Debate on Annual Budget Statement

Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [18 February 2020] [1st Allotted Day],

"That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021." ‒ [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance].

Question again proposed.

12.33 pm

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Speaker, Sir. There is never a dull moment for this tiny island. The COVID-19 outbreak is the latest uncertainty to be added to our list of challenges the country faces – even as we grapple with growing stresses in the global trading system, the impending shake-up in the international tax regime, the increasingly difficult geopolitical dynamics that we have to navigate through – to name a few.

These are all working against our operating proposition, where, as a small and open state, we thrive on a rules-based multilateral system and where each has its opportunities and livelihood based on competitive advantages.

In the midst of navigating these daunting external developments, we have also our domestic challenges to content with – such as the ageing demographics, peaking of the local labour workforce in the decade ahead, the friction that we saw in jobs matching and so on.

At times like this, it may come across as the world is collapsing upon us. But then, this is Singapore. We are no stranger to crisis. We have been hit by external shocks many times in our history. We have had to deal with many existential threats and challenges. Some, we have overcome and some are still out there, like rising sea levels. And very often, we turned the solutions to our domestic challenges into opportunities and possibilities – like the water story, or how we build physical and non-physical connectivity with the world to make up for our lack of size and hinterland.

The Singapore's exceptionalism story has always been about constantly in the mode of preparing and readying for the next crisis to come even as we hope that things can be smooth sailing. And when the crisis does hit us, we respond decisively, purposefully and with ample fire power to make a difference. Thereafter, regroup, build up again and get ready for the next crisis.

So, here we are again. Let me start with the fiscal management of the Government, which epitomises this psyche of preparing and readying for a crisis. Thanks to disciplined and prudent financial management as well as the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC), the surpluses accumulated in this term of Government, allow us to mount a massive and robust response to the current situation, yet allowing us to still press on with our longer term agenda.

Without NIRC, three out of the last four fiscal years would have ended in deficit positions. So, we are already spending more than what we have collected from taxes. The call to spend more, the need to spend more is expected to keep rising. The calls were even louder in Budget 2018, where there was a bigger that projected surplus of $10.9 billion for FY2017 due to a one-off contribution from MAS and stamp duties collections.

It is understandable for all of us here, in this chamber, to push for more spending and subsidies in areas that we feel strongly about. I do that a lot here. The Finance Minister would then have the unenviable task of allocating the next dollar based on our priorities; and also importantly, based on how these spending commitments can be sustainably funded.

It is always tempting to be nice and popular – spend more today and worry about tomorrow later. Fortunately, this is not the case for Singapore's Ministry of Finance.

I remember at last year's Budget Statement speech, the Finance Minister said this: "Our fiscal discipline and prudence gave us the resources to respond decisively to unexpected challenges, such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. We must not take this for granted."

These words said last year may sound like the Finance Minister knew what was to come in 2020. But we know that the good old adage of "Saving for Rainy Days" has never failed Singapore. It is our most valuable 20-20 foresight and so aptly shows up in Budget 2020.

A case in point here is how we used the savings for rainy days to come up with this $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package to deal with the impact from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Indeed, the first wave impact to the affected businesses such as tourism, aviation and retail have been sharp and severe. Some hotels have almost immediately seen 50% drop in occupancy as travellers deferred their trips and many international conferences and meetings were cancelled. Air travel has dropped significantly, especially for routes to the affected areas. Cinemas, restaurants, taxis have all seen lower patronage. Even neighbourhood coffeeshops' businesses are affected as more eat at home and do less outings.

The Stabilisation and Support Package has rightly focused on tackling two situations. Firstly, the weaker cash flow position of businesses due to sudden drop in revenue; secondly and actually more importantly, to focus on saving jobs as the sudden drop in businesses have also resulted in excess labour.

The announced measures of rental waivers, rebates, temporary bridging loans, point-to-to point support package for taxis and private hire car drivers are practical and helpful relief measures to businesses and to Singaporeans.

I am glad that Government has also introduced the Jobs Support Scheme to provide wage support to companies. It not only helps companies with their cash flow situations but also incentivise employers to hold on their workers. Coupled with the enhanced upskilling measures that were also announced, the message to employers is to tap on these assistance schemes to send workers for training and skills upgrade during this lull period and be ready to seize opportunities again when the recovery comes.

I would like to make a technical suggestion here to the Finance Minister. The qualifying period for the Job Support Scheme is for salary paid during the months from October 2019 to December 2019. And hence, there is this possibility that employers who enjoy this cash grant could still lay off the workers in the months later. While I believe most employers will be grateful and understand the Government's good intention, MOF could eliminate this possibility by adding another condition; which is that that the wage support will only be valid for those workers who remain in employment from January to July 2020.

Sir, I welcome the update by the Finance Minister on timing of the GST rate increase and that it will not happened in 2021. The $6 billion Assurance Package does help to address the concerns of Singaporeans on the GST increase.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting sudden surge in demand for its related medical services further underscored the critical need to allocate sufficient funding for healthcare services and that we not only need to have the right capacity but also the deep specialisation and expertise to deal with any public health threat of this scale.

As our population ages, the recurring annual costs to provide healthcare services will surely rise. And our expectations for higher subsidies, better quality healthcare and better accessibility will also keep rising over time.

For example, at my Constituency, we are building a new 12-storey polyclinic which comes at a cost of more than $100 million and thereafter, millions of dollars in recurring costs to run the centre. We are also looking at sites within our estates to build more senior day-care centres that come with medical facilities to handle long-term chronic illness. I understand the costs of each such centre is minimally $1 million and again, the costly recurring expenses.

While I dislike seeing GST rate increase, I do understand that the Finance Minister would need additional funding to help pay for these new expenditures as well as other increased spending in social areas in education, in security and so on.

I am convinced that our system of GST that stapled it with a massive and almost permanent GST offset package does mitigate its impact on lower and middle households and re-tilt it from a regressive to a progressive tax system.

GST taxes on everyone who consume. But those who spend more especially on more expensive items will contribute more GST. These tend to be from the wealthier or the higher income group. Even foreigners who are here for work, businesses or leisure also contribute to our GST coffer when they spend in Singapore. Just like if I travel to Japan, I would also have to pay the 10% consumption tax for my spending there and in effect, directly helping to fund Japan's budget deficit. Here, it would be useful if the Finance Minister can share on the proportion of GST collected that is being contributed by the higher income groups and foreigners.

The Assurance Package that will come into effect when the GST rate increase kicks in after 2021 is specifically targeted at helping the lower and middle income Singaporean households and seniors. Under the Package, every adult Singaporean will receive a cash payout of $700 to $1,600 over five years. The majority of Singaporeans will receive offsets to cover at least five years' worth of additional GST expenses incurred.

In other words, to the majority of Singaporeans, the effect of the GST increase will be further pushed back by another five years when the new increase kicks in because of the Assurance Package.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I am heartened that in the midst of a long list of agenda items in this year's Budget, the Finance Minister has not forgotten on a group Singaporeans who are increasingly worried about their job security and employability. These are workers in their 40s and 50s. I would like to speak for them today. In Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, I am heartened that Finance Minister has pointed out in the Budget speech that in the next bound of SkillsFuture, there will be a dedicated focus on mid-career workers, those in the 40s and 50s.

Indeed, many of the workers in the 40s and 50s, especially the Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs), are very worried about losing their jobs and they feel a great sense of insecurity.

Those who unfortunately lose their jobs at this age face an uphill task to find another job that commensurate with their work experience and their expectations, even though they may be prepared to lower their expectations by a few notches.

I have met many such job seekers at my Meet-the-People session. I can fully understand what they are going through. They are often under tremendous pressure to find a new job quickly and the entire family is also impacted as these job seekers are often also the sole or main breadwinner.

As what the Deputy Prime Minister has related in the Budget speech, for people in their 40s and 50s, when they started work, it was normal to stay with one job, in one or two companies, for life. They lived through the period when Singapore’s economy experienced high growth, and technology was not changing very fast as to have a major impact on the workplace. So overall, their jobs were stable.

But, now, economic growth is a lot slower and the workplace is undergoing major changes at a rapid pace. This has a direct impact on job market stability.

Of course, as our economy transforms, new jobs are created while old jobs disappear and never return.

The issue is that these new positions are often not filled by this age group of job seekers. Reasons often cited are that there is mismatch in skills or expectations from both job seekers and hirers.

There are also situations where, even after the training and skills upgrade, employers are still not willing to take on these workers as they have younger ones to choose from.

This trend is particularly worrying, especially when we are now raising the retirement and re-employment age. We do not want these workers who are still in their prime to prematurely experience unemployment and even stay as long-term unemployed. This would be a high social cost to the individual, their families and the society. The economy will also be deprived of a major source of human resource and talents.

The situation calls for direct interventions from the Government, including more upstream and pre-emptive actions, including stronger retrenchment and job placement support.

The Government saw this problem coming some years ago and that is why we have packages such as the Adapt and Grow and the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP).

The best way to do this is to help workers stay employable when they still have a job and for them to have the option to move to new jobs and new roles if need be. We need to reduce difficulties in job transition and enhance their capabilities to better match jobs so that job seekers can be re-employed faster.

Hence, I welcome this new SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package which aims to do that. Under this initiative, the Government aims to double the annual job placement of local workers in their 40s and 50s to around 5,500.

The capacity of our existing reskilling programmes will also be stepped up, such as the PCP, career transition programme and sector-specific programmes.

I would urge the agencies that run these programmes to also focus more on helping job seekers to overcome psychological barriers and make mental adjustments.

On the other hand, we know that there are indeed biases on the part of employers, including ageism when hiring.

Hence, the most significant announcement in this package is that the Government is providing hiring incentive to employers who hire local job seekers aged 40 and above through the reskilling programme. For each eligible worker, the employer will receive 20% salary support for six months, capped at $6,000.

This salary support is equivalent to a negative workers levy and I hope that it will move more employers to consider these experienced workers. Of course, we need employers to collaborate and give these job seekers a chance.

The Deputy Prime Minister also announced that the Government would review the support package for talent hiring and retention to maximise its impact.

To further encourage lifelong learning, the Minister has also announced a special SkillsFuture top-up of $500 to every Singaporean aged 40 to 60, so that this group of Singaporeans will get $1,000 SkillsFuture Credit in total.

The Finance GPC has raised its concerns and views with the Minister for Finance in our Budget engagement and I thank him for hearing us out with this substantial upgrade in package to help our workers in their 40s and 50s, so that they can benefit and have peace of mind.

(In English): Mr Speaker, in his Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister Heng also called on Singaporeans to work together in partnership to build the future of our choice.

It is in difficult times like this that we need to rally the spirit of SG Together. At our communities, we have seen spontaneous acts by fellow residents, such as coming together to bottle hand sanitisers and placing them in lifts for residents to use, volunteering at masks distribution centres to distribute masks at RC centres or expressing gratitude and cheering on our frontline healthcare workers.

Social organisations, artists, sports persons and many others have also organised various efforts to help vulnerable groups. We have also seen commercial organisations like banks, insurance companies, MNCs coming up with relief packages to help their clients tide over the difficult period.

Budget 2020 represents a very strong set of decisive actions by the Government to deal with the COVID-19 situation. But these counter-crisis efforts can be even more effective or powerful if more stakeholders can also facilitate and reinforce the relief measures introduced by the Government. For example, landlords who enjoy the new 15% property tax rebates should quickly pass this on to their tenants in the form of reduced rentals or do even more.

I have just gotten confirmation from the coffee shop operator at my CC who promised me that he will completely pass on half a month's rental waiver to the self-employed stallholders who are impacted by the crisis as well and I would like to urge other coffee shop operators to do the same, especially those in HDB estates.

Companies that are not adversely affected by the crisis could consider using the wage support received from the Jobs Support Scheme meaningfully, for example, to invest in their employees' skills upgrade or on their welfare or flow some of it to their clients that may be impacted by the crisis.

Each of us and our businesses can do our part, big or small, each in our own way, to help out fellow businesses that are affected. All these efforts add up and go a long way in helping Singapore ride out this difficult period and emerge even stronger. Sir, I support the Budget.

12.52 pm

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to participate in the Budget debate. Let me start by sharing a story.

A young resident came to my Meet-the-People Session (MPS) some years ago to ask for financial assistance to pay for his ITE school fees. I told him that we would assist him, but I asked that he promise me that he would put in his best effort to do well. I still remember how he, without hesitation, agreed to do so. That year, he did come back, showed me his grades and it did reflect him doing well. And I was very glad for him. After a year, one of my residents came to see me asking for help, saying that he needed help for me to speak to his son. He explained that his family had financial difficulties and because he was a low-income worker. He said that his son wanted to quit school to be able to earn an income to help the family with its finances. He asked if I could convince his son to stay and continue his studies. So, I told him I would try my best and hope that we could do that. After he left, I asked my grassroots leader to please go and see if this is the boy that came to see me a year ago because we need to convince him that he needs to stay in school because his grades are good and we need to help his family.

I am glad to say that we were able to convince him and he did continue with his studies and we were able to help his family. By sheer coincidence, I was invited to an ITE graduation ceremony and I witnessed the graduation of him and he was receiving an award and a scholarship to the Polytechnic. At that time, he informed me that, with his scholarship, his family could manage and he asked that we channel the support to other more needy families.

Now, many years later, I recently met this young man. He now has a promising career and he and his family are doing very well. And he said this to me repeatedly. He said, "I know the importance of opportunity and I am grateful that by continuing my studies, I was able to take the opportunities that came my way". So, he had potential and he would have been able to help his family had he gone and found a job at that time. The fact that he was able to build on the foundation and acquire the skills to enable him to access better opportunities really made the difference for him and he is now clearly able to take on larger opportunities that come his way. Of course, his learning continues.

So, why am I telling this story? Addressing current challenges and keeping businesses viable are important because, if they fail, Singaporeans who work for these organisations will lose their jobs and their livelihoods will be impacted. We must not, however, give up on building for the long term. I am glad that Budget 2020, while seeking to provide the much-needed support and help for workers and businesses to weather the short-term uncertainties brought about by the COVID-19 situation and geopolitical tensions, is also balancing this with ensuring that we stay on track with the strategic economic transformation plans to prepare Singapore and Singaporeans for the longer term and to be ready for new opportunities.

The structural shifts brought about by economic trends, technological disruptions and demographic changes require businesses and workers to transform and this will take time and effort. With the business slowdown, organisations must take the opportunity to execute these transformation plans and reskill their employees. As the famous quote attributed to Winston Churchhill says: "Never let a good crisis go to waste". In times of a crisis, it is also time for us to come together to find ways to address the challenges and also see opportunities that present themselves even in these difficult times.

An important thrust of the Budget is the development of our people and supporting continual learning. The measures in this Budget support nurturing every Singaporean to achieve his or her full potential. And I must tell you this. It is a little bit disconcerting sometimes but I have residents who come and ask me, "Can you get me approval to transfer my SkillsFuture credit to my family members?" The reasons given are that they do not need this to learn new skills because they are too old or just that they do not need it or they think that other members of the family may have more need for training. The need to continually learn, unlearn and relearn is important for everyone, regardless of age or stage in life. This is to build confidence not only for employability but for active participation in life in an economy and society that is more complex and fast-changing. With change comes the need to be agile and to be able to handle ambiguity. Therefore, building relevant skills, picking up new knowledge and the ability to deal with change are key to not only availing oneself to employment opportunities, but also to enabling us to be confident to participate and thrive in society. This will impact an individual's quality of life. The challenge is how we can help as many Singaporeans as possible to understand what training is available, assess what is relevant for them and to make access to learning easy. Today, many more people are taking courses and, while this is encouraging as it shows the willingness to learn, we need to do more to ensure relevancy and the impact of the learning in helping with employability or addressing required life skills.

Skills are important and we must develop deep skills to play and compete in the areas of new opportunities. But we must also recognise that skills and knowledge have a shelf life and do become obsolete. What is equally important is to develop in our people the underlying capability and capacity to learn and relearn to stay relevant, the ability to deal with change, ambiguity and the application of knowledge with the practicality and resolve to make things happen even when there is no charted path.

I particularly like the focus on enhancing the role of enterprises in developing their staff. The various measures to encourage businesses to transform their business and redesign jobs, including giving enterprises more direct control over the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit Fund of $10,000 per company, enabling partnerships between employers, IHLs and the involvement of large anchor enterprises to support training for their sector and value chain partners, together with providing Singaporean students real-life learning work experience. This will better align training with what businesses require. This will, in turn, drive real productivity and value for both employers and employees.

The new Asia Exposure Programme and the enhanced support for Internships under the Global Ready Talent Programme are also key platforms to give our young Singaporean students the opportunity to acquire cross-cultural skills and perspectives, developing networks of relationships and understanding of the region. This learning experience and exposure will better prepare our young to take advantage of new opportunities with the growth of Asia and add value to organisations that they join after they leave school.

The current uncertainties are driving concerns on the implication for businesses, and workers; and workers are really worried about keeping their jobs. The short-term measures in the Stabilisation and Support Package will provide businesses some relief from the impact of the COVID-19 situation and will help workers retain their jobs. But while the support will help, the reliefs are short-term. No one can tell how long the COVID-19 situation will continue and more help may be required.

We do have to recognise that for some businesses, the impact of the current uncertainties has been quite sharp and although their business operations have been viable, the drastic drop in business demand and impact on supply chain will have significant short-term operational and cashflow impacts. Going through the immediate challenges will have to be priority for them if they are to be able to keep jobs. While the Stabilisation and Support Package does provide some relief on wage costs and funds training support, they may not be sufficient to help businesses. Employers will need to take the leadership on cost-management measures as well as partner with employees to help with cost-saving measures to protect jobs. Perhaps, more can be done to help businesses navigate existing programmes already in place that can complement Budget 2020 to manage this current business impact.

While the number of self-employed workers and freelancers form a small proportion of the workforce, they too, are experiencing a drop in demand for their services and they may need help with support or maybe even to find an employment. And I do hope more can be done for this group of workers as well.

The Budget's special focus on support for mid-career workers currently in their 40s and 50s who form a significant number of the workforce is welcomed. As Deputy Prime Minister Heng had said in the Budget, some in this segment have stayed with one company and have not made career changes since they left school. With the disruptions that we are seeing, the new technologies and the nature if jobs changing, many in this segment do need help to re-skill and more importantly, to adapt to the changes to compete for new opportunities.

While training and re-skilling is important, knowing what the opportunities are and aligning the training to available job opportunities is key for mid-career workers to secure suitable employment. And I must tell you that I do see my residents in this age group, struggling with finding suitable employment and this is not because they have not tried. Anxiety levels are really quite high, not just for them, but also for their families. I am also somewhat concern with the emphasis on training and re-skilling with this Budget because if many are trained and yet, they are not able to find suitable employment, we may have a situation where there is even greater frustration and anxiety.

For the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs), there is an online listing of roles and industries from different industries – from Precision Engineering, InfoComm, Food Manufacturing, Logistics and many more – outlining the scope of the application criteria and requirements for participating companies. What is the current number of available jobs that the PCPs have, either in the "Place-and-Train" orthe "Attach-and-Train", and how can mid-career workers avail themselves to these opportunities?

As we focus on supporting mid-career workers to develop new skills, we also have to find new pathways to allow these workers to learn new skills, and at the same time build upon the relevant skills and experience that they have built over the years. Sometimes, I feel that when we talk about re-skilling, we forget that these mid-career workers bring a wealth of knowledge, capabilities and experience that we should leverage on while we help them with re-skilling. This is something that I hope we can pay some attention to, because otherwise, it will be a waste of opportunities and also wasted skills. For example, if data analytics is the area of focus, as we re-skill the individual for this, how do we also look at his/her experience – perhaps we can say it is marketing,or management – and say how do you avail them to be able to use these skills across different industries and roles as they pick up this new skill. I think that is a critical area and it is an important area that we have to focused on.

