Committee of Supply – Head U (Prime Minister's Office)

Smart Nation, Safe Transactions

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Chairman, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head U of the Estimates be reduced by $100."

Sir, since the launch of the Smart Nation initiative by the Prime Minister eight years ago, in the formation of the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group five years ago, we were fortunate to have benefited from the coordinated build-up of digital infrastructure, capabilities, talent pool as smart tools through the Smart Nation initiative. This preparedness allowed our Government agencies to respond swiftly and act decisively during the COVID-19 crisis.

But beyond responses to COVID-19, what is the current progress of our Smart Nation efforts and how have we fared so far? As we emerge from the pandemic, as we gain invaluable real experiences and as some advanced economies move into the space of Web 3.0, will there be a change to how we envision Singapore as a Smart Nation?

With our limited space and resources and as the world competes for top talents, will the Government roll out e-residency to allow highly talented digital nomads and businesses to transact and value-add to our economy without having to reside here and compete for our physical space? They can become Singapore's digital economic residents but without the need for citizenship entitlements. This can bolster Singapore's status as a global hub and, in turn, value-add to our community. Singapore may be physically limited but virtually unlimited.

Of course, digitalisation is not without risks. Cybersecurity is of concern.

Recent high-profile online scams underlie this concern. While these incidents were not caused by the Government's system vulnerabilities, the public's confidence in digital transactions with the Government may still, inadvertently, be affected. Moreover, such transactions with the Government often involve highly sensitive personal data.

Adding on, Singapore is now one of the two Asian countries that have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and imposed sanctions.

This is a move that we must support but we could now also be an active cyber target. Hence, what is the Government doing to ensure that our critical infrastructures are robust and Government services are safe and secure for citizens and businesses to transact with?

Lastly, Smart Nation is meant to be a whole-of-nation movement. Therefore, it will require buy-in and active participation from all levels and segments of our society. Apart from ensuring that we solve real-life pain points using effective digital solutions that work, the processes, the interfaces, the entire user experience must also be thoughtful, clear and easy to use so that even the less digitally savvy among us will also be encouraged to transact and participate digitally. Therefore, what is the whole of Government doing to ensure seamless, user-friendly and age-friendly e-services for our people and businesses?

Question proposed.

Driving Real Tangible Change

Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Chairman, Smart Nation requires transformation towards a digital Government, digital economy, digital society and living in a smart city. A Smart Nation must be more than technology for its own sake.

Given that it is in its fifth year, how has Smart Nation changed people's lives in Singapore in a real and tangible way and what more can we expect from Smart Nation? How can we use Smart Nation initiatives to showcase Singapore's capability to the world?

Government Tele-services

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, in spite of the greater use of smartphones and the evolution towards digitalisation, many, especially seniors, still prefer speaking to a physical individual at the end of a phone line as compared to a bot or an AI-inspired solution. A 2020 study supported by the National Medical Research Council showed that 78% of elderly respondents were uncomfortable with AI interpreting their medical data and providing automated advice.

This has to be seen within a wider backdrop of still relatively low Internet usership amongst the elderly. A 2019 IMDA survey showed that only 58% of seniors above 60 are Internet users as compared to 89% of the general population.

The Seniors Go Digital initiative that was launched in 2020 helps to provide seniors with basic Internet skills to access Government e-services. The recent spate of banking scams may have also had a psychological impact among some of our elderly with respect to the security of online or electronic services. Only last week, the Singapore Police Force said that a new Singpass QR code scam had surfaced, in which victims are asked to fill out surveys in exchange for monetary reward.

Greater public education can go some way to ameliorate these hazards but these scams or security loopholes raise the importance of the availability of alternative channels, such as the maintenance of reliable hotlines, to assure our seniors that access to Government services remain available to them even if they are not online or to seek clarifications promptly.

At the same time, occasional feedback still highlights the trouble people face in getting through Government hotlines. An example was in September 2021 when the SAF was roped in to help deal with calls to MOH as some COVID-19-positive Singaporeans could not secure conveyance to a recovery facility in time. Similar concerns were highlighted during the circuit breaker in 2020 when there was much confusion from businesses about the status of their foreign workers.

What lessons have been learnt from these episodes? And is there a plan to beef up tele-services in spite of this age of digitalisation for better citizen-to-state contact?

Mr Chairman: Ms Hany Soh. You can take both cuts together.

4.15 pm

Smart Nation Plan

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Thank you, Chairman. Since the launch of Smart Nation, many apps and websites have been introduced by various agencies as well as businesses that have tapped on productivity grants. What is the progress of our Government’s Smart Nation Plan to create a more seamless and integrated user experience for our citizens and businesses?

As shared by Mr Yip Hon Weng in his Budget speech, these apps and websites sometimes offer overlapping services, bringing about inconvenience to users who have to install and navigate through many apps on their phones. For example, a senior who has been taught to book his medical appointment through the Health Hub app, was told when he arrived at the polyclinic that he will need to download another app to track his queue number for his appointment.

My Legacy Portal

Another example is My Legacy portal, intended to be a one-stop platform to make estate planning easy and convenient. However, Singaporeans today still have to make their CPF nominations through the CPF website, do their Will and Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) through a lawyer and registering them thereafter through SAL’s Wills Registry and Office of Public Guardian (OPG) respectively.

How many users have since signed up through My Legacy vault to plan, store and share legal, healthcare and estate matters? Are there any plans for the relevant agencies from various Ministries to work together and further improve the portal, as well as to raise awareness among more Singaporeans to encourage them to consider doing comprehensive end-of-life planning?

Digital Inclusion

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Chairman, the pandemic has accelerated the pace and the scale of digitalisation, impacting the way we live, work and play. Increasingly, we find that to participate in common everyday activities, like accessing information, booking services, making an appointment, making payments, requires digital access and the skills to use digital technology. Even access to many Government services is digital.

At the launch of the Smart Nation Initiative in 2014, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan stressed the priority of Smart Nation as, I quote: "Really, it is about people, it is not about technology for technology's sake. It is about focusing on jobs, quality of life and society", unquote.

Seniors and persons with disabilities often struggle to access digital services. Digital inclusion is more than access and affordability; it is about having the skills and confidence to use technology. To make digital more inclusive, I believe that we must design digital services and content with the requirements of seniors and persons with disabilities at the centre.

This would make it more intuitive and reduce barriers to use digital services. And, more importantly, ensure that no one is left behind. Can the Minister share how we are promoting digital inclusion and bringing people with different needs along our Smart Nation journey?

Mr Chairman: Mr Alex Yam is not here. Assoc Prof Jamus Lim. My apologies. Response from Minister Josephine Teo before Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.

