Committee of Supply – Head L (Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment)

Head L (cont) –

Resumption of Debate on Question [3 March 2026],

"That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Estimates be reduced by $100." – [Ms Poh Li San].

Question again proposed.

The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad.

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The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Mr Chairman, I will speak on our approach to strengthen food resilience.

As a country heavily reliant on imports, we are particularly vulnerable to external shocks and supply chain disruptions. Over the past five years, Singapore's food supply has been repeatedly tested by events beyond our control. During COVID-19, there were concerns that countries' COVID-19 measures would lead to food supply disruptions, such as eggs. In 2022, Malaysia's ban on the export of live chickens disrupted their supply to Singapore. More recently, the disruption in pork supply from Bulan, Indonesia in 2023, due to an African Swine Fever outbreak, further highlighted our vulnerabilities.

Each time, we managed to tide through the disruption with the collective support of our importers, retailers and consumers who switched to alternative options. We must stay prepared for rising geopolitical tensions and trade restrictions which could disrupt our food supply. The latest chain of events in the Middle East only underscores this global climate of uncertainty.

We also need to manage our risks from animal diseases, which add to further pressure on global food supply and global prices. As a long-term risk, we must be able to adapt to climate change, such as extreme and erratic weather which affects crop yields globally.

This is why we need to build options and flexibility to deal with the different types of disruptions – whether they affect single or multiple food items, single sources or entire regions, and whether they last for days or they last for months.

We have learnt many lessons from our "30 by 30" initiative. While it had successfully catalysed local production growth, mainly focusing on one pillar – Grow Local – left us vulnerable to the very disruptions that we sought to address. What have we learnt? A single-pillar approach, no matter how ambitious, cannot provide the food supply resilience that Singapore needs.

This brings us to the Singapore Food Story 2, which Minister Grace Fu announced in November last year. It includes four pillars: Diversify Imports, Grow Local, Stockpile and Global Partnerships. These enable us to tap onto the different combinations to address different types of scenarios and that will strengthen our food resilience.

But first, what does it mean to achieve "food resilience"? Food resilience means ensuring Singapore has reliable access to our basic needs – ensuring that during disruptions, there is still food on the table, food on our shelves and meals remain as familiar to us as possible. It will not always be possible to have everyone's favourite food and brand available, in every disruption. I think we have to accept that. But we will prioritise staples such as rice, proteins and vegetables. And like any insurance policy, we must be strategic about what we protect and how we protect it. This approach allows us to provide food assurance where it matters most, whilst managing our risks responsibly.

The first food pillar is for industry to diversify imports. This means importing our food from multiple sources and building up alternative sources. Doing so reduces the impact when there are disruptions to particular sources, helping us to stabilise our food supply. And also, it makes easier to pivot to alternative sources when needed.

The Government will support the industry by accrediting new sources, for food of higher food safety concern, such as meat and eggs; we will help our local food importers with business matching; and safeguarding supply stability by establishing regionalisation agreements with key sources.

When disease outbreaks happen, we do not shut down supply from entire countries – we get more precise these days. Our regionalisation agreements allow us to continue importing from disease-free areas within affected countries. For example, during Brazil's Avian Influenza outbreak last year, we maintained poultry imports from accredited farms in unaffected regions, rather than restricting imports from the whole of Brazil.

We will continue to facilitate accreditation and explore regionalisation arrangements with suitable sources.

Diversification alone is not enough and has its constraints. For example, importers may need to buy from sources that are not necessarily the cheapest. So, we have to also strengthen the resilience of existing food supply chains by working with like-minded countries and regions. This is where global partnerships, our newest pillar, comes in.

Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked how we assess whether our global partnerships can support diversification. As shared in Parliament last month, partnerships can take various forms, such as facilitating production overseas, in addition to having government-to-government arrangements and agreements.

For such partnerships to be meaningful and sustainable, they must be win-win. And this will look different for various partnerships. As the Member has mentioned, recent examples include the two memoranda agreements on rice trade signed with Vietnam and Thailand last year. These help us ensure a stable rice supply to Singapore and provide an avenue for Singapore to activate additional rice supplies when needed.

The joint study with Brunei on the feasibility of an Agri-Tech Food Zone (ATFZ) in Brunei will explore how both countries can leverage on our respective strengths to enhance agri-food trade and food supply resilience, starting with aquaculture.

When the next disruption hits, we do not want to be scrambling for alternatives. We want to have pre-established channels, we want to have tested protocols and trusted partners who are ready to respond. This transforms crisis management from reactive scrambling to proactive deployment. We will continue to explore mutually beneficial arrangements with like-minded economies to strengthen our food supply resilience.

Chairman, even with our efforts to reduce the likelihood and impact of disruptions, it is still possible that we could face widespread disruptions where food cannot reach our borders for some time. And this is why we will stockpile essential food items, such as rice. It gives us the time and breathing space to restore our food flows and sustain our population.