Another area that I would also like to highlight is as we encourage employers to recruit, retain and re-skill mid-career Singaporeans, we must recognise that the current employment policies and practices need to also align. And what do I mean by that? Let me give you an example. For organisations, when they look at on-boarding their staff, they look at on-boarding staff to the new environment in the office, to the company and the company's policies and practices and business. For the mid-career worker, what is additionally required is also the on-boarding and transition to a new industry when you are looking at re-skilling and job role changes. I can tell that to you personally because I have experienced that. I have changed industries. And it can be extremely scary because you suddenly find yourself in situations where you do not even know what questions to ask, because you may not know what you do not know of your new industry. That kind of orientation – on-boarding and so on – is very important as well as the support systems to be put in place for that. Performance systems and management systems need to also evolve in the same way.

I am also encouraged that Budget 2020 focuses on supporting the building of social capability and capacity to foster a climate of change in our community and to channel the energies of our people around important social causes. Beyond the provision of funding, equally important is these platforms to encourage ground-up participation and bringing stakeholders together to catalyse more ground-up initiatives, crowd source ideas and drive innovation. The partnership of our people, businesses and Government to address social challenges together will help build a more cohesive and resilient Singapore for all Singaporeans. With that, I support the Budget.

1.07 pm

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, the Government has called this year's Budget, a "Unity Budget". Following from the theme of unity, the focus of my speech today is Unity Amidst Disruption.

Of all the areas covered by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's Budget speech, I was especially interested in the section on Navigating Long-Term Structural Shifts. He acknowledged the global decline in support for globalisation, with protectionism and nativism on the rise. On my part, I have been studying the phenomenon of globalisation for a while, and I would argue that the main debate today is not between those who support or reject globalisation. Instead, it is a more nuanced and constructive debate, about the kind of globalisation we should strive for, that would improve human welfare in a sustainable way. Those who advocate such human-centred globalisation are sometimes called "alternative globalisers".

At the outset, I should say that Singapore has been a major beneficiary of globalisation, with the Government providing leadership in this endeavour over the years. We have benefited from open trade, foreign investment and becoming a global financial centre. We are increasingly becoming a global knowledge hub. While these benefits are undeniable, the question is how the "losers" from globalisation are treated.

In 2006, when Singapore hosted the World Bank meetings, we were met head-on by protestors who came from abroad to make their customary presence felt at these meetings. While some may see them as disruptive and a nuisance, it is increasingly acknowledged that their underlying concerns were valid. These were concerns about the excesses of global capitalism, such as market destabilisation, exploitation of workers in poorer countries and the destruction of the environment through pollution.

Though some far-right groups in the world today seem to reject globalisation outright, this is not constructive, as it is simply not possible to unwind today's world of inter-connectedness and multi-polar supply chains. The most useful debate today is between the Neoliberalists, who overwhelmingly believe in the global free market, and the Reformists, who argue that global capitalism can be a force for good only when accompanied by policies that promote equitable growth, human security and sustainable development.

Today, three decades after globalisation took off, the protestors' core concerns are being recognised in the halls of power. Climate Change is on the international agenda and in this Budget. The OECD has sponsored work on subjective well-being and social welfare. Green financing is gaining momentum, with EU law requiring large companies to publish climate-related financial disclosures.

International financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have had a re-think about their policies too. This is especially so after the experience of the Asian Financial Crisis and the collapse of Latin American economies that took their advice. It is now acknowledged by these institutions that different countries are at different states of readiness, that there can be no universal set of rules for everyone. Indeed, the relative success of China and India in the era of globalisation has been attributed to their opening up of their markets in an incremental manner, giving local enterprises and workers time to adapt.

The lessons from the 1990s show that governments have an important role to play, to actively manage globalisation for their respective countries. The World Bank highlights that governments need to pay attention to the aspect of human security, such as through targeted poverty reduction and social safety nets.

Sir, I believe the Singapore Government knows this literature all too well. Though the Government does not label its initiatives in terms of alternative globalisation, some of its policies including in this Budget seek to mitigate the harsh impacts of economic liberalisation on Singaporeans. There are various schemes for targeted poverty reduction, for example, through rebates and other financial transfers weighted in favour of the poor. There are also important social safety nets, such as retraining and re-skilling efforts, which it is now re-doubling on.

Yet, as Deputy Prime Minister Heng acknowledges, workers have anxiety, especially those in their 40s and 50s. It is useful to unpack the source of such anxiety. Workers in their 40s and 50s are at a stage of their lives when they can least afford income disruption: they have children to raise, mortgages to pay and elderly parents who may be ailing and need financial support. Disruption can come anytime, through industries being off-shored elsewhere, or by being displaced through foreign competition within Singapore. To this end, I agree with the Government's effort in this Budget to boost the hiring of locals and mid-career transitioners, by reducing the S Pass sub-DRC in the Construction, Marine and Process industries.

Despite all these efforts, mid-career workers' anxiety will be hard to assuage. Why? Transitions into new industries take time. There could be mismatch between openings and applicants. Seeking assistance from Government agencies also positions the citizen as someone applying for help, which can be a humbling experience. All this can be a tremendous mental and emotional strain on the whole family. To illustrate, I know of one retrenched man, who has still not told his wife that he lost his job some months ago; every day he leaves home as usual and comes back at the usual time, while trying to find another job.

In dealing with the long-term structural shifts, the Government has devoted significant resources to enable workers to skill-up and transit to other industries. This is certainly needed. But is it time now to consider other measures too, that Singaporeans can tap on more seamlessly, and for security and peace of mind? It had always been a tenet of this Government to promote self-reliance among Singaporeans. Singaporeans, too, prefer to be self-reliant and not have to seek Government assistance at every turn.

With the weak economic outlook and soft job market, it may be the time to re-examine some policy approaches. For instance, I know of some mid-career employees who had been laid off and turned to Government agencies for assistance, but were unable to secure work for months, a point Ms Jessica Tan alluded to earlier as well. Some of them wanted to chart their own re-skilling towards a professional qualification in another field, which would require a significant cash outlay. One measure, which I think should be considered, is allowing more liberal use of CPF savings for education and re-skilling. This would be reasonable for CPF members whose savings already exceed the applicable Minimum Sums. I will speak more about this at MOM's Committee of Supply debate.

Another measure for consideration is some sort of redundancy insurance. This has been previously debated in this House, with the Government calling it, "not a crazy idea", but preferring its current approach of job creation and re-skilling. How confident is the Government that its existing schemes will be able to find solutions for everyone who applies?

Today's economic climate illustrates how such insurance could provide a stabiliser to workers, to soften the cliff-edge that they face with job disruption. Suffice to say for now, Sir, that the Government would need to re-assess its approaches periodically, as economic and technological realities change. If the anxiety of citizens is not taken seriously enough, the door to populism and nativism will widen.

Mr Speaker, I have tried in this speech to sketch out how globalisation has largely been a boon, especially to Asia and to Singapore. The forces of globalisation also pressure us to constantly up our game, re-skill and be prepared to be uprooted to stay relevant. This transition is not easy, and I appreciate that the Government has poured in resources to support Singaporeans in re-skilling and career transition. However, the anxiety and insecurity aspects will also need to be addressed adequately, in order to shore up the concept of unity which is the theme of this Budget.

Mr Speaker: Minister Ng Chee Meng.

1.16 pm

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Ng Chee Meng): Mr Speaker, we have had a challenging start to 2020. Singaporeans ushered in the new year amidst slowing economic growth and geo-strategic uncertainties. With COVID-19, this has further impacted the health of our economy. Although the severity of COVID-19 remains unclear, the Labour Movement will work closely with the Government and businesses to tackle the spread of the disease and protect workers.

I would like to thank workers on the frontlines, who are working tirelessly to keep us all going: our medical staff, drivers, air crews, cleaners, security officers and many more. Thank you.

Mr Speaker, we are not unfamiliar with the current situation, given our experience with SARS. We are now much better prepared to tackle an infectious disease outbreak such as COVID-19. Our medical infrastructure, public health knowledge and training have improved significantly over the years.

However, this time round, we are facing a deeper, more wide-ranging impact to our economy than before. Our world is now much more interconnected with China and the disruption to China's economy is starting to cause far-reaching ripple effects that have affected Singapore as well.

So, let us all be mentally prepared and importantly, ready ourselves, stay strong, and overcome any challenges that come our way.

As Secretary-General of NTUC, I commend the Government's swift and collected response to the outbreak. The strong Budget this year reflects the whole-of-Government approach to tackling the virus and maintaining our workers' confidence in the economy.

Over the past few weeks, the Labour Movement has been hard at work collecting worker feedback through our union leaders, industrial relations officers and from employer partners. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has factored this feedback into the Budget.

During this difficult time, workers are understandably worried for the health of their loved ones, friends and co-workers. Additionally, workers in some of the hardest hit sectors are facing daily disruptions and as Members have said before, they are worried about sustaining a steady income in this uncertain environment.

Just to give you a sense, hotel occupancy rates have gone down to as low as 35% or worse, from highs of 85% and more. Our taxi and private hire drivers have given me feedback that income has dipped of up to 40%. And even attractions in Singapore have seen visitorship drop by as much as 90%. So, many workers are anxious. They do not know if they can keep their jobs and worry about reduced incomes, given less work, less overtime.

As for employer feedback, we are starting to see delays in the supply chain as the reach of COVID-19 deepens. Also, some companies are suffering from a shortage of labour, while ironically, other sectors have excess capacity.

I am heartened to see the Budget address these issues and many more.

The $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package announced by the Government will help businesses across industries and specific sectors most affected by the outbreak, to help them defray business costs. Our workers can take comfort in knowing that the help for businesses will also help them keep their jobs and incomes. The $1.6 billion Care and Support Package shows care for workers and addresses the needs of older workers, young families, the lower income and our future generations.

On NTUC's part, we are doing what we can to help and protect our workers and their families.

Our union leaders are working hard to help companies manage excess manpower and reduce costs by arranging for subsidised worker training and upskilling through NTUC Learning Hub and NTUC e2i during this lull period. In some cases, this is arranged through our Company Training Committees which we launched last year and have proven useful.

We are also looking at ways in which we can help workers, in particular PMEs, with their job worries.

Something that could help is a pilot that NTUC is introducing this year, called the NTUC Job Security Council. I will explain more on this shortly, in response also to Ms Jessica Tan and Ms Sylvia Lim's point about worried workers.

For the self-employed, the Labour Movement is working together with Government agencies to help cushion the financial blow and organise relevant training.

Whilst we work together to overcome today’s challenges, I support the Government's $8.3 billion Transformation and Growth effort to transform our economy and prepare for the realities and opportunities that lie ahead.

Singapore continues to face long term challenges. Industry 4.0 is changing the nature of many jobs and creating new types of work: from 3D printing of our HDB flats, to friendly chatbots providing 24/7 frontline service to customers. All these are exciting opportunities which, if we can seize, will bring greater possibilities for our economy and for our workers.

And our labour force is also changing. Our resident labour growth is slowing and our workforce is ageing. There are now more PMEs in the workforce with better education and, in contrast, the proportion of rank-and-file workers is declining.

I know that it can be difficult to think about structural change over the long term while we are facing immediate concerns that seem so much more pressing. In these circumstances, workers do tell me that they sometimes struggle to keep up with these new realities. They are prepared for transformation and change but at the same time, these cause them much worry, whether they can adapt to these new realities.

But the Labour Movement wants to assure every worker that you matter and we will do our best to support you during this time.

And, in my view, every job counts.

And there is one thing we must do to enhance and that is to bring better job security for our workers. We believe that job security is the umbrella that protects our workers from passing thunderstorms.

In today's context, job security does not necessarily mean guaranteeing a job for life.

Times have changed. More and more, job security means providing workers with what they need for skills progression and job placement, which ultimately will improve their work prospects that would bring them more confidence and give themselves, the workers and their families peace of mind in the new economy.

Our NTUC Labour Members of Parliament will be speaking today on how we are working to ensure job security for every worker: older workers, women in the workforce, and especially the most vulnerable segments of our population, such as the lower income and the self-employed workers.

Ms Jessica Tan was almost speaking like a Labour Member of Parliament. And given that she has an important appointment as Director in Raffles Medical Group, it is music to my ears to hear an employer speaking in Parliament, calling for more to be done for our workers.

Let me elaborate on some of the tools with which we can promote job security for all workers, as Ms Sylvia Lim has also articulated.

NTUC introduced the Company Training Committees last year for union leaders and their management partners to work together for the company to drive towards transformation in partnership.

I am glad to hear Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat mention the benefits that the Company Training Committee platform has brought to our businesses and workers. These CTCs enable companies to refresh and deepen workers' skillsets in line with new technologies and importantly, tap on Government resources, such as the new SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit to aid with the needed training.

They have also the added benefit of providing a ready-made platform, avenue for management to discuss more immediate issues with the union, such as manpower and cost concerns arising out of COVID-19 today. Not originally intended but necessarily a good tool now for CTCs to enable the discussions between management and workers to think about training in the lull period.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which manages the Singapore Zoo, the Jurong Bird Park and other attractions has, as I said earlier, experienced a significant drop in visitor arrivals because of COVID-19.

Through a recent Company Training Committee meeting with the management, and in my discussion with them just this Monday, our unions proposed sending the workers for training and upskilling during this downtime. This will build the company's and the workers' capabilities in tandem and prepare them when the upturn in the economy comes, when more visitors come back to the Singapore Zoo and the Jurong Bird Park. Such a move will also give their workers the added assurance that they can continue with their jobs – less anxiety.

And I am happy to see that Wildlife Reserves Singapore is fully on-board. The company is particularly keen to build on their digital roadmap with the help of NTUC Learning Hub to identify and customise relevant courses, such as SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace, for its workforce of about 1,100 workers. These courses will help shape Worker 4.0, actualise the value of technology in the workplace and equally importantly, help workers improve their work prospects and job security over time.

When we first announced the Company Training Committees last year, the Labour Movement made a goal to have 1,000 CTCs in three years. I am pleased to update the House that we are well on our way to meeting this target. To-date, we have formed 352 CTCs and we are starting to see workers in companies, such as Wildlife Reserves Singapore, reap the benefits of this partnership. So, well done, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and our unions, Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union (AREU) and the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union (SMMWU).

However, we can do more. There are still some workers who continue to fall through the gaps.

Through my conversations, I have noticed. as many of your have, that there is a growing concern among workers, especially those in their 40s to 50s and, more often, PMEs who find themselves displaced or retrenched because their skills have become redundant as technologies evolve. And if they are retrenched, they can take a long time to get back into a job and one which may not pay as well or may not even fully utilise their skills.

Although these numbers are not large, for the individual worker or PME, who has mouths to feed and bills to pay, the situation can cause a lot of fear and anxiety. NTUC wants to ease this situation and help these workers and PMEs.

While the Labour Movement has already been training and matching workers on an informal basis, we want to formalise this process. NTUC is therefore piloting the NTUC Job Security Council, to improve the matching of displaced or retrenched workers into new jobs.

We will create an eco-system of "releasing" companies and "receiving" companies: "receiving" companies being those which can absorb skilled workers and PMEs into their workplace from the "releasing" companies.

The Job Security Council will work with companies to gather information on the job vacancies, jobs that may be phased out and importantly, jobs that could be redesigned for workers and PMEs. The Job Security Council will then match these workers and PMEs to vacancies within this network and where needed, identify the new skillsets required and top up workers' and PMEs' skills, where necessary, with the necessary training.

The Job Security Council can also help companies access the many Government schemes, such as the new SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package. All these schemes are intended to enhance skilling and placement efforts for local workers and PMEs. And NTUC or this Job Security Council can be the conduit to focus workers and companies on accessing the grants to help the workers seek new jobs and upgrade their skills.

The pilot will start with more than 4,000 companies. We have strong support from our valued tripartite partner, the Singapore National Employers Federation and many other Trade Associations and Chambers, such as the Workforce Advancement Federation supporting local SMEs, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and the Specialists Trade Alliance of Singapore from the building and construction industry. These 4,000-plus companies come from a wide range and diverse industries and are of many different sizes. I am excited to see MNCs such as Rolls Royce and GE Aviation coming on board. I visited Rolls Royce recently and was impressed by their dedication and commitment of the management to the workforce.

We have also some start-ups, local start-ups and SMEs such as Ebenezer Group in the Engineering sector, Blue Ventures Holdings in the Wholesale Trade as well as Swee Heng Bakery and Montreux Patisserie in the Food and Beverage sector.

Swee Heng Bakery is a household name and has been in the bakery scene for just over 30 years. Their efforts to keep relevant, causes them to up technology and in the process, partnering e2i to up the skills of the workers in using machinery and upping their productivity so that they can remain relevant and do a thriving business.

All these companies will stand to benefit from a lower cost ready-made recruitment tool through the Job Security Council; and with the added bonus of training and skills upgrading for our workers.

Companies will also have access to a community of HR personnel and senior management sharing best practices and progressive employment standards.

Through the Job Security Council, we want to create a win-win for companies and our workers. We hope to lessen the anxiety for workers and PMEs, and assure them that NTUC, the Labour Movement is doing what we can to help them find good jobs.

We look forward to taking this pilot further and we call on companies who may not have yet joined us to contact NTUC to come on board. So, Ms Jessica Tan, I expect a call from Raffles soon. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I have been very concerned about the employment situation of our workers, especially the middle-aged workers and PMEs who are in their 40s to 50s. Many who lost their jobs shared with me that they faced all kinds of difficulties finding a new job.

A year ago, we started exploring ways to help these workers. In the past half year, NTUC’s e2i has been in talks with many companies to join the NTUC Job Security Council.

Companies that join the Job Security Council – a handful may reduce manpower but many more want to hire workers. Through the Job Security Council, workers who are at risk of losing their jobs will be matched to companies that have suitable jobs for them. And if workers need to have different skills to take on the new jobs, e2i will arrange for them to undergo training and upskill themselves.

To date, we have more than 4,000 companies on board the NTUC Job Security Council, employing a total of more than 500,000 workers. More than 90% of these companies are SMEs.

We will continue to work with companies from more sectors and get them on board the Job Security Council so that more workers can benefit.

(In English): Mr Speaker, I will conclude. Around the world, the social compact in many societies is breaking down. The trust citizens have for their political leaders is eroding.

But in Singapore, we have the trust of Singaporeans. It is something that we must never take for granted. In Singapore, we enjoy the fruits of hard-earned tripartism, which has brought us economic resilience and social stability. Underpinned by this year's strong Budget, all these will ensure that Singaporeans’ lives are uplifted together.

The Labour Movement will continue to work with our Government and employers to improve the social and economic well-being of Singapore and Singaporeans. To this end, we will continue to strengthen and adapt the uniquely Singapore social compact so that it will stand the test of time. Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.

1.35 pm

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mr Speaker Sir, I rise in support of this year's Budget. Today, as we debate Budget 2020, Singapore as a country must grapple with the round-the-clock challenge of battling with COVID-19. This is over and above the continued race to keep up with the rise of digitalisation, new technologies and economic transformation. Against the backdrop of these exacting forces, the future of work, workers and workplaces will – and must – evolve and transform.

