Additional Support Measures in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [26 March 2020],

"That the Ministerial Statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on Additional Support Measures in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic be considered by Parliament." − [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance]

Question again proposed.

10.26 am

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Mr Speaker, Sir, many of my fellow colleagues have spoken in support of the Resilience Budget and the Solidarity Budget announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance. I add my voice to their support.

I believe that all these additional budgetary measures will go a long way to assuring Singaporeans from all walks of life that the Government is doing its utmost best to help Singaporeans cope with the pandemic. In the current situation, many Singaporeans whom I speak to appreciate the difficulties facing Singapore. They urge the Government to persevere in finding a solution for the COVID-19 crisis and gave their assurance that they will work with the Government to break transmission. In simple Chinese, they say " "

I am confident that with the right political leadership and with strong support from our civil service, we will be able to overcome all challenges. I acknowledge that many of the additional measures can only mitigate the financial struggles to hit Singaporeans.

Whatever the Government does, it will not and should not be seen as a measure to put Singaporeans back to the days before the COVID-19 crisis. Nevertheless, I have two areas of concern which I wish to highlight for the Deputy Prime Minister's consideration. Many of my residents are affected and I speak for them.

Under the Jobs Support Scheme, JSS, the Government will co-fund the first $4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to each local employee for nine months. For April, the co-funding is 75% of the employee's monthly wages, up to $4,600. However, IRAS' website says that the wages paid to business owners or employers trading in their personal capacity will not be eligible for the payout.

This means that business owners who are directors and shareholders of the companies will get no help at all. They are not considered as self-employed. They are also not eligible for any financial support for the self-employed. Many of them may be just small businessmen who own a small share in a company or a $1 share. And they are also working as directors in the company. They too have their families to support. They too have mortgage instalments to pay. During this period, if their businesses are badly affected, surely, we can offer some help to these people by co-funding the wages of the working directors.

Next, while I appreciate the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday to enhance the help given to eligible self-employed and to increase the annual value of the properties to $21,000, may I urge the Deputy Prime Minister to review the criteria? Many self-employed persons who have done well in previous years have bought a property of higher value and they may now be reeling under the negative impact of COVID-19. The fact that they have invested in their dream home, which is more expensive, does not mean that they will suffer less due to COVID-19. In fact, they may well be struggling even more to pay more in terms of their mortgage instalements. For some of these self-employed persons (SEPs), this month, April, this month of suspension of activities mean they would have absolutely no income at all. So, for the SEPs who run retail shops, if they are self-employed housing agents, if they run their own tuition agencies, they will earn nothing this month and yet not receive any help under the JSS, just because they live in a more expensive condominium.

So, I urge the Government to allow appeals on a case-by-case basis and to render assistance to this group of people during this difficult time. Sir, I support the Supplementary Budget measures.

10.30 am

Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that with more than 200 countries affected, probably close to four billion people now on lockdown, the COVID-19 crisis is possibly the worst catastrophe the world has faced since the Second World War.

Besides tackling the medical crisis, governments around the world are rolling out emergency stimulus and support packages to keep their economies afloat. These packages range from less than 1% of their GDPs to as high as 32%, for example, in the case of Germany.

At 12% of our GDP and close to $60 billion, our Supplementary Budgets – the Resilience and now the Solidarity Budgets – lies probably in the middle ground. Still, it is by any measure an enormous package and quite unprecedented for us.

On one hand, this massive injection of funds helps to boost confidence and goes some way in tackling the current and near-term economic challenges. And as we enter today into the first day of this circuit breaker measure, our fight against COVID-19 here in Singapore enters a critical phase.

It is reassuring to hear from Deputy Prime Minister Heng that the Government is able to and prepared to do even more in the future should the crisis drag on, as seen in the further measures just announced under the Solidarity Budget.

However, on the other hand, we all know that our reserves are not unlimited and some had urged caution about dipping too deep into our national savings, although virtually all the people I have spoken to or I have interacted with over the past weeks have expressed appreciation for the various assistance schemes. The worry is that no one knows how long this crisis will last and that we might need more funds further down the road.

In the meantime, we must, of course, all do our part to minimise further spread of the disease and continue contributing to our community and economy in a socially responsible manner.

For many of us, one of our biggest monthly expenditures is mortgage repayments on our homes and MAS has announced that homeowners may apply to defer repayments for their residential property loans until the end of the year. This is of course good news to owners under financial pressure due to the impact from COVID-19. They can choose to defer just the principal amount or both the principal and interest payments. No interest will be charged on the deferred interest payments. However, they must take note that interest will continue to accrue on the deferred principal amounts. I understand that it may be difficult for the banks and finance companies to consider waiving interest on the principal amounts. Nonetheless, I hope MAS and the Government will consider persuading them to implement a reduced interest rate over this deferment period on those deferred amounts, or at least not to charge interest on the deferred principal amounts. This is probably in line with the fact that lending rates across the board are slowly reducing over the next few months.

This special deferment arrangement also, to my knowledge, does not currently extend to individuals with commercial or industrial property loans. While owners are encouraged to discuss debt restructuring with their lenders, some guidelines for relief measures for this group would be helpful; and this way, the owners may, in turn, be able to extend arrangements for relief to their beleaguered tenants as well.

Next, I would also like to appeal for a little bit more assistance under the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme. I know that some new measures have just been announced under the Solidarity Budget. But I would like consideration, perhaps, to be made for further help for SEPs who have more dependants. Of course, currently, we now know that under this scheme, SEPs will receive $1,000 a month for a total of nine months. Would MOM consider taking into account the number of dependants supported by the SEPs? SEPs supporting young children, elderly or disabled family members would probably require additional financial assistance during this difficult time. For SEPs who are also not auto-enrolled in the SIRS, I hope that the application and appeals process will be as expedient and as inclusive as possible.

Next, I would like to also bring up the special plight of private hire drivers. In the early days of the COVID crisis, there had been some calls in some quarters for those who had seen reduced employment, or been furloughed, to consider supplementing their income with private hire driving. With this recent drastic reductions in social interaction and travel, many private hire drivers, along with regular taxi drivers, are facing severe constraints on their daily income. Whilst taxi companies have announced rental rebates and waivers for their drivers, many private hire drivers are still bound to their rental agreements, and some who have taken private leases on their vehicles are also finding it difficult to service these loans. I think for the latter, the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill, which was just introduced, should address some of these concerns. But I hope that he relevant agencies can work together to address these areas of urgent concern.

As to my final area of worry, with the anticipated reductions in disposable incomes, I would also like to ask if more help can be extended to lessen out-of-pocket expenses for essential medical services.

Despite very generous Government subsidies, many Singaporeans still need to pay a portion of their medical expenses. During this trying period, more families’ finances will be stretched. Hence, could I ask whether the Government would consider a temporary, extended liberalisation of MediSave for both outpatient and inpatient essential medical treatments, and also for ILTC expenses? Now, this would not entail any immediate further expenditures for the Government. MediSave has also been looked upon as every citizen’s individual reserves for medical care, and surely the current economic climate provides a mandate to dip into this personal cash reserve for necessary medical use?

Next, for the Medication Assistance Fund – both the MAF and MAF Plus – would the Government or MOH consider increasing the level of subsidy for more costly medications, up from the current band of between 50% and 85%? While these subsidies are generous, again, due to the high costs of certain drugs, the balance costs borne by patients and their families can still be fairly significant.

I would also like to seek clarifications regarding MediShield Life premiums. Insurance policyholders can now apply to defer premium payments for up to six months while maintaining insurance coverage. May I assume that MediShield Life and integrated plan policies could be included as well?

In addition, would MOM consider allowing SEPs to defer their MediSave instalment payments during the current climate of economic difficulties?

Last but not least, I hope that the eligibility criteria for MediFund will be loosened temporarily during this contagion period to assist patients who may not qualify during more regular periods.

Finally, I would like to end by again thanking the Deputy Prime Minister, all the Ministers, civil servants, frontline workers for all their commitment and the hard work during this especially trying time for the nation. All of us are behind you and thank you for your hard work.

Regarding our battle against SARS in the early 2000s, I recall a quote from the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew who said that: "We were united as one people", this was during SARS, "to protect the health and safety of everyone. The experience bonded us as one people regardless of race, language and religion". This COVID-19 crisis, terrible as it is, offers us another chance to emerge stronger as one nation and one people, and stronger we will be. SGUnited, SG Together. And I would like to conclude with my support for this Budget.

10.38 am

Assoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, we are facing a rapidly evolving crisis. No one alive has seen a global pandemic of this scale, and none can accurately predict how the global economy will look like after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why the Government is taking extraordinary steps in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets to inject some certainty, some confidence into the economy and our society.

Singapore is very fortunate that the prudence and hard work of our forefathers and past governments have left us with public reserves to help us through the current phase of the crisis. This illustrates how important it is for a country to maintain healthy financial reserves and a strong economy. The reserves also allow the Government to act quickly and decisively to support the people and the economy, which may not be achievable otherwise.

However, none can predict how long the crisis is going to last or how much of our reserves we will deplete. Singaporeans cannot tide through this crisis by relying on our public reserves alone.

Sir, the true strength of Singapore is not just in our reserves or in the strong balance sheet of the Government. The strength of Singapore must lie in the willingness of our people to make the necessary sacrifices to protect the weakest among us from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the Singapore economy. Minister Desmond Lee noted last week that 60,000 Singaporeans have applied for the Temporary Relief Fund. Globally, unemployment claims have risen at rates far exceeding those during the Global Financial Crisis. Initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending 28 March 2020 were over 6.6 million – an increase of about 30 times over the average rate the year before. The jobless data, moreover, do not account for reduced hours, cut allowances, reductions in commissions and no business for the self-employed.

So, there are many Singaporeans in immediate need, and many more to come. The Solidarity Budget’s cash payment of $600 to all adult Singaporeans will make a significant difference, as will the Temporary Relief Fund, and other financial support measures. But because many measures are means tested to avoid waste, there is a real risk that Singaporeans will fall through the gaps. The rapidly evolving effects of the pandemic also mean that our schemes, carefully designed as they are, may be one step behind the needs of the public.

That is why we must now consider shifting our approach from means testing and gatekeeping public support, to ensuring that all Singaporeans, on a universal basis, have some basic income necessary to provide for their families in the months ahead.

Mr Speaker, I want to call on the public and the Government to consider implementing a temporary Universal Basic Income Scheme that provides weekly cash payouts to all Singaporeans for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. But more than that, I want to call on the public to make a sacrifice to finance this scheme through a temporary increase in personal income taxes. If we truly believe that we are only as strong as the weakest member of our society, we must be prepared to pay the price necessary to protect that fellow Singaporean.

I have worked together with Dr Ong Qiyan from the Social Service Research Centre at the National University of Singapore, to produce a concrete proposal on this Universal Basic Income Scheme. We call this scheme the Majulah Universal Basic Income Scheme, or MUBI, for reasons that I will explain shortly.

The MUBI Scheme’s key objective is to give all Singaporean households the certainty that they will be able to pay for basic necessities during these uncertain times. MUBI achieves this by giving all Singaporeans weekly cash payments without means testing, calibrated at the amount necessary to cover an average households’ cash expenditure on food, utilities, and telecommunications. Our initial proposal is to pay $110 per week to all Singaporeans for a period of 12 weeks, starting immediately if possible, through existing electronic payment channels for Government's cash transfers to Singaporeans’ bank accounts. This will cost $4.62 billion dollars. The payout period can be extended at additional cost if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely disrupt the economy past these 12 weeks.

But to ensure that the most help goes to those most in need, the payouts can be recorded as personal income, which will be taxable in the Year of Assessment 2021. Hence, the scheme’s net benefit to each Singaporean will eventually depend on the recipient’s taxable income in 2020 and their tax rate.

So, the key feature of MUBI is that all Singaporeans will receive payouts for daily living expenses immediately. But the taxes to finance those payouts will only be paid next year, according to the usual schedule for tax payment.

We have calculated that MUBI requires a temporary personal income tax increase of 4.25%. Even after the tax, the bottom half of taxpayers will benefit. The MUBI payment will be larger than their expected increase in taxes next year. The median taxpayer will also benefit on net if they have Singapore citizen dependants, as the full MUBI payout will be given to children and seniors, who are generally not taxed. Taxpayers who suffer a sharp drop in income due to COVID-19 will benefit because their taxes could drop below what they receive in MUBI payouts. For solidarity, high-income taxpayers will be asked to contribute to financing MUBI, unless they suffer a significant income loss due to COVID-19 or have many dependants. In that case, then the tax structure ensures they will not pay much.

We call this the Majulah Universal Basic Income scheme for descriptive and symbolic reasons. In essence, MUBI will advance income from the future, when the economy and jobs are expected to recover, to the present, when it is needed the most.

But MUBI will also be a symbol of how Singapore comes together to ensure that those hit hardest by the crisis are provided with vital benefits in this time of need. Through the tax system, more fortunate Singaporeans, who retain their earning capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, will help less fortunate Singaporeans who suffer reductions in earnings.

Mr Speaker, a universal benefits scheme without means testing will address the critical needs of Singaporeans today. Incomes and jobs will be volatile over the next few months. A family that is financially secure today may not be so next month.

Means testing, moreover, is often based on lagging indicators. It may be based on income tax records, housing annual value and it may not reflect present finances. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are unpredictable, so it will be difficult to identify today which sectors, which jobs, will be affected the most, even though we know many people in aviation, tourism, retail and F&B, have already been hard hit.

The universal approach will provide some assurance to everyone that there would be some income regardless of their circumstances. This approach is also equitable because many of our affected sectors have already made sacrifices to ensure the safety of other Singaporeans during this crisis.

The certainty of having weekly payments to help put food on the table also means that Singaporeans will never feel pressured to choose between feeding their families and protecting public health. This will help Singaporeans follow public health advice, especially if that advice may hurt their livelihoods. For example, some Singaporeans provide essential home-based personal services such as home repairs and air-conditioning servicing. Not all will be confident they can protect their health and that of their customers. MUBI will allow such Singaporeans and many others like them, to decide, based on the risks at the time, to reduce or halt their services, instead of getting more business just to feed their family.

Mr Speaker, there are also administrative benefits from implementing an automatic, universal payment scheme, instead of a means-tested scheme. We need to preserve the time of policymakers and social service agencies to assist Singaporeans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in other ways.

When social workers have to navigate through different assistance schemes to find what is the eligible set of aids for each client, this takes up time and energy which could be better used for counselling and supporting clients. Our social workers also need time to respond to emerging issues. Social isolation measures in many countries have triggered an increase in family conflicts and violence, which may well occur in Singapore during this circuit breaker period. Other social problems that may worsen include the social isolation of elderly Singaporeans and care-giver stress syndrome, as many daycare, support and respite services have shut down. These issues require not only timely interventions, but a social service sector with the bandwidth to proactively identify potential problems and implement prophylactic measures.

More importantly, policy-maker attention and time is a scarce resource. The potential flashpoints caused by the rapid development of the pandemic and measures other countries take to control it, require extensive coordination, leadership and creative thinking to develop the optimal response. MUBI saves policy-makers' time and bandwidth as it requires less inter-agency coordination and limits fine tuning of the policy to one dimension – the payment amount.

Mr Speaker, we faced two key design questions: how much should MUBI pay out and how should MUBI be financed?

We focused MUBI on the daily living expenses that receive less support from existing Government schemes, namely food, utilities and telecommunications. While food is an obvious necessity, utilities will also cost more now that people spend longer hours at home. Telecommunications is also necessary, as work and learning must now take place online. Telecommunications also helps people to stay in touch with family and Government agencies; and provides basic home entertainment, which helps keep people at home.

We did not include housing and medical expenses as these are already supported by other Government schemes. We did include utilities despite U-SAVE support because the costs could rise sharply if people work more from home.

Mr Speaker, we computed the daily living expenses based on the most recent Household Expenditure Survey data. We looked at four expenditure categories: one, food and non-alcoholic beverages; two, hawker centres, food courts, coffee shops, canteens, kiosks and street vendors; three, utilities and other fuels; and four, telecommunication services.

Based on the data, a MUBI payout of $110 per week, per citizen, is sufficient to cover basic living expenses in these categories of at least 60% of all households. The actual average per-capita expenditure is $105 per week and two-thirds of this is on food. To ensure that we covered vulnerable groups such as the elderly, we also referred to the 2019 Minimum Income Standards study led by Dr Ng Kok Hoe of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Their estimated costs in these categories for elderly households were similar to ours. So, we believe that payouts of $110 per week, per person, will cover the most vulnerable Singaporeans.

Mr Speaker, we can finance the proposed benefits by asking Singaporeans to accept a temporary tax of 4.25% on personal chargeable income above $20,000. Based on Year of Assessment 2018 tax data, the MUBI temporary tax increment will raise $4.467 billion, which is just short of projected MUBI scheme costs of $4.62 billion. But the Government will also have to absorb the risk that tax collections next year will be much lower than expected, if the recovery is slow and prolonged.

Sir, I know that asking Singaporeans to pay more taxes in the middle of a crisis may seem insensitive. But I am asking those who are fortunate enough to retain their incomes, to pay more the next year, to support those who cannot survive today. You will only pay for MUBI, on a net basis, if you kept a high income throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Speaker, let me outline how MUBI would in practice help Singaporean households. First, MUBI is progressive and it helps lower income taxpayers more. For example, let us look at a lower income taxpayer, who earns about $30,000 a year. They will receive $1,320 in MUBI payouts this year and they will owe about $200 more in taxes the next year. So, they keep about $1,120 of the MUBI payout once all taxes are paid.

For the median taxpayer, who earns about $58,000 a year, the MUBI benefit is just $100 more than the temporary tax increase. For the median taxpayer, MUBI really just helps to bring their income forward to cover any short-term problems due to COVID-19. But, if they have dependents, it will help even more. I will explain shortly. A high-income taxpayer will pay more in taxes than they receive in MUBI benefits. If you earn about $110,000 a year, you will help pay for one and a half other Singaporeans to receive their MUBI benefit.

Second, MUBI helps support households with dependents better. Nearly half of Singaporeans, such as our children, elderly and homemakers, pay no income tax. But they would receive MUBI payouts. This means that a median income taxpayer with two dependents would get a total MUBI payout of nearly $4,000 this year, but only pay about $1,200 in tax the next year on this.

Third, MUBI gives automatic insurance against unexpected drops in personal income. A taxpayer keeps more and more of the benefits, the more their income is hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. The median taxpayer with two dependents keeps 95% of the payouts if they were to lose half of their income during the year.

Mr Speaker, the MUBI scheme is a fundamental shift that we propose from the standard means-tested welfare system used today in Singapore and in many other countries. While means testing can help target social protection benefits to those who need it the most, means testing can be complex, administratively costly, and it may deter recipients from seeking and receiving the necessary help.

The severe economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis will stretch social safety nets throughout the world to the breaking point. Our means testing systems will be an expensive distraction for social services agencies and policy-makers at a time when the very structure of our economy and society is under threat. Means testing also runs the risk of letting Singaporeans fall through the gaps, or asking Singaporeans to make impossible choices between protecting public health and earning a living.

The MUBI scheme therefore makes cash payments on universal basis to cover basic daily living expenses, because we cannot predict which Singaporean will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic next and to what extent. We must be prepared to extend help to all Singaporeans and we must give that help before our fellow Singaporeans even realise that they need the help.

The MUBI scheme is also financed on the principle of solidarity, because all Singaporeans must face the COVID-19 pandemic together. Therefore, all Singaporean taxpayers are asked to contribute towards financing the scheme. Some will give more, but all will give some.

Mr Speaker, I know the Government has rolled out a comprehensive set of measures in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets that will help Singaporeans make ends meet. I fully support those measures and the hard work that went intof them. But we can innovate. If the damage caused by COVID-19 persists we must do more. In this spirit, we propose the MUBI scheme. Majulah Singapura!

10.55 am

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to start by thanking Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and his team at MOF for working relentlessly and tirelessly on successive packages in response to the rapidly escalating COVID-19 pandemic. From the Unity, to Resilience, to Solidarity Budgets, it is clear that the Government is listening hard and responding with great competence, boldness and heart.

The resources needed to fight this escalating crisis seem unending. More than 3.9 billion people or half the world's population have been asked to remain in their homes to combat COVID-19. After battling the virus for over two months, with successive restrictions, Singapore too, joined those confined to their homes, in an effort to slow the worrying growth rate of unlinked local cases.