As shared in this House in November last year, since COVID-19, we have expanded our stockpiles to include frozen protein and canned vegetables to cover all three food groups – carbohydrates, fibre and protein. We will continue to work with the industry to stockpile more effectively.

Moving on to grow local. Grow local remains an important pillar of our food resilience strategy. Stockpiles are finite and imports can be disrupted. Local farms can provide us with a regenerative source of fresh food, that is maintained even during prolonged disruptions. More of our farms are moving towards controlled environments which makes them more climate-resilient and land-efficient.

Ms Poh Li San asked about the lessons learnt from failed local farms and Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked about Singapore's role in alternative proteins. We must first recognise that most of our farming industry is nascent and in an early phase of growth. It will take them time to develop viable technologies and business models. We must also take a practical approach on what we can grow locally in a sustainable manner. It would neither be efficient nor possible to locally produce every food item that we have on our plates today.

Hence, our refreshed local production targets under Singapore Food Story 2, we are focusing on fibre and protein types that are feasible to be produced at scale efficiently in Singapore. These are fresh leafy and fruited vegetables, such as xiao bai cai and tomatoes, beansprouts and mushrooms for fibre; and eggs and seafood for protein. These goals take into account the strengths of our local farming ecosystem and the potential for growth in supply.

We have also got to be realistic about our economics. Our local farms will always face higher land and production costs compared to farms from the region. Unfortunately, that is simply our reality. But the situation is no different from how Singapore differentiates from low-cost alternatives in other industries, such as manufacturing. We have to improve our value-add, bring higher-productivity and cost-efficiency, and with Government's support to invest in capability and capacity development.

But here is what we have also learnt on the demand side: consumers and large buyers, like supermarkets, are willing to pay a reasonable premium for fresher, pesticide-free local produce that comes with guaranteed supply certainty. What this means is that they want consistent supply at scale. So, the key is thus to get our farms to the right scale and cost structure. Take our local egg industry. It has achieved this balance, with local production making up to 30% of local consumption.

Ms Lee Hui Ying and Mr Cai Yinzhou asked how we will support and promote awareness of our local farms. We are helping farms to increase productivity and reap economies of scale, we are helping them to build capabilities, strengthen supply resilience of agri-inputs and enhance demand offtake.

The first tranche of the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund, launched in 2021, has shown that Singapore farms can transform into advanced farming operations that are of higher yield, that are more pest- and disease- resilient, and increasingly climate-resilient too. Since its launch, we have awarded $55 million to nearly 150 projects. The Fund has enabled both agri- and aqua-farms to adopt everything from simple, small-scale technologies, like LED grow lights, automated feeders and automated irrigation systems that reduce manual labour, to large-scale farming systems in climate-controlled environments that guarantee year-round production regardless of the weather.

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Take Singapore Aquaculture Technology (SAT) as a good example of this transformation. Using ACT Fund support, instead of adopting conventional open cage fish farm technologies, they deployed a closed containment aquaculture system (CCAS). What is the outcome? They now operate at three times the productivity of conventional sea-based fish farms and in using CCAS, they face lower risk from environmental hazards, such as algal blooms. CCAS technology is still nascent and requires industry readiness.

Thus, to Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's question, it will take time for the local industry to adopt systems such as CCAS. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will continue to support farms who are keen and ready for this transition.

Another beneficiary of the ACT Fund is Yili Farm who upgraded their cultivation systems to optimise layout, improve crop protection and integrate with their centralised nursery and irrigation system. This enabled faster crop cycles and a 20% increase in productivity. These developments give us confidence to enhance the Fund to support our farms further.

Today, I am announcing a new tranche of funding of $70 million under the ACT Fund 2. This will be made available from April 2026, over five years, and it represents our largest industry scheme to date to support technology adoption and local agriculture capability and capacity building.

At the same time, it will introduce a new funding component – the Industry Partnerships for Capability Transformation Grant. This is in response to feedback from the industry on the need for collaborative approaches to tackle common challenges, such as limited economies of scale and supply chain inefficiencies.

This new scheme will co-fund strategic partnerships between farms and ecosystem players on the development and deployment of industry-wide solutions that can support multiple farms. Examples will include farms and industry players collaborating on integrated delivery systems which streamlines the process from farm-to-market, reducing transportation cost and improving product freshness.

For the aquaculture sector, we will also support both sea-based and land-based farms to adopt newer technologies to improve productivity and consistency of output through demonstration projects. One example is the automated vaccination of fingerlings which can reduce labour intensity. Successfully demonstrated technologies can subsequently be adopted by the industry via the ACT Fund 2.

Beyond technology, quality agri-inputs, such as eggs, fingerlings and feed, are fundamental to success for aquaculture. Today, farms source a majority of their fry and fingerling from overseas sources with less consistent quality and lower survival rates due to the long transport stress.