Thus far, many union leaders, workers as well as my grassroots leaders and residents have shared positive feedback about this year’s Budget. At a personal level, I am sure the Stabilisation and Support Package announced at Budget 2020 will be a boon to both businesses and workers, as it provides assurance and support in this time of economic uncertainty and ensure every worker matters and every job counts. On one hand, businesses will receive job and cash flow support to retain and retrain workers. On the other hand, our workers – from the young and mid-career to older workers – will get a much-needed boost, through the various SkillsFuture Credit schemes to upgrade, upskill and stay employable. What is particularly reassuring, is that Deputy Prime Minister Heng has also stated affirmatively in his speech that the Government is prepared to do more should the need arise.

This year’s Budget is seen as an expensive as well as an expansive one. I am particularly happy and delighted with three items fleshed out in the Budget because it has answered three calls which I have been making in this House.

First, is the $500 SkillsFuture Credit top up for all Singaporeans, which I have been lobbying for over the past two years. Some of you may not know but what is particularly beneficial and useful is that freelancers and self-employed individuals can also tap on their SkillsFuture Credits to learn new skills or even develop in their field. I am heartened, therefore, that this top-up will give all Singaporeans aged 25 and above, an added push, as they make lifelong learning a way of life.

Second, is the added focus on mid-career workers between the ages of 40 to 60 years old through the various programmes and policies. Based on labour market statistics and reports, this group continues to be the most vulnerable and affected by retrenchments, with higher skilled, middle-aged PMEs the hardest hit. Mature and older workers, including PMEs, also face greater difficulty in the job market with the long-term unemployment rate of Singaporeans climbing with age. For those who are unemployed or retrenched, re-entry into the labour market is also an uphill task. In my interactions with mature workers, and especially PMEs, they have shared their concerns about being made redundant by younger colleagues or being replaced by technology and job automation. In short, they worry about staying employed and employable.

Third, would be the creation of the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit for Employers. This is also something I have suggested in this House. I hope this credit for employers will serve as a catalyst for companies, especially SMEs, to develop their workforce as they transform their business, by embracing and investing in skills upgrading and training of their workers. In particular, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit will further augment and complement existing efforts by the NTUC and our affiliated unions to partner companies in forming Company Training Committees. These efforts, which were introduced last year, aim to equip workers across all sectors and all sizes of companies with the necessary skills, so that they can secure better wages, better welfare and better work prospects.

Notwithstanding a laudable budget, I have five specific suggestions for consideration.

First, to speed up the disbursement of Jobs Support Scheme and SkillsFuture Top-Up. In the near term, some companies that are directly affected are already feeling the effects of economic fallout brought about by COVID-19 and any immediate relief is welcomed. As such, can the disbursement of the Jobs Support Scheme be brought forward from the start date of July 2020?

In the same vein, many workers, especially the freelance and self-employed, have asked if the SkillsFuture Top-up originally scheduled in October 2020 can be rolled-out earlier, so that they can make use of this period of downtime to embark on the relevant training. As I urge the speeding up of disbursements, I also suggest for the Government's support to lengthen and stretch the validity of these schemes should the situation worsen or become prolonged.

Second is to expand the Training Support for Mid-Career Singaporeans. My second suggestion is not to confine the additional top-up for those aged 40 to 60 years old only to those 200 career transition programmes offered by the CET centres as outlined in Annex B-2 to the Budget Statement. I urge for the courses availed to include those recognised under the ITM Skills Framework as well as suitable Government and NTUC run courses and programmes and those of our company training committees. By the same token, to minimise jobs and skills mismatches, career advisors could look at providing peer-level support for this group and additional support such as coaching to identify skills gaps and training intervention that may be needed.

Third is to restore the Surrogate Employer Programme. During the SARS crisis in 2003, I was in NTUC overseeing the Surrogate Employer Programme, where NTUC acted as a surrogate employer and helped many of those affected by the downturn such as Tour Guides as well as SIA's Cabin Crew who were on unpaid leave, to go for training and upgrading while benefiting from a training allowance. These efforts resulted in a win-win-win for all, in that when the Singapore economy rebounded months later, affected workers who had the training allowance as stipend, could now return to their jobs and assignments quickly to the delight of their employers and customers. In addition, they were now armed with additional qualifications such as a Diploma in Hospitality or other related certifications. I see a good opportunity for us to revisit and reintroduce this scheme to support workers who may fall through the cracks or those not covered under the current schemes such as our freelancers and self-employed Singaporeans.

To further support this group of workers, could the Government also look at extending calibrated wage support through sector agencies to help them cope with the immediate impact brought about by the current economic situation. NTUC stands ready to partner the Government to administer the Surrogate Employer Programme so that this group of workers can also benefit from training assistance and incentives.

Fourth, to raise the absentee payroll and course fee funding. In light of the current situation, as well as business slowdown for many industries and possibility of recession, the Government can step in to provide an additional nudge and incentive for employers to send all their workers for training and skills upgrading through increasing the absentee payroll and course fee funding. Minimally, I submit that this enhanced critical funding can help to address the vulnerabilities of the mature and older workers in this time and space.

Today, the world has changed and continues to change. Against an increasingly uncertain global environment and an economy that is facing challenges both in the short term and long term, many of our workers are understandably worried that their jobs will be impacted.

To ensure job security for workers, my fifth suggestion would be the formation of Job Security Councils. As NTUC Secretary-General and Minister Ng Chee Meng has shared, NTUC will be piloting a Jobs Security Council, JSC, for short, to pre-emptively match at-risk workers and PMEs into jobs. Through the JSC, NTUC and its affiliated unions will help displaced workers find new jobs within the network – and where necessary, provide the requisite training to help workers smoothly transition from one job to another. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The COVID-19 outbreak will undoubtedly affect our economy. Many workers have told me that they were worried about their jobs. I fully understand their concerns.

The new Budget, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng, is both assuring and stimulating. Not only does it address the immediate needs but also focus on long-term planning. With regard to this, I have five suggestions:

First, speed up the disbursement of the Jobs Support Scheme and the additional $500 SkillsFuture Top-up, encouraging businesses and workers to make use this period of down time to restructure, train and upgrade.

Second, allow Singaporeans between 40 to 60 years old to have more courses availed to them, including those recognised under the ITM Skills Framework or relevant courses offered by NTUC.

Third, restore the Surrogate Employer Programme so that freelancers, self-employed persons or certain neglected workers can also receive allowances during their absence so that they can go for courses for upgrading.

Fourth, raise the absentee payroll to encourage businesses to send their workers for training.

Fifth, at the same time, we must pay attention to jobs security of our workers. As NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng has announced, NTUC will set up a Jobs Security Council to help retrenched workers with job matching and necessary training through e2i.

(In English): My view is that this is a comprehensive and inclusive Budget – one that will help Singapore overcome our short-term challenges and at the same time prepare ourselves for future threats, disruptions and opportunities. I urge our tripartite partners and all of us in Singapore to rally together, stay united and look out for one another. This is so that we can navigate and overcome this rough patch together, and then ride on the wave of change and embrace the upturn thereafter as one Singapore.

1.46 pm

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Budget. The COVID-19 crisis is named for the last day of last year on 31 December 2019, China informed the World Health Organization of a novel virus pneumonia in Wuhan.

Singapore has close links with China. Our Changi Airport receives an average of 330,000 visitors from China each month. On 2 January, MOH alerted all doctors to identify any patient with pneumonia and a recent travel history to Wuhan. A day later, we started temperature screening at our airport of all travellers arriving from Wuhan.

More information starting coming out from China, including the vital fact that the virus could be transmitted from human. By then, it was late January. On 23 January, Singapore diagnosed its first case of COVID-19, a tourist from Wuhan. Since then, we have seen the best, and the worst of ourselves. The heroes in this fight are undoubtedly the healthcare staff – doctors, nurses and all in the healthcare industry – who work under incredible pressures and fears.

Nurses who care for COVID-19 patients are working with cumbersome masks and protective wear. Those of us who have worn an N95 will know how hard it is to breath under one of these, even for half an hour. Yet they have to go through entire working days with these, sometimes doing delicate work, taking blood and other procedures, all the while knowing that these bodily fluids are infected. There is a real risk. And many of these same people would have worked at their jobs when we had SARS.

When they can finally take off their equipment, clean up and go to lunch, some of them are unfortunately shunned and avoided. On trains and buses, their uniforms are a badge for isolation. Unfortunately, there are some who mocked the great, who toiled so hard and late.

Prime Minister Lee, our Ministers, our union leaders and community leaders have all made many visits to these workers, openly standing shoulder to shoulder with them, no masks, just smiles.

I also count among these, the selfless and courageous grassroots volunteers. In the distribution of masks exercise, many volunteers stepped forward to make the whole process seamless and smooth. There are also others who declined their quota of masks, saying to give them to others as they already have secured their supply of face masks.

Then, there are the students of our Universities which give me hope for the future. I saw on television a student's union President Mr Richard Wang, who delivered food to his fellow students regularly and without complaint. Then, there was SCDF Corporal Mohd Shahrom who picked up a patient suspected to have, and later confirmed to have the virus. And then, there was Mr Keith Aw, from MOM, who checked on foreign workers on Leave of Absence, speaking to them for up to 10 minutes a time.

All these people act, not because they have no fear, but they act in spite of fear. There is no Budget measure that accounts for greatness.

I also want to speak about the wise – the key decision makers, including public health officials who have acted so quickly and decisively in this crisis. Contact tracing and quarantine orders were swiftly issued. We instituted travel declarations and entry restrictions; there were also leave of absence from work and stay home notices that were instituted.

These are not easy decisions and cause a lot of disruption to people's lives and livelihoods. But the price of leadership is to sacrifice the popular for the right.

For many of us in this House, this solidarity reminds us of SARS in 2003 when 238 people were infected with 33 fatalities. Since that time, we have the new National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), we have also built a national stockpile of face masks. This again, is the prescience of those who are wise among us.

The leaders who have made all the difficult calls. Not just the Cabinet Ministers but the men and women on the ground who have had to make difficult calls at a time of fear and panic. And, of course, the opportunists will mock the wise, they will spew untruths and outright lies. Even in such trying times, some would take the opportunity to spread fake news. The POFMA office was kept busy during this period too. I am glad that we have POFMA. Left unchecked, the spread of deliberate online falsehoods will have serious consequences which society will ultimately have to pay a heavy price for.

I count these measures that we have outlined in this Budget to be among the wise decisions. Overall, there is nothing much that one can find fault with our Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in this year’s Unity Budget. I would like to confine my comments to SMEs and have a couple of suggestions for the Finance Minister to consider.

For promising SMEs, the Government has announced that ESG will launch an Enterprise Transform package with focus on leadership. It will also support business leaders of 900 SMEs over the next three years with training and mentorship.

This is a much welcome move. However, smaller SMEs might have issues understanding Government initiatives and programmes in English and so I suggest such initiatives and programmes to be translated into Mandarin, Malay and Tamil so that the wider business communities can understand and embark on such initiatives. The language gap requires another sort of translation. We need to make these schemes more accessible by showing SMEs how such Government grants can help them so that they do not miss out on them.

The Government has also announced COVID-19 relief measures to support SMEs in affected sectors in the form of tax rebates, bridging loans, rental waivers, wage subsidies, higher absentee payroll and training course subsidies, foreign worker levy waivers and so on. These are certainly appreciated by SMEs and businesses. However, there are some gaps.

First, the ground feedback that I have received is that the Job Support Scheme to be given out in July 2020 is rather late and does little to help mitigate cash-flow issues. Time is of the essence for these SMEs as the adverse business impact they are facing now due to COVID-19 is a significant one and they are crying out for help with urgency.

Second, there is no additional Absentee Payroll and training course subsidies for enterprises affected by COVID-19 to send excess manpower for training.

Third, there is no foreign worker levy waiver for enterprises affected by COVID-19, especially when foreign workers represent a significant manpower share in the food services and retail sectors.

I hope the Government will consider and see if these gaps can be addressed.

The day that Singapore announced that it was going DORSCON Orange, there was frenzied buying at the supermarkets. But it was not the long queues at the supermarkets but the long queues later for a separate matter that I would like to remember.

Two weeks ago, the Red Cross Singapore called for Singaporeans to donate their blood as blood stock levels for some blood types were running critically low. Many came forward – there were crowds of Singaporeans at the four blood banks around the island. Meantime, there are other stories of people being incredibly altruistic – leaving sanitizers and masks for their neighbours.

Then unfortunately there are those who take advantage of this crisis, to do great harm. MOH had to release a statement to warn the community of scam calls impersonating the MOH Contact Tracing team in an attempt to retrieve personal financial details. The Police have also arrested five people for their suspected involvement in five separate e-commerce scams involving the online sale of face masks.

There are those among us who are great and wise and good. And there will always be those who mock them. Those who use fake news or false news. Those who are socially irresponsible. Those who behave badly.

What about those of us, who are neither great, nor wise, nor good? We ordinary men and women of Singapore can be decent. As you know, Fairprice was caught up in this panic buying. As the Group CEO of NTUC Fairprice, I witnessed first hand the shopping frenzy by many people on those two days – Friday and Saturday. This shopping behaviour was quite broad-based covering all age groups, races and social strata.

To instil calm to all, NTUC Fairprice instituted a variety of measures including the imposition of purchase limits on some items; as to be expected, when this was first announced, it attracted quite a lot of noise and there was a minority group that criticised our move but I would say a large majority were in favour. In fact, many of them suggested to me that when this episode is over, FairPrice should not allow people who stock up to return their excess goods to us to get a refund. This is actually our standard policy. This so as to teach people a lesson on buying responsibly and not hoard first only to return the stocks later. I thank everyone who have given me various suggestions – I think what we will do is to encourage all those who had bought probably a bit too much to consider donating their excess stocks to Food Bank or Food from the Heart. Maybe I will set up a collection counter for them too.

At the same time, I am also heartened and warmed by the many calls from members of the public who reached out to me to volunteer their services to help out in any crisis, if needed.

As I look back over the last one month, I see a Government that has led from the front, been decisive in managing this crisis and coming up with a comprehensive, assuring and caring Budget that takes care of businesses and citizens alike whilst transforming, supporting and building a sustainable Singapore .

Even in the aspect of face masks, I think Singapore may be the only country in the world to ensure that every citizen, every household has some face masks at their home.

Mr Speaker, this Budget is for all of us, those among us who are great and wise and good. Those who mock them – purveyor of false news, socially irresponsible, the boors of society. Most of all, the Budget is for the ordinary men and women of Singapore who are decent and care for our fellowmen, who would work together to stem out the foul storm that is facing Singapore. This Budget has something for us all, and I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng and his team for their inclusive and thoughtful rendering that is this Unity Budget.

1.58 pm

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, COVID-19 has grabbed headlines as the first major public health emergency of this new decade, and I am glad to see that the Government is dedicating a substantial $5.6 billion to help businesses and workers most affected by the crisis.

But while our nation unites to tackle the pandemic, we must not forget that long-term structural challenges – such as the declining support for globalisation, an ageing workforce and the uncertainties surrounding our economy – continue to persist. More worryingly, some of these challenges are now being accelerated due to COVID-19. The confluence of these factors will impact our entire economy, and I am heartened to note that the Government will be investing $8.3 billion to drive industry transformation and develop our workers for the future. However, more can be done to help our PMETs, which according to a 2019 report published by DBS Senior Economist, Irvin Seah, PMETs are now the "new vulnerables" among our workforce.

My speech today will focus on how we can help vulnerable PMETs stay employed, be more employable and help those who are feeling “sandwiched” financially. Let me elaborate.

Mr Speaker, I am happy to note that Budget 2020 has placed an emphasis on helping mid-career PMETs, currently in their 40s and 50s, through the Mid-Career Support Package. This is a timely move as PMETs in this age group are arguably at one of the most vulnerable stages in their careers. And they are vulnerable in two key areas – employment and employability.

Let me first touch on employment vulnerability, or better known as job security. Employment data over the past decade has shown that PMETs are increasingly at risk of being retrenched. According to the retrenchment statistics released by MOM, the proportion of PMETs among workers being retrenched annually has grown from 37% in 2008 to 65% in 2018. This upward trend is unlikely to be reversed anytime soon and will be accelerated in the event of an economic downturn.

PMETs, particularly those in their mid-career, are also vulnerable in terms of employability. Those who do not keep their skill sets current will find it hard to secure new jobs when they are displaced. As the Deputy Prime Minister noted in his Budget speech, many of our mid-career PMETs grew up in a time when it is seen as the norm to stay in one company for life until retirement. However, with technology cycles shorter than ever, many are now at risk of being displaced by fresh graduates if they do not equip themselves with new technical and new technology skills.

Quantitatively, we are already seeing this trend happening. If we analyse the rate of re-entry into employment among retrenched residents from MOM's Labour Market Survey, it shows that workers aged 40 and above have lower re-entry rates than their younger counterparts.

So, how then, can we better support this group of vulnerable mid-career PMETs to have better job security, and boost their employability if and when they get displaced? I am proposing three strategies: (a) build a strong eco-system of job security support within each sector; (b) bring training closer to our mid-career PMETs; and (c) equip them with adaptive skills beyond technical and technology skills.

Let me start with providing better job security support to our PMETs. First, I would like to commend Budget 2020 for introducing the Stabilisation and Support Package amounting to $4 billion, which will support our enterprises in keeping their workers during the economic slowdown and position them to rebound quickly once the crisis is over.

However, in the longer term, we need to ensure that our economic sectors are self-sustaining. And in my view, the concept of the Job Security Council, which the NTUC Secretary-General Mr Ng Chee Meng had highlighted in his speech earlier, is a useful way forward. By creating a structure to formalise the matching of displaced workers in an affected sector to a growing sector in need of manpower, we will be able to achieve a more resilient employment landscape. The NTUC Job Security Council will benefit all working professionals and will go a long way to mitigate the increased risk of retrenchments that our PMETs face in today’s fast-changing operating environment. I am therefore glad to see such strong support during the pilot phase and I urge more companies to come on board this initiative.

Mr Speaker, we also need to ensure that our PMETs remain employable and constantly upgrade themselves to take on the new jobs of tomorrow. To do so, we must bring training closer in terms of relevance, cost and location.

First, we need to make training more relevant to our PMETs. From my weekly visits to workplaces, many PMETs have told me that while they understood the importance of going for training and staying current with industry trends, they are unable to see how going for generic courses can help them in their specific line of work. This is why the NTUC, through its affiliated unions, has initiated the formation of Company Training Committees (CTCs) with our unionised companies. These CTCs are meant to help our workers answer the two common questions of "Train what?" and "Train for what?" Through the CTCs, we work with companies to assess their specific business and operational needs and translate these needs into a targeted training plan for employees to close the skills gap and at the same time remain employable.

In the area of cost, training must be made more affordable and within the financial reach for our PMETs. In previous Budgets, my fellow Labour MPs and I had called for top-ups to the SkillsFuture Credit and we are glad that this suggestion has been adopted. The top-ups will certainly help our workers offset the costs of keeping their skill sets relevant. I also support the $500 special top-up to the SkillsFuture Credit accounts for mid-career workers aged 40 to 60.

I note, however, that this Special SkillsFuture Credit is limited for use to only about 200 selected career transition programmes. I hope that the Government can expand this to include all Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses as well as programmes to help our PMETs to deep-skill themselves. Deep-skill training programmes require a certain level of experience as a pre-requisite and are often more costly due to their small niche. Perhaps the Government can consider mapping deep-skill training courses to the proficiency levels found in the Skills Framework and allow eligible programmes to be further subsidised. This way, we can help to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses for those who wish to gain a deeper mastery of their profession.

