Aspirations of Singapore Women

5.59 pm

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Madam, I beg to move^*, "That this House affirms the familial, social and economic contributions of Singapore women and its support for them to fulfil their family and career aspirations and to be future-ready."

*The Motion also stood in the names of Miss Cheryl Chan, Ms Joan Pereira, Ms Rahayu Mahzam and Mr Vikram Nair.

Singapore women play an important role in building families, communities and the economy of Singapore. Their contributions, past and present, helped to make us who we are today.

All over the world, women build families and keep families together. Women also tend to contribute more to their families if they work and add to their families' financial well-being.

Evidence from a range of countries shows that increasing the share of household income controlled by women, either through their own earnings or transfers, changes spending in ways that benefit children. The "Girl Effect" that was highlighted in the World Economic Forum 2009, for instance, noted that women and girls with income reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to about 30% to 40% for men. While this statistic referred more to developing countries, we know from our own experiences that, in Singapore, women play a pivotal role in ensuring the holistic well-being of our families.

Women create social capital in communities through building strong families, caring for the young and old, and supporting fellow women through job opportunities and networks. Women often quietly drive community programmes that benefit residents and rally for resources and help through their own social networks to serve community needs. Those of us who have been active on the ground would have seen the aunty-networks and the mommy-networks in action, for instance.

Women drive economic growth. An increase in female labour force participation results in faster economic growth since growth is typically driven by manpower and productivity. The World Economic Forum, in its 2016 Future of Jobs report, noted that "Net job growth and skills instability result in most businesses currently facing major recruitment challenges and talent shortages, a pattern already evident in the results and set to get worse over the next five years."

Hence, as Singapore seeks to cultivate new growth engines, we should look to our women as a significant source of untapped talent and entrepreneurial dynamism. In summary, women help to increase social capital and economic prosperity and contribute to Singapore's long-term success. Singapore has generally done well in recognising and promoting the aspirations of women.

First, our laws protect women from violence, harassment and discrimination. Under the law, women have control over our own bodies. Law enforcement authorities do not turn a blind eye to crimes against women, as they tend to in some countries, but actively investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

Second, we have good healthcare and support systems for women and children. Our record of safe births for both mother and child is the best in the world. In fact, we are the best country in Asia to be a mother, according to an annual index released by international aid agency Save the Children.

Third, Singapore girls enjoy a world-class education and emerge as confident, knowledgeable women, with our own ideas, opinions and aspirations. More than 50% of undergraduates in Singapore are women.

Fourth, we have a modern and vibrant economy, providing more interesting job opportunities for both men and women alike.

We should acknowledge these strengths even as we aspire to do better. But we also need to acknowledge the gaps and weaknesses in our system. We need to take action to accelerate our progression towards gender parity, or we will have to wait at least 50 years according to Accenture, or 170 years according to the World Economic Forum, if we are to leave things to evolve naturally.

One key gap is the gender imbalance in our workforce, where women tend to be under-represented at the higher levels. For example, the depressingly low board representation, the dearth of female chief executive officers (CEOs) and lower proportions in certain professions. This is not because men are inherently more capable or more driven than women. After all, in our schools, girls perform just as well as boys. Rather, it is because our society does not fully provide the support that women need to achieve our aspirations in the family, community and workplace at the same time.

This is why the People's Action Party's (PAP's) Women's Wing put up several position papers over the years, lobbying the Government to take tangible action. Some of these recommendations will be reiterated today. Supporting Singapore women to fulfil their familial and career aspirations and to help them to be future-ready require a whole-of-society approach, but it is important that we start in this House.

My hope is to take a positive and progressive stance in moving this Motion. Women are not asking for special treatment or privileges. Nonetheless, there are pragmatic, concrete steps that the nation can take in various areas to help women to achieve their aspirations.

I would also emphasise that many of the recommendations that my colleagues and I are putting forth in this Motion apply to Singaporeans regardless of gender. Our support for women − and men − to balance their multiple roles should help them reach greater heights, in our economy, in various professions, in social work, in the arts and in sports and in many diverse frontiers.

Our recommendations are organised along four strategies: first, create capacity; second, provide options; third, remove barriers; and fourth, to be future-ready. I will introduce these areas and describe some specific ideas under each of them. My fellow colleagues who support this Motion will provide further elaboration and explanation.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Lim Biow Chuan) in the Chair]

First, on create capacity. First of all, we need to recognise that most people do not journey through life in a straight line and neither do we assume only one role at any one point in time. It is not a simple case of simply going to school, then work and then retire. Often, we are sons and daughters as well as fathers and mothers. Both men and women do take time out now and then, for our children, parents, school, training and other worthy pursuits.

However, while men and women both have to juggle our many obligations at work and at home, women face particular challenges. Women have traditionally been and still are the primary caregivers at home. Being nurturers at heart, it is little wonder why women care so much for our loved ones. But women also have career aspirations, and it is fair for women to want to work and give their best shot at fulfilling their ambitions. Our nation and economy also benefit with more women working, as articulated earlier.

With an ageing population, smaller families and evolving expectations, we need to make available adequate care options and strengthen our support for caregivers so that their capacity can be freed up to pursue their careers as well.

We need to rethink how the childcare and eldercare facilities are designed and situated. The key consideration must be to ensure availability and easy access to such care facilities. To help women to return to work, care facilities for the young and old need to be near workplaces as well so that working women, and men, can quickly respond to emergencies. Retrofitting existing workplaces to accommodate care facilities will take time and will be costly, too. However, this concept should be incorporated as a requirement when new parcels of land are sold or when redevelopment is on the cards.

One challenge with centre-based care is the limited operating hours of the centres. In many jobs, workers often need to work overtime or stay back late to deal with emergencies. Hence, could the operating hours of care facilities be extended so that working adults, especially those who have little control over their working hours, can be assured that their children and elderly are safe and cared for?

A complementary measure is to help establish a network of caregivers comprising full-time homemakers or retirees who can help working mothers fetch or take care of their children during times of need. I am heartened by the introduction of the Allied Infant Educarer (AIE) initiative this year but these are tied to centres with formal operating hours. Could we help by making available AIEs who have spare capacity outside of centre operating hours? An online directory can be created to help match demand with supply. Interested parents who cannot secure a placement at the infant care or childcare centre can look to this platform for potential caregivers within the neighbourhood. Basic profile and credential of these caregivers can be published in the directory. The same can, of course, be extended to those who need eldercare help and services, for instance, a network of retired nurses engaged and deployed to conduct home care for our elders.

We need to develop a SkillsFuture package dedicated to help "back-to-work women", to rebuild confidence, to refresh skills or acquire new ones, and facilitate their transition back to the workforce. I would suggest three components critical to the success of this package, namely, capability development, job matching and interim financial support. These are services already provided for by the Government, but a concerted effort is needed to help women hoping to return to work.

In developing the capabilities of women, the courses should aim to refresh existing professional skills; acquire new skills to re-enter the workforce or enter new industries of growth potential; develop entrepreneurial capacity, for example, through e-commerce; and cultivate digital fluency, a point that I will further elaborate later. Courses should also incorporate modules that help in confidence-building, personal grooming and information technology.

Next, the package should help those who have acquired new skills and qualifications to embark on a career by matching them to suitable opportunities. Some stay-at-home mothers I spoke with agreed that an effective package must take a holistic approach and have tangible follow-ups. They are keenly interested in post-course support. Everyone can take courses, subsidised or not. But the difference is in whether, after completing the courses, this will lead to real opportunities.

And for those who may not immediately secure a job after training, the package could offer a period of internship for employers and potential employees to adjust and ensure better fit of industry needs and skills to get that foot in the door. Such assistance should also apply to men who wish to return to work as well.

Many caregivers have sacrificed their prime years and savings to care for their loved ones. Hence, even as they get trained for prospective employment, they might need some help with living expenses. Therefore, the package should also provide subsistence allowances or training grants to see them through their training.

Second, provide options. We also need to accelerate implementation of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) so that Singaporeans have the option to achieve both family and career aspirations without having to trade off one for the other. We must recognise the aspirations of the younger generation of workers who desire greater work-life balance. They want to be able to give their families and careers their 100%. As societal norms shift, we also see more fathers and sons sharing the duty of care at home. Hence, making FWA more pervasive benefits all Singaporeans.

I understand that it is challenging to apply FWA across all industries and sectors in one broad stroke, because the nature of jobs is not homogenous. As such, building on to our PAP Women's Wing recommendation last year, I would like to call on the Ministry for Manpower (MOM) to implement industry- or sector-specific FWA standards to complement the existing employment laws, tripartite guidelines and advisories. Each standard will specify a set of progressive practices that are verifiable and are also industry- or sector-specific.

Upon meeting the standards, MOM can recognise the employer with an "FWA mark" because standards without audit would be quite futile. Taken together, laws, guidelines, standards and advisories will form a comprehensive map to help employers build fair and progressive workplaces.

Employers can then make public their adoption of these standards through the Jobs Bank and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) website. Jobseekers would then be able to identify these companies as their employers of choice.

One tangible way of encouraging employers to institutionalise FWA is to adapt current standards, schemes and awards, such as the Singapore Quality Class (Niche Business Excellence Standard for People) and TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award, to require fulfilment of FWA standards as a minimum criterion.

Employers should also be encouraged to update their appraisal system and criteria. Many employers still appraise employees based on facetime, regardless of the quality of their work produced or the positive peer reviews and customer reviews that they receive. Therefore, a holistic approach is needed when implementing industry-specific FWA standards.

