and socialism  -  the head and the heart -  which is the secret to our success.  So we must disagree, we must have tensions and we must debate this, but let us not lose that sense of balance.  I am sure there will be implementational and operational problems.  And when these come up, Members must tell me and I must do my best to fix them.  But when it comes to policy and entitlements, I will tell Members quite frankly that I start from a rather stringent and tight perspective.

1.45 pm

     That is why, yesterday, I said that I was not here to argue for a bigger budget for MCYS, although I also showed Members yesterday that the budget was increasing at a very significant rate.  But I am more focused on the policies, the rules, the systems and organisational roles than on absolute sums.  It is very easy for me to stand here and say, "I can double public assistance", and try to persuade my Cabinet colleagues to agree to that.  But, in my heart of hearts, I will know that it is wrong and that, ultimately, it will short change the very poor that we are trying to help and the entire group of people called Singaporeans.

          The Chairman: Let us give other Members a chance.  The list here is very long already.  Ms Jessica Tan.

     Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Sir, I am heartened to hear about the work that is being done by the agencies on the charity status for NSAs.  My question for the Parliamentary Secretary is whether there is a timeline to achieve this.

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, it is important for the NSAs to achieve a certain charity status, because we want to see them to be self-reliant on fund raising efforts, so that there is no over reliance on Government funding.  And we have to talk about accepting the other pillars of sports, which is Sports Excellence, Sports Industry along with Sports for All activities.

     Today, we are working with the different agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, and we hope to be able to come up with some developments in the next three months.  Perhaps the Member would want to ask me again about the status in the next three months.

     Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Sir, I am very heartened to hear the Parliamentary Secretary and the Government's commitment to disabled athletes of Singapore.  I have just two points of clarification.  First, will the SDSC oversee intellectually disabled sports as well?

     My second point is on Project 0812.  Does it include disabled athletes?  If not, why not?  If not, is there an equivalent programme for disabled athletes?

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, Mr Palmer's first question is whether SDSC will take care of the intellectually disabled athletes.  SDSC spearheads all disabled athletes of different levels of disabilities, whether it is intellectual or physical.  Within the intellectual disabilities, the Olympics for them is called Special Olympics, to include all disabilities and to encourage participation. 

     For the elite level disabled athletes, they are called the Paralympics, and that would also be included if we are going to focus on Olympic glory.

     We have already started Project 0812, and the ball is rolling. We have been in discussion with different stakeholders on how we could include the disabled athletes. 

     We have set up the Sporting Culture Committee, as Members know.  One of the sub-groups is called Glory for the Nation.  Glory for the Nation helps athletes to achieve higher sporting glory, and that includes the Olympics.  Project 0812, for the long term, will be roped into Glory for the Nation taskforce or committee.  And we intend to include the disabled athletes under this banner, which is Glory for the Nation.

     A point to note is that if we talk to disabled athletes, they want to achieve the highest sporting glory, and they want to be able to be rewarded.  But if we ask them, "What is your first priority?" they would tell you, "Accessibility and to be able to participate in sports as a life-long pursuit", and also to balance that with their daily lives.  So, if you ask me, where should the investment be put in, I would rather that the investment be put into the infrastructure for these disabled athletes.

     Mrs Jessie Phua (Nominated Member): Sir, there are three points I would like to raise.  First, the Parliamentary Secretary assured this House that there is fairness between local and foreign talent athletes.  Unfortunately, I have reasons to believe otherwise.  From personal experience, when we apply for support for full-time training for our local athletes, we were reminded, time and again, that we should not be looking at welfare.  Our local athletes were told to work towards balancing training and school or work.  Against this backdrop, it would seem that support for full training for our foreign import athletes is a given.

     Second, central counselling resource centre.  Sir, yesterday's newspaper reported that yet another of our foreign import athlete, table tennis player Zhang Xue Ling is leaving for Shanghai.  This is the latest addition to the count of three basketball, six hockey, one football and one badminton foreign athletes who have since left their sports.  The reasons for their departure may vary.

          The Chairman: Mrs Phua, please make your clarification rather than a speech.

     Mrs Jessie Phua: It is clear that there is a need for the Singapore Sports Council to set up a central counselling resource centre if it is sincere in its efforts to be athlete-centric.  Besides helping foreign sporting talents to adjust and adapt to life in Singapore, they have a moral obligation to ensure that these new citizens are provided with adequate schooling.

          The Chairman: Mrs Phua, please do not make a speech.

     Mrs Jessie Phua: I also want to raise a point on the central secretariat.  Yesterday, Ms Denise Phua brought up the point of the high cost of governance by VWOs.  Unfortunately, the same fate befalls NSAs too, especially the smaller NSAs.  I think MCYS should work with the SSC towards setting up such a central secretariat to serve a pool of the smaller NSAs.   The benefit is self-evident.

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, first, the point about fairness to local and foreign athletes.  We believe that in the policies and the implementation today, there is fairness across the board.  Of course, if there are specific cases, I will encourage Mrs Jessie Phua to highlight them to me, so that I can look into them.

     What is important about local and foreign athletes is that when foreign athletes come in, yes, most of the time they live with the little income that probably the NSAs disburse to them through the funding.  They train full-time.  Local athletes can do the same but sometimes they face family pressure as they have to balance their studies as well.  They do not want to give up what they already have.  But we already see that, through the Olympic project, there are some who have already put aside their studies or even their work to do full-time training.  So, if there are specific cases, I would rather look into them and review them with the Member, and see what are the things that we can do.  But we want to make sure that at the implementation and working level, there is fairness across the board for all local and foreign athletes, and they compete on a level playing field with no disadvantage.

     The Member mentioned about Zhang Xue Ling leaving.  I read the report and I was also very saddened by that news, because she is one of our top players.  But I have come to understand that she left for a good reason.  She wants to spend more time with her family.  Her husband left for Shanghai and she wants to be close to the family.  So she left Singapore for Shanghai.  What is more heartening is that she mentioned that if we needed her, she would be back.  She will still play for Singapore because she is a Singaporean, and she came from this system here.  I think that sense of identity and belonging is still there.  But at this point in time, she probably believes that she can put her sporting career aside and make sure she spends time with her family, which MCYS is promoting as well.  So I cannot say that that is not a good decision.  But we welcome her back and we really would like her to represent Singapore again for the right competition and to play internationally.

     Sir, on the central counselling resource centre, I like the idea and we should explore it further, so as to help NSAs. I also believe that some smaller NSAs promoting very good sports may or may not have the type of support that they need.  Maybe for volley ball, they could grow commercially - beach volley ball or gymnastics. There are a couple of good gymnasts and they can grow them.  Maybe they need some support at the different pillars of the sport - Sports Excellence, High Sports Participation and Sports Industry.  Yes, this is something to consider.  We should take this back and maybe in time to come, we could set up a task force and include the people, private sector and all of us, and I hope Mrs Jessie Phua will also volunteer her efforts in this.

     Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Sir, just a point of clarification for the Parliamentary Secretary regarding the foreign sports talent scheme.  I just want to ask what are some of the deliberate integration processes that are organised. Or is it all left to the respective NSAs to deal with it?

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, may I ask the Member to repeat his question?

     Mr Seah Kian Peng: What are some of the deliberate integration processes that are organised for the foreign athletes?  Or is it all left to the respective NSAs to deal with it?

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, I have mentioned in my answer that there are many courses  -  language, singing the National Anthem, even equipping them with life-long skills.  It was originally left to the NSAs to execute the integration plan.  But I agree that some small and big NSAs need more help. They are going to have more foreign talents to raise the competition level for our local athletes.  So the SSC will have to play a more active role for those that are not school-based, whether in the Sports School or foreign athletes, and we have to plan more structured programmes for the NSAs along with SSC and MCYS to integrate these athletes, and we have to add value to that process.

     Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for his response yesterday.  I am indeed disappointed that the Ministry will not consider providing caregiver's allowance.  I believe that many low-income and lower middle-income families who belong to the typical family that I have alluded to during my cut yesterday will be disappointed as well. 

     I also beg to disagree with the Minister that the caregiver's allowance is necessarily what we call  deadweight funding, and that it will dilute the amount of assistance that we can provide to the beneficiaries.  The caregiver's allowance, just like the WIS, can be devised such that families who need more help will get more help and vice versa.  In addition, the many available initiatives that the Minister had alluded to, such as tax relief, the maid levy concessions, etc, do not really benefit families from the lower middle-income families.  Many of these families actually fall into the group where they either do not qualify for financial assistance or Workfare scheme available currently.  Therefore, I urge the Ministry not to dismiss this totally but to consider studying how other countries are doing this, so that we can modify the scheme to best suit our needs and to reach out to those who actually need them most.

2.00 pm

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Sir, Dr Lam will know that in medicine, we never say never.  Similarly, in public policy, we have to constantly review the situation.  But at any point in time, a decision has to be made and a position taken and the rationale given.  I have said that at this point in time, we are not in favour of having a caregiver's allowance.  I believe he quite rightly identified the challenge

when he said that some families need more help, and I can accept that as a starting point.  If you agree that some families need more help, then the key is to identify the characteristics of these families that need more help and to identify who and where these families are.  Then the next thing is to decide what are the additional resources or money which they need.  If you work through that logic, caregiver's allowance is just one of many options which can be considered to devote more resources to these families in need. And I said yesterday that I was not in favour of it because it was a complicated thing.  You are trying to put value first on family and filial responsibility but, more important than that, it still requires significant resources and, at the end of the day, my job is to take whatever resources that I have available from MOF, but ultimately from the taxpayers of Singapore, and channel those resources to those in greatest need. It is just that at this point in time, I would rather focus my mind on identifying who are these families that he has spoken about who have exceptional needs, who need more help, rather than giving everybody who declares that he or she is a caregiver an allowance, and that is what I meant by "deadweight funding".  I am not convinced that this is the most targeted, focused  way of channelling more resources to those in need. Having said that, if he can devise such a scheme, I will be most happy to consider it. 

     Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong (Tanjong Pagar): My clarifications for the Minister are on the HOPE scheme.  In his reply to my question yesterday, the Minister said that the criteria for the HOPE scheme were reviewed, revised and relaxed last year.  So I thank the Minister for that.

     I would like to request the Minister to re-examine two of the criteria at an opportune time.  One is the age of the mother. The current criterion for the age of the mother is 35 and below, but I know that for mothers who are 36, maybe up to 40, they still have young children.  So, if they are kept out of this scheme, the educational prospect of their children will be dented. The second criterion that I hope the Minister will review is the condition that the husband must be working in order to qualify for the HOPE scheme.  I know there are some cases where the husbands are not able to work because they are retrenched or because of some medical conditions.  If they are kept out of the scheme again, this actually will be like a double whammy for the family.  So I hope that the Minister can review these two criteria at the right time.  In the meanwhile, I hope that the Ministry can exercise some flexibility. 

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: That is precisely the reason why I set up a committee headed by Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon so that when there are exceptional circumstances which require flexibility, this committee can do so.  But, again, I just want to remind everyone that we still need to have criteria, and there still needs to be a cut-off point.  We can argue, age 35, 34 or 36, but wherever you set it, there will be boundary issues.  On the issue of work, again, Members know, I start from the starting point that we want to encourage people to work and we do not want to have a situation where the person's chances of getting a hundred thousand dollars is enhanced simply by saying that, "I'm unemployed."  But if there are genuine and real reasons for his status, then we will exercise flexibility, and I would encourage Members to send their appeals to Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon. 

     Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, I am really heartened by the proactive approach taken by MCYS for our future plans.  Can the Minister clarify to the House the difference between the centre for seniors that I believe is being launched very soon and the centre for third age which was mentioned by Mr Lim yesterday? I think it would be good for all of us to know the difference between the two.  The second point is on training for youth workers in general.  Earlier, this was discussed in relation to the Malay community.  Can I request some clarification on the current training for youth workers at MCYS?

     The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Lim Boon Heng): The centre for seniors is a VWO set up by NTUC Eldercare with five other partners and its focus would be on providing general counselling, a helpline, as well as counselling for work, ie, helping senior Singaporeans who want to find employment.  Also, we will be looking at working with some partners on how to provide some programmes to keep the seniors actively engaged.  There is obviously some duplication with the Centre for Third Age because the Centre for Third Age would be overseen by a Council that would actively work with different organisations to provide more activities for seniors.  So you would regard the Centre for Third Age (C3A), which I announced yesterday, as the organisation that would be working with the different organisations that we have on how to do various things for seniors whereas the centre for seniors has got very limited and definite areas of interest. 

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I will answer the question on training of youth workers.  Actually, it is part of a larger question of social workers and other professionals in social services.  When we started off, I think we were grateful that anyone would just say that he or she is a youth worker or a social worker.  There were no minimum standards and no certification.  Even today, I am not sure that we have a formal register of social workers which allows someone to say that this person is a qualified or licensed social worker or not.  But in the Ministry, and we have been discussing this with NCSS as well as the VWOs, we believe the time has come in Singapore to establish such a professional register to define the qualifications, training and experience, but this is not something which I want to impose.  I want to work with the sector too because if you believe in social work and social services as a profession, then one hallmark of the profession is self-regulation.  So my Ministry will work with the profession on this. 

     The next thing then is that we also realise there is a need for professional upgrading, to stay in touch, and that is why I announced yesterday that we set aside funds which can be used to attend courses, take sabbaticals, and to make sure that with time, people get to refresh and sharpen their professional skills.  The other issue we looked at was the capacity, ie, do we have training places in the universities and institutes of higher learning, even in the private centres?  And also within NCSS, they have established what we call the SSTI (Social Services Training Institute).  So, we are looking at a combination of measures - self-regulation, professional definition, professional upgrading and capacity for training.  All in all, what we hope to achieve is that we will have enough social workers and youth workers.  All these workers will be properly qualified, properly trained, and we will be able to have a self-sustaining sector well capable of upgrading itself. 

     Dr Fatimah Lateef: Two points, Sir. More and more Singapore NGOs  are participating in humanitarian activities, both locally as well as overseas.  We have heard MINDEF's response a couple of days ago about coordinating the efforts of local NGOs.  I have seen smaller NGOs which are not so well coordinated on the ground overseas.  They seem to be lost and rather uncoordinated.  I would like to seek the Minister's advice or plans as to whether this is a possibility of MCYS being the umbrella body to coordinate some of these NGOs under a Singapore-incorporated effort in responding to such disasters. 

     The second point is pertaining to hotlines and improving communication channels.  I would like to cite an example.  I actually tried to call the destitute hotline over one-and-a-half days over a Friday and a Saturday with no response. This was pertaining to an elderly man, 70 years of age, and his companion, a 40-year old woman, who were living in the void deck. I tried to secure them a shelter and I actually had to personally call several nursing homes, even SAGE as well as several VWOs and family service centres, to actually locate shelter for them over the weekend. Actually, if the hotline works over the Friday and Saturday, it would be a lot better and easier for all of us.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I apologise if the hotline service was not functioning.  Next time, just call one of us directly.  I think there is no excuse for these operational services to be unavailable. 

     I come back to the Member's first question on NGOs, particularly as they perform work overseas.  I had a first-hand experience of this when the tsunami occurred.  That was in December 2004.  The first lesson I learnt was that there is a role for Government and there is also a separate and complementary role for NGOs.  Yes, in terms of assets, the ability to mobilise resources - move, transport project, people and assets - nothing beats the military, and the military belongs to the Government. But in terms of volunteers, getting people to exercise compassion and donate money out of their own free will, that is surely the domain of NGOs. 

     Then the next issue that came up was coordination and there were calls at that time for MCYS to coordinate, to take the lead.  I decided that MCYS would act as the secretariat.  That means we would not lead  but we would facilitate.  We would help, we would connect and we would network.  So, yes, we did call meetings but at all these meetings, I took great pains to ensure that leadership and ownership belonged to the non-government organisations, and I said that we were there to help them overcome obstacles, hurdles, and to connect them with the right people. 

     In the case of the tsunami, it was obviously getting people, the donations and the assets that they had collected and to be able to project them and their assets into the areas of operations. And, I think, at the end of that experience, it worked out quite nicely.  There was not this sense that Government was taking over and running the NGOs because if we did that, they would no longer be NGOs.  But another interesting thing happened.  I think some NGOs - and I think the Member participated in at least a couple of those missions - after a while, decided that they would call themselves Team Singapore. I never imposed that on them but they called themselves Team Singapore and they happily and proudly put on the Singapore flag, and I want to encourage that kind of spontaneous self-organisation.  Yes, Government will stand by, Government will support and facilitate, but let us keep the leadership and that sense of commitment, passion and ownership entirely with the people sector.  So, I think, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the level of trust and communication of our NGOs, Government and MCYS is probably at a reasonably happy and functioning level, and I think she can probably attest to that herself.

     Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Chairman, a few points of clarification.  The Minister mentioned that the Ministry will play a facilitating role and work with the NGOs and also maintain the integrity of the NGOs.  I think that is something that is laudable. But I think that some of the NGOs require some form of support, not only funding, which is primarily what it is at the moment, but also a source of income stream.  So my question is whether the Minister can also consider hiving off some parts of the MCYS' functions, for example, the call centre itself, to an NGO which could be a social enterprise that could then also have an income stream as a demand floor to serve the members of the public. Then, of course, in the midst of that, it creates more viable income stream for the social enterprise. 

I have other points of clarifications, Sir.

2.15 pm

          The Chairman:  Let the Minister answer first.

     Miss Penny Low: Okay.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I was smiling at Ms Denise Phua when she said that, because she usually scolds me for outsourcing.  Let me put it this way. If there are jobs which can be best performed by the private sector or people sector, we would happily outsource it.  Because my attitude is that it is not important exactly who does it, but make sure the job is done well and that resources are spent in a cost-effective and fair way.  Yes, I will be most happy to look for those opportunities, but I am also mindful, before Ms Denise Phua stands up, that I accept her principle that there are some things which perhaps the Government should do because Government does best.  So let us keep an open mind, and realise that the situation is changed.  We have to be flexible and to adapt accordingly.

     Miss Penny Low: I thank the Minister for his answer and I do agree that there are functions that should be still within MCYS, but those on the periphery should certainly be examined.  But in view of the increasing income gap, the ageing society, I think the need for social programmes will always be on the increase.  And the Minister mentioned very clearly in his speech yesterday, and even today, that the key is in building a self-reliant society.  One very powerful solution is obviously the social enterprises and the socially responsible enterprises, and there is, in fact, a SE documentary, an eight-part TV documentary ---

          The Chairman:  Please make the clarification.