The Minister for Communications and Information (Mrs Josephine Teo): Good afternoon, Mr Chairman. In the limited time available, I will try my best to address Members' concerns. With your permission, Sir, I will also be taking clarifications after my response.

Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Sharael Taha asked about the progress of our Smart Nation efforts. In fact, our Smart Nation is rapidly taking shape and there was no better evidence of this than during the height of the pandemic. Our children could not go to school, but learning did not stop. Many people could not go to their workplaces, but work and meetings continued. Cinemas and theatres were closed, but we were entertained online.

So much of our lives have gone digital. Some of the digital services we use regularly today were nascent only five years ago. Take the Singpass app, for example, which was only launched in 2018. Today, 3.5 million people use the Singpass app to gain access to over 1,700 digital and physical services. In 2021, more than 350 million personal and corporate transactions were facilitated via Singpass. Even then, Singpass continues to be improved. Soon, besides the digital IC, our digital driving licence will be accessible on Singpass.

Later this month, Singpass will also allow business owners or their authorised employees to conveniently retrieve basic company information, including awarded Government contracts and shareholders' names. This makes it easier for them to fulfil such information requests.

Members may also have noticed updates on the recent Budget announcements appearing in your Singpass app. Beyond that, there is an ongoing trial to send citizens personalised information on the Budget through the LifeSG app. This helps citizens know the support that is most relevant to them.

Our people can also check their eligibility for various schemes on the Support-Go-Where website. To date, we have used the Go-Where technology for 16 different purposes, allowing citizens to access key information more easily.

Digitalisation, however, is more than just moving from the physical to the virtual. The user experience matters, as highlighted by Ms Tin Pei Ling. And as Ms Hany Soh shared, it is also about unifying multiple touchpoints into a single service journey. For example, together with PSD and MOH, we have developed an online portal called My Legacy. The website guides citizens to settle the different components of end-of-life planning, such as lasting power of attorney, advanced care planning and CPF nominations. Information is consolidated in a single platform, enabling a more seamless experience. Some transactions must, however, take place through agency websites, to better protect the users.

Response to My Legacy has been positive. One hundred and forty thousand users have used the platform since its release in 2020. We will continue to improve the site and, indeed, other platforms, to achieve greater seamlessness while not compromising security.

Apart from citizens, digitalisation has also led to a sea change for our businesses. Guided by the Industry Transformation Maps (ITM), new business models, companies and jobs have emerged. Good jobs have been created for Singaporeans from product managers to algorithm engineers and UI/UX designers.

A new wave of entrepreneurs has taken centre stage, from home-based bakers to live streamers. These developments are very much in keeping with our Smart Nation vision, as outlined by Prime Minister Lee during his National Day Rally (NDR) speech in 2017, five years ago. Then, the Prime Minister said that, and I quote: "Next time I am at a hawker centre, I look forward to paying for my meal with PayNow". Today, more than half of all hawkers have adopted e-payments. In fact, more than $200 million in PayNow transactions were made every day last year.

Another familiar scheme is the CDC vouchers, which have benefited more than a million households and over 10,000 heartland merchants. What is less well known is that the digitalisation of vouchers and transaction tracking are enabled by RedeemSG, a system developed by GovTech that can be reused for similar voucher programmes.

Another tool is GovWallet, which helps the Government send monies and credits to citizens in a more secure and convenient way. MINDEF is using GovWallet to disburse NS recognition benefits through the LifeSG app. The benefits can be used at any of the 164,000 merchants that accept PayNow. CPF Board is also using GovWallet to disburse workfare payouts through ATMs. This replaces cheque disbursements and allows us to better serve the unbanked.

Our digital foundation has been instrumental to our whole-of-nation COVID-19 response and is constantly being strengthened. What has been most heartening are the contributions of our vibrant local tech sector. One example is Beep Technologies, a local company involved in the deployment of vending machines. Working with MTI, MOH, PA and GovTech, Beep has rolled out 1,600 vending machines islandwide. They have supported our nationwide distribution of 30 million masks, 1.3 million TraceTogether tokens and 2.5 million ART kits.

We may not have thought too much about what it takes to repurpose vending machines that are more used to dispensing drinks and other regular day-to-day items. And it was not an easy feat. To ensure that the TraceTogether tokens would not break upon being dispensed, Beep engineers used apple pies to test their customised machines. It took many tries before they could get satisfying results.

Beep's CEO, 25-year-old Kristoffer Jacek Soh, told me that he founded his company soon after he heard the Prime Minister's NDR speech in 2017 and was inspired. I hope more young people, like Jacek, will work with us to create our Smart Nation together.

Apart from our local tech sector, tech teams within the Government also played an important role in our COVID-19 response. Many of us have used our national vaccine appointment system. This was built by a small team of product managers, designers and software engineers, working closely with policymakers, clinicians and ground operators. They were given just two weeks to get the job done. Thanks to their efforts, many of us would have taken only minutes to complete our vaccination registration.

As we continue to strengthen our digital foundations, we must be ready to tackle challenges, such as digital inclusion and cybersecurity. In particular, we agree with Ms Jessica Tan that the fast pace of digitalisation can feel daunting, even for people who are willing to learn and try. Last year, we made a big move to help Singaporeans gain confidence with their digital forays. Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the DigitalforLife movement. This is complemented by a community of 4,000 Smart Nation Ambassadors, who help our residents feel more comfortable using digital Government services.

Besides seniors, one of the groups where help has been focused, is, in fact, persons with disabilities. At the same time, we are also making digital services more accessible. For example, we have translated key Government digital services into more languages. Since last week, we have started to make Singpass app available in our four official languages. As more features are onboarded, this will better support citizens who are more comfortable transacting in vernacular languages.

Let me assure Members that we will always try to offer alternatives for those who are less comfortable with digital services or cannot access them. This includes telephone services, which Mr Pritam Singh mentioned. Even then, technology can help. For example, when cases spiked in September last year, there was a surge in calls to the COVID-19 emergency hotline. Within a week, our tech teams set up a call-handling and case management system. Through better information sharing capabilities, productivity of our call agents improved. The percentage of incoming calls that went unanswered dropped from 30% in mid-October to almost zero by the end of November.

Another top priority for us is cyber security, which Ms Tin Pei Ling also highlighted. I will speak more about this later during MCI's COS debate.

While we strengthen digital inclusion and cybersecurity, we must look ahead. As Mr Sharael Taha mentioned, there are many exciting opportunities to capture in the next bound of our Smart Nation journey. Even as we speak, the digital future of smart cities, sustainability, finance, education and healthcare is being reshaped. Technologies, like 5G and autonomous systems, will continue to mature and give us opportunity to reimagine our schools, hospitals, workplaces and even our heartlands.