In November 2024, we introduced the National Broodstock Centre (NBC) and Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme (HDRP) to supply our farms with high quality eggs and fingerlings, with higher survival and grow-out rates. The NBC produces disease-free broodstock that commercial hatcheries then develop into high quality fingerlings under strict biosecurity standards.

For farms, this translates directly into better profitability. These premium fingerlings grow faster, survive better and they convert feed more efficiently. That means that farms reach market quicker with lower feed costs and fewer losses.

We started out with Asian Seabass and have since successfully expanded into Marine Tilapia. Five hatcheries have been recognised under the HDRP and can now access quality seabass eggs and marine tilapia brooder fingerlings from the NBC. This year, we will expand our national breeding programme to include Red Snapper and work towards industry-led efforts to increase the supply of Whiteleg shrimp larvae and grouper fingerlings.

High-quality eggs and fingerlings set the foundation, but health and nutrition inputs determine whether farms achieve optimal growth and disease resistance. SFA's new Integrated Hatchery Support Programme (IHSP) will help local hatcheries adopt specialised feeds and quality vaccines that maximise the growth potential of the high quality fries or fingerlings. And this will be done through demonstration trials to build farm's confidence in investing in better quality input.

Together, the NBC, HDRP and IHSP create a reinforced aquaculture value chain for both sea-based and land-based farms that improve fry quality, increase yields and sharpen competitiveness.

Our offtake programmes have been making progress for the food types that matter most to Singapore's food resilience – and we aim to do better. Central to this effort is the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF), which has become the critical demand aggregation engine that matches our farms' production capacity with local needs.

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked about the effectiveness of SAFEF's demand aggregation efforts. SAFEF has created sustainable brands like "The Straits Fish" and "SG Farmers' Market" now stocked in major supermarkets – FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage and Giant, bringing local produce closer to the community. Public response has been encouraging. For example, the sales for xiao bai cai under the "SG Farmers' Market" brand have increased about sevenfold since its launch in May 2024.

We are expanding the demand aggregation model in 2026 with more product varieties and The Straits Fish marine tilapia ready-to-eat products. SAFEF will also partner more F&B players to integrate SG Farmers' Market® product range in their menus. This effort aims to facilitate farms’ mainstream market penetration by connecting retail demands with a fragmented local farm supply chain. And this is just due to our small agriculture sector. In aggregated offtake programmes, we give farms the sales certainty they need to scale production. At the same time, supermarkets, hotels and caterers are given the confidence in a guaranteed reliable local supply for them to commit shelf space and marketing support.

The effectiveness of our Singapore Food Story also depends on our readiness to respond swiftly to disruptions. SFA is strengthening early warning systems to provide greater lead time for action. Our new risk monitoring dashboard and food supply visibility tool, developed with PSA BDP, provides early warnings of developments that may affect food imports and strengthens Singapore's upstream food supply chain visibility. This tool has already proven its value – it expedited our risk assessments during Brazil's Avian Influenza outbreaks in May last year and the recent conflict in the Middle East.

For aquaculture, we are upgrading our Harmful Algal Bloom Prediction Model to integrate forecasted weather conditions for more accurate environmental predictions. This will alert farms ahead of anticipated events so that they can implement mitigation measures like aeration or emergency harvests to minimise stock losses.

Together, these initiatives strengthen SFA's ability to assess, plan and mitigate supply disruption risks before they impact Singapore's food resilience. I thank Mr Foo Cexiang for his suggestions on our food pillars. Strong supply chain logistics are indeed a critical backbone for resilience. We will continue to work closely with relevant agencies and industry, including to consider your suggestions.

Chairman, building Singapore's food resilience requires all of us to move beyond individual interests and act with collective urgency. The Government will continue doing our part – be it investing in the ACT Fund 2, expanding the NBC, creating offtake programmes with SAFEF and strengthening early warning systems. But we cannot secure our food future alone.

I hope that businesses do more to support our local food production and our overall Singapore Food Story 2 efforts. Diversify your supply sources and commit to local production as a strategic buffer. Supermarkets should expand local produce shelf space, restaurants should join our Farm-to-Table Recognition Programme and food manufacturers should partner with SAFEF to develop local supply chains.

When you choose local suppliers, you are helping to invest in Singapore's food resilience that will protect your business during the next major disruption or major pandemic scenario. For consumers, your choices shape our collective resilience. Choose local produce even if it costs slightly more and be more flexible with our food choices during crises and shortages. That premium we pay for our local produce is our insurance for reliable food supply when things fail.

Chairman, our founding fathers understood that Singapore's survival depends on collective action over individual interests. As our founding Prime Minister often said, we must leave nothing to chance when it comes to Singapore's survival. Today, we apply that same principle to food resilience with the Singapore Food Story 2 – building comprehensive resilience through collective action, because our food future is too important to leave to chance alone.