Additionally, with our ageing workforce and the corresponding rise in our retirement and re-employment ages, I hope the Government can extend the Special SkillsFuture Credit top-up to those beyond 60 years of age. Just as we should support those who wish to continue working beyond 60, we should also support them in their pursuit of lifelong learning.

Like my NTUC colleague, Mr Patrick Tay, I would also urge the Government to bring forward the disbursement of the SkillsFuture Credit top-ups from the current date of 1 October. As the Chinese proverb goes: "远水救不了近火". We should disburse the additional SkillsFuture Credit sooner rather than later so that our workers can attend the necessary training during this near-term economic lull and be equipped with new skills and confidence when our respective industries recover.

Beyond cost, we need to bring the training programmes physically closer to our mid-career PMETs. Some courses just cannot be done online. For courses that require a physical premise, schools, institutes of higher learning, and even neighbourhood Community Centres (CCs) serve as a more convenient location for our working people to go and upgrade themselves.

The Labour Movement will do our part to bring training closer to our working professionals. Here, I would like to announce that our U PME Centre will evolve to a mobile centre and bring our services closer to our PMETs. Currently, the U PME Centre sits at the NTUC Members Hub in One Marina Boulevard, helping to equip PMET union members with a growth mindset through services such as career development workshops and job preparation courses. The existing centre has done well, serving over 1,500 individuals in the past three years. Moving forward, we will bring these workshops and training programmes closer to our PMETs. For a start, U PME Centre will set up on-demand mobile centres at the three CCs located within the Moulmein-Cairnhill constituency at Cairnhill, Tanglin and Pek Kio. I understand the grassroot advisor has been most supportive of this. We will gradually extend our services to all 11 CCs located within the Tanjong Pagar GRC. I hope that the Government can partner with us to progressively open all CCs and even the Residents' Committee (RC) Centres to the mobile U PME Centre so that we, the Labour Movement, can deliver our programmes closer to the heartlands.

Mr Speaker, as the pace of technological transformation at the workplace accelerates, employers are increasingly looking to hire and retain candidates with the right set of adaptive skills beyond just technical skills that can enable them to succeed at the workplace. Skills such as project management and communication are becoming more in demand.

The Labour Movement will therefore work with our extensive network of professional associations to equip more PMETs with adaptive skills to improve their employment prospects. I am pleased to share that we will be partnering with the Project Management Institute Singapore Chapter (SPMI) to roll out free workshops on project management fundamentals through our new mobile U PME Centre. We will also work with ClickInsight, a digital marketing firm, to provide free digital marketing workshops.

NTUC will continue working with our professional associations to expand the range of our adaptive skills training. I urge all PMETs to sign up as an NTUC member to enjoy access to these workshops and to also tap on the yearly $250 union training subsidy, which can be added onto your SkillsFuture Credit top-ups to improve your own employability.

Mr Speaker, as the demographics of our working population shifts to become majority PMETs, more emphasis needs to be placed in equipping them with the necessary financial management skills and tools. Many PMETs find themselves "sandwiched" financially as they have both young children and elderly parents to care for. It is therefore important that we help them navigate through this period and emerge with sound financial footing so that they can achieve their desired quality of life during retirement.

The Labour Movement has been doing our part to support workers in financial planning. MoneyOwl, one of our new social enterprises, was created to offer comprehensive and conflict-free advice to families and help them plan for their retirement needs. Since it was formed in 2018, MoneyOwl has benefited more than 5,000 people. I am happy to share that MoneyOwl has recently launched a comprehensive financial planning service to help Singaporeans plan for retirement and for their children’s educational needs. This tool incorporates the use of the various CPF schemes and provides workers with an analysis of their financial health, including gaps in their insurance protection and investments based on their own individual risk profile.

Moving forward, NTUC will partner with the Financial Planning Association of Singapore to run complimentary financial planning workshops for our union members. These workshops will be made available through the mobile U PME Centre to benefit more PMETs and their families.

The Labour Movement, through the good work of our social enterprises such as the NTUC Fairprice, will continue to do our part and do our best to help moderate the cost of living in Singapore. Through the Consumer Association of Singapore, we have also launched tools such as Price Kaki and Fuel Kaki to help consumers compare prices of essential household goods, hawker food and fuel. I urge everyone to tap on these resources to get more bang for your buck.

Mr Speaker, as the Deputy Prime Minister has rightly pointed out, Singapore’s biggest asset is our exceptional people. COVID-19 can serve as an opportunity amid a public health and economic crisis. I call on employers to use the resources presented at this Budget as a springboard to position your businesses and our workers to ride the waves of recovery. We can also do more to equip our PMETs with the right financial planning skills and help them in their journey towards better retirement adequacy. Together, let us continue investing in our people and ensure that our people remains exceptional.

Finally, to all our PMETs, the Labour Movement is aware of your concerns and your anxieties. We have weathered through storms and crisis before and we will do so again. Regardless of whether you are a fresh graduate, in your mid-career, or in your silver years, the Labour Movement will be there for you because for us, every worker matters. Join us and, together, we can and, together, we will turn crisis into opportunity and emerge stronger and more future-ready than before. Mr Speaker, with that, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon.

2.14 pm

The Senior Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Mr Speaker, Sir, Budget 2020 is a strategic budget. One that not only addresses short-term concerns of our workers and businesses but also invest in the long-term economic transformation and growth of Singapore. The theme for this year's Budget – "Advancing as One Singapore" – reminds us that when we work as one, we can overcome any challenges.

Our frontline workers who have been working tirelessly around the clock in our fight against COVID-19 and the many ground-up initiatives and responses from the community rallying behind them embody the strong Singapore spirit that will see us through any challenge.

To our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, our cleaning and security personnel, public officers and all our frontline workers, thank you. Thank you for working tirelessly to keep Singaporeans and Singapore safe through this COVID-19 period.

While the impact on COVID-19 is most acutely felt in sectors like retail, tourism and hospitality, the prolonged shutdown of factories in China, has disrupted supply chains around the world and the manufacturing sector here in Singapore is not spared from such an impact. The manufacturing and service sectors are also facing a manpower squeeze as many workers from China are unable to return to Singapore yet for work. This adds extra pressure or our already tight labour market.

As the Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and the Executive Secretary of the Metal Industries Workers' Union, I get feedback from our management partners that for companies with supply chains that are linked to China factories, they have been a reduction in demand of their products by up to about 20%. Some may experience even greater drop in demand. Some manufacturing companies have therefore started to reduce or freeze workers' over-time hours while others are planning for shorter work week, if the situation in China does not improve.

While support measures have been extended to sectors such as those that are most immediately affected by COVID-19, I hope that the Government can pay special attention to sectors that may feel the downstream ripple effects of COVID-19, especially if the situation is protracted.

Sir, the Stabilisation and Support Package brings relief to the cashflow of companies and helps them cope with the impact of COVID-19 through a combination of rental waivers, tax reliefs and bridging loans. Manpower costs are also a significant expenditure for companies and the wage support measures that are announced during this period will help companies to "cut costs to save jobs" instead of "cutting jobs to save costs". This is well received by many of my union leaders and workers, who told me that while they are worried about the impact of COVID-19 on their job security, they are thankful that the Jobs Support Scheme and the Wage Credit Scheme will help enterprises retain their workers and protect the jobs that they have. Protecting the jobs of our workers will also allow our companies to retain their critical manpower capabilities, so they can respond swiftly when the DORSCON level normalises and the economy picks up again.

During a downturn when the volume of work is reduced, the enhanced Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) and the newly announced SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit can help companies to redesign jobs, upskill their workers and look at long-term business transformation so that when economic recovery occurs, companies will be able to swiftly respond and capture new opportunities. These two points are worth emphasising. The Labour Movement supports the Budget measures in the Stabilisation and Support Package.

Our unions have been working closely with their management partners over the last few weeks to see how best they can utilise the downtime to re-skill workers, especially those whose jobs have been impacted by COVID-19. One such example is Copthorne King's Hotel. Working with the Food Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), the hotel's General Manager, Mr Kung Teong Wah, saw value in tapping on the Hotel Job Redesign Place-and-Train programme to multi-skill their workers in other job functions so that they can actually be cross-deployed into other departments when there is a shortage of manpower. He even took the initiative to convince General Managers from other hotels within the same group to do likewise in order to avoid asking their workers to go on mandatory annual leave or to take no-pay leave. This is just one of the first-mover from our unionised companies, who is taking the lead to send workers for training during this downturn and I hope that more companies will also seize the opportunity to do so.

However, some companies and workers have expressed difficulties navigating the huge number of courses available for skills training and therefore are unsure of how to select the courses appropriate for their needs. They found it difficult to map the type of training to the specific skills in the skills framework that are promulgated by SkillsFuture Singapore and hope that the training they received could be better recognised by employers as well as the industry towards their career progression. There is a need for Government agencies to work with tripartite partners as well as HR practitioners to streamline the approach and make the "customer journey" of lifelong learning a much easier one to navigate. This will complement the Government's efforts in providing more SkillsFuture Credits at both the individual and enterprise level.

For companies that are keen to train their workers but are unable to find courses due to training gaps currently available in the industry, NTUC LearningHub stands ready to work with companies to bridge the gap and strengthen training in the respective sectors.

In coping with COVID-19, many companies have also implemented their Business Continuity Plans or BCPs. Many have split team arrangements to minimise the risks of community spread while ensuring operational continuity. In place of face-to-face meetings or discussions, the teams now meet virtually over their smart phones or laptops. Companies can take this opportunity to help these workers transit and become more digitally confident and at the same time, use this as impetus to accelerate the digital transformation of their business processes. Through the use of technology and job redesign, flexi-work arrangements for certain jobs can indeed be a more permanent arrangement to save on operating costs like office rental and utilities while providing the opportunity for employees to remain productive and empowered to manage their time flexibly. This can also meet the needs of many working mothers to balance their childcaring needs and career aspirations while contributing positively to our labour force. So, it is in a crisis where we must make the full use of it to push ourselves to transform even faster.

In coping with the near-term challenges brought about by COVID-19, our companies should therefore not forget about the long-term goal of growing and expanding their businesses through deeper industry transformation. The Labor Movement has been advocating for the formation of Company Training Committees (CTCs) to help drive companies' transformation. As shared by NTUC Secretary-General, Mr Ng Chee Meng earlier, to date, we have 352 companies, that have formed CTCs across the various industry clusters.

Allow me to share a little bit more about this. NTUC has also, in this process, partnered A*STAR, to train a group of 28 Industry Training Officers (ITOs) to conduct the Operations Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process through the CTCs as a platform in which the process can run. This helps our companies to systematically map out the process of using technology, process change, work re-design and workers' training to turn their strategic business objectives into concrete, tangible, actionable items.

Some CTCs have already completed the OTR process and are pushing ahead with their transformation. Let me share an example. Energizer, a unionised company, a household name, under the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI), is one such example. The US-based multinational corporation has over 500 workers in their branch here in Singapore and they were looking to increase their productivity, optimise resources and manpower, as well as upskill their workers. The company embarked on the OTR process in September last year and within a month, completed the entire process. Our Union Leader, Sister Sukartini, who is the Branch Chair of UWEEI in Energizer, was involved in the whole OTR process. Because she was able to give critical inputs about workers' concerns and understanding of the ground situation, this has helped the company's management to identify gaps and blind spots in the roadmap. The OTR process has certainly helped Energizer to identify transformation priorities and action plans. The CTC will be the platform for regular tracking of their transformation objectives.

Apart from MNCs, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the SMEs, are also leveraging the CTC platform and the OTR process to systematically transform their businesses. Fong's Engineering is an SME unionised under the Metal Industries Workers' Union. I have shared in previous Budget speeches before how Fong's has embraced innovation and business model transformation very much early on to help keep themselves ahead of the competition. While having done their own company planning previously, Fong's still chose to undertake the OTR process in November last year. The aim is to re-evaluate the relevance of their previous transformation plans and through this OTR process, Fong's managed to pinpoint some blind spots in their current transformation plan that needed a further in-depth analysis, they identified additional talent and training needs and updated their transformation plan to move even more decisively for the next two years ahead. So, whether you are a MNC or a SME, let me encourage all companies to work with our Labour Movement via the CTC platform to hasten and to deepen your transformation.

Through the CTCs, the unions work closely with the companies and relevant agencies in the Government to tap on the various support measures and resources to make the company transformation and the workers' training a reality. The enhanced EDG and the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit announced in this Budget will provide useful funding resources to this tripartite effort to catalyse industry transformation. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] With the reduction in workload during this lull period, the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) as well as the SkillsFuture Enterprise Grant can be used to help companies re-design jobs and enhance the skills of their workers. They can focus on business transformation, respond quickly and seize new opportunities when the economy recovers. In the past few weeks, NTUC and our management partners have been working closely to see how we can make full use of the lull period to upskill workers.

Currently, there are many skills upgrading courses in the market. However, with so many different courses to choose from, some companies and workers are at a loss about which courses to pick. They also find it difficult to map the training courses against the skills framework developed by SkillsFuture Singapore, and hope that the training they have undergone will be better recognised by their employers and the industry, and that it will help advance their career. Government ministries and agencies need to work with their tripartite partners and human resource professionals to streamline the matching of courses with the skills framework, and make the “customer experience” of lifelong learning more manageable. This will fit in better with the Government’s efforts to provide more SkillsFuture Credits at the individual and enterprise level.

To manage the operational risks of COVID-19, many companies have rolled out business continuity plans, adopted segregated work arrangements and allowed some workers to tele-commute using their laptops. Companies can make use of this opportunity to build digital confidence amongst employees and accelerate the digital transformation of their business operations. Flexible work arrangements for certain job functions could also be made permanent. This will not only help companies save on operational costs like office rentals and utilities, but also help many working parents better balance work demands and parental duties, which will encourage more to contribute to our workforce. I hope that companies and workers will ride on the momentum driven by this crisis to deepen and accelerate the pace of transformation.

The Labour Movement is committed to partner with the Government and employers to work towards a brighter future for Singapore.

(In English): Mr Speaker, this year's Budget builds on the previous year's efforts to upskill our workforce and transform our industries while providing crucial help for our workers, our enterprises and our economy to get through the challenges posed by COVID-19. The Labour Movement stands ready to work with the Government and our employers to Advance as One Singapore and build a stronger and better future for Singapore. I support this Budget.

2.30 pm

Mr Arasu Duraisamy (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Budget 2020, as announced by Minister for Finance, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, is both responsive and forward-thinking, amid the on-going COVID-19 outbreak and a slowing economy. The Budget reflects the values and priorities of our citizens and charts the direction to deploy our limited financial resources to meet our nation's goals and objectives. A substantial budget amount has been put aside for Health, Education and measures that address climate change. Rightly so and I welcome these moves.

The Deputy Prime Minister spoke on another critical aspect of the Budget that is of importance to the workers of Singapore. That is on transforming our industries and workforce. Let me pause here to declare my interest as a unionist and a representative of the Labour Movement in Singapore.

Singapore went through a major industrial transformation in the 1970s and the government of the day then stepped up training of the workforce to handle new jobs that came into Singapore. Fifty years have gone by and we now at the crossroads of change. Our economy while fundamentally strong has slowed down tremendously with an overall growth of just 0.7% in 2019. With global trade slowdown and growing uncertainties, MTI has downgraded Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be around -0.5% to 1.5% for 2020.

To deal with the immediate challenge, the proposed Stabilising and Support Package under Budget 2020 will help enterprises with wage cost and cash flow pressures as they grapple with the current economic slowdown. At the same time, it will help our workers to stay in their jobs and to go for skills upgrading.

I applaud the Jobs Support Scheme, which aims to ensure that our workers stay employed by supporting companies defray their wage cost. It will offset 8% of a Singaporean worker's wage, capped at $3600. It is estimated to benefit 1.9 million workers.

But may I seek clarification from the Minister as to the reasons for the short duration of the support? What happens, God forbid, if the COVID-19 outbreak stays around longer? Also, companies do need time to adjust even after COVID-19 is over. Will the Government consider extending the support? How do we ensure that companies that benefited from these subsidies will not let go of their workers after the support ends?

Yesterday, MOM announced the introduction of a temporary scheme to help the manufacturing and service sectors manage their manpower needs. MOM will allow businesses in these sectors with excess foreign workforce to transfer their workers to companies with manpower shortage. While I support the move, can the Government go further and consider reducing foreign worker levies for firms affected by COVID-19, similar to what was in place during the 2003 SARS period?

Under the Transformation and Growth strategy, there are three key thrusts, of which developing our people is one. This aims to enable our citizens to get better jobs, better wages and to stay employable. The new SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit and the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package aim to do that. It is a welcome move as both companies and workers benefit. It will encourage the companies to send their workers for training and skills upgrading and at the same time, workers will benefit in terms of their employability.

My main concern is the implementation of these schemes.

In many sectors, a portion of workers' monthly pay comprises of variables such as operational incentives, over-time or shift allowances. Workers will have to forego these variable payments to attend training to undertake new or additional roles. In some cases, these variables can be as high as one third of their monthly gross pay, if not more.

The Labour Movement calls on employers not to shortchange employees and to share the productivity gains fairly while recognising workers who support the company transformation through skills upgrading, at the expense of undertaking short-term pay reduction. This gesture will strengthen the trust between employers and their workers while ensuring the workforce is well-equipped and future-ready.

At the last National Day Rally, the Prime Minister announced raising the retirement age to 65 and re-employment age to 70 in phases by the end of the decade.

The Labour Movement has since then called on companies to move forward the implementation date before the law comes into place. Unfortunately, many are reluctant, citing cost as a significant factor.

I am happy to hear of the introduction of the Senior Worker Support Package. The Labour Movement hopes there is less of an excuse now to hold back but to move forward to our call.

The Senior Employment Credit and the Senior Workers Early Adopter Grant, together with the CPF Transition Offset, will help companies manage the overall wage cost. I urge employers to not view these workers as cost burden but as valuable assets with tacit knowledge, for these senior employees will be the ones mentoring the next generation of workers.

On that note, there are some groups of senior employees that the companies are reluctant to extend their retirement and re-employment age. They are mainly the general administrative staff who are easily replaceable with younger employees as their wage cost is lower and with employees in specific roles where physical fitness is a requirement.

Technologies such as robotic process automation, or commonly known as RPA, execute repetitive business processes cheaper, faster and without human errors. As such technologies become more pervasive in workplaces, office-based generalist staff become vulnerable and face more reduced opportunities for re-employment when they retire.

The Labour Movement calls on employers to intervene early through career planning customised to individual employees' needs and profiles. The companies can consider re-skilling them in their 40s to achieve better job security and job progression when they retire and seek re-employment in the company.

An example of a forward-thinking company is PSA. It has taken active steps to embark on upskilling and re-skilling its employees through job redesign. The more matured workers are given similar opportunities and encouraged to upgrade their skills and to adopt technologies so that they continue to contribute productively. For example, PSA currently offers alternative employment for personnel from the Emergency Response Team, or the ER Team, upon retirement at the age of 55 years old. Working with the union, PSA is encouraging the ER personnel to transit early in their 40s so that they have a longer runway in a new career path while they are in a better position to make the transition.

This re-skilling reframes one's mindset and gets them prepared for the change. It takes two hands to clap. While employers do their part, employees themselves need to embrace the culture of continuous upskilling and re-skilling.

In conclusion Mr Speaker, in his Budget speech, the Deputy Prime Minister spoke on the importance of the short-term measures to deal with the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak and economic uncertainties while planning for the long term on growing our economy and creating opportunities for our people. Budget 2020 is a step in the right direction.

