Committee of Supply – Head I (Ministry of Social and Family Development)

SG Cares and Volunteerism

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Sir, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100".

All of us know of many in our society who desire to do good for others and who care for the less fortunate. Question is how will the Ministry partner the private and people sectors to create more opportunities for Singaporeans to step forward and, in the process, enable Singaporeans to contribute meaningfully?

Singapore Cares has what I think is a simple but very difficult goal – to make doing good a sticky form of behaviour, to make volunteering and to make thinking about the good of others a habit of mind and a way of life.

About one in five people volunteered in 2014. This is up from one in 10 in the year 2000. This is good news. But often, we have one-off projects that may have been started by an enthusiastic group whose initial fire has dimmed; such projects are laudable but, if ad hoc, not as powerful as they should be.

We need such efforts to be embedded within the structures of our social life. What I have in mind is something like Singapore (SG) Cares, which treats people who need help as part of the Singapore family, and sees our commitment in time and effort, supported by different social groups, from families, schools, companies and grassroots organisations.

Can I ask the Minister for an update on SG Cares, what has been done in the past year since its launch, and what his plans are for the future? In particular, I would like to ask the Minister what data he plans to collect, to measure not just the number of volunteers, but the stickiness of programmes and whether volunteers prefer to stick to one particular type of activity or prefer to try out different things.

For example, although volunteerism is on the rise, only 29% of respondents aged 25 to 34 volunteered for a social cause in 2016. This compares with 48% of those aged 35 to 44. Why such a contrast? Do younger people have less time for volunteering as they begin their careers and families? If so, what sort of volunteering opportunities are there for them?

I have an idea, especially for people who have never volunteered or who see lack of time as an impediment to doing so: micro-volunteering, where tasks are completed by a volunteer in small increments of time, at his own pace. They are in short bursts and bite-sized activities, anything from baking a cake for fundraising, graphic design for a charity logo, to knitting beanies for premature babies, or counting plant and animal species for non-profit or research and data gathering, depending on the needs.

While micro-volunteering may appear to go against the long-term commitment I spoke about earlier, it is, in fact, a useful complement. Such activities are a good way to start the journey and may lead to a longer-term commitment in the future. Such volunteers also bolster the core group during peak times.

Sir, I do not advocate any particular model. But I do think all volunteering helps the community and social ties. This is always useful because thinking about the good of others, and not just ourselves, is a vital part of what it means to build a country.

Question proposed.

The Chairman: Ms Tin Pei Ling.

SG Cares – Rallying and Organising Community

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Sir, the Government has done a lot to strengthen community support for Singaporeans in need, especially for our elderly and vulnerable. However, there are still needs in the community which cannot be fully addressed by machines or paid staff. We need more Singaporeans to step in and step up to help as volunteers who care.

I am, therefore, happy that the Government has started the SG Cares movement in Singapore. To fully exploit the potential of this meaningful movement, there must be a solid structure, network of services and programmes and a strong human touch. We need to organise ourselves effectively so that the total impact is greater than the sum of impact had we acted alone.

Today, we have a myriad of formal and informal groups of volunteer organisations doing community service, serving from their hearts. Still, we also see Singaporeans who would like to serve but are unsure of what they can do, what needs are still unfulfilled and whether the time commitment will be too great for them. Hence, we need to find ways to make serving a priority and organise ourselves better so that busy Singaporeans can just "plug and play" when serving the community.

Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister for an update on the overall SG Cares movement and how he assesses its impact so far. What is SG Cares doing to inspire Singaporeans to see community service as a priority in their lives? Does SG Cares sees itself as, potentially, the national coordinating body for community causes and needs in Singapore, one that consolidates and monitors the list of needs in the communities and resources that are already available, one that identifies the roles and corresponding manpower needed, and one that coordinates and helps everyone clearly see how we can all fit in to help?

SG Cares

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Chairman, SG Cares strives to build a caring society where every one of us with little acts of kindness contribute to making Singapore more caring and inclusive. In our early days, our forefathers came together, set up community groups, for example, clan associations, to support one another through difficult times. I remember when I was young, in our neighbourhood, regardless of the kind of housing we had, the whole neighbourhood would look out for one another, everyone chipping in to help one another in times of difficulty or celebrating together.

Mr Chairman, last year, in your closing speech for the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) COS, you had said that "SG Cares is not a Government scheme. It is more of giving and volunteering by individuals and groups, and a lot of this is already taking place in our community. SG Cares provides an overall umbrella to encourage and support these efforts, to facilitate and drive more outreach".

Minister Heng Swee Keat, in his Budget Statement this year, had also stressed that it is shared responsibility which is what has made our society what it is today and will keep our community thriving in the years ahead.

In today's busy lifestyle, can the Minister share how SG Cares has helped reignite the support and the spirit of caring in our community to build and strengthen a strong social fabric that will be essential for Singapore and Singaporeans to thrive?

I know that there is a lot of focus on volunteerism in SG Cares and, while I am an advocate for volunteerism, we need to go beyond that. It has got to go beyond that to the spirit of giving. It has got to become part of life and not something that we make time for. I think that is where MSF plays a very critical role in creating that platform for making this happen.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Chairman, the SG Cares movement was launched in Singapore in November two years back to bring together individuals, organisations and beneficiaries. Since then, it has enabled resources to be pooled together and appropriately channelled to those in need. The acts of kindness publicised on the platform also serve as a source of inspiration to many others. The movement has immense potential to create a strong and sustainable volunteering ecosystem so that Singapore may be a caring and inclusive home for all.

In this year's Budget, the Finance Minister mentioned that there will be further plans for SG Cares. It is uplifting to note that the Government plans to play a bigger role, through enhanced partnerships with the community to support seniors and those in need. But the Government has already been working with the grassroots and the voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). I would like to find out what are the changes and enhancements that we can expect from this area.

The corporations in our country are key players to the field of volunteerism, for they possess ample resources and have the ability to be a significant influencer. In recent years, more social enterprises are stepping up and they have created many meaningful social projects. Corporations are different from social enterprises, but they can contribute to the community in a different way.

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I think it is important to have a varied approach when it comes to fund-raising and volunteerism. Can the Minister share what is the progress in engaging corporations for philanthropic causes? Sustainability is made a mandatory requirement for all public-listed companies. Maybe the Government can explore if it can encourage these companies to make volunteerism a good activity for reporting in their annual report to all the stakeholders. This may help to boost more corporations to engage volunteerism for a good cause.

Technology has the potential to reap huge economic benefits. Adopting the use of technology to support people in developing a caring and civic culture would be in line with our drive to be a Smart Nation. Thus far, we have platforms like Giving.sg to enable charitable causes to tap on convenience of online tools to gain exposure and collect funds. There is also SG Cares, which has a website and a mobile app, allowing users to make sense of available projects and causes and so on. Can we take this further? In fact, the SG Cares website as well as mobile app are wonderful tools, and I think the level of awareness, public awareness, is lacking. So, I hope the Government as well as the Ministry can help to push for awareness of SG Cares.

An article in The Guardian shared statistics that implied a growing use of mobile apps to make donations in the United Kingdom (UK). I am sure a similar trend is happening in Singapore as well. The United Nation's (UN’s) World Food Programme released a mobile app called Share the Meal, and donors can easily make small payments by tapping on their phones. In an era where contactless payments and one-touch convenience have become a way of life, it is important for charities to keep up with the trends. Yet, while these apps would help to increase productivity and reduce reliance on manpower, charities, however, chronically fail to embrace them due to the lack of resources to tap on technology in the first place. It costs money to make an app. It also costs money to hire a professional data analyst or purchase tools to make sense of social media campaigns.

The Government should look into reaching out to these charities and helping them with the technology expertise. Perhaps SG Cares could think of how to link up mobile apps and software developers with the charities in need. With the rising popularity of software developer jobs and careers, SG Cares may even wish to link up with Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) to match inspiring software developers to charities and build up their portfolio and skills.

At the local level, there are many stakeholders. The grassroots organisations, the schools, social service organisations and community organisations are all working on a variety of excellent causes on the ground, from participating in environmental issues, helping animals, to befriending and caring for the less fortunate. In fact, I was looking through the SG Cares website and I was impressed to learn about many previously unheard and unique causes. I am sure there are more out there. I often hear stories or witness acts of kindness by residents or grassroots leaders that are really taken for granted. And it saddens me to hear of others criticising or being very cynical of these efforts. For example, there is a misconception that students are being forced to participate in activities like Flag Day and that they do so only for the Community Involvement Programme (CIP) points. It is demoralising, as I know many students and teachers who find meaning in such activities, and it would be terribly unfair for their good work to be misunderstood and tarnished.

While there should be no expectation of rewards while doing kind deeds, I hope SG Cares will do more to embrace charitable causes from the ground and encouraging more Singaporeans to do so.

Multi-disciplinary Approach

Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member): I would argue that in every caregiving instance, it is about making a place for the person to age, heal, grow and even to die with dignity. Designing caregiving approaches need us to think out of the box, to think in a multidisciplinary way.

St Joseph's Home houses seniors who need various kinds of nursing care and hospice, but it also has a childcare centre there. In future, the Home will also host programmes for young people. In fact, youths from the Boys' Home, which is just beside the St Joseph's Home, will come over to the Home on Friday evenings to man the cafeteria and to perform for the residents of the Home. This design allows for intergeneration care to be practised. Here, care is relational, not functional; long-term and less temporal. Such a venture, intergenerational, cross-sectorial and cross-discipline involves multiple stakeholders and multiple Ministries. In designing it and getting support for such a project, all the stakeholders and Government agencies think out of their comfort zone to facilitate such creative interventions.

In the United States (US), Creative CityMaking Minneapolis is an art-based innovation initiative that pairs city officials with experienced community artists to eliminate disparities. Creative projects designed by artists, mapping community assets, mapping the needs of the community in housing, transport and healthcare, help the city government to make informed policies. The artists also design creative projects for city officials to effect cultural change in their work approaches so that they can effectively work with under-represented community.

We can do so in Singapore. We can start with the Social Service Office (SSO) by having inhouse artists work with SSO officials and the community to design community projects, mapping out the needs of the community and co-designing good solutions for caregiving issues and other social disparity issues like digital inequality. In this way, the caring society we aim for is one that comes from collaboration among the people, agencies and policymakers. It is not just the physical and material, but the mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the people. That is what real care means.

Coordinating for Holistic Social Support

Ms Tin Pei Ling: Sir, the Singapore Government has, over the years, built up a wide range of social assistance schemes and programmes to support the vulnerable and less privileged amongst us. Driven by passion and in response to the call for "Many Helping Hands", various VWOs, grassroots, religious entities, charitable organisations or foundations and even informal volunteer groups have also introduced their own help schemes and programmes.

This is encouraging, but the wide range of schemes and programmes can be too complex for the low-income and vulnerable to grasp and navigate, and they are the very intended beneficiaries of these well-meaning initiatives. The low-income, for instance, often have to work long hours and may not have a strong education background or access to resources. Therefore, availability is less of an issue, but rather, access.

How will MSF thus ensure that low-income and vulnerable Singaporeans will be able to fully benefit from these schemes and programmes? How will MSF help to reduce the administrative paperwork and stress that often result from applicants having to approach different organisations for different purposes and having to make sense of the different qualifying criteria?

Social Services

Mr Amrin Amin (Sembawang): The Government has introduced many assistance schemes and programmes and they are calibrated to meet the varying needs of different segments of society, from the elderly to couples with children and those with disabilities. However, the various schemes and programmes across all Government agencies can be difficult to navigate. Many could find it difficult to understand which scheme or programme best meets their needs or which schemes they qualify for. How can MSF further improve the delivery of social assistance so that the less fortunate can receive the holistic help they need?

Social Service Office (SSO)

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Mr Chairman, Sir, SSO has been doing a good job assisting residents in need. It gives better accessibility and faster delivery of assistance to many residents. May I ask MSF whether SSO will be finetuned further to serve residents even better? What kind of achievements has been attained by SSO since its inception in helping families in need? How many households has SSO helped thus far? Is there a key performance indicator (KPI) to measure its outreach and effectiveness? How has SSO been collaborating with other Ministries, agencies and the community partners for a concerted effort in tapping resources to assist such families? Could MSF expand assistance to give permanent solutions to families in need by providing last-mile outreach and care?

I beseech MSF to spare no effort in assisting our less advantaged families, especially those with children. These families need the concerted efforts of MSF to get out of their predicaments and have a more level playing field for their children. I have raised this issue and the provision of holistic care for these less advantaged families in this House repeatedly in the past and I seek your indulgence for repeating it again today. Could MSF take a holistic approach in helping these families?

Most of the time, these families have a slew of needs, as in housing, income, care for children or care for sick family members and so on. They are usually families with low skills, low paying jobs and some are single-income families. There is thus an urgency to assist this group of needy Singaporeans with more lasting solutions. While they need immediate cash assistance to tide them over, it is more important that they acquire long-term capabilities so that they are able to sustain themselves.

Just giving them ComCare financial assistance will not be able to achieve this aim. Their needs have to be looked into holistically in order to lift up the family as a whole. Therefore, equipping parents with skills and finding them employment or assisting their spouses to move away from prejudices and mental barriers to employment can be useful. Their housing needs may need urgent fixing. Their children should be assisted in terms of well-being, health and education.

Most social workers and MSF staff are required to undertake such a hands-on personalised approach to solve the various needs of each family by going the last mile in outreach and care. MSF will need to liaise with various Ministries and other relevant agencies and VWOs to give permanent solutions. Most times, many of their issues cannot be solved overnight. So, these families have to be assisted with continuing follow-up. Only with such last-mile approach can the needy families achieve sustained and long-term benefits. We need to adopt this policy urgently to lift this group so that the following generations will not be in the same predicaments as their parents. In other words, let us give them a better chance of climbing the social ladder.

Extra effort and last-mile approach must be put in to solve their difficulties. By looking for the root causes of their predicament and working out the long-term solutions with the families, may I request MSF to prioritise assisting the most urgent cases quickly by having a register with data about them? With better use of information technology (IT), MSF can have faster and better targeted assistance and better follow-up for long-term solutions.

Integrating Health Care and Social Care

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Sir, health goes beyond any hospital or clinic, especially for seniors and folks with chronic diseases. It is about living healthy and being supported in staying healthy, with homes, families, neighbours, communities all coming together.

The social environment makes a big difference to whether a senior citizen falls ill – whether a sick patient can receive treatment at home, near to home or recover at home without being admitted to hospital.

So, community and social support are very important, and this is something that we see even in the developed nations. Even in Switzerland, with their Swiss standard of living, they have learned this as well. For example, in recent years, in the past few years and going back further decades, hospitals in Switzerland had discovered that, increasingly, patients are being admitted for social reasons because the patients cannot cope at home. It has been published in the literature even as far back as the late 1980s by researchers in Switzerland and these are lessons we can draw from all around the world.

It is also worrying when social deterioration becomes medical deterioration and hospitalisation because a long stay in a hospital bed leads to deconditioning and loss of physical strength. It makes it harder for an elderly patient to get back on their feet with the same energy as before. Ultimately, there is no place like home for health or for healing and we should try to find ways to keep health and maintaining health to be focused on the home and the community, with hospital care needed only when deeply necessary.

The Singapore Medical Journal recently published a study by Singapore General Hospital (SGH) doctors who looked back at 16,000 patient histories. They found that, in Singapore, patients staying in public rental housing had a 30% higher risk of being frequently admitted to hospital, even after adjusting for demographics and clinical conditions.

So, there is room for us, as a society, as a community, to learn and improve. We need to look at social care and health care as different aspects of the same goal when looking after seniors, and all the more so, with an ageing population and smaller families.

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The family is still core but we should find ways to involve the community more – young Singaporeans with a spirit for volunteering, or seniors who are energetic and want to reach out to their peers and in friendship and fellowship. Can the Minister tell us how we can strengthen community support for seniors, in a sustainable way?

Furthermore, social care is also about urban design. As I spoke about in the Budget Debate last year, urban design can contribute to community engagement or to social isolation. In Clementi, some older blocks have flats which cannot accommodate the wheelchair ramp designs with the traditional Housing and Development Board's (HDB's) Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme. This means seniors with mobility needs find it harder to go out, see their doctor or participate in the community.

So, at the whole-of-Government level, we can look at ways to keep seniors in the community more, and to keep them healthy.

Mr Chairman, in my maiden speech, I spoke about how we must be: all of us, one Singapore family. May our people always grow closer and stronger, at home and in the community, in sickness and health – all of us, one Singapore family.

Dr Lily Neo: Sir, can I take my two cuts together, please?

The Chairman: Yes, please.