     Miss Penny Low: I am contextualising it.  It is being shown today. It shows how the change makers could keep themselves afloat and, at the same time, benefit those marginalised part of the society.  Hence, would the Minister agree that, first, social enterprise is an important pillar to a self-reliant society and, if he agrees with it, then would he consider the current funding of $3 million compared to $140 million of social programmes way too conservative?

          The Chairman:  Thank you, Miss Low.

     Miss Penny Low: One last point, Sir, with your indulgence.

          The Chairman:  Okay, in one sentence.

     Miss Penny Low: Yes, thank you.  The Minister also mentioned that the needy should turn to the grassroots organisations for financial and other help.  Grassroots are volunteers. They also need to raise funds.  Would MCYS consider supporting grassroots-based social enterprise so that they can, through their action leadership, also set the ethos for a self-reliant society? That would also be an excellent way to attract young volunteers.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: A short answer to her long sentence is that in Dr Teo Ho Pin's constituency, you would see an example of a grassroots social enterprise and a very successful community kitchen which he runs out of his CC.

     Let me come back to her first question which is on social enterprises, whether we consider it important and whether we are putting enough resources to it.  To be honest with her, I think the field of social enterprises is still evolving.  While there are some very good successes, there are mixed results elsewhere.  I do not like taking an ideological position.  I do not want to take an ideological position that social enterprises are the panacea to all our social problems and, therefore, instead of spending $140 million on social assistance, I channel $140 million to social enterprises and I only have $3 million for public assistance, and then I will have problems with Dr Lily Neo. 

     My attitude is that this is a field that is evolving.  Let us get our feet wet and let us see where it goes.  One caveat which I want to emphasise, however, is that the business aspect of social enterprise must be viable.  If it is not viable, and it needs a subsidy, then it is not a business.  So even if you say you need more money, and I can accept the fact that there will probably be a need for more money, just bear in mind that this money should be seed funding. It is not an ongoing subsidy.  Even if you take that example of microcredit for which Mohammad Yunus won a Nobel Prize, he did not receive a huge level of subsidies from the Government or the World Bank or any other developmental agency.  What he had was an idea that made business sense, that was practical and then took off, because it was fundamentally right. Could the idea, however, have been facilitated if seed funding was available? The answer is, yes.  But if the idea was fundamentally flawed and required long-term subsidies, it is not right anyway. 

     So all I am saying is, yes, social enterprises is something which we do want to explore for which we are willing to put seed funding.  But let us not be too ideological about it.

     Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Sir, I seek the Minister's response to the other recommendations in the Ageing Masterplan. Amongst them, better funding of the early intervention programme; building quality, not just increasing capacity; and to stop setting up early intervention centres unless there is proper preparation of the teachers and proper scaleable intervention models so that the children are helped and not hurt. 

     My second clarification, Sir, is to ask the Minister to consider the decision to matchmake the IDA IT funding with only one VWO, ie, the Society for Physically Disabled (SPD), and ask that part of this funding be diverted to the other major disability groups which have a lot more experience in training children and students of other disabilities, and that there probably could be more value-add in diverting some of this funding to the other centres.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: First question, more money for early intervention programmes, the answer is, yes, we have committed to that.  In fact, when we introduced the very unpopular move of means testing, I had also committed that we would put more money into this sector.  In fact, with means testing, some parents would pay a little bit more, plus our additional funding, overall, the pie for early intervention will increase as far as dollars and cents are concerned. 

     But what is more important is her second point, that is, not quantity and it is not just absolute dollars, but the quality of these early intervention programmes.  In this regard, I will have to stand advised by the professionals, the people and the stakeholders with the most in the sector, and, therefore, you are aware that we are working very closely with MOE and, where relevant, we are also working with the VWOs because they are still the primary stakeholders in this sector. 

     The issue of quality will always be somewhat controversial.  Because if you take 10 VWOs and you ask them to assess each other's quality, it gets difficult.  So what we can do then is start working on teachers, making sure that teachers in these programmes have training, appropriate qualifications,  opportunities to upgrade themselves, and access to the latest research, latest methods in pedagogy, and so on and so forth.  Equally important is the education of parents.  As a healthcare professional, nothing hurts me more than to see parents clutching at straws in getting all kinds of treatments, or so-called treatments, because they hope it will make a difference to their children.  Very often, they are just wasting time and money and, as she has said, sometimes, actually hurting the children.  So what we need is a good public education programme.  I feel that we need to assemble a group of people, and she knows once I said that, that means another group of concerned stakeholders out there. I am not talking about setting up another civil service committee. A group of experts out there, it needs people to sit down, review the literature and see what works, what does not work, what is useful, what is not useful, what is harmful, and then we need to make sure that parents and other stakeholders have access to this information and then rational choices will be made.  Because, otherwise, now, you have a situation where people are reacting to hearsay or, worse, reacting to stuff they read on the Internet with no verification, and they are making all kinds of demands for all kinds of services which may or may not do any good, and, as she herself has said, sometimes, it does more harm than good.

     Her final point is on the IDA funding.  In fact, MCYS also funds assistive technology.  I will take the approach that I will make this available, not necessarily to just one agency, but to all VWOs that show they are capable of making these detailed evaluations as to what appliance or software programme is most applicable in these conditions.  I have to strike a balance.  If I take the money and distribute it equally to everyone, what is likely to happen is that each of the VWOs will never develop the depth of experience and expertise needed to make these detailed evaluations.  On the other hand, if I give it to one person, then I have nine other VWOs who are very unhappy why I have given to that one monopoly.  So my attitude is that I am not aiming for monopoly, but what I am aiming for is to have at least one and, preferably, more agencies that are capable of doing these detailed evaluations and matching IT appliances and IT programmes to the needs of the disabled.  If she has organisations that are willing to put their hand out, I am sure my staff will be happy to consider.

          The Chairman:  I will allow clarifications up to 2.30 pm.  Mr Baey Yam Keng.

     Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, this is a question for the Parliamentary Secretary.  In the promotion of sporting culture and high participation in sports, accessibility to sports facilities should be important and key.  In providing funding for NSAs and in setting their KPIs, how does the Ministry differentiate between those which have easy access to almost free facilities, for example, athletes can always jog any time anywhere, basketball courts which are available in many neighbourhoods built by town councils, versus those which have to pay much to rent or hire facilities to practise, for example, volleyball.  For this, I have to declare my interest as the President of the Volleyball Association of Singapore.

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: The funding allocation is based on three pillars and we have repeated that many times, and I will repeat that again - sports excellence, high participation and sports industry. When a fund is disbursed, we need to look at the long-term plan of what the NSA is trying to achieve for its athletes. So whatever you are trying to achieve in training, and achievements, it must be supported, of course, by the facilities and all that you need to build the infrastructure for that achievement or training.  So the fund is disbursed according to your needs and, of course, as he knows, there is a limitation of resources.  So most of the time, we are unable to give 100% of what you ask for.  But that is exactly why in my speech, I emphasised the fact that the Sports Council and the Ministry will, together with NSAs, as a consolidated effort, look at additional funding from the private sector, and we can have the private sector involved as well.  So it is a 3P partnership. 

     Let us say, in the case of volley ball, if you are looking for additional facilities for beach volley ball, then, of course, the beach is there but you probably need to demarcate it for competition. What do you need in order to do that?  What exactly are you trying to achieve from there?  Are you organising an international event?  And if you are organising an international event, say, for beach volley ball, and you need to upgrade the sand regardless of whether there is a sand ban or not, that will be by project and the funding can be considered to be given out on a project basis.  So it could be a long-term plan, it could be a short-term plan, based on the needs of the sports and the association.

2.30 pm

     Dr Lily Neo: Sir, I want to check with the Minister again on the strict criteria on the entitlement for PA recipients.  May I ask him what is his definition of "subsistence living"?  Am I correct to say that, out of $260 per month for PA recipients, $100 goes to rental, power supply and S&C, and leaving them with only $5 a day to live on?  Am I correct to say that any basic

meal in any hawker centre is already $2.50 to $3.00 per meal?  Therefore, is it too much to ask for just three meals a day as an entitlement for the PA recipients?

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: How much do you want?  Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?

     Dr Lily Neo: It is cheaper to cook for one person.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: It is cheaper to cook for one person. 

     The point I was trying to make is that every family will have different needs and preferences.  I am not by any stretch of the imagination claiming that what we are offering as public assistance is a generous package.  I am not saying that.  But what I am saying is that it is enough, by and large, for most families to get by and, for those who have needs over and beyond that, there are other means to do so.  If every one was starving on this amount that we are giving and is totally devoid of any other sources of help, Pelangi Home would be overcrowded, and I would be building many, many more Pelangi Homes.  So, in the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Yes, any one of us, if we search hard enough, may be able to find a family or people who need additional help.  But I would also say that any one of us, if we really put our minds to it, is capable of finding those additional sources of help.  What I am designing is a system in which public assistance can and should be complemented by other sources of help.  I think we can continue arguing this and we can continue finetuning the exact amount that is needed.  But let us just bear in mind the fact that the system is set up with a certain amount of tension, and it is a healthy tension.

     In fact, I cannot resist saying that I am very disappointed that in the whole debate on MCYS, the Opposition MPs have not participated in this, and I have actually faced real probing questions more from the PAP MPs and the Nominated MPs.  Perhaps, they totally agree with my policies, philosophy and programmes.

          The Chairman:  Ms Sylvia Lim, that is an invitation!

     Ms Sylvia Lim (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, I just would like to repeat my response to the Minister in the lift actually, that there are still four years to go. 

     Mdm Halimah Yacob: In our effort to promote resilience and independence on the part of underprivileged families and individuals, I would like to ask the Minister whether the Minister can work with the NEA and other agencies to allow such families, if they want to put up booths and sell some products in public places, some flexibility.  Right now, it is extremely difficult for them to try and eke out a living in order to be self-sufficient.  I have a resident who was fined $200 for selling something in a public place.  But then he came to me and said, "But that is the way.  I need the money for my family.  I am a low-income worker."  So I think we need some flexibility.  We are concerned about certain things, eg, hygiene and messiness, but I think we should be able to live with some of these.  So I hope the Minister will work with other agencies to help these individuals become more resilient and self-sufficient.

     Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I agree entirely with the Member.  Part of our problem is that we have become so well-organised and squeaky clean a society that there are very little, in ecological terms, niches where people can sustain themselves.  I agree with the Member that we need to be flexible.  But I think that we also need to understand - the Minister for the Environment is not here - that NEA also has to manage its own set of trade-offs.  Hygiene, food poisoning, public health, waste disposal are always an issue.  The solution - again, to use Dr Teo Ho Pin as an example - is, if at the local level, you can organise it such that people can make some money, generate some living, and it is safe, hygienic and does not break any rules, or, if need be, come to the Ministries and change those rules so that they are more flexible and people do not get fined. 

     We want, ultimately, to create a society in which people like that are encouraged.  They have some skills which they can translate into an honest day's living, let us enable them to do so.  Let us change rules, exercise flexibility, facilitate, help them, set up social enterprises, have an army of concerned individuals out there calling hotlines, emailing us, badgering us in the House, outside the House, in the lift, etc.  To me, this is healthy.  It shows a society in which the work ethic is still there, opportunities are still present, people still care and we have a system of government that is responsive and flexible to enable us to take care of the most vulnerable members of our society in a way which keeps their self-respect and allows all of us to live and do well with a clear conscience.  That, ultimately, is what my Ministry's work is all about.

     Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, may I have the opportunity of one more question?

          The Chairman:  Yes, please go ahead.  Make it short.

     Mr Sin Boon Ann: Yes.  I just want to take up from where MOS mentioned yesterday concerning the length of time it takes for CDC to respond to financial assistance applications.  She said, if I could recall, that it takes at least six weeks, or within six weeks, the applications should be processed.  Can I just ask the MOS to perhaps explain to me what she means by processing within six weeks?

     The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon): I thought, this year, after so many explanations, and only two cuts on ComCare, the Advisors are all very clear about how the PA, ComCare, CCCs, the Mayors, and the CDCs have done a very wonderful job.  Actually, among the Mayors, I should say that we still need to streamline the standards.  Some take the six weeks from the receipt of the case.  Others take the six weeks from the date they communicate with the applicants.  So I think there is still a need to standardise that.  But, on average, I should say they have done a wonderful job.  If you compare with 2001, ie, before we set up ComCare or CDC, MCYS took about three months on average.  When the CDCs took over, they reduced it to about eight weeks.  Now they are working hard to reduce it to within six weeks. 

     But even in some cases, if we think six weeks are too long to help them, then we should use the CCC ComCare Fund.  Yesterday, some MPs mentioned that we need to ask for more funds.  Of course, I am sure Members know that the Minister has also announced that the CCC ComCare Fund will have an additional $5 million for the next five years.  But on going through the accounts, I do agree that some wards, eg, Dr Lily Neo's, would have more destitutes or aged people and need more funds.  But I should say that some of the wards still have quite big sums of balance.  So, maybe the Mayors can also help us to adjust and coordinate the funds a little, to redistribute the funds to those wards that need more.  And I hope that the Advisors and the Chairmen of the CCC ComCare Fund can apply the flexibility to really see that cases that need immediate help would be given help from this fund, to help them for the time being. 

     As the Minister also said, besides the ComCare Fund, at this moment, we have a lot of help at the ground level, especially the free meals.  A needy person can have a meal without having to pay any cent.  For example, Moral Home has a halal kitchen that provides free meals to a few thousand ---

          The Chairman:  Mrs Yu-Foo, I think that was not asked.

     Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Yes, I am just trying to show that there are actually many helping hands out there.

          The Chairman:  Dr Teo, what is the point?  Just a very quick one, please.

     Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Just to clarify.  I think when the case is registered on the SC net, meaning that when the case information is given, the CDC staff will key it in, and that is when the clock starts.  And it is closed either when we reject it or when it is processed and help is given.  So we close the case when it is endorsed.  Actually, that is the time we measure.  So, today, more than 90% of cases actually have been processed within six weeks, with the bulk of them within four weeks.

     Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, I would like to thank the Ministers, the Minister of State and the Parliamentary Secretary for a very comprehensive reply and I would also like to thank them for the update on the good work that the Ministry has done since last year's sitting of the Committee of Supply.  The work of the Ministry certainly underscores the fact that we are a young nation and we are still some way towards strengthening our social cohesion, our sense of inclusiveness and national identity.  More importantly, I think the message that we are sending out to all Singaporeans is that we are a fair and inclusive society.  By an inclusive society, we also want to send a signal to all Singaporeans, including the elderly, the young and the not-so-well-to-do, that they are just as much a part of the Singapore society as all of us are.  I have no doubt that Singaporeans will remain committed to this vision of making our Singapore Dream a reality. 

     On that note, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

     Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

     The sum of $1,046,783,860 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

     The sum of $230,809,800 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Head W - Ministry of Transport

     The Chairman:  Head W - Ministry of Transport.  Mr Cedric Foo.

Land Transport Review

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (West Coast): Sir, I beg to move,

     That the total sum to be allocated for Head W of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

     Sir, we have heard many Budget and COS debates following the Budget announcement by Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.  The Singapore public is understandably concerned about the distribution aspects of this Budget.  This is also reflected in the many discussions in this House.  But lest we get too carried away into distribution issues, we would do well to remember that, to be a successful nation, the first order of business for Government is to invest in economic growth.  Unless the Government can continue to attract new investments to grow the economic pie, we would not have much to discuss for distribution since there would be little left for distribution. 

     The business community applauds Singapore's bold move to cut corporate tax by 2%.  Whether Singapore can succeed depends not only on what we do but what other competing economies do.  This is a point often lost for the population at large.  I was often asked why do we need to cut the corporate rate to help companies whilst increasing GST which hurts resident consumers.  The simple answer is that we are not acting alone in this globalised world.  If we do not have a competitive tax regime and other economies do, then, willy-nilly, jobs in Singapore would be lost.  How could that be good for Singaporeans?  If we get the formula right, and the stimulus effect of a competitive tax regime kicks in, I would not be surprised if we chalked up budget surpluses in the years to come, and budget surplus is not a bad word.  Ours is the envy of many economies and, with surpluses, we can then indulge more in discussions about distribution and reinvestments, a luxury many economies could ill-afford.

     Sir, low taxes are a necessary condition for success but it is not sufficient.  Maintaining rule of law, enhancing national security, promoting public safety, keeping regulations light, ensuring a business-friendly environment, and investing in education and infrastructure are all critical factors which make for a competitive Singapore. 

     Sir, I would like to focus now on infrastructural investments.  Singapore's GDP grew by 7.9% last year and is projected to do well in the short to medium-term.  We would also be seeking to increase the resident population and tourist arrivals as we open our doors to our two integrated resorts to tourists the world over.  What does all this growth mean?  More containers through our seaport, more passengers at our airport and more trips on our roads and trains.  To cater to such a high projected growth, it is imperative that we invest in advance of demand, so as to enhance our transport connectivity and efficiency, both internationally and domestically. 

     First, on aviation.  Bangkok will get over the teething problems of the new Suvarnabumi Airport.  This airport has a capacity of 45 million passengers. Bangkok itself is also a more attractive airport because of its proximity to the major cities around it, and it is also a popular destination in itself. 

    Further afield, Dubai has announced an ambitious plan to build a mega airport capable of handling 120 million passengers. That is almost three times that of Bangkok Airport.  If Dubai succeeds, long-range aircraft from Europe could stop at Dubai and then fly directly to Australia and, in the process, by-passing Singapore altogether. This so-called "kangaroo" route is today an important revenue source for Changi and Singapore-based airlines. 

The heat is on, the competition to become hub ports is clearly underway.  I am therefore very interested to get an update from the Minister on how we are positioning Changi to meet these challenges.

2.45 pm

    In the maritime sector, Singapore has established itself as one of the top container ports in the world.  Last year, Singapore recorded 24.8 million TEUs, or Twenty-foot Equivalent Units against Hong Kong's 23.2 million TEUs and Shanghai's 21.7 million TEUs.  They are almost equal amongst the three cities. But, just five years ago, the figures for Singapore was 15.6 million TEUs; Hong Kong a little higher, 17.9 million TEUs; and Shanghai, a mere 6.3 million TEUs.  So if you work out the maths, the CAGR or compound annual growth rate is 9.7%  for Singapore over the last five years; 5.3% for Hong Kong; and 28.1% for Shanghai.   At these rates, the trend is clear. Shanghai will overtake Singapore within a year or two as the busiest container port in the world.