Whilst I fully support these enhanced new measures, designed to be circuit breaker to arrest the escalating infections, such restrictions will incur significant economic costs in addition to imposing a severely constrained way of living on everyone. The Solidarity Budget proposes that another $5.1 billion be spent to save jobs, support businesses and families during these extraordinary four weeks, with $4 billion of that coming from our Reserves.

No one is sure how widely the COVID-19 pandemic will spread and when it will peak. Containment may take longer than currently projected and no country has seen a clear path to recovery. Even China, which has seen its reported infections dwindle, has urged their citizens to avoid non-essential outings and has continued to discourage foreigners from entering, in order to prevent a resurgence of infections. Without widespread availability of a viable vaccine, the removal of restrictions on economic activity is likely to be painfully slow. The longer the duration of lock-down, the more complicated the resumption of economic activity will be.

I would like to ask Deputy Prime Minister what he plans to do if our efforts to contain COVID-19 is not successful and circuit breaker measures need to be extended or even tightened? Would he extend a similar set of support measures?

It is at times like this when we feel grateful of the privileged financial position Singapore is in, endowed as it is with the wherewithal to weather this storm. Our reserves have enabled Deputy Prime Minister to act decisively when the nation faces such extraordinary circumstances.

The lion share of Resilience and Solidarity Budgets will go towards the Job Support Scheme in order to save jobs and protect people's livelihoods. I am pleased that the Government chose to bear the full costs of savings jobs with wage support, instead of cutting CPF. After the previous CPF rate cut in 2003, it took eight years for the employer contribution rate to be restored to 16%. I hope we can continue to safeguard CPF for our workers in this crisis.

Despite the strong efforts on Job Support Scheme, less than half of the Singaporeans polled by The Straits Times believe that the measures would be enough to rescue jobs. In the US, the COVID-19 "freeze" is expected to cost 47 million jobs and send the unemployment rate past 32%, according to St Louis Fed projections. With such grave outcomes being predicted in other parts of the world, I would like to ask Deputy Prime Minister about his outlook on Singapore's unemployment – both the base case as well as worst case scenarios? Even as we work relentlessly to mitigate the scale of retrenchment and rise in unemployment, I would like to ask Deputy Prime Minister whether he has in mind a limit to which the reserves should be tapped?

There is no historical precedent of the type of economic dislocations that we are experiencing. More are drawing parallels with the trauma wrought by World War II or the Great Depression. I would like to ask Deputy Prime Minister for his view on the nature of this crisis – how different it is from past crises and the challenges that he believes Singaporeans and the enterprises will need to face.

Mr Speaker, Sir, many of the support schemes in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets are broad-based to provide for cash flow during this time of crisis. I note that some countries, such as Australia, eligibility for wage support only kicks in if business turnover drops by 30% due to the pandemic – so there is an eligibility criteria. And for larger companies with turnover of more than A$1 billion, their drop in turnover must be at least 50% before they are eligible.

Whilst I agree with the broad-based approach Singapore is taking, it is incumbent on companies who enjoy disproportionately greater benefits to “do the right thing”, and share these benefits with their business partners, employees and the wider eco-system, in the spirit of solidarity.

Sir, let me share one example. Food delivery platforms such as Grab and Deliveroo typically charge 30%-35% in commission fees. This means food outlets need to pay an exorbitant one-third of customer receipts, in fees to delivery platforms, as commissions for delivery. Judging by the compensation that delivery platforms pay their riders and charges they impose on consumers for delivery, I think this seems excessive.

Owners of food outlets have told me that the high commissions are barely tolerable during "peacetime". However, with the onset of COVID-19, deliveries have now become the dominant portion of their business – indeed, the only mode of business from today, for at least a month. Under these circumstances, payment of such commissions renders the sustainability of food establishments untenable.

Some relief is provided by the recently launched Enterprise Singapore’s package to support F&B players by funding 5% of the commission cost. I urge, and I really urge, GrabFood, Food Panda and Deliveroo to do their part – review their commission model and foster more equitable sharing of costs and benefits with food outlets owners, riders and consumers.

I believe it is in the delivery companies’ interests to adjust their commission rates, so that food outlets may have a fighting chance to survive. As for delivery riders who "brave" the deliveries to ferry our favourites to us at home, we as consumers can also play our part by giving them a little extra. Should those of us who can afford it not consider tipping our delivery riders 5%-10% of food receipts as a discretionary "service fee"? We can all do our part to keep Singapore’s treasured, unique and colourful food culture alive.

In the coming days, more relationships between parties will need to evolve and creative new models that benefit all stakeholders must emerge. I hope such solutions will be developed by businesses themselves, without depending on the heavy hand of the Government or the law. It is regrettable that we have to enact new laws to compel landlords to pass on property tax rebates to tenants.

Sir, I commend the coordinated efforts of MAS and the financial industry to roll out probably the biggest restructuring of household and corporate debt in Singapore’s history, providing individuals and businesses relief in cash flows. The relief package offered by banks and insurers, to defer repayment of loans as well as insurance premiums until the end of the year, will be a lifeline for many impacted. It will also help financial institutions reduce risks of delinquencies and bankruptcies, by sharing the burden of debt with individuals and SMEs.

However, I was surprised to hear from Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat during a Parliamentary Question yesterday, that the SME Working Capital Loan Programme has so far helped only 662 enterprises and the Temporary Bridging Loan interest rate is as much as 5% despite the Government’s risk-sharing at 80%. This contrasts poorly with Switzerland’s crisis loan scheme to SMEs, where over 76,000 small businesses availed themselves of more than SFr 15 billion in the first week of launch, at zero interest.

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for announcing risk share to 90% and that banks and finance companies may also apply for low-cost funding through a new MAS Singapore Dollar facility. With these strong Government interventions, I would like to ask if MAS can prescribed a much lower interest rate chargeable such that there is more take up, and boost SMEs chances of surviving this storm and ease their recovery with less debt burden.

Finally, Sir, the impact of coronavirus hits everyone. Many of our PRs are part of Singaporean families and have contributed socially and economically. They are hurting too. In solidarity, could the Deputy Prime Minister consider giving them some help, even if not the full $600, means tested on a case by case basis, and applicants can be asked to show that they are part of Singaporean families. Also there are many Long-Term Visit Pass holders who are spouses of Singaporeans. Many of these families are not well-off. They would certainly appreciate this, even if it is just a fraction of $600.

Mr Speaker, Sir, it is clear that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for quite a while. The Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets provide comprehensive measures for individuals and companies to build capabilities for the eventual recovery at all levels. Despite our best efforts, some companies and jobs will disappear, but new ones will emerge. Those who stay resilient in the face of hardship and adversity will be rewarded, when a new dawn breaks.

As we face the mighty storm together, for days, months or even years, our shared sense of identity and solidarity will be our greatest strength. Every generation of Singaporeans has been defined by its own crisis; each has come through stronger and more united than before – this challenge is ours to face down, as one united people. Together, I am confident Singapore will prevail. Sir, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Minister Grace Fu.

11.08 am

The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Mr Speaker, the livelihoods of many Singaporeans in the arts, culture and sports sectors have been badly affected by COVID-19. Arts and sporting events, and CCAs, were cancelled or postponed even before the new circuit breaker measures that take effect today, 7 April. To deal with this unprecedented crisis, the government has introduced additional measures to protect livelihoods, help businesses overcome immediate challenges and strengthen economic and social resilience. Fifty-five million dollars has been set aside for an Arts and Culture Resilience Package (ACRP) as part of the Resilience Budget. We will: (a) protect livelihoods and careers in the arts, culture and sports eco-systems; (b) invest in capabilities that will position ourselves well for the post-COVID recovery; and (c) digitalise these sectors to create new markets, provide new job opportunities and ensure that Singaporeans can continue to benefit from the arts, culture and sports.

We must first protect the livelihoods of our arts, culture and sports practitioners. They have been badly affected. Individual professionals, such as freelancers, may tap on broad-based relief schemes like the Temporary Relief Fund and SEP Income Relief Scheme or SIRS, and defer their income tax payments and mortgage instalments. Depending on individual circumstances, an eligible arts or sports freelancer may potentially receive $12,000 from May to October 2020 from SIRS and the Enhanced Workfare Special Payment among the broad-based measures in the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets, even before factoring other schemes.

For companies, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the Government will co-fund 25% of the wages of every local employee under the enhanced Jobs Support Scheme or JSS, which will last till end 2020, and 75% for the month of April, in view of the heightened measures. This will support all eligible companies and employees in the arts and culture and sports sectors. MCCY will announce additional support for major companies, as well as leading arts and culture groups, shortly at a later date.

To help companies and businesses further defray costs, all eligible tenants in MCCY-owned properties – be they in the arts and culture, youth, or sports – will benefit from the two months of rental waiver announced by the Deputy Prime Minister. This will benefit more than 300 tenants. These measures will provide some immediate relief for our arts and culture companies and allow them to use this period – when they are working from home – to plan for the future with greater assurance and certainty.

To further support employment in the sports sector, as part of the SGUnited Jobs Initiative, we have identified more than 500 temporary job opportunities for various roles in the sports sector to support our national sports associations (NSAs), sports centres, academy and clubs as well as to support digital and exercise-science related capabilities. While many of these jobs will not be available while circuit breaker measures are in place, we are preparing them now so that we can start hiring as soon as these measures are relaxed.

Beyond relief support, we will invest in retaining and upskilling the arts, culture and sports professionals. We want to protect and sustain the breadth and depth of skillsets and talents in the eco-systems as much as possible. Practitioners in these sectors will already benefit from the $500 to $1,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up, and the SEP Training Support Scheme. I encourage our practitioners to hone their professional skills, and explore new complementary skills through the many online courses that are available from home.

For the sports sector, we have been working with partners to build up the range of Continuing Coach Education or CCE courses to upskill our coaches and instructors. When the situation allows, coaches and instructors can avail themselves of more than 3,000 training opportunities by end-2020. This is in addition to the more than 2,000 ActiveSG SkillsFuture training opportunities currently available to coaches and instructors. These courses are either free or well covered by training grants from SkillsFuture. We will progressively make more training programmes available to individuals in the sports sector. We will also set aside $100,000 for the Coach Development Grant, up from $30,000 in previous years, to cover coaches’ registration and course fees when they sign up for CCE courses.

Arts and culture freelancers, as well as those in the wider creative sector who provide important complementary expertise such as sound and lighting professionals, hold essential capabilities for our arts and culture eco-system. The Arts Resource Hub or ARH under the National Arts Council or NAC, has been set up to promote employability and sustainability of freelancers’ careers by providing resources and services. The ARH has been engaging and surveying a wide range of cultural and creative freelancers over the past months to better understand their profiles and the impact of COVID-19 on them. It helps us refine our range of shared resources and services, and provide reliable and relevant information to help them tide over this difficult period. Freelancers who have experienced contract cancellations can also seek advice from the ARH.

I strongly encourage all cultural and creative freelancers to sign up online with the ARH, at no cost, to enjoy the convenience of a centralised point-of-contact.

This is the time for companies to invest in their employees. The Enhanced Training Support scheme announced by the Deputy Prime Minister provides absentee payroll to employers who send their employees for training in SkillsFuture courses and is open to companies in the arts, culture and sports sectors. In addition, arts and culture organisations can apply for further support under the expanded Capability Development Scheme for the Arts or CDSA administered by NAC, to send their employees for professional-led training courses, beyond those endorsed by SkillsFuture. In the coming months, NAC will list more online courses which are eligible for CDSA support. We have enhanced the CDSA so that Major Companies can now receive up to $20,000 for training, while other arts groups can receive up to $6,000. Up to 200 companies will benefit from this.

In addition to organisations and their employees, we will also support the training of up to 6,000 freelancers through the CDSA. These freelancers can apply for the CDSA to participate in a variety of courses, including local and international online courses. These include masterclasses in graphic communication skills in outreach with digital media, courses in creative writing, music production and studio recording. NAC will invite suggestions on training programmes and welcome courses by our own major arts companies and established professionals who are keen to offer their skills and experience in their areas of expertise. Our freelancers can receive up to $1,000 for their training, which can cover both course fee subsidies and a training allowance of $10 per hour. Just like companies and their employees, freelancers can also use this time to apply for the CDSA and use it to take online courses, or for future training.

Arts, culture and sports lift our spirits in these difficult times, and sustain our emotional and physical well-being. To ensure Singaporeans continue to have access to the arts, culture and sports during the next few months, our culture and sports agencies will be releasing digital content to engage Singaporeans even as we stay at home, provide enjoyment for the entire family, and encourage them to keep fit. Interested audiences can view available offerings at NAC’s A-List website, an integrated platform featuring cultural offerings from our cultural institutions, arts groups and artists to offer greater access and connectivity for audiences. A-List is already available with many exciting programmes. I urge Members to check it out.

We also want to step up on-going digitalisation efforts to enhance capabilities of the arts and culture, and sports sector, create new experiences for audiences and participants, and expand economic opportunities. Beyond bringing their products online, we see that it is a good time for the sector to acquire technical skills in data analytics, audience sensing, online marketing and more.

For the arts and culture sector, we have established a Digitalisation Fund to support arts and culture groups and practitioners, cultural institutions, and cultural festival organisers to go digital with their arts and culture content. NAC will offer a new Digital Presentation Grant for the arts of up to $20,000 per project, to ramp up efforts in digitalisation of arts and culture content and delivery. This will be open to all arts and culture groups and practitioners, including freelancers. Artists and arts groups offering student-facing programmes including NAC Arts Education Programme (AEP) providers are encouraged to apply to NAC for this support to create digital content that can be offered for online use by schools. While some ideas may only be possible to execute after the circuit breaker measures, I encourage arts and culture groups and practitioners to prepare and submit their grant proposals now, so that they can bring their best work to Singaporeans once the situation improves. NAC also welcomes proposals which include creative means to develop digital projects while fully working from home.

The Digitalisation Fund will support large-scale digitalisation of existing festivals and projects. We are committed to continuing with our annual large-scale festivals through digital means. As far as possible, we will hold digital editions of Singapore Heritage Festival in June, Singapore Writers Festival and Arts in Your Neighbourhood in November, followed by Singapore Art Week in January 2021. They will involve virtual arts and culture presentations, workshops, and tours. NAC and Arts House Limited will work with local arts groups involved in the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2020 to explore how they can offer innovative arts and culture experiences digitally later in the year.

The Digitalisation Fund will also support the digitalisation of our museum exhibitions and collections. The National Heritage Board (NHB) will progressively make available virtual exhibitions of the galleries at our national museums and heritage institutions, so that Singaporeans and international visitors alike can experience and learn about heritage without leaving their homes. NHB will also be working with Museum Roundtable members to support similar projects, and assist them in building up their digitalisation capabilities.

We hope to roll out digital offerings by our arts groups in the coming months through multiple platforms and festivals. We aim to generate demand for the arts and culture sector, support over 200 new digital projects, and create more than 1,000 opportunities for our cultural and related practitioners once the circuit breaker measures are relaxed.

SportSG will leverage technology to continue to engage Singaporeans in sports events and activities in this period. It will set up the ActiveSG Circle, a virtual sports centre in the form of an online platform. This will enable citizens to stay connected and active with an expansive offering, a wide offering of content such as exercise videos, programmes, talks, workshops and even races through a virtual space. For this year’s Get Active! Singapore, we will also offer a new $2 million grant to support more than 50 projects for sports SEPs and businesses to develop initiatives that create digital and virtual content and provide innovative ways to deliver sports for Singaporeans to stay active and fit in the lead-up from now to National Day in August.

Mr Speaker, allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In this challenging period, MCCY will strive to help our arts, culture and sports sector overcome the impact brought about by COVID-19. We will introduce a $55 million Arts and Culture Resilience Package (ACRP) to help protect jobs and maintain livelihoods. First, Deputy Prime Minister had earlier announced that the Government will co-fund 25% of the wages of every local employee under the enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) till end of this year, and 75% for the month of April when "circuit breaker" measures are in place. This will benefit all eligible companies and employees in the arts, culture and sports, sector. MCCY will also provide additional support for major companies, as well as leading arts and culture groups. More details will be announced at a later date.

Next, all eligible tenants in MCCY-owned properties will benefit from the two months of rental waiver, to help lower their costs. Also, we want to quicken the pace of digitalisation efforts of the arts and cultural sector via the new Digitalisation Fund. Finally, we also want to encourage arts organisations and practitioners to upgrade their skills, and be ready to bounce back stronger than before during this period. As such, we will enhance the National Arts Council’s (NAC's) one-time Capability Development Scheme for the Arts (CDSA) to benefit more arts and culture organisations and practitioners, including freelancers, up to end of 2020. The Arts Resource Hub (ARH) under NAC will continue to promote sustainability of freelancers' careers by providing shared resources and services, including advising them on various support schemes by the government, to tide them over this difficult period.

(In English): Mr Speaker, if I may summarise. The relief packages announced by Deputy Prime Minister provide financial support to the individuals affected, sustain the eco-systems of these sectors by minimising the loss of capabilities, and raise the capabilities of the sectors in the physical and digital spaces. Individuals can benefit from financial reliefs, such as the Temporary Relief Fund, SIRS for freelancers and the COVID-19 Support Grant; training subsidies and grants in the Capability Development Scheme for the Arts to build their long-term capabilities. They will also benefit from the temporary jobs SportSG will be making available.

Companies can benefit from wage support measures such as the enhanced JSS, and the Enhanced Training Support scheme and the CDSA. Our push to digitalise these sectors will provide economic opportunities to both individuals and companies, and allow them to continue bringing arts and sports experiences to Singaporeans. These schemes will be relevant even when circuit breaker measures are applicable, and will help us emerge stronger.

Everyone has a part to play to overcome the situation we face. We are in this together, and the arts, culture, and sports communities must work together, work with the public, to protect the safety of our patrons, students and audiences. I urge larger and more established groups with deeper capabilities to help the smaller ones and individual practitioners, and ask that corporations, foundations and members of the public continue supporting the arts and culture and sports. All of us should take this time to prepare, with agility and resourcefulness, to welcome our audiences and students again with better creations, better works, greater competencies and broader outreach.

Our arts, culture and sports sectors have proven their resilience time and again. I am confident that they will be ready with our best shows, most creative content, and highest quality classes once Singapore is ready for us, so that arts, culture and sports will be an even more important part of people’s lives. COVID-19 is a test and we will rise to the occasion.

Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.

11.28 am

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Mr Speaker. The COVID-19 pandemic, with the effects of lockdown or stay-at-home orders, has brought a standstill to businesses all over the world and Singapore has not been spared, too. Beyond aviation, tourism and F&B, most industries and sectors in Singapore have been affected, some earlier than others. The effect on economies worldwide will be an unprecedented one, possibly worse than any global economic downturns we have ever seen since the Great Depression. The economic fall-outs may go on for quite a while after the COVID-19 pandemic has been tamed.

I declare my interest as an SME owner. As the businesses of our SMEs are affected, many Singaporeans they employ are in turn affected. Under the Resilience Budget, the Jobs Support Scheme extended greater assistance to specified sectors, such as aviation and tourism and F&B sectors, giving 75% and 50% support for wages up to the first $4,600 of each of their staff wages for these respective sectors for nine months. The remaining businesses only received a flat 25% of their staff wages up to the first $4,600. While the aviation, tourism and F&B sectors may be badly affected, the vast majority of our SMEs outside of the aviation, tourism and F&B sectors lament they will get much less than the 75% or 50% wage support received by the priority sectors. Who is to say that businesses in other sectors are not as badly affected or will not be as badly affected?

While the wage support for the Jobs Support Scheme under the Solidarity Budget has been boosted to 75% for all businesses for the solitary month of April and will be welcomed by all, for many businesses, it may only mitigate part of the losses expected from the enforced month-long closure of workplaces starting today.

Since the Resilience Budget has been proposed on 26 March, has any study been done to assess the grave effect the pandemic has or is about to have on all business sectors?

Let me share one example of a troubled sector here.

On 24 March 2020, the Government announced that all centre-based tuition and enrichment centres will be suspended. The reason given is the need to reduce the intermingling of students from different schools and enhance the safety of our students. This brings to a stop the daily bustling activities that take place in our tuition and enrichment centres during both weekdays and weekends.

While some of the tuition centres may have resorted to online learning, yet online learning has not been able to completely replace many of the pre-existing programmes in the tuition centres and enrichment centres. Some programmes may not be suitable for online learning. Some tutors, are for various reasons, not able to convert their face-to-face programmes to online modules. Some parents are also, for various reasons, not keen to convert existing programmes to online learning or even via Zoom, when offered. Many parents prefer traditional methods of personal teaching.