Integration of Health and Social Care

Dr Lily Neo: Sir, in order to support our seniors in the community, will the Ministry of Health (MOH) place the Community Network for Seniors (CNS) programme under the purview of senior cluster networks where there are such centres like the Senior Activity Centres (SACs)? This will provide a one-stop centre for a targeted approach in care and also to prevent duplication of effort to achieve the best outcome.

Getting the involvement of grassroots volunteers, VWOs and befrienders will add value to SACs. The volunteers from CNS can be channelled as befrienders to assist in the social aspects of the seniors in need and especially those staying alone at home. Volunteers can also supervise medicine taking, deliver food, escort seniors to hospitals or clean their homes and so on.

Pioneer Generation Office (PGO) will be renamed Silver Generation Office (SGO) and reach out to new cohorts of seniors aged 65 and above. SGO will be housed in the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). This would be useful for better coverage of our seniors to ensure that no one who needs care is left out. I hope AIC can help to have a register of seniors in need and the types of assistance they require so that appropriate assistance can be provided for a better matching of volunteers to provide relevant assistance. The SGO can also act as the liaison agency to refer all mobile seniors to join the nearest SAC for physical, mental and social well-being. SGO can also pick up cases that need medical care or follow-up to AIC.

SG "WE CARE" Campaign

Sir, in conjunction with the launch of SG Cares, I would like to suggest that MSF move a national campaign calling it "WE CARE" campaign, like the courtesy campaign some years back. The objective is to encourage Singaporeans to be caring towards others, especially towards the less well-off in our society. It is also to encourage Singaporeans to have a volunteering culture where people readily give assistance to the vulnerable, needy, seniors and the less advantaged families. It will be good if we can also promote graciousness in the society where Singaporeans are considerate and caring to families, friends and neighbours in our everyday life.

On SG Cares, will MSF facilitate having a register of the disadvantaged families, vulnerable children and needy adults? This register will help them better by providing a convenient one-stop matching service of available volunteers to the recipients by enabling appropriate needs to be dispensed and without duplication of services. I believe MSF is the right Ministry to collate all those in need as MSF receives many requests for assistance from residents.

MSF may need to do a last-mile approach here with staff putting in more efforts to rigorously find out the relevant needs of those in difficulty. Such a detailed register will enable urgent cases to be detected and attended to more promptly. Good capture of information and data can help those in need efficiently and in a targeted way to achieve better outcomes. It will be good to have follow-up on cases which are assisted to ensure continuity. It will also be good for MSF to allow sharing of this data with other Ministries for cross-referrals and coordination in providing assistance.

The Chairman: Minister Desmond Lee.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Chairman, with your permission, may I display some slides on the screens?

The Chairman: Yes, please. [Some slides were shown to hon Members.]

Mr Desmond Lee: Sir, this joint address today together with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth is driven by Singapore's commitment to being a caring and inclusive society where no one is left behind. This lies at the heart of the SG Cares movement.

Singaporeans have always believed in helping one another. We believe in caring for the vulnerable and less fortunate. We believe in supporting our seniors in their golden years. And we believe in standing together as a nation through good times and bad.

This spirit of caring has carried us through many moments of crisis, whether it was the Hotel New World collapse in 1986, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 or the severe haze in 2013. And not just moments of crisis. As we go about our daily lives, we benefit from extraordinary acts of kindness, some spontaneous and some organised by those who care.

One such incredible effort which we recently saw was the project called Wheels@Ubin, an initiative by Dennis Quek and Wilson Ang, two Singaporeans who care. They believe that no part of Singapore should be inaccessible to any Singaporean. They wanted to let wheelchair users and persons with disabilities experience the rustic charm and beauty of our offshore islands, notably Pulau Ubin.

The first Wheels@Ubin event was held in conjunction with SG50, bringing 100 wheelchair users to the island. The second edition of the event was successfully concluded on 2 March this year, with 120 participants. What was impressive and heart-warming was how businesses, public agencies and departments, volunteers, VWOs, community organisations and educational institutes came together to make this possible.

First, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) taxi drivers with mobile ramps fetched participants on wheelchairs as well as caregivers from their homes, wherever it was in Singapore, to Changi. Second, at the Changi Sailing Club, as the fleets of taxis came one after another, volunteers welcomed the participants and fitted them with life jackets. They were then brought on board a Republic of Singapore Navy fast craft by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) officers, men and women. Third, upon arriving at Ubin, the visitors were welcomed by colleagues from the National Parks Board (NParks) and entertained throughout their visit by volunteers from the Republic Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Fourth, volunteer doctors and nurses took personal leave to set up a medical facility to provide backup medical support. They came from various healthcare institutions and formed one medical team.

Wheels@Ubin shows us that our commitment to inclusivity and universal access can go beyond words to become deeds that make our visions reality. Wheels@Ubin is a good example, but just one of many, many examples of how we can create opportunities to enable and empower people to contribute and give, so that giving becomes a social norm and, as Ms Jessica Tan says, a way of life, an important cornerstone of our social compact, celebrated every day in ways both big and small.

Giving is empowering. It can change mindsets, cultivate empathy, dismantle prejudices and bring people from all walks of life together for a common cause. This will put us in a better position to confront our challenges together, such as rapid cycles of economic disruption, growing social needs.

At the same time, it will let us tap into the opportunities that come with having more Singaporeans live longer, healthier and active lives, growing social entrepreneurship and innovative technologies.

Through Singapore Cares, we can become an even more caring and inclusive society, not because we say or wish it to be so, but because each and every one of us is a living testament to this: a nation of givers – not by word, but by action and by deed.

Singapore Cares is a movement to identify and share about needs on the ground, shape volunteering opportunities and match givers to causes. Since the launch of SG Cares in 2016, we have curated volunteering opportunities and worked with VWOs to improve their capabilities to empower volunteers. We have also coordinated local networks of assistance, encouraged corporate and individual giving, and inspired ground-up efforts. We are greatly encouraged by many who have stepped forward and answered the call to make Singapore a more caring and inclusive home.

One organisation which has responded to this call is Pantropic, a data protection company, which actively promotes volunteerism amongst its employees. Since July last year, staff from Pantropic have been volunteering with Lion Befrienders, a VWO which provides friendship and care for seniors. The company has allowed employees to schedule their time flexibly so that they can take time off during office hours and during the work week to accompany seniors for their medical appointments. And they do so about twice a month on average.

This relieves the staff from Lion Befrienders, allowing them more time to attend to others in need. The seniors benefit from an expanded circle of friendship with these volunteers. And it is commendable that Pantropic has come forward to contribute actively in this way, despite being a small company with only about 12 employees.

As SG Cares takes root, I am confident that we will see more such successful partnerships. Even as we celebrated diverse expressions of caring at the inaugural SG Cares carnival in January this year, we looked towards doing more.

In the next phase of SG Cares, we want to make greater collective impact. First, we can better mobilise those who want to help. Many individuals and organisations wish to volunteer but may not know about the causes and areas of need. We can think of more ways to reach out to prospective volunteers.

Second, we can better coordinate the help rendered. An individual may be receiving help from multiple agencies. Organisations on the ground may focus on specific services and may not be conscious in seeking and working with partners to provide more holistic and thorough support.

Third, the way we help can be more sustainable and scalable. This will require us to increase the capacity and capability of VWOs and givers.

The Government, corporate partners and the community can also better direct our energies in an informed, coordinated and sustainable way, supported by good platforms and working arrangements.

Our three Ministries have come together today to underscore and support the efforts of SG Cares, which is a people movement, and set out our contribution to this movement. Our work is complementary.

MSF, through more integrated delivery of social services and building up the social service sector, will improve the way we provide assistance to vulnerable individuals and families. MOH will take on the mandate of building a stronger system of support for our seniors. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) is growing our volunteering ecosystem, encouraging and enabling all of us to join in the national movement. Ministers Gan Kim Yong and Grace Fu will speak more about their Ministries' efforts immediately after I speak.

Mr Chairman, for my part, let me share how MSF sees SG Cares as integral to our work. The social service sector has its roots in the spirit of caring and the efforts of those who cared since our early days. Many VWOs in Singapore have long and distinguished histories, bearing testament to the deep roots of philanthropy and volunteerism in our nation.

As mentioned by Ms Jessica Tan, our forefathers banded together to help one another and formed community and self-help groups, such as clan associations. Those who did well in Singapore, such as Tan Tock Seng, Hajjah Fatimah and P Govindasamy Pillai, paid it forward and set up institutions to meet the needs of their fellow men and women. Our VWOs will continue to play a critical role in serving beneficiaries, and in rallying and inspiring the community to care for those who need help.

To meet the demands of the future, we must support them in their drive to be even more effective and innovative. We will continue to build up our social service sector, by strengthening capabilities and ensuring that we continue to attract capable professionals.

At the same time, we will draw on the spirit passed down from the Pioneers and encourage the community to partner the efforts of the Government and the sector. I will speak in more detail about MSF's efforts for the social service sector later.

Sir, Dr Lily Neo asked about providing holistic help to disadvantaged families, a cause she is very passionate about. Our clients today can face and do face very complex issues and challenges. Individuals and families may have multifaceted needs that require support from multiple agencies, VWOs and community groups, over a sustained period of time, before they can stand on their own feet again.

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It is, therefore, important, as Mr Amrin Amin has mentioned, to have a concerted and coordinated effort to tackle our social challenges. By better mapping our needs and tightening coordination and integration of services, we can maximise the impact of social services and public resources entrusted to us. At the same time, we can better harness and channel community resources to complement efforts by the Government. Our SSOs will be key to transforming social service delivery. We will better coordinate service delivery and improve client support through the SSOs.

First, we will equip frontline officers in Government agencies and community organisations with the knowledge to provide clients with basic information and referrals to schemes and services to address their needs, beyond those offered by the agency they first approached.

We will start with the SSOs, HDB and People's Association (PA) offices at our local community clubs, which are common touchpoints for residents in need. Eventually, we will extend this to other touchpoints, including medical social workers and school counsellors.

MSF will lead by example. From the third quarter of this year, clients will be able to access schemes and services for persons with disabilities through our SSOs, such as those offered by the Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) and SG Enable. We have also established referral protocols to link up partners to support our clients. For instance, we have been rolling out an SSO-Family Service Centres (FSCs)-Schools referral protocol so that schools know when and how to refer students and their families to the SSOs and FSCs. We will complete the rollout to all General Education schools by the end of this year.

Second, we will make it more convenient for clients to apply for assistance schemes and services from different agencies by sharing information and assessments across agencies. As far as possible, they should not need to submit the same documents, repeat their circumstances, or fill in multiple application forms asking for similar information. This will help reduce the burden often faced by low-income individuals and households seeking help, who may already be in distress or urgent need.

For example, if a client living in public rental housing is receiving ComCare assistance from SSO and we observe that he is unable to keep up with rent, the SSO will share its assessment with HDB to consider a reduction in rent.

From the second half of this year, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students from households receiving ComCare assistance will also be assessed for their eligibility to receive a Community Development Council (CDC)/Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) Bursary or a Ministry of Education (MOE) Bursary, without having to apply separately for them. We will progressively extend this to the mainstream schools, polytechnics and Autonomous Universities (AUs).

Similarly, later this year, we will make it easier for mothers or single parents who are working or seeking work and receiving ComCare assistance to access financial support for childcare. This will allow them to focus on obtaining or sustaining their employment. These clients will also be assessed for additional financial support, without having to make separate applications.

We will continue to explore more ways to reduce the burden on individuals and households in need. At the same time, we are mindful not to do this indiscriminately, so that we do not inadvertently erode people’s will to be self-reliant, or create, for that matter, a large cliff effect where multiple lines of assistance come up for review at the same time.

Third, we will strengthen cross-agency coordination so that clients receive more holistic and coordinated assistance from the agencies and VWOs that are supporting them.

In complex cases where multiple agencies and VWOs are involved, the case lead may not be obvious. SSOs will assign a case lead, depending on the client’s underlying issues. The case lead should step up to coordinate among agencies and VWOs, to work on a common plan of action for the client. Where necessary, cases will also be escalated to the parent Ministry or agency for flexibility to be exercised.

To bring about greater convenience to ComCare clients who need access to different services and facilitate collaboration across agencies, we will explore co-locating complementary services, such as family services, employment assistance and SGO, with our SSOs, to look at it from a client-centric point of view, instead of asking the client to travel from one point of the island to the other.

Already, five SSOs are co-located with or near Workforce Singapore (WSG) or Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) career centres, or provide job matching and skills upgrading services for low-income residents. Two months ago, SGO officers serving Taman Jurong and Jurong Spring started operating at the SSO at Taman Jurong.

Similarly, the SGO serving the Marine Parade area will be co-located with the SSO at Geylang Serai from the second half of this year. This will support closer collaboration between the SSO officer and SGO officers in supporting clients, especially elderly clients, and planning for programmes and services. We will explore more such collaborations.

Where co-location is not practical, we are looking into video-conferencing for clients to communicate with officers from other agencies. The SSO at Geylang Serai, for example, will pilot video-conferencing links with SG Enable, SNTC and HDB from the end of this year. Clients at the SSO who need to have discussions with case officers from SG Enable, SNTC or HDB when applying for services will be able to do so from the SSO, rather than having to separately visit SG Enable at Lengkok Bahru, SNTC in Tiong Bahru or the HDB branch office, wherever that may be.

The initiatives I have spoken about will make the SSO of the future more of a single touchpoint for residents with financial and other social needs. Let me illustrate this with a hypothetical example.

A family of four living in a public rental flat applies for ComCare assistance at the SSO. They have one child with special needs and another studying in ITE. In addition to the assistance provided by the SSO, the family will be able to access schemes and services from SG Enable for their child with special needs, without having to travel to their offices. If their ComCare assistance is approved, the child studying in ITE will be considered by ITE to receive a bursary, without having to separately apply for one.

And if the family needs to have discussions with the HDB branch office about their rental situation or whether they are eligible for the Fresh Start Housing Grant, they can do so via video-conferencing. And we will tap on the network of the grassroots and the local community to better assist these families as well.

As social needs evolve, we will continue to work to make sure that our SSOs are equipped to handle the evolving, complex and varied needs of those we assist, to help them get back on their feet again. The SSOs are also in a good position to foster collaboration and partnerships within the local community. Currently, SSOs have good working relationships with different Government agencies and community partners.

Going forward, the SSOs will step up efforts to bring together community partners to forge a picture, a better picture of local needs, gaps and resources. With this common understanding, community organisations will be better able to develop local schemes and programmes, and mobilise and organise volunteers under SG Cares. In doing so, community and Government efforts will complement each other to contribute towards better social service outcomes and a caring nation.

Mr Chairman, I have spoken about the spirit of caring that animates SG Cares and how this same spirit drives the social service sector. I have also explained how MSF will continue to build up the SSOs and the social service networks on the ground to collectively direct our motivations and resources to make an even greater impact. This will, of course, take time and the support of VWOs, agencies, volunteers, corporations and all members of society.

Ultimately, I hope all Singaporeans will recognise that the success of SG Cares rests upon an important truth, that is, we are all responsible for one another. When we say that we are Singaporeans, we recognise the bond that ties us together as a community and society. We recognise our responsibilities and duties to one another, especially in times of need.

None of us got to where we are purely on our own. Along the way, we have been helped by others, like our parents, friends, teachers and even complete strangers. We must recognise this and always pay it forward.

The Chairman: Minister Gan Kim Yong.

The Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Mr Chairman, may I also have your permission to display some slides?

The Chairman: Yes, please. [Some slides were shown to hon Members.]

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, Minister Desmond Lee has mentioned the SG Cares movement and how it will galvanise the whole nation to care for fellow Singaporeans, especially the more vulnerable, including the seniors. Let me elaborate on our efforts in supporting seniors, our initiatives to build "communities of care", and how we can each play our part in nurturing a caring society.

We will continue to plan ahead for our seniors. Since 2011, we have expanded our healthcare capacity to help seniors age in place. We are continuing to develop new models of care and improve the affordability of eldercare services. In 2012, intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) subsidies were enhanced to cover up to two-thirds of Singaporean households.

As many Members know, we are reviewing ElderShield to provide stronger support for disability in old age, and recommendations of the review committee will be released by mid-year. This year’s Budget has put aside $2 billion for ElderShield subsidies to ensure premiums will be affordable. We are also enhancing our Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) and expanding the Community Silver Trust (CST) fund to cover active ageing initiatives.

Preparing for our ageing population is a whole-of-nation, whole-of-Government endeavour, which is why we launched the Action Plan for Successful Ageing in 2015 to drive collective action in areas, such as employability, senior volunteerism, health and wellness, housing and transport. Dr Amy Khor gave an update of the action plan in Parliament last month.

I agree with Dr Tan Wu Meng that we must address the needs of seniors holistically. Seniors often have multiple needs, and we can better coordinate services among partners and stakeholders. This is why we piloted the Community Networks for Seniors (CNS) in 2016 to mobilise and coordinate efforts of community volunteers, service providers and other stakeholders in each community to care for seniors.