There is much to explore in each of these areas. We will partner citizens in this process as part of our broader SG Together movement. The newly launched Citizen Co-Creation group will co-develop new solutions with our tech teams in areas, such as smart cities and digital inclusion.

4.30 pm

Sir, on the whole, we have made good progress in our Smart Nation journey. For the third year running, Singapore has topped the IMD-SUTD Smart City Index in 2021. But we are always keenly aware that what matters most is the satisfaction of our people and businesses. For digital Government services, continuous efforts have raised citizen satisfaction from 73% in 2016 to 85% in 2021. Satisfaction among businesses has also risen from 64% to 76%.

In today's era of hyper-innovation, every milestone represents just a new beginning. To stay ahead, we must never stop building new capabilities and never stop seizing new opportunities.

Our Smart Nation is still rapidly taking shape. Through sustained commitment and efforts, we will continue to transform Singaporeans' lives for the better.

Toward a Digital Sing Dollar

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Sir, MAS has already expended significant effort and resources to better understand the nature, function and practical operations surrounding the possibility of a digital currency issued by our central bank. Based on public documents issued by the Economic Policy Group, the conclusion is – to somewhat over-simplify – that Singapore is ready for a digital Sing dollar. However, there is no, and I quote, "pressing need for its issuance at this time."

MAS has documented a host of advantages associated with, ultimately, adopting a digital Sing dollar. But there are several advantages to moving earlier on issuance.

First, doing so could help crowd out alternative, volatile digital private currencies, especially low-value meme cryptocurrencies that have been an outlet for speculated access.

Second, a digital Sing dollar will allow for the application of more innovative monetary policy, especially with regard to disinflation. While inflation is the current worry, it is not difficult to conceive, with global depopulation, deglobalisation and declining productivity, of the possibility of a reversal to a low-inflation environment a few years down the road. It would take a few years to roll out the digital currency, making it available to help mitigate the problem of a zero lower bound on nominal interest rates.

Third, a digital Sing dollar, especially one that is trackable by MAS, will help reduce the incidence of counterfeiting and being used for illicit activities, especially given that the largest denomination bill that MAS still mints is still relatively large at $1,000. That said, there are some additional practical concerns for which it will be useful for this House to better understand.

First, to what extent has global best practices in payments innovation, such as those studies in collaboration between the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and MIT's Project Hamilton Digital Currency initiative, been incorporated into the MAS' own background study? Second, what are the main inhibitions that MAS holds that prevent sooner issuance? And third, if there is no urgent need for issuance, what might be the anticipated timeline for a digital Sing dollar?

Bank Accounts for Ex-offenders

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Sir, I have, increasingly, been approached for assistance by residents who face problems opening personal bank accounts. Their applications were rejected by banks either because of their past criminal records, past investigations for financial-related crimes or are currently under criminal investigation, resulting in their bank accounts being frozen.

Members of this House would agree that access to basic banking facilities is essential in today's digitalised society. These individuals are deprived of basic banking activities, such as receiving their salaries. Employers do not usually agree to deposit into their family's bank accounts and are unwilling to pay them in cash. They also have difficulty receiving Government cash benefits, like GST Vouchers – Cash. Individuals with past criminal records have paid their dues to society and such a deprivation can be an impediment in their efforts to turn over a new leaf.

Similarly, individuals under investigation are deprived of the operation of the maxim "innocent until proven guilty". These investigations can take any time between several months and years, which are a long time to function without access to basic banking facilities. I understand MAS has been working with the larger retail banks to open limited purpose bank accounts for individuals that banks assess to pose a higher risk of being implicated in financial crimes.

Can I ask the Minister what are the limitations on such accounts? Will the functions of such accounts vary on a case-by-case basis assessment by the banks? Additionally, will the pool of eligible individuals for these accounts include persons who are currently under investigation? This may emerge as a growing problem owing to the increase in bank accounts being frozen during investigations into financial crimes.

Owing to the time sensitivity of this matter, can I ask the Minister what is the progress of the roll-out of these limited purpose bank accounts? Is it generally available to all affected applicants yet? If not, when will it remain available generally?

The Chairman: Minister Lawrence Wong.

The Minister for Finance (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mr Chairman, I thank Assoc Prof Jamus Lim for his interest and comments on a digital Singapore dollar.

MAS has been among the central banks at the forefront of experiments with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), especially wholesale CBDCs, starting over five years ago. It has been actively engaged in the international discourse on CBDCs among policymakers, industry and academia.

At this point, MAS has assessed that the case for a retail CBDC in Singapore is not compelling. Several other central banks have taken the same view for now, such as the US Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada and the Reserve Bank of Australia. The reasons typically offered for issuing retail CBDCs are not very relevant to MAS and Singapore at this juncture.

Some of the reasons usually offered are that CBDCs can ensure financial inclusion or enable cheaper and faster payments. Financial inclusion is not a significant problem in Singapore. And electronic payments in Singapore have also become pervasive, seamless and efficient.

The roll-out of FAST, PayNow and SGQR in recent years means that cheap and fast payments are widely available domestically via bank-based payment systems. And we are also linking up this infrastructure with those abroad, which will open up more cross-border electronic payment solutions over time.

Government transfers are disbursed efficiently through digital means, including through the last two years of the COVID-19 crisis.

And the payments system is becoming even more innovative and competitive, as more payments service providers are being admitted through the Payment Services Act and the new digital banks begin operating.

In short, we are using improvements in payment technology and competition to achieve our objectives of cheap and fast payments for all, using existing forms of central bank-backed money.

This does not mean that MAS has ruled out introducing a retail CBDC at some stage. The case for a CBDC could strengthen if foreign digital currencies become more widely used locally, although we are far away from that situation today. Innovative CBDC applications may also make them more attractive.

MAS, therefore, continues to build up its technological and institutional capabilities in the CBDC space. MAS has embarked on Project Orchid to build the technical competencies necessary to issue a digital Singapore dollar, should we decide to do so in future. It also organised a Global CBDC Challenge last year to surface innovative technology solutions.

Issuing a retail CBDC will not be a minor decision. There are important risks and uncertainties that come with creating a new form of money. MAS has set these out clearly in a paper that it published on the topic in November 2021. A digital Singapore dollar must be secure and robust once it is implemented. The banking system needs to be able to adapt to its introduction, and monetary and financial stability cannot be compromised. This is a complex undertaking and careful practical experimentation alongside industry players will be necessary, if we do decide to proceed with a retail CBDC at some stage.

Overall, MAS will continue to prepare for the possibility of issuing a digital Singapore dollar, but does not see an immediate case for doing so.

On the second cut by Mr Gerald Giam, last year, MAS engaged the major retail banks on initiatives to enhance financial inclusion for ex-offenders. And since January this year, the banks have been offering, as part of a pilot exercise, limited purpose bank accounts to persons whom banks have assessed may pose higher risks of being implicated in financial crimes. These include ex-offenders and those under investigations or pending charges for financial crimes.