Habits and mindsets will always take time to change, but that is scant comfort to businesses suffering the sudden shock to their businesses brought about by the abrupt ban. For centres who may not have locked in their students' subscriptions for a longer time, having chosen to collect fees on a monthly basis, they face abrupt loss of revenue as some parents have not continued to pay the fees.

Learning service providers to MOE schools and to pre-schools are another group of SMEs in the education industry which have been affected from an even earlier time, with all outdoor programmes and all large-attendance programmes being cancelled in early February and co-curricular activities (CCAs) in March. Given the requirements in pre-schools that trainers cannot teach in other schools concurrently and students of different classes cannot share the same enrichment classes, many enrichment classes had to be cancelled from February onwards, with many left without any revenue.

Besides a significant loss in revenue, these SME businesses still face the pressures of premise rental and staff salary. The Government's offer to pay 25% of the salary of their staff up to the first $4,600 under the JSS – which is just a few percentage points above the amount of employer's CPF contributions the employers will have to pay for each staff per month anyway – may assist to a certain extent, but it may not be significant enough to save jobs – the reason stated by Deputy Prime Minister Heng for the Resilience Budget. How will the Government provide greater assistance to these businesses?

At this point, let me touch on one further aspect of the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS, again. The JSS is not applicable to one category of employees – employees who are shareholders, partners or sole proprietors of businesses even though they may take a salary as an employee of the business.

I understand that in the private education business, there are many people in such a position – sole proprietors, partners or company shareholders of their businesses – who are at the same time registered employees of their business. Those such persons can be regarded as self-employed in some ways. The Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme is not applicable to them as the scheme stipulates that there should not be any employee income.

I believe that this situation is not unique to the private education business. There are many in our micro-SMEs in other industries or sectors who are in the same situation. On Sunday, I met one of our residents, who runs a phone repair business and who is in this exact position. How would the Government help these affected Singaporeans?

Yesterday, it was announced that all pre-school operators are to provide 50% refund of net school fees for non-attendance during the circuit breaker period. Parents will no doubt welcome this announcement. For parents who send their children to MOE Kindergartens and pre-schools run by anchor and partner operators, including those run by PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and NTUC, they are already entitled to various subsidies. But for other SME operators, where Singaporean parents only get the standard subsidies, or for faith-based kindergartens, where there are zero subsidies, the net refund that these operators must cough up is relatively much higher as the net fees payable are higher compared to MOE Kindergartens and those run by anchor and partner operators.

In some cases, the total refunds will likely be higher than the 75% wage support received by way of the JSS. Furthermore, many operators had to incur extra costs recently to have additional manpower to cover for those on Leave of Absence (LOA) or five-day medical leave, and for extra cleaning works.

I have dealt in some detail on the private education industry. However, it is but one example out of many businesses which have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. With the circuit breaker announcements, things will get worse for many businesses in the coming month or longer, especially the many businesses that do not thrive on working remotely.

The property tax rebate, together with the savings by way of the rental rebate, will be helpful in some ways to alleviate the sharp pain, and so will the Jobs Support Scheme. But will it be enough to ensure the survival of the business and to save jobs?

Retrenchment has already started in different industries. Just last week, one of our residents, who is a chartered accountant in his 30s, shared with me that he has just been retrenched from a mid-sized accounting firm and is struggling to find employment in his industry.

Indeed, if business is down, businesses will struggle to pay all their business expenses until a certain level of business has resumed – especially many SMEs, who may have precious little to sustain their business expenses, including rent and income beyond a few months. This economic crisis is likely to hang over the world for quite some time. Beyond the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets, how will the Government assist businesses and Singaporeans to stay afloat in the coming months and beyond?

Before I move away from businesses, I would like to seek some clarifications regarding arts businesses.

With the cancellation of entertainment, our flourishing arts professionals have to cancel their plays, musicals, concerts and other performances, and shows, which may go on until the end of the year. When performances are cancelled, there are no ticket sales and corporate sponsorships are often cancelled – not to mention that in these difficult times, it is challenging to expect support from many corporate sponsors. Many of these arts businesses are registered charities. May I clarify whether such arts businesses, i.e. those registered as charities, will be entitled to the same wage support under the Jobs Support Scheme as available to other businesses? If not, what is the corresponding assistance being given to this group of arts businesses?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I move on to certain aspects of the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS). May I ask how did the Government arrive at this figure of 100,000 self-employed persons?

In MOM's paper titled "Labour Force in Singapore 2019", it was mentioned that in the year ending June 2019, and I quote from paragraph 1.1.9, "211,000 residents were engaged in own account work as some form of employment" and own account workers were defined in the same paper as, and I quote from paragraph 1.17, "individuals who operate their own business or trade without employing any paid employees".

The Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme will be open to those who earn a net trade income of no more than $100,000, live in a property with an annual value of no more than $13,000 originally and do not own two or more properties. While it is good that the $13,000 annual value limit has since been raised to $21,000 yesterday. In principle, the concern with setting a figure – a limit – at all, on this is that we are talking about a special economic crisis situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has developed suddenly. These self-employed people see their livelihoods being adversely affected in a short time and require quick and immediate assistance from the Government, regardless the nature of their residences.

The property that they live in or own or co-own may not be relevant to their current income and earning capacity as well as most relevantly, their present position of suffering from sudden financial problems due to the COVID-19 crisis. If they own such property, is the Government expecting such self-employed people to sell their property quickly? If so, is it really fair or realistic to expect such persons to sell their homes immediately in such a market condition? This is different from the usual situation of people applying for financial assistance due to longer term employment and so on.

May I also clarify whether this relief is open to those who live in such property above $21,000 annual value but do not own such property?

Next, I move on to help for our taxi and private hire drivers.

It is already a well-known fact that our taxi drivers and private hire drivers are suffering from a huge drop in business. I would like to seek some clarifications regarding the Point-to-Point Support Package for taxi drivers and private car hire drivers.

I would like to know whether it is true that the Special Relief Fund under the Point-to-Point Support Package is only available to taxi drivers who work under the auspices of a taxi company or for private car hire drivers who work with Grab or GoJek?

A resident who has a private car hire licence and serves his own source of customers had checked and was told that he did not qualify. If it is true, may I know the rationale behind this?

A private hire car driver also shared with us at our Meet-the-People Session in Hougang last week that the incentives that come together with the Special Relief Fund may come with conditions imposed by his company that are impossible to fulfill in this economic climate. He asked whether the Special Relief Fund can be paid directly to all registered private hire drivers instead. I urge the Government to look into this.

On the issue of landlords passing on savings from the property tax rebate and rental waivers granted under the Unity and Resilience Budgets, I am glad that the measures are being taken to ensure landlords' cooperation. However, I would like to ask what measures are being taken to ensure that tenants will share any property tax rebate or rental waiver savings they obtain from landlords with their sub-tenants, including the newly announced increase in rental waivers for Government-owned properties?

Now, be they tenants or sub-tenants of Government-owned, private, commercial, industrial or office properties, what can sub-tenants do to ensure that they get to enjoy any rental rebate passed on to the tenants by the landlords? Are coffeeshop store-holders in this position as well?

Finally, I would like to ask the Government to look at how we can extend better protection to many elderly Singaporeans working in hawker centres and coffeeshops as well as those elderly working as cleaners against the risk of the COVID-19 virus as I believe that they are the most vulnerable group – the elderly. For example, could the Government look into whether they could take more measures to ensure that these elderly hawkers and workers will have better protective equipment and safer working environment?

Mr Speaker, Sir, in closing, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout resulting from it are likely to be here for quite some time. I look forward to the Government rendering more assistance to more of our affected Singaporeans and SMEs.

Mr Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.

11.43 am

Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, in my last speech in this House, I talked about seeing the opportunities in this crisis. What a difference a month makes. I will not talk about opportunities this time. The focus should be on getting through this to the other side – a post-COVID world. Other things should not distract Singaporeans from this mission right now. Before I begin, I declare my interest as a CEO and a shareholder in a company providing research and consulting.

Sir, many of us feel fear right now. I would argue that what we should fight is not fear. Rather, we should fight the twin evils of indifference, complacency and unscientific views, on the one hand, and unbridled panic, on the other. A little fear may actually be helpful, keeping us on our toes and mitigating the risk that bad habits will return at the first sign of good news. But it should be a little fear for everyone and not only a little fear for ourselves. That should come from trust in the scientific view that if most people get sick, no one will be safe as individuals and families.

As the famous scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, recently said, this COVID-19 crisis will put to the test a key question: does society listen to scientists? We all have a role to play in answering that question as a country. All of us react differently to an event like this based on our personalities, medical profiles, socio-economic circumstances and many things besides.

It is easier for some of us to work from home than others, for example. Recognising these differences means accepting that there will be questions, there will be discussions, there will be debate, trade-offs and, yes, course correction. It is unity that will ultimately breed success in this effort but it is understanding that will beget unity. It is openness and accountability that will get us to understanding and it is our democratic society enshrined in our pledge that will beget openness and accountability.

On social media, there are many chat threads openly saying that authoritarianism has worked, democracy has failed. Look at China versus Italy and the USA. Yet some of the countries that have done well through this crisis thus far, like Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, have open democratic systems. We would do well not to draw the wrong conclusions about democracy as many who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s did, with disastrous results for the world.

Sir, the Resilience Budget is to be welcomed. This is what the reserves principal has been saved to do. The Workers' Party supports the idea of not touching the reserves principal except in times of crisis, as I said in Parliament last month. On that note, I would like to ask the Finance Minister of the $48 billion Supplementary Budget and the $4 billion of enhancements. Firstly, how much was obtained from drawing down past reserves. I believe that was $21 billion, which begs the next question. How much was obtained from drawing on the surplus from this term of government? Thirdly, has the surplus been drawn upon fully with this Supplementary Budget? And fourthly, how much was obtained from other sources and what are those sources?

Next, I will speak about a few issues and potential gaps.

First, Sir, on the most vulnerable in our society. For those who are homeless I know that wonderful not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) like Homeless Hearts of Singapore, New Home Community Services and many others are stepping efforts to help this vulnerable group. What are the outreach efforts being put in place by MSF and other arms of the Government? And what support has been given to NPOs to ensure that these extremely vulnerable people can access medical and economic support at this time.

Secondly, on those staying in HDB rental flats. Over the past four years has been my privilege to work with our volunteers to deliver assistance of various kinds to those living in rental flats in Serangoon and Bedok. Some of our beneficiary families have done all right. Two of our beneficiary families recently had children who qualified for entry to an Autonomous University. I cannot tell you how gladdened I was and how that cheered our volunteers. Yet, others are not doing so well, and face multiple issues that hinder them and their children in the pursuit of flourishing life. For those on ComCare awarded for a period of a few months, renewals are often an extremely stressful experience. The Government has said that their eligibility for ComCare will be eased during COVID-19. My Parliamentary colleague Mr Faisal Manap has also spoken on this issue and made a few suggestions, with which I agree. I would like to ask will the Government confirm that it will defer HDB rent hikes, allow HDB rent payment deferment and extend the current ComCare arrangements wherever needed, at least for a decent runway amidst this crisis, say six months. Now would be the time to be pragmatic and not ideological about such questions.

Next, on our SMEs and micro-businesses. We need to get by until the economy comes back with pent-up demand. During this time, we should do everything practicable to keep viable SMEs and micro-businesses alive. If they are wound up, those entrepreneurs may not return, hurting employment and long-term economic growth potentially which needs entrepreneurship to balance other sources of innovation and investment.

The Supplementary Budget has a host of measures for government risk-sharing in loans to SMEs. What if the loans do not get to our SMEs, in spite of risk-sharing. What if our banks simply do not lend. Our business eco-system does not have the deep historic ties between regional banks and SMEs seen in countries like Japan, Germany and Switzerland that are useful at times like this. Would the Government consider a scheme like what has been introduced in the UK – the Term Funding Scheme – under which participating banks that lend to SMEs get to access lower wholesale funding costs from the central bank. Of course, banks could still choose not to lend but at least this would tilt the balance towards our SMEs.

Of course, many SMEs do not want to take on loans due to pessimism about their ability to repay after the crisis. And this is where job support and rental deferment play a role in preventing businesses from closing down, perhaps never to return. In cases where deferred rent cannot be paid back, will the Government provide clear assurances that it will consider providing very much extended deferment where there is evidence of the company's viability. Extended deferment could be made conditional on the company paying back at state, if and when it returns to decent sustained profitability.

Next, on masks. Reusable masks are to be self-collected at RCs and CCs. Anecdotal and social media feedback suggests that some people are reluctant to collect these masks for various reasons including inertia and fears about potential exposure. Some wonder why self-collection was used when all are told to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.

When I asked Minister Lawrence Wong about this in the context of distributing surgical masks in February, he said self-collection was used to minimise wastage. Our healthcare professionals do not need reusable masks, or do not need them as much as they need surgical masks; and hence, one assumes there are fewer pressures on that stock. Moreover, not that many masks are needed per household since they are reusable. If the Government does not want to mail these masks out, can we at least arrange to mail reusable masks to those who prefer to receive them by mail. Those who click on an online site or an app using SingPass, for example, or calling a hotline.

Next, Mr Speaker, Sir, I should focus about the lessons we can learn from this crisis to better prepare for the next one, whenever that may happen. Governments around the world are asking companies to shift R&D and production resources to make masks and ventilators. What powers does the Government have to compel domestic firms here to do the same? Even if legal powers are not deployed, is the government using its powers of persuasion and purchase to nudge domestic manufacturers to produce more of such critically needed items which may raise healthcare system capacity and scalability? Now might be a good time to test our ability to get such things done for when the next crisis hits. Of course, there are companies that are voluntarily doing this. It is commendable of these firms to be doing so.

Next, there is also news of other countries calling back retired healthcare professionals to serve, to address the kinds of potential manpower shortages that Minister Gan spoke about in February. Is this being explored here?

Next, what long-term lessons can we draw in dealing with future pandemics? How does our number of ICU beds per capita compare with other countries? Can we use this crisis to formulate plans to expand ICU beds at short notice at acute care facilities with plans to work with the private sector and retired professionals to augment the supply of equipment and personnel in a time of crisis?

And lastly, Mr Speaker, Sir. I would like to return to a theme I spoke about in February – slowing the slope of reserves growth. A letter appeared in The Straits Times Forum on 28 March. Let me read out a part of that letter. The full letter is available online; and I quote "The reason why robust fiscal measures such as the Resilience Budget are possible is due to financial discipline and prudence and growing Singapore's reserves at a the strong rate all this time. Had we for whatever reasons rested on our laurels and grown our reserves at a slower rate as was suggested before and" and in brackets, it says "grow reserves at a slower rate to invest in Singaporeans, Leon Perera, 28 February". "The Resilience Budget would not be possible and we would now be in economic dire straits due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

I sent a reply to this letter on the same day, which The Straits Times Forum has not published to the best of my knowledge. Please allow me to read out a part of that reply.

"In 2008, the Government introduced the Net Investment Returns Framework where half of the long-term expected real returns on relevant reserves asset classes can be used for Budget spending. In 2015, Temasek was added to this framework. Both of these changes effectively slowed down the reserves growth rate, but surely few of us today would argue that these changes were irresponsible because they slowed reserves growth. The funds released have been put to constructive use in the Budget. Our reserves have been estimated at over a trillion dollars. The best policies to govern reserves growth versus releasing more Budget funds should thus be different today from what they were in the past. To use an analogy from the business world, a start-up company may need to conserve cash to manage cash flow. But when it has grown to the point where there is tens of billions in cash, corporate leaders should think about how the cash should be invested for better long-term growth and to benefit stakeholders rather than growing the cash pile at the same rate as when the company was at the start-up stage.

In fact, the Government introducing the current resource framework in 2008, and adding Temasek in 2015, implicitly recognised this point. There can be over saving just as there can be under saving. Moreover, releasing more Budget funds can mean investing more in our people and our companies in ways that if successful would enhance the long-term potential growth rate of GDP, productivity and innovation. If this happens, tax revenue would rise in tandem with GDP thus reducing the need to draw on the reserves and reserves returns.

Singaporeans should have fact-based rational conversations on the right rate of reserves growth versus releasing more Budget funds. Such conversations need to address deep strategic and philosophic questions, like what the additional funds could be invested to do, balanced against what possible future emergencies could necessitate drawing down a massive percentage of those reserves. It is time to recognise that there can be reasonable viewpoints on both sides of this question.

And in relation to the letter writer's last point, what we will have as a nation to weather the storm the next time a crisis hits, is not only our reserves but more importantly, the solidarity, the resolve and the ingenuity of our people."

And this is where I end the quote from that reply and I believe Assoc Prof Theseira actually made a similar point on the last point that I just mentioned. I am sharing this now because to me such debate and disagreement is really how we get to real unity and real consensus formation.

Let us look at the question of wearing masks out of doors. It now seems that the minority of naysayers who had called for that from an early stage onwards at a valid point – like the four doctors who signed an open letter to that effect in February. In noting this, I do not blame anyone. There is no playbook for a crisis like this. Many of us were wrong-footed on this question including the World Health Organization, but that points to the continuing value of openness, transparency, debate and accountability even in times of crisis. Let us debate big questions openly, rationally, sensibly, on the basis of transparency to define an agreed set of relevant facts.

Let us accept that there can be different goals and strategies that are consistent with the same facts, not labelling those with different views about those goals and strategies. And if we can get to that we would be one United people who have built a democratic society and one built to last.

11.58 am

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, I thank the Government for providing a Resilience and Solidarity Budget that provides increased assistance to many Singaporeans in this time of great need.

Many residents have shared how appreciative they are and thanked the Government for this. Sir, I have four points to raise in relation to the Budget.

My first point is about those on unpaid leave and reduced working hours. The Resilience and Solidarity Budget provides much support to Singaporeans who have lost their jobs and for the self-employed. But we need to do more for those who remain in employment but have nonetheless taken a big hit in their incomes. Such workers can either be workers forced to take pay cuts or go on unpaid leave, or hourly workers who have lost shifts and hours.

I recently received an email from my resident, whose employer cut her hours from full-time to part-time. Overnight she lost 50% of her income. Another resident has been put on unpaid leave for at least three months. Overnight she lost 100% of her income. These are not isolated cases and I am sure all Members in this House have received similar calls for help. The only new scheme applicable to this group of workers in this Budget is the Temporary Relief Fund. But it only provides one-off cash grant of $500.

Can the Government provide more financial support for those who have lost income but remain in employment?

For a start, we can expand the COVID-19 Support Grant to supplement the monthly income of these workers up to a cap of $800 and up to three months or when they are back to full employment. This is especially important for those put on unpaid leave. After all, those on unpaid leave essentially become unemployed for the months they are on unpaid leave. The reply might be that we are helping employers retain workers through the Jobs Support Scheme but to save at least 25% of salary costs, there might still be employers who will prefer to put workers on unpaid leave.

Sir, it is not likely that the damage to our economy will be over any time soon. We should provide some level of wage stability for those lucky enough to find themselves still employed but with zero or significantly reduced income.

My second point is about childcare leave. Parents working in essential services and key economic sectors perform a duty for our nation as they continue going into their workplaces in this time of global pandemic. However, there is a big, unanswered question of what happens when the children of these parents are required to stay at home due to COVID-related health symptoms, school closures, Leaves of Absences or Stay-Home Notices.

These parents do not have the option to work from home, yet they may have a young child at home during working hours. Some will be lucky enough to have alternative care-giving and caring employers. But what about those who do not?

We should remember that the legal entitlement of childcare leave is already insufficient during a regular year. As I mentioned in my speech on the Budget debate, parents exhaust it during mandatory pre-school closures and during their children's sickness. Now, in this most irregular year, school closures and stay-home requirements last for weeks. How can they possibly have enough childcare leave to take? The only option left for them is unpaid leave. Many parents have told me this is indeed what they are taking, but in this business climate, they worry they will lose their jobs if they take too much unpaid leave.

To help such parents, I hope we can introduce a Government-paid childcare leave for parents who are working in essential services or key economic sectors and whose children are affected by COVID-related stay-home requirements. There are currently no protections for them, and we need to bear in mind that many have no alternatives and do not have the money to hire additional help. They desperately need this COVID-related childcare leave so they can keep their jobs and be there for their children.

Sir, we cannot leave it to employers and employees to work out amicable arrangements to balance the business needs with employees' childcare needs in this difficult time. In this difficult time, the Government has to step in.

My third point is a short and simple one. As part of our Care and Support Package, we are giving $300 in cash to every adult Singaporean who has a Singaporean child aged 20 years old and below. Many single unwed parents have written to me asking if they qualify for this. Can the Government confirm that single unwed parents qualify? I think we can all agree that these dark days are not a time for discrimination, and all parents deserve the care and support regardless of their marital status.