Another option to enable women to work while caring for their young and old at home is to help them become entrepreneurs. As entrepreneurs, they can stay economically active and have better control of their schedule at the same time.

We have a favourable environment for womenpreneurs. Mastercard Women's Entrepreneurial Index 2016, for instance, ranked Singapore at fifth position, citing strong enabling conditions for womenpreneurs, such as high opportunity to attain advanced knowledge assets and access to mainstream financial services. We should take advantage of this and encourage women who wish to take the path of entrepreneurship to do so. We could also dedicate support to help them set up shop online and link them up with fellow womenpreneurs, so that they can exchange business ideas and opportunities, collaborate in partnerships, and help and mentor one another.

Third, remove barriers. To empower women to achieve meaningful progress, we need to also remove the barriers that constrain women. An invisible but critical obstacle is how women are being perceived and pigeon-holed. We, therefore, need to challenge the stereotypes of and reshape the attitude towards women.

At home, fathers and sons are integral family members and have equal responsibilities in ensuring the well-being of loved ones. The Government has, in recent years, been signaling the need for shared family responsibilities by increasing paternity leave and shared parental care leave. These changes also help to correct the perception of women being a greater liability than men at work. On the ground, we have also observed more hands-on fathers and sons. So, things are changing, and we must continue to build on this momentum to encourage a more equal share of care responsibilities at home.

Women tend to fall off as they progress up the career track. Women in Singapore start off well, comprising half of the workforce at the entry level but this proportion dwindles drastically as they journey up the career ladder, with women comprising a mere 9.7% at the board level. Surely, we have many more women who have the competence and calibre to sit on boards! Women also tend to concentrate in certain sectors and roles. These realities highlight the invisible walls and ceilings that women face. Therefore, we must work to improve women's access to opportunities.

Recently, Minister Grace Fu, on behalf of the PAP Women's Wing and BoardAgender, called for at least 20% female directors on boards by the year 2020. This is a positive move and an aspiration that is highly achievable. Setting such a 2020 target is certainly not about asking for special treatment. However, we should be conscious of our unconscious bias and avoid a biased selection that disadvantages women right from the start.

Fourth, be future-ready, having smart women for a smart nation. As we look to the future and move towards a Smart Nation, we must also embrace technology which is a critical enabler to the above goals. Digital fluency can help to close the gender gap and level the playing field for women at work. According to a 2016 study report by Accenture, the time needed to close gender gaps can be halved if women are digitally fluent. Yet, the digital fluency gap between men and women is one of the largest in Singapore compared to the other countries surveyed.

Digital fluency not only opens up new career opportunities for women in the digital age but also enables women to exploit smart solutions that help to create capacity and options.

With the right smart solutions, women, and men, can remotely manage situations and monitor their young and old at home while they are at work. Smart solutions can allow women to work productively and respond efficiently even if they have to be away from their offices, thereby enabling flexible work. Technology can also act as a networking tool for women in their aspirational pursuits. Digital platforms can allow women to exchange useful information and create job opportunities. E-commerce platforms, for example, can help stay-at-home caregivers monetise their skills or overcome resource constraints in starting their businesses and, in the process, maintain financial independence, stay plugged in while continuing to care for their loved ones. Women can also make use of these platforms to raise funds, find mentors and network with other women entrepreneurs.

Therefore, there is a strong case for cultivating and strengthening digital fluency amongst women. Education in schools builds the digital foundation for our next generation. But for now, we should also help our stay-at-home mothers and daughters to be digitally fluent. And we can start with the SkillsFuture package for Back-to-Work Women encompassing modules in IT literacy and basic programming. Sir, I would like to speak in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Deputy Speaker, today's Motion is unprecedented in the history of this Parliament. This is not a feminist Motion; instead, it hopes to strengthen Singapore's foundation and help Singaporeans, be they men or women, to achieve their full potentials and prepare for our common future.

We can all see that Singaporean women have made great contributions towards the family, the society and the country. In recent years, many studies have shown that women in the labour force can help improve the family's well-being, increase social cohesion and promote economic growth.

Although Singapore has made outstanding achievements in many areas, women need to catch up in certain aspects of life. It is particularly obvious in the workplace. Women comprise half of the workforce at the entry level but this proportion dwindles drastically as they journey up the career ladder, with women comprising a mere 9.7% at the board level. Singaporean women have good education. Among citizens who have a tertiary education, more than half are women. Hence, capability and motivation are not the main impediment.

Looking at the current situation, it is not difficult for us to guess that women still are the primary caregivers at home, and it is a challenge for them to have spare time and energy to do other things. We are an Asian society, looking after our parents and children is an undeniable duty. However, be they sons or daughters, fathers or mothers, they must carry this duty of caring for one's family equally. Fortunately, more and more fathers and sons are willingly taking up the responsibility to look after the young and old in the family.

In addition, modern Singaporean women enjoy good education and, naturally, they would have dreams and aspirations. Every Singaporean should have the opportunity to enjoy family and career life at the same time.

Therefore, we must help Singaporean women from four angles: first, establish and strengthen infrastructure and services to lighten the caregivers' burden, so that they can have time and better manage their multiple roles; second, promote FWA so that they can look after the family without sacrificing their career; third, encourage the society and the companies to value women's economic potentials and contributions; and fourth, encourage women to undergo technology and skills training and be prepared for the new digital era and the future economy.

Of course, the above does not just apply to women only. My Parliamentary colleagues and I hope that through this Motion, we can win more concrete support for Singapore women, so that they can fly high and fulfil their family and career aspirations.

(In English): Sir, this is the first time this House is debating on a Motion concerning the aspirations of women in Singapore. My colleagues and I moved this Motion not to lobby for affirmative action, but to build on the strengths of women, to recognise and close the gaps.

But most importantly, we desire to make Singapore the best home for everyone − a home where regardless of background or gender, Singaporeans have the capability, opportunity and courage to pursue our aspirations and lead a full and happy life.

We believe that now is the best time as Singapore is transforming to be future-ready. There are many things we can do to support Singapore women, but even as we continue to co-create these solutions, I believe that it is important that this House affirms the familial, social and economic contributions of Singapore women and our support for them to fulfil their family and career aspirations and be future-ready.

Question proposed.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Jessica Tan.

6.23 pm

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Motion. The world we live, work and play in is an exciting one, undergoing unprecedented changes. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is affecting all industries and jobs. This digital disruption is changing the landscape not only of work, but also of how work is done.

We should take the opportunity to reflect on what this could mean for both men and women. Leveraging digital technology and mobility can make things more accessible and inclusive by enabling FWA and enabling people to work when and wherever they wish to.

However, FWAs alone are not sufficient. There must also be supporting policies and an organisational culture around how work is done and rewarded. FWAs must be part of the work culture and how work is done. Otherwise, what it will only serve to do is highlight the differences between men and women in the workforce and may be seen as concessions given to women. FWAs must be accepted as the way work is done and not special arrangements made for women. For example, collaborating virtually and working anywhere should be and is increasingly becoming a norm for employees and not seen as an exception. This will allow more effective communications and collaboration for workers. Having supporting policies will indirectly encourage and enable men to participate and have a more equal share of the family and duties in the home.

For sustained impact and greater participation and success of women in the workplace, companies and leaders in organisations must also champion the value of tapping the female talent base, developing women for good jobs as well as be committed to tracking progress and retaining women.

With female university undergraduates outnumbering male undergraduates in Singapore, women are increasingly likely to be equally or better educated than men. Two-thirds of the jobs that will be available in 2020, as we all have seen in studies to date, have said that these jobs do not even exist today. What this means is that when we learn, we need to prepare ourselves for careers that may not yet exist.

With growing digitalisation, we need to build new skills and be comfortable with technology to successfully navigate this multifaceted and global environment. Technology and engineering skills are growing in importance across industries. Although we are seeing an increasing trend of females opting for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Singapore, women and girls remain significantly under-represented in both education settings for engineering science and IT as well as in the workforce for these fields. These are jobs that are expected to have the most growth in the next five years. This would mean that there will be a large portion of our population missing out on critical skills to further their careers and this could mean that they could also risk missing out on the next disruptive trend that could improve Singapore.

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in his keynote speech at the Internet of Things (IoT) Asia last week, said that "There is a disruption going on. People are worried about jobs and people are worried about wages. This is real and no politician can afford to ignore this." He also said that "the most important political challenge is to prepare our people for this revolution." He stressed the need to build the skills and capabilities to enable our people to leverage this digital disruption, thereby generating good jobs with good wages which is at the heart of what a Smart Nation is about. Just as the Minister had outlined a plan over the next few years for the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), in partnership with the National University of Singapore (NUS), to train 10,000 public officers in data science, with the current gap of women in technology in the workforce and in STEM education, we also need to drive a plan to enable women and girls to build the skills to be able to have the ability to ride this digital revolution.

We need to ensure that girls at a young age are exposed to education, both formal and informal, on digital technologies, with opportunities to have hands-on learning and experiences. Both the Government and businesses must take an active role and commit resources to attract more women in tertiary education to STEM education and training. These could include scholarships, internships and career coaching. We must set goals to increase the number of women in technology roles and take action and track the progress.

Many will agree that, in Singapore, we have made good progress in the workforce participation of women. Although still lagging male workforce participation at 76.2%, female workforce participation has increased from 57.7% in 2012 to 60.4% now in 2016. And this should be attributed to more accessible and quality childcare as well as the introduction of the family care and paternity leave.