The pilot exercise will allow banks a chance to obtain feedback and refine the product before the accounts are officially launched in the second half of this year.

The functionalities and safeguards for limited purpose bank accounts are designed to enable individuals to meet their basic banking needs, like receiving salaries and paying bills. To mitigate risks of abuse, the accounts are subjected to enhanced monitoring measures. For example, banks will check that individuals are only receiving funds from specified sources which had been agreed upon at account-opening, including salary payments from employers, Government disbursements and insurance payouts. These functionalities and safeguards will be adjusted, as necessary, after the current pilot.

The limited purpose bank accounts will address the needs of most ex-offenders and persons under investigations or facing charges. However, there may be a small number of individuals whom banks have assessed to pose unacceptable risks. For example, this might include individuals who have committed serious crimes involving the violation of targeted financial sanctions.

MAS will continue to work with the Singapore Police Force on further ways to enable financial inclusion for individuals who have been involved in financial crimes, while ensuring that the risks are properly managed.

The Chairman: Ms Ng Ling Ling.

Building a Made-for-family Singapore

Ms Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Chairman, our Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at 1.10 and number of marriages at 19,430 in 2020 were at their lowest points for the decade. While the number of marriages showed signs of returning to pre-pandemic levels, having children remains a hesitation in many young Singaporeans' minds.

In a Youth Survey conducted by TODAY newspaper with 1,066 respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 published in November 2021, only about half of the unmarried respondents felt that marriage was important and less than half said it was important or very important to have a child in the future. They cited cost of living, stressful education system and lack of quality time as their top concerns.

How can we build cultural norms and an environment that are more family-friendly in Singapore? I believe we need to tackle three interdependent fronts together for family centricity – at home, at work and in the society.

In 2021, 46% of employed residents in Singapore were working from home due to the COVID-19 situation. Such flexible remote working arrangements have provided a space for more parents to spend more time with their children while still attending to work. While there are, certainly, those who had to cope with more childcare and work burdens, many residents shared with me that it has given them a chance to make adjustments and see their children more.

In fact, flexible work practices and family-friendly workplaces were highlighted as one of the key themes that emerged from "Building a Singapore that is Made-for-Families" in the Emerging Stronger Conversations. As a society, we also begin to appreciate that the flexible work arrangements can be a reality, with adjustments to expectations and mindsets during this pandemic.

I would like to ask how NPTD can work with a wider group of stakeholders to further normalise such family-centric work balance mindset and working models for the longer-term population benefits of Singapore.

The Chairman: Prof Hoon Hian Teck. Not here. Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, I would take my next two cuts together.

The Chairman: Yes, please.

Provide All Parents with Childcare Sick Leave

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: I know I sound like a broken record as here I am again asking for the Government to provide childcare sick leave. Why? Working parents need this, especially during this pandemic. Our frontline and essential workers and those who cannot work from home need this, especially during this pandemic.

4.45 pm

The Government does not disagree with me when it comes to childcare sick leave. The Public Service already gives officers childcare sick leave and it is on a per-child basis. Civil servants are using this childcare sick leave. If the Government feels that childcare sick leave is important for the people who work for us, then why is it not important for the people we serve? Let us level that playing field.

Let us also not use flexible work arrangements to justify not providing childcare sick leave. If this reason is true, then why do civil servants who have flexible work arrangements also have childcare sick leave?

Will the Government consider providing childcare sick leave for all working parents on a per-child basis? I have raised this issue many times and I hope the reply would not be the same again.

Provide All Fathers with Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is important for our nation. An NUS study found that children whose fathers take paternity leave are significantly less likely to have behavioural issues. The study also found that these families have less internal conflict, lower likelihood of maternal depression, more marital satisfaction and more father-child closeness. The case for paternity leave cannot be stronger.

However, the study also found that fathers in more labour-intensive jobs, such as machine operators and cleaners, were half as likely to take paternity leave as fathers working as legislators, senior officials and managers. We need to do more to help lower-income fathers take their paternity leave. Why should they be denied the time to spend with their babies?

Can the Government conduct a targeted study on the barriers to taking paternity leave for lower-income workers, look into policies to increase their usage of paternity leave and also look into incentivising employers who support their employees to take their paternity leave?

The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh is not here. Ms Foo Mee Har.

Fostering Social Cohesion

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Mr Chairman, more than 60% of those surveyed in the Institute of Policy Studies online polls revealed their concerns over an increased suspicion among people of different social backgrounds as a result of COVID-19.

Even though bigoted behaviour seen in public and hateful online comments may be limited to only a small section of our society, such acts of denigration are, unfortunately, magnified on social media.

Our foreign friends feel the brunt of xenophobia keenly. Some have left due to border restrictions, whilst others are considering their options, for fear of growing nativism in Singapore society.

Xenophobic acts threaten our multicultural way of life that we fought hard to foster. Close to a third of the workforce in Singapore is made up of foreigners from different corners of the world, to sustain our economic and caregiving activities, complementing our local force.

We, ourselves, began as an immigrant society and our forefathers came from different backgrounds, settling down in Singapore and calling it home.

I would like to ask the Minister what are our plans to integrate foreigners and to quash xenophobic sentiments that might hurt Singapore's reputation as an open, diverse and inclusive society.

The Chairman: Ms Indranee Rajah.

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their cuts.

Family is a key source of strength and support, especially in tough times. The pandemic has underscored this. As such, supporting Singaporeans who want to start and raise families remains the Government's top priority.

I will speak about three Government strategies to build a more resilient population in Singapore. First, building a Singapore that is Made For Families. Second, moderating the impact of low birth rates and ageing through selective immigration. Third, strengthening our local workforce and complementing it with a foreign workforce, to grow opportunities for Singaporeans.

First, we continue to support Singaporeans who wish to start and expand their families. Mr Gan Thiam Poh had filed a cut about our strategies to encourage Singaporeans to get married and have children, given our low Total Fertility Rate (TFR). The preliminary number of resident births in 2021 remained similar to 2020, at around 34,200. While this was 3% lower than in 2019 before COVID-19 struck, the fall was less than we had feared. Our TFR was 1.12 last year, a slight recovery from the historic low of 1.10 in 2020. But it remains lower than the pre-COVID-19 period.

TFR is a measure of births per female of child-bearing age. While the number of births remained similar, the number of such females decreased over the same period, hence, TFR increased.

Raising birth rates is key to tackling Singapore's long-term demographic challenges. At the same time, getting married and having children are personal decisions. We know that aspirations for Marriage and Parenthood (M&P) remain high. We will redouble our efforts to support Singaporeans who choose to get married and have children. From our 2021 M&P survey, eight in 10 young singles aspire to get married and have children, and over nine in 10 married Singaporeans want at least two children.