Single unwed parents are in an especially tight spot. Their households are single-income. They do not have an additional pair of helping hands. Also, because the median income of single unwed mothers under 35 years old was already $600, they will lack job security and are likely to face losses in wages. They need this cash assistance. They, and many other Singaporeans, will also benefit from all the other measures I mentioned before: more financial support for those on unpaid leave and reduced working hours, increased telecommuting and a COVID-related childcare leave.

My final point is about our migrant friends, workers who have left their homes to come and build and clean ours. News has emerged that two migrant worker dormitories, S11 @ Punggol and Westlite in Toh Guan have been gazetted as isolation areas. Many Singaporeans have contacted me to share their concerns for the safety and well-being of these workers.

I must first thank Minister Josephine Teo for her comprehensive Facebook post on the measures taken to prevent transmissions and to ensure that the basic needs of migrant workers are met including food, necessities, salary and medical care. Migrant worker dormitories are very densely packed and the workers live in very close proximity. I understand that measures have been taken to implement safe distancing measures and to thin out the dormitories.

However, even with these measures, the risk of transmission is very high. The issue is the conditions the workers live in.

Last night, I received photos from migrant workers living in one of these dorms and the conditions are still far from optimal. We have to do more, much more to improve the current living conditions. This is vital to stop the outbreak in these dormitories. Beyond the measure we are taking now, I also sincerely hope MOM will do a complete review and ensure that our migrant workers' living conditions are improved significantly. I am glad Minister Josephine agrees with this and has given her word that action will be taken.

Next, many workers are also afraid that they have been infected with COVID-19. To supplement the measures already taken, can we consider proactively testing the workers in dormitories with infected workers, starting with those who lived in closer proximity to the infected workers? This would assist in definitively identifying those infected and quickly isolating them to prevent a further outbreak. I understand there are limitations for doing this nationwide. Can we do more extensive testing on a limited scale for this high-risk population? This would help to keep Singaporeans safe too and help calm the workers who are extremely worried.

Lastly, as with Singaporeans, the workers are also worried about their livelihoods. Minister Josephine has said that MOM will work with employers to ensure that quarantined workers continue to be paid and that their period of absence from work is treated as paid hospitalisation leave, as part of the workers' statutory leave eligibility. This has provided a lot of assurance to the workers and they are very thankful. I hope MOM will follow up and ensure that every worker is paid.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng also announced yesterday that we will waive the monthly Foreign Worker Levy due in April and also provide employers with a Foreign Worker Levy Rebate of $750 for each work permit or S Pass holder. This will help employers pay and take care of the upkeep of their workers, and prepare their workforce to restart when the circuit breaker is lifted. Can I ask whether we will be ensuring that these rebates are passed down to the workers and how will we ensure that the workers are paid their salaries and not put on unpaid leave?

Sir, I stand in support of this Budgets. My speech was actually much longer, but a lot of the points I was going to raise were addressed by the Government in the announcements made last week and yesterday. I thank all the Ministries and Statutory Boards and all of our frontline and essential workers for working so hard to keep all of us safe. I thank them for responding so quickly to concerns raised by the public and introducing measures that will make a huge difference in the lives of fellow Singaporeans and workers in Singapore.

As we march forward with this Supplementary Budget that targets aid at specific groups, we must make sure that no one slip through the cracks. Let us make sure that everyone make it through this crisis together. Together, we will beat this virus.

Mr Speaker: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Low Yen Ling.

12.08 pm

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Ms Low Yen Ling): Mr Speaker, Sir, Minister Teo has spoken about protecting livelihoods and helping businesses stay viable. Indeed, we will do all we can to preserve jobs and businesses, and support our workforce. Let me now share more about how we are helping companies adopt more flexible work arrangements (FWAs) that let them continue operations amid the uncertainty or to resume their businesses after this circuit breaker period.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. From today, all workplaces, with the exception of those in essential services or key economic sectors, are closed. This is to minimise physical interactions and break the circuit of virus transmission. Despite the closure, firms that can continue operations with their workers on telecommuting arrangements, should continue to do so.

We understand that companies that had implemented FWAs and telecommuting prior to the enhanced measures, in fact, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, for their staff were better able to operationalise business continuity plans (BCP) quickly.

Singtel is an example. Half of Singtel's 12,000 employees are already been working from home prior to today. The majority of them are used to working offsite and they have the infrastructure to do so. Those who need to be at their workplaces work on staggered work times and also staggered lunch periods. Some employees start work as early as 7.00 am because that suits them and some as late as 10.00 am. Of course, those working at 7.00 am, they get to go back home earlier. The company's operations continue to run as seamlessly as possible and customers are well-supported.

Another example is legal services firm Allen & Gledhill. Their lawyers and staff work from home with the support of a robust and secure IT infrastructure that allows them to meet and collaborate remotely. Ms Jessica Tan, in her many speeches advocated that, it is possible to meet and collaborate with colleagues even as we telecommute or work from home.

Chairman and Senior Partner of Allen & Gledhill said this, Ms Christina Ong said, and I quote: "Our focus on embracing technology has meant that when we had to, we could. For certain types of work, some of our lawyers now even say that they accomplish even more from home. Furthermore, working from home has allowed parents to deal with school issues and gives many of us leeway in handling other disruptions."

Today, companies can already benefit from MOM's Work-Life Grant (WLG) and receive $2,000 for every worker who adopts an FWA. As we move into a period of stricter social distancing, we will make it easier for employers to get support in implementing telecommuting and staggered hours. MOM will enhance the WLG parameters by reducing the requirement for firms to have their workers telecommute and be on staggered hours – from a minimum period of six months to just one month. The enhanced WLG parameters will apply after the mandatory circuit breaker period comes to an end and the grant will be open for application on 20 April 2020.

We strongly encourage more companies to apply for the WLG which can be used for the purchase of laptops, software and related equipment for telecommuting. In the immediate term, adopting FWAs will help companies overcome the present challenges posed by COVID-19.

In the long run, FWAs will help companies ride the wave of changing workplace norms, become a more inclusive, caring, and also attractive employer and thereby attracting better talent. FWAs have helped companies like Cycle and Carriage become a choice employer, as their staff appreciate the extra time they have with their family, the ability to attend to personal matters and greater flexibility in childcare arrangements. Mr Speaker, Sir, please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, Sir, our enterprises are currently already benefiting from MOM's Work-Life Grant. Employers are able to receive $2,000 for every worker on a flexible work arrangement. Because of the effects of COVID-19, especially during this circuit breaker period, we want to observe safe distancing, so, we need people to work at home or we have staggered working hours. Therefore, in order to help our employers to provide such flexible working arrangements so that more people will be able to work from home, MOM will make it easier for employers to benefit from this grant.

At the moment, enterprises have to certify that they have been having this arrangement for six months before they can apply. Now, we have shortened this period to one month. In other words, the application criteria have been shortened from six months to one month. So, these relaxed arrangements will apply after the circuit breaker period. We will open for application from 20 April 2020 and we encourage companies to apply for the Work-Life Grant which provides flexibility for example, using devices such as portable computers and so on. In the short run , the Work-Life Grant can help companies overcome the challenges brought by COVID-19.

In the long run, successfully implementing flexible work arrangements will not only help our companies to keep on improving productivity, it would actually help them become more inclusive workplaces so as to attract and retain more talented people, hence, it serves many purposes.

(In English): Companies that are positioning themselves for the upturn should plan ahead to ensure that they equip their workers with relevant skillsets after the temporary closure of workplace comes to an end. Firms can tap on the enhanced support for redeployment programmes under the Adapt and Grow initiative to reskill their existing workers.

MOM has extended the funding period and introduced new redeployment programmes for the tourism, aviation, retail and food services sectors. More than 100 firms have already applied, with more than 2,600 workers expected to benefit from this move.

For instance, SITA World Travel (SITA) equipped their staff through various courses with skills like data analytics and event management. Two employees are on the new Digital Marketing Place-and-Train Programme and they will be redeployed to support SITA’s online platform with their newly acquired skills.

Another example is Orchard Hotel. This hotel is also tapping on MOM’s enhanced measures to retrain close to 50 of their employees through the Job Redesign Place-and-Train programme for the hotel industry. Their 50 staff will acquire deeper capabilities in hotel operations, with the aim of taking on an expanded job scope.

We wish to commend SITA and Orchard Hotel. Despite the cost pressures, both companies decided to take a longer term perspective by holding onto their workers and helping the workers acquire new skills. Employers who look after their staff are well placed to gain from their workers’ loyalty in the long run, especially when the upturn comes.

Mr Speaker, Sir, there will be no let-up in MOM's push to preserve jobs and support our workforce. We are in this together. We call upon employers to help, to support and to care for their employees in this critical time. We also call upon our employees to also do their part by understanding their employer’s situation. None of us is alone in this COVID-19 fight.

MOM will continue to do our best to support employers and employees throughout this challenging period. Despite the unprecedented situation we face, we are confident that we can ride out the storm together.

In just seven weeks, we saw and we heard from Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, he delivered three Budgets – the Unity Budget, the Resilience Budget and yesterday the Solidarity Budget. So, let us stay united, let us show our resilience and also stand in solidarity with one another because we Singaporeans, we are a tough lot. We will not give up and we will prevail in this COVID-19 fight.

Mr Speaker: Mr Christopher de Souza.

12.18 pm

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, extraordinary times require extraordinary people. I believe, for I choose to believe, that Singapore and Singaporeans have the gumption and mettle to ride this storm. It will be a herculean effort, but we can – indeed, we must – do it.

To do so, we need to face reality squarely and then chart our course to brighter days.

As people play their part by staying at home, businesses suffer due to drop in demand. Employees are being laid off. Flights have almost come to a grinding halt as countries close their borders to contain and stabilise the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Supply chains in certain sectors have been broken. With half of the world’s population mandated to stay at home as of Friday, 3 April, the world’s economy is almost at a standstill even as our medical forces show formidable courage, strength and resilience. Besides implementing measures to “flatten the curve” and “break the circuit”, we must bolster our health force’s fight against the virus and should provide support for researchers and clinicians to find medical solutions to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Resilience Budget requires a significant decision on the part of Parliament as it draws on our reserves. It deserves a robust debate. Such a debate is not just for the sake of those who contributed to our reserves, nor is it just for the sake of those whose sacrifices allowed us to have and preserve those reserves, but it is also for the sake of our younger generation and future generations yet to be born. We must ensure for their sake that every dollar we spend from the reserves is a dollar deservedly spent.

In that vein, I want to dive into four areas: one, aviation; two, tourism; three, rentals; four, supply chains. In particular, whether we are stretching every dollar in the Resilience Budget and the Solidarity Budget, so as to achieve optimum help in these areas.

The aviation sector is one of the industries in Singapore most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. It was one of the first to be impacted as travel restrictions were introduced by several countries early on to prevent cases from being imported. The impact was so severe that on 17 March this year, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation estimated that most of the world’s airlines will be bankrupt by end-May this year.

As a travel hub, Singapore’s aviation industry is a key component, with our national carrier, Singapore Airlines, flying our Singapore flag high. For Singapore to continue to be a choice location for regional headquarters, regional and international connectivity is crucial. We need to keep our aviation industry alive, so that we have a strong, supportive and connected eco-system for businesses to thrive in.

Therefore, I welcome the much needed support the Resilience Budget is giving to the aviation sector.

Besides supporting workers through the additional job support scheme to offset 75% of the first $4,600 of a local employee’s wages, the aviation sector is receiving $350 million enhanced aviation support. Extending that lifeline is crucial and far-sighted.

But while these wages are being subsidised, the reality is our aircraft are grounded. Therefore, one way in order to make the wage subsidy even more productive is to have the crew redeployed to sectors facing manpower shortages, for example, in the healthcare industry, or in companies needing to distribute medical devices such as respirators and ventilators. Quite possibly, this will be of relevance to the crew when eventually they fly again – having crew trained in emergency health skills is relevant to passenger aircraft. This makes SIA and its affiliated fleets more attractive when eventually they fly again.

The next sector that has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis is the tourism industry. In 2019, there were 19.1 million international visitor arrivals in Singapore who spent an estimated $27.1 billion.

The tourism industry is not just a sector that is important in its own right but it supports many other sectors of our economy as well. Tourists contribute to retail, food and beverage, events and conventions, and it even helps attract investors as well as companies who want to set up their businesses in a place with a worldwide audience. Tourism also helps build connections for potential trade partners in the future and boosts Singapore’s standing on the international stage. As such, supporting the tourism industry which has been greatly affected by this unexpected crisis is important; and therefore I welcome the enhanced support for the tourism industry in the Resilience Budget.

However, we should try to go further – so that the money is made more productive, we should require tourism hotspots to consider seriously how they can make their attractions more safe, from a hygiene point of view, as well as improve user friendliness for their visitors. This will help ensure Singapore will be one of the first destinations tourists would want to return to in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The third area I want to talk about is the rental of commercial properties. Commercial tenants have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Even before the closure of non-essential businesses, these tenants in malls have suffered from lower footfall as people were encouraged to stay at home. Safe distancing was understandably implemented to prevent overcrowding in malls and minimise the spread of the virus. This has had a huge impact on retail and F&B business. In the Unity Budget, qualifying commercial properties were given 15% property tax rebate, with the landlords urged to pass this on to their tenants.

In the Resilience Budget, the quantum and scope was broadened.

I have been told that some of these tenants that some of these tenants are unable to secure a $100 in revenue a day, a sum too little to cover rental for a day.

In some places, landlords have not been prompt to pass on the rebate saving to their tenants, adopting a wait-and-see approach.

In my speech on the Unity Budget I had suggested that we make the landlords of commercial spaces more accountable, and suggested that they be required to fill up a declaration to IRAS as to whether they had passed on the property rebates to the tenant and if so, how much in dollar terms.

Indeed, the bludgeoning few weeks since I gave that speech have caused me to form the view that we should go even further. Beyond my suggested declaration, we should make it compulsory for the commercial landlord to pass on the full property tax rebate, in actual dollar terms, to the tenants. Hence, I am glad that we are soon passing legislation to that effect. Such prescriptive legislation ensures the money spent from our Budget is indeed stretched.

The fourth area that I want to speak about is supply chains. In our globally connected economy, supply chains are interwoven across countries and, with cities and countries under lockdown, global supply chains have been affected. The knock-on effect reverberates across economies. Many businesses especially with smaller margins may not have enough liquidity and cash to survive through months of low revenue due to the crisis.

One of the ways the Resilience Budget supports businesses is by helping them get the financing that they need, for example, through the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme. Indeed, the Solidarity Budget seeks to increase the Government’s risk share from 80% to 90%. Such risk-sharing initiatives are commendable, for they incentivise the injection of liquidity in the market.

Nonetheless, as these loans are administered by individual financial institutions and banks, the process for sourcing and the exercise of comparing rates and fees across banks can be complicated and time-consuming especially for those who are unfamiliar with business loans.

May I suggest we streamline the process through a one-stop online portal that allows businesses to find out eligibility, compare the fees and rates of the different banks’ loans under the schemes, and apply using a standardised form? This will shorten the time needed to source for a loan, obtain the loan and the time needed to receive the much-needed monies from the loan.

It is crucial to shorten and simplify the process as much as possible during this COVID-19 crisis because some businesses may not have the weeks needed to wait for the monies to be credited into their accounts. Such expediency will help the risk-sharing initiative better achieve its aim – that of swift injection of liquidity and the prompt availability of credit.

Sir, in 1985, Singapore was going through a major post-Independence recession. As Singapore was still in the midst of the recession described as "a watershed in our economic development”, President Mr Wee Kim Wee in his Address to Parliament said, I quote, “When the recession eventually ends, as it must, we would have made another great stride towards realising our vision of a nation of excellence.”

What we are facing today is different from the past in terms of extent, magnitude and nature, but all Singaporeans must have to count on each other. Indeed, many Singaporeans are counting on us in this House to express clear, methodical, honest, rational thinking as we shape and pass policy into law. We must deliver that for Singaporeans we were elected to serve. All these facets make up the essence of solidarity. The names of the Budgets are such an accurate description of what we want to instill – unity, resilience, solidarity.

Sir, in the course of preparing this speech, I have been inspired by the unity, resilience and solidarity of Singaporeans. Just last Friday, four days ago, Mabel, a constituent in Ulu Pandan spoke with me at Meet-People-Session (MPS). Mabel is caring for a young special needs child in her family. She is also helping her adult daughter recover from a hospital stay, and on top of that she is caring for her own mother who is aged. Yet, Mabel continues to want to get re-employed notwithstanding the present situation. Such resilience is inspiring.

Three days ago on Saturday, I met Adeline, a young adult in the Ghim Moh Hawker Centre. She shared with me that she wants to help as a volunteer to deliver food for the elderly in the constituency. Spontaneous and driven by unity.

And just yesterday, I received a message from a constituent named Darren, who emailed me saying that his family wants to donate $30,000 to a worthy cause in the constituency to help the more vulnerable residents tide over this period.

I was taken aback at these gestures. In just the last five days, I have met different Singaporeans in completely unochestrated settings who have reflected and expressed the magnanimous traits of Solidarity, Unity and Resilience.

Will there be some friction along the way? Some kinks in the roll-out? Sure! That would be completely understandable. But as long as we gravitate towards a national ethos of unity, resilience and solidarity, and have the physical fire power to deploy further financial measures, if needed, then we would have earned Singapore a steady ballast to weather this storm.

Sir, I should state clearly that I support the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets. However, Sir, spending our country’s reserves cannot, and must not, be taken lightly. We owe it to the generations who built up these reserves and the generations not yet born to ensure that every dollar should be stretched to maximise its benefit to the industry and the worker it seeks to help. Integrity and the ethos of stewardship in that spending process will achieve for us the objectives of unity, resilience and solidarity.

Sir, fighting our way through this crisis will be a herculean task. But I choose to believe that we, as a people, have the mettle to accomplish such a task, and that the camaraderie that it will entrench will define Singapore’s character – as a nation full of fight, determination and grit. And that is a future worthy of our struggle.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Mr Speaker, Minister for Manpower used the word "surreal" as she described this Chamber. Seeing us all spaced out, a reflection of the times that we are facing – to overcome a crisis that will define this generation, our generation.

Having spent the last few weeks engaging employers, workers and ordinary citizens, we can see the anxiety shows. For those whom I have met whose livelihoods have been affected, I thank them for their calm and their willingness to work with us to get through this crisis.

Many hope for the best, some plan for the worst. With three Budgets in the space of two months – the Unity, the Resilience and the Solidarity Budgets – the leadership, care and concern of this Government shows as it prepares Singapore for the best, the worst and everything else that comes in between.

For the Ministry of Manpower, our priorities are clear – to Save Jobs, to Protect Our Workers and to Support Their Livelihoods. In these difficult times, we are especially concerned for those who are more vulnerable – our low-wage workers, the self-employed persons (SEPs) and our foreign workers.

I will first address our efforts for self-employed persons. Many SEPs have seen their livelihoods badly affected amidst this COVID-19 situation. To help Singaporean SEPs with less means and family support tide through this period of extraordinary economic uncertainty, we introduced the SEP Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) as part of the Resilience Budget and enhanced it in the Solidarity Budget.

All eligible Singaporean SEPs will receive direct cash assistance through three quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each or $9,000 in total. SIRS will provide cash assistance to SEPs most in need quickly. We want the cash assistance to reach our SEPs fast. So, we used the Workfare criteria as a starting point, and further expanded the criteria to cover almost double the number of SEPs as Workfare. Hence, there is no need for most eligible SEPs to apply. Eligible SEPs aged 37 and above who declared a positive net trade income to IRAS or CPFB for 2018 will be automatically notified via letter and SMS in end May 2020. They will receive the first payout automatically in end May, followed by July and October this year.

We know that some SEPs who do not qualify automatically are worried. They hope to be considered. For example, SEPs who are aged 21 to 36 in 2020, but otherwise meet the criteria; and SEPs whose spouses earn a high income but have many people at home to support. My colleagues and I will try our best to consider the applications of those who did not qualify automatically, particularly those aged 21 to 36 in 2020 but otherwise meet the criteria. We will also seriously consider the appeals of those who narrowly missed the eligibility criteria.

I am also glad that NTUC Secretary-General has offered to front the application and appeals of SIRS. MOM will work with NTUC to provide details on how to apply, and how those who do not meet the SIRS criteria can appeal very soon. We seek your patience and understanding.