    Singapore must therefore go beyond just handling container volumes, but to build itself as a comprehensive and total maritime hub. This involves making Singapore a major finance, brokering, insurance and arbitration centre for shipping. Indeed, these activities could have given higher value-add than container handling.  To this end, I welcome the Budget announcement to extend the Approved Shipping Logistics Enterprise Incentive from 5 to 10 years and that container services will be zero-rated for GST purposes.  At the same time, I would be very interested to hear about MOT's plan to grow the maritime sector and also to address the manpower shortages confronting the shipping industry.

    Finally, land transport. We are gearing ourselves up for a resident population of about 6.5 million people.  For this to happen, without Singapore roads ending up in gridlocks, we need a major revamp of our land transport infrastructure, both physical as well as policies.  I am pleased to note that the Ministry is embarking on a land transport review and would like to know the progress of this study.  It would be good if the Minister could also share with us some of his early thoughts on the land transport review.

     At the moment, we have more questions than answers. What is the projected growth in land transport demand?  What standards are we aiming for, as regards public transport services, waiting time, transfer time and journey time?  How do we keep the cost of public transport competitive and affordable?  How can we encourage more commuters to use public transport?  How are investment decisions made for MRT and road capacity expansion? Would the supply of road and MRT capacity lag demand? Should public transport operators continue to assume fair or revenue risk, or should they compete on service and cost efficiency alone?

    Singapore has an excellent transport infrastructure. The transport infrastructure is an important consideration for companies as they weigh the merits of basing in Singapore vis-a-vis other cities. Whether we can continue to win them over depends on whether we are prepared to take bold and innovative investments and measures to retain Singapore's pole position in transport. 

    MOT plays a critical role and I look forward to hearing the Ministry's plan to meet these challenges.

Traffic Management

     Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines): Sir, I would like to now touch on some mundane local traffic management issues.

     Compared to other major cities, it is quite a breeze to drive in Singapore most times of the day and night.  Outside of the morning and evening peak hours, our traffic is generally smooth flowing, so much so that travelling time is predictable and we can time our journey almost to the minute.  "Being caught in traffic" is not a common excuse we hear for being late.  However, from time to time, traffic jams still catch us by surprise.

    I would like to urge MOT to find effective ways to warn motorists when such unexpected congestion arises. There is, at present, the radio broadcast, such as Trafficwatch, but it relies on calls from the public. Can we have a more systematic way to compile and disseminate traffic news?  How about a dedicated radio channel for traffic news or an SMS service where the motorists can text the name of a road or landmark, and the SMS reply will inform him of any congestion in that vicinity?

     Sometimes, we are caught in a long, snaking jams, only to find, when we get to the source, a minor accident and some motorists exchanging particulars in the middle of the road.  What a waste of valuable productive time for every person stuck in that jam!

    We have to improve efficiency of handling accidents and vehicle breakdowns. The performance of LTA, in managing road traffic, should include how promptly accident and breakdown vehicles are removed and how quickly traffic flow can be restored to normal. 

    Sir, our authorities have deployed a slew of measures to get traffic flowing smoothly, the main one being ERP.  Recently, ERP rates for some heavily used sections have increased and it seems that the LTA will have to increase ERP further if average traffic speed does not improve.  I do not think LTA has any way out of not increasing ERP rates if and when traffic builds up. If you charge $4 and traffic is still crawling, drivers who are stuck there will ask, "Pay so much for what? Still jam!"  Singaporeans are brought up to expect good value for money. When we pay for something, we expect to see results.  Can ERP ensure a smooth-flowing traffic? 

   There is a psychological limit to how much higher ERP rates can go, beyond which the motoring public will go up in arms.  Paying ERP is painful. How much pain do road users have to bear to enjoy smooth-flowing traffic? LTA says it is the motorist's choice, but many people do not have much of a choice, but to use that road during that time because the alternative is even costlier in terms of time, cost and convenience.  Are we prepared to pay $5, maybe $10, every time we pass through an ERP gantry?  I think LTA should find out before we go down this ERP road further.

    I do not believe ERP is a sustainable solution as our population increases towards the 6.5 million mark.  Mass rapid public transport is the way to go, but there are many areas that we need to improve.  To increase its usage, MOT should focus on making public transport a more attractive mode of travel and not by making private cars more expensive or more inconvenient to use.

    We must also remove as many of the obstacles and objections to taking public transport as possible.  If our connectivity to public transport is better, more people will come on board. Other major cities have vast networks of underground passages and above-ground covered walkways, even underground plazas linking the buildings to MRT stations through which people can move almost seamlessly. 

    Our freaky weather of rain and shine in the last few months is a good reminder to all of us of the risk of being caught by the rain, of not being able to get across a street from the bus-stop or MRT station without getting drenched.  It is no wonder that motorists want to drive and park, not just near, but at their final destination.

     Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): Mr Chairman, the ERP has been used since 1997 or 1998 as a traffic management tool.  But after almost 10 years, many of the expressways and main arterial roads remain congested during peak hours.  If you use the CTE to work during the morning peak, you have to pay ERP charges of up to $7.50 to travel to the city.  On your return trip in the evening, you pay up to $1.50. 

     But despite paying all these ERP charges, you are not guaranteed a smooth trip on the expressway.  On the contrary, during the peak hours, the expressway is likely to remain congested. Each time, when  LTA announces that ERP charges will increase, there will be a slight reduction in traffic along the CTE, or for that matter, any other expressway. This will last for a few days.  However, the joy is short-lived as the traffic, which initially goes away, will eventually return as the motorists realise that there is no real alternative to using these expressways. 

    The traffic congestion along the alternative arterial roads is worse as the motorists had to contend with many traffic lights plus heavy traffic.  Some of the arterial roads also have ERP gantries.  So, whichever way you travel, you pay ERP charges.  Thus, within a few weeks, the traffic returns back to the same level of congestion and traffic is chock-a-block again this expressway until the next revision in ERP charges. The cycle then starts all over again as motorists continue to look for alternative routes, only to conclude that there is no real alternative. 

   The fact, Sir, is that despite several increases in the ERP charges, the traffic congestion along expressways during peak hours does not seem much improved. Hence, I will submit that simply raising ERP charges as a means to manage traffic congestion has its limitations.

   Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether LTA has any other plans to manage traffic congestion besides increasing ERP charges.  I would also like to ask the Minister whether LTA would be willing to have a dedicated team of road engineers to re-look at the green link determining system (GLIDE) with a view of improving traffic flow during peak hours. Currently, many motorists complain that the arterial roads are not a useful alternative to the expressway because of uncoordinated traffic lights, and I am sure many Members in this House would likewise agree.  This results in traffic jams and start-stop conditions due to the lack of a green flow traffic light system. 

    Like the hon. Member, Mr Ong Kian Min, I would also like to ask the Minister whether he will be prepared to consider a better traffic information system like a dedicated radio station during the morning and evening peaks that does nothing but broadcasts traffic information so that a motorist can make a more informed choice and plan his route accordingly.  Just to give an example.  When I left Parliament on Monday evening, I travelled for 15 minutes to reach the entrance of the CTE tunnel.  And there, I saw the EMAS message saying "Massive jam in CTE tunnel".  If I had known of the massive jam, I would have simply avoided using that route and saved myself 15 minutes and I would also not contribute to the traffic congestion in making my way to the CTE tunnel entrance. 

    Finally, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would look into having more monitoring and enforcement action against heavy or slow-moving vehicles that hog the roads during peak hours.  Sir, I understand the Minister's preference is to encourage greater use of public transport, but until the real system is more widespread and the bus system more efficient, most Singapore will prefer to save their time and drive at their convenience. There are many motorists who feel that increasing ERP is an easy solution to a difficult problem and many of them are middle-income and they feel that they are being squeezed to pay more for using the roads. They also feel that congestion comes about because of inadequate planning of road infrastructure vis-a-vis the large number of housing estates which are springing up in the north and the east. 

    I would like to urge the Minister to consider all other options to improve the management of traffic before resorting to increases in ERP charges.

Land Transport System

     Ms Sylvia Lim: Sir, the Ministry has commissioned consultants to do a comprehensive review of our land transport system.  The Minister has indicated that one of the main issues the consultants will look at is how to increase ridership on public transport. The aim is to enhance public transport such that it no longer just caters to those who cannot afford a car. Its vision is one that public transport is so attractive that even car owners will choose to leave their cars behind and hop onto a bus or train.

   Sir, given the increased road congestion that we have been experiencing over the years, I wholeheartedly agree that reducing car trips will make life better for everyone and hence, I support this bold vision of the Minister to make public transport a competitor to the car.  The question is: how can we convince drivers to leave their cars behind? This is a tall order as there would be great inertia and reluctance to give up the independence of private transport. 

    To achieve this, the enhancement to the public transport system should focus on the following.

    First, it should give people the right to get to where they want to go without too many transfers, ie, there is good connectivity. Second, it gets them there in a reasonable time and does not make them wait for long periods, ie, it is efficient. Third, the ride is reasonably comfortable and there is sufficient breathing space from the next person.  Fourth, the savings from using it are sizeable, ie, it is reasonably lowly-priced.  To do all these, it seems to me that the public transport operators will need to put the commuters at the forefront of their operational decisions. 

    Sir, our current model requires the public transport operators to run public transport as a business and yet cater to a critical public need.  Indeed, according to Mr Lim Jit Poh, the Comfort Delgro Chairman, the PTO has to constantly balance their duties as a service provider and as a public listed company with responsibilities to shareholders.

3.00 pm

     Sir, such a dual role has resulted in compromises.  For example, to ensure that trains have sufficient riders, operators have to rationalise bus routes, which resulted in longer travelling time for commuters.  Those who take public transport during peak hours complain of tight squeezes and their inability to board.  The season pass issued by SBS Transit only allows travel on their buses but not even on their trains on the North East Line.  Because, according to them, the operator is focused on improving ridership on buses alone and so on.  As such, I would be grateful if the Minister could address this question.  Does the Minister think that the vision of making public transport a competitor to the car can be achieved with the current dual role of the public transport operators?

Public Transport

     Mr Seah Kian Peng : Sir, in the Public Transport Council's survey in 2006, our buses were rated 7 out of 10.  The top three complaints - travel time, crowding of buses and waiting time - still persist as top grouses.  I would like to ask the Minister whether public transport can be improved.

     When the Government announced plans for Singapore's population to increase from 4.5 million to 6.5 million in the next 20 years, many ordinary Singaporeans have been engaged on online discussions.  Many are worried about Singapore overtaking Hong Kong as the world's third densest populated city.  Their immediate thoughts are - being packed like sardines Japanese-style in trains.  Generally, they fear a more competitive lifestyle, not only in terms of fighting for jobs available, but also in terms of fighting for private space in flats, buses and trains.

     Examples of postings are entitled, "Understanding the perils of large" and the "World's most densely populated country Singapore".  One writer noted that it was important to ensure that there are enough buses and trains to go around "so that people who are not rich enough to own cars do not have to watch full trains and buses pass them by when they want to go places."

      Another wrote that he just came back from Australia after having spent three years there.  He said, "Suddenly, I felt everywhere was so crowded.  MRT is so full, even on Sunday morning at 7 am!  My HDB is filled with China nationals and the roads are jammed with cars, even late at night around 11 pm.  It's 4 million now, after I read about it's going to be 6.5 million in 20 years' time. I don't know how I am going to stay in Singapore."

    Sir, these are uncensored voices of people, which we will not get in the sort of polite conversations that come about during walk-abouts.

    Last month, I attended a feedback session organised by REACH on public transportation.  The sentiments that were expressed by the participants there were no different from what I have just described.  I want to ask:  can we expect things to get worse?  With the population increase, just standing still on our present standard of service means a near certainty of deterioration in standards.  As it is, the morning peak public transport mode share is only 60%, way below the target of 70%.

     How does the Ministry intend to work at its KPIs?  Do we expect them to be lowered, going forward?

     On top of the increasing dissatisfaction with long travel and waiting times plus overcrowding, how does the Ministry intend to tackle these complaints to make it an affordable and efficient mode of choice for commuters now and in future?

     For many people, public transport is the only way that they can get around.  It is our duty - and an urgent one at that - to make it a quick and comfortable way to travel.  I hope that in the ongoing Land Transportation Master Plan Review, the Ministry and the relevant agencies will get as much feedback from the commuters themselves, and thereafter actively act on them.

     Mdm Cynthia Phua: Sir, I must, first, commend the Ministry of Transport for its role in building up our public transport system into what it is today.  I remember that in 1978-1979, as an external auditor, it took me four hours' bus ride from Punggol end to Jurong Town  in the morning.  But there are still areas that I feel we can improve and do even better to make our system affordable and efficient.

     As our planning is projected on the assumption of a population of 6.5 million, the number of people travelling around the country would increase exponentially.   This increase would lead to demands for more land to be converted for transportation, such as to extend and broaden the road networks, car parks, bus interchanges and new MRT lines.  The work that needs to be done is of great magnitude and, as such, requires an extensive amount of planning and coordination.  In light of this, I would like, first, to ask whether there are any long-term plans or policies that have been developed to ensure that Singapore is able to effectively meet the increasing land transport demands in the next 40-50 years. 

     With our increasing diverse and a more socially active population, what will be the future composition of the different types of land transport in Singapore, eg, the composition between the use of cars and our public transport modes of buses and rail?  Will our waterways be an option for transport?  Perhaps those who live by the seafront will own boats instead of cars.  Are there other means of alternative transport systems that LTA is looking at?  Can the Minister describe to us the future scenario?  Maybe we can have "flying" cars as well.

     With the increasing trend on the use of cars, can the Minister tell us, as we are working towards a world-class public transport system, how can we persuade and attract our population to use the public transport system?  What are these world-class qualitative and quantitative measurements of our public transport system?  And what internationally recognised benchmarks are there to benchmark one system against another?

     Connectivity, reliability, comfort and convenience are the four attributes that our commuters demand from our public transport system.  How are these being measured?  Do we have standards to note?  Are we looking  to set these measurable standards for these attributes that our commuters are demanding?  How is LTA going to improve and adopt technology to ensure the timely arrival of our buses on the roads?

     The waiting time is most frustrating to the bus commuters.   As more and more of our population are becoming elderly, what is the status of LTA's plan to make public transport elderly friendly and barrier free?

     The access to our MRT stations is very long.  I have begun to notice that our elderly residents need to rest along the underground passage way to the MRT stations. Can LTA provide some seats for these people?  Will there be more languages on our signboards?  How is LTA planning to guide our elderly in taking the MRT, in terms of the connections between the two Lines now, and the Circle Line in future?

     My final concern:  how is the Minister going to ensure that our public transport remains affordable to our low-income families?

     Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, what could stand in our way of a larger population may well be transport, ie, if we cannot get our act together. 

    In the recent mid-term concept plan review, our population planning parameter was increased from 5.5 million to 6.5 million.  Travel demands will increase, though there would be limited land for more road space. The plan calls for a more sustainable solution, which is to increase public transport utilisation.  It aims to raise the share of trips taken on public transport from the current 63% to 70% over the next 10 -15 years. 

    In addition, we are likely to see more foreigners using our transport system, such as tourists, numbering about 17 million by 2015, foreign workers and business visitors.  Our stronger economic activity would also lead to higher workforce participation and therefore more travels needs.

     Sir, against this backdrop, I want to raise two issues here. Firstly, our public transport systems in some routes are already near capacity or at capacity during peak hours.  The concern among Singaporeans is whether our system will be able to keep pace with our fast rising population and the higher public usage.  Let us not forget that from 1990 to 2000, in a span of 10 years, we actually added about one million to our residential population.

     Two days ago, my grassroots leaders and I took the LRT from Bukit Panjang Town to Choa Chua Kang MRT Station, with the journey ending at City Hall Station.  We set off at about 7.30 am and reached City Hall Station at about 8.30 am -  about an hour's journey.  As the train approached downtown locations like Tiong Bahru, Redhill and Outram Park, it became very crowded.  One commuter sighed that it was even worse on the way home.

     My concern is:  would the train not become even more crowded if we really do succeed in getting more Singaporeans to switch from car to trains, not to mention the added traffic from the likely increase in population base?   I can hardly imagine how our public transport system will be able to cope when the centrepiece of our Marina Bay city redevelopment Marina Bay is completed.  There will be even more office workers travelling to the city centre.

     I have observed that the train-to-train interval is already about three minutes during peak hours.  I do not think we could cut it any shorter or add more trains onto the existing lines without compromising safety.  Sir, we need to boost capacity, as identified by the Concept Plan, and we need to do it pretty quickly.  Hence, I would like to clarify with the Minister whether the Government is going ahead with the Downtown Line, as there was a brief mention of it in the Budget Statement.  If it is indeed so, can the Minister give us some indication of the timeline?

     The Downtown Line will be a welcome relief to residents from North Western and the Eastern parts of the island.  It will free up the commuter load on the East-West Line and allow residents from these areas to have a more direct route to the city centre.

     Secondly, on the road system. The Concept Plan rightly pointed out that there will be limited land for more road space.  Some segments of our major expressways are already four-lane wide.  Can the Ministry shed some light as to how much more road space we can add on?  For example, for the existing major expressways like PIE and CTE, will it be possible to add more road space?   Even if we succeed in increasing the share of public transport to 70%, how much will it help to ease road congestion?  Would the slack be picked up by the increase in population and higher car usage as we saw recently?

     I understand that between 1997 and 2004, our car population grew by 10%, from 377,000 to 417,000.  More alarmingly, for the same period, the daily number of car trips generated increased by 23%, which is double the rate of the car population increase.  I guess Singaporeans are just trying to do justice to the cars that they bought.  That is why they are using it more.

     Sir, the solutions to our transport challenge cannot be executed without changes to the way we work and to our lifestyles, in addition to careful town planning.  We may need to implement policies to persuade and expedite the adoption of telecommuting and flexi working hours, both by the public and private sectors.  This will reduce the demands on our transport system during peak hours.  Our recreational facilities must also be well served by public transport so as to reduce the need to drive.