The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Ms Goh Hanyan): Mr Chairman, climate adaptation can sound distant – something handled somewhere else by someone else. But in truth, it shows up in everyday life through the sudden downpour that disrupts your commute or the heat that lingers in your flat a little too long after sunset. These small but growing inconveniences tell us something important: the environment around us is changing and how we respond will shape how we live.

In simple terms, climate adaptation means getting ready for disruptions we know are coming. How can we help ourselves stay comfortable and stay safe as the climate shifts. For Singapore, this work is becoming more urgent. Yesterday, Minister Grace Fu announced, we are designating 2026 as our Year of Climate Adaptation. A year to increase awareness and bring everyone into the action.

At MSE, this reflects our unified approach to "we first". Everyone has a stake in how Singapore adapts and everyone has a role in making it work. Over the next few minutes, I will share how we are bringing this approach to life along our coasts, across our communities and in our daily action.

First, as a land scarce country, Singapore is vulnerable to rising seas. In simple terms, if we do nothing, each rise in sea level means less land for us.

We are already seeing some effects today. In January this year, spring tides flooded parts of East Coast Park, even without rain. This shows us that coastal flooding is not a distant future problem, it is happening now.

The Government has committed billions through the Coastal and Flood Protection Fund and this is a long-term investment measured in generations. At its core, coastal protection is about safeguarding land while supporting the way people and nature share our coasts. We see this in Singapore, where steel and concrete abut wilderness. I saw it myself when I joined a few nature group volunteers on an intertidal walk. Sea creatures like nudibranchs and sand dollars, right next to Tanah Merah ferry terminal.

We are speaking to communities about coastal protection measures and how they could be designed. This includes residents, businesses, researchers and nature groups, who all interact with our coast differently, yet care about it deeply. I attended one of these sessions at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, discussing coastal protection around mangrove habitats. The conversation was rich of perspectives, discussing trade-offs and exploring how we might combine coastal protection measures with public spaces.

One suggestion that emerged was transforming the Kranji Tidal Gatehouse into a viewing deck. We are listening and we are onboarding these views as we develop our coastal protection measures across Singapore. Because when people help shapes what protects them, protection becomes something shared rather than something imposed.

Second, with extreme weather events happening more often, I am very sure everyone has been caught in unexpected heavy storms. We continue upgrading our drains and infrastructure, but no city can plan and build its way out of every possible storm. For true resilience, we must all be empowered to protect ourselves. As Ms Poh Li San highlighted, businesses can take a step to protect their premises from flooding.

To help them understand what those steps may be, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) worked with industry through an Alliance-for-Action to develop a Flood Resilient Developments Guidebook. The Guidebook will be launched in mid-2026 on PUB's website. It will help business owners assess their flood exposure through a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Flood Risk Matrix and decide what protection measures they need for their properties. The guidance is practical and draws directly from industry experience.

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Beyond what businesses can do, preparedness starts with each one of us. Look out for PUB's "Get Flood-wise in a F.L.A.S.H." campaign or join their outreach events. Learn simple actions to keep yourself and your family safe during heavy rains or floods.

Ms Nadia would be glad that we are bringing preparedness to your doorstep. Our teams are visiting flood-prone areas, distributing portable flood barriers that you can set up quickly. We have already distributed over 16,000 of these barriers and are continuing throughout this year. Join us and act now by subscribing to PUB's flood alerts on Telegram, X or on the MyENV app.

Next, coastal and flood protection are important to keeping Singapore safe and liveable. An engaged community is what truly makes the difference. We are encouraged to see communities across Singapore coming forward, coming together with solutions to protect our environment and promote sustainability.

We are supporting your efforts through the SG Eco Fund. Since 2020, the SG Eco Fund has awarded over $21 million to support close to 500 initiatives, engaging over 700,000 individuals.

I am particularly excited about an SG Eco Fund project tackling indoor heat for seniors, a topic less understood and not talked about enough. HeatAware SG by Sustainable Living Lab puts sensors in homes to help seniors understand temperature build-up and gives timely cooling advice.

One senior who they worked with had never used fans, even on hot days, a habit brought over from kampong days. But imagine, with rising temperatures, this risks heat stroke. With simple monitoring and gentle prompts, seniors are now empowered with the information they need to stay safe when it gets too hot.

Ultimately, to adapt, we must first see clearly. When we understand what is changing around us, we can prepare. That is how societies successfully weather change.

Ms Hany Soh asked about expanding the SG Eco Fund's scope to support more ground-up action. As climate risks grow, we need more focussed action. So, we are aligned on that.

That is why I am announcing the Climate Adaptation Package under the SG Eco Fund. Starting 1 May 2026, we will commit up to $5 million over two years to fund projects, like HeatAware SG, that build awareness and inspire action on climate adaptation topics. These topics, include heat resilience, as Mr Ng Shi Xuan, Mr David Hoe and Ms Valerie Lee highlighted, flood protection, water conservation and supporting local produce. We will open applications all year-round and increase funding for supportable project costs from 80% to 90%.