The Deputy Prime Minister's call resonates with the Labour Movement. Our call is the Government's call. Every worker matters. The time is now to take action and walk the talk. I rise in support of the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Zainal Sapari.

2.38 pm

Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Speaker, I rise in support of the Budget. This year’s Budget intends to mitigate the short-term vulnerabilities faced by businesses and workers without taking our eyes off the future. The Budget has addressed these vulnerabilities due to COVID-19 through various schemes such as the Jobs Support Scheme, tax rebates, bridging loans, rental waivers and many others. I would like to urge companies to translate these savings into saving jobs and reducing workers' vulnerability due to COVID-19.

In the medium and long-term horizon, the rapidly changing job market and business models can leave many workers behind if they are unprepared. The vulnerability of workers can manifest itself in the form of stagnating wages, job insecurity, skill redundancies and poor working conditions, among many others. While the Budget can help mitigate these vulnerabilities, a concerted effort by the tripartite partners and a mindset change in our society is still needed to alleviate some of these vulnerabilities because every worker matters and every job counts.

There are workers providing essential services that are very susceptible to low and stagnating wages and poor working conditions due to the business nature of their industry characterized by competitive biddings and under-cutting.

In terms of mitigating workers' vulnerability due to low and stagnating wages, it is undeniable that the tripartite partners have done a lot to help our workers in the outsourced industries such as cleaning, security and landscape. Given that the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) has shown its effectiveness to help improve workers' skills and wages, I urge the Government to support industry stakeholders if they are keen to adopt PWM so that more workers can enjoy better wages coupled with better skills and increased productivity. Sectors like waste collection and strata management are keen to have a mandatory PWM and it is important to have Government support to identify and leverage on the key levers that would encourage widespread adoption.

Lack of knowledge on what constitutes fair wages can also increase workers' vulnerability. Given that wage data are collected in the annual Occupational Wage Survey, we can help these workers by having a wage benchmark by occupation and sector so that workers can identify a fair wage for their occupation and be more aware of the industry standard to make informed decisions about their careers. Perhaps, as a trial to set industry wage benchmark, the tripartite partners could start with the F&B industry where there are around 180,000 workers in diverse roles.

I also welcome the Enabling Employment Credit that was announced in the Budget to provide wage offsets to companies hiring Singaporeans with disabilities. There are many with disabilities who are working or would like to seek employment. However, it may not be easy for them to work in a building where the physical structure may pose a big hindrance or for them to find companies that offer employment to people with disabilities. In this aspect, I would like to call for the Government to consider providing funding support to help employers offset the costs needed to modify infrastructure at workplaces, especially in older buildings, to encourage employment of people with disabilities. The various job portals such as MyCareersFuture.sg or the National Jobs Bank should indicate positions that welcome persons with disabilities. All these measures would promote a more inclusive workforce because every worker matters and every job counts.

Workers are also vulnerable if employers cannot pay their wages because the company has ceased operations. While these workers can lodge their salary claims with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), in most cases, their salaries cannot be recovered once the company has ceased operations.

We need to do more to protect our workers from failed businesses. Currently, there is a short-term relief fund administered by the NTUC U Care Centre to help low-wage workers who are owed salaries because their companies have ceased operations. I would like to call for the fund to be extended to help more workers beyond low-wage workers. Many of these workers who are owed salaries are sole breadwinners and for them and their families, the hardship is real and painful. All workers deserve to have their rice bowl protected and we must continue to explore ways to help and protect more workers.

Workers can also become vulnerable due to unfair employment contracts. Some employers have included in employment contracts certain clauses that may not be fair to the workers, perhaps to address staff attrition, recoup losses that they incur due to liquidated damages or protect their business interests. Regardless, including unfair clauses is unethical and they abuse the vulnerable position the workers might be in.

There needs to be greater engagement to help workers understand employment contracts and this outreach could start in our tertiary institutions. In addition, MOM would also want to consider a "cooling off period", perhaps up to five working days, that will allow workers to rescind the contract they have signed, without penalty. MOM may also want to consider starting a watchlist if companies are found or reported to have unfair clauses in their employment contracts. Administrative penalties should be imposed on companies on this watchlist.

Tripartite partners must also work together to ensure that all Singaporeans can work with dignity. A tripartite advisory on the provision of rest areas for outsourced workers has been released to act as a guide for service buyers and service providers in providing proper rest areas for outsourced workers. We would like to call on the Government to provide incentives to urge more building owners to provide rest areas for their outsourced workers.

Perhaps a tipping point that the Government can seriously consider to encourage a higher take-up rate is to allow for rest areas not to be counted as part of the Gross Floor Area (GFA) of a building as the area is usually an unused space or has little commercial value. This would help many building owners that have already maxed out their GFA to provide a rest area without penalty. Mr Speaker, in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I welcome all the various top-ups to SkillsFuture and I am especially heartened by the special attention given to mature workers through the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package to help them undergo upskilling and reskilling. While Government has given hiring incentives for employers to hire local mature workers, the efforts to enlighten employers to have a truly inclusive workforce must continue. In addition, we should also consider administrative penalties if employers are guilty with age discriminatory practices.

I am also equally heartened with the Senior Worker Support Package for older workers to reduce their employment vulnerability. This package will give our older workers greater assurance that they can continue working if they want to. This is a good opportunity for companies to tap on the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant to raise their retirement and re-employment ages ahead of legislative changes. Regardless of one’s age group, every worker matters and every job counts.

(In English): Every Budget must provide funding and resources to help workers reduce their vulnerabilities. We need to work together to reduce workers' vulnerabilities and to show we care for the workers. While I call upon employers to uphold their responsibilities to their workers and to do more for their welfare and well-being, I would also like to remind workers all my fellow workers to take charge of their career development and be future-ready. All of us have a part to play in creating an inclusive and caring society where every worker matters and every job counts. I support the Budget.

2.47 pm

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. Budget 2020 is empathetic and bold. Measures such as the Job Support Scheme and the Wage Credit Scheme will reassure workers that the Government is helping to secure jobs. Amidst the immediate needs to mitigate against the adverse impact of COVID-19 outbreak, it is easy to lose sight of our longer term imperatives. It is understandable as immediate survival is key. I would like to ask the Minister how do we continue to grow our economy and create good jobs for all Singaporeans even as we battle the outbreak? This outbreak has also highlighted the problems of being dependent on a large economy or being inter-connected with multiple economies. Do we now need to re-examine our strategies and adjust course, rather than doing more of the same?

With its obvious focus on the COVID-19 economic fall-out, how are we still ensuring that we are funding our social strategies in education, healthcare and housing to ensure equal opportunities for all? It is critical that we need to stay true to what has made Singapore successful – equal opportunities for all Singaporeans.

Being a comprehensive Budget, it would almost be nit-picking to find gaps. I would like to find some time on three other issues: needs of the self-employed persons, unmet needs of the younger workforce and the longer term workforce gender disparity issue.

The COVID-19 outbreak highlights the precarious situation of Self-Employed Persons (SEPs). Many SEPs were and still are adversely affected – not only those in hospitality-related industries but also those in the creative, events, sporting, outdoor learning and transport industries. Budget 2020 will help SEPs as every Singaporean 21 years old and above will get cash support, SkillsFuture Credit and targeted support for tourism-related industries.

But most of the Budget 2020 measures are channelled through companies, and our SEPs might not be helped. They also have limited medical and training support except those provided via SkillsFuture.

Those dependent on platforms such as Grab food delivery riders have an imbalance of bargaining powers. We often hear of adjustments to incentive structures unilaterally without consultation with the SEPs. This would probably not have happened or to a lesser extent, in a typical employer-employee structure.

The way forward is not one of absolute parity with traditional employees – SEPs do treasure the flexibility of contract work. Thus, there must be some trade-offs. It is one of having better balance of bargaining powers, especially for those working with larger entities such as the platform companies.

There are two possible approaches. One, to allow for greater union representation. And two, to classify SEPs, within a limited definition, especially the platform workers, as workers defined by the Employment Act. Both of these approaches are not without their limitation but it certainly betters the lot of the SEPs. Their ranks will certainly increase over time. I hope that the Ministry can also consider providing greater support for the SEPs in the second phase of COVID-19 support, if ever one is needed.

Next, on the unmet needs of the younger workforce. Our Young NTUC survey showed that younger Singaporeans are keen to develop themselves overseas. The Asia Ready Exposure Programme in Budget 2020 would greatly help our students to pick up those valuable experiences while still in school.

We also hope that young Singaporeans in their first or second career can also have such opportunities. Especially those in the early 20s, there is still sufficient runway for an internship. However, the resources available to them are limited. Those Singaporeans who have graduated are dependent on their companies for overseas exposure. Can Government provide a one stop centre, and perhaps subsidies for younger Singaporeans to explore careers in Asia, especially South East Asia?

Next, let me discuss on the gender wage gap. It is not a common Budget debate topic. But first, it is an important issue and second, there are opportunities afforded from COVID-19 outbreak. MOM did a study not too long ago and found that women in Singapore are earning less than men today and that gap has grown slightly from 16% in 2002 to 16.3% in 2018. The adjusted gender pay gap was 6% in 2018. The main adjustment was for occupational differences. Yet, it still runs counter to the principle that all things being equal, men and women must obtain the same pay if they are doing the same job with similar outcomes.

We acknowledge that there has been progress. And we also acknowledge that absolute gender parity in job outcomes is not necessarily a normative ideal. But there is immense value to pursue the economic outcomes of greater equality, besides addressing the social issues and the values that we engender as a nation.

Indeed, there are benefits for greater women participation at all levels. In an IMF blog piece by Christine Lagarde and Johnathan Ostry on 28 November 2018, their conclusion was gender diversity matters. I quote, "Our analysis springs from the observation – supported by considerable microeconomic evidence – that women and men bring different skills and perspectives to the workplace, including different attitudes to risk and collaboration. Studies have also shown that the financial performance of firms improves with more gender-equal corporate boards…. our evidence – from macroeconomic, sectoral, and firm-level data – shows that women and men complement each other in the production process, creating an additional benefit from increasing women's employment on growth." Therefore, the key benefits from narrowing gender wage gaps are: first, a bigger boost to growth; second, higher productivity; and third, a more equal and inclusive society.

There are structural issues to tackle: first, human resources – and how we grade women who are out on maternity. A working mother would be entitled to up to 16 weeks of Government-Paid Maternity Leave. But oftentimes, in some organisations, they might be graded on the same 12 months as any other colleagues. This meant that from a work output perspective, the women on maternity are already at a disadvantage. Companies would argue that it would only be fair to the other colleagues who picked up the slack. But this also meant that good talent on maternity would not be given a level playing field to progress as progression are usually based on consistency of better graded performances. This has perhaps contributed to a lack of women in senior leadership positions over time.

Second, we see a persistent lack of women at the top leadership positions. Perhaps having a more diverse leadership might provide for better gender-neutral policies.

Third, some women decide to leave the workforce entirely because of a lack of supportive workplace measures such as Flexible Work Arrangements. Currently, only 47% of firms in Singapore offer full-time flexible work arrangements, according to a McKinsey report.

Women are still often expected to take on the primary role at home. The responsibility of care-giving and housework also continue to disproportionately affect women, who find themselves taking on the double shift of working a job and taking on most of the household responsibilities. This added burden of care-giving might have resulted in 83.4% of married men being employed in 2017 compared to 63.3% of married women in the same period of time.

So, what can be done? I would like to offer a few suggestions.

First, women should be given the right to flexi-work arrangements (FWA) post-maternity. Normalising flexible work arrangement options to give a degree of comfort to working women, as it helps working care-givers avoid the conflict they face in trying to balance their careers with responsibilities at home something especially accentuated post-maternity. It can be very difficult to ask a woman to ask for FWA if it is seen as a privilege and not a norm. COVID-19 outbreak has clearly shown that organisations can and are able to operate with broad FWA, even as we speak now. Previously, the argument was it was not possible.

Second, companies should grade women on maternity on an eight-month basis rather than a 12-month basis. Planning from the start meant that women will still be able to have a more level promotion path after maternity.

Third, key leadership positions in our listed companies ought to be tracked and monitored to ensure that women are not being grossly under-represented. Company-wide reviews can be done consistently. Citigroup, for example has adjusted the pay in Singapore of women who earned less than their male peers for doing the same job. We all need to lean in to create a more inclusive environment for women.

Budget 2020 is bold and comprehensive. It tackles the immediate challenges head-on without losing sight of the future transformation needs. No Budget is expected to address all issues which is why we must also view each Budget as part of a larger whole. It is a longer financial plan after all.

The COVID-19 episode requires significant shift of resources but it is necessary. COVID-19 will also eventually come to pass if we are united. And we must be ready when the upturn opportunities present themselves. Notwithstanding my earlier suggestions, I support the Motion.

2.57 pm

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The sudden onset of COVID-19 has dealt a serious blow to our economy. Not knowing how long this epidemic will last, many Singaporeans are worried that their livelihood will be seriously affected and they might lose their jobs.

Nevertheless, with the previous experience of fighting SARS, most Singaporeans were not panicky when COVID-19 struck. On the contrary, we could face this challenge calmly. The greatest test is not whether we are able to stock up groceries or whether we can adopt healthier habits, but whether we are able to display confidence and a cooperative spirit to fight this disease.

Undoubtedly, self-preservation can only ensure that we and our families are protected temporarily, but in the long run, it will not protect our national economy, companies or job situation. To deal with the impact of COVID-19, we need to work together and make full use of the government measures provided in the Budget.

Let me give you an example.

Over the past one month, many taxi drivers and private hire drivers told me that the point-to-point (PTP) transport service industry has been badly affected. With the significant decrease in customers, their incomes have plunged and many drivers have decided to stop driving. Fortunately, most drivers are still working as usual. They do not complain but hope that there will be adequate solutions or packages to help them tide over this period.

On normal days, there is already intense competition between taxi drivers and private hire drivers. Fortunately, when COVID-19 hit us, the tripartite partners consisting of unions, the Government and employers worked together like "plywood". Plywood can take on much heavier loads than an individual layer of wood. Each layer of plywood may be made of different materials and differ in terms of quality, but when binded together as plywood, the effect is very significant.

The spread of COVID-19 has brought about stern challenges. Although we cannot proclaim to have solved every problem easily, at least we have been able to come up with measures as the situation evolved. During the initial stage, unions took the initiative to understand the concerns of our taxi-drivers, and most drivers expressed hope that they can drive their cars safely but said they lacked protective supplies like hand sanitisers and disinfectants. Since then, unions have tried their best to procure these necessities for drivers through various channels and distributed the supplies to them.

The Government and operators have also provided necessary resources and helped drivers to monitor their body temperature, so as to give customers peace of mind. We have also used our funds to help drivers who had to stop driving due to quarantine orders, so that they can tide over this difficult period. The timely launch of the $77million assistance package by the Government and operators is also an initiative to assist taxi drivers and private hire drivers as soon as possible.

Hence, workers from the PTP transport sector are able to receive help from the Government and operators with swift and targeted measures. Only with this "plywood" cooperative spirit, are we able to help workers keep their jobs and keep companies going. This is what job security means.

Only a strong enterprise, a resilient labour force, a thoughtful and efficient union, and a nation with wit and resources can ensure the job security of Singaporeans. Job security means that the economy, companies and workers must receive appropriate support, and establish close partnerships where everyone works to help one another.

As we know, a lot of things are easier said than done.

Our tripartite partners have been working together to stabilise the economy, while continuing to help transform industries and assist workers in training, so that they can upgrade their skills, keep their jobs and tide over this difficult time. During this period, I witnessed how taxi-drivers and private hire drivers turn from competitors to cooperative partners. They volunteer to distribute masks and hand sanitisers to colleagues and help them to do temperature checks. Although there has been talk that frontline healthcare workers are being discriminated by members of the public, many of our taxi-drivers have volunteered to ferry healthcare workers to and from work.

All of us have chosen to help each other in this crisis period and to weather the storm together. Each party has put aside their different views and corporate brand names, with the single objective of consolidating the economy and development of Singapore. Once again, I would like to thank the Finance Minister for giving a booster shot to the PTP transport industry. Our tour guides have also just received help from the Government, and the tripartite partners are working to assist them.

On behalf of the unions, I would like to urge the Government again to roll out more measures to help freelance workers. I have reached out to several freelancers to understand their situation and discuss ways to help them. They include sports coaches, instructors, technicians, performers and photographers, and so on. Their income have plunged due to the decrease in customer. I hope that the Government ministries can take the lead and work with industry players to think of ways to help them reduce cost and expand customer base. Some of these freelancers would like to go for training during this lull period, but are deterred as this would mean a loss of income, so they are also feeling a little helpless.

However, I believe that with the joint efforts by the tripartite partners, we can ensure that all the top talents in the various industries will be able to keep their jobs, and make use of their talents to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness when the crisis is over.

In fact, some taxi drivers have urged me to organise an activity for everyone to eat beehoon together. Some Hokkien taxi drivers joked that we will "wun wun jia beehoon" (eat beehoon calmly). So, I hope that we can be strong and steady, and not be overly worried.

Although the impact of COVID-19 may not blow over in the short term, the Government will continue to support the economy, companies, workers and families. We must remain confident, maintain healthy lifestyles, lead normal lives and try to revive our tourism industry, this is the greatest help that we can give to all our industries and all our workers.

Let us work together and show determination in adversity.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support this Budget.

Mr Speaker: Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How.

3.04 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Mr Heng Chee How): Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join the debate on this year's Budget.

At Budget debate 2018, I called for tripartite discussions to determine the new longer term retirement and re-employment ages. At last year's Budget debate, I expressed hope that the Tripartite Workgroup formed by MOM in May 2018 to negotiate higher retirement and re-employment ages and enhanced CPF contribution rates would soon come to a win-win outcome so that older workers would have added confidence about their employment and retirement savings. As Singapore's population is ageing, progress in these areas is necessary and important to help sustain the added years.

Prime Minister Lee announced at last year's National Day Rally the consensus reached by the tripartite partners to raise retirement age progressively from 62 to 65 and the re-employment age ceiling from 67 to 70 over the course of a decade. Specific first moves were also announced, namely, to raise retirement age from 62 to 63 and the re-employment age ceiling from 67 to 68 in 2022. And one year before that, in 2021, first steps will be taken to raise the CPF contribution rates for workers aged 55 and older.

The agreement that we reached shows the strength of our tripartism to tackle real and serious issues. It also showed the Government's commitment toward looking after the interests of our older workers.

So, on behalf of older workers, I thank the Government and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) for working hand in hand with NTUC to achieve these win-win outcomes.

A year has passed and we are now in Budget debate 2020. How fast things have . Since January this year, the Singapore economy has been buffeted by the negative disruptive effects of the COVID-19 virus outbreak internationally even as the downsides of the US-China trade war continue to slow global trade and growth.

Against this background, Singapore's growth forecast has been revised downwards significantly, from between 0.5% and 2.5% that was estimated in November last year, to between -0.5% and 1.5% in February this year. So, within these months, it was the revised downwards significantly.

On the ground, these changes in projections reflect falling demand, supply chain and manpower disruptions, as well as cost, credit and cashflow pressures and worries for companies. And these worries for companies in turn translate into worker concerns over loss of over-time and other forms of income, wage freezes and even cuts, and increasing anxiety over the security of their jobs.