     I am glad that our policy makers also see that transportation could well be the main impediment to Singapore achieving the status of a First World First Tier City. That is why the Budget Statement mentions that the Government expects to spend at least $20 billion on our land transport infrastructure over the next 10 to 15 years. I hope the Minister will share with us more details of the plans to enhance our transportation infrastructure. 

     Singaporeans need the assurance from the Government that even as we increase our population, our land transport system, our road system and our public transport system are able to cope with this increase, and that our quality of life will not be compromised.
 

Multi-modal Competition

     Mr Wee Siew Kim (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, I would like to declare my interest as a director of a transportation company.

     When our MRT network was first set up some 20 years ago, bus routes in areas served by MRT were re-routed to minimise duplication.  We need to provide our commuters with more choice as well as increase our mass transport capacity.  The policy has reduced the number of point-to-point bus services.  Although the MRT is more reliable, predictable and speedier, a significant segment of commuters still prefer point-to-point services for good reasons.

     The number of commuters has increased over the last 20 years.  Between 1990 and 2000, Singapore's population has increased by about a million.  We have already introduced the premium bus guidelines which allow operators to provide direct services at higher fares.  However, it is not enough.  We should allow public buses to run routes served by MRT as well.  So the public has more choice and better able to enjoy public transport.

     Bus services carry around twice as many passengers than trains today.  I would like to ask the Minister what other plans he has in mind to improve buses for Singaporeans.  An important point I can think of is even greater priority for buses on the roads.  Unlike MRT, buses compete for road space with other vehicles, making travelling time longer and less reliable.  Indeed, over the years, bus speeds have reduced while general vehicle speeds have improved.  If we want quick improvements in public transport, we should maybe look at London and increase our investments in the bus mode.  In so doing, we will be able to reach out to more people within a much shorter timeframe.  Instead of a one-size-fits-all solution, this increase in public choice will drive the provision of better services.

Buses

     Mr Ong Kian Min: Sir, when I attended ACJC some 30 years ago, I took about 60 minutes to go home by bus to Katong.  The same journey by car took half the time - about 30 minutes.  Today, my daughters go to a school about 10 minutes' car ride from home, but they take between four and eight times as long to reach home by bus - 40 minutes if the bus comes soon after they reach the bus stop, and 80 minutes if they just miss the bus and have to wait for the next one.  It therefore makes sense for me to use the car to pick them up.

     Sir, to encourage more people to take the bus, waiting and travelling time must be reduced, and the bus system must offer such convenience that one can get around easily and economically without having the need of a private car. The 2006 Bus Passenger Satisfaction Survey showed that commuters want to see improvements in waiting time (71.7%) and travel time (44.9%).

3.15 pm

     We should make it mandatory, not just out of courtesy, to give way to buses pulling out of bus bays, or when buses have to change lanes due to an obstacle in their lane.

I believe we should incorporate this into our Road Traffic Act.  I do not see the difficulty or hassle of flashing our headlights to indicate and give way to buses to come out in front of our cars. 

     Niche bus services will provide commuters with a wider breadth of options and can be a viable alternative to private car usage.  However, the niche bus services are restrictive.  They only serve those passengers who are willing to pay at least 1.5 times the equivalent fare of basic public transport.  This would mean that, effectively, only those in relatively well-to-do estates will have a wider choice of bus services.  We should find ways to expand this to cater to more people who live in the heartlands as well.  I wish to call for more competition and alternative modes of public transport.  We should encourage more operators, big and small, to step in to fill the gaps whenever there is commuter need.  We need to make taking public transport the best option for travel in Singapore. Until we develop a more comprehensive MRT system, travelling by bus will still be the most efficient mode of public transport for many commuters.

Premium Buses

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Mr Chairman, Sir, there is a big fleet of school buses that lay idle between the early morning school hours until around midday and thereafter again from mid-afternoon until the evening school dismissal hours. In a recent REACH session which the GPC Transport members and resource panelists attended, the School Bus Transport Association suggested to us that their members be allowed to deploy their buses more freely to help alleviate public transport congestion.  There is also a possibility of deploying these buses into the private estates to feed passengers into MRT stations.  The Association cited the many restrictions that are currently imposed on them which prevent them from deploying more buses to serve the commuting public.  Would the Minister clarify what these restrictions are and whether these restrictions can be lifted further?

Travel Information

     Dr Lam Pin Min: Mr Chairman, in the last land transport review, one of the main thrusts was to make public transport a mode of choice for travelling in Singapore.  With a target population set at about 5.5 million, coupled with an expected tourist arrival doubling to about 18 to 19 million by 2020, public transportation is expected to play a more important role to ease massive traffic congestions in Singapore.  Would the Minister consider looking into providing up-to-date travel information such as arrival times, waiting times, travel times to public transport commuters, especially the public buses, and capitalising on advanced technological means to provide real-time traffic condition information to private transportation users in order to make their rides on the roads smoother?

     Mdm Cynthia Phua: Mr Chairman, Sir, ez-link card, a multi-purpose stored value card is the main mode of fare payment on public transport.  I understand that the card is wholly-owned, marketed and sold by EZ-Link Pte Ltd, and this is the company that is the subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority. 

     While I fully support the entrepreneurial spirit, I feel this association between a Government agency and private entity must be tempered with some care.  My concern is that such close association may result in implementing transport solutions that are sub-optimised, knowingly or not.  This is especially important and of much public interest as it affects all of us.  We know that the ez-link system was developed using a proprietary technology perhaps to meet some critical and special transportation requirements.  However, there are also indications that solutions using open platform and standards will bring about reduced overall operational costs as well as increased usage.  We must learn from the experiences that Singapore market is too small for proprietary cards and readers that do not benefit the citizens in terms of usage and costs.  Has LTA initiated migration to an open platform to take advantage of lower cost solutions available in market from multiple sources?  If it has done so, when would the system be ready? 

     Since the ez-link technology is held by LTA and with the Yellow Pages guideline, when is LTA hiving off this non-core business instead of  this continued link to LTA, a statutory board?  The reason is that if it continues to be within LTA umbrella, it has already a ready captive market and there is no push for the authority  to look for cheaper solutions for the citizens and a wider usage of the cards.

     Singaporeans embrace new technology readily, looking at the number of people changing to PDA phones. This is accompanied by technology advances in mobile phones, and we could see a wider usage of the cards and enabled devices based on open platform for the convenience of everyone.

Fare Concessions

     Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio) (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] I would like to suggest that public transport concessions be granted to elderly workers. Currently, they are only entitled to concession fares during off-peak hours. In Singapore, there is a growing trend of elderly workers staying in the workforce beyond retirement age and the majority of these elderly workers are in low-paid jobs such as hawker centre cleaners and kitchen attendants. To substantiate my point, please refer to the National Family Survey carried out in 2005. It was reported that workers who are 60 years old have two times longer working hours as compared to those who are 39 years old or younger.  In this regard, I would like to urge the SMRT and SBS Transit to consider giving elderly workers concession fares regardless of whether it is during off-peak or peak hours.

     On another point, the concession fares that the elderly enjoy are not applicable to Express Bus Services, NightRider, buses to the city, and direct buses to Chinatown and the National Stadium, etc. In view of the contributions they have made to the society, public transport service providers should consider giving them round-the-clock concession fares, and it should apply to all bus routes. Similarly, it should work just like the student concession rate that we are giving to primary and secondary school students.

Taxis

     Mr Seng Han Thong (Yio Chu Kang): Sir, with the liberalisation of the taxi industry, the taxi population has been growing in the past few years.  What is MOT's policy for new taxi companies?  It is likely that there will be more new taxi companies, with more taxis on the road, leading to keener competition not only for taxi companies for taxi drivers but also taxi drivers for passengers. 

     Sir, under the Labour Movement 2011, about 200 leaders from the six taxi associations met recently and discussed the challenges facing the taxi industry in the next five years.  In view of the liberalisation of the taxi industry, uncertainty of fuel oil prices and Government's public transport policy, they also discussed how taxi drivers as a group can respond to them with the support from the Government and the taxi companies.  We know that all taxi companies are now competing to provide more job value to taxi drivers.  Both LTA and the taxi industry are also trying to figure out how to improve taxi services and the quality to support the new phase of economic growth of Singapore. 

     Sir, leaders of six taxi associations have come out with five policy recommendations:  

     (1) redefine taxi service as transporter for goods, people and services and develop competent taxi drivers to give good taxi service;

     (2) make taxi driving a choice career and develop an industry development approach to regulate taxi service;

     (3) equate both the cost and value of taxis and private cars to help taxi drivers build their social safety net;

     (4) maximise the use of taxi service, pricing mechanism; and

     (5) put in resources to nurture positive market forces to drive taxi service development. 

     I urge LTA to actively engage the drivers of the association on the issues they face and look into the policy recommendations.

     Mr Ong Kian Min: Sir, everyone knows how difficult it can be to get a taxi, especially on rainy days, during peak hours or just before midnight.  The secret to getting a taxi at such times is to pick up the phone and call for one.  Why does it feel impossible to get a taxi just when you need it the most?  I believe the one main reason is that the extra fees and surcharges make a meaningful difference to the daily takings of a taxi driver.  The advance booking fee of $5.20, the current booking fee of $4 during peak hours and the late night charges are just too high and too irresistible for our taxi drivers not to change their behaviour to earn these extras.  Another reason is that taxi drivers are unwilling to pay the ERP charges to enter the CBD or Orchard Road to pick up passengers unless they already have a passenger in their taxi who has to pay for it.  In Hong Kong where there seems to be little problem in getting a taxi, there are no peak hour surcharges, no midnight surcharges and the booking fee is only either 4 or 5 Hong Kong dollars, which is about S$1. 

     Our taxi fare structure can be bewildering to our foreign visitors.  First, they may be ignorant of the open secret of using the call booking system to secure a cab.  Secondly, even if they do, they may not have the service numbers of the cab companies to call or they may find it inconvenient to call them. And, thirdly, they may be surprised by the barrage of call booking charges, late night charges, peak hour and CBD surcharges and the ERP charges that they have to pay on top of the metered fare.  There have been numerous calls to improve our taxi availability by reducing the call booking fee, removing late night charges and even getting the public to report taxis that circle round and round with an "On Call" sign on the pretext that there has been an assigned booking.  I strongly urge the Minister to review the taxi system and take measures to improve the availability of taxis.

Accidents at MRT Stations

     Ms Lee Bee Wah: Sir, a number of tragic accidents have occurred at the MRT stations.  87% of these cases are of the commuters' fault in either going onto the tracks to retrieve fallen property, playing around beyond the safety yellow line and, of recently, a series of suicides.  As a result, there have been many calls for the LTA to put up railings or a gate system that could perhaps be adapted from the way our underground MRT stations work.  This would allow commuters to only step beyond the platform when the train has arrived and open their sliding doors.  I understand that this option has been brought to the attention of the Minister for Transport previously and he had cited, "As safety provisions such as platforms, screen doors are costly to install and maintain, we will have to weigh the efficacy of installing more safety measures against the additional costs to public transport provision."  I think the Ministry should consider how much is too much to protect a human life.  One life lost is one too many.  Work out the sums on the knock-on effect when an accident occurs.  Services will have to be disrupted, free shuttle services will have to be deployed, officers will have to be assigned to redirect traffic, time spent in investigating the cause of the accident, other passengers being late for work or appointments, etc.  There is a whole change of events that will follow, and this coupled with the emotional and financial loss to the next-of-kin of the victims. 

     I urge the Ministry to revisit their policy.  In Hong Kong, a $2 billion project was completed in 2005, which saw their stations being fitted with sliding doors which serve well to prevent commuters from falling onto the tracks either deliberately or otherwise. 

Overhead Bridges

     Sir, another issue I would want to raise is: how can we help our senior citizens to be more mobile?  While we have been working on various projects to make our environment barrier-free, I would urge the Ministry to consider installing escalators at overhead bridges near to MRT stations.  These overhead bridges are located near the stations so as to serve as an access point for people who want to use the trains.  Without an escalator, many old people would find it a challenge to have to climb up the flight of stairs, then walk across and, again, climb down another few flight of stairs, such as the one at Khatib MRT. Besides serving the senior citizens, the escalators will also be a welcome benefit for pregnant women, school children or adults with heavy hand luggage and for the handicapped. 

     What I am asking for are only the overhead bridges near MRT stations - please do not tell me that that is costly.  If you want to divide the cost by the number of users, I am sure it is worth considering and please also do not tell me that that is expensive to maintain.  Nowadays, the technology is very advanced and we have escalators designed for outdoor use.  In view of the ageing population and more and more elderly who are working or shopping for groceries, the provision of escalators is a necessity.

3.30 pm

     Mr Wee Siew Kim: Mr Chairman, Sir, the hon. Member, Ms Lee Bee Wah, has actually said what I wanted to say in even fiercer terms. So, I would just say thank you.

Vehicle Growth Policy

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Singapore has for many years controlled the vehicle population growth through the vehicle quota system or COEs as well as Additional Registration Fees or ARF.  In recent years, the Government has allowed the vehicle population to grow by reducing ARF, although not at this Budget but in previous ones, and issuing more COEs.

There seems to be a shift in position to lower car ownership cost purportedly to meet the aspirations of Singaporeans who own cars and to control their usage instead, so allow car ownership cost to come down but control the use. If vehicle growth is allowed to pick up, I fear that it would be even more challenging to encourage more commuters to use public transport.  And the speakers before me have said that as cars are costly investments, there is a tendency to put them to maximum use once they are purchased. I know of very few Singaporeans who have purchased their cars, paid road taxes and only to park them in the garage.  So given the challenges in road transport, would the Ministry clarify its position on car ownership cost?

Electronic Road Pricing

     Mr Seng Han Thong: Sir, with the vehicle growth rate set at 3% annually, there are about to be more congested roads and expressways resulting in more ERP gantries and higher ERP charges.  The ERP operating hours have been accelerated to cover the afternoon peak in the Orchard Road area and evening peak along CTE.  Though LTA statistics showed in its conclusion that road users are sensitive to road pricing and, hence, achieve the road usage optimisation, the question is how to make ERP more effective.

     As MOT is conducting a comprehensive review of the land transport system, I hope it will make ERP more effective, rather than make it more expensive.  More and more motorists know that ERP does not claim to solve all road congestion problems.  The answer has to be that ERP needs the complement of other road transport management tools to be more effective.

    So, to make it more effective on top of the vehicle ownership scheme, there are three things we think we can do concurrently.  One, divert some of the commercial activities in certain land areas which contribute to the congestion of certain parts of the roads. We should re-look at the planning for the use of land areas served by these congested roads, especially along the city area.  Two, encourage the road users in these land areas to use more public transport by making it as effective as possible.  The most possible way to do this is to create a cheaper and better mode of transport, especially along the city area.  Three, expand the capacity of public roads by building second layer flyovers, like the one along Upper Serangoon Road, to cater for the overload of vehicles using the roads because of the expansion of commercial and residential activities of the land areas served by these roads.

     Mr Ang Mong Seng (Hong Kah) (In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Mr Chairman, the country's transport system is its economic lifeline.  To build a world class transport system, the Government has allocated huge funds to build highways and install the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system. The aim is to ensure a smooth traffic flow and achieve optimal economic efficiency. However, every morning or evening, as I pass the AYE, I have to face the inevitable slow traffic or being stuck in a traffic jam. This happens almost every day. Although the ERP system has been installed on the AYE, we see slow traffic and traffic jams happening all the time. The immediate reaction from the Ministry of Transport is to increase ERP charges.  I feel that this merely alleviates the problem but will not effect a permanent cure. Also, it is not a fair solution to the drivers.  Before installing the ERP system, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has developed a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) of a speed limit of 45 to 65 km per hour. This is to ensure that drivers will ultimately enjoy smooth traffic conditions. But results have shown otherwise.

     Hence, I would like to suggest to the Minister that if the speed limit imposed cannot be achieved, then LTA should stop collecting ERP charges. In this regard, I do believe that all drivers will support my suggestion. Having done that, drivers will be convinced when they pay the ERP charges, and I think this is fair and reasonable. Therefore, I sincerely hope that the Minister will take my suggestion seriously.

  
     In our attempt to tackle slow traffic and congestion on the highways, I hope that the Minister will also consider converting the right lane into a high speed lane.  This will mean that the speed limit for cars travelling on this lane will be 80 to 90 km per hour. For slow-moving vehicles, they will have to use the left lane. This policy has been implemented in Japan, China and other advanced countries.  So far, the results have been good and traffic conditions have been smooth.  Hence, I hope that LTA will consider carrying out this pilot scheme on the AYE and, if proven effective, we can further implement it on other highways so as to solve the slow traffic problems and congestion.

          The Chairman:  Mr Siew Kum Hong is not here.  Mr Teo Ser Luck.

Road Signs

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: Not too long ago, I received an email comparing the lighter sentence given to an offence for drink driving and getting a cyclist killed than one for sexual act.  The writer expressed concern about the wrong message sent out and, more importantly, cyclists' safety on the road.  Since then the writer and cycling committee came together under the banner of "Safe Cycling Task Force". They have not stopped pedalling since and had discussions and meetings within the committee and the authorities.  They knew that big bangs, such as asking for bike lanes, would not happen here for a while and chose to pedal slowly, hoping for progressive changes.  I encourage them, "Keep pedalling and don't apply the brakes, and to pedal at the speed that the authorities could keep up."  So they proposed for more road signs for cyclists, closure of roads and more public education.  But they seem to be pedalling on the same spot because there are not many changes on the road today. May I know if the Ministry could update on the measures that they have proposed and the timeline for implementation?

Closure of Causeway to Heavy Vehicles

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, it was recently reported in the media that the Malaysian government intends to temporarily close the Causeway to heavy vehicles for one year, reportedly from September this year.  Apparently, this closure is to ease the traffic congestion in Johor Bahru and allow road works to be carried out at the new Customs Complex in Johor Bahru.  In the interim, heavy vehicles will be diverted to the Second Link at Tuas.  This would add to congestion at the Second Link as well as higher costs as the tolls at the Second Link are higher than at the Causeway and, additionally, tolls are also levied on the highways leading to the Second Link.  As many of these vehicles transport food on a daily basis to Singapore, the proposed diversion may result in an increase in cost of many essential items in Singapore which could be felt by many Singaporeans.  I understand that the Ministry of Transport has written to seek clarifications from the Malaysian government as well as to propose a technical consultation session.  Can the Minister update us on the status of such consultations?