During this downturn, we want SEPs who have spare capacity to train and upskill themselves for the coming upturn. To support them, we announced a new SEP Training Support Scheme (STSS) during COS last month. SEPs who take up any SkillsFuture Series courses and other selected training programmes can receive an hourly training allowance of $7.50 that will help defray their daily expenses. This was for a period of three months, and is on top of the substantial course fees subsidies of up to 90%.

The Government has now extended the STSS till the end of the year. We will also increase the hourly training allowance from $7.50 to $10, with effect from 1 May 2020. There is no cap to how much training SEPs can sign up for. For example, a self-employed private hire car or bus driver who spends 10 full days of training in a month can receive $800 of training allowance that month.

The STSS is administered by NTUC’s e2i. Applications have already started since 1 April 2020. SEPs can refer to NTUC’s website for more details. We encourage all SEPs to tap on this training support.

Mr Speaker, during these difficult times, it is also important for us to pay special attention to another vulnerable group – our low-wage workers. Many, such as our cleaners and security officers, are critical to the provision of essential services during this COVID-19 pandemic.

At Budget 2020, we announced that low-wage workers on Workfare will receive a Workfare Special Payment (WSP). They would receive an additional 20% of their Workfare payout for work done in 2019, with a minimum payment of $100. This was to be paid in November.

We will enhance WSP to step up support for our low-wage workers, including SEPs, earning up to $2,000 per month in 2019. They will receive an enhanced WSP of $3,000 each, fully in cash. CPF Board will pay eligible Workfare recipients two payouts of $1,500 earlier, in July and October this year. There is no need to apply. Eligible recipients will be notified and paid automatically by the CPF Board.

Lower wage workers will continue to receive additional support through the enhanced Workfare Income Supplement (WIS). The qualifying income ceiling and maximum annual payouts have both gone up since January 2020. More workers can benefit from greater Workfare support of up to $4,000 a year.

In his speech yesterday, Member Pritam Singh spoke about adopting "living wage". In times like these, no "minimum wage" or "living wage" system can help low-wage workers. When there is no work, there is no salary, there is no minimum wage to talk about when firms are unable to pay for their low-wage workers.

So, Workfare is the reason why the Government can calibrate the 20% additional wage top-up and the $3,000 special payment, or any other wage support needed for later, for our low-wage workers who are vulnerable and who need our support. This, on top of Jobs Support Scheme that we are providing to companies. So, we complement the approach with the Progressive Wage Model for our cleaners, our security officers and landscape workers. Unlike minimum wage or living wage, we take a multi-layered approach to support our low-wage workers, and which is effective especially in these times of need.

As the impact on our economy deepens, more firms may close. The Short-Term Relief Fund today provides financial help to low-wage workers whose employers are unable to pay them wages due to financial difficulties or business failure. Since 1 April this year, we have increased the support from the fund, from up to one month’s salary, capped at $1,000 today, to up to two months’ salary, capped at $4,600, depending on the worker’s income. To help more workers, we have extended the coverage of the fund beyond the low-wage workers to cover half of the workforce.

While we look out for our local workers, it is just as important that we take good care of our foreign workers. Some Members highlighted the media coverage that conditions in the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol were poor. MOM last inspected the dormitory on 4 March 2020 and found that the dormitory was clean and the conditions were found to be satisfactory.

As Members would all know now, as a result of the evolving COVID-19 situation, the Ministry of Health gazetted the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol and Westlite Toh Guan Dormitory as isolation areas two days ago.

We acknowledge the challenges at the start to prepare the living areas for isolation while quarantine was going on. Mr Speaker, these are not normal times, and while not ideal, the dorm conditions, admittedly, could have been upkept better during this transition. We appreciate the workers’ patience and cooperation, and will continue to improve the conditions for the residents of the dormitories. I would like to assure Singaporeans that MOM is coordinating efforts to ensure that the needs and well-being of our foreign workers residing at both dormitories are well taken care of.

Workers that had close contact with the confirmed cases have already been separately quarantined. MOH has also set up medical posts on-site to assess and treat workers who are unwell. They will be relocated and housed separately from their usual room-mates.

This is an unprecedented incident that the Government is managing, and MOM officers and our partner NGO, the Migrant Workers' Centre, have been working round-the-clock with the dormitory operators and our partners to prioritise the well-being of workers who remain healthy. This includes ensuring the timely supply of food and stepping up hygiene management, as a result of extended hours of stay by the workers in the dormitories.

Minister Iswaran, Member of Parliament Murali and I visited Westlite Papan dormitory last weekend to assure our foreign workers that these heightened measures of safe distancing are to protect everyone and that we will do our best to work with employers to take care of their welfare.

I had also visited Sungei Tengah Lodge dormitory on the same evening as MOH announced that a COVID-19 cluster was found in the dormitory. Understandably, they were anxious to know what arrangements would be made to protect them. Top of their concerns was whether they would continue to get paid. Second, what measures will the dorms put in place to ensure their safety and protection. They too have families at home who depend on their salaries here.

With Deputy Prime Minister Heng’s announcement of the foreign worker levy waiver and rebate measures, we can now give our foreign workers greater assurance that their employers should be able to continue to pay for their salaries, provide accommodation and food. I strongly urge employers to pass the Budget support to their workers and help us to keep them cared for and motivated during this period.

Our self-employed persons, lower-wage workers and foreign workers play an important role in our economy and in building our nation. In this uncertain period, it is important that we provide them with greater certainty and support. The MOM will help them overcome this difficult period so that we can all emerge stronger after this crisis.

Mr Speaker, allow me to share how we will support workers and employers in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Last Friday, the Prime Minister spoke on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore. We had to make the difficult decision to implement additional safe distancing measures for one month to act as a "circuit breaker”.

The temporary closure of most workplaces, except for essential services and key economic sectors, takes effect today. It will impact our workers and businesses.

We stand in solidarity with businesses and workers and will get through this together. Our top priority is to protect the livelihoods of our workers. The enhanced Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will help businesses retain and pay their workers.

With the assurance of the enhanced JSS, we urge businesses to communicate clearly to their employees on their work and pay arrangements for the next few weeks.

As I shared in my English speech earlier, we will ensure that all vulnerable worker segments, such as self-employed persons (SEPs) and lower-wage workers, receive extensive support to tide through this period.

The SEP Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) will provide direct cash assistance to SEPs with less means and lack family support.

Eligible Singaporean SEPs will receive quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each, or $9,000 in total. We expect SIRS to automatically benefit about 100,000 SEPs. SIRS will go to those SEPs most in need and there is no need for most SEPs to apply. We will also support SEPs in their training efforts. The new SEP Training Support Scheme (STSS) provides a training allowance for SEPs who take up SkillsFuture courses and other selected training programmes.

This will help defray SEPs' daily expenses. The STSS has been extended till the end of the year, and the hourly training allowance increased from $7.50 to $10 per hour, with effect from 1 May 2020. There is no cap to how much training SEPs can sign up for. So, an SEP like freelancers, taxi drivers or private hire car drivers, who joins a full-time course, which is 8 hours for 10 days for instance, will receive an allowance of $800 per month. The advantage is that the SEP can enhance his skills while getting an allowance, during the downtime in this current economic climate.

We will also help our lower wage workers as well. They will receive a Workfare Special Payment of $3,000, fully in cash over two tranches. The Workfare Income Supplement has also been enhanced, with increases in qualifying income ceiling and maximum annual payouts since January 2020.

We have also strengthened relief for those whose employers cannot pay their salaries because of financial difficulties or business failure.

Together with immediate financial assistance from the Temporary Relief Fund, COVID-19 Support Grant, as well as other support from the enhanced Care and Support Package such as grocery vouchers, service and conservancy charges rebates (S&CC), we will support our SEPs and lower wage workers through this crisis together. There are those amongst us who may have difficulties getting a job in this challenging job market due to the COVID-19 situation.

The Government understands their situation and help will be provided for those looking for employment in this difficult job market. The Government will actively facilitate the matching of jobseekers to firms who have immediate vacancies during this period, be it for a new job, or a second job to supplement income.

The SGUnited Jobs Initiative will create about 10,000 jobs over the next one year that will come from both the public and private sectors. In these unusual times when safe distancing is key, job fairs would have to take on different forms too – through the use of virtual technology.

The first SGUnited Virtual Career Fair is currently ongoing. As at 2 April, there are about 3,900 vacancies available, and more than 5,400 jobseekers have applied for SGUnited Jobs. We have gotten good interest from employers and will keep building up the pool of jobs with jobs that are immediately available.

The M3 network is also playing its part. Through two virtual career fairs hosted last March and April, MENDAKI SENSE has already received over 700 job applications and are further facilitating job placements.

They also recently launched a dedicated helpline to help those who require assistance in navigating the online portal. MENDAKI SENSE will also help job-seekers find employment through the CariKerja app and will continue to share information on available jobs identified through multiple channels and various initiatives, including those under the SGUnited Jobs initiative.

MENDAKI SENSE and other self-help groups are also working with government agencies, such as EDB and ESG to link job-seekers up with companies looking to fill vacancies. Among our jobseekers, we are particularly concerned about our graduating cohorts from ITE, our polytechnics and universities. It is a tough time to enter the job market.

The SGUnited Traineeships programme will provide employers with support to offer traineeships instead for fresh graduates. These traineeships will help our ITE, polytechnic and university graduates – they are all first-time jobseekers – to further develop their skills professionally and further boost their employability.

To better help our workers, we will need to support companies to overcome the immediate challenges. Apart from very significant support through the JSS, the Government will also help with other business costs and ease cash flow.

For example, MOM will waive the foreign worker levies in April, and will also provide a one-off rebate of levies paid. SMEs will be given three additional months to make foreign worker levy payments. Lastly, the Government will help businesses with access to credit.

Partners such as our trade associations and chambers, also play critical roles in helping our Malay businesses. For example, the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SMCCI) has set up a task force to explore how its members can better leverage on measures from the Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets.

They have set up an emergency hotline for members seeking targeted assistance and will organize engagement sessions to gain a better understanding on members’ concerns and to see how best SMCCI can help its members. SMCCI will also support its members in their engagements with stakeholders and landlords.

Mr Speaker, in this difficult time, we are helping Singaporeans to stay employed. We will continue to pay particular attention to our SEPs as well as lower wage workers. For those looking for employment, we will help facilitate their efforts in seeking employment. Businesses and workers alike can take this time to adapt – businesses to transform and Singaporeans to further improve our skills.

We carry a heavy burden, but we will all bear them together, and emerge stronger from this experience.

Mr Speaker: Minister Desmond Lee.

12.55 pm

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Speaker, not long after the SARS crisis, I was posted to the Ministry of Health as a legal officer. One of the things we worked on with colleagues was pandemic preparation. Among other things, we helped prepare and vet agreements for public health stockpiling efforts. And in 2008, we worked with then Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan on amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act to ensure we had the tools to implement important public health measures to protect people and save lives.

One of these measures was safe distancing. It is a very extensive and wide-ranging provision, requiring people to stay home, closing places, restricting movement, prohibiting events and gatherings, to stem the transmission of disease.

Minister Khaw said in Parliament in 2008 that, "invoking such a provision has serious implications as it will cause major disruptions to the businesses and the daily lives of Singaporeans. Such a decision will not be taken lightly."

He also said very clearly to the House that public health measures are not the role of just the Government but really involve every person and the entire community.

I remember discussing with my colleagues then, as we were working on the drafts, that if we ever had to implement extensive safe distancing, it would be at a very critical juncture, and that it would only work if everyone understood the gravity of the measure and played his or her part.

These are measures we prepare for but wish we would never need to use. But here we are today, drawing on many of these measures as part of a major circuit breaker to keep Singaporeans safe and to save lives. So let us all play our part.

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen the severe impact it has had on ordinary people's lives. Public health measures to "flatten the curve" are necessary, but they impose a huge toll on people – loss of jobs and livelihoods, uncertainty, social isolation, fear, psychological distress.

This is the public health fight of our lifetime and my colleagues at MSF, ECDA, NCSS and in the social sector have stepped up to play our part in this wide-ranging battle. These included tapping on existing schemes such as ComCare and the Courage Fund. But we have also had to quickly roll out new support schemes. The Temporary Relief Fund for April started last Wednesday and the COVID-19 Support Grant will start from May.

We are making adjustments along the way in response to feedback as well as operational and situational constraints. We seek your patience and understanding as my colleagues at the frontline are doing the best they can to help Singaporeans and residents in need.

I also thank all who have stepped forward to volunteer and donate. In this exceptional time, we are encouraged by your generosity, spirit and support.

For example, visiting our Social Service Offices (SSOs) and Community Centres (CCs), I have come across colleagues and volunteers who have been personally hard-hit by this crisis but who continue to soldier on to serve others who need help.

I received a message last night from a couple. They are self-employed persons. They described how all their jobs and assignments had been abruptly cancelled and have had no income for some time. But their only ask is, "Since we will have no work for the foreseeable future, we would like to see how we can take this time to do something meaningful using the skills that we have to connect people, helping them to ease their fear and loneliness. We want to help but don't know how we can go about doing it."

There are many others who have stepped forward – silent heroes who are making a positive difference during this crisis.

Let me give an update on some of the things that we have done and what more we will do on the social sector. The economic impact of COVID-19 is wide-ranging, affecting many beyond the low-income. Ten days ago, the Deputy Prime Minister launched the Resilience Budget. Under this Budget, MSF has put up two new schemes to help lower and middle income households, who have lost their jobs or a significant proportion of their incomes because of the crisis.

Last Wednesday, MSF rolled out the Temporary Relief Fund (TRF) for those who need immediate assistance in April. This is a one-off cash disbursement of $500. We have received more than 100,000 applications so far. We are doing our best to process them quickly, accurately, and responsibly. With the latest circuit breaker measures, we anticipate that more will need help. We will also need to implement greater safe distancing measures, at our SSOs and CCs.

Yesterday, thanks to our partnership with GovTech, we launched an online application system. Applicants only need to fill up a short form, and attach some form of proof of income or job loss, such as a letter of retrenchment or payslips. Those who have absolutely no documentation, can make a legal declaration on the form. We received 27,000 online applications yesterday. Applicants can also download application forms from the website, fill them at home and drop it off later at any SSO or CC without having to queue.

Those who have lost their jobs due to retrenchment or have had their employment contract terminated as a result of this crisis, will be supported by the COVID-19 Support Grant (CSG), which has a longer runway. It will provide a grant of $800 per month, for three months, while applicants participate in a job search or retraining programme.

Those who had applied for TRF earlier and had given us their consent to be assessed for the COVID-19 Support Grant, do not need to put in a separate application. They do not need to visit the SSO again and the SSO will contact them if they require further information.

For self-employed persons, MOM will also be implementing the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) from May.

In parallel, we are also adjusting existing schemes and processes to accommodate the dynamic situation. We have simplified our ComCare processes for lower income households who qualify. They can submit supporting documents even via email.

Longer ComCare support is also provided for new cases – typically around six months.

SSO officers work with grassroots volunteers to provide practical support, for example, to elderly residents who are quarantined and need help to purchase groceries.

The Silver Generation Office has arranged for meal deliveries for seniors who live alone and have mobility issues and communicated COVID-19 precautionary measures to help keep them safe.

For Singaporeans who are homeless or rough sleeping, our Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers (PEERS) network continues its work. With 28 partner organisations, Government departments, religious and secular organisations and uniform groups, they have been reaching out regularly and stepped up measures during this process.

During the crisis, some of our Safe Sound Sleeping Places have gone 24/7 to enable homeless persons and rough sleepers who need help to stay in shelter during the circuit breaker.

We have seen an outpouring of support from companies, unions, volunteer groups, grassroots and religious groups. Many have also stepped forward in their personal capacity. The Community Chest has received more than $8 million of donations to The Courage Fund, to support our healthcare and frontline workers, and lower income families affected by COVID-19. We have disbursed grants to a frontline worker who contracted the disease. We have also reached out to family members of the others who passed on due to the virus and will be disbursing the support to some of them by this week.

As a community, we also want to enhance our support to our social service agencies. Many have been working hard to help vulnerable persons, but their donations and fund-raising efforts have been significantly diminished, at a time when they really need to find new ways and bring in new technologies to continue to reach out, to assure and to support vulnerable people in these difficult times.

So, the National Council for Social Service or NCSS, will be setting up a new fund, The Invictus Fund, which will be built up from private donations. This Fund will channel private donations to Social Service Agencies or SSAs, that deliver critical services to vulnerable groups in our community. The additional support will help our SSAs maintain their operations, make technology investments to better serve their users, and emerge stronger through this period. MSF and NCSS will share more details on this fund soon.

In addition to financial support, NCSS is also working closely with our SSAs to help them with business continuity and technology adoption, so that those providing critical services can continue to do so remotely during this time.

Under the Solidarity Budget that Deputy Prime Minister announced yesterday, adult Singaporeans will receive $600 of cash support in April. For those who are better off, individuals and families who do not need this cash payment from the Solidarity Budget, and are considering donating them, you can do so to families that you know who are in need or to one of these funds or to donate it to charities through Giving.sg.

Mr Speaker, COVID-19 is a test of our resilience on many fronts – economic, social, health and psychological. Younger Singaporeans may not have encountered a crisis of this magnitude, while older Singaporeans are reminded of tough times early on in our history. Our daily routines have been sharply curtailed and many have had their livelihoods threatened. Such stressors and tensions, if prolonged, can have wider repercussions on relationships, marriages, families and communities. Hence, beyond financial and material support, we must shore up our own emotional and psychological well-being and enmesh this sense of community, that we are all in this together.

We will set up a National CARE Hotline to offer emotional support to anyone who faces stress, are anxious, or simply need someone to talk to. This hotline will be manned by Government psychologists, counsellors and other trained personnel. But we would like to make a call for more support. If you are a registered professional – a psychologist or counsellor or trained to provide counselling on marital and family issues, please join us.

Some SSAs have already come forward, stepped forward to offer their professional resources, to come under this National CARE hotline umbrella, and we are grateful to them for stepping forward. Already this crisis has taught us invaluable lessons – shown us areas that we will continue to work on, long after COVID-19 is over. We will take a hard look at these areas and also position ourselves to seize opportunities when the thunderstorm starts to clear. How we organise ourselves and support one another, use technology to stay connected, stay healthy, keep isolated if needed, but not lonely.

I am encouraged by many who have gone beyond the call of duty, and looked beyond their own interests and difficulties to help others: colleagues in our pre-schools and social service agencies, and volunteers who, at short notice, helped us to roll out new schemes on the ground to help large numbers of people.

This is our strength as a society and people, and we will get through this together. This test will be our legacy to the generations after us.

1.09 pm

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary Minister for Social and Family Development (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, within a span of three months, we have seen the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Singaporeans are now grappling with the economic impact of the pandemic. Many are facing the grim realities of pay cuts, job losses and business downturn. Amidst these uncertainties, many are worried and naturally will ask – how long will this last, and how will I provide for my family. We hear your worries and concerns.

I would like to share some of the efforts by MSF and our partner agencies to help the more vulnerable Singaporeans and residents. I will also highlight specific help measures for the Malay/Muslim community to help them get through these uncertain times. Allow me to continue my speech in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, the Government is concerned for those who are badly affected by the economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. My Ministry is implementing several assistance schemes. Amongst them is the Temporary Relief Fund (TRF) to help lower and middle income Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, who have lost their jobs or experienced at least a 30% pay cut due to COVID-19. This one-off assistance of $500 will at least provide immediate relief to their families’ daily needs. Within four days of commencing applications on 1 April 2020, more than 100,000 applications were received for the TRF support scheme.

Those who lost their jobs as a result of the economic slowdown due to COVID-19, can tap on the COVID-19 Support Grant from 1 May 2020.This grant provides assistance of $800 a month for 3 months. At the same time, recipients will also be given employment assistance or training support, or both, from the WSG or e2i.

I am moved and proud to see the community come together to contribute to the Courage Fund to help those affected by COVID-19. The donation amount has now reached more than $8 million. This fund supports healthcare workers and those in the frontline. This fund is also given to lower income households that lost their income because their family member was infected by COVID-19, had to be quarantined, or received the Stay at Home Notice or Leave of Absence. Lower income households can now apply for help from the Courage Fund at the Social Service Offices (SSOs). Details of the various schemes under the Courage Fund can be found at the National Council of Social Services’ (NCSS) website.

MSF has also stepped up assistance for the low income group who are directly affected by COVID-19.

The Social Service Offices (SSOs) have reached out to more than 6,400 Singaporeans who are quarantined or given the Stay at Home Notice, who may need ComCare, or other kinds of assistance.