Climate change can feel overwhelming. But we believe you can make a difference. If you have ideas, take advantage of the SG Eco Fund. We want to hear from you and we are here to support you to turn your ideas into reality. To our young people, your energy and your ideas are exactly what we need to build a resilient Singapore, one that you can inherit with confidence.

Mr Lee Hong Chuang would be heartened to know that we are also committed to empowering our young people in building resilience beyond our shores. The National Youth Council's Singapore-Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) Youth Fund supports youth sustainability projects across Southeast Asia. They can also volunteer in sustainability projects overseas through the Youth Corps Expedition Project.

Finally, climate adaptation is also about daily behaviour – the habits we form, the choices we make and the responsibilities we all carry as individuals.

Let me now say a few words in Mandarin about the Beverage Container Return Scheme and how daily actions can drive sustainability.

(In Mandarin): Singapore is facing severe challenges brought about by climate change. We must seek better solutions to adapt to these changes. MSE hopes to encourage all sectors of society to work together with us to make sustainability a part of our daily lives.

The Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) that Dr Janil Puthucheary mentioned yesterday is a good example. Starting next month, supermarkets, hawker centres, coffee shops and some retail outlets will gradually begin selling bottled and canned beverages that are printed or attached with the scheme's deposit mark.

To help consumers adapt to the scheme, local major supermarkets will uniformly adopt the following practices. The prices displayed on shelves will not include the 10-cent deposit. Supermarkets will clearly inform consumers that they need to pay an additional 10-cent deposit at checkout. Smaller retailers may adopt different pricing methods. We will continue to work with them to ensure that pricing for bottled and canned beverages remain clear and transparent.

After finishing the drinks, consumers can put the marked containers into reverse vending machines to retrieve the 10-cent deposit. SimplyGo EZ-Link cards and concession cards or DBS PayLah! can be used to retrieve the deposit. The new scheme will not only increase the recycling rates of beverage containers but also encourage Singaporeans to develop good recycling habits.

Before launching BCRS, we consulted F&B operators extensively and identified two feasible approaches for recycling containers. The first approach is to pour canned beverages into cups for customers to enjoy or to collect the container after consumers finish their drinks. In such cases, F&B operators will not charge customers the 10-cent deposit.

We will classify this category of operators as "Return Right F&B" merchants. These F&B operators will display notices in their stores to inform customers that they will not be charged a deposit. We understand that operators who choose to collect the containers themselves need to put in more effort to modify their work processes. To assist these operators, we will provide a one-time subsidy of $500 for each "Return Right F&B" outlet. Operators can submit their applications to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The second approach is to charge customers who purchase canned beverages a 10-cent deposit. After finishing their drinks, customers can put the container into any reverse vending machine to retrieve their 10-cent deposit. This model will be more practical for most coffee shop and hawker centre stall owners.

Implementing and perfecting a new policy takes time. During this transition period, we seek the public's support and understanding. At the same time, we also welcome feedback and suggestions for our reference and improvement.

As long as we work together, we can all do our part to protect the environment.

(In English): Mr Chairman, climate adaptation is about preparing early and acting together. From coasts to floods to community action, each effort depends on all of us. This is how nations endure, by adapting together, preparing early and building for generations. The Government will continue investing for the long-term and we invite every Singaporean to be part of this effort. Because that is what "we first" means – a shared responsibility for a shared future. [Applause.]

The Chairman: Ms Poh Li San.

Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang West): Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Minister, Senior Minister of State and also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. I have question for Senior Minister of State Dr Janil. I highlighted the expensive irony of food waste in Singapore and asked for MSE's plans and efforts to reduce food waste, and in his reply, Dr Janil mentioned only the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. I would like to highlight that this Act was a Private Members Bill led by former Member of Parliament Mr Louis Ng, Ms Hany Soh, Mr Edward Chia and myself, together with a large committee of green activists and stakeholders, through five years of consultation and ground-up efforts.

At an average of 128 kilograms of food waste per capita per year, and this is on an increasing trend, Singapore ranks amongst the top 15 countries worldwide with highest food waste per capita. The restaurants and hotels alone are responsible for about 28% of food waste and that is a substantial proportion for a small group. I would like to ask Dr Janil, will there be further plans and efforts by MSE to reduce food waste and will there be more targeted collaboration with the restaurants and hotel sector to reverse the growing trend of food waste?

The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Janil Puthucheary): Sir, the short answer is, yes. We do indeed want to improve our food waste management and encourage all the stakeholders involved to participate. We have, as Ms Poh has highlighted, a number of mechanisms and platforms, as well as legislation in place. We would like to make sure those are fully utilised and continue to work with stakeholders to then study how we can improve the processes.

At the moment, we are focusing, in the news and in the House on other waste streams – plastics and packaging – but indeed, food waste is something that we do need to think very seriously about because of the opportunity that it presents in terms of reducing our wastage, improving our resource recycling and reducing the amount that is diverted towards waste and landfill.