Second Link

     Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Sir, I add my voice to hon. Member, Mr Cedric Foo, in asking the Minister about the diversion of traffic to the Second Link.  Last year, in December, the Malaysian government issued a notification that the Causeway would be closed to heavy traffic and these vehicles would be diverted to the Second Link. Sir, the Second Link is also heavily used by travellers who are heading for Malacca, KL or further north.  They use the Second Link for a faster journey and to bypass the heavy traffic at Johor Bahru.  As it is, I have feedback that traffic at the Second Link can be very heavy during the school holidays.  Just last year, in June, members of my church who were returning to Singapore from a church camp via the Second Link were caught in a traffic jam for three to four hours. May I ask the Minister for an update as to the situation at the Second Link?  Would the diversion cause more delays to travellers as there would be more vehicles and heavier vehicles?  Would it result in more costs for the motorists?  Would this result in more heavy vehicles passing through the western part of Singapore?  Is it a temporary diversion or would it become a permanent diversion?  The Minister's clarification would be much appreciated.

     The Chairman: Order.  I propose to take the break now.

     Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

     Mr Deputy Speaker:  Order.  I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.55 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.35 pm until 3.55 pm.

Sitting resumed at 3.55 pm

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

     Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

     Head W ( cont.) -

     The Minister for Transport (Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat): Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank Members for their comments and suggestions on the land transport system. Several Members, including Mr Cedric Foo, Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Seah Kian Peng and Mdm Cynthia Phua, have asked how our land transport system will be able to cope if our population were to increase to 6.5 million in the long term.

     This is a pertinent question and it goes to the crux of our land transport policy.  Looking into the future, as Mr Liang Eng Hwa has pointed out, we must position our land transport system to meet

the significantly greater travel demands of a larger, more diverse population and a more vibrant economy.  We will have to do this within the constraints of finite land resources, and without sacrificing the quality of our living environment.  Forward planning, as Mr Cedric Foo and Mdm Cynthia Phua said - I think Mr Foo used the words "advanced planning" - is essential.  We have three principle strategies to deal with these future challenges.  Firstly, we must make public transport a choice mode because this makes best use of our scarce land resources and preserves our environment.  Secondly, we must manage and optimise road use.  Thirdly, our transport system must meet the diverse needs of a more complex and socially inclusive society.   

4.00 pm

     Let me start with our strategy to make public transport a choice mode, a topic that many MPs have spoken about, supported and given many useful suggestions.

     To begin with, as Mdm Cynthia Phua has asked, what is the state of play of our public transport system?  She is not here right now but I would like to thank her because she alone, among all the speakers, had said that, if you look back at where we were and where we are now, we have made significant improvements.  I think we should always bear that in mind with our public transport system. The complaints are plenty and if you listen enough to them, you sometimes might lose your sense of perspective of what the larger picture really is.  So if you look at surveys that have been done - the Public Transport Council conducts a Bus Satisfaction Survey every year - last year, 2006, it was eight out of 10 who said that the overall service level, they are satisfied with it.  This is an improvement.  In 2005 it was seven in 10.  So we should always bear this in mind.  If we look at, say, international benchmarks, where do we stand?  The International Union of Public Transport (UITP), in its 2006 "Mobility in Cities Database", had surveyed more than 50 cities and named Singapore, along with Vienna and Helsinki, as the top three cities with the most striking success in providing an efficient and enjoyable public transport system. 

     Our public transport system was also ranked among the top four in terms of operating cost and affordability of fares to commuters.  Recently, I met Mr Hans Rat, Secretary General of UITP, who was here on a visit to look at our public transport system, and he said:  "If public transport is a religion, Singapore will be a holy place."  He said this is because we have a very good public transport system.  So, as I said earlier, when it comes to public transport, let us keep it in perspective, let us keep the larger picture in view.  We have a good public transport system but, yes, there is room for improvement, and this is something that we must and will do to improve it.

     My aim is to make public transport more attractive, no longer positioned as merely catering to a captive market, as Ms Sylvia Lim has said, of those who have no other means of transport, but to win over those who do not have alternatives.  We must make public transport attractive to this group of "non-customers", so that significant numbers would choose public transport because they find it convenient, reliable and offering far better value for money than private transport. 

     To do this, we have embarked on a slew of measures:

     (1)  Expanding our rail network;

     (2)  Giving priority to our buses on our roads.  So, bus will have priority on the road;

     (3)  Raising the quality of our buses and trains;

     (4)  Enhancing the choices for our commuters;

     (5)  Improving connectivity and accessibility.

     We have set ourselves a target of raising the public transport share of all morning peak-hour trips from the current 63% to at least 70% by 2020.  To achieve this, it is important that we increase the density of our rail network.  In most major cities that have a high public transport modal share, such as London, New York and Tokyo, the rail network - density and frequency - plays a critical role, as it is the most competitive alternative to the car in terms of speed, reliability and comfort. 

     We see this too in Singapore.  Commuters surveyed in LTA's 2006 Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey gave the thumbs-up for the MRT.  94% of users surveyed were satisfied with MRT services.  It scored well in critical attributes, such as travel time (94% were satisfied), reliability (93%) and station accessibility (93%).  Looking ahead, and this is in answer to Mr Liang Eng Hwa, we will expand our MRT network.  It is a key plank of our strategy to improve public transport journey times, to close the gap with private transport.

     So what can Singaporeans look forward to?  The Circle Line will open from 2010 onwards, improving connectivity and reducing travel times.  From Bishan to Paya Lebar, 30 minutes now.  When the Circle Line is up and running, 17 minutes.  For Bishan residents, an exciting night out at Holland Village will be less than 20 minutes away, while an evening stroll at the Botanic Gardens will be just two stops away from Bishan Station.  The Circle Line will also help to spice up our city life by connecting people and places.  For example, sports fans will be glad to know that after watching their favourite football team at the new Sports Hub, they can, if they wish, take a ride from the Stadium Station to the Mountbatten Station and have supper at Old Airport Road. 

     Beyond this, the LTA is completing its feasibility studies for a new 33-station Downtown Line that will link the north western and the eastern parts of Singapore to the Marina Bay.  When the Downtown Line is up, residents in Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah, Bedok Reservoir and MacPherson can take the train to see, if they wish, the bright lights of the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort.  A trip from Bukit Panjang to the city centre that now takes 60 minutes will be shortened by one-third.  A resident in the Bedok Reservoir area will no longer need to take a feeder bus to Bedok Central to catch a train into the CBD.  The Downtown Line will connect his home in the heartlands directly to the Marina Bay.

     Beyond the Downtown Line, we are identifying other possible rail lines and extensions required to support Singapore's development to 2020 and beyond.  As part of our long-term planning for a future Singapore of 6.5 million population, we expect that we will need to at least double our current rail network of 138 km for a 50% increase in population.  That means building the equivalent of seven North-east Lines.  Our expansion plans will bring the MRT to areas that are currently not well-served, enhance connectivity, reduce travel time, and relieve congestion on heavily-used MRT routes.

     The other key measure, if we want to get more people to choose public transport, is to give greater priority to buses on the road, as this will improve the reliability of bus services and reduce delays.  This we will do.  For example, LTA had conducted a pilot on full day bus lane along Orchard Road in October 2005.  Average bus speeds have improved, with non-peak speeds increasing by 10% on weekdays and 23% on Saturdays.  Following this, the LTA will be extending the full day bus lane scheme next month to other areas in the CBD, namely Eu Tong Sen Street, Hill Street, Victoria Street, Bras Basah Road and Somerset Road, benefiting over 50,000 commuters on about 40 bus services.

     LTA is also looking at ensuring that buses are able to get out of bus bays without being impeded by other road-users.  In some instances, widened roads with linear bus stops may be the right trade-off but, for others, bus bays, coupled with the right of way for buses to exit, may be the better approach.  Like Mr Ong Kian Min, many members of the public have suggested that this right of way be made mandatory, rather than as a matter of courtesy.  LTA is currently studying this suggestion.

     Mr Cedric Foo, Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Seah Kian Peng, Mr Ong Kian Min and others have cited problems of overcrowding on our buses and MRT, long waiting times for buses and long journey times on public transport.  These are the top three concerns.  I mentioned earlier about the PTC Bus Satisfaction Survey and these are the top three concerns.  What is encouraging is that, if you look at the survey results and compare 2006 with 2005, it has improved - marginally, but it has improved.  But I agree that these are important issues and we should tackle them head on. 

     Besides the two key measures of expanding our rail network and giving buses priority on our roads, we have also taken steps to ensure that the public transport operators themselves play their part in raising service standards.  This is the point that Mdm Cynthia Phua brought up.  It is an important point and it is something that we will be doing.  Last year, the Public Transport Council (PTC) put in place a more stringent set of Quality of Service Standards (QoS) for basic bus services.  This set of QoS Standards better reflects the travel experience of commuters and focuses on areas that are important to commuters: overcrowding, waiting time and journey time.  For example, one of the standards that had been tightened was that at least 85% of total trips on each bus service should depart the bus interchange and terminals not more than five minutes from its scheduled headway on a daily basis.  This will help improve the timeliness of buses arriving at bus stops and reduce waiting times.  Over time, through continual refinement of the QoS Standards, the PTC aims to raise the bar for public transport operators and improve the reliability, journey time and waiting times for buses, while ensuring affordable fares.

     As for concerns on overcrowding on our MRT trains, LTA's audit shows that the passenger loading at the busiest MRT stations, such as Toa Payoh and Kallang during the morning peak, is about 1400 passengers per train, or about 80% of the train’s passenger capacity.  This is nothing like the morning commuter crush in Tokyo.  I think Seah Kian Peng alluded to this.  I visited Tokyo recently and I went to the Shinjuku station.  Very busy during the morning peak, and you see long lines of people but all very orderly.  And they go into the trains and they pack themselves in, shoulder to shoulder.  And I was told that this was already an improvement.  In the past, they had white-gloved attendants whose job is to pack them even more, push them in.  But they have stopped that now because of their greying population.  But I would like to assure this House that the Japanese standard of loading is not something that we aspire to.  So Seah Kian Peng does not need to have nightmares that, in Singapore, we intend to pack people into the MRT trains like sardines.

     To experience for myself the crowding situation on our trains, I recently visited Toa Payoh MRT station during the morning peak period.  I was told that this is the peak of peaks, when the Toa Payoh station is the busiest.  When I tried to board the south-bound train at about 8.00 am, it was indeed difficult to get in at first, because passengers were crowding at the train doors.  But once you get through that and move  to the centre of the train, it was much better.  I noticed that some of the commuters had enough space to read their newspapers.  Nevertheless, I agree with Mr Liang Eng Hwa that improvements should be made, where feasible.  SMRT is upgrading 66 of its trains over the next two years.  This upgrading, which includes a  redesigned interior layout to allow smoother passenger flow, will improve the comfort level of commuters. 

     I agree with Dr Lam Pin Min that travel information, including real-time information, such as bus arrival times, can help commuters make more informed travel decisions, as well as better manage waiting time and transfers.  Dr Lam would be happy to know that LTA is working closely with both bus operators to roll out a system that will display real-time bus information of both operators’ services at selected bus stops.  LTA actually conducted a previous trial on such a service.  It ended in 2003 because of technological constraints and costs.  Since then, the technology has improved, with the public transport operators having now developed operational systems which facilitate the provision of real-time information.  The current trial, which begins from the middle of this year, will complement PTO's efforts, such as SBST’s "iris Next Bus" initiative, which provides real-time bus arrival information through mobile phones and the SBST website.  In addition, LTA has provided funding support for TransitLink to develop an electronic bus journey planner so that commuters will be able to find out various ways of getting from A to B, using the bus services provided by the two public transport operators.  This journey planner is part of our on-going efforts to ensure that services are seamless and integrated across different operators. 

     Dr Lam, Mr Ong Kian Min and Mr Lim Biow Chuan also suggested having real-time information for motorists, such as a dedicated radio channel for traffic news. 

Currently, LTA keep motorists updated through the one.motoring website, EMAS message signs, travel time displays and radio broadcasts. So, for the example which Mr Lim Biow Chuan gave, that by the time he saw the EMAS information, he was already close to the CTE tunnel, I would suggest that he switch on the radio while driving. There is constant feed on the radio when you switch it on and you will get the feed-in.  LTA will continue, however, to enhance the existing platforms, and continue to explore new platforms where feasible and effective, including learning from best practices overseas. 

4.15 pm

     When I was in Japan, they have this system where they provide not just journey planning, but tell you where are the areas which are congested.  But it is very expensive; it is a private and public initiative, where they have car manufacturers to be involved in this. This is one service that they have and LTA will start to explore things like this.

    We are also expanding the number of public transport choices available to commuters. I agree with Mr Cedric Foo that we should facilitate premium bus services for commuters who want a more direct and comfortable ride.

    The Public Transport Council (PTC) recently simplified its premium bus service guidelines to encourage operators to provide more services.  In answer to Mr Cedric Foo, COE-exempted buses, such as school buses or other omnibuses, can be used to operate premium bus services under the guidelines. It has been simplified. Barely two weeks after the revision, the PTC received more than 40 new applications, compared to an average of about one application per month previously.  It is still early days to take stock of the revision, but we can be encouraged by the interest shown by the bus operators so far.

     Mr Ong Kian Min made the point that premium bus services should be expanded to cater to those living in the HDB estates.  I am pleased to inform him that the PTC is currently considering a number of applications for services originating from HDB towns to the CBD area.

    Mr Cedric Foo, Mr Ong Kian Min and Mr Wee Siew Kim have also raised various suggestions on the public transport industry structure, including allowing buses and trains to compete, as well as allowing more competitors, such as mini-buses, to enter the market.

    With the premium bus services scheme, we are already allowing more competition on a limited basis, as such bus services can run along existing MRT and basic bus routes.  Beyond this scheme, we are looking hard at the fundamental public transport industry structure and related competition issues, to see how we can make our public transport system more efficient and integrated, while giving commuters more choices.  We have commissioned a consultancy study to give us further inputs and insights on these issues, and these will be incorporated into the on-going land transport review. 

     Ms Sylvia Lim brought up the issue of the listed status of the public transport companies.  I think she raised the point that because they are listed companies and have shareholders to answer to, they need to earn an adequate return. This might make them less efficient and less customer-centric.  But I would be slow in coming to that conclusion because if you look at the weight of evidence, it is a fact that the public transport operators have a profit motive and profit incentive, and have to meet adequate returns that incentivise them to be efficient, innovative and customer-centric.  If we look at countries that have not done so, where the public transport operations are run by the State, you will find that the weight of evidence is that they end up with higher costs, less efficient, and over time, service levels go down.

     We are also enhancing the connectivity and accessibility of our public transport system. As it is, our public transport system already has a high level of connectivity and can be accessed easily. There is a bus stop within 400 metres radius of  most residential developments, with services that connect commuters to all parts of the island.  67% of commuters take five minutes or less to walk to the bus-stop or MRT station, and 93% take 10 minutes or less.  We are also integrating our MRT stations and bus interchanges with building developments, enhancing convenience and connectivity. We have seen such improvements at Toa Payoh and we will bring in the concept to the new Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange which will be ready by mid-2007. When it is ready, commuters will be able to pick up groceries on their way home from work, take a break in between transfers or do some shopping at the numerous lifestyle boutiques.

    However, I agree with Mr Ong Kian Min that we must do more to improve connectivity, and in particular, improve the walking experience.  Walking is an essential part of the public transport journey and we should take into account our tropical, humid weather and sudden downpours. I think Mr Ong Kian Min referred to it as the freaky weather, ie, when you go out, and there is a sudden downpour, you get wet and it is a dampener for people to use the public transport system.  While we cannot change our weather, we can ameliorate its effects. As such, we have decided that current programme of building sheltered walkways and covers over pedestrian overhead bridges should be accelerated, and this will be dovetailed with HDB's covered linkway programme in the housing estates.

     I fully agree with Mr Cedric Foo, Mdm Cynthia Phua and Mr Seah Kian Peng that even as we strive to develop a first-rate public transport system, we must ensure that we make it accessible to all, including the less well-off in our society.  The PTC will continue to ensure that fares remain affordable to the general commuting public.  Our public transport fares are among the most affordable internationally.

   However, we do recognise that more would need to be done to help lower-income households in their public transport expenses.  The correct way to help them is not through suppressing fare increases, but to find ways to help the lower-income households directly.  For a start, the Government has put $10 million into the Public Transport Fund to be used over three years. A portion of the funds can be used to help low-income households cope if there is a fare increase in October 2007, to alleviate the immediate impact of the fare increase. We will also look at other longer-term measures to help such households cope with rising transport cost through this Fund and other measures. 

    Also, on the issue of accessibility, Ms Lee Bee Wah has proposed that senior citizen concession hours be extended because more senior citizens are returning to the job market.  Senior citizen concessionary travel granted by the public transport operations is a form of cross-subsidy by other full-fare paying adults.  The more extensive it is, the higher the fares would be for others. Hence, the operators have to take this into account in extending concessions.  Nevertheless, the operators have taken in feedback and have been extending the concession hours for senior citizens over the years, most recently, in 2005.  I think they will take into account what Ms Lee Bee Wah said as they will need to constantly review this matter as part of their business plans.

    I would like to assure Ms Lee Bee Wah that we take seriously the safety of the public at the MRT stations. We have various safety measures in place.  There are signages at the trackside to advise commuters not to stand beyond the yellow line; Emergency Train Stop plungers at all platforms and Passenger Service Centres, and CCTVs to monitor the crowd situation. The train operators carry out public education on MRT safety and deploy staff to patrol station platforms and assist commuters.

    I would also like to assure her that LTA and SMRT continually take into account various suggestions to enhance safety, including the proposal to install half-height platform screen doors.  Ms Lee Bee Wah brought up the example of Hong Kong and the amount of money they spent on that. I visited Hong Kong recently.  I met the operators and I asked them.  Most of the money they spent was to put up platform doors for their underground stations.  In Singapore, we already have that throughout the whole MRT system.  For the above ground, only four stations because of the costs.  How did they deal with the costs?  They passed it to the commuters.  Ten-cent increase in fares because of the platform screen doors.  But the point she made, that in assessing this, we should also take into account the disruption caused to the MRT system, is a valid point, and this is something that LTA is reviewing. 