But we should not just track the percentage of women in the workforce. We must also look at how women are doing. Based on the World Economic Forum Global Gender Report, pay for women still lags behind that of men for similar work in Singapore at a ratio of 0.81. But I must stress that this is fourth in the world, which is a very strong achievement. To achieve gender pay parity, employers should make it a point to understand and address the gap and pay for comparable work done by both men and women. I think the Government should also focus on ensuring and encouraging employers to do that. Pay should be based on contributions and not gender.

It is encouraging that the proportion of senior business roles held by women in Singapore has also risen to 30% this year, up from 26% last year. This is above the average among countries in the Asia Pacific region, shown in the survey by global consultancy firm, Grant Thornton. But if we look into the numbers across C-Suite positions, this has been falling for that same group, meaning, for CEOs, chief financial officers (CFOs) and chief operating officers (COOs), the numbers have dropped from 2016 to 2017.

Progress of the number of women, not just on boards, but on C-Suite positions, need attention. And as Ms Tin Pei Ling had shared, the progress of women on boards listed in Singapore has been slow at only 9.7% in 2016, lagging many advanced countries and even behind countries in Asia like China, Hong Kong and India.

Two weeks ago, the PAP Women's Wing and BoardAgender have called for a revision to the Code of Corporate Governance to include a "comply or explain" disclosure policy for companies on their board diversity, including gender, in their annual reports and setting a target of at least of having 20% female directors on boards by 2020. This is timely as, despite a highly educated female population, greater workforce participation by women and an increasing proportion of women in senior business leadership roles above the average amongst countries even in the Asia Pacific region, not enough attention is paid to those rules. What we are seeing is slow progress for women in senior leadership positions in C-Suite positions as well as on boards. And we have to ask ourselves why this is so, in order to come up with the right actions.

Possible areas for change criteria would apply around decision-making principles for selection and the expansion of networks or talent pools that organisations are sourcing for board talent. Beyond mentoring and cultivating the pipeline of women for boards, we should be putting women in the roles that build the skills and experiences required for board roles, including C-Suite positions. Unless women have the relevant leadership and scope of business leadership experience, even if we dictate a number, even if we set a goal, that is not going to happen unless we allow women to get the experiences that they require to qualify for the board positions.

To prepare women for board positions, we should also be deliberate in efforts to support women in senior business roles to develop for these roles. Can executive leadership education programmes to equip senior leaders with board skills be included as part of their eligible courses for SkillsFuture Credit? This will allow women in senior business roles to take ownership of their training for skills required of board members.

I would like to conclude by talking about unconscious bias. I believe that this is one of the factors that is causing the slow progress of women in senior leadership roles as well as in participation on boards despite a highly educated women talent base and a pipeline of women in senior business roles in Singapore.

Are we biased? Some of us may think that we are not. Unconscious biases are pervasive in most societies and often people are unaware of our own unconscious biases. According to a global online research study done by Implicit Association Test with over 200,000 participants, 64% of participants demonstrated a strong or moderate preference for young people as compared to old people; 75% of participants associated male with career, and female with family.

So, although this is going to be quite embarrassing for me, I thought I would just share a personal story and an "Aha!" moment that I had to illustrate the point about unconscious biases.

Sometime last year, I had a very important client meeting, and we were preparing for speakers for that meeting and my colleague assured me that we had the best speakers lined up. We had one topic on quantum computing, a fairly exciting and interesting topic but requiring a good amount of knowledge and skills to be able to explain that well and to cover the topic well. Of course, I was looking around for the speaker and then I realised who the speaker was, so I turned to my colleague and said, "Are you sure you did your homework?" And he said, "Yes." I said, "Are you sure?" And I was not quite sure. Anyway, the speaker spoke and for the next one hour, I was extremely engaged, inspired and the speaker did a very good job.

But let me share with you. I was totally embarrassed after that because it was an "Aha!" moment for me because I had just completed my unconscious bias training, and that is why it made an impact on me of my own unconscious bias because, guess what? The reason why I thought she was not the best speaker for this, is not because she was a female, but it was because she looked young and she was also extremely good looking. And I said to myself, "Gosh!" this is extremely embarrassing, because I do pride myself on feeling fairly open and I am a champion of diversity in the workforce. But it was not her gender; it was age and my assumption of experience and know-how at the same time.

Each of us has unconscious biases. I think if I look at all the statistics and the facts that are supporting us in having female talent in key positions, clearly, something is blocking that. We need to boldly ask ourselves why and face that and be able then to do something about it. I would recommend that we have training for unconscious biases both in schools and in the workplace.

I am passionate about having more women in both public and private organisations, because it makes perfect business sense and social and economic sense when you consider that women make up 50% of our population. Globally, they represent a growth market more than twice the size of China and India combined.

According to EY (previously Ernst & Young), women are the new emerging market with a combined global income that will grow to approximately $18 trillion by 2018. But research also reveals that although most companies look at women for end-users, they do not tap their female talent base to understand what women need. So, imagine this: if only males were making decisions on what innovations that companies will invest in, based on a thought process of their experience and on what products that they can use themselves, then, we have a serious problem.

Not having gender diversity at all levels will see us missing out on huge opportunities; opportunities that could slow down both societal development and the economy. So, it will take both men and women to make the difference and enable us all to do our best work and to be our aspirations, both men and women. I support the Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Joan Pereira.

6.37 pm

Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Motion because I hope to see more measures to enable our women to achieve their aspirations and reach their fullest potential.

Although Singapore women have similar opportunities for education, training and work as men, our society still expects them to fulfill their traditional roles as mothers, daughters and daughters-in-law. As a result, women continue to shoulder the bulk of housework and caregiving duties. Even if their workloads are as demanding as those of their husbands', women are expected to take care of domestic affairs.

In many cases, when it becomes too difficult to meet both the demands of work and home, women would always put their families first, sacrifice themselves and take a step down their career ladders or stop working. Personally, I would like to see greater support and recognition of the caregiving and nurturing role of stay-at-home mothers, and also greater empowerment for those who choose to contribute in the workforce.

With an ageing population, we can expect to see even more women shouldering caregiving responsibilities for parents, in-laws and relatives. Our women are a precious resource and should be fully supported in their careers. To remain competitive as a nation, we need to secure the contribution of every qualified man and woman in our labour force.

For families to be able to entrust the important responsibility of caregiving to professionals, we should continue to seek to boost the capability and capacity of our professional caregiving sector. A segment that we can tap on is that of the retired nurses, who can be re-engaged on a "casual hours" basis. The current system can be enhanced such that, upon retirement, retired nurses can give consent to sharing their contact details for future re-engagement opportunities. This would help to alleviate the shortage of healthcare workers and at the same time the community can continue to benefit from their wealth of experience. They can also, through the course of their work, share tips on how they can take care of their family members better. Building up this network of retired medical professionals will complement what the community can offer.

Therefore, by augmenting our professional caregiving sector, we will help women stay in the workforce while providing them and their family members peace of mind, knowing that their elderly family members are being taken care of. We must continue to step up the recruitment and training of manpower for the caregiving sector. This group of professionals will play an important role in enabling the females in our labour force to achieve a higher participation rate.

Services at more of our eldercare centres can be augmented to include places for short-term accommodation for the elderly who need to stay there temporarily when their caregivers have to travel overseas. I would also like to take this opportunity to appeal again to the Government to legislate at least two days of eldercare leave per annum. This would be very much appreciated for family emergencies involving the elderly.

Next, I would like to reiterate my request for additional course subsidies, on top of the SkillsFuture Credit, for women who wish to return to work after being out of the workforce for a number of years. As I had said during the Budget Debate, many of them do not have much savings and would hesitate to ask for money from their husbands or children to attend classes. By helping them with the costs of the courses, we will enable more women to pick up skills and return to work more quickly.

As a practical way of recognising the contributions of our homemakers, I would like to propose mechanisms to encourage up to 50% of their husbands' Central Provident Fund (CPF) monthly contributions be transferred to them. These monthly transfers will provide acknowledgement and greater long-term financial assurance and is a meaningful way of recognising the great value of all the unpaid work and services that homemakers render to nurture their children and care for their parents.

Last but not least, I appeal to the Government to treat a single mother and her children as a "family nucleus" for Housing and Development Board (HDB) applications. Single parents face enormous struggles caring and providing for children. We should help them by providing a stable and safe environment for the children to grow up in. Accommodation is a basic necessity to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable children. Research has shown that stress in children has a negative impact on their developing brains, "with consequences, including cognitive deficits and emotional disorders, which, in turn, help perpetuate disadvantage." It is very unhealthy for these disadvantaged children to have to stay in overcrowded homes of their parents' friends or relatives, where they may not feel that they truly belong or embarrassed at having to do so. At the very least, with a roof over their heads, mothers will have one less worry and be able to focus more of their energies on their work to finance the expenses of the families.

Deputy Speaker, Sir, supporting and empowering our women will enable them to contribute more to their families, communities and country, and achieve their full potential. With women holding up half the sky, supporting the aspirations of our women is the most effective way to be future-ready.

Debate resumed.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.

6.44 pm

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Deputy Speaker, Sir, for some of our Singapore women, building successful careers and closely-knit families, are closely intertwined. Their aspirations are inextricably linked by a relationship of trade-offs. Some find that the demands of work prevent them from settling down earlier. Others, while they enjoy parenthood, find balancing work and family a struggle and hope for better support. Still for others, the demands of motherhood and career meant the decision is binary.

These trade-offs are difficult to make because, for most people, careers and families define us to a large extent. While it is unlikely that we can have our cake and eat it, can we do better for our Singaporean women?