Strong and stable families are the bedrock of our society. We are committed to fostering a supportive environment for them. We held the Emerging Stronger Conversations last year. Over 300 participants gave suggestions on how to better support families.

In the Conversations, which Miss Cheng Li Hui had asked about in her cut, some young couples shared their concerns about having children during a pandemic. To reassure couples to proceed with their parenthood plans, we introduced the one-off Baby Support Grant. Parents of over 44,000 babies have received the grant.

One such couple is Danial and Syaqilah, who got engaged, married and had their first child all within two years. They initially planned to have their first child only after moving into their Build-to-Order (BTO) flat. However, they decided to go ahead as there was no perfect time to have a baby. Baby Isa was born in August 2021 and they were glad that the Baby Support Grant helped with their transition into parenthood. Danial and Syaqilah showed us that COVID-19 need not discourage us from making important life plans.

Other couples highlighted concerns about housing and the BTO pipeline, as many aspire to have their own home before they start families. Miss Cheng Li Hui filed a cut on how the Government can support such couples to access affordable housing, amidst disruptions due to COVID-19.

We are pushing hard to complete our BTO projects as planned. For ongoing BTO projects, most flat buyers will be able to move into their new homes within four to five years after booking their flats, barring further unforeseen circumstances. We will also launch up to 23,000 new BTO flats per year in 2022 and 2023 as MND has indicated.

Couples waiting for their BTO flats to be completed can rent a flat at highly subsidised rates under HDB's Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). To better meet demand, HDB is ramping up the supply of PPHS flats with 800 additional units.

With more people marrying later, fertility health will become more of an issue and must be taken seriously. In the Conversations, couples with fertility issues spoke about their challenges. We must continue to support and encourage them. This includes encouraging couples to understand and address potential fertility issues earlier, and workplaces to be more supportive.

We will also introduce new funding support for certain types of Pre-implantation Genetic Testing for Singaporean couples to address the concerns that some couples have over genetically-transmitted diseases. We will share more details at a later time.

To give every child a good start in life, we will continue to invest heavily in promoting good health and education from the early years. We will further support the physical, mental and cognitive well-being of children and their families. The Child and Maternal Health and Well-Being Taskforce is developing a five-year national strategy to address this. Minister Masagos Zulkifli will provide more details during MOH's COS.

We are continuing to make quality preschools more affordable and accessible. Today, a working couple earning $8,000 per month pays $280 per month when they send their child for full-day childcare at an Anchor Operator preschool. This is 40% lower than the $470 per month they had to pay before preschool subsidies were enhanced in 2020. Lower-income working families pay as low as $3 a month at such preschools. By around 2025, eight in 10 preschoolers can have a place in a quality, affordable Government-supported preschool.

The Government is currently reviewing our measures to improve the M&P journey. Mr Louis Ng suggested incentivising employers to increase usage of paternity leave, particularly among lower-income workers and providing childcare sick leave for all working parents.

I fully agree that parents need more flexibility and time away from work to care for their children. Our research on the experiences of fathers' use of paternity leave shows that, across different types of jobs and companies, a key factor affecting the level of utilisation is workplace support. This includes whether supervisors are supportive of fathers taking leave and whether colleagues are willing to cover their duties.

In some labour-intensive jobs, employers may be less willing to let fathers go on extended leave due to the challenge of finding covering arrangements. In such situations, employers could exercise more flexibility in fathers' utilisation of paternity leave, such as taking the leave in more than one period within their child's first year, to minimise disruptions to business operations.

We will consider Mr Louis Ng's feedback, continue to review the scope for more parental leave provisions and work with employers to encourage their utilisation.

However, supporting the caregiving needs of parents must be balanced with the manpower and operational needs of employers, particularly our Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), some of which may still be grappling with the effects of the pandemic. Instead of legislating more childcare leave, the Government aims to lead by example and encourage employers to follow suit by exercising more flexibility and extending childcare leave where possible.

This brings me to my broader point. To address the pressure of managing work and parenting commitments, we have to go beyond Government policies. We need to come together as a whole of society to build a more family-friendly Singapore for a more sustainable approach.

As Ms Ng Ling Ling pointed out, a pro-family workplace culture is important. Around the world, the pandemic has prompted many to rethink where, how and why we work.

The US has experienced the "Great Resignation" – a phenomenon in which scores of employees have quit their jobs as they rethink priorities and search for better working conditions or more fulfilling careers. While we have not had a "Great Resignation", there are clear indications that Singaporeans are paying more attention to whether employers support work-life balance. Recent surveys suggest that workers in Singapore value employers who enable them to manage both their career and family commitments.

Ms Ng Ling Ling said that mindsets must change, I agree. Prof Hoon Hian Teck also filed a cut about work-from-home arrangements to bolster family life. Adopting flexible work arrangements and prioritising employee well-being are not only good for workers and, consequently, for families; in the post-pandemic world, these are going to be the key to firms' competitiveness, productivity and ability to recruit and retain talent.

Let me say something about flexible work arrangements (FWAs). I want to emphasise that there is a distinction between FWAs and work-from-home (WFH). People often use these terms interchangeably, but they are not the same.

WFH is only one type of FWAs. Not all job types are suitable for WFH, but all job types can accommodate some form of FWA, depending on the nature of the job. Other forms of FWAs include flexi-time and flexi-load arrangements. Every organisation, big or small, can consider adopting the FWAs that best suit their employees' needs and their business operations.

An example is Singtel. Pre-pandemic, Singtel already provided their employees FWA options, such as telecommuting, flexi-time and part-time work. Singtel also offers "Flexi Family Leave" – five days of leave for birthdays, childcare, adoption and family emergencies.

With new work practices thrust upon us by the pandemic, we now have a window of opportunity to make FWAs a norm. We will be working with employers to do so, and more will be shared in the White Paper on Singapore Women's Development which will be tabled in Parliament later this year.

We, ultimately, require the partnership of the wider community to build a Singapore that is Made For Families.

We launched the Made For Families brand mark in June 2020 to assure families of support from the Government and community. To date, more than 90 businesses, organisations and community groups have adopted it and we hope more will take action and join us. Together, we will support and celebrate all families at every stage of their journey. Minister Masagos Zulkifli will share more details on our plans for the year ahead.

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Next, I will touch on moderating the impact of low birth rates and ageing through selective immigration.

I spoke about our low birth rates. At the same time, our population continues to age, which has implications for our workforce and society.

This brings me to the second strategy. To moderate the impact of low birth rates and ageing, we take in a carefully controlled number of new citizens and Permanent Residents each year. We are selective about who we grant Permanent Residency (PR) and, subsequently, citizenship to.