In Tampines, for example, the Evergreen SAC and the Residents' Committees (RCs) work together to organise regular active ageing activities to keep seniors well and active. We recently started a Community Nurse Post at Evergreen SAC, where a nurse from Changi General Hospital (CGH) is available once a week to help conduct health checks and follow-ups for residents. For lonely seniors, volunteers and block representatives visit and befriend them. Care Line, a 24/7 telecare and befriending service, is also available. Should seniors require a home visit to check in on them, the Singapore Red Cross volunteers can be activated.

Sir, our vision is to build more of such "communities of care” throughout Singapore. We are making two structural moves to achieve this. First, the repositioning of PGO as SGO, housed within the AIC, will help extend our outreach efforts to seniors beyond the Pioneers and tap on the capabilities and services of AIC.

Some 3,000 volunteers have been trained as Pioneer Generation (PG) Ambassadors since 2014. They have done good work and many of them have established personal relationships with the seniors they care for. In fact, one in four PG Ambassadors are themselves seniors aged 60 and above. Our PG Ambassadors remain the cornerstone of our efforts to create local communities of care. They have connected with more than 400,000 seniors in almost 800,000 engagements since 2014.

The conversion of PGO to SGO reflects the Government’s commitment to proactively reach out to our seniors, to engage them, understand their needs and care for them. I agree with Dr Lily Neo, who suggested that the new SGO act as a liaison agency for seniors to proactively connect them to services in the community.

As mentioned earlier by Minister Desmond Lee, my Ministry will also be working with the SSO to do this. Moving forward, SGO will do more targeted outreach to bring preventive health and wellness programmes to seniors. For those with multiple needs, they can be quickly connected with relevant health and social support services under AIC.

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One example of a senior who has benefited from CNS is Mdm Lim. She is now in her 70s and used to be a lively Chinese opera singer but spent more time alone at home after retirement. Thanks to a PG Ambassador, Madam Lim is connected to TOUCH Community Services, which subsequently helped her install grab bars in her home, arranged for medical escort and transport services for her medical appointments and also linked her up with Meals on Wheels so that she gets proper meals. Today, she attends the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC’s) SilverACE Senior Activity Centre at Taman Jurong regularly and even takes up taichi at the nearby Community Centre (CC). Madam Lim also spends time with a befriender every week. I am cheered to know many helping hands are working together to care for her through CNS.

Sir, our second shift is to consolidate all health and social aged services under MOH to better support seniors to age well within the community. The transfer of MSF’s social care functions to MOH allows us to deliver support to seniors more seamlessly, with AIC as our central implementation agency to coordinate all social and health-related services for seniors and their caregivers. This move also allows us to plan ahead for eldercare services at the national level and in a more integrated manner.

As Dr Lily Neo suggested, the transfer of services under the Senior Cluster Network (SCN) from MSF will enable MOH to better integrate SCN services into the wider CNS. For example, MOH can now engage service providers to discuss new opportunities for SACs to help seniors age in place, such as through active ageing programmes.

Sir, ultimately, however, what defines us as a nation is how well we, as a society, collectively show respect, care and concern for our seniors. The progress we make in strengthening intergenerational bonds will shape our social fabric in the future.

We see this happening in many purposeful ways. For example, St Joseph’s Home, which Mr Kok Heng Leun mentioned earlier, has a childcare centre and intergenerational playground co-located with the nursing home, creating many opportunities for shared experiences like meals and activities. At Bedok Orchid RC, students from Temasek Junior College read newspapers and share current affairs with seniors every week, including the Budget. Not only do both parties gain new insights, they also form new friendships.

Volunteerism is another way through which we unlock our community resources. The 15,000 volunteer Health Ambassadors and Health Advocates from our Health Promotion Board (HPB) come from all walks of life and play an important role in health promotion and raising public awareness.

We can also harness the immense wealth of knowledge and experience of older volunteers who continue to contribute to the society, as Dr Tan Wu Meng and Dr Lily Neo suggested. A good example is Mr Eric Teo, whom I met last month. Eric is 78 years old and has been volunteering actively at Siglap for the past five years. In particular, he helps out with the Health Peers Programme run by CGH and the South East Community Development Council (SECDC). Eric keeps himself busy by encouraging fellow seniors in Siglap to go for health screenings and he visits the residents to raise awareness of diabetes prevention and management. In the process, his volunteer work helps keep him fit!

Mr Eric Teo exemplifies the spirit of SG Cares and shows us how seniors, too, can care for fellow seniors. I hope his experience inspires more Singaporeans, regardless of age, to come forward to volunteer in the community, so that we make SG Cares an enduring movement. Minister Grace Fu will speak more on volunteerism in her speech.

Last but not least, several Members touched on the role of caregivers in the Budget Debate. We recognise the dedication of caregivers and the important role they play in caring for our seniors. My Ministry will provide greater support for caregivers. Providing respite options will give relief to caregivers who need help for a few hours over the weekend. They can leave their loved ones at one of the 10 senior care centres across Singapore, where they will be looked after. For those who need a longer respite, they can have their elderly cared for at one of the over 40 nursing homes for several days, up to a month. In addition, our Eldersit programme provides an eldersitter, just like babysitter, to look after seniors with dementia at their homes. We have also rolled out financial schemes to help defray the costs of care and caregiver training.

Going forward, there is room to do more. Emotional and timely support is important for caregivers. We are working on new approaches, to embed dedicated support for caregivers within eldercare centres. For example, support could take the form of phone conversations with caregivers, face-to-face meetings or even home visits. We have a national toll-free hotline for seniors and their caregivers, the Singapore Silver Line (1800-650-6060), for assistance regarding our community care services and schemes. MOH and AIC will continue to take on board feedback from caregivers and work closely with our partners to support them. Mr Chairman, let me say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mencius once said, "Love the elderly as you would love your own aged parents". We must respect and care for our seniors who are an integral part of our society. The Government will do our best to help our seniors in their golden years. However, this cannot be done without the help of families and the community at large.

We must work together to build a caring society for all ages. This way, seniors can age gracefully and confidently among their family, friends and community.

(In English): Mr Chairman, I look forward to working with fellow Singaporeans to foster a caring society in the spirit of SG Cares.

The Chairman: Minister Grace Fu.

The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Mr Chairman, with your permission, I will display some slides.

The Chairman: Yes, please. [Some slides were shown to hon Members.]

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Many Singaporeans agree that Singapore is a caring and cohesive society but there is still much more that we can do to be a caring people. MCCY will work with community and corporate partners, along with MSF and MOH, to support SG Cares. In line with Dr Lily Neo's suggestion, we want to foster a culture of consideration and contribution, where every citizen is ready to step forward, engage in service to others, and contribute to build a better home for all Singaporeans.

Our PG embodies this spirit of giving. When Singapore was finding its feet as a young nation, they made sacrifices to build a better future for all. They exemplified the kampung spirit so vital to nation-building. Today, many are still doing their part to help fellow Singaporeans.

Take 73-year-old Mdm Jumiah Yunos, for example. Recognising that seniors tend to stay at home most of the time, Mdm Jumiah started giving qigong lessons in 2013 to promote healthy living in her neighbourhood. She takes what she has learnt from her qigong master and teaches a group of up to 50 residents in easy-to-follow qigong exercises. With her nursing experience, she also shares tips for healthy living with them. Mdm Jumiah’s qigong lessons have encouraged neighbours to bond and stay active together. This is so useful for the elderly as it is right in their neighbourhood, and it is an ideal way for seniors to keep active in their retirement age.

We want this giving spirit to be passed on to each succeeding generation. To support MSF's efforts to enhance social service delivery on the ground through its SSOs and MOH's expansion of CNS and repositioned SGO, we now need more volunteers than ever to address our growing social and healthcare needs.

As Ms Tin Pei Ling shared, there are many passionate Singaporeans volunteering, whether through formal or informal ways. Yet, there are also many others who are willing but do not know where, who or how to help. Some may not know what the available volunteering opportunities are or where the needs are in their local community. Some may only have little time to give because of work and family commitments. Others could be too shy to approach neighbours who seem to need help. These are some of the barriers that stop us from reaching out to help and do our part.

Through SG Cares, we hope to break down these barriers. We want to create a society where everyone both gives and receives the care and support they need. We want Singaporeans to enjoy a culture of neighbourliness and rekindle the 'kampung spirit' within our communities. My colleagues and I believe this is possible if we all do our part to help our neighbours, nurture our youths and serve our seniors, so that no one is left behind.

As part of the SG Cares movement, my Ministry will work through corporates and the community while leveraging technology to make it easier and more meaningful for a person to volunteer. We will focus our efforts on encouraging corporate Singapore to step forward and do its part. As Dr Lim Wee Kiak pointed out, corporates must be key players in the field of volunteerism. Many of us spend significant hours at work and want to work with a company that does good for society.

Corporates have the ability to organise and mobilise their employees for social good through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Once we leave school and enter the workforce, we volunteer a lot less often because there are other competing priorities. But through organised CSR activities that are scheduled around our work commitments, we can continue to do our part.

One example is the partnership between the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and NTUC Health. NTUC Health is a social enterprise that provides health and eldercare services. POSB, as we know, is a bank with a network of branches. By adopting flexible volunteer hours and matching employees to an NTUC Health nursing home close to the POSB branches they work at, this partnership saw POSB employees conducting bi-weekly activities, such as morning exercise therapy and breakfast with residents, at NTUC Health nursing homes. This has brought joy to the residents and helped POSB employees grow a sense of pride in their company and a sense of compassion for our frail elderly.

We will continue to help companies in their CSR journey, through the Company of Good, a programme by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to help companies give more strategically, sustainably and meaningfully. Since its inception, close to 1,000 companies have come on board. As part of this programme, we will grow corporate leaders for giving under the Company of Good Fellowship. In this five-month programme, corporate giving advocates across companies come together to share good practices and develop proposals for more impactful corporate giving.

One participating corporate is Fullerton Hotel. Putting its proposal into action, it launched the Fullerton Academy last month. The Academy mobilises hotel staff and partners as volunteers to provide training for youths from REACH Community Services in areas, such as culinary, etiquette and creative arts, that will help prepare them for future employment.

We will also work through the Community Development Councils (CDCs). With a good understanding of the needs on the ground as well as their network of community partners, the CDCs can help to connect corporates to local CSR opportunities.

Ms Tin Pei Ling also reminded us of the need to organise volunteer opportunities better so that busy Singaporeans can just "plug and play", making it convenient to do good. Community needs can be made bite-sized and flexible, so that more Singaporeans can get involved whatever their skills, interests and commitments in their current life stage.

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We are seeing an increasing trend of micro-volunteerism in Singapore – volunteerism broken into discrete tasks with flexible commitments, allowing on-the-go Singaporeans to slot doing good into their busy schedules. We are studying the landscape and will work with partners to explore new ways to organise tasks that will enable neighbours to help one another and take care of their neighbourhood. This will enable more Singaporeans to be involved and feel a greater sense of ownership for the community they live in.

Additionally, the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) has been working with SSOs to restructure roles, ensuring that they are both suitable for volunteers and meet the needs of the community. NCSS is also helping SSOs build up capabilities to manage their volunteers well and deploy them meaningfully so that they feel that they are not "just another volunteer" but someone who is making a difference to the community.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked about the use of technology to support people in nurturing a caring civic culture. Today, about 50% of Singaporeans are already familiar with online giving, and 25% actively support charitable social media campaigns. Technology has made it easy and convenient for us to provide quick help, collaborate and form community.

We will study how to harness the power of technology for social good and provide a one-stop avenue that Dr Lily Neo spoke about, where Singaporeans, especially those with the desire to help but do not know where or how to start, can easily find volunteering opportunities.

The recently launched SG Cares app is a good start. It is a free mobile app that enables everyone to be plugged into the community of volunteers and opportunities. We will continue to enhance the application to provide a good user experience and build a social network where volunteers can share experiences, learn from one another and serve the community together. With technology, we can reach out to show we care, at the touch of our fingertips.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak spoke about the good work that many are doing on the ground. We are fortunate to have many helping hands in the community. But, as Minister Heng Swee Keat aptly puts it, "our many helping hands need to work hand-in-hand."

Under SG Cares, one role for the Government is to facilitate better coordination among the various helping hands NVPC, NCSS, social and healthcare organisations, corporates and the community so that we can mobilise volunteers to meet needs on the ground. To do this, we have set up pilots in Bedok and Jurong East to bring partners together to co-develop coordination models that can be replicated in other towns.

In Jurong East, various stakeholders work together to serve the seniors in different ways. They are supported by a network of SSOs with a central coordinator, in this case, Loving Heart Multi Service Centre. It receives referrals from grassroots networks and the SSO on seniors who require support, links up with partner organisations, refers residents to service providers, and mobilises community organisations and support. Partners, such as St Luke's ElderCare, provides rehabilitation programmes; Touch Community Services ensures regular home visits and provides services, such as counselling and transitional care from the hospital; and Thye Hua Kwan offers recreational activities and courses to keep the senior engaged and connected with the community. Loving Heart also engages volunteers from partner schools nearby to help in the Centre's activities.

The SG Cares movement has helped to bring these stakeholders together to map out the needs, roles, resources and areas where we need more volunteers. By combining our efforts and resources, we have a better picture of the needs in each community and how the various partners can work together to provide more seamless and citizen-centric support.

Say, for example, a senior who has difficulty walking and living on his own is discharged from the hospital. Understanding that the senior will require home medical and nursing care, a Medical Social Worker at the hospital refers him to the AIC, which gets him connected with the CNS. A CNS coordinator will link up with the SSO and various SSOs in his neighbourhood to provide coordinated assistance and support services to the senior. However, the CNS, SSO and other SSOs cannot address all his needs on their own.

This is where we, as neighbours and volunteers, can step up and play our part. Everyone can contribute. You do not need money, special skills or a lot of time. You just need a good heart. If you are an outgoing individual with time to spare, you can volunteer as a befriender to visit him monthly and check out how he is doing.

If you cannot volunteer regularly, you can still help with ad hoc tasks, such as buying groceries or changing a light bulb. You can be alerted to these tasks through a tasking app if you live or work nearby. If you are volunteering as part of your company's CSR, you can be on the "Meals-on-Wheels" roster and help deliver meals to him. Or if you happen to be his neighbour, you can just drop by his home once in a while, to say "Hi" and to see if he needs any help.

Sir, my colleagues in MOH, MSF and MCCY are working together so that our social and healthcare agencies provide better coordinated services in partnership with the SSOs on the ground. Just as importantly, we seek to enable fellow Singaporeans to step forward as caring citizens and good neighbours to bridge that last mile of care that only family, friends and community can provide.

At the end of the day, SG Cares is about the kind of society we wish to live in. We believe that a strong society is one that leaves no one behind and one that focuses on helping the vulnerable amongst us. A strong society is one where the civic spirit is strong and where citizens contribute to causes they believe in. MCCY has been working to mobilise volunteers through the arts, heritage, youth and sport through initiatives, such as Team Nila, SportCares, HeritageCares and the Youth Corps. Through SG Cares, we seek to build a civic culture of care, consideration and contribution where all Singaporeans can work together for a better Singapore.

The Chairman: I am not sure whether this is a first time, but certainly it is significant for us to note that we have three Ministers from different Ministries coming together to speak on one topic under one Head. I would like to thank them for their collaboration and their commitment to the cause. Mr Seah Kian Peng.

Shared Values, Income Inequality

Mr Seah Kian Peng: Sir, the need for empathy is well-established. The processes to ensure and encourage empathy, however, are very complex and perhaps not always possible to put in place.

Our approach to designing social policies and programmes reflect the values of our society. The "Many Helping Hands" approach is the foundation of our social policy. Ultimately, it is the shared values of Singaporeans that are at the heart of our social compact. It helps us weather difficult times together, to move us together and forward to success. In recent years, we have been focused on making sure low-income households have a roof over their heads, that every child has access to food, shelter and education. But in today's Singapore, all this may not be enough to get them up the social mobility ladder.

As we continue to face widening income inequality, the Government's approach to these challenges will continue to be based on the principles of "family" as the first line of support. Even if this is so, if "family", defined in the widest possible way, is the first line of support, sometimes, family members just have no means or resources.

I have heard of an organisation that gives out book prizes to primary school students who show an aptitude in Maths and Science, to further expose them to opportunities outside of school to fan their passion for sciences. They are supposed to embark on a science project of their interest over the school holidays with an assigned mentor/volunteer and put up a show-and-tell. However, before the journey commences, some of them drop out; they have no one to transport them to and from the discussion venue as their parents are working on weekends. The intention to help exists but implementation can be better.