Older workers, both executives and non-executives, feel vulnerable in this environment. They are afraid that in any industry or company shakeout, they may bear the brunt. They are also worried that if they are displaced from their jobs, it would be more difficult for them to find new work or to expect to maintain anything near their original pay levels. And if that happens, then it would erode the progress of prior efforts to strengthen the sustainability of our ageing population over the long run.

Older workers therefore look to the Government and to this Budget for reassurance. They hope to see and they want to trust that this Government will continue to have their backs and would lean forward to safeguard their interests and ensure that they are fairly treated. The Labour Movement hears their concerns and have lobbied hard on their behalf with Government.

This Budget, Mr Speaker, has given older workers that reassurance. And I thank the Government for understanding the worker's needs and worries, and for addressing our older workers' concerns.

I would like to highlight specifics in the Budget to make my point.

Consider the announced CPF contribution rates improvements meant for 2021. The worry, as expressed by older workers is that, given the headwinds and the difficult economic environment that we are facing now, they worry whether the Government would now decide to postpone or cancel those improvements. And so, when they heard the Budget, they heard that the Government has instead stepped forward to help defray the cost pressure on employers that those improved CPF rates would bring. In other words, what the Government has promised to older workers in this improved CPF rates in 2021 will be done. This is the Government keeping its word to our older workers.

But workers then worry that if they should lose their jobs in the meantime, or cannot find a new one if they are displaced, then improved CPF rates or for that matter, raised retirement and employment ages, will be moot. Hereto, the Budget have measures aimed at lowering such risks for older workers.

Under the Stabilisation and Support Package, the Government will introduce a Jobs Support Scheme. This Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will help enterprises retain their local employees during this period of uncertainty. Employers will receive a 8% cash grant on the gross monthly wages of each local employee for the months of October 2019 to December 2019, subject to a monthly wage cap of $3,600 per employee. And this is on top of the Special Employment Credits and the Additional Special Employment Credits previously introduced to incentive the hiring of older workers. These two incentives, we were told, will then be combined and restructured into a new Seniors Employment Credit Scheme.

The Government will also enhance the Wage Credit Scheme to further help shoulder the cost of wage increases for workers. These moves make each existing employee less costly to their companies and therefore lower their overall risk of retrenchment, or will help companies hold off retrenchment for as long as possible.

For older workers who are displaced, there will be a hiring incentive for employers who hire local jobseekers aged 40 and above through a re-skilling programme. For each eligible worker, the Government will provide a 20% salary support to the employer for six months, capped at $6,000 a month.

There is even another incentive for employers who are prepared to hire older workers on a part-time basis. This will help make older workers who are unable to work full-time more cost-effective for employers to consider hiring.

By the sheer number of targeted subsidies and incentives aimed at sustaining and spurring continued hiring of older Singaporean workers in this Budget, the Government's care for and commitment to our older workers is crystal clear. And our older workers appreciate this.

While keeping one's job or being able to get back into one quickly in the event of retrenchment are of immediate concern in the current economic climate, our older workers also know that their longer term employment and employability really depend on whether they can keep up and adapt with the changing technology and business models and methods.

Here, they look to the Government and the tripartite partners to do more to help them stay skilled and relevant to the changing times and requirements.

The Government is certainly doing its part to energise skills building for the benefit of workers and companies in this Budget.

In terms of enabling skills building through funding, the Government is introducing the next bound of SkillsFuture through this Budget. There will be more money given to individuals and companies to undertake training via SkillsFuture. There will be a second top-up of $500 to the SkillsFuture accounts of all Singaporeans aged 25 and above, while middle-age workers will get an additional $500. There will also be a new SkillsFuture Enterprise grant to defray up to 90% of companies' business transformation, training and job redesign costs. These incentives, together with substantial existing grants and subsidies from Enterprise Singapore, Workforce Singapore and other economic agencies, again goes to show the Government's firm belief in enabling individual and corporate investment in building skills and capabilities for greater competitiveness and in enhancing the employment and employability of our workers.

On the Labour Movement's part, as elaborated by my fellow Labour Member of Parliament colleagues earlier, we introduced last year the Company Training Committees (CTCs) as platforms to bring companies and unions into partnership over skills building, and to inject Government resources and support for such initiatives through this channel and platform. This is a practical way to proactively and systematically upgrade companies' and workers' capabilities, and to help build momentum for the overall transformation of Singapore's economy.

Good progress has been made in this area, and again, as reported earlier, 352 CTCs have already been formed since its inception in April last year. Provisions of this year's Budget can certainly give a boost to the CTCs' efforts, and I urge our tripartite partners to make full use of these resources to press ahead with investing in our workers' training, across all ages.

For displaced workers, finding a new job quickly is important. This is especially so for older workers as experience tells us that they will find it more difficult to find a new job and to maintain the previous pay. And this affects not only what we might traditionally call rank-and-file workers, but actually, it is so for all levels and all ages of workers, affecting also middle-age PMEs.

In this Budget, through the SkillsFuture Mid-career Support Package, the Government is going to double the job placement of professionals via the Professional Conversion Programmes or PCPs. Such professionals will be able to find new career runways through the PCPs' skill-up-and-switch roadmaps. I fully support this, and I have one call on the Government to consider, which is to broaden the age criterion – currently set between 40 and 60 years old – to include those up to the current re-employment age ceiling of 67. And the reason is because all the factors that we have argued about, the 40 to 60 year olds having the vulnerability, they would certainly also apply from 60 to 67 years old. And indeed if anything, if that group should lose their jobs, I think the challenges will not be less than those aged 40 to 60. As the same time, the scheme itself has certain safeguards in terms of useful courses. So, I think it is good and proper that we broaden the criteria to include workers up to the re-employment age ceiling of 67 and to continue in this way to show the Government's commitment towards their employment, employability and welfare.

In this area of boosting job search and placement, the Government will find an enthusiastic innovator in the Labour Movement. As Minister in the Prime Minister's office and Secretary-General of NTUC, brother Ng Chee Meng had said earlier, NTUC will be spearheading the Job Security Council (JSC) in partnership with industry to go beyond what, for example, NTUC's e2i has traditionally done for individual job seekers and individual hiring companies.

Through proactive information sharing and planning, JSCs and CTCs can work together to efficiently facilitate training, re-training and placements between manpower-flushed areas and manpower-starved areas. Such system-level efficiency in manpower re-deployment will further sharpen Singapore's overall competitiveness that is good for business and it would certainly help shorten periods of unemployment for workers who are seeking new jobs.

Sir, as the saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going". We have to face down both the immediate COVID-19 threat as well as shape up for the big challenges and opportunities that the future economy will bring. I heard our Deputy Prime Minister over the radio, as he was discussing aspects of the Budget and exhorting everybody to keep our spirits up and together do our best, he quoted the name of a Hokkien song title. He said, “要 拼 才 会 赢”, which means in English, success comes through effort and striving. He is absolutely right. Success will not come from just taking painkillers or hunkering down. It will come from taking action – concrete, purposeful, effective action.

The Labour Movement stands ready to work with Government and employers to tackle this tough patch and to simultaneously build that better future of better wages, welfare and work prospects for all workers. Because Every Worker Matters, now and always. Sir, I support this Unity Budget.

3.20 pm

Prof Yaacob Ibrahim (Jalan Besar): Mr Speaker Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. Sir, the Budget proposed has been characterised as having something for everyone.

It consists of two parts, one dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 crisis meant to stabilise the economy and support those affected by the current crisis and a second component designed to help our country continue to grow over the longer term. It supports a range of short-term measures to help tide over the current crisis and a broad sweep of longer term measures to ensure that the economy continues to grow over the long term and that our people can enjoy an increasing quality of life.

Among the proposed measures which for me deserves special mention are increasing the Budget for CSA to embark on new capabilities needed to protect our IT systems against increasingly sophisticated attacks, removing the internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040 and replacing them with electric vehicles and measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. All these resonate with me, not just because they are important issues affecting the future of our country but also because I have always believed that we as a nation can take the global lead in these issues. Sir, I also welcomed the delay in increasing the GST rate by one year.

Sir, despite the COVID-19 crisis, we must have one eye on the future. We cannot afford to be distracted from discussing the real challenges facing our country. It is also important that we learn from this experience and put in place changes and preparations that can help us face the next crisis. Our response to the SARS episode in 2003 and subsequent changes we made to prepare for the next crisis have stood us well in this instance.

Our Government has responded decisively to the crisis. As a people, we have shown both the good and not so good behaviour during this challenging time. The rush for food items and sundry items such as toilet paper when the DORSCON level was changed from Yellow to Orange, reflected not only anxiety but also an irrational response that brought out the worst of Singaporeans. My thanks to all the staff of the various supermarkets and outlets for showing immense patience and fortitude during this period.

Several self-initiated efforts have emerged to rally support for our frontline workers. Youth groups, religious and community organisations, civil society groups and several selfless individuals are all coming together to play their part in this effort. These and other examples of selfless Singaporeans stepping forward to do what they can to deal with this crisis are instances that should give us hope that there is the better side of us waiting to come out especially when the need arises.

Many have also adjusted to a new normal of washing our hands regularly, staying away from crowded places, wearing a mask if we are unwell and spending time with loved ones in parks and beaches enjoying the fresh air and breeze prevalent this time of the year. Sir, if out of this crisis our hygiene standards are raised and as a people we become more conscious of keeping Singapore clean, then we would not have wasted the lessons of this crisis.

Some have also adjusted to working in different teams at different times and locations such as their homes and meeting only if necessary. And I am told by a friend that because of some working from home, Raffles Place is a lot quieter and cleaner. Congestion in the morning seems to have eased a bit. If we make this change permanent, would our quality of life not improve? For those with young children in school, being at home on a working day can indeed be helpful.

Sir, I am sure we can work out the gains and losses so that we understand the impact this change may have on our country. Likewise, conducting classes online has become a part of the new normal. Coming from an Institution of Higher Learning, I am all for online learning to be one of the features of our IHLs. IHLs can decide on the balance among the various classes. Online learning will release classrooms for other needs. Clearly, interaction between students and staff must continue albeit for those that really warrant it such as tutorials, project discussions and lab works.

Sir, I have full confidence in the Ministerial team in not only dealing with this crisis but also in learning from it valuable lessons that will help us prepare for the next crisis. So, let us work together with the team and other Singaporeans in seeing the end of this current crisis as soon as possible. I am sure Ministers Gan and Wong are both looking forward to a good night's sleep and perhaps a round of golf when all this is over. I look forward to meeting them at the greens.

Sir, there is an issue that I think deserves some discussion. The rush to stock up food items over that fateful weekend reminds us that getting communications right is very important. During SARS, there was no social media. Today, we are inundated by news of all sorts from various platforms and from friends and strangers alike. The fundamental question is whether we trust the Government in telling us what is the right thing to do especially during a crisis. Rumours and misinformation about lack of supplies helped to fuel senseless hoarding. This shows a lack of trust. Chaos could have broken out leading to unimaginable losses. This is something we all do not want to happen in Singapore.

Another issue of trust currently being debated is POFMA as some view this as an attempt to stifle dissent on the Internet. There is a sense among them that the Government is using this legislation for its own agenda rather than serving the needs of our people.

I am all too familiar with this kind of concern. When I moved to license online news sites in 2013, several Internet groups alleged that this move would kill the diversity of voices on the Internet. As it turns out, the licensing scheme did not stifle the Internet at all. Many groups continue to flourish on the Internet. All we wanted, and I am sure all of us can agree to this, is responsible behavior on the Internet, especially when the issues affect the lives of so many Singaporeans.

Sir, going forward, this issue of trust will continue to arise as we grapple with increasingly complex issues. Consider the effects of climate change on our small island. It is a long-term issue which requires us to put in place the solutions now. It means spending valuable state resources on matters which will affect future generations but does not bring immediate benefits. At the same time, if other countries do not put in place their own mitigation measures, climatic changes can affect us. Hence, dealing with the effects of climate change will raise many questions about how the Government should best use our limited fiscal resources for the good of our country. And the Government will need to build trust that it is doing what is right for our people, even though it means spending significant resources over a very long-term period to benefit future generations.

Sir, consider our efforts at digitalising the economy and our society. When I asked some residents about the many cameras placed at the void decks and some common areas, they generally believe that the Government is doing so for their safety and security. People trust that our Government is using the data captured for good. But this is not the case in some other countries. In places like San Francisco, the residents have voted against having videos in public places. For our own digitalisation efforts to succeed, people must trust that their data is collected solely for the purpose of developing useful services for them.

By all accounts, we have done well thus far. But it is not inconceivable for some to begin to raise the issues of privacy and how their personal data is being used. The PDPA has put in place several measures to protect personal data, but the emergence of data protection legislation that favours more to data owners, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act, will cause some to wonder whether the PDPA is sufficiently rigorous to protect personal data. Similarly, since the Government's handling of citizens data is carved out from PDPA, a time will come where some will raise issues of privacy and accountability.

Sir, my intent in raising these issues is for all us to be cognisant of the potential hazards awaiting us in our journey towards digitalising our economy and society. I believe strongly that we must leverage on technology, especially on those that will improve our quality of life. Internet banking, for example, means I do not have to queue up at bank branches anymore. Immediately, my quality of life has improved. So too for the many Apps that have been developed by both the private sector and our Government. But the flip side of all these new applications of technology are issues of accountability, transparency and trust. Can our Government protect us from being manipulated by the big tech giants? Can we trust our Government to use our personal data for the benefit of all Singaporeans and not some political agenda?

These are questions of trust brought about by the use of technology in our everyday lives.

Sir, trust between our Government and the people will undergo stresses as we grapple with these issues. The trust we have built over the past 60 years or so has given us a quality of life that is the envy of other nations. Going forward, what more can be done to nurture this trust? What can be done to meet the expectations of our people in an increasingly complex world we are living in today? We have seen how trust has broken down in other societies leading to the rise of populism. And with social media and the rise of misinformation and alternative facts, sometimes, it is unclear whether the lack of trust in Government is an effect of all these developments or it is the cause for the rise of alternative centres of trust.

Our trust in public institutions in Singapore such as our hospitals, our schools, our courts and security agencies are indeed very high. This is because these institutions have been well managed, staffed by capable and competent people, and are known to deliver good and fair outcomes. We trust that these institutions will do what is right and just.

Similarly, as we digitalise our society, trust that these technologies will be used correctly is important. There are ethical issues associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the use of machine learning algorithms. Can we trust that these technologies will be deployed in a manner that preserves the best interest of Singaporeans? Just like the guidelines for the use of AI which have been released by MCI in Davos earlier this year, perhaps there is a need for a community wide conversation on how these technologies should be deployed. Should we not consider the creation of an independent Digital Commission that looks at these concerns from all sides dispassionately. Just like the trust we have in our other public institutions, should we not consider similar public institutions that can build trust in our people in dealing with these new technologies?

Sir, I raise these concerns and suggestions out of the belief that continuing digitalisation of our economy and society is a good thing but we cannot avoid the nagging concerns of privacy and transparency that digitalisation will bring. If we do not deal with this early, then trust in Government can be eroded. I hope creating an independent Digital Commission to look at these issues can help address these concerns. When human biomedical research raised some concerns, we created the Bioethics Advisory Committee to advise Government on these matters. It is time we have a similar committee for the digital revolution.

Sir, the COVID-19 challenge will pass as other viruses infections have gone in the past. How this challenge will unfold is unclear. But given recent reports of infections in South Korea, Italy and Iran and the warning raised by the US health authorities, it will be sometime before this is over. Our own teams in Singapore have assured us that we are ready with new measures if the situation worsens. Our best response is to continue to be vigilant, practise the proposed hygiene practices and make it our way of life and look out for one another in this difficult time.

How would this moment in our history be remembered?

After SARS, the then Ministry for Community Development and Sports proposed the Fabric of the Nation project. As a nation, including our then Prime Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong and his wife, we stitched together patches of fabric to symbolise the coming together of people from all walks of life in overcoming that challenge together. Today, that Fabric of the Nation hangs quietly in the lobby of MSF, a reminder of who we are as a people in times of crisis.

It is still early for us to think of such projects of closure. But one thing we can do as a nation is to adopt new norms of hygiene standards, work-life balance arrangements, more adoption of technological ways of doing things such as running online classes and meetings, and other reasonable practices that can become our new way of life.

I would add one more change and that is of our attitude towards those at the frontline in fighting this challenge. Someone has to keep Singapore clean, keep our transport system moving, ensure there is enough supplies in our markets and supermarkets, and attend to those who are sick and unwell as we battle this crisis. These are our fellow Singaporeans and workers who put their lives on the line for the sake of Singapore. They too have families anxious for the safety of their parents, siblings and loved ones either here or elsewhere. I am heartened by the responses of Singaporeans towards those at the frontline in this challenge.

But can this be our way of life when all of this is over? The kindness and generosity we have seen to our frontline workers should be something history will remember us not just for this moment in our history but for defining who we are as a people. The dignity of every worker, no matter their occupation and station in life, must forever be maintained and cherished by all of us. Let us show to the world that these attitudes and behaviours are not a flash in the pan, but an integral part of our way of life. This is the legacy I hope we can bestow to succeeding generations that out of this moment in our history our better half triumphed over the other half and it became part of our enduring character. That is the Singapore story.

Sir, I became a Member of this House on 2 January 1997. I am into my 24th year as a Member of Parliament. Perhaps, it is timely for me to thank you, your predecessors and Parliament staff, both past and present, all my colleagues in this Chamber, both past and present. It has been an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to serve the people of Singapore as an elected Member of Parliament. I will always cherish this experience for the rest of my life. So, thank you all for a wonderful experience. Sir, on that note, I support the Budget Statement. [Applause.]

3.36 pm

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I am only 14 years in the Chamber, so I am still a junior to the Member. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget.

Accolades abound for Budget 2020. Budget 2020, as they say has "something for everyone" from businesses to Singaporeans, young and old.

Commendable are the agility and speed by which the Stabilisation and Support Package was put together to help sectors hit by COVID-19; the empathy to delay the GST increase this year, and the ability to keep an eye on both the short and longer term concerns of Singaporeans and businesses.

Budget 2020 is responsive, prudent and balanced. The original draft must have been in the making for many months before the onset of the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak. I doubt if any other government can pull a focused Budget together like this with such agility and speed. So, kudos to Deputy Prime Minister Heng and the team for rising to the occasion!

I would like to touch on five concerns arising from inputs of many Singaporeans I met.

Concern one: an extended COVID-19 outbreak scenario. Not unexpectedly, the top-of-mind concern of Singaporeans is the "what-if" scenario of a longer-drawn COVID-19 outbreak leading to an extended global and local economic downturn. Many people are relieved and thankful that Government acted swiftly to delay the expected GST increase and boldly decided on a larger than expected budget deficit. But even with Deputy Prime Minister's recent public assurance that Government is prepared to do more if warranted, many people are nonetheless still worried about how long the Government will be able to sustain deficits of such a large quantum. What will an extended Stabilisation and Support package look like? How will it be funded if the impact is even more broad-based than the tourism, the retail and the transport sectors directly hit by the outbreak; when supply chain continues to be disrupted; when consumer sentiments and demands continue to decline and companies start to shed their local manpower? The anxiety is real and I seek Deputy Prime Minister's insights on this concern.

Concern two: strengthening our Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs play an important role in all countries. In Singapore, they make up 99% of total enterprises and employ more than 70% of the workforce. The success of Singapore's economic restructuring and industrial transformations hinges plenty on the ability of Singapore's SMEs to re-invent themselves for the long term.