The SSOs also partner the grassroots to purchase or deliver groceries to those undergoing quarantine or given stay at home notice, but do not have any family, friends or neighbours who can help them.

MSF has also simplified the application process for ComCare assistance, for those undergoing quarantine or stay at home notice, who need assistance. For instance, these applicants can submit their supporting documents electronically by email.

Aside from measures to help those directly affected by COVID-19, we have also enhanced support for other groups who apply for ComCare financial assistance. Those who are eligible to receive the ComCare Short to Medium-Term Assistance will receive help for a longer period of at least 6 months. This is meant to stabilise the family's financial situation, while their family members look for jobs or retraining opportunities.

During these trying times, it is important that we do whatever that is necessary to not only protect ourselves, but also those around us. The community must adapt to new social norms. This includes avoiding crowds and mass gatherings in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.

For those who plan to tie the knot in the coming months, we know that you are disappointed and may have to make several adjustments to your plans. Therefore, ROMM will give fee exemptions to couples who wish to change and re-register their solemnisation dates. Affected couples can contact ROMM if they wish to change their solemnisation date due to COVID -19. In March 2020, some 49 couples have received fee exemptions from ROMM.

While we work hard to stop the spread of COVID-19, we must ensure that our children's education is not affected. This is important especially to students from lower income families who may now feel more pressure due to their families’ financial problems.

Students who were previously ineligible for MENDAKI's Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) or its interest-free Study Loan, can now re-apply, if there are any changes to their family's income due to COVID-19. MENDAKI will also contact students who are receiving 50% or 75% subsidy for them to reapply for a higher subsidy, if there are changes to their families' income.

There are also ITE students who had to work part time to support themselves, but lost their jobs due to COVID-19. For such students, MENDAKI will provide financial assistance for three months. They will receive a $10 allowance for each per school day to pay for their transport and meal costs.

This will hopefully ease the pressure on these students so that they can focus their attention towards their studies. Around 2,000 students will receive this support. Apart from ITE students, MENDAKI will also provide this allowance to students from the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) who are mentors to ITE students in MENDAKI's Empowerment Programme.

One lesson we learnt from COVID-19 is how we need to take care of one another and stand united. I was heartened to see many Malay/Muslims coming forward to support Singapore’s effort to deal with COVID-19 and help those in need.

Malay/Muslim organisations are important pillars of support. I was pleased that AMP has announced its Temporary Assistance Package 2.0 or TAP 2.0 that costs $100,000 to help workers whose family income was affected by COVID-19.

Another Malay/Muslim organisation that has come forward to help is the Singapore Muslim Women’s Association (PPIS) who will establish the PPIS WIN Fund for women in need and those who left their jobs to care for their aged parents or their children, during this COVID-19 situation.

The Rahmatan Lil Alamin Fund too has also worked with the mosques to raise more that $150,000 for the Courage Fund, which I mentioned earlier.

Despite the many challenges that COVID-19 crisis has inflicted on our country, it has also shown our people’s caring side, and when we are united, no Singaporean will be left behind.

Mr Speaker, COVID-19 tests the resilience of a society. It affects our source of income, our daily lives, the way we practice our religion and how we socialise with one another. However, it will not rob us of our fighting spirit. Each individual plays an important part in the fight against COVID-19. No effort is too small. In fact simple things like taking care of our personal hygiene and having social responsibility are defences to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Let us ignite this fighting spirit, help those who are affected and stand as one in the battle against COVID-19. Remember, divided we fall, united we stand.

1.24 pm

Mr Mohamed Irshad (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, in my speech in the Budget 2020 debate on 27 February 2020, I concluded by saying "a hallmark of Singapore's Budgets is that in good times, we are prudent and sensible. In tough times, we demonstrate our mettle and sensitivity." The Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets are apt testimonials of that truth.

The past few weeks have been a time of deep reflection for me. As one of the relatively younger members of this House, I was in my early teens during the SARS outbreak. When H1N1 came to the fore, I was serving my National Service. Despite the anxiety, life did not grind to a halt in those days. We did not have aeroplanes parked on runways, lives disrupted and humanity coming to a standstill as we are seeing today around the world.

I believe I speak for my generation when I say that COVID-19 has been a sobering experience and a reality check. The fragile nature of life has been made manifest once again. Seismic shifts labelled mildly as "new norms", are being charted. I believe it is not going to be "business as usual" when "normal service resumes". Frankly, it can no longer be business as usual and this shall form the crux of what I am about to say.

Mr Speaker, my speech will revolve around three themes: gratitude, fear and hope. Allow me to begin by highlighting three groups of people who, I believe, deserve our nation's gratitude.

First, like all Members in this House, I express my deepest appreciation to our front-line workers. These are our doctors and nurses who work tirelessly round the clock to treat our people. These are our civil servants, policemen and soldiers who do contact tracing, manning our borders and to ensure the smooth delivery of services in these trying times. These are our overworked and unsung heroes.

Next, I ask this House to remember the foreign workers in Singapore. During this difficult time, these heroes have chosen to be away from their families in order to fulfil our critical manpower needs. When Malaysia instituted the MCO, they came on such short notice that they had barely had time to pack and say goodbye to their loved ones. This group of workers are often invisible. Three weeks ago, I met a lady who shared with me that she was working as a cleaner in Singapore and she left her four-month-old infant with her sister to come to Singapore overnight and to be here. And they are our cleaners and construction workers, delivery riders, security guards and people who provide essential services. Without them, our city would quite literally grind to a halt.

Lastly, I extend my appreciation to the citizens who have stepped up to assist in times of crisis – from the individuals who help to ensure that our workers have shelter to our drivers who are committed to transport our healthcare staff to and from their workplace. Sir, these individuals have come together in this national effort to contribute what little they have.

Indeed, one encouraging trend is individuals mobilising to express their appreciation for the people around them. Just yesterday, I am aware that the students in SMU Law School as well as other student groups sent care packages to our frontliners.

Our nation has set the “gold standard” not only in how we have dealt with this crisis, but also in how we have treated our people. This effort is only possible because of the dedicated service, immense sacrifice and the resolute single-mindedness of our people. Sir, we salute them all.

Next, I would like to focus on my second theme of fear, which I sense is an undercurrent permeating our society. In these tumultuous times, our fellow Singaporeans are going through tremendous stress. Let me raise three concerns in particular.

First, our workers are understandably concerned about their livelihood. With the partial lockdown or circuit breaker measures in place, the drastic reduction in demand worldwide, many businesses will have little to no revenue in the coming months. While this Budget promises a maximum of over $3,000 per worker in wage subsidies, my question is simply how do we ensure that these subsidies are passed along to the workers? Does the Government intend to credit subsidies directly to our workers? Will we be passing a Bill mandating that employers pass these subsidies along? This is a key concern.

Next, I will speak about the fears expressed by our VWOs and their beneficiaries. Our VWOs are an important component of our social safety net. They ensure that our fellow Singaporeans who have fallen on hard times are clothed, fed and generally able to begin rebuilding their lives. Other VWOs make it a point to befriend our elderly, bring them for their medical appointments and generally care for their needs.

Sir, one thing which all our VWOs have in common is their reliance on donations and volunteers. With the current economic downturn, many have expressed their worry at not being able to continue servicing their beneficiaries. I wish to ask this House how do we intend to ensure that this crucial component of our social safety net does not disappear simply because of this pandemic. While this sickness will eventually pass, I worry that a massive loss of capacity in this sector would leave us with yet another crisis on our hands. Could we also explore – in addition to the Invictus Fund that Minister Desmond Lee announced earlier – increasing the 250% tax deduction for qualifying donations made to IPCs to encourage more donations?

Lastly – this is a very personal concern for me – I fear for that the mental health of our fellow Singaporeans in these difficult times. AWARE has reported a massive increase in the number of individuals seeking assistance from their domestic violence helpline. May I suggest that we commit to increasing the scope of support and monitoring for our at-risk households? People silently suffering in abusive households, struggling with unemployment or financial distress are the hardest hit in these trying times. We are in this fight against COVID-19 for the long haul and building up the mental well-being of our society is critical in enabling us to respond with resilience. I wonder if more can be done to ensure no one suffers in silence, to ensure that it is not just the vocal minority that are heard, but the silent majority as well.

Ultimately, fear is a natural human emotion. If properly managed, I believe that we will emerge stronger as a nation. Sir, we have two options with fear the word F-E-A-R. We can either “Forget Everything And Run” or “Face Everything And Rise”. The Singapore DNA is all about the latter. This leads me to my final point on Hope.

Mr Speaker, perspective is always an important thing. Here, I am hopeful because COVID-19 is not just a challenge. The circumstances today offer a perfect opportunity to consider what a future Singapore will look like. Here, I speak of Hope.

Firstly, I am hopeful that this period will be a period of reflection that will allow us to see the importance of environmental sustainability. I am sure Members of this House are no doubt aware of the impact which the global shutting of businesses has had on the world. In China, pollution dropped by over a third. In India, the smog which used to cover the cities has disappeared. While the extent of Singapore’s pollution is not as severe, these examples highlight the destructive impact on our environment.

COVID-19 presents us an opportunity to re-imagine our nation. More than simply relying on our obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement, I urge this House to envision a carbon neutral economy. I urge this House to consider the potential of an economy which will not harm our grandchildren. Sir, my first hope, is a proper consideration of a sustainable future.

Secondly, I hope that our House will consider the future of work. As I speak, over 75% of our nation is working from home. The old norms of doing business have quite literally disappeared overnight. Telecommuting and flexi-work arrangements are no longer exclusive to fancy tech companies. Instead, they are a necessity in this climate. I hope that this House will consider how we will institutionalise this practice when we reignite our economy. Sir, the future of work could quite literally be in our hands right now.

Additionally, I hope that we will consider the way we value each other. I began my speech by thanking our healthcare heros. However, I wish to make clear that simple platitudes, or even clapping at 8.00 pm, is not enough. I feel that the current system should be re-balanced to raise the salaries of workers in sectors absolutely critical to Singapore. To highlight, some of our nurses average only $3,000 a month despite several years of experience. Sir, we must look into this.

Ultimately, I hope that this crisis reminds all of us how important steward leadership is. From our Prime Minister, to the Multi-Ministry Task Force, to fellow Singaporeans have shown us the brand of leadership that Singapore can deliver and truly deserves. To steal a line from the Officer’s Creed: I hope that we will always serve with such honour and integrity.

This fight is far from over and each of us must act responsibly and stand resolute in overcoming COVID-19. Mr Speaker I support all three Budgets.

Mr Speaker: Leader, please proceed.

Debate resumed.

Mr Speaker: Deputy Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Members of this House for your strong encouragement and helpful suggestions at this Debate on our Solidarity Budget. Beyond this House, I thank fellow Singaporeans for supporting our frontline workers and the many thoughtful perspectives shared with me and my team.

The battle against COVID-19 is entering a critical phase. Today, we begin a period of tough pre-emptive restrictions to break the transmission chain and to head off the possibility of the outbreak escalating. Our livelihoods and our economy will be disrupted for a while, but we have to do this for our health, and the well-being of our people.

Many Members have told me how the last two months have felt like a year. So much has been happening so fast. The latest circuit breaker measures have dominated our discussions so much. It is useful for us to reinforce the importance of adhering strictly to the circuit breaker measures, but this Budget debate was originally scheduled to debate the Resilience Budget, as some Members reminded us.

So, let us remind everyone that we should look at all three Budgets – Unity, Resilience and Solidarity, and the total allocation of $160 billion. With that as a backdrop, I will round up the debate by sharing my thoughts on this crisis.

First, the nature of this crisis, and how it differs from past crises faced by Singapore and the world.

Second, what we must do now, even as we speak, to stay united and stay resilient.

Third, how our people and our nation, can emerge stronger when the storm passes.

Lastly, I will conclude with some reflections on the critical importance of good governance.

First, the nature of this crisis. Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked what is the nature of this current crisis that we are facing now and how different it is from the past crises which Singapore has faced. These are very important questions. Almost everyone in this House described the current crisis as “unprecedented”.

Indeed, COVID-19 has been unparalleled in its spread and impact on the medical, economic, financial and other fronts. It is astounding how a microscopic, single-stranded RNA virus, of less than 200 nanometres in diameter, has wreaked such devastation around the world. Medical experts are divided on how long this crisis will last.

Some hope that the distribution of COVID-19 outbreaks are displaying seasonal patterns, and that warmer weather could suppress the virus. Or new ways are found to enable the quick detection of infection, minimise its spread and effect. Others have cautioned that the virus could be cyclical. Even if its spread was slowed in the next few months, it could return in the form of a stronger variant when temperatures fall in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

The global scientific community is racing to find a vaccine. Even at its swiftest the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that we are at least 12 to 18 months away from a viable vaccine. We must therefore do our utmost now – take our circuit breaker measures very seriously, and minimise physical contact among ourselves.

On the economic front, even the most skilful and experienced forecasters have had to repeatedly revise their economic forecasts. The IMF has downgraded its 2020 global growth forecast three times since January 2019. The IMF is releasing a new World Economic Outlook this month and has flagged that a further downgrade is imminent. It expects a recession at least as bad as during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

The reality is that no one really knows how badly economies will be hurt and how long they will take to recover.

I was serving as Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and learnt much about the root and nature of the crisis from the many discussions that Senior Minister Lee and also at that time Prime Minister Goh had with global experts.

And during the Global Financial Crisis, I was the Managing Director of MAS, at the frontline of a very severe meltdown in global financial markets. This Global Financial Crisis was different from the Asian Financial Crisis, as it originated from the financial system of the most advanced economies – in the US and EU. It was so severe, and the financial system so interconnected that it brought down century-old banks in the US and Europe. Both crises were severe but the root causes were largely financial mismanagement, which were then amplified through an interconnected financial plumbing and the real economy. But targeted solutions subsequently restored confidence.

This time round, the problem is much more complex. Almost every country’s most urgent priority is to slow the outbreak of the virus. To achieve that, half of humanity are now in lockdown.

In the Asian and Global Crises, airlines were still flying, and many activities continued. The sharp fall in aggregate demand this time is severe. Financial markets and the global economy today are far more integrated and interdependent than they were a decade ago. The global supply chain is much more integrated. Action by one country to contain the outbreak disrupts the global supply chain.

The effect of the outbreak is a sharp reduction in global aggregate demand and a widespread disruption to the global supply chain, and this is sending shock waves across the world. Furthermore, the political consensus in many advanced economies is fraying, making decisive responses and coordinated action much harder.

Globally, the situation will get worse before it gets better. But do not get me wrong – I am not a pessimist. There is hope that as the crisis deepens, people around the world will find the need to come together and be single-minded about winning this battle.

As Mr Murali Pillai and Mr Ong Teng Koon indicated yesterday, this is a global crisis that demands global cooperation. I am glad that multilateral institutions – the WHO, IMF, World Bank, as well as the G20, have stepped up to coordinate and manage the multiple dimensions of this crisis. The world must come together and do its utmost to avert catastrophic consequences.

For Singapore, we have to contribute our views and do our part. We are not be a superpower with immense resources, but we should support multilateral institutions in their mission, help build global consensus and do what we can to get through this crisis collectively.

Singapore is feeling the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an open and globally connected economy, we are deeply impacted by global economic shocks and the effects of border closures. Our aviation industry, for example, is entirely international. Extensive border closures has effectively brought the whole aviation sector to a standstill.

The circuit breaker measures that kick in today will have a severe impact across the whole economy. Until an effective vaccine or treatment is developed, our policies can only seek to mitigate the fall-out. It is difficult to predict when this crisis will be over. This means that we have to plan for the worst and work towards the best.

I shall now turn to the Government's priorities in tackling this crisis. In this fight against COVID-19, our top priority is saving lives, to protect Singaporeans and our families.

We have to keep the rate of infection and transmission low. This is absolutely critical. If we fail in this, our healthcare system will be overwhelmed. If overwhelmed, we will lose more lives, not just from COVID-19, but from other treatable conditions. We must do all we can to support our frontline healthcare workers.

But the more stringent the measures we put in place to keep the number of cases down, the bigger the impact on our economy, as several of you have pointed out. In the immediate term, this is a trade-off between protecting lives and protecting the economy we must all accept – not just in Singapore, but around the world. The alternative of allowing the virus to spread widely enough so that community develop herd immunity will cost too many lives and much more destruction. So let us act decisively now, accept the pain, protect lives, so that we have the strength and vitality to recover faster and thrive in the long-term.

The economy is hit on so many fronts that it is not possible to just restore the status quo. Moreover, as the most open economy in the world, injecting funds cannot counter the extensive global supply and demand shocks.

Our best response now is to build resilience – in our economy and society. That is the approach to the economic and social support in our Resilience Budget and the Solidarity Budget announced yesterday.

For our economy, we build resilience by ensuring that viable businesses are not permanently damaged, but instead, are able to preserve their capabilities to recover. We support businesses with costs, cash flow and credit. We also help affected workers bounce back and to make the best use of this downtime.

For our society, we support our people by saving jobs, providing cash support and easing their cash flow needs, especially of the most vulnerable. As Mr Ong Teng Koon mentioned, we are seeking to ensure that all of us pull through this together and that we leave no one behind.

To this end, while saving lives is our topmost priority, saving jobs comes next. When many people are out of a job, there is a major cost to our individual lives and to society. For individuals, this means depriving them of the chance to gain experience and grow. Minister Josephine Teo set this out well, when she shared why we started the SGUnited Traineeship Scheme for first time job-seekers and students who are graduating from our ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities as well as those returning from overseas.

For companies, if workers are laid off, it means they will become less competitive. Across the economy, the failures of many firms will disrupt the supply chain and drag down the broader economy later. Hence, we have provided high support for wages, by enhancing and extending the Jobs Support Scheme in the Resilience Budget, with a further significant enhancement for the month of April in the Solidarity Budget.

Some Members have also asked if we can do more to help, such as Ms Yip Pin Xiu, for the sports sector. Rest assured that we will continue to monitor the situation closely and do more, as and when we need to, to save jobs.

We can save more jobs, if we have more resilient firms. To help viable firms stay resilient, we have provided support for their cashflow, cost and credit. For this support to work well, it is crucial that all do their part and I am glad many have done so.

On the cash flow front, the Government can provide the support through schemes such as the Jobs Support Scheme. However, the Jobs Support Scheme will fail if firms take a short-term view, pocket the payouts in one month and retrench their workers the next month. I urge businesses to take a longer term view – retain and upskill your workers to accelerate your transformation for the future economy.

In the same vein, the National Wages Council with the support of the tripartite partners, has called for firms to reduce non-wage costs and tap Government support, before resorting to retrenchments. As Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and his union leaders emphasised repeatedly – firms should cut costs to save jobs and not cut jobs to save costs. Otherwise, firms would have to start from scratch in re-hiring and retraining and may not be able to seize opportunities once the economy recovers.

Ms Jessica Tan and Ms Sylvia Lim asked how we ensure employers receiving JSS payouts continue to retain workers. By design, employers who reduce their employees' wages or put their employees on no-pay leave during this period will have their JSS payouts reduced correspondingly. Conversely, employers who had already done so before the announcements can still bring their workers back onto the payroll. As long as you pay your employees wages and make the necessary CPF contributions, you will receive the corresponding JSS payouts for the relevant months.

MOM and the tripartite partners have released an advisory yesterday to guide employers on salary and leave arrangements that takes into consideration the substantial support from JSS. We will continue to monitor the situation closely with our tripartite partners and take action where needed.

NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked if we can flow the assistance to firms even more quickly. Let me assure you that we are trying our best. Agencies like CPF Board and IRAS have redoubled their efforts, working through nights and weekends, to expedite the payouts. Firms on GIRO and PayNow will now start receiving the first JSS payout next week, while those on cheques will start receiving a week later.

Mr Speaker, Sir, may I draw Members' attention to the handouts which describe when businesses and households will receive payouts, please. There will be support flowing every month for the next six months.

The Public Service is also working towards making faster payments to businesses supplying goods and services to the Government. We have brought forward the scheduled due date of more than 1,000 payment vouchers, by an average of 11 days. This amounts to more than $600 million, benefiting close to 300 businesses, mostly SMEs. I encourage businesses that are in better financial positions, to consider making similar gestures for their suppliers, many of which are SMEs. By keeping your supply chain intact, your company will also benefit.

On the cost front, I am heartened to see some property owners passing on the 100% Property Tax Rebate fully to their tenants, by reducing rentals. Some property owners, such as Mapletree Commercial Trust, have even gone further, by giving their tenants more than the Property Tax Rebate that they receive, to share the burden during this time of uncertainty.