Sir, we know of sportsmen and sportswomen whose parents fetch and send them to practise early in the mornings and late in the evenings. That they win medals is due to their hard work, talent and their families, but also, dare I say it, luck that some of them are rich. No one who braves a daily 90-minute commute on the public transport will not be hard-pressed to perform at the same level. We need to guard against inequality in Singapore; some are more tolerable than others. It is up to us to stand against those forms and those extents of inequality that will impact Singaporeans’ ability to live dignified and meaningful lives.

The Prime Minister has explained that there is a concerted and coordinated effort among Government Ministries to tackle these challenges together in various fora. Specific to the social service sector, what is MSF's contribution towards tackling these critical issues? And how does it intend to work with other Ministries to ensure that all facets to tackling inequality are addressed?

Finally, as mentioned earlier, we know it is the shared values of Singaporeans that lie at the heart of our social compact, building our resilience to weather difficult times together. How do MSF's programmes encourage and reflect the values of self-reliance, empathy and compassion?

Inequality and Social Stratification

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: Mr Chairman, in a recent survey done on Social Capital in Singapore by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), it found that social division in Singapore may now be based on class rather than race or religion.

While it may not be realistic to expect that all our children and individuals will have access to similar learning opportunities to develop their talent and that everyone would have the same access to job and career opportunities, as a society, we must still aspire to do so, and our systems and structures must continue to strive to provide opportunities for all Singaporeans. To do this, it will require deliberate and a whole-of-Government effort to mitigate inequality of opportunity, ensure social mobility and foster social integration.

With regard to the social service sector, MSF has taken a holistic approach in its efforts to improve social mobility by providing upstream support and strengthening the sector. And this we can see in the help that is given to beneficiaries through SSO, and also through what the Minister is sharing in terms of the plans to enhance and strengthen SSO.

To enable every child to have the right start, access and the quality of preschool education are important. Preschool and early childhood development platforms are not just about providing childcare but also the environment for our children to develop and build confidence for social integration and life. In fact, this is the case for all throughout our learning journey and, especially now, with continuous learning.

With the technological shifts and disruptions that are confronting us, digital capabilities and skills will be crucial for individuals to thrive. Because with these skills, it will help translate ideas and talent for impact. With these trends, the early childhood sector will need to look at how to better support young families and children for the digital world, specifically those in the lower-income families.

The Chairman: Ms Chia Yong Yong. She is not here. Mr Amrin Amin.

Social Mobility

Mr Amrin Amin: Parliament recently discussed mitigating income inequality, ensuring social mobility and enhancing social integration. Concerns were raised following a nationwide survey conducted by IPS released last December which found that class boundaries tend to be more salient than gender, racial and religious boundaries.

The Prime Minister had explained that there is a concerted and coordinated effort among Government Ministries and agencies to tackle these challenges together in various fora. Specific to the social service sector, how is MSF tackling these critical issues?

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Homelessness

Dr Lily Neo: Sir, may I ask MSF how many people sleep on the streets in the past year? Is the number for homelessness getting bigger over the years? Does MSF monitor the reasons for those who sleep on the streets? Is there any ongoing outreach to them island-wide in order to understand their problems? How can MSF help this group better? Could MSF follow up individually and provide long-term solutions?

Many of them may have a variety of problems, such as family feuds, HDB housing issues, mental issues, employment and financial issues. These issues will need close follow-up with various Ministries and assistance rendered to achieve permanent solutions. Unless we provide such assistance, it is going to be an unending problem. It is futile trying to discourage them sleeping on the streets by chasing them away as they will just go sleep at another location.

I have had residents sleeping in Chinatown staircases or plastic chairs due to frequent quarrelling with co-tenants in HDB rental flats due to incompatibility of personality and character. Our housing policy requires two individuals to share HDB rental homes. This can create a lot of problems, especially for those having to stay with strangers because they do not have family members to rent with. This is especially so for many seniors who have difficulty adjusting due to their seniority. There are some individuals who just cannot live with strangers despite many transfers of HDB rental homes.

Apart from sleeping on the streets, MSF may also encounter them coming for ComCare as they cannot continue working, because they cannot sleep at night or they face daily living issues due to unreasonable co-lessees, according to them. Could MSF intervene in such cases and recommend for these individuals to rent HDB flats on their own, following psychological assessments?

Many homeless people do not like the shelter homes, such as Pelangi Shelter, as they prefer to have freedom to move about. Can MSF provide a better concept for shelter homes catering to the homeless group, giving them the flexibility of going out and about, staying in touch with their friends in the community and continuing to work whilst residing in a shelter home?

Youths in Criminal Justice System

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Chairman, Sir, Singapore has acceded to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which defines children as persons below the age of 18. Being a signatory, Singapore is obliged to take all measures for the implementation of the rights recognised in the Convention.

Our Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) currently only protects youths up to the age of 16. This means that youths between 16 and 18 do not enjoy the Act’s protections, such as not having their particulars published in the media and having more sentencing options.

In February 2017, an interagency committee chaired by the Attorney-General's Chambers submitted a number of recommendations to the Government, including the recommendation to raise the CYPA cut-off age from 16 to 18. One year on, has the Government come to any conclusions on doing so, and when will this be effected? If not, what are some issues the Government is grappling with?

Enhancing Intervention for Child Neglect

Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Sir, it is the parents' responsibility to bring up their children well so that they have the best chance possible to succeed in life. By and large, it would be a natural instinct on the part of the parents to discharge this duty. Unfortunately, from time to time, there have been cases of parents abdicating their responsibility towards their children.

Just on 2 March 2018, during the COS debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), we heard the hon Minister for Home Affairs providing some examples of serious child abuse and neglect. These are heart-wrenching cases.

The principal legal tool used to intervene when a child or young person is neglected by his or her parent is the Children and Young Persons Act. Under the Act, a child or young person is deemed to be in need of care or protection if his or her situation falls within the nine enumerated categories stated therein. In such an event, the Director of Social Welfare, a protector or a Police Officer is empowered to remove the child from the custody of the parent and place him or her in a place of care and protection.

I recently had occasion to deal with a case which threw into focus the current requirements under the Act. Sometime in the second half of last year, I met the parents of a 7-year-old boy. The boy’s father sought my help to deal with a problem he had with a Police Officer. The mother was a young lady who was rather quiet. Whilst I was talking to the father, I noted that the boy sported long hair; it was even below his shoulders! Curious as to how he could keep such long hair in school, I asked the boy which school he was studying in. To my surprise, I learnt that he was not registered in primary school. This is a violation of the Compulsory Education Act. As a matter of fact, the boy did not go to kindergarten as well.

Both parents were content for their son to be at home and schooled by his mother. However, prior approval from the Director-General of Education, as required under the Compulsory Education Act, was not sought.

I must add that, from a physical perspective, the boy appears to be reasonably taken care of. Mentally, he is normal, too. My community leaders engaged the father and attempted to persuade him to register his son for school as soon as possible. Based on the last update I received, despite six months of trying, the boy has yet to be registered. He is eight years old now this year. Officers from MOE and MSF have been engaging the father and trying to persuade him to send his son to school.

Under the Act, as the boy is physically well taken care of, it would not be possible to intervene under the Act on the ground that the parent neglected to ensure that he is enrolled in a primary school.

In response to a Parliamentary Question (PQ) I filed in November 2017 suggesting that the criteria under the Act be expanded to include situations whereby a parent neglects sending a child to primary school, the Hon Minister replied that the reasons for a child not attending school are often complex. The hon Minister opined that it was not necessary to extend the criteria under the Act on the basis that the framework provided under the Compulsory Education Act already covers this aspect. Finally, he explained that the Act is meant to be invoked where children are seriously harmed or at risk of serious harm. I respectfully seek a reconsideration of the Government's position for the following reasons.

First, I think we can all agree that it is critical for a child to attend primary school for the sake of his own development and to create the common experience necessary for the child to identify himself as part of our community and nation. This is the raison d'etre behind the enactment of the Compulsory Education Act in the first place.

Second, the framework under the Compulsory Education Act does not extend to intervening in the event the parent neglects sending his or her child to primary school. What it does is to provide penal consequences. However, it does not directly address the plight of the child if the parent does not do the right thing. Also, as mentioned by the hon Minister for Education (Schools) Mr Ng Chee Meng in this House before, the approach of MOE is not to charge the parents in Court but to counsel them to comply with the requirements.

Third, the future prospects of the child would be indelibly affected by reason of the parents' neglect in registering him for school and ensuring that he attends school regularly. Whilst this is not physical harm, it is harm that is still debilitating in terms of the impact on his future.

In my respectful view, the Compulsory Education Act and the Children and Young Persons Act should complement each other so that the whole suite of options would be available to help the child if a parent neglects to send his or her child to school. After all, the parent would have committed a criminal offence by virtue of his conduct.

I am aware that we are not dealing with big numbers. In 2003, this House was informed that there were about 10 cases of violations under the Compulsory Education Act per year. In my respectful view, though, even one case of a child being deprived of education is a case too many.

I am not advocating that the powers be exercised in every instance that a parent does not send his or her child to school. I acknowledge that the reasons are complex. All I am asking is that the state be provided with the requisite powers so that it can intervene in an appropriate case.

The Chairman: Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef. She is not here today. Mr Seah Kian Peng. You can take your two cuts together.

Responses to Changing Demographics

Mr Seah Kian Peng: First, on seniors. Do a quick search on adult diapers in online marketplaces, and you will be inundated by the array of long-term care products and services listings. If we fast forward to 10 years, we will see more white-hair people around us. By then, one in four Singaporeans, or 900,000 of us, will be aged 65 and above. I will just be promoted to be a member in this group!

Second, on the middle-aged. There is an increasing need for the younger population to plan ahead as they get older. But getting people to plan ahead earlier is an uphill one. Often enough, they feel they are "too young" to have a situation where they have a chronic illness or to do retirement planning, and that the policy message is for someone else.

Also, there is a lack of recognition that many of the policies earmarked for the younger population are likely to have long-term consequences as they age, fertility rate, for instance. This is especially when the Government has limits to policy implementation. A classic example, I was just talking to a friend of mine. She is in her 40s and works in the healthcare sector. Yet, she is totally impervious to the policy messages because she has other priorities to think about.

We know what we should do, but actually doing it is another matter. As we all know, we are all good doctors but bad patients. Good at dispensing advice but bad at heeding them.

I just spoke of two different demographics – the elderly and the middle-aged. How is the Ministry working to reach out to these different groups? We will inevitably see, in time to come, that sales of incontinence products will outpace that of milk powder and baby diapers. How will the Ministry ensure that the elderly population is being cared for without curbing the well-being of its young?

How do we balance the need to care for the older generation without neglecting the needs of the young? Stating it starkly, will we one day see MOH's budget outstrip that of MOE or even the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and thereby placing even greater demands on MSF as well?

Indeed, the demographic challenges we face are daunting, with falling birth rates and a rapidly ageing population. In light of these challenges, how is MSF working to meet the changing needs of Singaporeans and our families?

Care for Older People

The recent IPS survey asked if one is willing to pay higher taxes to fund higher social spending on the elderly or go tap the national Reserves.

Looking at the mixed bag of responses, there are almost equal differing responses. About 40% felt that the Government should chime in on the support. Thirty-four percent said otherwise. Interestingly, 41% believed each generation should take care of itself, without support from other generations. An almost equal proportion, about 38%, disagreed.

I came across this feature from Assoc Prof Tan En Ser, Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He postulates that in most Confucian societies, the basis of intergenerational support is filial piety, a value which prescribes that the adults have an obligation to support their parents if they are in need. Nonetheless, filial piety is an often-socialised term in this country. So, many Singaporeans exhibit filial piety and believe this to be an important and enduring trait.

However, this attribute is easier to fulfil if there is financial independence either on the part of the parents, or the children are there and able to support their parents comfortably. We all want to be filial. But our commitment to observe filial piety can be severely tested. We can be forced to a corner when we face difficulties upholding our end of the commitment.

With the IPS study in mind, and without eroding the role of values or family as the first line of support, how does the Ministry see the role of the Government, social service sector and the community actively coming forward to help? How can the Ministry strengthen families, as well as the community, so that they are confident in providing care for the vulnerable among us?

Office of Public Guardian

Ms Sylvia Lim: Chairman, Sir, according to section 31 of the Mental Capacity Act, the Public Guardian has a total of 11 functions that are geared towards enabling and protecting persons who lack mental capacity. These functions include setting up and maintaining a register of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), setting up and maintaining a register of Court orders that appoint deputies, receiving reports from donees and deputies, and investigating any alleged violation of any provision in the Mental Capacity Act, including complaints about the way in which donees and deputies are exercising their powers.

Given the many onerous functions of the Public Guardian, I would like to find out how many staff work in the Office of Public Guardian (OPG) and whether there is enough manpower to handle the work. To illustrate, OPG has, in recent months, written to applicants to register LPAs that it would take longer than the preferred 15 to 20 working days to review their applications due to a greater than expected volume of LPA applications.

I know of one case where an LPA sent to OPG for registration is still pending after three months. Such delays might also have serious consequences, if the donor's mental state is fast deteriorating and he becomes mentally incapable while his LPA application is pending for registration by OPG.

I am concerned that if the function of registration is already backlogged, how does the OPG carry out the other more difficult functions, such as investigating alleged violations of the Act?

Sir, I also note from the OPG's website that there is a list of Revoked LPAs that is updated periodically. As at 28 February 2018, the number of Revoked LPAs was recorded as 1,841. Does the Ministry know what the common reasons were for the donors to revoke their LPAs? Do these reasons indicate that there is some lack of understanding of how the LPA works?

1.45 pm

Eldercare Leave

Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied): Sir, on the subject of Eldercare Leave for employees caring for their parents, the Minister announced last month that the Ministry is prepared to study the idea in consultation with the tripartite partners though we should also give businesses some time to adjust and adapt to recent enhancements in Family Leave.

As the Ministry looks into the matter of Eldercare Leave for caregivers who are also employed in full-time or part-time jobs, I would like to urge that they will also consider ways of providing assistance to those caregivers who are not.

Sir, in many ways, informal or unpaid caregivers enable other Singaporeans to carry out the economic activities that are counted in our gross domestic product (GDP), while their own caregiving is not. As of now, the burden of informal caregiving falls disproportionately on women. And our dependence on this group of Singaporeans is real. It is substantial and very often unacknowledged.

Eldercare Leave could well help relieve some of the pressure on informal caregivers who also work at other jobs, but almost half of our informal caregivers to seniors do not work at other jobs, often because of the unpaid caregiving responsibilities that they have taken on to their financial detriment and to their reduced retirement adequacy.

Would the Government consider measures, such as Central Provident Fund (CPF) top-ups for full-time informal caregivers in low-income households to reduce the pressure of being underemployed and under-prepared for retirement, as a result of taking on the responsibilities of caring for their loved seniors?

The Chairman: Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin. She is not here. Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Strengthening Family Values and Support

Ms Tin Pei Ling: Sir, strong families have been a cornerstone of our society. As an Asian society, we believe in families as our first line of support. Over the years, various studies done reaffirm this. For instance, in a study done by Kau Ah Keng et al, published in 2001 – a little bit dated – Singaporeans "strongly subscribed to the traditional value of supporting one's parents in their old age".

However, as our population changes with rapid ageing, smaller family sizes and more singles, the strength of family support is increasingly being tested. This will have profound implications on our social structure and how welfare is delivered.

In a recent IPS study published in "Singapore Perspectives 2018 'Together'", one finding indicated that Singaporeans believe the Government ought to bear greater responsibility in taking care of older people in the absence of familial support, a shift from the "many helping hands" concept. But I wonder if it is also the beginning of a shift from our traditional value of family support.

Given these, I would like to ask MSF if indeed there has been a shift in family and social values and, if so, how will this impact Singapore in the long run.

Strengthening Families and Community

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): Sir, many of the elderly residents who come to see me at my Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) request for financial assistance. Often, many of these senior citizens are uncomfortable seeking help from their children. They feel that their children have enough financial problems of their own without having to worry about their elderly parents. I would refer these seniors to SSO and, usually, some form of assistance is given.

There appears to be an increasing expectation that the Government ought to bear a large part of the responsibility of taking care of the elderly. Is this reflected in the results of the recent IPS survey which Ms Tin Pei Ling also referred to?

To some extent, I understand the sentiment. If families are facing some difficulties, as far as possible, there should be a support structure in place to assist. However, it is important that the family continues to be the first line of support for those who need help. This is a value that our society should embrace and adhere to. I would like to understand the Ministry's view on this issue, in particular, how does the Ministry see the role of the Government in providing the social support structure for the people? Is there some way we could provide families with some support but ultimately empower them to care for their vulnerable family members themselves?

Early Childhood and Special Needs Support

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Chairman, MSF has committed to improving early childhood education outcomes through raising the quality of our educators and the centres' operations. In a tight labour market, how can the Ministry continue to grow the sector?