Many of our new immigrants share family ties with Singaporeans while others have studied, worked or lived here for some time. In 2021, we granted about 21,500 new citizenships, including about 1,200 citizenships to children born overseas to Singaporean parents. We also granted about 33,400 new PRs. These numbers are similar to pre-COVID-19 levels and higher, when compared to 2020, due to the easing of travel restrictions and safe management measures, which previously slowed down in-person processes for the grant of citizenship or PR.

During last year’s Committee of Supply (COS), I said that a few thousand applicants who were approved in-principle in 2020 had not completed all the required processes to be granted PR or citizenship. These applicants were, subsequently, granted PR or citizenship, adding to the numbers granted in 2021.

Nonetheless, the total number of Singapore Citizenships (SCs) granted in 2021 remains slightly lower than pre-COVID-19 levels, as those granted SCs must first renounce their foreign citizenship. In some cases, this continues to take longer than usual due to COVID-19 related measures. We will continue to ensure that our immigration policy remains relevant to our needs and keeps the pace of immigration measured and stable.

Our third strategy is to remain fully committed to supporting Singaporeans to seize new opportunities at various stages of their careers.

At the same time, we do not have sufficient local manpower to meet the needs of businesses. To generate the quality and range of jobs to meet Singaporeans’ aspirations, we need a diverse pool of foreign manpower to complement our local workforce. We must remain open towards complementary talent from overseas who bring valuable skills, networks and expertise. They can contribute to the development of emerging sectors where we need more time to grow local capabilities. As our economic needs evolve, we must ensure the right balance and complementarity between local and foreign manpower. Minister Tan See Leng will be providing more details during MOM’s COS.

We have people from all over the world joining us. Many of them contribute to Singapore and some have come to regard Singapore as their home, adding to our diversity. We are proud of our diversity in Singapore, which is bound by a strong sense of community. In many other societies, COVID-19 has further widened social and economic divides. We have also seen greater occurrences of xenophobic sentiments and behaviours around the world. As Ms Foo Mee Har has emphasised, we must guard against such sentiments and continue to strengthen our ties with one another. This is especially important for Singapore as a multi-cultural society.

Let me touch on how we are strengthening social integration and cohesion in Singapore.

Fostering social integration and cohesion requires a whole-of-society effort. As individuals, each of us has a part to play. Let us be inclusive, patient and help newcomers to adapt to local norms. Similarly, foreigners here should make the effort to adapt and integrate over time. We have also worked with partners on initiatives to help foreigners settle in and understand local norms and culture.

For example, MOM’s OneWorkplace.sg initiative provides employers with tools and resources to identify workplace integration gaps and implement team-bonding programmes and Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Another example is how we worked with Singaporeans as part of the Citizen’s Workgroup for the Singapore Citizenship Journey (SC Journey) to explore, discuss and create content to update the SC Journey for our new citizens. The SC Journey will include the co-created content for newcomers to better learn and appreciate aspects of life in Singapore.

Ultimately, we recognise that integration may take some time. We must cherish the unity in diversity that Singapore has, which has helped everyone to rally together. We will press on to build a more inclusive and brighter future for Singaporeans.

With many Singaporeans still aspiring to start and raise families, we will continue to build a Singapore that is Made For Families. We will also continue to review our population strategies to ensure that they remain relevant to our needs. Together, we will build a more resilient population and keep Singaporeans fully at the heart of our population strategies.

The Chairman: Mr Leong Mun Wai.

Streamlining the Government

Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency Member): In this Budget, we are looking for ways to cut costs. The most effective way to cut costs is to streamline the Government structure. We should ensure that the money is applied efficiently.

For each social purpose, there should be only one channel or platform. The People's Association (PA), with its $908 million budget, comes to mind. Community engagement and citizens' welfare are very important, but they are separately served by MCCY and MSF, with budgets of $107 million and $611 million respectively. PA is more like a political structure, led by political appointees and volunteers. Thus, it is not clear whether it is serving the purpose, the people or the ruling party. If it is not political, to avoid duplicating resources, we should either integrate PA into MCCY or put all community engagement activities at MCCY into PA.

We should turn our community engagement into asset-light activities and stop incurring huge development expenditures on building new community centres. For FY2022, another $197 million is budgeted for such development. Instead, we should free up the land and resources tied up in the community centres and other facilities and reallocate those resources to other social needs.

We can also potentially do more with the same dollar if we reorganise some activities among MOE, MOM and MSF. The $679 million earmarked for SkillsFuture should be taken out of MOE and integrated into MOM to ensure that the spending creates jobs for Singaporeans. SkillsFuture courses that do not result in better jobs should be dropped. The $1.6 billion earmarked for Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) can be taken out of MSF and integrated into MOE, to create a seamless education and development curriculum for our children.

Finally, the original MSF minus ECDA should be reorganised into a new ministry called the Ministry of Resilient Citizens (MRC), with the transfer of the $1.7 billion financial security programme from MOM to it. The MRC will focus on strengthening our social and financial compact, and oversee social and family development, scholarship and bursary programmes, CPF, a national healthcare scheme, a new unemployment insurance and lifelong fulfilment programmes for the benefit of Singaporeans.

Ensuring Digital Inclusivity for All

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Kebun Baru): Mr Chairman, the onset of COVID-19 shows the benefits of digital service delivery, which allows citizens to be served despite the need to avoid physical interactions. However, there is a significant group of citizens who may find it challenging to transact with the Government using digital platforms. For these citizens, who can also include those in low-income households, they may have added difficulties in navigating Government services.

Can PSD share what are the key efforts made by the Public Service to better integrate services, with citizens and businesses at the centre? How does the Public Service ensure that those who are digitally less-savvy are not left behind as the Public Service digitalises to its core?

Leveraging Technology in Public Service

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Digital transformation has accelerated as Singaporeans learned to connect with others, including hawkers and retailers, from their homes in this pandemic. Many of my residents, including senior citizens, now interact with me over online Meet-the-People sessions and livestreamed constituency events.

Technology is important as a touchpoint between the Government and citizens. The high and increasing figures in the Annual Survey on Satisfaction with Government Digital Services are commendable. It is also heartening to see that 97% of citizens and 95% of businesses were satisfied with the digital solutions rolled out by the Government during the pandemic.

However, there are still many opportunities to tap on. The centralisation of functions on a single platform – like the Singpass and TraceTogether Apps – is helpful and should be further developed. If we can seamlessly integrate the services from different Government agencies using a single platform and a common pool of citizens’ data, we can utilise AI to better anticipate individual citizens' needs and push services to those who may not be aware of schemes applicable to them.