Despite these commendable moves, I have received feedback from tenants that some property owners have yet to pass on the Property Tax Rebate to them. This is why we are imposing a legal obligation on property owners to unconditionally pass on to their tenants the full amount of Property Tax Rebate that is attributable to the tenanted properties.

Some property owners commented that such an obligation penalises them. But this move does not make property owners worse-off – in fact it staves off rental terminations and keeps their premises rented out. With a Property Tax Rebate of up to 100%, property owners pay less or even no property tax for the year. Property owners should pass the full tax savings on to their tenants, as the Property Tax Rebate is intended to benefit the tenants.

As Chef Willin Low put it, "Landlords and tenants need each other, like a garden and its plants. When times are good, the garden flourishes with flowers. It is now time for landlords to help tenants so we can wait together for the sunshine to come again."

With this move, I trust that all property owners will do your part, support your tenants and give additional help to tenants who need it. The Government is leading by example, by giving a rental waiver of up to three months for Government-owned properties. This helps about 36,000 tenants.

On the credit front, I enhanced financing support for enterprises in our Resilience Budget and introduced further enhancements yesterday to manage the uncertainty in April, as part of the Solidarity Budget. I am glad that MAS, together with financial institutions, has introduced a package of measures to help SMEs with temporary cash flow difficulties. This is a concern raised by a number of Members, including Mr Murali Pillai, Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Ms Foo Mee Har and Prof Lim Sun Sun. I spoke about these measures in my Ministerial Statement yesterday.

I am glad to see the industry step up and come together to support their customers through this difficult time. I urge businesses to use this support on the 3Cs – Cash, Cost and Credit, to keep things going, while they do a stock-take and make adjustments for what could be a prolonged downturn ahead. I also urge businesses to use the support wisely and responsibly, even as we provide many forms of help in a broad-based manner.

Let me now touch on resilient workers. Our Resilience Budget also focuses on building resilience in our workers. The best form of support is continued employment, both in the immediate and long term. But if your livelihood is affected, we are here to help you through difficult times, to bounce back when conditions improve.

For employees, beyond subsidising wages through the Jobs Support Scheme, we have also provided direct help for workers' training and upskilling, by enhancing course fee subsidies and absentee payroll. For those who lose their jobs, we have stepped up our efforts to help workers find new jobs especially where there are emerging trends, such as through the SGUnited Jobs initiative, which Minister Josephine Teo spoke about yesterday.

For those who experience hardship, we also provide strong social support through new schemes such as the Temporary Relief Fund and COVID-19 Support Grant, as well as through existing schemes like ComCare.

For self-employed persons, we will provide direct cash assistance through the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme, or SIRS.

In implementing this new scheme, we have heard many suggestions such as that from Ms Joan Pereira and Mr Dennis Tan, to improve its auto-inclusion criteria. With the revised eligibility criteria I announced in my Ministerial Statement, a total of about 100,000 self-employed persons will benefit. I also encourage all self-employed persons to make full use of the SEP Training Support Scheme to train and upskill, during this period.

Several Members like Mr Png Eng Huat, Mr Pritam Singh and Assoc Prof Walter Theseira have asked for the Government to relook our approach for support for our low-wage workers, especially during this period. Our union Members of Parliament too, have been consistently championing the needs of our low-wage workers and actively working with the Government to uplift them. This is the right approach, because we need a combination of policies which work together, to shift the entire landscape of support for workers.

The Progressive Wage Model and Workfare, which then-Labour Chief Lim Swee Say is a strong proponent of, have uplifted low-wage workers while keeping unemployment low. Every worker is assured that he can earn more wages through skills upgrading. We continue to believe strongly in that, and have strengthened our SkillsFuture and Next Bound of SkillsFuture movements to allow for this continual progression. I have also heard Mr Henry Kwek's suggestions on sharpening this effort.

We also ensure that our workers are treated fairly by their employers, through the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). This is made possible by the strong tripartite partnership, that can be a "viable flexible companion to the rigidity of law", as mentioned by Mr Douglas Foo. This model has worked well for our society thus far, and has laid the foundation for good outcomes and trust between the Government, firms and workers over the years.

In supporting our economy, we have sought to provide holistic, integrated support, while keeping an eye on the long term. Beyond subsidising wages, we gave firms the resources to re-engineer their business operations, digitalise, retrain workers and even temporarily redeploy workers in their downtime. This is so that they can emerge stronger once the economy recovers.

Firms have responded well to this. SATS, Changi Airport's biggest ground handling and airline catering operator, is one good example. When I visited Changi Airport last week, I met several SATS employees who will be redeployed to the public and healthcare sectors.

One of them is Ms Neo Xin Yin, a Customer Service Agent, who will become an SG Clean Ambassador with the National Environment Agency. Duty Manager Mr Yazid Izkhairol will be deployed to a public hospital as a care concierge. They are not the only ones. SATS is temporarily redeploying up to 500 workers who will be retrained to support our pandemic response, as part of the SG United Jobs initiative. This is our attempt at "making the perfect match", as called for by Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Henry Kwek, who also raised the idea of short-term job creation.

The firm is also pushing ahead with R&D to improve its operations. In collaboration with TUM-CREATE, SATS is trialling AI-powered solutions for cargo handling through the SpeedCargo system. It uses an advanced 3D camera system to scan the dimensions and contents of incoming cargo, before optimising and packing them using a robotic arm system. This is being piloted at Changi Airfreight Terminal.

The aviation sector, including Singapore Airlines, is one of the hardest hit sectors. Minister Khaw Boon Wan spoke on the strategic value of the aviation centre to our position as a Global-Asia Node. Despite being hit so hard, it has found strength, retained staff and pressed on with training and innovation, and volunteered to help others. This is resilience in action.

The Resilience Budget also provides support to increasing resilience in our supply chains. Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Mr Murali Pillai have rightly pointed out that COVID-19 has underscored the importance of further strengthening our supply chain resilience and food security. They have urged us to press on, including on our ambitious “30 by 30” goal to develop our own food production capabilities.

Last Wednesday, I visited Apollo Aquaculture Group and Max Koi Farm, saw what they had achieved and learnt about their plans. Indeed, let us devote attention to this.

In my Ministerial Statement on the Resilience Budget, I spoke about our efforts to deal with the immediate challenges, by having a robust, multi-pronged strategy to ensure a stable supply of safe food and essential items. We have been working on this for years and will continue to do so. Minister Masagos will provide details later this week.

I also thank Mr Seah Kian Peng and his staff of the NTUC group, who have been working hard to keep shelves stocked. Your hard work and that of other distributors instil confidence in the adequacy of our food supplies.

This year’s Budgets also provide direct support for families, with more for the lower income. This is how we support a resilient society. Additional support is available through the Self-Help Groups and Community Development Councils. I thank Members for the various suggestions to do more for our families and households, after listening to the feedback of Singaporeans.

Assoc Prof Walter Theseira, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Louis Ng and Mr Faisal Manap have requested to provide more cash in hand for different groups of Singaporeans and their families to tide through this period. In fact, we will already be providing more than what the Members have proposed. A 50-year old couple with a child aged 20 years old and below will receive up to $3,200 in cash. This is from the Solidarity Payment, Care and Support Package and PAssion card top-up in cash. Low-wage workers on Workfare will receive an additional $3,000 in cash to help them with their expenses over this period. Singaporeans who become unemployed can receive the COVID-19 Support Grant of $2,400 over three months. In the interim, those who require urgent help with basic living expenses can apply for cash assistance of $500 under the Temporary Relief Fund. MSF and HDB are also exercising greater flexibility under ComCare and for mortgage repayments respectively to provide stronger support. In addition, under the Job Support Scheme, employers will receive up to $31,000 in wage offsets over nine months, for each local worker retained. Eligible self-employed persons will receive $9,000 over the same period under SIRS.

I share Ms Foo Mee Har’s concern that some Singaporean families may have non-citizen members. They currently do not benefit from the cash payouts under the Care and Support Package, but are supporting the family in different ways, through this difficult period. To support these Singaporean families, adult Permanent Residents with Singaporean parents, spouses or children, may apply for a one-off Solidarity Payment of $300. I will also extend this to LTVP+ holders, who are spouses of Singaporeans. More details will be available later.

With this set of schemes, we balance between targeting our support for those who need it more and flowing support quickly to large groups. It is not an easy balance and we will do our best to calibrate this.

That said, I fully support the spirit of Assoc Prof Walter Theseira’s suggestion. Those who have more, should support those who have less. Such solidarity is especially needed in these difficult times. As I mentioned in my Ministerial Statement, some of our support have to be broad-based, so that we can flow the support to our people quickly. I encourage those who do not need the cash payouts to share it with those who need it more, by donating to Giving.sg or the Community Chest’s Courage Fund, or to directly share it with others.

Mr Pritam Singh noted that the Resilience and Solidarity Budgets have features of the New Deal in the US, and went on to ask if we can provide continued support beyond nine months, even after the pandemic subsides. He made a comparison to the “New Deal”, and asked if we should have a "living wage" for our essential services workers, including cleaners.

As Mr Singh himself pointed out, the "New Deal took more than six years and secured the US as a welfare state with a strong federal government and a perennial national debt problem". He went on to say, "the comparison with the New Deal is nonetheless thought provoking".

Indeed, we should think hard about this. While the New Deal was meant to bring the United States out of the Great Depression, its ideas have now polarised American society. We still see this schism today – between liberals who support it for its comprehensive relief and reform programmes, and conservatives who oppose it for being hostile to business and growth.

The United Kingdom went through a similar phase, with their government swinging between the left and right of the political spectrum. I was a student in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, when Mrs Margaret Thatcher rode to electoral victory when ordinary Britons got fed up with the "Winter of Discontent" in 1978-1979 where there were widespread strikes in the public sector, including the NHS.

As a first-year student of Economics, we had to study economic history, and wrote essays on why the Industrial Revolution started in England. At the same time, I had to do macroeconomics and wrote essays on why the British economy was then de-industrialising, and how economic growth was important for the welfare of workers, and did papers on sociology on class warfare in Britain then.

It is important that in any policy making, we pay attention to the subtle but significant changes in the tone of society, in the attitudes of people and in relationships which will take years to show and which are not easy to reverse.

So, let me caution that in making good public policy, we should be rigorous and clear-headed and not rely on some ideological short-cuts or labels, without thinking deeply about interactions and longer term effects. For our little red dot, we must have the courage and wisdom to do what is right for us – and not rely on simple ideology or fad or fashion of the day. Focus on our people’s well-being, and design systems and support around that core purpose.

For this Government, it has never been a question of whether we “want to spend”. Rather, it is a question of “how do we make the best use of resources to achieve the best outcome for our people”.

As I said in my Round-up speech 39 days ago – and some Members might have forgotten – let me repeat: “There must be a role for the Government to redistribute resources, in the right way, so that everyone shares in the fruits of progress. One way is to do this through schemes that enhance the capability of our people – through investments in education, health and the provision of housing, as well as schemes to mitigate inequality, like Workfare and Silver Support." I also said, "It is not just how much we spend, but how well we spend". I showed various charts showing the outcomes we achieved, in comparison with other countries.

If we stay adaptable, we can keep adjusting our social security system according to the needs of the day. For example, the recent wave of digitalisation has brought great rewards to the innovators, but also put pressures on employment and wages for older workers. We have responded with social support schemes like the Workfare Income Supplement. To help our people tide through immediate challenges in this crisis, we have been adaptable and introduced schemes like SIRS and the COVID-19 Support Grant.

So, let me urge all Members in this House to remain rigorous and clear-headed, and to focus on outcomes for our people. Let us commit to making sure that what we do are fiscally sustainable, not just in this term or next term of government, but for our future generations.

Our ability to put together a support package for Singaporeans amounting to 12% of GDP, without borrowing against our future, is testament to the optimal fiscal balance we have sought to maintain over the years. We will continue to work hard at this and continue to look at improvements. For example, as Dr Intan Mokhtar suggested, we will study whether self-employed persons should be more systematically included in our social security system. And in the same vein, how artists could self-sustain and be well-prepared for the future, as mentioned by Mr Terence Ho. Minister Grace Fu has also shared more on what the Government will do to support this community.

But the Government cannot do this alone. In the spirit of SG Together, I am glad that many are stepping up to help others. The mayors and their five CDCs have stepped up local assistance schemes to support the heartlands and partnering local merchants to do so. These efforts bring warmth and direct assistance to those who need it most. Our charities, IPCs, and Self-Help Groups, have also come forward spontaneously to support Singaporeans in need. I am heartened to see that The Community Foundation of Singapore has launched the Sayang Sayang Fund. The fund aims to boost the morale of frontline healthcare workers with transport vouchers and some cash support. As our schools transition to home-based learning as part of the circuit breaker measures, the Sayang Sayang Fund will also provide disadvantaged students with support for their meals. In just two months, the fund has raised $1.1 million from more than 1,500 donors.

There are many other heartwarming examples of individuals stepping forward, such as that of the provision shop giving out free rice to the needy, mentioned by Mr Vikram Nair. Many Singaporeans have also been helping one another, from distributing hand sanitisers, masks, and even meals, to those who need it more.

Some even offered their homes to Malaysian workers who were affected by the Movement Control Order. Singaporeans are also taking care of the seniors amongst us, a group that Ms Joan Pereira raised. One such example is Mdm Alice Lee. Alice stays in a mature estate where there are many senior residents who have mobility issues, and these seniors faced trouble collecting their masks and hand sanitisers during the collection exercise in February. Alice helped the residents with their collection and delivered to their homes. Alice also took the opportunity to chat with these residents and checked that they are doing fine during this period.

These are spontaneous acts of community support and I hope that they will inspire more to do the same. This is the social cohesion and resilience that we must have.

I have touched on the nature of the crisis and how we must build resilience in our economy and our society. Several Members, like Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Douglas Foo, have raised this and asked how we can position ourselves better for recovery and emerge stronger. And Mr Mohamad Irshad had just spoken of hope.

Indeed, COVID-19 will re-shape our world and amplify the global structural shifts already underway. With these shifts come risks as well as opportunities. It will accelerate structural shifts in the global supply chains. Global and regional businesses will place a higher premium on locations that offer stability, reliability and effective governance in how they had managed this pandemic. Overall, trust will command a higher premium than ever.

It has also accelerated digitalisation and the adoption of technology in our daily lives. Many more firms, workers and consumers have had the opportunity to embrace new models of remote working, online learning, telemedicine and e-commerce. They will not automatically switch back to their previous habits.

We are in a good position to make the most of these opportunities in a post-COVID world. To do so, we will redouble our efforts to position Singapore as a Global-Asia Node of Technology, Innovation and Enterprise.

I am glad that even during this period, companies have continued to engage Singapore on new projects and the development of new capabilities. Just last week, Hyundai announced its opening of an innovation lab in the Jurong Innovation District to develop and test technology across the automotive supply chain and trial electric vehicle manufacturing.

In the same week, ExxonMobil also held a virtual foundation laying ceremony to deploy new technology to upgrade its integrated refining and petrochemical complex. This is expected to create 135 new jobs.

We will also press on with our Smart Nation and R&D efforts. We will continue building smart towns like our Punggol Digital District and our efforts in deploying Autonomous Vehicles. We are now formulating our next five-year masterplan for Research, Innovation and Enterprise, or RIE 2025. And we will prepare our people for this. Under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, NRF will work with MOM to provide more than 500 traineeships across the RIE eco-system, including our R&D labs, as well as deep-tech start-ups, accelerators and incubators.

We will also continue to press on with business transformation and upskilling of our workers, even during this downtime, in fact, especially, during this downtime. As Mr Douglas Foo, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Low Yen Ling and Ms Tin Pei Ling stressed, businesses need to take the opportunity to transform now, as the post-COVID-19 landscape will be vastly different. Indeed, Mr Douglas Foo astutely pointed out that had our businesses been further along the digitalisation curve prior to the outbreak, the transition to remote work arrangements and moving operations online would have been less painful and better executed. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Low Yen Ling has shared what we are doing to support firms with flexible work arrangements.

The COVID-19 fight still has a long way to go, and things will get tougher; it will get worse before they improve. But one way or another, eventually it will pass – not next week, not next month, but perhaps within a year or two. As Dr Lim Wee Kiak put it, it is an invisible threat, but it is not invincible.

The question we should ask ourselves even now is when that day comes, what sort of world will it be and how ready Singapore will be to march forward again.

We should think ahead on how we can deepen economic and social resilience. In this spirit, we will set up two initiatives – an Emerging Stronger Task Force on economic resilience and a new emphasis on social resilience under the Singapore Together Movement.

I earlier announced that I would set up an Emerging Stronger Task Force under the ambit of the Future Economy Council, to help our economy bounce back from the crisis. Minister Desmond Lee and Mr Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO of PSA International, will co-chair this task force, to review how Singapore will stay economically resilient and build new sources of dynamism in a post-COVID world. This task force will report to the Future Economy Council and I hope that this can speak to Ms Rahayu Mahzam’s call for a coordinated effort to recover from the crisis.

The Singapore Together Movement, led by Ministers Indranee Rajah and Desmond Lee, has been seeking to tap on the creative energies and commitment of Singaporeans, and friends of Singapore, to shape a better future. COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of social and psychological resilience. As President Halimah pointed out at the start of this session, the worst of times can bring out the best in our people. How we respond to it, how our nation comes together, will show much about our values as a people and the principles we hold dear.

Let us use this crisis period well. Ministers Indranee and Desmond will mobilise Singaporeans to explore how we can deepen our social fabric and partnerships between Government and people in Singapore, and between Singaporeans and people around the world. This will be a whole-of-nation effort, which will take our collective energies and ideas to do well. To do so, as I have mentioned before, we will have a series of national challenges across different domains to encourage ground-up participation.

One of the first challenges we will have is the "Singapore Together Stay Home for Singapore Challenge". I am asking all of us to be a part of it. These four weeks of circuit breaking will feel unusual and unnatural. The challenge is to help ourselves and others stay home, and do so purposefully and positively.

As we stay home, how might we thrive, by staying healthy and learning? How might we connect with our loved ones and the community? How might we help others? How might we get help?

This will be a time for reflection, to learn something new, bond with loved ones, to show care and support for one another, and do something active and constructive for the community.

There are existing resources available to all Singaporeans. For example, you can tap on online resources from the National Library Board and the National Heritage Board to learn new things and connect with your loved ones.

Some Singaporeans will also be emotionally affected or distressed in this period, as pointed out by Mr Alex Yam, Mr Mohamed Irshad and Ms Anthea Ong. If you need additional help, you can get help from various platforms, such as the National Care Hotline, or from our community partners. We are putting together some resources, and Ministers Desmond and Indranee will speak more about them soon.

We are entering uncharted waters in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and we cannot predict with precision how long this will be. But at this point, let me share some personal reflections with Members on what we need to pull through.

I presented the Unity Budget to this Chamber on 18 February. Thirty-seven days later, on 26 March, I presented the Resilience Budget. And 11 days later, yesterday, I presented our Solidarity Budget. Three Budgets, within just 48 days. We are dedicating close to $60 billion, amounting to 12% of our GDP, to deal decisively with the situation at hand. The three Budgets make up our largest Budget in any one financial year, in dollar amount and as a percentage of GDP. This is the largest spending in any financial year in our nation’s history.

We also incurred the largest deficit ever – $44.3 billion, or 8.9% of our GDP. As Ms Tin Pei Ling observed, this deficit alone is half of our total spending in the preceding financial year.

We had to seek the President’s approval to draw on our past reserves, not once, but twice. In total, the President has given her in-principle support for the Government to draw up to $21 billion from our past reserves for the Resilience Budget and the Solidarity Budget. Once again, I thank the President for her deep understanding of the nature of this crisis, and for her support. I also thank the Chairman and members of the Council of Presidential Advisers.

As Finance Minister, I am extremely grateful that we have been able to tap on the deep financial reserves – our current and past reserves which have been so carefully built up, invested and managed. This has allowed us to respond to the crisis without having to borrow and without burdening our future generations with repayment obligations.

But just exactly how deep are our reserves? Mr Pritam Singh has asked this question time and again in this House. Members would know that our reserves comprise assets invested by MAS, GIC and Temasek. MAS and Temasek publish the size of the funds they invest. It is the size of the funds invested by GIC that is not published.

We do not disclose the total size of our reserves for the sake of national security and strategic interests. As a small country without any natural resources and highly dependent on imports, our reserves are vital to our overall economic and financial stability and our well-being. They provide a key defence for Singapore in times of crisis.