Raising the quality of early childhood education requires better staff and curriculum. This, in turn, necessarily incur higher manpower and operating costs. Consequently, there would be higher fees.

However, our younger Singaporeans are already facing twin challenges because they are already having children later in life, they end up having to take care of the young children while caring for the elderly parents at the same time. Such sandwich situation is expected to be more commonplace over time.

Currently, Singapore Citizen children are eligible for a basic subsidy of up to $300 for childcare per month. This was implemented in 2008. Since 2011, the childcare operators have raised the median fees by 22%. This has somewhat eroded the support from the subsidies.

Can the Government review the subsidies, taking into consideration the twin challenges that our middle-income young parents face? How can we continue to ensure that early childhood education continues to be affordable or the quality improved? In conjunction with the review of the subsidies, we should also expand the market-moderating effect of anchor operators.

Beyond childcare, student care support is something that our parents will need readily as more families have both parents working. It has become as indispensable as childcare support.

Subsidy for student care was enhanced since 1 January 2016. This subsidy is made available to families with a monthly household income of 20th percentile and below. It is comforting to note that our lower-income families at the lowest income tier can pay as little as $5 per month. I hope that the Ministry can also similarly look into enhancing our student care support to include parents up to the 50th percentile income tier, so that our young parents can have similar support from preschool to primary school.

Next, I would like to discuss the issues surrounding caregivers taking care of our special needs, disabled and elderly residents. Caregiving can be both physically and emotionally draining. Often times, caregivers need some short time away to either recharge or run errands.

However, respite care can be expensive, especially for lower-wage caregivers. Can the Ministry look into strengthening the provision of respite care with a view towards increasing the availability and reducing the costs of respite care?

Besides respite care, more caregivers would also need support in accessing the wide range of Government services and also mutual support from other caregivers. A "one-stop centre" announced earlier last year was an important milestone. Would the Minister provide an update on the new caregiver support centre and if more centres are planned for island-wide implementation?

Lastly, we have done much over the years to support our parents in helping to care for the special needs children under the Enabling Masterplan. One of the key concerns that many parents have is what happens to the children when they are old enough – 18 years old?

Most of them will have to leave the Special Education (SPED) schools and either go into open employment, sheltered employment or training development centres. Would there be sufficient affordable places in these different pathways and day-care centres for them, such that they can continue with development? With sufficient capacity, we can give our parents, who have worked many years to provide care and support to their special needs children, the comfort knowing that they will continue to be taken of and to lead meaningful and abled lives.

Childcare Facilities in New Estates

Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Sir, like many residents, I welcome new estates for their inclusiveness in providing much needed facilities at SACs and childcare centres at the void deck.

Residents at the two new estates in Hougang spoke about the convenience of having such facilities within a stone's throw from where they live. Some young parents told me part of the reason they bought a flat in this estate was predicated on the availability of childcare facilities in the neighbourhood.

However, the number of places available at these childcare centres is limited due, in part, to high demand and also to the size of the centre. Thus, some residents were disappointed to find out that despite having a childcare centre next door, enrolment is not a given. Some residents shared that they even attempted to apply for a place for their children before these centres were completed or way before the centre opened their doors for registration, but were always met with a waiting list.

In March 2015, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) was reported to have said that the agency does monitor local demand and works closely with HDB on the issue of childcare places. It said, "the new estates with more young families, childcare centres are pre-built into new Build-To-Order (BTO) developments to cater to demand ahead of time". Thus, I would like to find out from the Ministry whether such demand is adequately met in new estates.

Furthermore, in the planning of such highly sought after facilities, could the Ministry ensure that residents living nearest to these childcare centres get some priority for admission? This arrangement should apply to anchor operators, especially since they are given subsidies and grants to operate childcare centres for the sole purpose of serving the new estate and the surrounding community.

At this point, I would like to declare my interest as my wife has an interest in special needs childcare.

Rising Childcare and Infant Care Fees

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, Sir, parents who send their children to anchor operator My First Skool were hit by news of another school fee hike this year of between $6 and $33 for childcare; and $5 and $20 for infant care. These hikes this year come hot on the heels of similar hikes by My First Skool in 2013, 2015 and 2016 which, cumulatively, mean that it now costs $100 a month or more, and more than $1,200 a year to enroll a child into My First Skool.

Chairman, these hikes hit the middle-income the hardest. It may also be a disincentive to some couples who may want to have more children. Even though the absolute increase is below the fee cap established by the Ministry, four fee hikes since 2013 appear to suggest that the fee cap can operate as a shield to raise prices, particularly when parents do not have a clear idea for the reasons behind the price hikes.

In 2015, I asked the Ministry if it would provide a breakdown of the cost components to justify fee hikes at childcare operators, but this was rejected. Ironically, NTUC, which owns My First Skool, recently called for higher childcare subsidies to help middle-income parents.

Can the Ministry share details on the cost pressures impacting anchor operators in the child and infant care space? How does the Ministry check on the basis and justification of fee hikes, particularly from anchor operators who would benefit the most from economies of scale?

Early Childhood Sector

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: At a time when Singaporeans are getting worried about the social divide between those who are better-off and those who are less advantaged, it is important for us to focus on core efforts that can help close this divide. I trust we can all agree that quality education can be a social leveller. Every child, regardless of his or her background, should have access to good education from a young age.

We know that ages between 0 to four years old are the most important years for development. Therefore, I am happy to hear the Prime Minister's announcement at the National Day Rally last year about the Government's investments into early childhood education.

In recent years, we have made significant investments in this sector which has expanded so rapidly to cater to the needs of our young. To have quality preschool education, you need good infrastructure, good resources and, more importantly, good and sufficient teachers and other staff members. I would like to find out from the Ministry how will the Ministry support the growth of the early childhood education sector amidst a tight manpower situation.

Early Childhood

Mr Amrin Amin: To make a difference to children not just academically but also emotionally and socially, our children deserve to have access to good education and resources that will provide the foundation on which they can pursue their dreams and passion in life.

To enable every child to have a good start in life, the standards of preschool and preschool education have to be raised. The passion and the skills of our preschool teachers will make a critical difference. What are the Ministry's plans to develop the early childhood profession?

Childcare Centres will Nudge the Total Fertility Rate

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, a key concern of young families is the availability of childcare centres near their homes. This is because these centres meet many needs. First, the need of the mother who wishes to return to work to advance her career or supplement the household income together with her husband. Second, the need of the child who will benefit from early childhood education. And third, the need of the grandparents who will find time to rest when the child is at the childcare centre.

Therefore, in order to incentivise young couples to have more children, I have two suggestions.

First, how can a larger amount of void deck space be allocated for childcare centres at the planning stage of new HDB BTO precincts? Secondly, how can the Ministry incentivise childcare providers to provide affordable services within private property estates to also meet the needs of the families who live in the private property estates?

2.00 pm

Preschool Mother Tongue Teachers

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Chairman, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Although I graduated from an English medium school, the lessons that I learnt from young, songs by Feng Fei Fei and other songs that I listened to from the radio, Chinese novels that I read from libraries and the Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh helped me fall in love with the Chinese language.

Today, young children receive good quality preschool education in their mother tongue language (MTL) starting from preschool. In my work with the Education Services Union and the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning, I had the honour of witnessing the dedication and hard work of preschool Chinese teachers in cultivating love for the Chinese language amongst our children.

Besides enabling individuals to converse comfortably in their mother tongue for business and social interactions, it can also enhance understanding of our own culture. I have met many parents who are also very supportive and believe that children should start learning how to use their mother tongue at childcare centres and homes to communicate.

With the foundation that has been established, how can we do better going forward? Does MSF have an estimate of the number of MTL teachers we need in our preschools to meet future demands? What is the Ministry's strategy to attract and retain local MTL teachers?

I would like to suggest that more effort be directed towards cultivating greater interest in MTL among preschool children and improving the teaching methods for MTLs.

Will the Ministry consider giving greater support by providing teaching aids and tools for MTL preschool teachers, or inviting more education experts to share their expert knowledge and experience, so that MTL preschool teachers can have more resources to develop teaching materials containing localised content?

Besides attracting more Singaporeans to join this profession through internship programmes, will the Minister consider launching more scholarship or bursary programmes targeted at preschool MTL teachers so as to identify, grow and nurture a pool of Singaporeans who are passionate about teaching MTL?

I would like to urge the Government to offer more support to preschool MTL teachers, provide them with relevant educational tools and resources at different stages, and develop pathways for them to upgrade their skills, so that teachers can help young children not only to learn and speak their mother tongue, but also to love the language as well.

Bilingual Education

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I am the Chairperson of the Malay Language Month this year which is an annual event to celebrate and encourage the use of Malay Language amongst the public.

One issue that deserves attention in our effort to preserve the Malay Language is the importance of cultivating interest among the young. We are aware that the early years are important in our children's development. Early education and exposure are important in order to develop their linguistic capabilities.

In my discussions with preschool educators in my role as the Malay Language Month Chairperson, some of them said they have difficulties in getting suitable teaching materials for their students. I understand that improvements have been made in this matter whereby materials like Big Books were made available for teachers. I am sure that this situation can be further improved to help mother tongue teachers in preschools.

As Singapore prioritises bilingual education, what can the Ministry do to ensure that preschool students receive quality mother tongue education?

Enabling Masterplan for the Disabled

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Sir, I will use the terms "disability" and "special needs" interchangeably in this speech although not everyone with special needs is disabled.

Sir, Singapore's population growth is said to be at its lowest. Our local workforce is shrinking. Everyone born in this country is precious, and for more than economic reasons.

In an effort to encourage Singaporeans to give birth to more, we must offer the assurance that their offspring would be valued, regardless of the condition they are born with. No one can guarantee that a child born to them is perfect. Like you and I, people with special needs are sons and daughters of Singapore. They must be granted equal access to opportunities to partake in all aspects of society.

In fact, neither can anyone guarantee that a typically developed person would not acquire any disability that comes with getting old or through an accident or mishap. Including people with disabilities and other special needs among us, hence, is not doing charity.

Research in the past already showed a close link between disability and poverty for various reasons. Unless there is effective and timely intervention, persons with special needs are likely to be unemployed, socially excluded and can encounter health issues earlier than others. For those who are more economically oriented, please know that the cost of supporting people with disabilities escalates when the latter are not educated, trained and supported effectively.

In a rapidly disruptive age, such as now, people with special needs are clearly at risk of being left behind. I have three questions I wish to seek clarification and make suggestions on.

First, on Enabling Masterplans. Since 2007, Singapore has seen three Enabling Masterplans. These are the roadmaps for Singapore to build a more inclusive society where persons with disabilities are empowered and enabled to realise their true potential. Singapore has also ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2013, signalling the Government's serious commitment to the disability community.

The latest Enabling Masterplan which will see us through 2021 is at its implementation stage. It has been almost two years now. There are not many targets set, whether basic or stretched goals, and updates from the Ministry have been ad hoc.

Sir, it is not enough to just engage citizens and stakeholders during the masterplan development. There is also a need to watch tightly the implementation of a plan that involves the whole of society, report to society, and systematically and visibly invite and engage society to form part of the often complex solutions. I therefore seek an update from the Minister on the progress of the latest Enabling Masterplan.

I also ask for a tighter rein on its implementation by convening, for instance, an Execution Implementation Body comprising key strategic and hands-on leaders from the public, private and people sectors. This body should preferably be led by the highest authority in a coordinating Ministry like MSF, to ensure it has the muscle to influence and ensure the accountability by the various Government agencies and other stakeholders. New MSF Minister, or not so new, Desmond Lee, is known to be strong in such a coordinating role. I have seen him in committees like this.

Two, on supporting and resourcing disability-specific enabling plans. Sir, improving the landscape for disability, we know for sure cannot be the job of the Government alone. I had begun to encourage each major disability group to take ownership, to do a proper study and develop mini plans, so that the needs and gaps in their specific groups can be accurately defined, identified and addressed with outcomes and impact.

However, the role of the Government is not diminished. The Government has to take the lead to work much closer with the ground, meet them regularly and seriously nurture the ground. It can resource the ground in solutions that could already be working, or at risk of being terminated, and address genuine gaps in the landscape.

For instance, NCSS had helped in the pilot of weekly respite programmes for families with more severely disabled adults with autism. The staff from the Autism Association Singapore (AAS) where I volunteer, started a very successful pilot, providing much-needed respite to caregivers. The programme, however, will not be financially supported after the pilot ends. This is a potential area to resource.

Another gap. Some members from the deaf community have identified a high priority need for inclusive preschools, much like the Mayflower Primary School model that MOE has launched. The preschool will provide the pipeline of students that will be more school-ready in the mainstream classrooms in Mayflower.

Yet, another gap in the adult space. The take-up rate for employment is not as high as desired for this community. VWOs providing job training and employment services, together with SG Enable, will need a stronger listening ear from the Government and resourcing to expand their services so that more can work. There is a need to quickly create and nurture sheltered enterprises to support those who are more severe but can do lighter duty work. I urge the Ministry to work closer with the ground to identify, support and resource disability-specific programmes surfaced by the ground.

Three, on mainstreaming disability into national policies. I would like to repeat my call to ask all Government agencies to ensure that their plans, especially for anything to do with our future – future economy, education, Smart Nation, healthcare, transport, housing and all essential services – to include the special-needs community in their primary policy planning. We do not want to go back to the dark ages more than a decade ago when students from special schools were forgotten when the anti-Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) measures by MOE excluded them during that time.

From the COS' announcements that I have listened to carefully this week, I believe that the public sector has not yet cultivated that habit of including this special group in their policy framing. There are great opportunities to ensure workforce inclusion and training, housing and digital equity through a digital literacy curriculum for special schools and so forth.

The Chairman: Kindly wrap up your speech, please.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: I have worked with many public servants to know that many of them are supportive of the cause. But it is not yet a systemic habit.

I, therefore, ask for an automatic checklist during policy formulation by every Government agency to ensure persons with special needs are always considered and included. Let them be elevated from being footnotes or after-thoughts. Finally, a big "thank you" to many of you who believe in this special community.

The Chairman: Finally, a big "thank you". Mr Ang Wei Neng.

Progress of Enabling Masterplan 3

Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Sir, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Enabling Masterplan 3 has been accepted by MSF for over a year. I would like to ask the Minister which recommendations have been implemented and what is the timeline to carry out those that are yet to be implemented.

I would also like to ask the Minister if more Government agencies or private companies are willing to hire people with disabilities. Are there any data to show the progress in this area? Does the Government intend to take the lead in redesigning jobs so that people with disabilities can also make contributions at the public sector? I would also like to thank the Enabling Village for its efforts in this regard. Not all the graduates from special needs schools are able to find a job or work. However, even if they cannot work, it does not mean that they have to be cooped up at home all day. Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister whether there are any plans to strengthen the operations of adult centres for persons with disabilities.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim): Chairman, I thank the Members for their continued support of my Ministry's work. I would like to start with a few words in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Over the past two weeks, Members have highlighted the importance of strengthening the foundations of our social harmony, even as we overcome the challenges ahead. I am glad that the Budget this year seeks to support individuals and families to better prepare them for the future and care for one another.

MSF strongly believes that families are critical institutions to enable a harmonious society. We have always encouraged Singaporeans to make family life a priority. Nonetheless, we recognise that the pressures of life can make it difficult for us to do so. We have many policies aimed at easing these pressures, like parental leave provisions and parent support networks. This is to ensure that we do not inadvertently sacrifice family for other demands.

To better support young families in raising children, preschools play a key role. Research has shown that the early experiences of children provide the foundation for their future learning, behaviour and health. Thus, we will double our investment in the early childhood sector over the next five years. We will introduce 40,000 more preschool places, mainly in estates with young families. We wish to ensure that every parent who wants a preschool place for their child will be able to have one. This will give every child a good start in life.

To establish a strong bilingual foundation for our children early, and to give them exposure to their own customs and culture, we will also expand the provision of quality mother tongue teaching in preschools over the next five years. There will be more MOE Kindergartens, which provide all three MTLs. The number of preschools run by five Anchor Operators (AOPs) providing Malay or Tamil, will double to 350 by 2022.

To support the sector’s growth, we may need over 1,000 more MTL teachers by 2020. The Government has been supporting more locals to become MTL preschool teachers. Since 2016, polytechnic students can pursue specialised MTL tracks. Going forward, ECDA will work closely with the new National Institute of Early Childhood Development and other partners to enhance the training of MTL teachers and encourage more locals to take up MTL teaching in preschools. ECDA and MOE will also continue to work with sector partners to explore what other forms of professional support can be developed for our MTL teachers.

Let us continue to work together and strengthen families. Let us work together to create a conducive environment for Singaporeans to start families and raise children, enjoy family life and build meaningful family ties. Let this be our investment for a better society and a brighter future for all Singaporeans.