A report by the Department of Statistics released about two weeks ago stated that the median age in the first marriage for brides rose from 26.9 years in 2005, to 28.2 years in 2015. The need to find careers, success and financial stability before marriage is probably a significant reason for this phenomenon.

The knock-on effect of later marriages is having children later. And with it, lower fertility rates. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) is increasingly being used by couples. While there are generous subsidies for ART, only women below 40 years old can benefit from it and, even then, the subsidies only apply for procedures at public hospitals. While the chances of conceiving drop after 40 and we should ensure public subsidies are well-targeted, there is a case to be made in having a reduced subsidy rate for those who are between 41 years old and 42 years old. The reduced subsidies rate commensurates with the lowered chances which are graduated after 40 years old to 42 years old, and not a precipitous decline.

Second, we need to review expanding the subsidised options for our couples. Currently, there are approximately 14 certified AR doctors in the restructured hospitals and about 33 in private practice. Opening up subsidies to both public and private hospitals give our couples more options and shorter waiting time. For couples with narrower windows, time is of the essence. The worry that doctors in private practice will raise prices because of the subsidies is not trivial. But we have similarly been using a system of audits and checks for community healthcare subsidies. The AR fees are now comparable between the private and public sectors. And the smaller group of AR practitioners meant checks should be easier. Opening up the market also introduces greater contestability for competitiveness.

The issue of AR is less critical if a woman marries earlier and have children earlier. We are unlikely to reverse the trend of later marriages. But we can give women chances of giving birth to healthy babies even when they are older. The hon Member Miss Cheng Li Hui raised in 2016 if the Ministry of Health (MOH) can consider allowing for egg-freezing. A key consideration then was whether egg-freezing was effective.

According to a Straits Times report on 18 September 2016, "In 2012, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine removed the 'experimental' label from egg freezing. It found that advances in techniques led to pregnancy rates comparable to IVF cycles that use fresh eggs." Even in IVF, eggs are extracted and then frozen before thawing for fertilisation, although for a shorter period of time. In the same report, it said, "Doctors note that a woman is born with a finite number of eggs, with the number and quality of eggs declining as she ages. By age 40, she has only 3% of the up to two million eggs that she was born with. This was from a study by the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh. Hence, freezing the eggs at a younger age preserves her fertility."

Now, the concern that allowing for egg-freezing might delay marriage and parenthood is also not trivial. However, sourcing for donor eggs is already allowed in Singapore anyway. And for many women, it is not just a matter of work delaying marriage but finding Mr Right. We should grant our women that right to choose without denying them the option of having healthier children. We can, in fact, support the aspirations of our Singaporean women by giving them a better chance of raising healthy children and having a good career.

Turning to the workplace, many women with children find their career options limited by inflexible workplaces. The recently-announced initiatives by the Government on the pilot in the Civil Service and Standard Chartered's 20 weeks of paid maternity leave are clarion calls to help our mothers manage their balancing act better. Standard Chartered stated it had done so because it "recognise[s] the dual roles many of them have to play and want them to succeed both at work and at home." And we need more of such trailblazers. I hope that the Government can consider piloting the right to request for FWA. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me continue in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Deputy Speaker, after giving birth, many women need some time to get used to managing the dual roles of childcare and work. For many new mothers, the first year after childbirth can be exhausting. They hope that their work can be flexible so that they can better cope with the role of a mother. However, they also realise that they already have the 16-week maternity leave and asking for FWA might affect their career prospect. They are in a dilemma and are not sure what to do. Some even choose to leave the workforce. I hope the Government can give the new mothers the statutory right of FWA within the first year of childbirth.

This has been implemented in the UK for many years and was welcomed by women and employers alike. This can promote pro-family practices and work arrangements and is a booster for women who are currently agonising over balancing work and family. Singaporean women need comprehensive support to fulfil their aspirations in family and career life. The measures outlined in the Motion can help Singaporean women achieve their dreams and aspirations. Hence, I support this Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Miss Cheryl Chan.

6.51 pm

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan): Mr Deputy Speaker, success is perceived differently depending on one's values and how a society communally defines it. While success and recognition are not only the defining factors of what every woman aspires to have, many women do find satisfaction and a sense of achievement when they can manage a good balance between their careers and families.

In Singapore, with equal access to quality education and jobs, we have seen a rise in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) of women. Based on Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) statistics, LFPR of women in 2016 was 60.4%. That is an increase compared to 54.3% in 2006. But with an ageing population, human capital remains one of our most valuable resources. Thus, it is worth looking at what more we can do to encourage more women in returning to the workforce.

From various focus group discussions, many women attributed their challenges in returning to the workforce to three things. One, education system; two, Asian culture with an overbearing societal behaviour and mindset that caregiving is primarily women's responsibility; three, weak transition support back to the workforce

First, on education. This is a broad topic and we know it is important. But what level of emphasis we place on our future generation matters. After a generation, the school curricula have significantly changed. Today, many parents in their 30s and 40s found that they are unable to provide homework guidance to their children in school unless they are also trained in the same methodology that is being taught in school. Additionally, there seems to be an unspoken assumption that children will or should have external tuition classes if they are unable to catch up in classes. How much truth this assumption holds remains to be proven. But an obvious trend is the extensive amount of tuition classes that our Singapore students have to undertake in order to cope with the daily homework assigned, much less the hope to excel in the subject or the sport that they desire.

Some blame the universal top-down education system that expects the students of different capability to learn at the same pace being unrealistic. Others claim this is the result of the school not teaching sufficiently. Another camp laments that this is the result of poor resource distribution in public schools and teachers having an enormous burden to cope with many aspects apart from teaching. Whatever the reason may be, it has certainly created an industry in its own right − tuition.

Those who can afford or have aced it with the help of tuition would say there is nothing wrong with this trend. After all, it is one of demand and supply. However, there are larger implicating issues we must deliberate on. Has this created more stress on our parents in thinking that having tuition is a prerequisite and without which their children cannot keep up at school? Will this lead to higher cost of raising children and less quality time for the family? Does this contradict the efforts to drive a mindset change of enabling our children to learn broadly, discover and pursue their passion?

I urge the Ministry to begin reviewing the tuition industry before it becomes counter intuitive to our broader efforts in making fundamental changes in our education system. Also, to consider whether resources from this tuition industry can be diverted to our public schools − enrichment classes in the school by private tutors to supplement the school teachers in catering for students weaker in specific subjects or guidance for their homework. This will provide some relief for school teachers, more accessibility to families that have lesser means and also to focus the tuition only for those who really need it.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the impact of education has lasting influence through our lives. It not only drives our choices but, more importantly, the culture of a society. We have increasingly seen younger Singaporeans who are willing to take the unbeaten path to pursue their dreams. As we encourage more entrepreneurs, their success depends largely on whether they are passionate, resourceful, have the grit to overcome the challenges. But before that, will we have a supportive culture that enables them to succeed, a culture that accepts failures as part of business endeavours and embraces different definitions of success? I think that is what we look forward to.

Next, let me raise six areas in which I think we can continue to advance women's representation in the workforce while we continue to encourage procreation. We must recognise that these efforts cannot be solely achieved through advocacy unless all parties involved take concrete steps towards the same goal.

First, continuous improvement in company policies and human resource (HR) practices. As we have heard from the previous few speakers, FWAs. To me, this is not a terminology that can be implemented without trust and adjustments to the work processes and also a company culture.

Employers and employees have mutual roles to play in understanding the issues at hand and jointly build the mutual trust that is required in a working relationship over a long period of time. Employers, who traditionally feel that the physical presence of the employees are critical in an office as it relates to effective work time, should progressively take a different view of this. They have to empower and equip their staff to work and deliver in different contexts. Likewise, the employees must demonstrate a strong ownership in delivering results and effective work and time management to give their employers adequate assurance.

The public sector and some private sector companies of different industries can take the lead in enabling FWAs for some of the functions. Those like the service-related, the backend office operations that can accommodate work location flexibility, shorter training cycles, leverage on technology; they should consider leveraging an existing pool of women and assist them to return to the workforce. This would help alleviate our manpower crunch and provide vocational opportunities for women who are keen to continue actively contributing in our workforce.

Some multinational companies (MNCs) have male champions who advocate the cause and actually give recognition to fathers for playing an equal and prominent role in supporting their wives at work and also at home. In such situations, when both parents are able to strike a balance and achieve well at their work, and find their work meaningful, they are likely to strike a better balance and remain involved in their children's lives and in raising their children together to strengthen their family units.

Further, unfair employment practices are still observed unfortunately in terms of salary and benefits that discriminate both gender and age. A tougher stance, I would urge, is for MOM to take against such employment, including those outsourcing companies, particularly the ones that hire our part-time older workers. Without a clear signal on fair hiring, progress in this area will continue to remain slow and many part-time jobs remain unattractive despite the fact that some of our older workers will gain financial independence.

Second, targeted SkillsFuture package for those who plan to return to the workforce. Women who had extended breaks from work during childbearing years need assistance to return to the workforce. Having left the working environment, they become unfamiliar with what it feels like to be back in the workforce. Their self-perception of their own abilities and also what relevant work skills they may have, are lacking and this will prevent them from wanting to return to the workforce.

I encourage SkillsFuture SG to consider having a structured programme that does two things. One, provide a tailored skills training or courses that are relevant to areas for workers who have been out of the workforce for more than two years, for example, in confidence-building and the IT-related courses. And second, to support their job placement. This is very critical, whether it is through our Place and Train Programme or even the Adapt and Grow schemes. Assist them with matching the job opportunities.