I have shared with Members that, during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the late President SR Nathan approved the provision of $150 billion from our past reserves to guarantee bank deposits in Singapore. This move calmed our depositors and we did not have a single bank run during that very difficult period. All our depositors' monies were safe. In 2009, President Nathan approved a draw of $4.9 billion from the past reserves to fund the Resilience Package then, to help us overcome the crisis. Having our reserves therefore played a key role in helping us emerge stronger from that crisis. In fact, our economy rebounded quickly.

Our reserves serve as a strategic defence. It gives us the wherewithal to resolutely defend the Singapore dollar against speculative attacks. This contributes to a stable Singapore dollar, which in turn bolsters the confidence of investor and citizens. Our reserves are thus no different from SAF's arsenal. No country’s armed forces will ever tell you exactly how much ammunition and weaponry they really have. To do so is to betray valuable intelligence to potential adversaries. This is obviously not a wise defence strategy and likewise should not be adopted for our financial reserves.

What Members should focus on are the policies and programmes, especially those which may require the use of reserves. Debate the merits of these programmes, including the expenditure required for them. But let us be clear – it is neither in the interest of Singapore or Singaporeans to repeatedly ask about the size of our reserves.

We are in the middle of a storm and I am very disappointed that Mr Pritam Singh has used this occasion to raise this question again. Mr Pritam Singh also asked how we will ensure sustainable finances in the next term of government. He suggested that we review our usage of past reserves in view of the longer term impact of COVID-19.

Many have urged us, year after year, to spend more of our reserves to fund our growing expenditure, suggesting that we do not need to save so much or to ever raise taxes. But like Mr Liang Eng Hwa said, we kept the discipline and stuck to our principle of using the returns from our reserves in a prudent manner.

We do not view the reserves as a piggy bank to be broken at will, to provide the Government with a convenient source of additional revenue. We avoided running deficits in good years and consistently saved. If we had succumbed to the political pressure to spend more of our reserves in good years, we would not have had the war chest to deal with critical moments, such as now; and to do even more, if necessary, even in the next term of government.

But the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak will be with us for a long time and we will need to deal with it on a sustainable basis. If the crisis deepens, our economy and revenues will shrink, and we may have to make use of our past reserves again for a recovery. While we must make plans – and we are – at this hour, let us all focus our minds fully on making the best use of this very unprecedented Budget to build social and economic resilience. And if there is a need, we have the institution of the Government and the Elected President to decide on how best to use our resources to manage a crisis.

So, indeed, this crisis has reaffirmed the value of our key institutions and the key tenets of our prudent fiscal policy – to spend prudently, invest wisely and plan consistently for the long term.

Beyond our financial reserves, I am grateful that we have been able to tap on the deep reserves of strength and resourcefulness of our people. Without the strength, resourcefulness, trust of our people, all the right measures will not be worth the dollar tag on them. But with these, our combined strength is worth so much more.

Our healthcare workers, Home Team officers, cleaners and many other unsung heroes have carried out their duties with commitment and courage. They have had a very tough time. They have to stay alert and careful while working long hours and over weekends. It is very moving that our people recognise this and pour out strong support for them.

Many Singaporeans have made videos and written letters of appreciation to spur our frontline workers – students and staff from Yew Tee Primary School, who made personalised cards and a video to show support and appreciation for the frontline staff of various hospitals and our Police officers. And there are many others like them.

Just last week, applause rang across our heartlands at 8.00 pm on 30 March as Singaporeans came together to give those on the frontline a round of applause as part of our "Clap for #SGUnited" campaign. This applause was also for everyone who has been helping to keep Singapore safe during this tough time.

Indeed, our national stock of resilience is made up of all our individual stocks of resilience. Ultimately, the long-drawn fight against the virus will be won by us standing together as one united people. Cases are creeping up and, as Mr Vikram Nair put it, we must each do our part. This is absolutely serious – a matter of life and death.

This has been an extremely hectic period for me, Minister Lawrence Wong and Minister Indranee Rajah, and all my Cabinet colleagues. I am grateful to my staff in MOF, many of them young or with young families. They have been working tirelessly for almost 10 weeks now – from Pongal, to Valentine's Day, to Chinese New Year, and over many weekends. It is the first time that MOF officers have had to prepare three Budgets within 48 days.

It is not only hectic. It has been emotional. We know what is at stake. Our lives, our livelihoods, our loved ones. Our home and nation.

I know people like to call us at MOF bean-counters because we are always counting the costs and benefits of things. We count because you count. We weigh up our reserves of strength, measure out the right actions to help our people and businesses, pace ourselves to go the distance and save for the future. We count to protect our people and our home.

I thank my staff and my colleagues for running this race together with me. I could not have asked for a better team. And I thank their families for their understanding. You should be very proud of your loved ones who are giving their everything in the Public Service.

I also thank Members of the House who bring their honesty and resilience not only into this Chamber but also into our fight on all fronts against COVID-19. I am especially heartened that fellow Singaporeans and Members of Parliament show strong values and commitment to our future. Let me just share a few examples.

After I announced the Resilience Budget, Ms Tan wrote to me, saying that she is touched that we are tapping into the reserves built up by earlier generations. She then went on to urge that we must work to put back what we are going to use so that future generations have emergency funds for the next crisis. Several others also did so.

Members such as Dr Chia Shi-Lu and Ms Tin Pei Ling have also come forward to urge us not to spend in an unbridled fashion from the reserves, even in today's situation.

Indeed, as we draw down on our reserves to tackle this generational crisis of unprecedented scale, we must uphold our responsibility to steward our reserves properly in our time for the benefit of our future generations.

Yesterday, Minister Khaw Boon Wan shared the story of his Primary 2 granddaughter who have been urging his wife and their helper to put on masks and to observe safe distancing. And less than 24 hours ago, when I was here in this Chamber delivering the Solidarity Budget, a young mother was at home watching it live together with her daughter. The mother later wrote to me saying that, afterwards, her daughter asked her, "Will Singapore become bankrupt?" I was surprised and glad that her daughter and Minister Khaw's granddaughter could understand such values at such a young age.

As adults, let us uphold our values and not let our children and future generations down. It is precisely for them that my team and I are determined to exercise fiscal discipline and prudence.

The mother who wrote to me asked for an answer for her daughter. Will Singapore become bankrupt? No. We will never let Singapore become bankrupt.

The Spanish Flu occurred in 1918 and COVID-19, in 2019. A hundred years from now, should there be another unprecedented crisis, will Singapore have the wherewithal to tackle it? It depends critically on the values of our people, and I am grateful to Singaporeans like Ms Tan for reminding us all of our responsibility. Mr Speaker, Sir, before I conclude, allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] To deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, we announced three Budgets within a short span of two months. The amount committed is unprecedented. The purpose is to protect enterprises, protect jobs and secure our future. The measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak is worth about $60 billion, which makes up about 12% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the accumulated fiscal deficit is $44.3 billion.

COVID-19 is the gravest challenge for our generation. The healthcare, economic and social fronts are interacting in complex ways. It is very hard to predict what is going to happen.

As such, we have introduced decisive and wide-ranging measures. For example, in order to protect enterprises, we introduced property tax and rental rebates to help enterprises cut their cost; to protect jobs, we introduced the Jobs Support Scheme to help enterprises cope with cash flow problems and avoid retrenching their local employees. In addition, we have also introduced the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) to help the self-employed. We have also enhanced the Care and Support Package to lighten the burden of cost of living for our people.

Because the outbreak is still evolving, we will make adjustments along the way, based on public feedback and as the situation develops.

Today, we have the ability to deal decisively with this outbreak because the Singapore Government has been saving for rainy days and practising fiscal prudence for years. The Government has fiscal surplus and we also have the reserves to back us up. The Government has obtained in-principle support from President Halimah to tap on as much as $21 billion from our reserves. Here, I would like to express my gratitude to the President.

Earlier, I mentioned the Chinese saying "前人种树，后人乘凉". Our reserves are like the trees planted by our ancestors. Today, these trees can not only shade us during sunny days, but also shield us from thunderstorms. This has enabled us to deal with the imminent challenges without having to borrow and leaving the next generation debt-laden.

The Government will do its best, but I hope that everyone will also do his part, mutually support each other to overcome this crisis.

In the past two months, our healthcare workers, the Home Team and frontline workers have been working tirelessly around the clock to fight this virus. We would like to thank them for their hard work and contributions. This is a critical moment for all of us to join them on the frontline.

Every Singaporean must be socially responsible. We must not do three things: do not panic, do not go out and do not spread rumours. We keep emphasising these because these are important means to curb the spread of the virus and protect our people. If we unwittingly get infected and subsequently infect our family members and friends, causing them to lose their health or even life, then we will be left with only deep regrets.

In the workplace, businesses should also take care of their workers and retain jobs.

COVID-19 is relentless but there is warmth in society. Various charitable organisations, IPCs, self-help groups and volunteers have all extended a helping hand to people in need. With the ongoing outbreak, I hope that more Singaporeans can step forward and show that we care.

We have built deep mutual trust between our leaders and the people over the years. People trust the current Government, allowing us to implement measures to ensure their safety. I hope that Singaporeans will continue to work with the Government and strengthen the Singapore Spirit.

Earlier, we launched the Singapore Together movement and set up the Emerging Stronger Taskforce. We will continue to work on areas, such as research and development (R&D), economic transformation, skills training and improving social cohesion to prepare for the future.

Our pioneers have encountered many turbulences during nation building. They have toiled together to overcome various challenges. Similarly, this current crisis will have a profound impact on our generation. So long as we stay united, protect our health, jobs, enterprises, livelihoods and secure our future, we will overcome this crisis.

When our children and grandchildren look back on this moment, they will see how this generation has stood United, Resilient, and in Solidarity to overcome this crisis together and emerged stronger.

(In English): I will now conclude in English. We have managed to weather this crisis so far because of our world-class healthcare system, our strong finances, our administrative capacity, our strong tripartite partnership and most importantly, our exceptional people. These were not built overnight. These require long-term planning, deliberate investment, stewardship of resources and careful build-up of capabilities.

This is only possible because of the values that this Government and our people have upheld across generations, which has allowed us to fight the crisis from a position of strength. These are the values of discipline, prudence and long-term thinking.

The journey ahead to the end of this crisis will likely still be long and uncertain. But my team and I will continue to stay vigilant and partner Singaporeans and people around the world. Difficult decisions will need to be made during this period and so, we will do so with Singaporeans' interests at heart. We will get through this together.

Let us stand united, resilient and in solidarity. Singapore together, Majulah forever! [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Clarifications. Mr Pritam Singh.

2.44 pm

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his comments. I just have a quick follow-up on the point he made about the reserves and why Singaporeans, including myself, keep asking questions in this House about those numbers.

I think, at the start, I have to make a point which is, the Opposition in this House is also is a steward. We are also a steward of the reserves and the expenditure priorities of the Government because these things are something all of us have to take ownership of.

But we seek these numbers because when the Government introduces policies where reserves have to be employed, the question we have to ask ourselves is, is it enough or is it too much also, because that is a relevant question too. Or is it too little?

I think these are the reasons why some of these numbers, some of these issues keep coming up. Certainly not to make life difficult for the Ministry of Finance and its team in this moment. But that is our duty.

I understand the Deputy Prime Minister has made the allusion to the SAF and you do not reveal your deep capabilities but I am pretty sure that we can nuance that position. Two Budgets ago, I brought a Business Times article and showed it to the House; some Singaporeans were wondering whether you could look at some part of the reserves which could be used to improve conditions for Singaporeans, improve the livelihood of Singaporeans while there could be another component which may have to remain secret.

So, there are modalities to consider some of these numbers and how we can have a more deeper conversation about them.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Mr Speaker, Sir, first, for Mr Singh, I am glad that he supports the importance of our reserves and he asked first, "Are we spending too much or not enough?" And as I have said earlier, it is right and proper that we debate the Budget in this House, which is what we have been doing.

He referred to the Business Times article and said, "Can we spend some of it to improve the livelihoods of our people?"

We have our spending rules in the form of the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC), and the NIRC, is as I had indicated in my previous Budget Statement is now the single largest component of spending, more than corporate income tax, more than personal income tax; in fact, more than GST and in fact, more than any other category of taxes.

So, do we have proper spending rules? Yes. I recall Mr Singh asking, "Why not spend more?" This was debated in the House when the spending rules came about earlier on and when we increased the spending by including Temasek into the overall framework. So, Mr Singh can just check the number that we have been spending from NIRC over the years, and that would tell him how much we are spending.

Mr Singh also alluded to whether there are proper checks and balances. And this is exactly what our Elected Presidency is about. Let me share with this House that before I table a Supply Bill in Parliament, I first have to inform the President as to whether I will be touching the past reserves.

And when the Auditor-General has completed his audit, I have to sign, in my name, a letter to the President, confirming whether the Government had touched the past reserves in the last Budget.

So, the checks and balances that we have in our system have been very rigorously designed and very well observed. I can tell you that even in presenting this Budget, when making the Government's case to the President and the Council Presidential Advisers, I spent a lot of time explaining the details and I can tell you that the President and CPA asked very, very good questions, much more than systems that I have seen elsewhere. And certainly much better than the debts that have been incurred in so many other countries. So, let us do this carefully, Mr Singh.

Mr Speaker: Any other clarifications? Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: I thank you, Sir. I have four clarifications. One, can I just check whether we can extend the COVID-19 Support Grant to those who are also on unpaid leave? Second, could I ask whether we can introduce a COVID-19 related childcare leave, specifically only for those workers who are in the essential work and the key economic sectors?

I also had a question about the foreign workers living in the dorms. I am just wondering whether we can do the swab test, especially for those who have lived in close proximity to those who were infected. I think many are very worried that they are infected at this point.

The last question really is can I just confirm that the $300 that we are giving out to Singapore and parents will include the single unwed parents as well.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Louis Ng for your questions. You have asked four rather technical questions. And as I said, this Budget has been prepared in a record time. So, there will be details that the different Ministries will announce later and this will be sorted out by the different Ministries.

Mr Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat

Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): This question is for the Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad. I just want to seek clarity on whether these two groups of Self-employed Person qualify for the COVID-19 Support Grant or SIRS. Those SEPs who are not on the Workfare radar, who do not contribute to their CPF, but they do file their income tax returns. The second group is SEP who are not on Workfare CPF or income tax radar, but they do have documented proof of their livelihood status. And last but not least is there a contact point for these people to make an appeal. Thank you.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): I thank the Member for his questions. As the Deputy Prime Minister said, the Budget has been set up in record time. So, there will be details that will be forthcoming and the good thing is that NTUC has volunteered to look into appeals and manage the appeals administration. So, the email address and contact details hotline will be provided soon. In the meantime, just hang on there and we will give you more details once ready.

Mr Speaker: Minister Grace Fu

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to address the question that had been asked by Mr Dennis Tan on the arts charities issue.

Mr Speaker: Carry on, please.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Mr Dennis Tan asked if arts charities will be eligible for the Job Support Scheme and other kinds of support they are eligible for. I am pleased to confirm that all charities including arts charities are eligible for the JSS as long as they have made CPF contributions for their local employees.

All charities which are tenants in MCCY-owned properties will benefit from two months' rental waivers. The arts charities can also apply to the schemes under the Arts and Cultural Resilience Package including the Capability Development Scheme for the arts and the Digital Presentation Grant for the arts. They may also avail themselves of broad-based measures to support charities in general. For example, they can apply for the VWOs-Charities Capability Fund (VCF) and obtain funding support of up to 80% to attend training courses and engage external consultants to improve key governance and management areas.

In view of the challenges presented by COVID-19, we recently expanded the VCF scope to include funding for online training courses, audio and video-conferencing tools and enhanced the funding quantum for charities who outsource their payroll, finance and accounting functions.

We understand that charities operations may be under additional strain and some have difficulties holding their AGM to finalise their financial statements. Therefore, the Commissioner of Charities has also granted an extension for all charities' annual submissions due during the period of 31 March 2020 to 31 July 2020, for three months. There is no need for these charities to seek extension separately.

Mr Speaker: Minister Lawrence Wong

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to address some queries raised not so much on the Budget because there were some queries asked about dorms and also about masks.

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Mr Lawrence Wong: So, Mr Louis Ng asked about the management of dorms and whether more can be done to test workers. I would like to clarify and assure everyone that the task force is putting in place a whole series of measures to manage the infection in our foreign worker dorms. That includes taking steps to move out workers in some of these dorms to other areas so that we can better manage them, ensure compliance with all the safe-distancing measures within the dorms. And yes, it also includes stepping up of tests of workers in these dorms. So, to Mr Louis Ng's specific question, we will be doing more to test the workers there as well.

Mr Leon Perera also asked about the mask distribution exercise. He mentioned that the last time we did a surgical mask distribution exercise, he had asked whether it could be done through the mail and I had explained that we preferred for people to pick up at collection points because not everyone would need the masks and we wanted to conserve the masks. And so he said since this is now reusable masks, why not do it through mail rather than have people collect the masks. I would again like to clarify the task force did consider the different ways in which we can put out the masks to Singaporeans as quickly as possible and also safely. When we changed and updated the guidance for masks, our priority was to ensure that the reusable masks could be released to Singaporeans quickly and safely. If we were to do it through the mail system, actually it would have taken quite some time – maybe up to a week or more.

But we have a system in place through the collection points where people can come down to collect and we can put in place on the procedures for fast, efficient and safe collection. And indeed that has been the case. So immediately upon the update of the guidance on mask on Friday, on Sunday the collection points were all activated nationwide.

From experience, or look at what has happened so far. People have come forward. They have collected the masks. The time they took to pick up the masks was very quick. So, the entire conduct of this has been fast, efficient and safe. And to-date, more than 2.8 million masks have already been collected. So, we again appreciate SAF, the PA and all our many volunteers who have been activated, who have stepped forward to enable this collection exercise to be done promptly and safely.

Mr Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har

Ms Foo Mee Har: I thank Deputy Prime Minister for including non-Singaporeans in Singaporean families in the cash payment.

I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister in his expectations. I appreciate it is technical and there is a lot of things going on at the same time, but I did raise a question for the Deputy Prime Minister in my speech. The Temporary Bridging Loan interest rate capped is as high as 5%. But I am very grateful to hear the Deputy Prime Minister announcing risk share to 90%, and that banks and finance company will also get support from MAS with the new Singapore dollar facility. So, even though I asked the Deputy Prime Minister for a prescribed interest rate, given that there is so much help by the Government, I would just like to ask Deputy Prime Minister if you cannot give me a number, do you have the expectation given all this help that the bank should now be able to provide a much lower interest rate to help SMEs to tide over and not let them have unnecessary debt burden when they recover.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Ms Foo for her question. As to what the banks would do, as I have announced, the MAS has been getting the financial system together to provide a whole range of support including a Singapore dollar facility and the conditions for using the facility. So, this will take some time for them to sort it out. But I believe that, as I said before, if we are in this together and it is in the interest of the banks to provide support for their lenders just as in the interest of landlords to provide the support. While at the same time, of course, adhering to the risk management that they have always been practising.

But this is an extraordinary time and I believe that this will be worked out between the banks, MAS and the borrowers.

Ms Anthea Ong (Nominated Member): I have a question and I do not know whether it should go to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Lawrence Wong or Minister Desmond Lee. I mentioned that in my speech about my concerns for the rental flat communities in terms of the overcrowding, especially given how we have been alerted to the danger of infection with overcrowding in the clusters that we found in dormitories.

Can I ask one of the Ministers to share what measures are put in place to support our rental flat communities, given how cramped their quarters are as well, especially during this circuit breaker month?

Mr Lawrence Wong: Mr Speaker, I think the basic advice we give to everyone, whether living in your own flat or living in a rental flat is quite straightforward. If you are not sick, then it is all right, I mean, if you live together. But as so long as you start feeling unwell, even if it is a cough, sore throat, then you do not continue to interact even with your own family members; immediately go and see a doctor. And then, at that stage, you should self-isolate even from your own family members and take necessary precautions. So, that is the basic advice.

If all the family members are feeling all right, then it is fine. It is not as though they have to minimise interactions amongst themselves. As a family, I am sure you will still be coming into contact. But it is upon the time when somebody starts to feel unwell, then you should really start to take precautions. So, it is on that basis that safe distancing applies within the household.

Indeed, if there are members, whether in a sold flat, 3-room flat, 4-room flat or in a rental flat, if there are Singaporeans who find difficulty doing this sort of a self-isolation because of the size of their family and the physical environment that they are in, then they can contact us and we will see how best to help them including providing additional housing support.

Mr Speaker: Any other clarifications? Pursuant to Standing Order 44(2), the Motion to consider the Ministerial Statement on Additional Support Measures in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic lapses at the conclusion of debate. Leader.