Since 2010, a slew of Government initiatives was launched to help move SMEs up the value chain, streamline and digitalise operations and to venture overseas. However, actions and results too, lag aspirations and SMEs continue to be challenged, as observed by Singapore Business Federation (SBF) in December 2019. Mindsets, talents, or the lack of talents, especially in digitalisation and understanding of technology were cited to be key obstacles to business transformation.

SMEs now face a more immediate challenge with the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on businesses; except for perhaps the mask, disinfectant, sanitiser, or even toilet roll manufacturers and the like. Besides tourism, transport sectors and businesses that rely on the PRC supply chain, many businesses that have little to do with China directly are also affected; like smaller businesses in food catering and even event management which are hit by cancellation or postponement of local events.

There is a general anxiety amongst the SMEs that they may not be able to survive the short term. Some are asking for administration of Budget measures to be more expedient and some ask for the extension of measures such as job support to be extended to six months. Mindsets of many SMEs are still on the "here and now" survival issues. Training and work system redesigns, work process redesigns are hitherto not corporate habits. This has been the perennial struggle of SMEs.

What is the prognosis that our local SMEs will be strengthened by Budget 2020’s suite of Enterprise Grow and Enterprise Transform Packages? Will Singapore's economic transformation ever be supported by a very strong base of local innovative SMEs? Under current circumstances, what more can be done by Government and the rest of us to ensure that SMEs do come out of this crisis stronger? That is concern two on SMEs.

Concern three: uplifting our vulnerable. Budget 2020 presents a galore of measures to help Singaporeans with cost of living in daily living, housing, healthcare, schooling and retirement.

I am concerned about three particular groups who are still at risk: one, our low-skilled seniors who still take on jobs such as cleaners that challenge them physically; two, our younger Singaporeans who take on low-skilled jobs such as food delivery and even private hire driving, jobs that offer them short-term gains and some autonomy but sometimes, little long-term prospects; and three, our disabled citizens who are still unemployed or are holding jobs that may disappear as a result of the disruption of technology.

How can Government and the rest of Singapore better support and uplift the vulnerable amongst us? Can more resources be invested to deep-dive and study their needs, create a spectrum of more suitable jobs and have more effective job placements? Can there be a more impactful and lasting way of signposting to guide them or even to create a jobs clearing house of sorts? For the disabled, which thankfully due to Government’s eyeballing and ground advocacy, things are improving but I feel it is still not enough. Is there a way by which the SkillsFuture movement can include them in a more substantive and systemic way?

Concern four: income inequality. Income inequality is a hot topic for many societies including Singapore. It is indeed good news that our Department of Statistics reported that household income inequality as in 2019 was at its lowest in almost two decades, with a lower gini coefficient of 0.452 versus 0.458 the year before; and even lower at 0.398 after adjusting for Government transfers such as Workfare and GST rebates.

Experts are telling us that the difference between the Third Industrial Revolution and the Fourth is the impact of depth and breadth of technological change on everyday life and business. From food to retail to banking, you name it, industries are going digital.

Singapore's SkillsFuture movement is a brilliant one but the speed of change globally and in technology is formidable. The 500,000 or so citizens who tapped on their SkillsFuture Credit in the first tranche works out to be only about 20% of the resident labour force.

Sir, while the issue of wealth inequality is as old as time, the Industry 4.0 will make income inequality an even bigger issue. Research shows that innovators, investors and high-skilled IT workers benefit the most in the future economy; and the rest of the population may be at risk of being left out. To avert this scenario of "a-winner-takes-all", how can we develop as many winners as possible amongst our people and businesses?

The Government has moved several important chess pieces for our workforce to stay relevant and indeed, of course it is up to us Singaporeans to respond. But this is such an important topic. It still calls for a deeper dive, I believe, to remove the income inequality that will surely arise from the advent of technology. So, that is concern four on income inequality.

My last concern in this speech is: SG Together. I wish to cover the important Singapore Together, or the SG Together, movement – a brainchild of Deputy Prime Minister Heng, and very typical of his style – at least to me – of listening and engaging others, including those not in the Cabinet or the Government. The Deputy Prime Minister, in January 2020, called SG Together the "new cornerstone of nation building" – a new model of partnership between Government and Singaporeans in owning, shaping and acting on our future to expand what is called the "democracy of deeds".

SG Together indeed, I feel, is a significant and necessary direction. Issues of the day are so many and so complicated and complex that the Government no longer has the monopoly of ideas and action, and sometimes even resources. Many citizens, myself included, want to be part of the solution to make our society, not just successful economically, but also significant in the world.

Besides the concerns I mentioned earlier regarding strengthening SMEs, uplifting our vulnerable and reducing income inequality, I can think of so many other areas in which Government and Singaporeans can work together: self-sufficiency in food production, impact of the rise of the robot workforce, more inclusive public housing estates, mobile or pop-up healthcare teams and clinics, living within our means in future Budget allocations, lifelong learning schools, grants for not just public housing but for private housing options, feeding the poor in a dignified way and many others.

Some of us as enthusiastic advocates will need to acquire a broader understanding of not just our area of passion and needs, but also understanding of the eco-system and how different pieces affect other parts of society. If citizens want to harness resources, there must be a way by which the giver of resources, whether Government or private donors, can count on the track record and reliability of us citizens and partners. Hence, our need to not only demand but to build our competencies and credibility.

But on the part of the Government, I feel there are forces within the Public Service and political system that, if we are not careful, could lead to the SG Together movement becoming tokenistic and not very impactful. Some of the changes I would ask the Government to consider to take SG Together to newer heights are these.

One is on vision. Can the Government and Statutory Boards cast a wider vision of their role beyond their traditional scopes? MOE should be envisioned as the Ministry of Lifelong Learning. MEWR should be our Ministry of Sustainability. MOT is no longer dealing with just transportation but connectivity.

On deployment, can we get rid of the possible thinking that only the best executives are the thinkers and remain as the head honchos in the Ministries? Can we deploy more of the best brains to the ground and develop their execution muscles? I remember the days when I was starting a leadership training firm in China many years ago and I failed miserably at the start. The business only took off after I sent my best top staff to China and when I regularly worked with my PRC team on the frontlines. There ought to be a strategy to change the way the Government views and deploys its best. Station them on the ground to learn, to facilitate, to forge alliances through personally experiencing the challenges on the frontlines. Similarly, the Government should be bold enough to appoint good mid-career practitioners to leadership positions in Public Service – offer them a bridging learning stint if need be. That may make a big difference in the complexion and the DNA of SG Together.

And third, in terms of culture: the culture I believe that will drive SG Together to success will have to be one that learns to be less Ministry-centric and less controlling. The people of Singapore has trusted the Government for so long, it is time for the Government to also learn to trust the people too – not blindly, not indiscriminately, but in a less controlling and more facilitative manner.

Sir, I believe that SG Together is a very important direction for the Government. It can end up as a lofty aspiration, but if done right, it will be a powerful driver to a stronger Singapore that can weather many storms heavier than COVID-19 or more tragic crises.

Sir, in conclusion, I fully support the Budget and I seek the Deputy Prime Minister's consideration of the inputs that I have made. I also thank again the Deputy Prime Minister and the team behind Budget 2020 for their great work. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat.

3.50 pm

Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Mr Speaker, monetary and fiscal policy can make or break a retirement dream. It would rather be meaningless for the working class to receive top-ups and transfers year after year at every Budget if there is no light at the end of the tunnel for them to realise their retirement dreams.

In the illustration given in the Budget Annex, a retiree couple, both 65 years old, had only $570 a month in total to support their retirement needs, pre-Budget 2020. That is about $285 per retiree. A single person on the ComCare Long Term Assistance Scheme receives $600 a month for basic living expenses. There is no way for this couple to survive on $570 a month. The illustration went on to state that this couple has to supplement their retirement needs with family support and their own savings. What if this couple does not have family support and savings?

There was a study released by two professors last year in which an elderly person aged 65 and above would need at least $1,379 a month to sustain a basic standard of living. That study has provided some food for thought about retirement adequacy.

With the CPF system being the bedrock of our retirement plans, the Government expects seven-in-10 active CPF members from the 2021 and 2022 cohorts to be able to set aside their Basic Retirement Sum (BRS). That would mean that 30% of the members in these cohorts would not be able to live on their CPF payouts alone when they reach their Payout Eligibility Age (PEA) in 10 years’ time.

But the more concerning part of the numbers highlighted in the Budget Annex is the six-in-10 CPF members who could not meet their BRS a decade ago. Some of these Singaporeans are on the old Retirement Sum Scheme and would have reached their PEA by now. I have met such members who are receiving less than $300 a month in CPF payouts. Some are still working as they do not have extended families or children to support them.

So, for those with little or no savings for retirement, the measures announced in Budget 2020 should go some way to alleviate their hardship and uncertainty. The couple illustrated in the Annex at the beginning of my speech would receive $1,400 monthly, post-Budget 2020. Although this is a more meaningful payout per month, at $700 per retiree, it is still predicated on additional family support and their own savings, something policy makers should not presume when formulating policies on retirement adequacy.

For Budget 2020, I welcome the Senior Worker Support Package to help keep jobs for our senior workers and to increase their CPF savings for their retirement needs somewhere down the road. I also welcome the Stabilisation and Support Package to help keep jobs for our workers in general during this period of uncertainty.

Next, the enhancement to the Silver Support Scheme is also long overdue. The expanded criteria for lifelong wages from $70,000 to $140,000 in total CPF contributions and household monthly income per person are expected to benefit about 100,000 more Singaporeans aged 65 and above.

A number of my residents were shut out of the Silver Support Scheme when it was introduced in 2015 as they had more than $70,000 in their CPF at age 55. Many of them wondered how long does the Government expect $70,000 in total CPF contributions at age 55 to last when housing alone would have taken a big chunk of it, if not all of it away? And these people would share that they were low-wage earners to begin with and were living paycheck to paycheck with little savings. Some of them would not qualify for the scheme as they are gainfully employed but homeless children are still living with them, for whatever reasons. The enhancements to the Silver Support Scheme is certainly a welcome move for elderly Singaporeans in these difficult times.

Next, I have a small suggestion to make about the Grocery Vouchers scheme for Singaporeans aged 21 and above, who live in 1-room and 2-room HDB flats and do not own more than one property. These Singaporeans will receive $100 in Grocery Vouchers for 2020 and 2021.

It was stated in the Budget Annex that these vouchers can be used at participating supermarkets and to date, NTUC Fairprice, Giant and Sheng Siong have agreed to accept these vouchers. The Grocery Vouchers scheme is expected to cost the Government $16 million.

Would it not make more sense for the Government to avail these vouchers for all the mom-and-pop shops instead, so as to help these small businesses tide over this difficult period at the same time? The $16 million budgeted for the scheme would go a long way to help these local provision shops but it would only be a drop in the ocean for the three big supermarkets combined. NTUC Fairprice alone had reported a group revenue of $3.45 billion for FY2018.

I can understand these big supermarkets would need to agree to accept these vouchers as they would be doing a form of community service. But for those mom-and-pop shops, I am quietly confident none of them would reject these Government-backed vouchers if presented for use.

I have piloted such a voucher scheme for needy residents in Hougang. Our vouchers could be exchanged for anything, including cooking oil, detergents, toothpaste, toilet rolls and so on, with the standard restriction on alcohol and tobacco products. At the same time, these vouchers would actually benefit two small, owner-operated kiosks in Hougang.

I hope the Government would consider supporting our mom-and-pop shops in a meaningful way in addition to the measures announced in the Budget. Extending the Grocery Vouchers scheme to our neighbourhood shops will help bring some buzz and business to the community. This is a win-win arrangement for needy residents and local provision shop owners.

Finally, if there is one lesson for me to take away from this coronavirus outbreak that is gripping the world right now, it is certainly not about the blame game, the discrimination or the name calling. It is certainly not about the grocery run, the hoarding or the hunt for sanitisers and what-have-you. It is about helping a friend in need.

When China sneezes, the world will catch a flu, whether we like it or not. The world’s factory will stop. No cheap raw materials. No cheap components. No cheap clothing. No cheap produce. And no tourists. The world has to be thankful to China for being able to provide all that for the benefits of consumers everywhere.

So, it is imperative that we wish China a speedy recovery. It is also imperative for the world to help China to get back on its feet as soon as possible. The sooner China recovers, the better it will be for all. So, it is heartening for me to read that Singapore has dispatched a second round of humanitarian aid to China last week. It is important that in moments like these, a sense of common humanity that transcends border, race, language, or religion must prevail.

Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.20 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.58 pm until 4.20 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.20 pm

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Debate on Annual Budget Statement

Debate resumed.

Mr Speaker: Mr Gan Thiam Poh. Sorry, Mr Lim Swee Say.

Mr Lim Swee Say (East Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, having served 23 years in Parliament, I ask myself, "How have we done as an economy, society and nation?"

First, as an economy, our challenge is to maximise the upside of globalisation. Globalisation has redefined the world of technology and innovation, market and competition.

The implication can be "dua ho, dua pai" in Hokkien or in Chinese, "大好大坏". Either very good or very bad. "大好", very good for those good enough to move up the economic ladder. "大坏", very bad for those unable to compete as they would be left farther behind. We are determined to succeed, to be "大好". To beat those who are cheaper than us, we try to be better than them. To beat those who are better than us, we try to be cheaper than them. But the cheaper keeps getting better and the better keeps getting cheaper.

So, we restructure our economy continuously, faster than them. In short, we try to be cheaper, better, faster, not by lowering wages, but by raising skills and productivity and developing new business capabilities, so that we can command higher wages for our people, and higher premium for our businesses. We stay the course not just in good times, but also in bad.

During the Global Financial Crisis, other countries cut job to save cost. With tripartite partnership, we did the opposite. We cut costs to save jobs. They tried to survive the downturn. We upturned the downturn.

So, with a L-shape recovery, many countries took years to recover from their massive job losses. But with a V-shape recovery, we took just a few months to return to full employment. Not many Singaporeans remember what we did right at a time when so much could have gone wrong for us. But for my brothers and sisters in the Labour Movement, we would never forget how much was at stake and how important it was, and always will be, that we get it right every time, including this time round with the Stabilisation and Support package.

Sir, our local workforce is over two million. They need meaningful jobs and careers to take care of themselves and their families. It is never easy to compete globally for good jobs and investments. But because we dare to be different, we never say die, we have created not just over two million jobs for our people. In fact, we created more than three million jobs for Singapore.

Out of the three types of growth – economic growth, employment growth and wage growth – many countries could achieve may be one out of three, or two out of three. But for Singapore, we have achieved three out of three, consistently, decade after decade. Indeed, we have done well as One Singapore Tripartism. We are winners, not losers in globalisation.

Next, as a society, our challenge is to minimise the downside of globalisation. Globalisation has widened inequality globally. It has disunited nations, divided people and broken up societies. Countries and economies most affected negatively have one thing in common: they pursued economic growth as their end objective at the expense of social cohesion.

Not us in Singapore. Our end objective in nation building has always been social cohesion, not economic growth. Economic growth is just a means for us to generate the resources we need to improve the lives of our people. This is why we counter social divides with social transfers. Billions of dollars in every term of government. We counter rising healthcare cost with MediShield Life for all and we take extra care of our seniors with PGP and MGP. Again, billions of dollars.

We also keep strengthening social mobility and people well-being, from upgrading of public housing estates, to the expansion and renewal of public transport, the upgrading of schools and the upscaling of pre-school education. And the list goes on. Again, billions of dollars.

In a world of growing divides, unrest and disunity, we in Singapore continue to live in peace and harmony. Because from 1G to 2G to 3G, we never forget to channel the revenue generated from our competitive economy to take better care of our people. With this Unity Budget, our 4G is doing the same, and more. It will further strengthen our unity, cohesion and inclusiveness as One Singapore United.

Last but not least, as a nation, we need to strengthen our sustainability for our long-term progress. Nation building is a journey with no end. "人无远虑 必有近忧" in Chinese. That is, if one generation does not worry for the next generation, our future generations will have much to worry about. By then, it could be too late.

Water supply is a prime example. Two-thirds of the world is covered with water, yet the world is short of clean drinking water. As an island, we could keep adding to our water supply with desalination. But it will be energy intensive, costly and environmentally unfriendly. So, we came up with a same-same but different solution: not just adding, but also multiplying our water supply. We closed our water loop and we turned every drop of water into two drops or more with the advances in membrane technology.

With the support of the entire nation, we achieved something unachievable in other places – the public acceptance of NEWater. And we pressed on for more – from NEWater to Green Sand to Zero Landfills.

Indeed, despite our many limitations as a small country, we have done well as One Singapore Unlimited.

Mr Speaker, Sir, looking ahead, "逆水行舟 不进则退". Nation building is a journey against the flow. The global environment for trade and investment is changing, becoming more unconducive. Some countries may choose to continue to pursue globalisation – business as usual. Social gaps could widen more and the societies could become more divided. Some may choose to change track, towards de-globalisation. Their economies could become more inward looking and eventually, less competitive.

For Singapore, our choice is clear. What we want is neither globalisation with a divided society, nor de-globalisation with a less competitive economy. We want the best of both worlds – a globally competitive economy and a locally cohesive society, both at the same time. "Globalisation" plus "localisation" give us "glocalisation" in short.

How can we do better with "glocalisation"?

First, for our Future Economy to be globally competitive, we must strive to be a pioneer and leader in the pervasive innovation with Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is not new. The concept of thinking machine and machine learning has been around for 60 years. One of the early applications of AI is language translation. In the early days, someone keyed in "out of sight, out of mind". After being translated into another language and then back into English for verification, what came back was –"a blind idiot".

AI has come a long way since then, not just in language translation, but in many areas, from banking to medical, engineering, data analytics and more. Together, AI and HI or human intelligence, "如虎添翼", can be like a tiger with wings, a powerful force to reshape our future, for the better.

The number one economy of today and the number one economy of tomorrow are competing head on to be the number one powerhouse in AI. Singapore, too, must do well in AI. And we can.

When the First Conference on Innovative Applications of AI was held 31 years ago in 1989 in Stanford University, 30 pioneering AI applications worldwide were selected for presentation. And guess what? One of them came from Singapore!

A group of AI Engineers from Information Technology Institute (ITI) presented the expert system they jointly built with the human experts at our PSA. With the recent launch of the National AI Strategy, we now have a national platform to innovate with AI faster and exploit AI better. We must run fast and excel in our ability to combine the complementary strengths of AI and HI, so that we can transform our future Singapore economy into one of the smartest in the future world.

Next, for our future society to be locally cohesive, we must turn three growing social divides into social unities. First, "High versus Low".

The success of a country is not judged by how well the people at the top are doing, but by how well the people at the bottom are helped by the government and treated by the general public.

Widening income gap can and must be narrowed. Progressive Wage Model (PWM) has four ladders of job, skill, productivity and wage. It can help transform every low-wage job into a better job, every low-wage worker into a better worker. I urge our 4G leadership to widen and deepen the adoption of PWM, more proactively and more passionately, to many more jobs in many more sectors. So that the social divide of "High versus Low" can be turned into the social unity of "High and Low", moving up our employment ladder together.

Second, "Young versus Old". Retirement age and re-employment age are set to move up progressively. This is good. But I hope much more will be done to transform many more jobs to be ESS – Easier, Safer and Smarter for our older workers. So that they can live more years of H2P2 life as we live longer. H2P2 – Happy and Healthy, Productive and Purposeful.