There are some women who have left the workforce for a while. They have found that they have passion in new areas and they hope to switch careers after they have delivered. And I think they need to embark on this career switch that will better suit their capabilities. With these, women will be kept relevant professionally and they have confidence that they are also well supported in their career development. Empowering women to pursue careers in which they can balance their family life and continue contributing to the economy, in the long run will only be a positive move. This will ensure that during their old age they will also have some amount of financial independence.

Three, mentoring programmes. Encourage our companies and the public sector to have mentoring programmes for promising female employees as they progress in their career. Mentorship enables women to understand and also share their challenges. They need to have a ready network to confide in. And above all, an aspirational motivation, when they see that other similar females have achieved in life and they are also equally capable of achieving those goals.

Four, caregiver training, subsidies and eldercare leave. During the Committee of Supply (COS) this year, I have raised about the need for preventive care and community caregiving as there is a limit to the number of elderly care centres that we can build and we hope to enable our elderly to succeed in ageing successfully at home.

With the responsibility of caring for the elderly falling on the shoulders of a smaller pool of individuals, we need to provide and encourage more options for caregiving. I feel that caregivers should be given courses on how and what it takes to care for the elderly. I have asked this at the COS and I will raise it again: whether the Ministry will consider providing these family caregivers the basic options of training on how to do caregiving for the elderly. Also, whether the Ministry can work with healthcare providers to develop an information kit of proven digital gadgets that can be installed at home so that the caregivers are better facilitated to take care of their elderly. And are there any application platforms that can be created to link the caregivers with sources of help provision or even for them to be networked with retired medical professionals to supplement the healthcare sector?

On subsidies and care leave, there are two areas I recommend be reviewed.

First, for non-working mothers − the current subsidies that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has for infant care, childcare or kindergarten for these non-working mothers are actually lower compared to those of working mothers. But we understand the reason why it is so. It seems to be a chicken-and-egg problem. So, I would like to ask the Ministry to consider giving equal subsidised rate for the non-working mothers who are going to be gainfully employed after six months of placing their children at the childcare services.

Second, for the singles − to provide the eldercare leave or to allow them to convert the unused medical leave to care for their elderly at home. As the duty of caring for the elderly still primarily falls on the children, for those who are singles or come from a single child family, they would face even more difficulties with the weaker support. They do not have additional care leave to cater for the caring of their elderly at home.

I would like to ask the Ministry to consider whether they can help to remove the differential in tax relief for those parents who stay or do not stay with the taxpayer. There are many reasons why people do not live under the same roof but living apart does not indicate that they provide less care for their parents.

Fifth, provide enhanced support networks for single parents. We spoke about this extensively during the COS this year. For single parents, such networks and extended support are very critical as many would have fewer choices and even less help available. Most of them would be working and, being single, inherently means they just have fewer resources, whether it is in terms of leave, childcare support and so on. Thus, providing them with coaching on caregiving and any form of interim support for the first six years of their children's lives would be invaluable. Assistance and support from counsellors, volunteers and having the knowledge of where to access this information are very critical. With such support, they will be better equipped to manage their time and financial resources. Their children would also benefit from adults who can act as mentors like bigger brothers or sisters to them, whom they can turn to.

And lastly, encourage freelance work. There are two aspects of it.

First, establish the startup spaces in neighbourhoods to enable women to work closer to home or even on a part-time basis. For example, in Korea, where the startup scene is more vibrant, women are actually more involved in the customer service-oriented and consumer industries. One possibility is to convert the heartland shops to house such entrepreneurial businesses. Micro-franchise concepts like social enterprises should also be considered, especially if they can provide the vocational opportunities for the elderly.

And next, availability of shared platforms for local entrepreneurs to create an industry of their own. Some of the basic services that can be created very close to home could include essential caregiving that offer meals catering, minding of the old folks at home, nanny services, home cleaning, laundry and so on. All these services that are offered would provide the flexibility not only for the worker but because it can be catered on demand. With proximity and also reliable supply of services, this can help ease the burdens of working parents who cannot afford to have FWAs or who have to work on shifts.

To end off, Mr Deputy Speaker, women's aspirations can only be effectively fulfilled with the support of our broader society. As much as women want to continue working to be active contributors for as long as they could, their dreams cannot be fulfilled on their own. The society has to embrace and support their journey. There is always that X factor that makes or breaks a dream. I hope Singapore continues to be progressive and lead the way to push our boundaries for shared and equal responsibilities among every Singaporean − men or women. And with this, I rise in support of the Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.

7.07 pm

Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, my Party Chairman, the hon Ms Sylvia Lim, is away on a Parliamentary trip in Bangladesh. But, like Sylvia, the eight male members of the Workers' Party (WP) in the Chamber today wish to affirm our strong support for the aspirations of Singapore women.

Sir, it is said that women hold up half the sky. But I think, at present, they hold up even more than half. Men need to step up and hold their fair share.

Women bear the lion's share of homemaking and childcare in our families. They are, for the most part, the most critical role models for our children during their precious formative years. Their care and their example shape the quality of the next generation of Singaporeans, thus setting the tone and the course for the future of this country.

But all too often, Singapore women become the stressed tuition teacher-in-chief, fielding incessant almost day-to-day communications with their children's school administrators and teachers, coaching the kids in the evening, managing tuition classes, ferrying children to and from these classes. Singapore mothers are at the frontlines of an academic system that places a huge burden of academic content mastery on our children while layering ever more non-academic demands on top.

Women also still bear the brunt of keeping the home clean − our homes. Women who work very often have to cook and clean after they return home from work. Singaporeans put in among the longest working hours in the world. The norm of long working hours, which does not equate with high impact if productivity is low, places many women in the hardest of positions: stay longer at work and have to work at housekeeping and coaching children till late into the night, sacrificing sleep and health, or leave the workplace early and risk their promotion. Again, Singapore women are at the frontlines, this time of the issues of productivity and long working hours that Singapore is grappling with.

Can men do more in the home? Yes, they can. In saying that, I do not downplay the contributions of the small number of stay-at-home fathers in Singapore. Nor do I want to downplay the role of the many, many husbands and fathers who play their part, a meaningful part in raising the children and keeping the home clean. But on the whole, Singapore men are no different from men all over the world. They can and they should do more in the home. Men can do more to be with their children. They can do more to guide their children's academic and character development. They can do more to form strong, close, trusting relationships with their children, relationships that will last till the end of our lives.

For our children are among our most important companions in life's journey. Those relationships should be an immensely important part of what make a meaningful life. And those relationships are the touchstones of emotional stability, self-mastery and character, for both parents and children. For me, being a part of my children's lives as they are growing up has been not only emotionally rewarding but has been a huge source of wisdom and learning.

Men can do more to keep the home clean. Domestic helpers play their part, but they can only do so much and they are another category of women who need to be treated with respect. And most Singaporeans do not employ domestic helpers. Machines like the "irobot" floor cleaner can only do so much. Whatever work that is left over needs to be shared more equally.

Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, men can and should do more. I myself can and should do more. And the cornerstone of men doing more is to respect women as equal human beings. When that respect is practised beyond lip service and words but in day-to-day actions and thoughts, that respect will inevitably spill over to all social institutions. That respect will help eliminate the vestiges of inequality that women still face inside and outside our homes. Social norms are created every single day by our behaviour as individuals. We need to reflect on those behaviours which include our speech and our habits. No one should refer to a grown woman as a "girl" any more than we refer to grown men as "boys."

More can be done by our companies. From corporate boardrooms to the cockpits of airlines, companies should take concrete steps to advance greater gender diversity in all roles, including management roles. There is a growing body of research that shows that gender diversity is not only correlated with better business performance but that there may be an actual causal connection between the two. Companies can, for example, promote mentorship programmes for older and more senior female employees to coach and counsel younger female employees.

Gender diversity cuts both ways. Some professions tend to be dominated by women, like teaching, social work and nursing. More can be done in these professions to attract men and create male role models so that these industries, too, will gain the benefits of gender diversity.

And finally, the state plays a huge role and a much bigger role in Singapore than in most developed countries relative to civil society and the private sector. The role of the state in Singapore is crucial in fostering the kind of gender equality of opportunity, choice and respect that should characterise Singapore.

Is there more that the state can do? Yes. While progress has undoubtedly been made, the state can do more to promote greater flexibility in part-time work, job sharing and re-entry into the workforce for women who have taken a break for childcare.

In this regard, I note the reply to my Parliamentary Question a few months ago on job sharing and part-time work in the Civil Service that those on such arrangements increased from about 1,500 in 2011 to about 2,000 in 2015. But this is still a small number and I suspect that even more civil servants would take this option if there was better assurance that career prospects would not be set back from a spell of part-time work and that it is easy to transition back to full-time work.

Singapore's Civil Service is not only Singapore's biggest employer but an employer that often sets labour market norms by the power of its example. Having more civil servants on part-time and job sharing would set a powerful example to the private sector. This could, in turn, enable more women to join the workforce and also exit and re-enter more easily.

The state should also step up efforts to root out discrimination based on gender, alongside any other kind of unworthy discrimination on anything other than performance. My colleague Mr Faisal Manap last year called for a voluntary Fair Employment Contribution Fund to be created to promote fair employment practices as a precursor to possibly legislating anti-discrimination laws under a broader National Employment Framework. I repeat this call here. The time has come to regularly survey and publish perceptions of discrimination and seek to find patterns that can be addressed by MOM and TAFEP to ensure a fair workplace. As a society, we are mature enough to have these conversations. One area that needs to be addressed is whether women are being paid less for doing the same work as men. The published data is inconclusive and a further study should be done.