The Chairman: Ms Hany Soh.

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications. The first is in relation to the BCRS. I understand from Senior Minister of State Dr Janil's speech yesterday that the "Return Right" F&B outlets will be given a specific decal to inform consumers about their plans. In this regard, I wish to ask whether the decals have already been distributed to all of these stakeholders and are we looking at implementing it by 1 April as well? And to further avoid any confusion among the patrons in the F&B outlets, can we explore having a centralised compiled list of these vendors and, perhaps, to put it on MyENV app?

The second clarification is in relation to the SG Eco Fund. It is heartening to hear from Minister that $50 million granted since November 2020 has engaged more than 700,000 people on sustainability related efforts. In this aspect, can I check whether we have also been keeping track in terms of the amount of the waste or energy and water resources that we have conserved through rolling out of this initiative through the SG Eco Funds? As I mentioned in my speech, it is important to actually measure to manage the outcomes.

Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, I thank Ms Hany Soh for her questions. The decals are available if the F&B outlets sign up to be part of the "Return Right" F&B scheme. I would not want Members to think that this has to be done by 1 April. Even after 1 April, an F&B outlet can choose to sign up.

But if it has not yet signed up and is not on the list as a "Return Right" F&B outlet, then they have an obligation to charge the 10-cent deposit for the 10-cent deposit to follow the container with the customer. Whoever has the container then has the responsibility to deal with it. So, the decals are available. We will be distributing them to outlets that sign up, either before 1 April or after.

The idea of a centralised list is something we can certainly look at and consider.

The Chairman: The clarifications are getting longer. The guillotine time is 11.30 am. Sorry, yes, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh.

Ms Goh Hanyan: To Ms Hany Soh's question about whether we measure the outcomes of SG Eco Fund. Today, we do not measure the outcomes in terms of the way that the Member has described, in terms of waste reduced or energy saved. However, we do track in terms of the number of applicants that come forward, the profile of the applicants and the quality of the projects that we get. This is mainly because the Eco Fund was started with the objective of empowering and to increase awareness of sustainability objectives. However, over time, as the fund evolves and matures, we could consider.

The Chairman: Mr David Hoe, for your two cuts and seven minutes.

Mr David Hoe (Jurong East-Bukit Batok): Thank you, Chairman. I have two clusters of question. The first is regarding the how of climate adaptation plan, and second is about the Beverage Container Return Scheme.

The Minister mentioned yesterday that heat advisories will be sent out through the myENV app. I think that is really useful because most of us have a smart phone today. Yesterday, what I did was, after Parliament, I went to meet my grassroot leaders, in a room of more than 40 grassroot leaders, and I shared this with my grassroot leaders. Then, I asked, "With a show of hands, how many of us actually have the myENV app?" It was only a handful of grassroot leaders who downloaded this myENV app. So, I would like to ask, whether from MSE's point of view, do we know what is the current number of people who downloaded this app? What is our view to that?

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After that, in my head, I was, "Oh no, for those uncles and aunties 不认英文字怎么办?" So, I started scrolling through the app and I tried to change the language setting to Mandarin —

The Chairman: Mr Hoe, can you get to your clarification? I just asked that everyone be precise.

Mr David Hoe: Okay. My question is whether the app itself has a multilingual feature so that our seniors or those who are not fully competent in English will be able to use this app.

On the second question regarding the Beverage Container Return Scheme, I am supportive of the recycling efforts and the deployment of 1,000 reverse vending machines (RVMs). I would like to clarify whether in areas in Clementi such as Faber Hills Estate, where it is a mixture of landed and densely populated condominiums with no large supermarkets, will there be a deployment of an RVM there? If the answer is not yet, would we consider prioritising condominiums that are densely populated such as The Trilinq and Parc Clematis in Clementi?

Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, if I could address the question on the RVMs first. Certainly, and I would ask Mr Hoe and all Members if there are specific locations that they think would be better served by an RVM, we do have a plan to double the number from the initial deployment and we are looking at feedback to decide where those RVMs should be placed.

We will also be looking at the usage patterns of the first 1,000 to help us understand where we would locate them. But if there are specific locations, we would be more than happy to consider them.

The Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to respond to Member David Hoe's comment on heat advisories.

We have about one million subscribers who have downloaded the myENV app. Obviously, I think that is a lot more that we can do and we should encourage more Singaporeans to download it. The issues that Mr Hoe has mentioned about language accessibility is precisely what we like to hear from you during this engagement over the Year of Climate Adaptation.

Also, I like to put on record my thanks to many Members who have given us very well thought through, considered suggestions on how we should improve the heat resilience of the country. I think that these will be gold nuggets that we could incorporate into our adaptation plan.

The Chairman: Ms Lee Hui Ying, your three cuts in six minutes.

Ms Lee Hui Ying (Nee Soon): Thank you, Mr Chair. I just have two quick clarifications for Senior Minister of State Janil.