Meanwhile, episodes involving the private sector have demonstrated the risks that we need to manage while going digital. The compromise of personal access details through scams, service outages due to backend technical issues, and data breaches are something we need to look out for.

Finally, another gap in our digitalisation efforts is that it appears to be focused on the English language and too little on vernacular languages. How does the Public Service intend to leverage technology to deliver its services better and faster to citizens, or to improve its own productivity?

Development of Public Service Officers

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Mr Chairman, in my Budget debate speech, I highlighted how COVID-19 has accelerated the Work from Anywhere trend and how this has spawned a trending culture of "workcations" and countries chasing to attract digital nomads.

To ensure that our public officers can continue to respond decisively to global developments, they will need to remain adaptable through constant upskilling and new experiences, so that they can serve Singapore more effectively through this period of significant global shifts.

What are PSD’s plans to ensure that our public officers of today will be ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow? How will the Government support their growth and career development?

To continually attract the best Singaporean talents to serve Singapore, our Public Service will need to evolve in line with global trends. Will the Public Service hire Singaporean digital nomads based overseas? Will we allow our Public Service officers to go on a year-long workcation?

As our workforce ages and we gradually extend our statutory retirement and re-employment ages, it will be increasingly important for us to also extend the lifelong employability of our Public Service officers. Can the Minister provide an update on the efforts on this front? We should strive towards a future where officers can have two, or even three fulfilling careers in the whole of Public Service.

Lastly, I note with concern that our Public Service is experiencing an unusual rise in attrition, with the resignation rate in the Management Executive scheme reaching a 10-year high of 9.9% in 2021. Could stress be a cause of this? If so, what is PSD doing to alleviate burnout in the service?

The Chairman: Minister Chan Chun Sing.

The Minister for Education (Mr Chan Chun Sing): Chairman, let me first thank the various Members for their useful suggestions and concerns for the Public Service. I would also like to thank all my public officers for all the hard work that they have done over the last two years, in particular. I am sure Members of the House will agree with me that, over the last two years, the Public Service has really pulled together to do three things concurrently and to do three things well.

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First, to maintain our current operations to make sure that all our services to our people and our country continue to run smoothly amidst the crisis.

Second, to run crisis operations, we had to invent on the fly many of the new things that we had to do to cope with the ever-evolving virus situation. To this end, we had to even cross-deploy officers to new roles. In fact, a few thousand officers from the Public Service have been cross-deployed to different positions beyond their previous normal duties in order to help out and manage the crisis and they continue to do this even as we speak.

Third, our public officers continue to plan for the future. That, notwithstanding the crisis and the current operations, we established those conditions for us to emerge stronger and to distinguish ourselves.

For all these reasons of running the three – current operations, crisis operations and future operations – I would like to thank all my public officers for all the hard work and determination.

Mr Chairman, we have heard various suggestions on how the Public Service can do better. Indeed, we agree with the Members that we not rest on our laurels.

The Public Service is always looking for better ways to make sure that we can use our finite resources and manpower. Perhaps, I would just like to give some examples of how the Public Service has done over the last few years.

The first example of how we have tried to do better and use our resources more efficiently is from GovTech. The GoWhere platform supports our location- and eligibility-based queries. As part of our COVID-19 response, the Public Service agencies use GoWhere as a channel to provide citizens with the locations of key services, starting with the collection of masks via Mask GoWhere in 2020. Since then, we have expanded to cover 16 Government initiatives today, including the recent CDC Vouchers Merchants GoWhere.

Another example is our establishment of the Centres of Excellence, or what we called CentExs, by leveraging on the agencies with critical science, technology and engineering experience to build deep technical expertise and pool specialised resources across the Public Service. For example, JTC is designated as the Centre of Excellence (CentExs) for facilities management and is progressively consolidating the facility management contracts for public sector-owned buildings under one integrated contract. JTC also provides its expertise to guide the various agencies on how to structure those contracts in order for us to get value-for-money.

A third example would be how we are bringing together more services under our Integrated Public Service Centres, or what we called ServiceSG Centres now, which has integrated and delivered a wide range of public services across different agencies under one roof. Since 2018, the Centre at Our Tampines Hub has expanded to provide 400 services across 19 agencies for our citizens. Citizens can now also conduct video conferences with officers from different agencies in one place. Going forward, we will extend the pilot to establish more ServiceSG Centres within Community Centres (CCs). The first of two such ServiceSG Centres have opened in Nee Soon Central and Kampong Chai Chee CCs.

Likewise, for businesses, we have developed the one-stop GoBusiness portal to provide easy-to-use, seamless and relevant services, as well as create a more pro-business environment. Developed by MTI and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG), GoBusiness allows users to access information of over 300 Government-to-Business e-services. This year, business owners can expect a new GoBusiness dashboard that will allow them to track their licence applications and access various e-Advisers for recommendations on grants and other services.

On Mr Melvin Yong's point about developing the competencies of our public officers, that is, indeed, one of our focuses going forward, especially when our public officers have a longer career working lifespan. There are various things that we intend to do for our public officers for their career development, in order to build up their capabilities. We intend to have greater porosity among the public sector, people and private sectors. But within the public sector itself, we also intend to have greater porosity among different agencies. Let me explain how we intend to do this.

The Talent Attachment Programme (TAP) has been expanded. In fact, over the last year, we have almost doubled the number of people who have gone on a Talent Attachment Programme (TAP). These are programmes that allow our public officers to be attached to organisations outside the Public Service, so that they can establish the connections, bring back new ideas for us in the Public Service. We will continue to look for more opportunities for this porosity of exchanges, so that we can get the best ideas from the public sector, the people sector and elsewhere beyond the Public Service, including international organisations.

Within the public sector itself, we also want to make sure our officers – even if they are performing the same function in different agencies – get opportunities to be posted across to different agencies because, even within the same functional areas, no two agencies perform the function in exactly the same way and we can, of course, learn from one another.

Beyond this, we want to make sure that as we go forward in the way we govern, we will work closely and closer with the organisations beyond the public sector. We want to broaden our connections with the organisations beyond the public sector. We want to tap on their capacities and capabilities. And this is how we are also executing our plans to manage COVID-19.

Therefore, starting from this year, we will allow each public officer to use up to 40 hours a year to participate in developmental activities with the private, social and non-profit organisations. And why do we do this?

We do this for a very simple reason. We want our public officers to, first, deeply understand the partners that they are working with so that when they make the rules and regulations, they have a deep understanding of the people and organisations that they are serving.

The second reason for us to do this is because we want our public officers to make sure that they continue to learn from the sectors and organisations beyond the Public Service, and bring back new ideas, bring back new connections, to enrich the Public Service.