The state can do more to facilitate women re-entering the workforce. I would like to suggest a programme that enables homemakers to stay in touch with the industry they have left. MOM could work with the Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) in various industries to allow homemakers to keep abreast of industry developments and attend ad hoc events and training, through email, newsletters and other online resources. This would better prepare women who choose to re-enter the workforce at some point.

The state should also catalyse mentorship programmes for women in large companies, as I referred to earlier. A good place to start would be the Civil Service.

Would the Ministry of Education (MOE) consider a structured system for inviting women from different professions to give talks at our schools about what they have accomplished? Role models make a huge difference in life. Female students need more tangible examples that whatever obstacles they face in their future workplace can be overcome.

Sexist attitudes can be formed and hardened during National Service. By the same token, National Service can be a powerful platform to reinforce positive ideas. Can the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) organise talks and programmes to educate National Servicemen about the evils of domestic violence and sexual harassment?

Lastly, if women hold up more than half the sky, a single parent, man or woman, is holding together the entire world for their family. More still can be done to enhance benefits and, in particular, access to housing for single parents, including unwed mothers, as WP Members have long argued for. It is time for us to stop brushing aside this idea with the broom of the moral hazard argument. Hardly anyone chooses to become a single parent as a lifestyle choice.

Granting equal benefits will not provoke a rash of people wanting to become single parents, with all the financial and emotional challenges that that entails. Once we recognise just how outrageous this idea is, we start to see that there are no sound objections to equalising benefits to single parents and thus not punishing their children.

In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, when more is done on all these fronts, what is the end game? What are the aspirations of Singapore women that we will be affirming and advancing?

As a man, I am in no position to speak for women. I can only share my view, which is that Singapore women should have what all human beings should have − choices, the choice to strike the balance they want to in the workplace and in the home; the choice to strive and achieve their dreams in any line of work they apply themselves to; the choice to be an amazing homemaker who enables her family to fulfil their deep potential and, in so doing, enables herself to do the same.

To make Singapore a home where all women have these choices, we need institutional equality of opportunity. Here, the state and private sector can and should do more. We need men to step up and play a greater role in the home. And most of all, we need to continually reinforce that glue that binds men and women together in families, in the community and as a nation, and that glue is, quite simply, respect.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

7.19 pm

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Deputy Speaker, Sir, what are the aspirations of Singapore women?

Many would want to be a caring mother, loving wife, filial daughter and dutiful daughter-in-law, plus a successful career woman. To be very honest, women are, in general, still shouldering more family care responsibilities. So, FWAs, or flexi-work, will be especially important to their careers.

The recent Conditions of Employment survey showed some improvement in the number of workers who can access flexi-work, especially ad hoc flexi-work, like unplanned time-off and ad hoc teleworking. But worryingly, the momentum seems to have slackened.

The proportion of firms offering formal flexi-work, like flexible hours and working from home, has not increased. In fact, only 6.2% of firms allow their workers to work from home permanently. This is much less than many countries. For example, in the United States (US), around 45% of the working population works from home.

I have also heard that the tendency is for employers to offer flexi-work to older workers, particularly to those holding lower positions, whose work they feel are more dispensable or less important to the company. But flexi-work is essential to everyone, especially young parents who are juggling the care of children or those who are taking care of aged parents. Can the Government look into the profile of workers with flexi-work and see if we can do more to expand it?

Many firms do not offer long-term flexi-work because they are scared it will affect their productivity or they do not trust their staff. They are afraid "working from home" will turn into "shirking from home". But studies show that this is not the case.

In one Stanford study, call centre workers increased their productivity by 13% when they worked from home. They worked longer hours but, simultaneously, were happier.

That is in the short term. In the long term, firms with more flexi-work have lower turnover, as noted by MOM's report. Specifically, firms can retain more female talent with flexi-work. Unfortunately, many women choose to leave the workforce when they cannot balance work and family responsibilities. When more people in the family have flexi-work options, they can also help out with family responsibilities more, so that the women do not have to leave the workforce altogether.

The lack of flexi-work is part of a bigger problem, which is the culture of facetime in local offices. Some bosses like to see employees spending long hours at their desks, even if studies show that such employees are not more productive. If flexi-work takes off, then bosses will have to adapt to a culture where they do not see their employees at their desks for long hours. They will learn to assess employees only on their work, not on the amount of facetime. Hopefully, this will help even employees who do not take up flexi-work to cut down on unproductive facetime. I hope employers will seriously relook at their operations and HR practices to accommodate more flexi-work. In fact, when there is more flexi-work, it may also encourage more married couples to have more children.

In fact, when I talked to my younger residents, they told me that the Government has given them a lot of monetary incentives. They said, unfortunately, it will not sway their decision. They said that every day, they have to rush from their workplace to childcare centres to pick up their children. And that process, that journey itself, is always very stressful because they have to rush.

Just now I talked about women who are in the workforce. I would like to turn now to another group of women − women who have left the workforce to take care of their families.

Many full-time homemakers do not have adequate CPF savings, even though women live longer than men and need even more retirement savings. There are two main ways to address this. First, to encourage lifelong learning and paths back into the workforce for younger homemakers, so that they can re-enter the workforce when they want to. Give them more SkillsFuture credits or enable the transfer of unused credits from family members. Sourcing for more effective e-learning courses and putting them in the list of courses applicable for SkillsFuture subsidies would make them more accessible for homemakers.

Second, for older homemakers who cannot work much anymore, the Government can allow auto transfer from spouse's CPF when her spouse's CPF saving has reached full retirement sum unless her spouse opts out. If the Budget allows, the Government can give dollar-for-dollar matching, up to a certain maximum sum. Inertia will ensure that a significant amount gets transferred to these women, who have given their whole lives to build their families and country. Allow me to summarise in Chinese.here1

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] What do Singaporean women want? I think most women want to be a loving wife, a caring mother, a filial daughter, a dutiful daughter-in-law and a successful career woman. Honestly speaking, in most Singaporean families, family responsibilities fall mostly on the women. Therefore, in order to achieve these goals, FWA is very critical.

According to the latest statistics, the percentage of companies that offer FWA seems to have hit a bottleneck. Perhaps, it is because many companies feel that with FWA, their staff will become lazy. However, studies have shown that staff who are on FWA not only have higher productivity but are also less likely to resign. Hence, I would like to ask the Government to study how to encourage companies to offer more types of FWAs and longer periods of FWAs. FWAs should not only be offered to low-income workers, but also to all the staff. We should study how to change the mindset of local employers and let them know that a good employee is not necessarily someone who stays in the office every day.

At the same time, we should not neglect women who have left the workforce. We should encourage housewives to undergo lifelong learning and give them opportunities to go back to the workforce. The Government can give them more SkillsFuture credits or offer more home-based courses. For some housewives, not having enough CPF savings is a big problem. Perhaps CPF Board can transfer a certain amount of money from their family members who have sufficient CPF savings. Although family members can opt out, I believe this will benefit quite a number of housewives. If the Budget allows, the Government can consider offering dollar-for-dollar matching, so that housewives do not have to worry about their livelihood in old age.

(In English): I support this Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Darryl David.

7.29 pm

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of Singapore's founding principles is the creation of an egalitarian society that is based on meritocracy and justice. Everyone, regardless of race, language, religion or gender, has an equal place in our society and we, as a nation, have been progressive in supporting diversity.

Women in Singapore have made, and continue to make, steady progress over the years. In business, we find more women in senior management roles. In the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), for example, a third of its group executive committee is female, and, in Singtel, women made up one third of its board of directors. In politics, the number of women who have been successfully elected into Parliament has risen from 3% in the First Parliament of 1965 to 23% in the current 13th Parliament. Indeed, although she is not currently in the Chair, the fact that our Speaker is addressed as "Madam," is a testament to this.

While women in Singapore continue to make advancements in their career advancement, we must remain cognisant that the playing field is sometimes not level for women. Gender parity can be achieved only if we make a conscious effort to foster an environment that facilitates opportunities and mobility for women, and I will speak on three areas that I think will help bring us closer to parity.

First, how to enhance the working and corporate environment for women. Gender diversity at workplaces today is one of the top of mind concerns for companies. Although women, in general, have made good career advancements at work, the number of women in senior leadership roles is still far lower than that of men. And that was mentioned by Member Ms Jessica Tan in her speech earlier.

In my opinion, this can be attributed to at least two plausible reasons. First, biasness might have unconsciously crept into organisational processes, such as performance evaluation and even promotion decisions. Secondly, companies might lack effective policies to manage the career pathways of women, especially during their maternity years that coincide with the important mid-career stage.

Research by McKinsey & Co and Lean-In has suggested that while there is an almost equal representation of women and men at entry-level jobs, women "leak" out of the promotion pipeline during the mid-career stage and the career gaps between women and men widen as one progresses further up the organisational hierarchy.

Organisations, have in recent years, put in place many pro-family policies to support flexi and part-time work, as well as Women Initiatives Networks (WIN) to raise awareness around gender issues at work. The results of these policies, however, are mixed. It is not uncommon to hear anecdotal stories of how women and men are evaluated using different yardsticks, and this is especially so when women take on flexi-work or during the period when they go on maternity leave.