First, regarding the pilot that the National Environment Agency (NEA) is going through with the Town Councils on the surveillance camera deployments. Can I get further granular details in terms of the length of this pilot that is ongoing? How long would it be taking? How are these locations being identified for surveillance camera deployment?

Second, on second-hand smoke. I note the additional smoking prohibitions that are in place. I am just wondering whether NEA could consider AI-enabled technology to be used, especially on smoke detection as well.

Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, the nature of the pilot is that we are trying to empower the Town Councils to make some of those decisions about the location and the enforcement action that they would like NEA's assistance to support. It is a pilot to see how well this can work, but the intent is to make sure that, in working in partnership with the Town Councils, we increase the responsiveness to ground feedback and shorten the time cycle, increase the speed of the deployment and the potential enforcement action.

So, we are still studying and certainly we would be happy to work with Ms Lee and everyone else in terms of improving the responsiveness of NEA to the Town Councils' intelligence or sense-making, in order to do this better.

Certainly, AI-enabled technology is already being piloted together with some visual recognition technology for the purposes of detection of offences, such as Ms Lee had described.

The Chairman: Mr Ng Shi Xuan.

Mr Ng Shi Xuan (Sembawang): Thank you, Chairman. Just two quick remarks on my food resilience points.

The first being that I thank Senior Minister of State Zaqy for framing it from global partnerships to trusted partnerships. Will the Ministry consider giving us a report card on how these global partnerships have been different from our diversifying imports strategy besides going into specific details.

Point two is, while I made quite a pitch for plant-based and alternative proteins, I also note that 25% of Asia Pacific's alternative proteins are already based in Singapore. Can the Ministry make a commitment to make sure that our plant-based protein and alternative protein scene will somehow make its way back into the Singapore Food Story in the future, as I note that the National University of Singapore has some successful cases where they have created viable products for us?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for his questions. On alternative proteins, that is still in play. Although today, the market demand is not where one would have thought it would be, so there is a bit of challenge for those who are producing alternative proteins. But the Member is also right, that there are some who have pivoted to providing alternative proteins in other forms. We are still continuing to fund research and development (R&D) costs for a number of these outfits out here in Singapore.

We are seeing companies increasingly adopting, for example, business-to-business (B2B) partnership models rather than going to just market independently their own product. To give some examples, they work with food corporates to allow some of these startups to leverage existing manufacturing, distribution and brand capabilities. For example, they also provide cell-based seafood cultivation platforms like Umami Bioworks. They developed a joint-production agreement with the Japanese seafood producer Maruha Nichiro to develop and commercialise cell-cultivated tuna.

So, it is not that they are not viable or not feasible, just that cost-wise, I think the market is not yet ready for this at full scale. But I think there is certainly potential and we will continue to support.

On the Member's other question, which was on global partnerships, this is at a very nascent stage. As I have shared, we have only started signing some of these agreements last year. So, it is an evolution beyond just what we used to call "grow overseas".

Right now, with partnerships, you have a variety of things that you can do: government-to-government agreements. Some parts of it, like with Brunei, we are exploring how we could look at growing aquaculture, for example, as I mentioned in my speech; and with New Zealand, there are other types of agreements that we put in place. So, I think the global partnerships today allow us to do different things with different like-minded economies that will help us build our food resilience in times of crisis.

But do give us a bit of time because this is fairly nascent and new, but certainly, we will make a report when the time comes.

The Chairman: Mr Foo Cexiang, for your six-minute cut.

Mr Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, I just seek a response from the Ministry on my cut on supporting our pioneer hawkers.

Ms Goh Hanyan: Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Foo for his clarification and I appreciate his engagement with our pioneer hawkers in his constituency, which is an extremely important segment of our culture.

He raised questions and concerns about rental transition when family members take over pioneer hawker stalls. So, when a subsidised stall is transferred to an immediate family member of the first-generation subsidised rent-holder, we have a special provision to allow him or her to pay subsidised rental rate. However, for transfers to other family members and relatives, for example, third-generation relatives, we provide a reasonable timeframe of three years for the rent to be staggered from subsidised rent to market rent.

Mr Foo also raised a second point on allowing Work Permit holders as stall assistance for stalls operating over 10 years and this was somewhat addressed yesterday during Question Time as well. So, we recently expanded the pool to include Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) and LTVP+ holders who are already in Singapore and can contribute to our economy. This move was carefully considered to help ease manpower challenges while also preserving the local identity and heritage, and the complexion of our hawker centre and our hawker culture. We will monitor the impact because this is a very recent move and we will contemplate further moves if necessary.

The Chairman: Ms Nadia Samdin.

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, Chairman. I have three follow-up questions. The first is regarding food resilience and the initial plans for the Lim Chu Kang Agri-District. Could the Minister of State please elaborate on that.