Last but not least, in a crisis like COVID-19, what we have demonstrated is that we depend not just on the whole-of-Government capacity. In fact, we depend on the whole-of-nation capacity when our public officers have to go forth and make the adjustments for the crisis management operations. They bring in organisations, volunteers beyond the Public Service and that helps to add to our Public Service capacities and capabilities. And that is why, to this end, I want to further this connection between the Public Service and the sector and organisations beyond the Public Service. That is why, from this year onwards, every public officer will be able to use up to 40 hours a year to participate in developmental activities with the private, social and non-profit organisations. These opportunities can be made available by the Public Service Division and other agencies, or self-sourced opportunities, as long as the activities are developmental and do not lead to any conflict of interests.

On Mr Leong Mun Wai's point to streamline the Government organisations, perhaps, I would like to let Mr Leong Mun Wai know that, indeed, we have already done many of the things that he suggested. Where it is logical, we bring services and facilities together. Good examples of this include the Heartbeat@Bedok and Our Tampines Hub. Where it is logical and saves us money and resources, we bring different agencies under one roof so that we can save money for our country and save manpower.

On the other hand, we also have an asset-light model. For example, in the new generation of CCs, like the one in Potong Pasir and the upcoming Woodleigh development, we have integrated the CCs with the commercial developments so that we can operate with an asset-light model.

But a more important point that Mr Leong Mun Wai asked is: what is the purpose of the People's Association (PA)? The role of the PA is to help us build up our social capital in peacetime. It serves the government of the day. For example, during the COVID-19 crisis, where did we get the extra capacity to reach out to do our vaccination operations, to distribute the masks, to distribute the sanitisers? Where did we get the people to go and reach out to the people who are in isolation in their homes? We did not depend just on the PA staff. There are only about 2,000 PA staff but there are many volunteers that we mobilised to come together. Without these capabilities and capacities, I am not sure that we will be able to achieve the various things that we have been able to achieve during our crisis operations to manage the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

So, for these two years, what we have built up, assiduously, over peacetime – these social bonds, this trust, this deep network – to help our people and reach out, have been invaluable to Singapore. And that is not something that many other countries have because perhaps, many other countries take it for granted that the social bonds will be there.

In fact, Mr Leong Mun Wai might also like to know that PA works very closely with MCCY. In fact, the CED of PA works very closely with the Permanent Secretary of MCCY – their budgets come together.

On Mr Leong Mun Wai's suggestions about having the MOE work with MSF seamlessly, I would also like to inform Mr Leong that I have been involved in this effort on both sides. Why is ECDA an agency that is reporting to both MOE and MSF? Because ECDA performs the role of taking care of the preschool children with both the education component by MOE and the care component by MSF. This is how we flexibly configure our organisations in order to meet the needs of our people. So, it is not a "stove-pipe" mindset that we adopt, going into how we structure an organisation.

But having said that, we will be the first to admit that, as circumstances change and evolve, we will continue to evolve our organisations and structures to best meet today's needs and also to anticipate tomorrow's challenges and we will continue to do this.

Let me, finally, say this. I will be the first one to say that the Public Service is not perfect. We are constantly guarding against complacency and we constantly want to do better for Singapore and Singaporeans. We will never be complacent. We will constantly check our blind spots, take in the best ideas from within this Chamber, from the Public Service itself and from people and organisations beyond the Public Service. Because our goal is to make sure that we have a Public Service that Singaporeans can be proud of and that can do justice to the potential of Singapore and Singaporeans. We will continue to work on that basis to adjust and adapt flexibly according to the circumstances.

On that note, I would like to thank all the Members for your various suggestions. If you have other suggestions on how we can do better as a Public Service, we welcome your suggestions and we will certainly look into them.

The Chairman: Clarifications, please. Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Ms Tin Pei Ling: Thank you, Mr Chairman, and thank you, Minister, for the update. It is good to know that there have been good progress and achievements.

Given the advancement of technology, as we move into Web 3.0, as preferences and habits change amongst our people and business models as well, and, with new use cases, I would like to ask whether there has been any update on the vision of our Smart Nation initiative. Also, would e-residency be already on the agenda?

Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Chairman, Smart Nation is in its fifth year and it is undergoing a review so that we can also chart the next bound. This review, the results of it, we will be able to update Members at a later date and I would leave it till then.

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Ms Tin Pei Ling had asked the question of e-residency. This is not necessarily a question for SNDGG to address. MHA oversees immigration matters, MOM oversees work passes for foreign nationals. Nevertheless, let me share some of my own observations about e-residency.

I think it is not clear what the benefits and obligations are for the e-residents. If it is merely to work or to provide services without being physically here, actually, for Singapore, that is already happening and there are no impediments. If it is to enter Singapore freely, for example, not to have the same kind of restrictions for visas and so on, again, Singapore's openness makes it quite questionable what this e-residency confers in terms of additional benefits. If it is then to offer access to things like healthcare or other services that residents enjoy, we have to ask the question what obligations the e-residents should be expected to fulfil. Are the potential e-residents asking to pay taxes in Singapore? Are the e-residents saying that they agree to be bound by Singapore's laws? And in any case, if they are not in Singapore, how would those obligations be enforceable? That is from the e-resident's perspective.

Then, to the question of the benefits to Singapore of offering such e-residency. Of course, for Singapore-based companies, one could make the argument that they can access the talents, a much wider pool, which they can already today. Then, having allowed these e-residents to earn income from Singapore and yet the e-residents will not have the opportunity to consume in Singapore, the benefits become much more questionable.

I will just say, at this point in time, that there is no clarity about what this design of the e-residency should involve and what benefits and obligations it should confer.

The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Thank you, Sir. I thank the Minister for the response and I am glad it is a different reply. But can I just focus my clarification on low-income parents who, very often, cannot work-from-home or they have different kinds of FWAs. I agree with the Minister, I hope that employers can be more supportive. But I think we know, from the NUS study, this is not happening on the ground. So, could I ask the Government, specifically for low-income parents, what are we doing to help them to have some time off when their child is sick or, at least, when their child is born?

Ms Indranee Rajah: I thank the Member for his clarification, I would not want him to think I was giving him the same old answer every time.

As far as low-income workers and employees are concerned, they, too, are on our radar. They are parents, just like others, and we would want to make sure that they have sufficient time to look after their children. So, let us study this together with MOM. Whatever we do must be something that is practical and feasible, given the nature of their work. Because, very often, they do have to be there, physically present. And then the question is whether or not the employer has got other people to cover for them if they take time off.

So, I think what the Member can take away today is that they are on our radar and, just like any other parent, we would want them to have sufficient time with their children.

The Chairman: Ms Tin Pei Ling, would you like to withdraw the amendment?

Ms Tin Pei Ling: Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $1,088,926,800 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $303,116,100 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.