    However, ensuring safety is a shared responsibility.  LTA and SMRT will play their part but so too should commuters take responsibility for their personal safety. The open platform at MRT stations is no different from public roads where commuters exercise personal caution by standing not too close to the edge and look out for traffic.  Likewise, for commuters at MRT stations, they should stand behind the yellow lines while waiting for the trains.  Shared responsibility is the principal way to minimise accidents because even if we put in the half-height platform screen doors, this cannot be a 100% guarantee as a foolproof way against future mishap.

    Mdm Cynthia Phua asked about adopting open standards for ez-link card system and when LTA would divest ownership of its subsidiary company, EZ-Link. When the ez-link system was introduced in 2002, the current proprietary system was chosen because it was a proven technology which had already been implemented in Hong Kong.  LTA is currently upgrading the system to adopt open standards for its ticket payment infrastructure, which will allow other card suppliers and managers into the market and potentially, like she said, lower cost for commuters.  This is expected to be ready when the Circle Line opens around 2010.

     I agree with Mdm Phua that the role of the card manager, which entails the sale, distribution and management of the ez-link cards, is best performed by a private company.  LTA's ownership of ez-link is only meant to be transitional. LTA is looking into the divestment of this company and any divestment will be done in an open and transparent manner.  With the introduction of the regulatory framework for ticket payments and services last year, the PTC is also able to impose licence conditions to prevent card managers, such as ez-link, from levying unreasonable charges on commuters or engaging in any anti-competitive behaviour.

   Mr Ong Kian Min has highlighted taxi services and the need to better match supply and demand, particularly during peak periods.  Fundamentally, when there is an imbalance, either the price or quantity will change. He cited Hong Kong as an example where there is no difficulty in getting a taxi even at peak periods. As I have mentioned, I visited Hong Kong recently and I met up with their taxi operators and taxi regulators. I asked them what is the secret. They said that there is no secret, there is an excess supply situation in Hong Kong.  So why is it that when you walk out, you can get a taxi?  Because they have an excess supply.  The taxis are waiting for the commuters.  But this comes at a cost.  When I talked to the taxi associations, they said that it comes with high cost because the taxi drivers in Hong Kong are having an even more difficult time making ends meet than in Singapore. So, if we were to adopt this approach, Mr Seng Han Thong would have concerns, as he is already worried about whether deregulation will lead to more taxis on the road.  It is important when we are dealing with transport issues, not to take a NIMBY (not in my backyard) approach - which simply shifts the impact to others, in this case, taxi drivers, by having an excess supply of taxis in Singapore which will result in lower fares and lower income for taxi drivers. 

    The approach we have taken is to let the market determine the balance of all these three different interests - taxi passengers, taxi drivers and taxi operators.  By liberalising the taxi industry, market forces determine the supply of taxi services and encourage competition within the taxi industry to improve taxi services for the benefit of taxi drivers and commuters.

    The liberalisation has seen the entry of three new companies and an increase in taxi supply to better meet commuters' needs. Competition among the companies has spurred them to improve their services and provide more choices for the commuters through differentiated services, such as limousine services as well as in niche areas like the medical chaperon and drink jockey services.  Furthermore, competition among the taxi companies has also benefited taxi drivers, as the companies need to put together attractive taxi rental packages, and work hard to attract and retain drivers.

    The role of the Government in this liberalised market is to facilitate its workings and ensure that taxi service standards are not compromised. For instance, to ensure that commuters can get a taxi if they choose to phone-book a taxi, LTA has, with effect from January 2007, extended the monitoring period on taxi companies call booking performances from between 5 pm and 8 pm to between 5 pm and 11 pm under the Quality of Service (QoS) standards.

    LTA is also working with various stakeholders in this - like Ngee Ann City - you may have read in the newspapers. They are working with the operators at Ngee Ann City to try to de-conflict the traffic near the taxi stand there, improve the throughput of the road leading to Ngee Ann City and also talk to the taxi companies to get more taxis into Ngee Ann City during the peak period.  This shared approach is very important.  We need all the stakeholders to play their part. There has been some feedback which ask us why do we not put up call booking information on taxi stands.  It is sensible because, firstly, not everybody who goes to a taxi stand and wants to make a booking will know the number.  Or what about tourists? They may not know the number. So LTA has been working to put up this information at taxi stands, shopping centres and major buildings and also to get shopping centres to work with them.  So, if you are a tourist or someone who needs to make a booking, you go to the information counter which will put the booking through for you, as in some countries.  We need everybody to play their part to do this.  Some shopping centres and developments asked why they should do this, as this is free advertising for the taxi companies. As I have said, everybody needs to play their part in order to raise the quality of our taxi service.   

4.30 pm

     I am glad to hear from Mr Seng Han Thong that the taxi associations have come together to discuss how to move the taxi industry forward.  I look forward to receiving the report and we will study it very carefully. 

     Let me now turn to our strategy to manage and optimise our road use.  Many of you would have noticed that the traffic on our roads has gone heavier, especially in the past few years, despite building more roads and highways.  Why is it so?  Mr Liang Eng Hwa was absolutely spot-on in his speech.  He says the reason why this is so is because from 1997 to 2004, our road capacity grew by 5%, the car population grew by twice as much, by 10%, and daily car trips went up by even more,  23%.  To address this problem effectively, I agree with Mr Ong Kian Min, Mr Seng Han Thong, Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Mr Liang Eng Hwa that we need to adopt a holistic, multi-pronged approach to ensure a sustainable land transport system for a growing city.  ERP alone would not be effective. And as I mentioned previously in this House, there is no single solution to land transport problem. So the Government has never relied on ERP alone. It has always taken an integrated approach dealing with this urban transport issue. So we need to complement ERP with proper land use and transport planning, a good road network and traffic management system including the use, as Mr Lim Biow Chuan said, of an intelligent transport system (ITS) such as GLIDE to maximise road capacity and continue to improve our public transport. 

     On vehicle growth, Mr Cedric Foo and Mr Seng Han Thong asked about my Ministry’s policy, going forward.  Our vehicle quota system provides for the vehicle population to grow at a pace which can be sustained by our road infrastructure.   The vehicle population growth rate has been set at 3% per annum until quota year 2008, which ends in April 2009.  We will do a review in 2008 to set the long-term directions on vehicle growth. For the quota year 2007 beginning in May, the LTA will be issuing a total COE quota of 127,021.

     If we continue to allow 3% annual vehicle growth, our current vehicle population of 800,000 would increase by about 50% to about 1.2 million by 2020.  On the other hand, our road capacity is expected to increase by about 9%-12% over the same period. If you were to line up all these 1.2 million vehicles bumper to bumper, it would fill up our existing expressways 5 times over!  And if you were to line it up the other way, the 1.2 million vehicles will go all the way to Beijing!  It is clear that the current 3% annual growth rate cannot be maintained indefinitely, given our land constraint and a slower pace of road-building, as Singapore  is becoming more built up. Already, some 12% of our land is used for transport, which is the same as that used for industry, and almost the same as housing which is 15%.  The tradeoffs associated with higher vehicle population growth are real, because of competing demands on land use as well as the impact on the environment. 

     In any case, simply building more roads will not solve our transport problems in a sustainable way because the demand for road space just keeps growing unless it is sensibly restrained.  If we do not wish our city to resemble a giant carpark lot, we will need, apart from moderating vehicle growth, to continually review our ERP coverage to ensure smooth-flowing roads.

     Nevertheless, I assure Mr Lim Biow Chuan that LTA's approach is indeed to consider and exhaust traffic engineering solutions such as road-widening before imposing ERP.  This had been done for the CTE and, even now, the LTA is working on a project to widen the CTE stretch between Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3.  Likewise, to relieve the evening congestion on the ECP, the LTA is re-marking the stretch between Fort Road and Marina South to add one more lane in either direction.  But the fact remains that the ERP is a necessary tool in our traffic management toolbox.  It has helped to keep speeds on our expressways such as the CTE above 45 km/h and on our arterial roads above 20 km/h.  Had we not introduced ERP, we would probably be facing gridlock on our key roads and expressways now.    

     Mr Ang Mong Seng has suggested that we dedicate the rightmost lane of the expressway for vehicles travelling at 90 km/h and the remaining lanes for vehicles travelling below 90 km/h.  Today, the ERP system is designed to allow maximum traffic throughput on our roads by keeping vehicle speeds within the optimal speed range of 45 to 65 km/h. To demarcate one lane for vehicles to travel at 90 km/h will not allow us to maximise the use of our road space. Moreover, it is likely that the sheer number of cars that will want to go into the fast lane will simply congest the fast lane in no time.

     Mr Lim Biow Chuan highlighted the transport needs of the residents in the Northeast.  Residents, like Ms Karen Lee, wrote to Today recently on her journeys on the CTE and its alternatives, highlighting the congestion that she and her husband encountered on their drive to work from Punggol to Buona Vista, the place where her husband works. 

     Let me highlight the various measures we are taking to help Ms Lee and other Northeast residents.  Firstly - the CTE.  LTA aims to complete the widening of the CTE stretch between Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, which I mentioned earlier, by end 2008, which will relieve the congestion there.  Secondly, when the KPE, ie, the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, is fully open by 2008, it will provide Ms Lee and her husband with an additional expressway link from the Northeast to the city.  Thirdly, we are improving the public transport options.  When the Circle Line opens, the journey from Punggol to Buona Vista will take about 35 minutes, compared to the current 45-minute journey on the North-east Line.

     Mr Cedric Foo asked for a clarification on my Ministry's position on car ownership costs.  There is no change to our approach, which is to gradually reduce ownership costs so as to strike a better balance between the ownership and usage costs of a car. 

     Let me turn now to our strategy to meet the diverse needs of a more complex society. I agree with Ms Lee Bee Wah, Mdm Cynthia Phua and Mr Wee Siew Kim that our transport system needs to keep pace with changing demographics, including a greying population, as well as support our efforts to build an inclusive society.
    
     We now have Wheelchair Accessible Buses (WABs) plying five bus routes.  SBST will introduce more this year. The WABs are making a difference.  Take Mr Hui Nai Wai, for instance.  He is a regular user of  these WABs.  He makes at least four trips a week. Previously, he had to telephone for a private ambulance costing $50.  Now with the WAB, he says, for the price of the ticket, he and his family can go from his home in Eunos to attend church, go shopping at Mustafa Centre or look for places to eat. 

     Ms Lee Bee Wah has also suggested that we consider installing escalators for pedestrians overhead bridges near MRT stations. She said do not just talk about cost. But cost is important, as Members know, because money does not grow on trees. So we have to look at the cost, but I agree with her that you do not just look at the cost, you have got to look at the benefit, and this is something that we will do.  We will look at the cost, we will look at the benefit, we will look at the traffic flow at a particular MRT station and, where it is feasible, LTA will consider it.  In fact, for the elderly and the less mobile, what they prefer are not escalators. They prefer more at-grade crossings.  At-grade crossings mean more street crossings which are much easier for them. And this is something that LTA will look at providing more - more traffic light crossings at road level at suitable locations, wherever possible. In estates where there is a higher concentration of elderly, the traffic light timings would also be adjusted to allow the elderly more time to cross the pedestrian crossing safely.

     Our approach is to study what are practical and impactful ways to roll out more barrier-free facilities to make our transport system more accessible.  Last December, I asked LTA to conduct a pilot project to install barrier-free facilities for the route between Simei MRT station and the Changi General Hospital. Following the trial, the LTA has embarked on a programme to implement barrier-free routes within a 400-metre radius of all MRT stations.  This programme, together with other nation-wide barrier-free upgrading works, will take place over the next five years and cost $60 million in all.   

    Another initiative that we are pursuing is to provide additional lifts for our MRT stations. While our MRT stations have generally been provided with one entrance lift each, LTA is currently reviewing whether more lifts are required at some stations to ensure that our less mobile elderly citizens can access our trains more conveniently.  Because I have received feedback, and I agree with this feedback, that it does not really make logical sense for the less mobile commuters to make long detours and cross major roads in order to use the entrances with lifts while the more able-bodied are required to walk less. 

     Mr Teo Ser Luck asked if we could look into the needs of cyclists.  In principle, yes, because cyclists, along with pedestrians and others, also share the road space with motorists and public transport vehicles.  All these diverse groups will need to find ways to accommodate one another’s transportation needs.

     Mr Teo asked us to consider the proposals put forward by the Safe Cycling Task Force, such as providing road signs along routes commonly used by cyclists.  The LTA is in touch with the group, and will work with MCYS, his Ministry, and the cycling enthusiasts to explore measures to enhance the safety of cyclists, perhaps through the placing of information signs to forewarn motorists of popular cycling routes.  LTA will also continue to work with the Traffic Police and event organisers to allow road space to be used for special cycling events and sports activities such as the NUS Triathlon, while minimising the impact and inconvenience to other road users.   

     Before closing, Sir, Mr Cedric Foo and Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked about the impact of Malaysia's proposed closure of the Causeway to heavy goods vehicles and the diversion of these vehicles to the Second Link.  In answer to Mr Lim Biow Chuan's query, we were informed by the Malaysian Government that the closure would be temporary. The proposed diversion will have material implications for both Singapore and Malaysia. Besides the obvious operational adjustments for traffic and checkpoint operations at the Second Link and the Causeway, users of both land links can expect delays and higher costs as a result of the proposed diversion. Therefore, we have formally conveyed to the Malaysian Government that it will be necessary for Malaysia and Singapore to work together to minimise the disruption to the travelling public as well as its impact on tourist and trade flows.

     My Ministry has written to the Malaysian Ministry of Works to propose convening a Joint Committee to manage the temporary diversion, comprising relevant Ministries and agencies on both sides.  On Singapore's part, a multi-agency group led by my Ministry has already started looking into what is needed to minimise the impact of the temporary diversion. To deal with the anticipated increase in traffic volume at the Second Link, ICA and LTA are making preparations to redeploy resources and adjust traffic flows at the checkpoints.  We have also been seeking feedback from industry on how to mitigate the impact of the diversion on their operations.  However, we will need to coordinate our efforts with our Malaysian counterparts in order to ensure that the measures taken are effective in minimising disruption.

     Sir, there are no easy answers to the land transport challenges which we face.  It is always a matter of balance. Difficult trade-offs would have to be made. We are quite clear in our minds that when we make these trade-offs, we cannot please everybody. But whatever we do, we need to do what we think is right rather than what is popular, taking into account different perspectives and priorities, but, at the end of the day, settling on directions which best serve Singaporeans today and in the future.   

     In the year ahead, we will continue to work on a roadmap which will shape what the land transport system would look like in the year 2020, and, more importantly, lay the foundations for a land transport system that is sustainable for future generations of Singaporeans. 

     Since we started the review, we have received many suggestions from the public which have helped us to make improvements and given us much food for thought. Let me just cite one example. Mr Bruno Wildermuth, a long-time resident of Singapore, wrote to me and suggested that in our traffic impact assessment of major property developments, we should also take into account the impact on public transport. Right now, we look at the impact on traffic flows and road congestion in general, but not particularly on the impact on public transport. We will now do so.  I thank him and others for writing to us and I would encourage them to continue to give us their feedback.  Like Mr Seah Kian Peng, I firmly believe that such views will make the outcomes more robust and relevant to the commuting public and our key stakeholders. 

     To further engage the various transport stakeholders including members of the public, we will hold focus group discussions in the next few months to get suggestions and feedback on some of the key issues and long-term challenges for our land transport policies.  Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, my Minister of State, together with members from the Transport GPC will lead this effort. We will consider all views and suggestions received in our review. Moving forward, we will continue with this consultative approach in developing and implementing land transport policy and plans.

     Sir, our vision for a world-class land transport system ensues from, and must support, the overarching vision of what Singapore is to be - a vibrant jewel of a city, with a quality living and working environment, and an inclusive society. Our land transport system will play a critical role in realising this national vision, by connecting Singaporeans, catalysing economic activity and spurring the growth of a vibrant Singapore.  To do this, we must anticipate, change and respond to greater demand for travel and see through the eyes of the commuting public.  This is our ambition. And we will know that we have succeeded when our land transport system is regarded in the same league as our airport and our seaport.

Singapore-Malaysia Air Talks

4.45 pm

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Mr Chairman, Sir, Singapore's liberal aviation policies have helped us achieve open skies agreements with many like-minded states.  However, we do not seem to have progressed much in liberalising our skies with our closest neighbour, Malaysia.  I would like to ask the Minister for an update on our negotiations with Malaysia for more liberal aviation arrangements.  The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector is an anomaly.  People flows between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are strong but yet the sector is served by a shuttle service with only SIA and MAS as operators.  It is perhaps the only major route that is not served by budget airlines.  I would like to ask the Minister when this route can be liberalised and when budget airlines can start serving this market. 

Liberalising Aviation Policy

     Mr Wee Siew Kim: Mr Chairman, Sir, let me declare my interest as in my work with ST Engineering. The aerospace sector is one that I spend a fair bit of time on.

     2006 over 2005, Changi Airport grew - 8% more passengers, 4.2% more cargo, 4% more flights and the usual litany of international awards.  Much hinges on the success of the airports, and it is prudent to constantly watch the threats of emerging regional airports.  One key element to maintain Changi Airport's competitiveness is a liberalising aviation regime.

     There is much talk about the air talks between Malaysia and Singapore.  The competitive field is constrained by both the current limits on flights and the limitation of carriers.  This sector has not gained from the benefits that LCCs have brought about in other areas.  In these other areas, consumers are spoilt for choice.  Additionally, air transportation becomes an option available to a larger group of travellers.  Wider afield, there is also the ASEAN target of having open skies between the capital cities.  Can the Minister give us an update of the developments on these two fronts and also the benefits that would accrue to Singapore as a result of such liberalisation?

Aviation Sector  

     I would also like to talk about incentives for growth of aircraft fleet and the aviation sector.  I noted the success with the shipowners in the maritime sector.  The incentive scheme, like the Approved International Shipping Enterprise Scheme, has reaped substantial recurring benefits to the port and supporting ancillary services.  The success of the maritime scheme is evident from the substantial increase in the number of Singapore-flagged vessels.  May I ask the Minister to consider studying the impact similar incentives would have for the aviation sector if they are offered to aircraft owners. 

     Going forward, developments in aviation technology would see much lower cost of ownership of aircraft and thereby possibly making the private ownership of aircraft available to a wider spectrum of people.  One such development is the advent of the very light jets - the VLJs and air taxis in the US.  With these technological and business model developments, coupled with the emergence of open skies between ASEAN capital cities, we can expect new exciting growth.  Could the Minister consider what proactive steps the Ministry and its agencies, like the CAAS, could take, including revamping its rules, processes and guidelines to ensure that Singapore's air entry points of Changi, the Budget Terminal and Seletar do not lose out to the regional aspirants?