I feel that the way that we appraise and evaluate employees for promotion must also change. HR departments need to play the role of an advocate and arbitrator during promotion decisions and ensure that women are evaluated fairly and duly considered for promotion based on the merit of their performance. I agree with Ms Tin Pei Ling that we need to move from an input model where the emphasis is placed on facetime in an office to an output model where the emphasis is placed on the quality of one's job performance.

The adoption of electronic work platforms, such as project management software and collaboration platforms, will enhance the ability of women to work from home and allow them to make equal contributions at work regardless of whether they are physically present in the office or not. Companies, both in the public and private sectors, should accelerate the pace that these technologies are adopted and help their organisations to move towards a flexible workforce where both women and, indeed, men as well can continue to contribute to the company's success, regardless of whether they are working from home or working on-the-go.

We can also do more to help and support families and couples holistically; this is my second point. One of the biggest hurdles that working mothers face is the need to juggle both work and home responsibilities. This challenge stems from the fact that societies, especially those in Asia, tend to ascribe gender-specific roles to men and women. Men are typically assumed to be the primary breadwinner and women's careers are thought to be of secondary importance to men's.

These attitudes have led to the "sacrifice" mindset that is common among both men and women where women are often expected to "sacrifice" their career goals and aspirations to support their family, so that their husbands can pursue their careers wholeheartedly and undistracted.

Despite the voluntary career slowdown, it has not been easy for these working moms. They often have to work three shifts a day − a day shift in office as an employee, an evening mommy or wife shift where they need to fulfil their family responsibilities, and a night shift where they would check their emails and prepare for the next day's work after they have gone through homework with their kids and put the kids to bed.

Most of the corporate solutions that we have to support working moms tend to revolve around FWAs. While this is useful, I believe it is clearly insufficient because we need to also support working dads so that they can be empowered to support their wives with the family responsibilities. I believe that the support for working dads can come on three fronts.

First, how can companies adopt a pro-family mindset and implement progressive HR practices that support both men and women, so that they can better fulfil their family obligations without fear that they will be penalised at work or worry about their career being derailed?

Second, from a policy perspective, what can the Government do to facilitate working dads who wish to take on more family responsibilities? The recent changes to shared parental leave and paternity leave are a positive move in the right direction but can we go a little bit beyond leave provisions? Can we provide more support for men who decide, for example, to be stay-home dads?

Third, as a society, we need to collectively destigmatise stay-home dads and see stay-home dads as fulfilling just as important a duty as stay-home moms.

Individuals, companies and the Government must celebrate and recognise the contributions of mothers and fathers, regardless of whether they chose to work or to stay at home because they are fulfilling an important and sacred duty that deserves our collective and unwavering support.

My final point, Deputy Speaker, Sir, is doing more to help full-time homemaking moms return to the workforce in either a part-time or full time capacity and calibrating this with the SkillsFuture initiative.

As we try to move towards a manpower-lean workforce that relies on technology to boost our employees' productivity, we will inevitably face a skills-gap issue, especially among full-time moms who wish to return to work. In the present climate, back-to-work moms already find it difficult to reintegrate back to the workforce because they might have lost the business networks that they used to have, and they have to deal with the fact that what they knew is obsolete. This problem is compounded by the adoption of workplace technology that back-to-work moms could be unfamiliar with.

We need to help our back-to-work moms transit smoothly back into the workforce by ensuring that they have the right level of skills and knowledge to reintegrate into the labour market. Can SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce SG consider creating dedicated programmes to help back-to-work moms upskill and reskill themselves so that they can be relevant to the needs of the labour market? Can we enhance the SkillFuture credit scheme for moms so that they can take more market-relevant courses when they choose to return to work? Can we even have more credit for the stay-at-home moms who are willing to return to the workforce either in a part-time or full-time capacity?

And other than ensuring that back-to-work moms must have market relevant skills, job matching market placement is also crucial. Would the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) consider having a dedicated placement programme to help pair back-to-work moms with progressive companies that are willing to offer opportunities to these ladies?

Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have said before that everything I am today, I owe to four amazing women: my grandmother, my mother, my wife and my sister. What inspires me to continue to make our society a more inclusive and gender equal one is the fifth amazing woman in my life, my five-year-old daughter Kelly Anne. I want Kelly Anne to grow up in a society where she has more positive female role-models like our all-women Everest team, top corporate leader Olivia Lum, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Zuraidah Abdullah and the Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter pilot Khoo Teh Lynn. I want her to grow up in an environment that will empower her to be successful both in her career and in her family life, without having to compromise either. I want her to grow up feeling proud to be a Singaporean woman and proud because she lives in a country that provides her with multiple opportunities for success, regardless of race, language, religion or gender. With that, Sir, I conclude my speech in firm support of the Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister of State Lam Pin Min.

7.38 pm

The Minister of State for Health (Dr Lam Pin Min): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Ms Tin Pei Ling and the Members for raising the need to recognise and support Singapore women, many of whom have made personal sacrifices to care for their loved ones. Caregiving is no easy feat. It is an important responsibility, which will only grow heavier with Singapore's ageing population. The Government is strengthening efforts in a number of areas so that caregivers feel more supported in caring for their loved ones.

First, we are enhancing accessibility to eldercare services in the community. Ms Tin Pei Ling and Ms Joan Pereira asked that we provide more eldercare services and locate them in convenient locations. We have expanded our home care capacity from 3,800 places in 2011 to around 7,500 home care places today. We have also increased our day care places from 2,100 in 2011 to 4,000 today. We are on target to grow this to 10,000 home care and 6,200 day care places by 2020. We are building our eldercare centres across Singapore and ramping up transport services so that it is more convenient for seniors to travel to the centres. New centres will operate minimally from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm so that it is more convenient for working caregivers. Some centres now operate on weekends. We are also encouraging more centres to extend their operating hours and establishing home care services at their centres to make care more accessible.

We will need more manpower to support this expansion and are enhancing schemes, such as the Return to Nursing scheme, which aims to attract retired and home practising nurses to return to work in the healthcare sector. We also have Professional Conversion Programmes to attract mid-career Singaporeans to be trained as nurses and allied health professionals and organise job fairs as well as put in place the Community Care Traineeship Programme to attract Singaporeans to be trained as support care staff for the aged care sector.

Second, we are expanding our respite services so that caregivers can rest and recharge and working caregivers can travel for overseas trips. Other than weekend respite services at our eldercare centres, more than 40 nursing homes now provide residential respite services ranging from a few days to a month. Caregivers of seniors with dementia can also tap on the Eldersit and Home-Based Intervention Programme which offers home-based respite aimed at keeping the seniors engaged in activities in a familiar environment while their caregivers take a break.

Third, we are equipping our caregivers to provide better care for their loved ones. We currently provide subsidies of up to $200 per annum from the Caregivers' Training Grant (CTG) for caregivers who are caring for seniors or those with a disability, including foreign domestic workers (FDWs), to attend training courses on caregiving or self-care skills. Caregivers co-pay as little as $10 after taking into account training subsidies. To date, more than 35,000 caregivers have utilised the grant.

In October last year, we started piloting an eldercare training scheme for our FDWs to better care for seniors. These FDWs undergo a comprehensive training before deployment. As of last month, about 60 FDWs have been trained, of which 50 have been placed with families.

Fourth, we are increasing the touchpoints in the community to help caregivers navigate the social and healthcare systems. In 2014, we launched the Singapore Silver Line which is a one-stop call centre to help seniors and their caregivers with information on care services and schemes in the community. The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) has also set up AICareLinks centres at five hospitals and at its office in Maxwell Road. These are one-stop counters where caregivers can receive advice on services and schemes. To facilitate easier access to information, AIC will set up information booths at selected polyclinics. We now have booths in three polyclinics at Chua Chu Kang, Marine Parade and Yishun. AIC will roll this out to another six polyclinics by early next year.

Many Members suggested that employers provide FWAs to allow employees to better manage work demands with family and caregiving needs. Today, more employers are adopting FWAs. In 2016, about 67% of the employees worked in firms that offer formal FWAs, up from 56% in 2011. More than eight in 10 employees worked in firms that offer unplanned time-off or ad hoc teleworking for their employees to attend to personal matters, up from seven in 10 in 2011.

Miss Cheryl Chan has suggested that the public sector take the lead in enabling FWAs. We agree with the suggestion and would like to update the House that all our public healthcare clusters have done so to help staff balance work and personal demands. For instance, more than 4,200 nurses are benefiting from FWAs, such as having more flexible rosters enabled by e-scheduling systems.

Miss Cheryl Chan and Ms Joan Pereira also suggested to provide more eldercare leave for working caregivers to take care of the seniors. We have been studying the issue in consultation with unions and employers. We are not ready to legislate eldercare leave at this time because we need to strike a balance between employers' concern on business costs and manpower constraints, and caregivers' need for more leave for eldercare purposes. Existing leave provisions can be used for this purpose today. We encourage more employers to provide family-related leave benefits which can be used for different purposes, as well as FWAs, such as time-off to look after their elderly parents. Public Service agencies currently provide two days of parent care leave annually. Some private companies have also done so. For example, the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) offers two days of family leave for employees who are not entitled to childcare leave. This would include caregivers who are singles and taking care of their elderly parents. We encourage more employers to do likewise. We will continue to review the need to legislate eldercare leave as our socio-economic circumstances change over time.