2.15 pm

(In English): With your permission, Sir, I would like to display two slides.

The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Over the past week, Members have highlighted the importance of strengthening the foundations of our social harmony despite the challenges ahead. I am glad that the Budget seeks to support individuals and families to better prepare them for the future and care for one another.

MSF strongly believes that families are critical institutions to enable a harmonious society. Today, I shall talk about our roles in strengthening families, as well as in building a caring and inclusive society.

Mr Seah Kian Peng and Ms Tin Pei Ling expressed concerns about changing values and demographics, and if the family can continue to be the first line of support. I would like to assure Members that family ties in Singapore remain strong. In a survey conducted by MSF in 2016, 93% of respondents agreed they had a close-knit family, and 98% agreed it was their responsibility to take care of their parents, regardless of their qualities or faults.

In the IPS Survey cited by Mr Seah Kian Peng, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Ms Rahayu Mahzam, respondents were asked to rank who should shoulder the main responsibility of taking care of our elderly, and 73% of the respondents ranked family first. After family, the Government was ranked second, and the community third. Hence, Singaporeans do see family as the first line of support, but with the Government and community playing a major supporting role.

We will continue to encourage Singaporeans to make family life a priority, such as through the Families for Life Council, which champions family time. We also have many policies, like parental leave provisions and parent support networks, to ensure that we do not sacrifice family for other demands.

We agree with Mr Christopher de Souza that preschools are key in meeting the needs of young families. As noted by Ms Jessica Tan, the early experiences of children are also the foundation for their future learning, behaviour and health. Thus, we will introduce 40,000 more preschool places over the next five years, mainly in estates with young families. We wish to ensure that every parent who wants a preschool place for their child will be able to have one. This will give every child a good start in life.

Mr Png Eng Huat asked if we are providing enough preschool places for residents of new estates. ECDA has been working closely with HDB to build preschools as part of HDB BTO developments so that they can open earlier. To meet the preschool needs of residents, these new centres will have 200 places, twice the size of an average centre today. We will continue to look at projects and watch supply and demand, and work closely with operators to establish childcare centres in areas of high demand. Where there are areas with high demand, we will continue to build.

ECDA has also been working with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to ensure that developers set aside space for preschools in private residential sites released through the Government Land Sales programme.

Mr Desmond Choo asked how we will ensure that preschool and student care remain affordable. Mr Pritam Singh also asked how we review fees for preschool operators. I would like to assure Members that we closely monitor changes in preschool fees, and that preschools are kept affordable through a series of measures, including Government schemes and direct subsidies. Similarly, we will continue to monitor the affordability of student care for the lower-income families.

Preschool operators are private entities. They raise fees periodically to keep up with increases in operating costs, and to recruit and retain teachers. While ECDA does not regulate fees charged by these operators, it requires centres to report fee increases and give parents at least four months’ notice. Centres need to explain the basis for the increase and directly engage parents who face difficulties in meeting the new amount.

In addition, Anchor Operators and Partner Operators are subjected to fee caps. For other preschool operators, fees are adjusted to keep pace with manpower and operating costs, as well as quality enhancements.

Together with MOE Kindergartens, these Government-supported preschools provide affordable, quality services for almost half of all preschoolers, and have stabilised industry median fees. By 2023, two in three preschoolers will have a place in such preschools, where the fees are capped.

The early childhood sector is expanding rapidly. By 2020, we will require 20,000 early childhood professionals, 3,000 more than today. Ms Rahayu Mahzam and Mr Desmond Choo asked how this growth can be supported amidst a tight manpower situation.

To ensure sustainable growth, ECDA has worked with operators, unions and industry associations to develop innovative and forward-looking manpower strategies in the Early Childhood Industry Transformation Map (ITM) which we are releasing today. There are three key strategies under the ITM.

First, we will develop more efficient, innovative services for parents and children. For example, infants and toddlers currently have separate spaces within the same centre. These spaces could be shared, so that children can transit more smoothly from the infant to toddler age group. Operators can also enroll more children, while maintaining standards of quality and safety.

Second, we will introduce solutions to free up teachers’ time for higher-value work, such as lesson planning. Administrative responsibilities will be simplified through centralised services and use of technology.

Third, we will expand the opportunities for more people to join the early childhood sector. Beyond academic qualifications, there are many persons with aptitude and competence to join the sector. One job role we have piloted is Allied Infant Educarers, who receive on-the-job coaching and supervision to care for babies.

To complement the ITM, we will do more to support our early childhood professionals. Our efforts have seen some results. Enrolment in early childhood diploma courses has doubled since 2015. Early childhood professionals have also enjoyed higher salaries and more professional development.

Mr Amrin Amin asked about plans to further develop the profession. The AOPs will take the lead to develop career progression opportunities for their teachers. This is possible because our AOPs have grown in scale and diversity of operations. Over the next five years, they will create some 1,000 senior professional positions, doubling the current number. These leadership roles include managing a larger centre or a cluster of centres or mentoring junior teachers. To support this, the AOPs will provide more structured leadership development. These efforts will raise the quality of our preschools.

Let me share the story of Ms Amanda Lim, who started out as a preschool teacher 13 years ago. Under the guidance of her principal then, she developed her skills and attended professional development courses. She then became a senior teacher and honed her leadership skills by mentoring trainee teachers. Due to her strong performance, Amanda has been promoted to Acting Principal of My First Skool @ Senja. It is now her turn to provide her teachers with opportunities to grow and develop.

I would like to encourage all operators to support the development of our early childhood professionals. There are many resources to tap on, such as the Professional Development Programmes under ECDA. I would also like to encourage operators to recognise the growing contributions of their staff and remunerate them based on their job responsibilities, competencies and performance. This way, they will be able to retain good teachers with passion, and raise career prospects across the whole sector.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked how we can better support quality bilingual education in preschools. Mr Ang Hin Kee also asked how we can attract and retain sufficient MTL teachers. I agree that MTL is important and, when it comes to language, starting early helps. Over the next five years, parents can look forward to more MTL exposure in preschools. There will be more MOE Kindergartens which provide all three MTLs. Today, all AOP preschools already provide Chinese lessons. By 2022, we plan for the number of AOP preschools providing Malay or Tamil to double to 350.

To support the sector's growth, we may need over 1,000 more MTL teachers by 2020. The Government has been supporting more locals to become MTL preschool teachers. Since 2016, polytechnic students can pursue specialised MTL tracks.

These efforts have increased the pool of local MTL preschool teachers to 3,300 in 2017, 35% more than in 2015. Going forward, ECDA will work closely with the new National Institute of Early Childhood Development and other partners to enhance the training of MTL teachers and encourage more locals to teach MTL in preschools.

Teaching resources, such as the Nurturing Early Learners, or NEL Framework for MTL, Educators' Guide and NEL Big Books for MTL have also been shared with the sector. One beneficiary of these resources is Ms Nabilah Binte Abdul Fitrey from PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots Preschool @ Bukit Batok. Ms Nabilah used to teach English but switched to teaching Malay in 2017 when the centre decided to provide Malay lessons. She has found the NEL resources for MTL useful. Through teaching Malay, she hopes for her children to learn about the customs of their culture and establish a strong bilingual foundation.

ECDA and MOE will continue to work together with sector partners to explore what other forms of professional support can be developed for our MTL teachers. To Mr Ang Hin Kee, wo men hui jing li er wei (我们会尽力而为). To Ms Rahayu Mahzam, kami akan melakukan yang terbaik. And in Tamil, நம்மால் முடிந்ததைச் செய்வோம். All these mean we will do our best.

Besides investing in our future generation, we should also care for the generation before us, our seniors. They have a wealth of skills and experiences and continue to contribute to our communities and families. But we acknowledge that it may not be easy to manage the deepening demands of caregiving.

Mr Kok Heng Leun suggested at the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) COS to provide allowances to caregivers. Currently, caregivers may tap on the Caregiver Training Grant which provides $200 for the caregiving training courses each year. They also benefit from tax reliefs and a lower foreign domestic worker (FDW) levy. Hence, our approach is to help to defray costs to families caring for their seniors and loved ones. We will continue to review how we can provide more support for caregivers, including respite care options at Senior Care Centres and Adult Disability Homes.

We also thank Mr Chen Show Mao for his suggestions. We will study all ideas raised by him and other Members as well.

In addition, MSF works to ensure that we are adequately prepared if our loved ones lose mental capacity. Beyond our seniors, we encourage Singaporeans, especially our middle-aged population, to plan ahead by making an LPA. We have made it much more convenient and affordable to do so, by simplifying the application process and waiving the application fee. Since then, the number of LPA applications has tripled from 4,600 in 2014 to 13,900 in 2017.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked if the OPG is able to cope with the workload. Although the surge in applications has led to a longer processing time, we have already streamlined processes and hired more staff. I wish to assure the public that the longer processing time does not affect them adversely, as the LPA application will still remain valid. We will also introduce a new online LPA system by 2021, which should cut down processing time. The increased workload in LPA registration does not affect the supervision and investigation functions of the OPG, as it is done by a separate team of officers.

Ms Sylvia Lim also asked about the reasons for the revocation of LPAs. This could occur due to events, such as the donor’s or donee’s death, or the donee’s loss of mental capacity. To date, about 80% of revocations were due to death of the donor or donee, and a further 15% were revoked upon the donor’s decision.

2.30 pm

I will now speak on persons with disabilities and their families. Ms Denise Phua and Mr Ang Wei Neng asked about the progress of the 3rd Enabling Masterplan (EMP3).

Over the past year, we have enhanced training and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Under the Hospital-to-Work programme, SG Enable and the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) have extended assistance to persons with acquired disabilities by supporting their return to work through reskilling, goalsetting and rehabilitation through therapy. We have also extended the School-to-Work programme to more schools. It provides counselling, soft skills training and work trial opportunities for students in special education (SPED) schools before they are matched with suitable jobs.

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked if employers are becoming more receptive to employing persons with disabilities. SG Enable works closely with employers to help them build an inclusive company culture and redesign jobs. These efforts have borne fruit. The public sector has been leading the way and hired over 70 new employees with disabilities in the past two years. More employees with disabilities have also been hired in the private sector. Over the past two years, 2,700 new employees and over 1,300 new employers have benefited from the Special Employment Credit which supports employers in hiring employees with disabilities.

To defray transport costs, we also enhanced the Taxi Subsidy Scheme to benefit more persons with disabilities, including those attending employment-related training supported by SG Enable. The scheme now supports up to 80% of the cost of travel, up from 50% previously, and has been extended to private hire cars.

Ms Denise Phua asked if MSF could set up a committee to involve the community more in the implementation of EMP3. MSF chairs an interagency committee which collaborates with the people and private sectors to implement the EMP3 recommendations. Community groups are closely involved in various work areas, and we will continue to approach the community for feedback, ideas and partnership in EMP3 initiatives. To facilitate community-driven ground-up initiatives, we have also created several channels to provide for funding support.

As we strengthen support for persons with disabilities, let us not forget their caregivers. The role of a caregiver is critical but challenging, and more support will be provided to caregivers of persons with disabilities. SG Enable today supports caregivers in their care role. This includes the information and referral to disability services provided through the SG Enable Infoline and the concierge at the Enabling Village.

Moving ahead, SG Enable will further work with public sector agencies and community partners to equip caregivers with information and advice to build up their self-care and caregiving skills. It will also partner VWOs to improve caregiver support, especially at critical transition points of the care recipient’s life.

There is much to be gained from the support and solidarity of fellow caregivers. To facilitate this, SG Enable will be setting up a Caregivers' Space at the Enabling Village by the end of the year. It will serve as a place for activities organised by peer support groups, as well as caregiver training and engagement by VWOs and community partners. We want caregivers to come, learn from the experiences of fellow caregivers, and get advice and moral support as they walk their caregiving journey. This will strengthen the network of support for caregivers, which Mr Desmond Choo spoke about.

Mr Desmond Choo also highlighted the importance of respite care in improving caregivers’ well-being. Ample respite care services are provided at seven Adult Disability Homes and three Children Disability Homes supported by means-tested subsidies of up to 75%.

With more caregivers remaining in the workforce, the demand for day care may grow, as Mr Ang Wei Neng noted. We will add another 200 Day Activity Centre places this year for adults with disabilities. We are also building up the centres' capabilities to support persons with moderate-to-severe needs with quality programming and intervention services.

Another issue that preoccupies caregivers is the care of their loved ones with disabilities upon their death. Caregivers will be better supported with care and financial planning for their dependants. The Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) is a non-profit trust company which provides subsidised trust services. It has served more than 500 families since its inception 10 years ago. One family that benefited from its service is the Yaps.

Mr Yap and his son Hon Wee, who has cerebral palsy, live in a rental flat. Mr Yap was diagnosed with cancer last year and worries about Hon Wee’s long-term care needs. As he has no other familial support, Mr Yap approached SNTC to set up a trust for his son. Now, Mr Yap is assured that if his son outlives him, his savings, including CPF monies, will be safeguarded, invested and paid out according to a care plan customised to meet Hon Wee’s needs.

Many more caregivers of loved ones with disabilities can benefit from such peace of mind. SNTC will be stepping up its outreach to caregivers to raise awareness on the care planning and financial education available to them. Over the next five years, SNTC will work with community partners, including the SSOs, to reach out to more than 1,700 caregivers of persons with disabilities.

We will also enhance the application processes to schemes and services that support caregivers. As Mr Murali previously highlighted, persons with cognitive disabilities sometimes face difficulties in being assessed for schemes. Their caregivers will soon be able to apply for the FDW levy concession and grant with greater ease.

MSF has worked with MOH to include MSF’s Client Assessment Form (CAF) as an alternative tool to evaluate the level of support a person requires to pursue activities of daily living, to support applications for the FDW levy concession and grant. From 1 April 2018, persons with disabilities and their caregivers can approach the special education schools or disability care services, such as Day Activity Centres, to have the assessment done onsite or be linked up to the Therapy Hubs for the CAF assessment. We estimate that about 1,000 persons with disabilities and their caregivers could benefit from this.

We will also strengthen the last mile of support, ensuring that caregivers know about our services and can access them conveniently. As my Minister has announced, we are working towards making information and referral to services by SG Enable and SNTC available at our SSOs through video conferencing. We will work with other agencies to explore equipping more frontline officers, including those from SGO, with knowledge about disability-related schemes and services.

Chairman, my Ministry is committed to strengthening families and building a more inclusive society. However, we are only one piece of the puzzle. This endeavour requires the combined efforts from all of us – Government agencies, businesses, community organisations and, indeed, every Singaporean, including all of us here.

Let us continue to work together to make Singapore a great place for families and an inclusive home for all Singaporeans. This will be our investment for a better society and a better future for all of us.

The Chairman: Minister Desmond Lee.

Mr Desmond Lee: Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their valuable thoughts and comments.

Our work at MSF covers a broad range of complex issues, like strengthening families, providing social safety nets, giving children from all backgrounds a good start, enabling people with disabilities and special needs, as well as protecting the vulnerable amongst us.

One area of our work is to tackle the challenge of income inequality. This is part of concerted and coordinated efforts among Government Ministries to ensure social harmony for Singaporeans, as highlighted by the Prime Minister recently.

Over the years, we have put in place support schemes and networks on the ground. This has ensured broad-based social uplifting through employment, sustained income growth, and universal access to education, housing and healthcare. These mutually reinforcing economic and social policies have been at the core of our success in strengthening our social compact and moving the whole of society forward.

Most Members of this House would have had this experience of visiting the modest homes of our seniors. Because of a lack of opportunity in the early years, they had lower educational qualifications, but worked hard for many decades, often in lower paying jobs, such as factory workers, cleaners or hawkers.

On the walls of their flat, however, would usually be a family portrait taking pride of place. Their children would often be seen wearing mortar boards and graduation gowns. They would have done better in life, because of the broader opportunities they had, which their parents had not.

I met one such couple, an elderly Indian couple, who worked in low wage jobs before retiring. One of their sons was sent by his company to head their operations overseas, while the other two are professionals. Social uplifting for this family and others took a single generation.

Recently, I met some families that used to get financial help and bursaries for their children. For various reasons, these middle-aged parents did not do so well when they were growing up, and needed help with arrears, health problems and unemployment. Their parents were low-income, and they, too, remained low-income. But they have since stopped approaching social service agencies for help, because their children have recently graduated from university, polytechnic or ITE, and found good jobs. For these families, it took yet another generation.

So, our broad-based policies continue to keep the engine of social mobility strong. Having said that, as society develops, it tends to settle and stratify and those who remain at the lower end of the income spectrum face the risk of remaining there, for a variety of intractable reasons – health, disability, family problems, incarceration, addiction, unemployment and many other reasons. And because of economic and technological disruption picking up pace, families that have been doing well all along may suddenly find themselves in dire straits, for example, because the main breadwinner has been made redundant or been retrenched. What this means is that we must focus even harder on targeted interventions, over and beyond our broad-based social policies.