Air Cargo

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Mr Chairman, Sir, Changi continues to be the world-renowned aviation hub.  It has been ranked sixth for international freight movement in 2005, having moved a record 1.83 million tonnes of air cargo.  However, industry players have informed us that the value of transshipment air cargo has been decreasing in recent years.  Singapore has been losing out on the transshipment business to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and one of the reasons cited is that the cost of rental of cargo complexes in Changi is the highest in the region.  Could the Minister update us on MOT's plans to recapture the transshipment cargo and to reposition Changi as a competitive air cargo hub? 

     Mr Wee Siew Kim: Mr Chairman, Sir, cargo and passengers drive the very existence of Changi Airport.  Several innovative approaches to anchor Changi Airport as an international cargo hub had been made in the past years.  The result is admirable - year on year growth, an impressive 4.2% in 2006.

     Over the years, the nature of the air cargo business must have evolved and the continued efficiency of Singapore's operations put it in an enviable position to attract transshipment cargo.  May I ask the Minister if we have been successful in getting a disproportionate share of the transshipment traffic growth and if there are more ways to entrench this economic activity in Changi. One of the more major recent innovations is the development of the Airport Logistics Park of Singapore (ALPS) - a free trade zone right next to the Airport.  Now that the ALPS has been up and running for several years, I would like to hear from the Minister if the goals expected from the ALPS investment have been met, and whether the users - freight forwarders, logistics companies, airlines and customers - are happy with what Singapore is offering at ALPS.  This continual self-assessment and recalibration are required to keep us relevant and enable us to improve to keep our lead in the air transportation sector. 

Hub Port

     Dr Lam Pin Min: Mr Chairman, Singapore ranks among the top international maritime centres of the world.  Singapore's standing rests on its status as a hub port.  It is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage, with 1.3 billion gross tonnes handled in 2006, and containerised traffic with 24.8 million, 20 foot equivalent units handled in 2006.  In terms of cargo tonnage, Singapore is ranked second behind Shanghai with 449 million tonnes handled.  Excellent connectivity is also one of the strengths of the Singapore port.  However, Singapore continues to embrace challenges such as stiff competition from the region, especially China, limited land for future berth development and perennial threat of pirate attacks in the Straits of Malacca.  I would like to ask the Minister how would the above challenges affect Singapore's bid to maintain its hub-port status and what are the long-term strategies in enhancing the port performance and venturing into new business areas to stay ahead. 

     Beyond the hub-port, Singapore has also been promoting itself as a centre for shipping and maritime services.  I would also like to ask the Minister for an update on this area.  With a thriving maritime industry set to grow in the range of 6% to 9% over the median term, is there a maritime manpower development and recruitment plan to meet the projected manpower needs of the industry?  Did the 21-episode MediaCorp Mandarin serial entitled "The Peak" or "Zui Gao Dian ", with a star-studded cast including Christopher Lee, Jeanette Aw, Elvin Ng and Qi Yuwu, achieve this objective of attracting young Singaporeans to take up the glamorous, challenging and rewarding careers in this industry?

     The Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua): Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank Mr Cedric Foo and Dr Lam Pin Min for the questions on the maritime sector.  I will now provide an update on our performance as well as what the Ministry is doing to ensure Singapore's continued competitiveness as a global hub port and maritime centre.

     Sir, indeed, as Dr Lam Pin Min has mentioned, Singapore's port continued to perform strongly in 2006 and occupied pole position globally in terms of container throughput, shipping tonnage and other measures.  As Mr Cedric Foo has pointed out, other ports in Asia, especially China, have also been flourishing in tandem with the strong economic growth.  For the past five years, Shanghai and Shenzhen have been growing at a blistering 15% to 30% per year.  In 2006, these two ports were the third and fourth busiest container ports in the world.  Indeed, as Mr Cedric Foo has pointed out, at the rate the Chinese ports are growing, it will only be a matter of time before one or both of them displace Singapore from her position as the busiest container port.  But, Sir, this is not a zero sum game.  The strong growth of the Chinese ports has also benefited Singapore.  Over the last five years, containers shipped to and from China through Singapore grew by an average of 22% per year.  As Chinese ports grow, so too can and will ours, and we intend to remain a hub port. Let me just highlight four ways to ensure we stay competitive and in the game.

     First, we must have sufficient capacity to cater to the rising demand.  Ongoing works to expand Pasir Panjang Terminal by 16 berths to a total of 38 will meet our needs.

     Second, we need to sharpen our edge in efficiency and quality.  For example, a reputation for quality is important to a bunker or ship refuelling port.  Last year, the Maritime and Port Authority introduced a new standard on quality management through the bunker supply chain.  This helps to reinforce our position as the world's top bunker port.

     Third, we need to be on the lookout for new growth opportunities.  For example, in order to take advantage of the shifting auto-manufacturing trends, PSA has decided to develop a dedicated car transshipment terminal, complete with a purpose-built car storage facility, to capture the growing market for global car transshipment.

     Finally, we must ensure safe, unimpeded passage for ships passing through the sea lanes to Singapore.  We have thus given much attention to improving the piracy situation in regional waters, including the Straits of Malacca.  The Information Sharing Centre, launched by Singapore and 13 other Asian countries last November under the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia, or ReCAAP for short, will support inter-governmental action against piracy through better sharing and analysis of piracy data. 

     Sir, Singapore's development as an international maritime centre goes beyond the port terminal operations.  Mr Cedric Foo and Dr Lam Pin Min have asked for updates.  The strong growth in Asian trade and major expansion of the world's shipping fleet present excellent opportunities for Singapore to establish itself not just as a hub port but also as a base for shipping and maritime services.  There is increasing demand for ancillary services such as ship financing, maritime legal services and marine insurance.  As a maritime and aviation hub, an established financial centre, with a well-regarded legal system, Singapore is well positioned to take advantage of the cluster opportunities available.

     Our incentive schemes have already met with very positive response.  The Approved International Shipping Enterprise (or AIS) Scheme has attracted over 80 ship operating and ship-owning companies to date, generating some $2.8 billion of annual spending.  The Maritime Finance Incentive (or MFI) introduced just last year to promote alternative ship finance structures has already been awarded to four companies with more than US$900 million worth of shipping assets portfolio.  More proposals are in the pipeline. 

     Sir, we are also constantly enhancing our schemes. As mentioned by Mr Cedric Foo in this year's Budget, the Approved Shipping Logistics Enterprise (or ASL) Scheme has also been enhanced and GST for servicing, sale and lease of containers used for international trade has been zero-rated.  By building a conducive environment for maritime services in Singapore, we are increasingly being recognised as a choice location for major shipping groups from all over the world to base their operations in Asia. 

     It is estimated that today, shipping and maritime services companies employ about 14,000 people in Singapore.  Many of these jobs are well-paying white-collar jobs with good prospects, jobs which present excellent careers for Singaporeans.  For example, shipbrokers are known to offer a starting pay from $1,800 to $3,000 for polytechnic graduates.  A good, experienced broker can command a monthly salary of about $10,000 to $15,000. And I am told that the sector is doing so well and supply is so tight that some of them have been receiving bonuses as high as six to 10 months.  Opportunities are not confined to those with shipping-related qualifications.  The industry needs university and polytechnic graduates with qualifications in business, law, finance, engineering, and so on.  However, despite the buoyancy enjoyed by the industry and the demand for manpower, Singaporeans' awareness of opportunities in the maritime services is still very low.  Whenever I meet shipping and maritime services companies, it is not uncommon for them to praise Singapore as a wonderful location for their business, but lament the difficulty in recruiting people.  Raising awareness of career opportunities in maritime services is therefore a key priority for us, and publicity efforts include the ones that Dr Lam has just mentioned - the recently concluded  Mandarin TV serial "The Peak", and two TV commercials featuring the maritime industry.

These are part of the ongoing efforts to create long-term awareness.

5.00 pm

      In addition, the Singapore Maritime Foundation is working with the MPA to establish a maritime outreach network, or MaritimeONE.  This will be a single platform for Government, industry and the educational institutions to work together in the career publicity and outreach efforts.  This MaritimeONE initiative to be launched next month will include student outreach activities, scholarship and book prizes for maritime courses, internship at maritime companies and networking events between students and prospective employers.  I would therefore encourage Singaporeans to take advantage of these initiatives to learn more about careers in the maritime services sector.  An excellent career awaits them.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Mr Chairman, Sir, Mr Cedric Foo and Mr Wee Siew Kim have asked about our plans to ensure that Changi Airport stays ahead of the competitors.

     Sir, Changi's success is founded on four key strategies: developing hardware and infrastructure, enhancing Changi's software, anchoring the airlines in Changi, and liberalising the aviation regime.

     First, on developing hardware and infrastructure, we will continue our forward-looking policy of building airport infrastructure ahead of future demand.  When Terminal 3 opens next year, Changi's handling capacity will increase by about 45% to 67 million passengers per annum.  This will however only be enough to cater to Changi's expected growth for perhaps the next 10 to 15 years.  Our airport planners will be embarking on a detailed masterplanning for the next phase of Changi's expansion.  Given our limited land and airspace, we will need to carefully study how Changi can be optimally expanded to ensure we are ready to seize future growth opportunities from the expected strong growth in global aviation. 

     Second, Changi Airport's excellent service standard is one key aspect that sets it apart from its competitors.  It is such an important element of Changi's success that the term "The Changi Experience" is recognised by airports and air travellers the world over as the epitome of airport excellence.  Many airports have sought out Changi's consultancy and investment arm, Changi Airports International, or CAI,  to be their partner as they believe Changi can bring value to airport planning and management.  For instance, CAI was recently appointed to operate Abu Dhabi International Airport and has also entered into JVs to manage terminals at Nanjing Airport and Russia's Sheremetyevo Airport.

     Travellers the world over shower Changi Airport with some 250 compliments every month.  Many praise our airport staff for going beyond the call of duty, leaving an indelible impression which no amount of advertisement can ever achieve. Let me give you two examples.  Dr Vivien Chong from Singapore, for example, commended our Immigration officers for going the extra mile to renew his son's expired passport.  She had gone to the airport, wanted to check in with her son's passport for a trip to Langkawi and then discovered that it had expired.  The airport staff, ICA and CAAS managed to process it on time for her to make the trip.  So she wrote to them and said, "Our family is truly touched by what they have done.  We felt tremendous warmth in our heart.  We will and still are very grateful for what they have done.  Your team made my experience with Changi Airport very pleasant and enjoyable.  They have reflected very well on Singapore, the ICA and the CAAS."

     One comment received from another passenger, Mr Anthony Comerford from New Zealand sums up The Changi Experience the best, and I quote him, "This is the way all airports should be and I hope that others will follow in Singapore's footsteps.  Little details, such as the amazingly clean shower amenities, free cinema and general fast-moving processing and positive attitude of the staff here, actually make it a pleasure to be in the airport, which is surely a first." 

     The "software" aspects of Changi Airport must not only be preserved, but strengthened.  Travellers must continue to enjoy a seamless flow to Changi and have fun shopping, eating and participating in events while doing so.  We will also continue to provide training for frontline staff to ensure that the highest service standards are maintained. 

     Third, we will continue to strengthen Changi's connectivity by anchoring existing airlines and attracting new ones.  Without the network of air links, we cannot be an air hub.  Over the years, we have provided our passenger and cargo airline partners with a wide range of incentives to facilitate their operations here.  The enhanced airline incentives under the three-year, $300 million Air Hub Development Fund 2 which began last year, had contributed to Changi's spectacular growth in 2006.  These include rebates on landing fees and rewards for bringing in more traffic to Singapore.

     Sir, even as we develop new initiatives to attract more airlines and passengers to use Changi, we should not lose sight, as Mr Cedric Foo and Mr Wee Siew Kim said, of our air cargo sector.  Our air cargo sector has done reasonably well.  Changi's 4.2% growth in air cargo volume in 2006 is about in line with the worldwide growth of about 4.6%.  By market share, in terms of international air cargo, Singapore is the sixth largest in the world.

     Mr Wee has asked if the objective of investing into the Airport Logistics Park of Singapore (ALPS) has been met.  ALPS was established in 2003 in Changi's Free Trade Zone to promote value-added logistic activities and rapid turnaround services. It is well received by the industry.  Since its opening, more than 80% of its land has been allocated to various leading freight forwarders and logistic companies, including DHL, UPS Supply Chain Solutions and Schenker.  This good take-up rate reflects the appeal of ALPS and also Changi, for its excellent connectivity and efficiency.

     To further strengthen our position as an air cargo hub, CAAS has identified perishables handling as a potential growth segment to complement other segments.  Perishables cargo comprises around 15% of air cargo worldwide and is expected to be a fast-growing segment.  With specialised infrastructure and handling expertise, Changi Airport aims to capture a significant share of the flow of perishables cargo between Europe, Asia and Australia.

     CAAS will also continue to ensure adequate air cargo capacity to complement the demand for air cargo in Singapore.  For instance, a new Singapore cargo airline, Jett8 Cargo, is expected to commence operations later this year.  CAAS will continue to work with its partners and stakeholders to attract new cargo airlines to operate into Singapore as well as encourage existing cargo airlines to grow at Changi Airport.

     Let me now turn to new growth areas outside of the conventional passenger market which would enhance Changi's connectivity and reach.  We aim to improve Changi's value proposition to different passenger segments and, in this regard, I would like to assure Mr Wee Siew Kim of our desire to nurture the growth of low-cost carriers and corporate jets.

     Low-cost carriers are becoming increasingly important in the regional aviation landscape and now accounts for about 15% of Changi's traffic.  The Budget Terminal, which opened last March, is now handling about 130,000 passengers a month, utilising close to 60% of its 2.7 million passengers per annum capacity.  With the strong traffic growth at the Budget Terminal, we expect to have to begin expanding the capacity of the Budget Terminal later this year, and plans are in place for this.  As for corporate jets, they can either use Changi or Seletar airport, each with its own appeal.  Many corporate jet users traditionally prefer Seletar Airport for its privacy and tranquility as it is not as busy as Changi. For jetsetters who prefer Changi and those with bigger jets that have to land at Changi, they can enjoy the exclusivity and premier services offered by the dedicated complex for Commercially Important Passengers. 

     I fully agree with Mr Wee Siew Kim that new technology can drive new growth opportunities.  For instance, Very Light Jets, or "VLJs", are becoming more prevalent and making possible the concept of "air taxis" for corporate clients.  Let me assure Members that we will continue to monitor such trends in aircraft technology and travel preferences closely and assess the implications on Changi Airport.  If there are potential opportunities that add to Singapore's vibrancy as an air hub, we would certainly study how our infrastructure and safety regulatory framework can accommodate such activities.

     Sir, Changi would not have been the success that it is today had we not adopted a liberal aviation policy.  This brings me to my fourth point.  Singapore will continue to pursue more liberal bilateral and multilateral air services arrangements.  For instance, we recently extended our Air Services Agreement (ASA) with India in January this year to allow Singapore carriers to double their services to New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai over the next two to three years.  This will support the strong traffic growth between Singapore and these three key metropolitan cities in India. 

     On the multilateral front, Singapore is working closely with fellow ASEAN member countries to implement the ASEAN roadmap for an integrated air transport sector.  It is an important initiative that will free up passenger and air freight services in ASEAN, with a vision that it would pave the way for an eventual ASEAN Open Skies in the long term.  This would in turn facilitate the flow of people, trade and services, and enable ASEAN countries to leverage on each other's strengths to attract more tourists and investments.  An ASEAN-wide air services arrangement will enable ASEAN, as a bloc, to then explore liberal air services arrangements with key dialogue partners like China and India, opening up even more opportunities for all.

     With the ASEAN roadmap's milestone of December 2008 for unlimited access between ASEAN capital cities coming up, ASEAN members are now stepping up consultations to finalise the multilateral agreement to implement the roadmap.  Last month, my fellow ASEAN Transport Ministers and I agreed to target for this agreement to be signed by the end of this year, so that it will be in time for the implementation of the first major milestone in December 2008. 

     As for Mr Cedric Foo's question on opening up air links with Malaysia, let me reiterate that Singapore has always been prepared to review our ASA with Malaysia to expand air links.  I recently met with the Malaysian Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy during the ASEAN Transport Ministers' Meeting in Bangkok to follow up on our earlier discussions on this matter.

     I am pleased to inform Members that we have agreed to work towards greater liberalisation and that our officials are working out a date to meet in the near future to review the ASA.  Such a review is long overdue as the ASA was last reviewed more than 25 years ago in 1980. There is tremendous potential for more air links between both countries, given our close historical, economic and people-to-people ties.   Greater liberalisation of the skies will unlock this potential, give travellers more destinations and carriers to choose from, and generate wider economic benefits for both countries. 

     The current situation, I agree with Mr Cedric Foo, is far from ideal.  But until our ASA with Malaysia is liberalised, both sides would have to make the most of the existing air services arrangement.  Allow me to elaborate on this in the context of the Singapore-KL trunk route, which has been in the media spotlight over the past year, and I think Mr Cedric Foo mentioned just now.

     Currently, SIA and Malaysia Airlines provide the majority of the scheduled services between Singapore and KL.  They jointly operate services on this route under a commercial arrangement which the two airlines negotiated after the leaders of both countries agreed in 1982 to allow the airlines to start a shuttle service between Singapore and KL, with the aim of providing frequent and regular services through coordinated flight schedules.  Under this arrangement, SIA and Malaysia Airlines currently operate a total of 13 frequencies per day, which is more than what is allowed under our ASA with Malaysia.  The ideal scenario would be to give unlimited access to all airlines on the route.  Singapore is prepared to allow other Singapore and Malaysian carriers to operate on the Singapore/KL route, but this can only be done through a change in the current ASA and requires the agreement of Malaysia.  Until this sector is liberalised, the status quo of a shuttle service providing amble and frequent services for consumers is the next best alternative.

    Sir, the strategies that I have outlined will help maintain Changi's position as a leading aviation hub.  Changi's success has significant economic spinoffs that extend beyond the airport.  Not only has Changi's connectivity and extensive network of airlines contributed to Singapore's attractiveness as a business and tourism destination, it has also served as a foundation for our vibrant aerospace industry and other aviation-related businesses.