Ms Tin Pei Ling suggested to leverage technology for remote monitoring of our seniors while caregivers are at work. I am happy to share with Ms Tin that we are piloting the use of technology to find an effective and sustainable model which can be scaled up. As part of HDB's Smart Homes Trial, we are testing elderly monitoring systems which can send out alerts to their caregivers if the seniors are in distress. This will allow caregivers greater peace of mind. For example, in Yuhua, residents can install solutions, such as the Smart Elderly Monitoring and Alert System (SEMAS). The system can provide alerts to caregivers when the seniors trigger the distress buttons. It can also send automated notifications if the system detects an anomaly in the seniors' behaviour, such as lack of movement over a prolonged duration.

Ultimately, supporting our caregivers is a collective responsibility. We need to build a community support system where our seniors and their caregivers are supported and cared for. Under the Community Networks for Seniors pilot programme, we are partnering community stakeholders to reach out, befriend and support seniors living in each community. We are also promoting dementia-friendly communities by encouraging the community-at-large to be trained to help seniors with dementia. In these "dementia-friendly communities", seniors with dementia can stay active and caregivers do not have to be afraid of them going out, because there will be people around to help them home. Together, we hope to foster a more inclusive and compassionate society where caregivers are well-supported in their caregiving roles. The Government will also continue to study new ways to support our caregivers.

We agree with Mr Desmond Choo that we need to support women's aspiration to raise healthy children. He suggested measures, such as extending subsidies for ART, and allowing egg freezing.

We have no plans to extend ART subsidies to private centres at this point in time. There is sufficient capacity at ART facilities in our public hospitals. Clinical data in Singapore also shows that public and private centres' success rates are comparable. From 2011 to 2015, the average live birth rate from ART was 20.7% at public centres, compared to 19.8% at private centres. Nevertheless, couples seeking treatment at private ART centres may tap on their MediSave to defray the cost of ART treatment.

On egg freezing, licensed Assisted Reproduction (AR) centres in Singapore are allowed to do this when there are medical needs. For example, egg freezing can be performed on women who need to undergo medical treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, that may adversely affect their fertility.

We would also like to highlight that egg freezing carries some risks to the woman. The process of stimulating production and collecting a woman's eggs for freezing can result in complications, such as over-stimulation of the ovaries, bleeding and infection.

In addition, the issue of allowing egg freezing for non-medical or social reasons is a complex one due to various ethical and social implications. First, egg freezing is not a guaranteed solution to delaying parenthood. Second, the risks of developing certain age-related complications during pregnancies are not mitigated by egg freezing. For this reason, the Government still encourages couples to have more children when they are relatively young and healthy.

Nevertheless, we are currently studying the feasibility of allowing social egg freezing. We are weighing the social, ethical and religious concerns very carefully. Should social egg freezing be allowed, we will need to build a robust regulatory framework with adequate controls not just to ensure the safety and welfare of the women undergoing social egg freezing, but to also mitigate the potential social, ethical and religious considerations.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we recognise the many important roles women play in our lives. Through various measures, we hope that women can be better supported to fulfil their aspirations as well as their many essential roles in our society. With that, I support the Motion.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Ong Ye Kung.

The Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) and Second Minister for Defence (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for having me join this discussion and also to respond to some of the questions and suggestions that were raised earlier.

I agree with the thrust of what Ms Tin Pei Ling and Members who have taken to the floor before me have said, that we have a duty to support women in their individual aspirations.

We have made great strides towards gender equality over the years, but much can be done. In 1965, the literacy rate for women was a dismal 43%, far behind men at 76%. Today, we have closed the gap significantly. In 2016, literacy rate for women is at 95% and that for males is close to 99%. This gap, I believe, will disappear in several years' time. In fact, from my generation onwards, there is practically no education gap between men and women.

And as mentioned by Ms Tin Pei Ling and Ms Jessica Tan, female undergraduates make up the majority of students in university. In fact, it has been so for the last five years. Latest year, it was 51%.

Women now are also well represented in lifelong learning. Of all Singaporeans who utilised their SkillsFuture Credit last year, 55% were women. Despite this, there is room to grow and to further narrow the gap between men and women, and one area for us to do so is the gap in employment rate. The employment rate for women aged 25-54 is currently 78%, a 10-percentage point increase from a decade ago, and high by international standards, but still lower than that of men at 92%. So, it is between 78% and 92%. A key reason is because the employment rate for women shows a drop after the 25-29 age bracket when many start their families and never quite return to match the participation rate of men.

Similarly, while the wage differential between men and women is narrowing, and the rate of income growth for women has outpaced that for men over the past five years, there is still a significant wage disparity. Today, the median wage for women is 85% that of men. I heard Ms Jessica Tan mentioning 81%. I think it depends on whether we include CPF and whether the employer's CPF is included.

What then should we do to further close the gap? Many helpful suggestions have been raised, such as skills training, job matching services, encouraging freelance work, financial support and so on. These are certainly relevant forms of assistance.

We need to recognise that there are challenges unique to back-to-work women. While mindsets may be slowly shifting, there remain significant societal and familial expectations of women to be the ones to take care of the household, look after young children or elderly parents. As they seek to return to work, they will need more understanding and support to help them juggle or move between their various roles in the family, community and at the workplace.

They may have been out of the workforce for some time while caring for their families. Several Members have highlighted that predicament. Some of them may want to take the opportunity to start their careers afresh in a different industry and will need advice and support. Some may be out of touch with the latest technology or developments in the industries they were from and, hence, they lack confidence.

We need to address these unique challenges, even while we tap on programmes and assistance that are generally available to all workers.

Later this year, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will be launching a nationwide effort called SkillFuture Engage, where it will partner the People's Association (PA), the Community Development Councils (CDCs), Workforce Singapore, and NTUC's e2i to reach out to the community and guide individuals on career planning and identifying the right training programmes to acquire the relevant skills for employment.

In the process of planning and implementing this initiative, we will build in a plan to reach out to back-to-work women. We can have outreach and engagement workshops specifically catered to back-to-work women, to engender peer support and address emotional, psychological and other issues that they face. We will point them towards the key programmes that will assist them in their return to the workforce. In this regard, I think several Members have raised the possibility of a package of programmes. That is a useful suggestion.

Today, having 18,000 SkillsFuture Credit-approved programmes in our directory is overwhelming. For certain segments, we need to draw out what are the few 10, 20, 50 programmes that may be especially useful for them. Some of these, for example, IT programmes, as suggested by Ms Jessica Tan, can be part of this package. For others, such as back-to-work women who used to hold more senior positions, this can include programmes to help prepare them to sit on boards, for example. And still others who have been out of work for a few years and may be lacking in confidence, we can point them towards programmes, such as those on employability skills, that can help them regain their confidence or meet other people in the same shoes and have the peer support. In fact, such employability programmes are what the tripartite partners have been doing for some time. The needs are actually quite diverse. So, I think it will be quite a big package. But there are two points I would like to specifically mention.

First, a few Members − I think Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and also Mr Darryl David − have talked about giving more SkillsFuture Credits to women in this position. We went through the COS debate where I went to great lengths explaining support from the supply end and support from the demand end. SkillsFuture Credit is a support from the demand end. Last year, we spent about $40 million supporting SkillsFuture Credit. But on the supply end − this is when we support and fund programmes to lower their course fees to make them accessible − we funded $400 million worth of subsidies. So, $40 million SkillsFuture Credit and $400 million on programmes at the supply end. And the difference is this. On the demand end, SkillsFuture Credit is a fairly modest amount given to every Singaporean to access a huge gamut of courses. But on the supply end is the $400 million of subsidies going to a few thousand programmes more sharply focused towards helping you get the skills to enter industry. It is a much more focused assistance. In the situation of a back-to-work woman, we should make use of the subsidies and assistance on the supply end where the focus is much sharper to help them enter industries. So, that is one area I would like to point out.

The second area I would like to point out is that most of our programmes are actually well-subsidised and accessible to all, regardless of gender, a point emphatically made by Ms Tin Pei Ling earlier. Take, for example, digital literacy. It is a skill that many of us − young and old, men and women, employed and unemployed − need to pick up. It may not be helpful to have a special programme for any specific segment which may give the impression that it is a deficiency faced by this particular segment. When we over-customise, we run the risk of inadvertently stigmatising the very group that we are trying to help.

Likewise, in organising job placement services, I always have a preference for inclusive job fairs that cater to everybody. Then employers who participate are more likely to be open-minded to all segments of jobseekers − young workers, mature workers, retrenched professionals, managers and executives (PMEs), back-to-work women, ex-offenders and so on. And then we will have a higher chance to ensure a better job fit for both employer and employee. Having said that, I keep a totally open mind and I will consider whatever is most effective in ensuring that vulnerable workers can gain the right skills and gain jobs.

So, we must be mindful that we have a broad range of training programmes and interventions at our disposal. We can customise in one of two ways. One, by the Government, to cater to specific groups or demography; or, two, by the jobseeker himself or herself, with the right guidance and support.

So, within our dedicated effort to reach out to back-to-work women, we can identify and recommend a package of programmes which may be useful to jobseekers in their circumstances. But I suggest that we also offer guidance and support to let women decide on their own customised line of courses and training.

If I were to draw an analogy, it is like YouTube. YouTube is an inclusive depository of videos catering to all demographics and all segments in all kinds of interests. But based on your searches and interests, it recommends you the videos that might interest you. There is no YouTube for one segment and YouTube for another segment. There is only one YouTube but different searches. So, we customise our assistance on the searching process.

As with many outreach programmes, it is always the last mile that is the most important. This is where all of us in this House have a role to play. We can all help to spread the message of SkillsFuture, looking out for individuals who could better benefit from our programmes and schemes, and guiding them to the right channels. Together, I am confident that we will be able to build the scaffold for women to pursue their aspirations in a more equal society.