Members asked about MSF’s specific role in tackling this issue. We have made deliberate moves to strengthen social mobility by providing early, upstream support and more targeted assistance to lower-income Singaporeans.

Education has been key in the Government’s efforts to improve social mobility. MSF's touchpoint starts much earlier, before the formal schooling years. As shared by my colleague Senior Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim, we will continue to expand the provision of affordable, accessible and quality preschool places, so that every child can have a good start in life.

For children from low-income families, we embarked on the KidSTART pilot in 2016 to proactively identify them early and support them intensively, through early access to health, learning and developmental support. Early feedback on KidSTART's impact on child outcomes has been promising.

We have also steadily strengthened our social support system. Since 2013, we have progressively set up SSOs to bring more accessible and coordinated social assistance to Singaporeans. In the past few years, we have enhanced the coverage of ComCare assistance by expanding the income criteria and increased the cash amount of Long-Term Assistance. And as I shared in my opening speech, we are continuously seeking to improve our schemes and social service delivery, so that we can maximise the impact of social services and community resources.

Our other recent initiatives are in the same spirit, involving stronger collaboration with other agencies and VWOs and listening even more actively and intently to the community. For example, we will set up an interagency committee, comprising Government agencies and VWOs, to see how we can all work much closer together to tackle offending, re-offending, and to support offenders to rehabilitate and reintegrate into the community.

We have also set up a Youth Advisory Group, comprising 12 young people, some of whom have been through very, very difficult times, to help us review and test our policy ideas and better implement policies and programmes, so as to reach out to vulnerable youths at-risk.

To support vulnerable seniors with multiple or complex needs and facilitate planning, SSOs will continue to work closely with AIC and other community agencies to strengthen CNS.

Some VWOs I spoke to highlighted the importance of upstream preventive work that could enable us to identify and intervene at the start, where families or individuals show signs of need. We will work closely with them to do so.

2.45 pm

Mr Seah Kian Peng rightly pointed out that our shared values lie at the heart of our social compact. Our policies to improve social mobility are motivated by our conviction to build a Singapore where all of us can lead lives with dignity and meaning and participate and contribute in our own ways. This is not only about enabling personal responsibility, but about society collectively stepping in to play a part.

At the National Day Rally in 2013, the Prime Minister articulated the new way forward, where the community and Government do more to support individuals, especially vulnerable groups, like the low-income, elderly and persons with disabilities.

We will continue to support individuals to be self-reliant. This is where we do not just provide a safety net, but a trampoline to help people to bounce back up, where possible. This requires a whole network of support to break the cycles that have led to the situation. It is not just about referring and providing someone in need with the right assistance but, more importantly, about showing empathy to fellow Singaporeans and banding around to lend support.

Collective responsibility and personal responsibility are not trade-offs. The community and the Government doing more does not mean that individuals are disempowered to play their part. If we each put in our bit and work together, we reinforce one another and multiply our ability to tackle challenges manifold. So, we must continue to make space for the community to contribute, alongside the Government, to help those who need help to regain their footing. And as we do so, we must be careful not to erode the dignity and resolve of individuals in wanting to improve their own and their family's lives. Chairman, I would now like to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Parliamentary colleagues, one of the top priorities of our Ministry is to look into building a caring and inclusive society.

Over the last few years, we have invested a lot of resources and explored new ways to ensure that our social support system is better able to satisfy the needs of our people. Since 2013, we have set up a total of 24 SSOs island-wide so that Singaporeans in need can have easier access to assistance.

Looking forward, our Ministry will focus on studying ways to uphold our people-centric principle to further enhance the coordination and collaboration of organisations providing assistance in order to offer more comprehensive assistance to those in need. We strive to provide simple and convenient one-stop assistance to all those who seek help so that they can receive timely assistance to regain their footing.

For applicants who apply for assistance at social service agencies, they will have easier access to basic information on various assistance schemes and will be referred for the necessary services. Social service agencies will also further simplify the application procedures for various assistance schemes. This includes sharing the information of those who seek help so that they do not have to repeat their stories over and over again to the various agencies or to fill in the same information repeatedly. I believe that with better coordination and collaboration among agencies, Singaporeans facing difficulties will then be able to better get the help they need.

One example is 50-year-old Madam Cheok. She is a single mother who lives with her two sons and aged divorced parents. She is unable to work as she needs to go for regular treatment due to illness and, unfortunately, both her children also have medical conditions. Furthermore, her aged mother likes to hoard things in the house. So, besides financial assistance, she also needs help to clean the house and improve her living condition. The SSO @ Woodlands thus worked together with HDB, Fei Yue Family Service Centre, medical social workers, the school and the PA's grassroots organisations to come up with solutions for her entire family. They helped Mdm Cheok to apply for financial assistance, and are providing long-term counselling for the family. They also helped to clean up her house. Her 16-year-old younger son has started classes at ITE, and her 26-year-old elder son has started an ad hoc job.

This proves that as long as there is good coordination and good collaboration, we would be able to help Singaporeans in need more comprehensively, so that every one of us can be self-reliant and enjoy a better life.

(In English): Mr Chairman, this whole-of-society approach runs through MSF's continued efforts to improve outcomes for vulnerable and at-risk groups. This includes our work on children and young persons, and even individuals who sleep rough in the open.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked for an update on whether we will be raising the age in CYPA to 18 years old. Our review of the youth justice system is ongoing, with CYPA being one component. Our approach towards youth offenders is premised on gradated intervention. Where possible, we do not want youths to enter the criminal justice system.

Since 2016, we have stationed social workers at Police divisions to assess the risks and needs of youth offenders up to 19 years of age. Where suitable, youths are referred to attend diversionary programmes to address the risk of re-offending.

Nonetheless, some youths may require firmer intervention when the offence is more serious, or when family support is unavailable. These youths would tend to be heard by the Community Court, which adopts a more restorative and rehabilitative approach, compared to the adult Courts. Our aim remains the same – to ensure youth offenders in Singapore receive appropriate help to reintegrate into society.

Mr Murali Pillai suggested for the CYPA to protect children beyond serious physical harm, including children with persistent school absenteeism issues. Irregular or non-school attendance can be a manifestation of complex underlying family issues, such as marital, financial or health challenges. Statutory intervention and legal enforcement cannot be the only or "go-to" approach. The use of legislative levers is insufficient on its own. So, our approach must continue to be to work with community partners to provide a range of help options to holistically and sustainably address the family’s needs.

As to Mr Murali Pillai's specific case that he is dealing with, we will support the work of partners on the ground to solve the case. We will try to help this family.

Another issue that will benefit from Government-community partnership is rough sleeping or homelessness. Dr Lily Neo asked if we could reduce the number of Singaporeans sleeping rough in the open, and about the available shelter options for them.

MSF assists around 300 reported cases of homelessness each year, and this figure has remained thereabouts for the past five years. This is a segment of the cases we encounter, where persons sleep in public places, instead of returning to their homes due to – as the Member says – family conflicts, disputes with co-tenants, cluttered homes, and many other reasons. Sleeping in the rough puts their welfare, health and safety at risk, and also impacts the immediate neighbourhood. MSF officers regularly engage persons sleeping rough in Chinatown and other locations to provide assistance that may be needed to address the challenges they face.

We need a more coordinated, whole-of-society approach to address the underlying issues and needs of these individuals. MSF works closely with other frontline agencies and the community to reach out and coordinate the help that they need. This may include admission to a shelter, financial assistance or counselling for social or family issues, or for us to work to with MOM to give their employers a call, if they are foreigners, for instance, are sleeping rough to be close to their workplaces.

MSF has also established referral protocols and platforms among SSOs, FSCs and HDB to assist persons facing complex social and housing issues. We can do more and will continue to strengthen interagency coordination and information sharing to enable clients to secure stable housing.

Individuals who are unable to work and have no financial means and family support may be admitted to Welfare Homes. For those who are work-capable, the Welfare Homes will work towards reintegrating them into the community. Individuals who have exhausted all housing options may be supported by Transitional Shelters which provide temporary accommodation. During their stay, the individuals can continue to work or receive assistance to seek employment and access social services and other assistance to address their needs.

We are blessed that there are community groups which are reaching out actively to befriend these individuals and encourage them to seek assistance. We have been engaging these groups to see how we can work even more closely together and welcome more to partner us on this journey forward. Members of the community can also play their part by looking out for those in need and rendering assistance or referring them to us in MSF.

Mr Chairman, I now move on to speak about the social service sector.

The sector and those who work in it are vital and indispensable partners in our mission to tackle income inequality, uplift families and individuals, protect the vulnerable, and ensure that no one is left behind. As I hear more about the work that social service professionals do each and every day, I am humbled and inspired by the deep care and concern they show towards fellow Singaporeans.

But the social service sector is not immune to the challenges that affect other sectors – an ageing workforce, slowing workforce growth and the need to upgrade skills and innovate work processes. In addition, our future social needs are growing in complexity and intensity and will inevitably demand more from the sector and our professionals. It is, therefore, timely to reflect on how the sector can be better prepared for future demands and challenges to sustain and also to multiply their impact.

In 2016, NCSS and our social service partners laid out a vision and roadmap for the sector through the Social Service Sector Strategic Thrusts (4ST). This is a strategy developed for the social service sector by members of the Social Service Sector. They have highlighted three key areas.

The first is empowered individuals, families and communities. The social service sector believes in treating everyone, especially the vulnerable, with dignity and care. The way help is given to individuals and families should empower them, enable them to take personal responsibility for their lives and build resilience.

The second is effective VWOs that deliver quality, innovative and sustainable solutions. VWOs deliver more effective and impactful services when they are well-run, healthy and innovative. Good organisations can create more impact with the same amount of resources.

The third is a caring, collaborative and impactful social service ecosystem. The social sector does not exist in isolation, but seeks to work with the wider community, bringing everyone together to contribute our skills, time and resources to care for the vulnerable. The impact is not only on those being helped, but also in transforming the nature and character of society.

So, I am very glad that VWO sector partners and NCSS have come up with this shared vision. Many VWOs have already rallied behind that vision and exemplify it in their work. I hope this remains a good guidepost to shape the work of the sector towards stronger collective impact.

Sir, for our VWOs to be effective, we need to continue to get good people to join and stay in the sector. Our social workers, therapists, psychologists and teachers all work to improve and shape the lives of their beneficiaries, with many of them going the extra mile.

One such dedicated professional is Ms Teo Yafen, a speech and language therapist at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance of Singapore. She helps adults with disabilities overcome speech impediments, so that they can better integrate and contribute to society. She has been actively advocating the importance of speech therapy for her clients, as she believes it improves their health, safety and ability to communicate.

For example, speech therapy services ensure that any early signs of swallowing difficulties in persons with cerebral palsy are recognised and managed, preventing complications, such as chest infections. Ultimately, Yafen believes in a Singapore where persons with disabilities are fully integrated and can contribute to the community.

Many of those who work in the social service sector do not do it for the remuneration. They see it as a calling. Nonetheless, they deserve to receive a fair and competitive wage and have their contributions duly recognised.

Every three years, MSF reviews the salary norms for Government-funded programmes. After this year's review, the salary norms will increase by up to 12% across the various funded social service professions and job levels. For example, a senior teacher trained in early special needs education may expect an increase of about 8% after the revision.

Accordingly, MSF’s recurrent funding to our VWO-run programmes will increase by about $11 million, or 5%, in financial year (FY) 2018. The updated norms form the basis for NCCS’ Salary Guidelines for the social service sector. And I urge VWOs to use these guidelines to guide their wage adjustments. In line with the SkillsFuture movement, we will create more developmental pathways and build up the skills of those who work in the social service sector.

3.00 pm

Earlier, Minister Ong Ye Kung had shared that SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Nanyang Polytechnic will be introducing a new Work-Learn Programme (WLP) in the second half of this year. Under this programme, diploma graduates with less than two years of work experience will undertake studies in Social Work while working as social work associates. Students will take courses from Nanyang Polytechnic’s post-Diploma programme during the first year, followed by a two-year part-time Bachelor's in Social Work programme at SUSS to become qualified social workers.

SSG will also provide course fee subsidies and incentives to participants and grants to help participating employers defray the costs of running the programme in their organisations. WLP is part of a wider effort to open up pathways for individuals to fulfil their professional aspirations and also to support employers in training their employees.

Social service professionals need to be equipped with the requisite skillsets to be effective and to be prepared for future demands. We will be launching the Skills Framework for Social Service later this year. This framework is developed jointly with SSG, our VWOs and social service professionals to help professionals better plan their careers and proactively develop their skills to meet the demands of the sector. It will have information on career prospects, skills required for key professions, as well as the learning platforms to develop these skills. These and other initiatives support VWOs in attracting and grooming good people. I hope that employees and employers will make full use of them, so that we can become stronger as a sector and fulfil our mission in social service.

Even as we work to build up the social service sector and skillsets of our social service professionals, I am very much aware that the work you do demands a lot of you and from you. I would like to thank everyone in the sector for your commitment, your hard work and your sacrifice.

Sir, the social service sector would not be where it is today without the strong support of the community over the years. I draw back again to the fundamentals driving the SG Cares movement. SG Cares is about helping the vulnerable and less fortunate in our society. It is equally about a transformation in our national spirit. When we work to change the lives of others, we also change our own lives for the better. We become not just individuals concerned with our own interests but part of a larger community of giving, and these activities become a vital and intrinsic part of our identity and social fabric. We become better people and, collectively, a better society. The Government, therefore, should play a role to coordinate, facilitate and make the best use of the community’s efforts and energies.

Earlier, Ms Tin Pei Ling asked about volunteerism. We are working to redesign volunteer roles to best match the needs of the organisation and the busy schedules of volunteers. For example, NCSS partners VWOs to identify their needs before matching them with corporates located ideally in close proximity and encourage them to volunteer regularly to meet these needs. We are building up the capacity and capability of our VWOs to ensure that volunteers are meaningfully deployed and engaged while volunteering. We are helping our VWOs to develop volunteer management frameworks to enable them to recruit, engage and retain volunteers more effectively to foster sustained volunteering. We are also training and developing the competencies of volunteer managers.

Sir, we will continue to support sustainable giving by corporates and individuals. In last year’s debate, we spoke about SHARE As One, which is a grant scheme introduced in 2016 to encourage individual and workplace giving and create more volunteering opportunities.

Under SHARE As One, the Government provides dollar-for-dollar matching for new and incremental donations to the SHARE programme above 2015’s level. Under SHARE, employees donate regularly to the Community Chest through payroll deductions, General Inter-bank Recurring Order (GIRO) or by credit card.

Businesses can use a portion of the Government's matching grant to organise CSR and volunteerism activities, and the rest will be channelled to a fund managed by ComChest to build the volunteer management capabilities of VWOs.

ComChest plays an important role in supporting about 80 VWOs in fundraising so that they can better focus on caring for the disadvantaged. Programmes supported by SHARE include FSCs and day activity centres for adults with disabilities.

SHARE as One has successfully brought in about a million dollars more in new and incremental donations in 2016. As announced by the Minister for Finance, the matching grant for SHARE as One will be extended from 2018 till 2021.

ComChest is working to implement an opt-out contribution system for SHARE in the public sector. Public sector agencies have responded well. We are also looking to extend this to the private sector, and I hope businesses will enroll for this initiative.

SHARE as One, as well as ComChest's other efforts, will make giving more sustainable and stable. The sum total of regular and long-term giving by many individuals goes a long way towards helping VWOs and the beneficiaries that they serve.

Mr Chairman, I have chosen to round off my replies by talking about our social service sector because the dedication of those who work in this sector and the sacrifices that they make deserve our respect and support.

I am heartened by the generous contributions of donors and the tremendous efforts of volunteers. Because this giving is precious, and because so much heart goes into it, we must make sure that it does not go to waste. We can and will make our efforts count and maximise our impact on the lives of Singaporeans.

Many of the initiatives I have spoken about today contribute to this drive to build up and better channel resources and services from the Government, community and corporations to those who need it most. In providing these services and resources, we want to uplift these vulnerable individuals and families and give them the opportunity to take charge, improve their lives and fulfil their aspirations.

We wish to build, in the words of our founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, I quote: a "fair, not welfare, society", where everyone has an equal shot at success.

This is the kind of inclusive and caring Singaporean society we aspire to be.

The Chairman: Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Ms Tin Pei Ling: Mr Chairman, I would like to thank the Ministers for their answers, and I also like to thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for addressing the topic of family support.

Clearly, I strongly support the idea of having family as the first line of defence. Still, I would like to ask how MSF balances the need to emphasise family as the first line of defence and the need to help our elderly or the vulnerable in a timely manner. Some elderly residents have shared that their children simply refused to help and yet they have immediate needs to be addressed. How will MSF achieve the balance and help assure those in need that they will not be left in the cold?