     As for incentives to spur the growth of aviation-related industry, my Ministry continues to work closely with MTI and EDB to sharpen Singapore's competitiveness in attracting aerospace and aviation-related activities.  This brings me to Mr Wee Siew Kim's query on whether there are plans to introduce incentives for the aviation sector, similar to what we have done in the maritime sector.

     In principle, I agree with him that if there are useful incentives that can bring in more aviation-related services, we should certainly consider them.  However, let me point out a key difference between the aviation and the maritime industries. Unlike the maritime industry, the aviation industry remains heavily regulated by a series of bilateral ASAs between countries, and this makes airlines less mobile.  Consequently, major airlines are almost always national enterprises that operate out of their home bases and are unable to relocate their base of operation overseas even if the fiscal environment overseas is more favourable.

    Hence, our focus is to facilitate the operations of Singapore-based carriers as well as foreign carriers at Changi by

expanding our ASAs and introducing suitable targeted financial incentives for some aspects of the aviation industry where feasible.

5.15 pm

     Another example of the efforts that have been undertaken to grow the aviation-related services is in the area of aircraft leasing.  By enhancing the scheme, we hope to attract more aviation leasing and financing activities in Singapore to tap into Asia's rapidly expanding aviation sector.  

     Sir, the aviation sector is an important pillar of the Singapore economy.  The increasingly competitive and dynamic operating environment presents new challenges and many exciting opportunities.  We have been successful in making Changi a leading aviation hub and establishing a vibrant aviation cluster in Singapore.  We will build on this foundation and spare no effort to sharpen Changi's competitiveness and build an even more vibrant aviation sector.

          The Chairman:  I will allow time for clarifications.  Mdm Cynthia Phua.

     Mdm Cynthia Phua: The Minister spoke on the integration of the bus interchange and the MRT station in Toa Payoh Hub and Ang Mo Kio Hub.  I was involved in the design of the Ang Mo Kio Hub bus interchange.  I support the integration.  But I would like to highlight to the Minister the high cost of having the bus interchange, because of the ground space itself for parking 20 to 30 buses.  Presently, the retail space at the ground floor is about $1,300 per square foot, and we are using it to park the buses.  I would like the Minister to review the design of it and to see whether we could remove the parking spaces for the 20 to 30 buses but allow the buses to come in only to pick up the passengers.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: I think this was something that I was looking through.  You are really suggesting that, instead of having an interchange, we change it to a super bus-stop, that the buses are not there but are actually located outside of the interchange.  One of the problems that you will be faced with is that the bus would then have to travel from where the bus depot is into the super bus-stop.  If you look at the numbers, in order to maintain the same frequency into the super bus-stop like what an interchange would have, the operational cost would go up.  So these were some of the considerations that were taken into account when we were planning the interchange.

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, let me assure the Minister that many of the Members of the GPC for Transport as well as myself acknowledge that Singapore, by any measure, has one of the best transport systems - air, sea or land - today.  But many of the points that we were making were relating to how to maintain this pole position in the years ahead, given the strains and pressures that we all know we will face.

     I am very pleased to hear the Minister talk about the MRT Downtown Line with 33 stations.  I would like to know when it will be implemented. 

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: I thank Mr Cedric Foo.  I am really cheered.  As I said, we need to keep the larger picture in mind when talking about our transport system, whether air, sea or land, in particular, land, that we do have a good transport system.  Of course, there is room for improvement, and this is what we will do. 

     On the Downtown Line, the feasibility studies are still ongoing and we will announce it at the appropriate time.

     Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Chairman, Sir, I think the word "affordable" fares has been mentioned in this House a few times in the Minister's reply as well as by hon. Members' questions.  I would like to ask the Minister for his take on what is "affordable" fare.  Currently, what percentage of the household income is spent on public transport for a Singaporean family without a car?  My next question is whether the Ministry is exploring the use of a flexible lane system, such as those in other cities, as one of the possible options on our expressways.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: On affordability, the Public Transport Council monitors this.  Basically, if you look at our public transport users, they come in the first 60th percentile.  So they take the median of that, ie, between the 20th to 40th percentile, and they monitor that and look at the trends to see how much they are spending on public transport as a percentage of their household income.  And this has basically helped them to effect a slight improvement in the last few years. 

     As for reversible lanes, this is something that LTA will look into.  In order to have reversible lanes, you must have a difference between the peak and off-peak periods in both directions.  Otherwise, you cannot really reverse it, because then there is no improvement.  But this is something that we are studying.

     Mr Ong Kian Min: Sir, I would like to ask a number of clarifications. 

     Firstly, it is about accidents and suicides at MRT stations.  I would like to ask the Minister whether the recent publicity given by the media on some of these cases has encouraged or prompted copycats to use this as a mode of suicide. 

     Secondly, has the Ministry done a study to see why do people choose being run over by the MRT trains as the mode of suicide?  I know it is difficult to ask those who committed suicides.  But what about asking psychiatrists and psychologists as to what is the psychology behind those people who choose this? 

     Thirdly, people who wanted to commit suicide would exhibit some tell-tale signs and behaviour.  For example, the recent case at the MRT station, it was observed that the female person hesitated and loitered on the platform for close to 10 minutes and waited for a number of trains to pass by before she took action.  I was wondering whether our MRT operators could be trained to spot these tell-tale signs and behaviour.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: The Member has really expanded the scope of my remit as the Minister for Transport!  To understand the psychological profile of why someone would commit suicide at the MRT and why the person would choose the MRT is really not quite within my remit. 

     But the precise question that he asked about, whether the media has a role, when they publicise it, would you have copycats, this is something that we were concerned about and we have actually spoken to the media on this.  I think it is to their credit that they have taken note of this and have tried not to publicise it.  In fact, in many countries, eg, in London, there is an implicit understanding with the media that when you have an incident at the Underground, you do not play it up, because then you get more copycats.

     Mr Teo Ser Luck: I am very heartened to know that the Safe Cycling Task Force recommendations are being considered today.  I would like to be very specific about whether they would consider closure of certain roads that are under-utilised, maybe at the community level, on a Sunday morning for leisure and sports cyclists, or just allow cyclists to cycle along on some of those roads and give the ownership to the people sector to be able to manage the space there every Sunday morning for two or three hours.  That would not necessarily have to be an event.  It could be an event, but it may not necessarily have to be.  So I would like to ask the Ministry whether they would consider that request.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: It is all a matter of trade-offs.  So we need to know exactly what particular roads that Mr Teo Ser Luck is mentioning, because traffic, eg, cars, buses, etc, has to flow through that.  If he has some particular roads in mind that he thinks is under-utilised and that can be used for cyclists, why not let us know, and we can study it to see whether indeed it is feasible.

     Mr Liang Eng Hwa: Sir, anecdotally, I think we will be seeing more Malaysian vehicles coming into Singapore.  I know it is too much to ask for data from the Minister now, but maybe he can give us a sense of whether the number of vehicles coming in will pose a problem to us in terms of road congestion and how the Ministry intends to manage this number of vehicles coming in.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Sir, a few years ago, when I was in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, a big concern was we thought that we would not be getting enough Malaysian visitors coming in and how we can facilitate them into Singapore.  But the basic principle that we had was that they should also be subject to the same sort of pricing mechanism, such as our ERP, in Singapore.  In terms of percentage, I do not have the exact figure, but the last time I looked at it, it was not a significant number, in terms of the total vehicle population in Singapore.

     Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Sir, earlier I asked the Minister whether he would be prepared to consider a dedicated radio channel during morning and evening peak hours that does nothing but broadcasts traffic information, and this is for the purpose of allowing motorists to make an informed choice.  He suggested that I turned on the radio. 

     Sir, Traffic Watch takes about 15 minutes to come on.  Even then, the information comes on about two or three expressways.  I am sure the Minister does not expect me to sit in my car for 10 to 15 minutes waiting for Traffic Watch.  I would like to ask the Minister to clarify whether his answer is "no" or is it a "maybe" and it can be considered during the focus group discussion.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: All things can be considered in the focus group discussions.

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, let me ask the Minister a kind of a chicken-and-egg question.  I am very keen to know whether when considering the construction of new roads or MRT lines, eg, the Downtown Line, would he introduce the supply ahead of anticipated demand or he only reacts to the demand?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: As I mentioned earlier in my speech and later on, I took on the point the Member made, that it is important to do advance planning - I think that was the word the Member used - and I agree with him.  And that is what we have been doing, forward planning.  So when you have town developments, commercial and industrial developments, you look at it holistically and you ask what sort of transport infrastructure you need.  So you need to plan ahead. 

     One of the hallmarks of this Government is that we are perpetual worriers, so that whatever we do, we ask, "What is next?"  Always thinking, always anticipating.  Economy can do 7%-8%, you ask, "What about next year?"  Similarly, when it comes to planning, when we have what we have, nobody says, "Well, it is good enough."  We are constantly looking ahead, asking "What is coming in the future?  What sort of transport infrastructure do we need to put in place?"

     Mr Ong Kian Min: I would like to ask about the ez-link card.  What is the amount that the LTA or EZ-Link Pte Ltd will receive from expired ez-link cards, ie, the unutilised balance in expired cards?  Would this amount be taken into consideration in setting the $5 deposit on the issue of these cards?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Mr Chairman, Sir, I fondly remember when I was seated in the House some time back, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said that the Minister is not an encyclopedia.  So I am afraid I am not, and I do not really know what is the amount for the ez-link card that the Member said.  But if the Member would file a Question for Oral Answer, I would answer the question.

     Mr Seah Kian Peng: Mr Chairman, I just want to ask the Minister, for the Circle Line,

I raised this because in my constituency, I have three stations.  The good news is that they will be completed by 2008, which is next year.  For the residents, they will be ready end of next year, which is good, except that they will remain there and for the next two years, they will just be observing.  I sincerely hope that the Minister could find ways to make it possible.

5.30 pm

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Sir, I do not want to go into circles on this. As I have said, we will study this particular matter.

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, this is about public transport information at bus-stops. In a recent REACH session where the GPC for Transport was invited, some of the feedback we received was that there was no point having the information once a commuter is already at the bus-stop, because he cannot do anything at the bus-stop but wait.  Is it possible that such information be transmitted by handphones, SMS messages and other technologies?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: The answer is yes, we already have that review.  SBST team has rolled out this "iris Next Bus" system where you can get it on your mobile phones or the website.

     Mr Ong Kian Min: Mr Chairman, I understand the Minister's explanation on the supply of taxis and demand by commuters.  But the extra fees and charges that are imposed on the basic fare will influence and distort the supply and demand equation. Would the Minister look into and review these fees and extra charges or would it be left to market forces to decide?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Actually, I take a completely different view from the Member.  I think we need these different fees and charges.  If we are talking about taxi surcharges it is because taxi demand varies according to different locations and different times, and it is not the same demand throughout the whole day.  It changes, so if you want to match supply and demand, you have to use a different pricing.  There is no difference from, say, going to a theatre and their advance booking is a particular fee. If you go on the day itself, it will be different.  It is the same concept of differential pricing, that is, to match the supply and demand.  I do not think it distorts the market, it actually facilitates the working of the market due to differential pricing when demand changes across time and place. 

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, on the SMS system about public transport information, as I understand it, it costs the commuters some fees.   I am referring to something which LTA or the PTOs can set up for the benefit of the commuters without fees.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: We have just taken the first step, which is to put it on the bus-stops.  Let them go through this first, and we will see how demand is like for that.

     Dr Lam Pin Min: Sir, I am aware that children below a certain age and height enjoy free rides in MRT. With increased affluence and better nutrition among Singaporeans, children tend to be taller nowadays. In fact, I have received feedback from my residents that some of their two-year-old or three-year-old grandchildren are above one metre and they had to pay the fare to ride on the MRT.  My question is: would the Minister consider raising the upper height limit for children to be entitled to free rides?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: This is somewhat a tall order!  I would suggest that he tells the children to bring along some form of identification.

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, I was very heartened to hear that in this year's Budget, there is a $10 million public transport fund provided to help those who are in need. Can the Minister provide some details on how this fund will be distributed and how can the public commuters apply for it?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: As I mentioned earlier in my speech, this is something that we are working on. If there is a fare increase in October this year, part of the funds will be used to help commuters who are adversely affected by the fare increase to soften it.

          The Chairman: Any more clarifications? Mr Baey.

     Mr Baey Yam Keng: Sir, I heard the Minister saying that we will be launching an electronic planner, but he mentioned that only two bus operators will be involved with this.  What about the MRT?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: We just started this, so we wanted to see how it works. LTA has been working with them to do the bus first.  If it works, then we will extend to the trains.

     Mr Baey Yam Keng: In fact, I was in Estonia in 2000 and they have a very good system for tourists where you can actually check the route from point A to point B with integration of various public transport systems.  If Estonia could do it in 2000, we should be able to do it. It will bring only real benefits to commuters if MRT and bus systems are fully integrated in the system.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: I agree with the Member.  But they have just started and their aim is to do exactly that, ie, to bring in the train operators.

     Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Chairman, the Minister mentioned about differential pricing.  I would like to ask for differential pricing on the ERP. Currently, I am not sure whether we are maximising by using differential pricing to divert traffic. For example, instead of raising the price at CTE, could the LTA consider lowering the price of the alternative routes and encourage the motorists to use the other roads instead?

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: I think the complaint was that it is complicated enough as it is.  ERP is already differential pricing.  If you want to use a particular expressway at a particular time, you pay a price for it. That has already been practised.

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, on air cargo complex, I did ask the Minister earlier whether or not rentals in the Singapore Changi Air Cargo Complex is the highest in the region and, if so, are we not practising competitive pricing, as we do for industrial land.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Mr Cedric Foo would be pleased to know that, if we look at the numbers, between Singapore and, say, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Hong Kong International Airport, we are very competitive.

     Dr Lim Wee Kiak: One of the other frequent complaints that I get from my residents is regarding the feeder service.  It seems that the prices of feeder service have been escalating quite a lot in the last 10 years.  I am not sure whether any steps have been taken to lower the feeder service prices or not.  I am wondering whether LTA or the Ministry has any solutions to that. 

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: If you look at the price, it is a flat rate.  If you talk to the PTOs, they would prefer that the feeder service be distance-based so that they can charge more if the commuters travel longer distances to the MRT stations. Again, with all these things, we have got to balance it off.  We have gone for a flat rate.  I do not think that the rate has gone out of line with the increase of other fares.  It has not escalated, like he has said, but is in line with the rest.

     Mr Ong Kian Min: On taxi service, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would agree that there is a difference between cinema seats and taxis.  For cinema seats, they have to take in patrons based on their show times, so the supply is fixed. Whereas for taxi service, the taxi-drivers can withdraw the supply of taxis at their discretion, which means that just before, let us say, 11.30 at night, you find that there are no taxis available because taxi-drivers would hide somewhere while waiting for the surcharge to kick in before they come out onto the roads.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Let me explain again why I used the cinema example, because the demand for cinema tickets would vary according to different times and different days.  The matinee ticket will cost you cheaper. Why is that the case?  It is differential pricing, and you are trying to price it, so as to balance off the supply and demand. That is the basis for the example.  I think differential pricing is important.  Mr Sim Kee Boon, who was very intimately involved with Changi Airport - I think the success of Changi Airport has got a lot to do with him - was sharing with me that they had a problem at first of not enough taxis at Changi Airport.  They thought of various solutions, such as administrative solutions of why not do this and why not force them there.  Then, someone came up with a bright idea and said, "differential pricing".  Impose a surcharge at Changi Airport and the market solved the problem.

     Mr Ang Mong Seng: Mr Chairman, I think the Ministry has set the KPI of 45 km/h to 65 km/h for the expressways.  I want to ask the Minister whether the target has been met for AYE and CTE.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Yes, we have this KPI.  We set it at 95% of the expressways which must be above 45 km/h to 65 km/h. We have met that target at about 96%-plus.

     Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang): Sir, I know that the trees and things that are along the highways may not come under his Ministry's purview, but I think there have to be regular checks, because sometimes the overgrown trees and branches do block the signs.  I notice that because I travel along the CTE quite often to Woodlands.  Some of the signboards need more maintenance than is currently being carried out.

     Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: An ever-expanding job scope!  This is something that we will take note.

          The Chairman:  Mr Cedric Foo, do you want to withdraw your amendment?

     Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, on behalf of Members who have spoken on this Head, I would like to thank the Minister for Transport and the Minister of State for Transport for their very comprehensive replies and clarifications.  The Minister has taken pains - he has gone to Toa Payoh MRT station; he has gone to Hong Kong; he has gone to Shinjuku; he has squeezed into the Tokyo trains - and he has explained and articulated the policies of transport, going forward.  He would be taking care of the physical, the policy as well as the human aspects of transport on air, sea and land.  I think we are very assured from this discussion and debate and we look forward to listening to the plans and outcomes of the transport review.

   In view of that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

   Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

    The sum of $325,307,990 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

    The sum of $1,858,426,700 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

          The Chairman:  I shall now deal with the remaining heads of expenditure in respect of which no amendment stands on the Order Paper Supplement. In respect of the Main Estimates, they are Heads B, C, D, E, F and G.  I propose to take these heads of expenditure en bloc.

     Question, "That the sums stated for Heads B, C, D, E, F and G which appear in the last column of the Schedule of estimated expenditure under the Main Estimates on page 6 of Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007 stand part of the Main Estimates," put and agreed to.

    The Chairman:  In respect of the Development Estimates, they are Heads B, C, E and F.

     Question, "That the sums stated for Heads B, C, E and F which appear in the last column of the Schedule of estimated expenditure under the Development Estimates on page 7 of Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007 stand part of the Development Estimates," put and agreed to.

    Question, "That the sum of $30,670,064,090 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the Public Services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2007 to 31st March, 2008 (as amended), contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007,"  put and agreed to.

    Question, "That the sum of $13,670,012,800 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the Public Services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year, 1st April, 2007 to 31st March 2008, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007, " put and agreed to.

    Resolutions to be reported.

    Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

     The Second Minister for Finance (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam): Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to certain resolutions.

     First Resolution reported -

     "That the sum of $30,670,064,090 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2007 to 31st March, 2008, as amended, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007."

     Second Resolution reported -

     "That the sum of $13,670,012,800 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 2007 to 31st March, 2008, contained in Paper Cmd. 2 of 2007."

     Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions."

     Question put, and agreed to.

     Resolutions accordingly agreed to.