The second, I am very glad to hear of the top-up to the ACT Fund. Does the Ministry track progress and utility of the funds dispersed and are there details of project closures or unsuccessful projects once disbursed?

The last one is on flood resilience. I am glad to hear about the plans to build community resilience. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary please elaborate, beyond the PUB SMS alert service, are there emergency rescue and evacuation drills that the PUB intends to carry out?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Thank you to the Member. Sir, I just want to assure the Member that the Lim Chu Kang masterplan, though I have not mentioned it in my speech, is pretty much still central to our master-planning – just that it is a bit more longer term and we were just focusing on what we are planning to do today. Nonetheless, we are still hard at work on it, with inter-agency planning, to look at how we can better optimise the land use, infrastructure needs as well as environmental considerations of how we can get this done a lot better.

At the same time, it is important that as we do master-planning, it is not just about infrastructure. There are also market aspects that we need to consider, such as market-sensing, technical studies, developing new concepts and ideas. You do not want just to build farms as you see them today, but farms of tomorrow. We are looking at, for example, multi-tenanted facilities that can make better use of shared services to help our farms survive, build more climate resilient facilities. This puts us on the map for new developments in future that we can also consolidate.

Also, I spoke about how we are looking at integrating some of the things like logistics, supply chain management. That, I think helps optimise land use and certainly facilities and shared services for our companies.

So, these are a bit more longer-term. In the meantime, I assure Members that our plans are still in play. For farms that need land, we are still providing our land use tenders, so, those will still continue.

Our ACT Fund, as I have announced, has just been expanded and enhanced. In short, we do track. In fact, as I announced earlier, we have funded about $55 million in the last few years under ACT 1, and that covers about 150 projects across 60 companies. Thus far, the numbers that have folded are very small – I think only about two out of 60, so that is about a 3% failure rate. For the most of it, we are seeing most of these farms providing higher yields, better production levels and producing what we need locally.

I assure Members that we are constantly tracking and doing our best to support our local farms.

Ms Goh Hanyan: Sir, to the Member's question, before that, I should also highlight that apart from the alerts that happen through the myENV app, we have also expanded our reach through new collaborations to ensure flood information reaches Singaporeans through multiple touch points such as, currently, the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) On-Board Units (OBUs) to disseminate flood alerts. This brings the information directly to our citizens.

In terms of emergency evacuation drills, PUB has been partnering with different communities. For example, I attended a session together with one of the Residents' Networks (RNs) and Community Emergency and Engagement (C2E), that they organised to bring together citizens or their residents to understand what kind of plans should they put in place for their unique locales' needs; and from there, to generate and to create their own way of supporting their own neighbours and friends during a flood incident.

We are hoping to go out there and partner with more communities to activate them and to get them thinking about what to do during an emergency.

Finally, I should also add that we have then enhanced our flood monitoring capabilities through water level sensors and closed-circuit televisions so that PUB ourselves can deploy quick response teams as fast as possible in times of flood.

The Chairman: Mr Pritam Singh, even though you filed a very short cut, you have been putting up your hand persistently. You can ask the last clarification.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Much obliged, Chairman. It is a quick one. In my cut, I asked about the metrics NEA uses to determine whether appointed public waste collectors should increase the frequency of collection from the larger recycling bins. I do not believe I heard a reply from Senior Minister of State Janil on that.

In concert with that, there was a trial that was announced in Parliament which NEA was undertaking with a public waste collector to evaluate the setting up of a recycling bin sensor system that would trigger when there is bin overflow. I understand that was delayed arising from COVID-19. I would be obliged if the Senior Minister of State could share what has been the result of that pilot.

Dr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, NEA specifies a minimum collection frequency of three times a week for the smaller blue bins and once a week for the larger-capacity 2,200-litre side-loader recycling bins in HDB estates. We also require our public waste collectors to clear the recyclables from the blue bins on a regular schedule, specifically so that the bins do not overflow and to attend to feedback within 24 hours.

11.30 am

So, those are the metrics that we track.

We would also like to take this opportunity to ask all of us to play our part. If we use the blue bins correctly, do not discard rubbish there, then the likelihood of them overflowing and becoming an eyesore or a problem within our estates would reduce. The need for increased collections for what should be recyclables rather than waste would also reduce, and then the ability to recover the material for usable feedstock for recycling streams would also improve.

Mr Singh also asked a question about AI technology. The issue is to increase the specificity and sensitivity, so that we are not generating too many false positives or false negatives through this, and so that work is in progress.

The Chairman: Ms Poh Li San, could I invite you to withdraw your amendment?

11.31 am

Ms Poh Li San: Mr Chairman, on behalf of all hon Members who have participated in the MSE Committee of Supply, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Minister Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State Zaqy, Senior Minister of State Janil, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh and all Members of MSE, the Public Utilities Board, the National Environment Agency, Singapore Food Agency.

Mr Chairman, I seek leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $2,890,738,400 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $820,076,600 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.