Second question, in addition to the Families for Life Council, what other organisations seek to promote family life and development? Are there organisations that cater to the needs of families from various ethnic groups?

Lastly, besides the skills framework and salary guidelines for the social service sector, what other measures are in place to attract and retain good people?

The Chairman: Minister Desmond Lee.

Mr Desmond Lee: I thank Ms Tin for the range of questions.

On the elderly, Members would have heard the Minister of Health describe how, under the SG Cares movement, CNS, allows us to tap on the strength of a network of volunteers who live in the community to look out for our seniors and to be able to alert us on occasions of need. Then, behind the scenes, MOH, MSF and the other agencies will coordinate and try to resolve issues that the seniors face.

The key is to take a practical and not a dogmatic approach to help him. When an elderly person who might technically have family support runs into difficulties, we need to first address immediately needs like health, financial difficulty that needs to be addressed immediately and their welfare. Beyond that, our FSCs, counsellors, social workers from the FSCs, including those from specialist agencies, if need be, will come in and work alongside us to see how we can bring reconciliation within the family and encourage the family to step up and to play their part.

We recognise that in this day and age, younger people come under a lot of stress with their own work, jobs and families and, therefore, it is a case of them playing their part, but both Government and the community doing more as well.

On the Member's question about the skills framework and how to attract more people into the social service sector, I have said earlier that remuneration is not something that social service professionals come into the sector to look for. But we certainly need to make sure that it does not fall too far behind median wages in comparable professions elsewhere. So, we treat our social work professionals and colleagues with dignity and respect.

NCSS works very hard on branding, awareness and outreach to help young people who are thinking of a career to decide whether the social service sector is one area they would like to move into, with not just broad information about the sector but also making available to them information about, say, the disability sector and its challenges and opportunities, young children, the elderly, and so and so forth.

So, NCSS, our VWOs and MSF continue to make efforts to reach out through career fairs, branding campaigns, outreach and open houses to continue to bring people into the sector. Ultimately, it is about people with a heart who want to give back that we want to attract.

The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, this has to do with the Families for Life Council. Beyond the Families for Life Council, we also have many community agencies that actually play an important role in promoting families. They include the Centre for Fathering, Fei Yue Community Services, Morning Star Community Services. For example, some of them have their own programmes that we and the laymen would know. For example, the Centre for Fathering is very well-known for Dads for Life, which, I think, Mr Speaker, is also very actively involved.

Beyond that, we also look at some organisations that look at the ethnic groups and specific groups, for example, the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), the Council for the Development of the Singapore Malay/Muslim Community (MENDAKI) and the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). We are also very happy that, lately, we are seeing more organisations working together. This is something that they believe in, that family development is very important. It is not only about helping vulnerable families but also how, as a whole, we can develop and give opportunities for Singaporeans to have good families.

I want to share a personal experience, if you allow me, Mr Chairman. We are all busy and very fortunate to be in MSF where we try to promote family life. I make it a point to spend time with my wife and children since I got married and we are very close together. We help one another, we face challenges together, and it is seldom that I have been home alone. A week ago, I was home alone for about a week plus. I share quite a number of the activities at home, like washing and cooking. I am quite familiar. I do that and I share part of the responsibilities of my wife. But one thing I realised when I was home alone was that I missed my family. I began to feel the "miss" and love for my wife and my children, and I realised that what I did to make my family time was worth it because it came out.

So, when my wife and son came back on Monday, then I started to feel a sense of happiness, a sense of fulfilment that what I have done actually brought that happiness and sweetness in my heart and mind. Then I am more determined to spend time, to make time and to say "I still do" to my wife.

So, I want to urge Singaporeans to actually make time, spend time with your spouse and be part of the life of your children because it is all worth it and it is something that we all should strive for. As far as when you are married, you look for happiness together and you want to see how you can journey through your family journey together with your children and your spouse, as part of a bigger family together. So, make time and spend time. [Applause.]

3.15 pm

The Chairman: Mr Ang Hin Kee.

Mr Ang Hin Kee: A question for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. Earlier, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that the Early Childhood ITM will be released today. For MTL preschool teachers, I would like to enquire whether in this ITM there will be clear career and skills upgrading pathways for MTL teachers. They, too, look forward to career progression and good pay rises.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank Mr Ang for the question. Yes, indeed, we have plans and also training programmes for the MTL teachers. There are scholarships as well as training awards to be given. WSG will also look at it to see how we can facilitate the process. Some of the programmes that are being rolled out, such as Work Trial and the Enhanced Work Trial, will also be relevant to our MTL teachers.

The Chairman: Mr Seah Kian Peng.

Mr Seah Kian Peng: I thank and welcome the Minister's announcement on the various measures to enhance social service delivery on the ground. As we all know, the key is about effective case management and coordination. In the roadmap, the SSO is in the centre of it all. I would like to ask the Minister what the role of SSOs vis-à-vis all the other players will be in that space.

The second point I would like to raise is that I also welcome that the Minister announced that for the lower-income families, in particular, this early upstream approach is key. It enables them and gives them a way out. I would like to ask the Minister whether there is a way where we could adopt a more proactive approach, almost to the extent of handholding this group of children from the preschool days all the way as they journey on throughout their education journey. Is there a way we could almost handhold them to make sure that nothing gets dropped? How can that be enhanced?

Mr Desmond Lee: I thank the Member for sharing in our vision of greater social service coordination delivery. The policies and the programmes are there. Of course, more policies and programmes can and will be rolled out over the course of many years. But implementation is key and coordination on the ground is critical. All social service delivery is local. It is localised. It is targeted at families and individuals and communities. So, the role of the SSOs in this enhanced social service delivery framework is as follows.

One, to bring networks of communities together at the local level. I said earlier in my speech that our SSOs will facilitate networking amongst VWOs, FSCs, schools, organisations and grassroots. Any organisation on the ground that participates either generally or sectorally in supporting the vulnerable and the low income, we want to network with them so that we can work better together.

Second, through our SSOs, we will continue to oversee the identification of proper case leads for complex cases. Individuals may face issues with housing that may pertain to both HDB and CPF. They may need financial assistance but they would also like to be employed, have the skills needed to get a job so that they can stand on their own two feet. They may have family members who suffer from health or disability and, as a result, they need caregiving support, disability support or even respite care.

Identifying the whole range of needs around the individuals and not looking at it purely from an agency's point of view will allow us to look at the individual and the family holistically, and see what steps need to be taken together or chronologically in sequence to try to enable them, where possible. So, that will be what we need for SSOs and our partner agencies to do.

Through networking, we may also be able to unlock community resources that hitherto have not been part of the formal scheme of things. I think that would just allow more people to come in to provide support and to do so holistically in relation to an individual or a family in a way that enables them and not erodes whatever will they have to want to also play their part. And in a way that does not erode the principle of family as the first line of defence. So, support the individual, support the family but, if all else fails, make sure your social safety net is as effective as it can be.

As I said earlier, programmes and policies are there. Make good use of them. Apply them sensibly. Coordinate cross-agencies on the ground. Scaffold around individual and family. That is first.

On the Member's second point about whether we can identify people from a young age and make sure that they are supported as far as possible, through as much of life as possible, that really is what Mr Speaker initiated when he started KidSTART because he dreamt about the possibility of making sure that these children can aspire and dream and be able to meet those dreams. That is why KidSTART has put in a tremendous amount of resources.

MSF and ECDA, partnering some hospitals, in this case KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), and a pilot to identify, but not stigmatise, to be able to approach and not force, to be able to encourage and not cajole these families to come on board to show that the children will have a better start in life if they, number one, enroll their children in early childhood, ensure that the childcare centres or kindergartens are adequately resourced to support them, to work with the families, including the parents, to give them the skills they need to contribute more effectively as parents, especially when one or both of them are working, or is a single parent family and be able to rope in and pull in the schemes from across the landscape of the Government and the community try to help these families and enable them.

How far this goes through the child's journey and through teenage and adulthood, we will see as this pilot develops. But early indications show that it is welcomed by the families, both the information and the support and awareness, and welcomed by the childcare centres who get the support they need to enable these children to bloom.

The Chairman: Ms Denise Phua.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: I have two clarifications. One, still continuing on the SSO issue, I have worked with very good SSOs before, but now that the landscape is going to be more SSO-centric, how do we ensure that they have the muscle and the influence and even properly resourced to be able to coordinate all the various many helping hands together? Because some of the players might be more compliant VWOs but some are really people who just want to do their own stuff. How do you ensure that? Things actually can change. Because in some of our constituencies, some of us MPs are trying to play that role. And sometimes we were successful and sometimes we were not. So, that is my question. How do we ensure they have the muscle and the support and the resource to do so?

My second clarification is to do with the Enabling Masterplan. Based on the Senior Parliamentary Secretary's update, things are really all in order but the latest Enabling Masterplan has four key thrusts, nine strategic directions and 20 recommendations. A lot of us contributed to it, including members of the public, more than 400, 500 in numbers. So, I am wondering if there is a more structured and systematic way by which this plan can be updated. There are targets set. Some may be basic targets, some can be stretched targets. And, of course, we know plans are plans, these are five-year plans, things might change. How can there be a better, more systematic and structured way to update the ground?

The next clarification is, I brought up three key gaps and I chose the gaps and the examples because I think they are quite genuine and real. One is the respite programme that is about to be terminated because it is a pilot. The second one is what the deaf community has asked for − a preschool model that is something like the one at Mayflower that MOE has started. And the third one is on sheltered enterprises, not just social enterprises, which are really quite important for those who are more severely disabled but can do some light duty work instead of sending them to day activity centres. So, I would like to ask for the Minister and Senior Parliamentary Secretary's update on this.

Mr Desmond Lee: I thank the Member for her questions. I think the road ahead is not going to be easy − putting in policies, getting agencies to make sure that they provide good service, that they assist people within the schema of that portfolio. I think that is already one task that in Singapore our agencies do well, reasonably well. There is always room to improve but reasonably well, comparatively. Wanting to coordinate across agencies, making each frontline counter provide information beyond what they already do will be something that we need to push on for many years to come and continuously refresh as officers come and go and join or retire. So, this will be a continuous work-in-progress and will take time.

But I firmly believe that many people in the social service sector and also many people in this House whom I have spoken to, believe that if you really want to make that difference, especially for those who are stuck in very difficult situations because of a complex series of problems that beget them, we really need to centre around the individual, not erode their aspiration to also want to play a part in solving their problems long term, but make sure that we scaffold them in the system. It will not be easy. There will be hits and misses. We will succeed but we will also fail, case-by-case. We will need to always recognise that when we make mistakes, we do not coordinate so well, do an after-action review and see how we can make it better and make the next case better managed.

The Member talked about the landscape in future being more SSO-centric. I am wary to want to continue that mindset that the future is an SSO-centric one. Because we started off with many helping hands and we want to have many helping hands working hand-in-hand and we have SSOs that work on the ground together with community partners and sense-making the issues on the ground. Now, we are trying to have the SSOs play a little bit more of a coordinating role, providing information about needs on the ground and supporting individuals by marshalling themselves or through a lead agency identified for a particular case to assist.

In the social service sector and in the realm of volunteerism, none of us, no volunteer, no VWO would feel very encouraged if they were to be told to operate like automatons. Everyone gives because they have the desire to want to contribute. They give of their own free will. That is why they are called volunteers.

And so even as we try to provide more holistic support to individuals through case coordination, the key is to retain and to, in fact, strengthen the autonomy and desire of those, including VWOs, who wish to do good. But enable them with information, with data. Enable them by partnering one another and with us, the SSOs, to better provide support. We want to strike a balance and make sure that we strengthen the social service sector and volunteering sector but, at the same time, secure better outcomes for those in need.

In terms of ensuring that our SSOs get the muscle, the resource and the influence to be able to achieve greater outcomes, this is something that we need to work with internally but also work through the network that I talked about on the ground. So, this is a work-in-progress. But it involves building a network comprising many existing networks. It is not a high-tech solution necessarily. If I know you and I am from one FSC and you are from another FSC, and we can find a way to work together to better help this family, it is that personal touch and the willingness to communicate that can sometimes make that difference to the family.

On the Member's point about the Enabling Masterplan, I share the Member's anxiety that having participated very actively in producing a very important roadmap to strengthen and enable Singaporeans with disability that the Member and others who are heavily involved in the process would like to know where we are. There is no time or space during clarification to provide a full update, but I assure the Member and others that we would provide a proper update and we would involve the sector in the implementation and will continue to hear from you, listen to you and work alongside you.

3.30 pm

On the three points the Member raised on the respite programme pilot terminating, whether, apart from the Mayflower programme, we will be able to work with people with hearing impairment to do pilots in preschool as well as sheltered enterprises in the community, these are all details that we will work very closely with the Member on and with the disability sector on.

The Chairman: Ms Jessica Tan.

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: This clarification is for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. Given the digital trends, I had asked what the plans are in terms of the early childhood sector in helping young families and children prepare for the digital world. Can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary share that?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank the Member for the question. We agree with the Member that young children need to be prepared for the digital world. In fact, we realise and we also share that technology can play a very important role in the learning experience. As such, IMDA has rolled out a PlayMaker programme. It is part of the process to introduce technology-enabled toys as a learning process for the kids. A few of the schools, for example, Skool4Kidz have also looked at it and have implemented it. They found it a worthwhile opportunity for the kids to interact and be open and forthcoming in the process of learning, using a digital perspective.

What we will do is that we will continue this process because we also believe and share the Member's view that it is something that we should prepare our kids for and immerse them, and make it natural because that is the space where they are going to grow up in and that is where they can play a bigger part in the future.

The Chairman: Ms Rahayu Mahzam.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Earlier, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary addressed the query I had regarding the solutions for the tight manpower situation for the preschool sector. The Senior Parliamentary Secretary had indicated that there were innovative strategies to deal with this. Can I check how many preschools are using the technological solutions in the schools and how have these been improving their productivity?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I am happy that there is quite a good interest in how we can use technology and smart solutions in the operation of our preschools. Today, about 800 preschools have already indicated their interest to adopt smart solutions. We realise that, by doing this, it will bring lots of benefits. In fact, about half of these centres have implemented some of these solutions and they can expect a savings of 40-100 man-hours a month. In some centres, if you look at it, they have enjoyed a savings of as much as 270 man-hours a month. That is quite a good number.

When we also look at the centralised meal catering services, more than 50 schools have taken up this arrangement. And we found that it has reduced costs by as much as 10%. So, it shows that the preschools and operators can benefit a lot by using smart solutions and we want to encourage more take-up rates.

The Chairman: Dr Lily Neo.

Dr Lily Neo: I would like to seek a clarification from the Minister. Now that MSF is playing a much larger role in funding services and programmes, how does MSF also ensure that it does not erode the role of the community in giving them the space to continue to provide resources for the less fortunate?

Mr Desmond Lee: I think the Member hit the nail on the head. Even as the Government does more, the community also should step up more. That is what we see, both existing organisations and new ones coming forward to meet the needs of vulnerable Singaporeans.

We also see a lot of informal giving and informal volunteering within the community. None of what we intend to do should nudge that out because that really strengthens us collectively as a society.

The Member is right that MSF funds a lot of services in the social service sector, especially key ones that we think are important to have alongside what we do in the Government, such as FSCs. Even then, there is always that element for the VWO which takes up that MSF-funded service to contribute to their own fundraising or develop their own complementary programmes that can operate out of those centres.

There is also a wide range of services and programmes run by VWOs in the rest of the social service centres. For example, in NCSS, there are more than 460 social service VWOs and they serve a whole range of needs in society. We want to continue to encourage that. ComChest, for instance, supports more than 80 smaller VWOs and fundraise for them. There are matching schemes that help supplement what the VWOs raise to run their own schemes.

The VWO sector came in in the early years when they saw needs and gaps. And increasingly, as the Government does more in some of these areas, we build that partnership with them and work with them to tackle some of the challenges that they have been working on for many years.

The Chairman: Would the mover wish to withdraw the amendment?

Mr Seah Kian Peng: Sir, on behalf of all Members who spoke, I wish to thank Minister Desmond Lee, Minister Gan Kim Yong, Minister Grace Fu and also Senior Parliamentary Secretary Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim for their responses to the various issues we have raised. Our appreciation also goes to all the other important stakeholders in this sector, from the hardworking and caring staff at the Ministry, to the social workers at VWOs, SSOs, FSCs and many others. Your work and your empathy assure the heartbeat of our country remains warm, caring and inclusive for everyone. With that, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $2,972,104,000 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $116,334,300 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

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

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

Mr Speaker: Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.00 pm. Order. Order.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.40 pm until 4.00 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.00 pm

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

Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

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