Last but not least, local versus foreign. Competition for good jobs is global. Under SkillsFuture, we are doing much more to upskill and re-skill our people. This is good. At the same time, I hope we will do more to transfer capabilities, especially new and emerging capabilities that are in short global supply from the foreign manpower, both local here and overseas, to our people more systematically and proactively. This is one best way to reduce the lose-lose mindset of local versus foreign – two-third versus one-third – and grow the win-win mindset of two-third plus one-third, equals greater than one.

Mr Speaker, Sir, finally, for our future Singapore to be more livable, we need to forge a greater sense of pride and ownership in our living environment. Fifty years ago, we were a pioneer in embracing Clean and Green. Today, we are a pioneer in NEWater. Moving forward, I feel, what we need is to create an environment where everyone in Singapore can participate everyday and everywhere in a more active and visible manner as part of our daily life.

From more use of reusable bag and environmental-friendly car, to the separation of waste for recycling, returning of trays at the F&B outlets and so on. I hope we will strive to be a leading nation in our social behavior to improve our environmental performance and sustainability, so that our future Singapore will truly be a better Singapore in all aspects – more competitive, more cohesive, more socially responsible and more environmentally responsive.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, Sir, today, Singapore is a competitive economy, a cohesive society and a nation which can develop sustainably. This has been achieved through the collective efforts of all Singaporeans.

The question is, why is it that most countries have capable and hardworking people but only a few countries can perform well? I think one of the key factors lies with the quality and style of leadership. In some countries, leaders are only concerned with "xiao wo" or self-interest. They jostle for power and put their self-interest above that of the country and its people. As a result, people’s lives are neglected and the country fails, with nothing being achieved.

On the other hand, leaders from some countries adopt a "zi wo" or "self centred" leadership style. They can perform well in the short run but are egoistic and lack successors. As a result, they may do well in the short run but this success cannot be sustained for long.

Fortunately, leaders from some countries adopt the "da wo" leadership style, or a selfless leadership style that focuses on the greater good. When they are in power, they work tirelessly to serve the country and its people. At the same time, they focus on the future and continue to groom their successors, because they know that no one can escape death and illness, and this is the law of nature.

Every one of us will become old, but a country's leadership cannot become old. This is because nation building is an endless journey. Therefore, while these leaders are serving the country and its people, they also spare no efforts in grooming leaders for the next generation. By doing this generation after generation, the country's leaders can keep up with the times and continue to do good for the people. Under their leadership, the country can achieve good progress, regardless of short-term or long- term developments.

From the first to the current third generation leaders, Singapore has continued to grow from strength to strength under the "da wo" leadership style. I hope the 4G Leaders will uphold the same spirit and prioritise our country's long-term development and our citizens’ long-term interest above everything else.

I also hope that our people will always treasure this leadership style. Only by doing this, can Singapore continue to progress and can generations of Singaporeans live better and be happier than their predecessors.

(In English): Mr Speaker, Sir, a few months ago, I had a private dinner with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. He left a deep impression on me – not with his vast knowledge and deep knowledge about nation building, because that I already knew. Minister Mentor once said Heng Swee Keat has one of the best brains in Singapore. And what came across clearly and strongly for me that dinner, over a four-hour dinner, was that he also has one of the most caring hearts for Singapore and for Singaporeans.

We shared our views on many topics and many issues. But the one that stood out clearly was his passion and his commitment in what is known today as "Singapore Together". At the dinner, Singapore Together had not been launched yet. But later on, the more I heard about Singapore Together, the more I understood what he is trying to do and why that night he was so passionate talking about this.

Singapore would not be where we are today if not for the tripartite partnership in our economy and the 3P partnership in our society. Under his leadership, it is loud and clear to me that Deputy Prime Minister wants the 4G leaders to do even better, to do even more – engaging with Singaporeans, consulting them, rallying them to contribute ideas and act in concert, because he wants to forge a national ownership that is shared by all Singaporeans in the future development of Singapore.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I always believe, all my life that, "People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care". I am heartened that our 4G leadership not only knows a lot about challenges in nation building, but also cares a lot about the sentiment, anxiety, aspiration and inspiration of our people.

I urge everyone in this House, and all our fellow Singaporeans, let us all put our hearts, our heads and our hands together, to jointly create our future Singapore. One that is more globally competitive, more locally cohesive and more sustainable with unlimited potential. One that all of us, will co-own and all will be proud of. Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore Together, Majulah Forever. I support the Budget. [Applause.]

4.41 pm

Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, Sir, firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the frontline healthcare workers, as well as frontline staff from MINDEF, SCDF and the various agencies. Of course, we must also thank all Singaporeans for their support and cooperation. I am confident that we will be able to overcome this COVID-19 outbreak together.

(In English): I join my Parliamentary colleagues in supporting this year's very substantial Budget. The size of the commitment will go a long way to tide us over a challenging and uncertain period. Just as our economy had seen its weakest growth since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the COVID-19 outbreak struck us out of the blue and there is not a single person here who has not felt its impact in one way or another.

The $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package will be a great help to businesses, with cash flow and jobs support. The Package is well-considered, taking into account the various aspects of employment so that we can help our workers retain their jobs and prepare for the future. The Jobs Support Scheme offers temporary wage offsetting, the Wage Credit Scheme enhancement co-funds wage increases and the extended Adapt and Grow Initiative will boost training and re-skilling.

I would just like to request that the Finance Minister consider disbursing the Jobs Support Scheme payments earlier than the targeted date of end-July. Many of the smaller companies are already struggling to remain in business and it would be tough for them to wait for another five months. The timing of the payouts could mean the difference between survival and failure for some. Furthermore, we must consider the knock-on effects of company closures on other connected businesses. The potential chain reaction should not be underestimated. Hence, I urge the Minister to consider expediting the assistance.

The Government's decision to target support for the five sectors directly hit by COVID-19 is understandable. Funds are limited and the amounts must be large enough to be impactful. I appeal for some support for businesses connected to the five supported sectors of tourism, aviation, retail, food services and point-to-point transport services as well. Suppliers to businesses in these five sectors are suffering too, as it is common that these five sectors outsource services to vendors and suppliers. I hope the Ministry would consider introducing some measures to assist companies which are similarly affected, due to their dealings with firms in these five sectors.

It is a great idea to encourage companies to send their employees for training and re-skilling. However, many smaller companies are unable to do so. Some of these small companies are almost fire-fighting every day, they are also stretched for manpower, it is almost impossible to send workers for training. In addition, they may not have the financial means to do so. I would like to ask the Ministry whether they are able to assist such smaller companies with the kind of difficulties that I mentioned. The Government has committed to work with large anchor enterprises to support training for their sectors. May I ask if this plan would help to address the concern I have just mentioned?

Some Singaporeans who were retrenched earlier would have greater difficulty getting jobs now. We sympathise with their difficulties. They express their desire to continue working, not receiving financial assistance. Companies should be incentivised and encouraged with rewards to give these Singaporean job seekers the highest priority for available jobs in their firms, especially those in their 40s and above who are willing to take part in professional conversion programmes, before granting EPs, SPs or WPs. The proposed hiring incentive for employers, which provides 20% salary support to the employers for six months, is attractive and I hope the Government will monitor its effectiveness. How will the Government determine the scheme’s effectiveness and under what conditions will the Ministry review existing programmes to support the employability of Singaporeans?

Next, I would like to share some suggestions about the support for the point-to-point transport service sector.

Firstly, Private Hire Car (PHC) drivers who drive an average of 6.7 trips per day will qualify for the $10 per day relief. For taxi drivers, the hirer will qualify for the $10 per day relief and each hirer, being a full-time taxi driver, typically has to drive 15 to 18 trips per day. Each hirer typically has a relief driver who also drives about 10 to 15 trips per day but relief drivers do not qualify for the $10 per day relief. Could MOT consider extending such an assistance scheme to support taxi relief drivers?

Secondly, taxi operators, typically asset-heavy, carry higher costs and have to pay road tax, corporate tax and so on. Ride-hailing companies, which are asset-light, do not have to pay any such taxes as they are borne by the drivers. Hence, the cost structures of both are different. Taxi operators are matching the $10 a day relief fund by providing a rental rebate of $10 a day or more. Ride-hailing companies do not need to match $10 a day.

PHC drivers typically pay 20% commission based on the total fare collection. For an average day, PHC drivers pay about $36 in commission and the $10 per day relief is equivalent to 27.8% of their expenses. On the other hand, taxi rental per day is about $100. Thus, $10 a day relief is equivalent to 10% of the expenses of a taxi driver. Would the Ministry consider reviewing the SRF in view of the different cost structures of both?

Finally, we should also note that we have a significant number of self-employed or freelancers amongst us who will not be eligible for the various assistance schemes, such as the Jobs Support Scheme.

For example, many tourist guides are self-employed. Would the Government roll out measures to help them find other temporary and part-time jobs? This group of workers can be redeployed to other tasks, such as temperature-taking. I saw on TV recently there were some who have taken it up. They would need job counselling and advisory to point them to available temporary jobs or even career changes so that they can continue to secure a livelihood.

4.49 pm

Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am very grateful and relieved that our country is able to finance this $106 billion Unity Budget without having to draw on our reserves nor burden future generations. We thank our predecessors for their thrift and wisdom in building up our reserves and assets which provide the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC). This year's NIRC is expected to remain the top contributor to our revenue, ahead of corporate and personal income tax and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). In addition, we have benefited from careful and tactical planning which ensures that we accumulate and set aside surpluses for a rainy day. Thus, we are much better prepared to weather this storm of global uncertainty, economic shifts and the COVID-19 outbreak.

The $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package and $1.6 billion Care and Support Package will provide substantial help to businesses and households to deal with the short-term challenges ahead. Furthermore, this Budget goes beyond the immediate present and sets aside funds for mid- and long-term goals.

Today, Sir, I would like to focus on assistance for the vulnerable and needy and request for more resources to be committed to help them. This is a topic very close to my heart. This year, the expenditure for Social and Family Development is expected to increase by 8.5% to $3.3 billion. Our Social Service Offices (SSO) play an important role in coordinating social assistance for needy residents. Most vulnerable households face multiple problems. They need help with their finances, job seeking, family relationship problems, health issues, care for their children, elderly or disabled family members. Living from hand to mouth, struggling to just make it through the day, it is daunting for them to figure out where to ask for help, let alone approach different Government agencies. It is very helpful that SSO, the coordinating body, provides them with the necessary guidance and help, such as job matching and linking them up with the relevant Government assistance schemes and services and voluntary welfare organisations.

The SSO provides a customised social service, catering to the different requirements of each distressed resident or family. This is labour-intensive work and, not surprisingly, our SSOs are very much stretched in terms of resources, specifically manpower. This makes it hard for them to follow up with individuals or families to see if they are doing fine after help has been rendered and the cases considered closed. Many social workers and case officers would definitely want to follow up to ensure their cases are okay because, in reality, there are always lingering or recurring problems which pop up as this vulnerable segment goes through the different stages in their recovery or relapse. However, with new cases approaching the SSOs for help, the challenge is having to prioritise with the very limited resources.

Presently, with so many touch and contact points, picking up and identifying cases is not so much of a problem. Doing a longer and more thorough follow-up is the real challenge. Our social workers and officers need time to build rapport with these families and establish trust. Over a long period, with greater and deeper understanding of their cases, they could be more effective at proposing more long-term solutions and detecting other underlying or potential problems. This is very important, particularly where children or the elderly are involved. These are two groups of people who may not be able to articulate their problems or speak up for themselves. Protecting and helping children is one of the most important things we should do because we want to enable them to grow up into healthy and well-adjusted individuals who can take care of themselves, break out of the poverty cycle and become contributing members of our community.

I would like to propose that we tap on seniors and older workers to help in this area of work as they have good experience and wisdom. Besides providing more funding to hire them, we would also need to train those who are joining these positions mid-career.

Allow me to share my constituency experience about a senior who has been volunteering in my Henderson Dawson welfare committee after his retirement. Mr Ho Yew Wai, aged 70, is my resident. He retired three years ago as a senior counsellor in the Family Court. He visits individuals and families in distress, patiently talks to them and understands their issues, then works with our SSO, various Government agencies and voluntary welfare organisations to ensure these families receive holistic help. After a couple of months of the case closing, he will get in touch with the families to ensure all is well. This goes on till he is confident that the family is alright. If something has gone wrong mid-way, he will work with SSO again.

However, much time and resources are needed for such a follow-up, and there are just that many cases one can handle. If this follow-up portion can be delegated to people like Mr Ho, someone who loves people, enjoys working with people and who has such invaluable experience and, if a system can be put in place, the SSO officers can be freed up to do the earlier coordination and intervention work. Sir, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Investing in resources to take care of our less privileged groups will yield positive results many times over. The young will break free from the poverty trap, lifting their families with them. Those who are down will not remain down and out for long with many helping hands to pull them up. Together, we will build a stronger, more unified Singapore. I support the Budget. Thank you.

4.56 pm

Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of Budget 2020.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the vision to phase out Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles and for all vehicles to run on cleaner energy by 2040.

One of the measures to push more people to buy electric vehicles (EVs) is the introduction of the EV Early Adoption Incentive. This is a 45% rebate on the Additional Registration Fee (ARF), capped at $20,000.

Sir, I would like to highlight that while the $20,000 is generous, I feel it may not be sufficient to push more people to buy EVs. A comparison of the price of EV versions with ICE or hybrid versions of the same car model shows that EV versions currently sells at a significant premium to their ICE or hybrid equivalent. This is mainly because lithium ion batteries are very expensive. Moreover, costs incurred by car distributors to bring in EV models are spread over a small number of cars, thus increasing the per car costs. For instance, a Hyundai Ioniq Electric currently sells for $152,000, a premium of $44,000 over its hybrid sibling.

The story is the same for plug-in hybrids which allow charging as a source of energy. A Volvo S60 plug-in hybrid sells for $265,000, a whopping $90,000 over its normal S60 equivalent.

Factoring in the higher road tax for EVs, which will be introduced to compensate for the loss of fuel excise duties, I think EV adoption will continue to be slow.

Mr Speaker, another area which I think we have look at is to push local car distributors to bring in more EV and plug-in hybrid models. While car manufacturers have introduced more car models with cleaner engine technologies, local distributors have been slow to bring them in. For instance, Volkswagen has an EV version of its Golf, called the e-Golf, but it is not available here. The story is the same for Japanese cars. Honda has a very cute EV called Honda E, again, not sold here.

A check among the mainstream car brands sold here indicated that there are only eight EV car models which consumers can choose from. Last year, the top three car manufacturers are Honda, Toyota and, surprisingly, Mercedes. Together, they account for more than 28% of total car sales. Unfortunately, none of them brings in an EV or plug-in hybrid model.

Sir, unless we can make car distributors bring in more EV models, our push towards EV is doomed to fail. To address this, I would like to suggest the following measures. While we have a longer term view for the year 2040, I think we need short and medium term targets as well.

I would like to suggest that for all mainstream car distributors selling more than 1,000 cars annually, 5% of their cars must be pure EV or plug-in hybrid models in five years’ time. In 10 years' time, by 2030, this will be raised to 20%. Frankly, if we cannot meet 20% by 2030, there is no way we can meet 100% by 2040.

Without this push, our investment in charging stations will be wasted and the charging stations will become white elephants.

To incentivise car dealers to bring in EV and plug-in hybrid models, there should be double tax deduction for expenses incurred to bring in these car models. Profits from such sales can also be taxed at a lower corporate income tax rate of 10%. For car dealers who are unable to meet the target, a $5,000 ICE tax can be levied on every ICE car model which they sell.

Mr Speaker, the vision of 100% clean energy vehicles by 2040 is a bold one. In order to increase the adoption of cars running on cleaner energy, we need to look at the whole value chain and not just from the car buyers' perspective. I hope that both MOF and MOT will look into my suggestions.

5.01 pm

Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Budget. Sir, COVID-19 has shown and demonstrated that robust contingency planning is necessary to ensure that we can cope with the worst effects of crises. Singaporeans have expressed confidence in the foresight of our Government and its willingness to spare no expense in ensuring that sufficient provisions are made for times of emergency. Far-sighted and robust contingency planning has allowed us to prevail over crises in times past and will help us to tide over crises in times to come. Budget 2020 is testimony of the commitment of our Government to help businesses and Singaporeans to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sir, I wish to speak on the importance of contingency planning. In particular, I wish to speak on how we can build capabilities in our Government, businesses and the community to ensure that we are prepared for future emergencies or crises. I would also like to propose some measures that the Government can facilitate to alleviate the strain placed on our nation by COVID-19.

Sir, I would like to call on the Government, businesses and shareholders in the community to develop and implement business continuity plan to make Singapore and Singaporeans more resilient against threats of varying natures.

Business Continuity Plan, abbreviated as BCP, has proven to be useful. Please allow me to cite two examples. On the government level, the Tourism Authority of Thailand was able to use its BCP to help the Thai tourism industry recover after crises, such as the 2004 tsunami and the 2009 riots.

On the business level, Nissan’s contingency planning, which was reviewed and refined multiple times over the years, allowed it to minimise production disruptions following the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Its BCP includes measures, such as establishing a database to keep stock of supplies during an emergency, making its command structure mobile and drawing from a global supply chain made possible with alliances, such as the one with Renault.

Sir, we should consider learning from best practices overseas and press for both our Government agencies and businesses in Singapore to develop BCPs. To facilitate the effective development of BCP in business, the Government can issue Business Continuity Plan Guidelines to the private sector, as the Cabinet Office of Japan did in 2005. Sir, we should be as ambitious as them and aim to have 100% of our large-sized and 50% of our medium-sized enterprises formulate these BCPs and have them executable in 10 years.

At this juncture, I wish to share that the 15 PAP Town Councils are reviewing their respective Business Continuity Plans to ensure that they are kept operational even during times of crises. Last year, we started to develop our BCP framework in accordance with international standards, that is, ISO 22301, to ensure that the plans are objectively consistent, credible and viable. In addition to the operational benefits this will yield, on a psychological level, this will inspire confidence in our residents that their needs will continue to be taken care of during a crisis.

With COVID-19, it is patently clear that even the best-designed Business Continuity Plan may be found wanting, especially when global supply chains are disrupted and fear spreads within communities. There is no shortage of literature displaying the dismal effects of COVID-19 on our businesses. Firms in the aviation, tourism, retail, food and beverage and transport industries have been hit especially hard.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to propose some measures that the Government can undertake to help these businesses and restore confidence.

First, by boosting consumer demand. This can be done by providing matching grants to businesses when they give discount vouchers to consumers. Sir, many customers are concerned with the situation and choose to stay at home. This has caused many businesses to hemorrhage money as there are significant overhead costs. To keep our businesses afloat, it is important that measures which incentivise consumers to consume are implemented. Businesses can entice consumers by giving them monthly discount coupons on air tickets, hotel stays and shopping vouchers. The Government can help by giving matching grants to these businesses to help soften the blow of COVID-19.

Second, by boosting consumer confidence. This can be done by increasing the frequency of cleaning, disinfecting our surroundings and improving on hygiene. We can ensure that temperature checks are conducted at all shopping centres, hotels and tourist attractions. These measures will further boost consumer confidence to visit Singapore and our attractions.

Sir, restrooms are a visible gauge of hygiene standards. An ill-maintained, dirty restroom is likely to evoke thoughts of disease growth and feelings of repulsion. As such, the maintenance of clean toilets in Singapore can reduce these unpleasant sentiments and incentivise consumption by boosting confidence that measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission are being taken.

In January 2020, North West CDC implemented a project named "Clean Toilets @ North West" to transform all toilets at coffeeshops. Based on the experience and expertise of various stakeholders, such as architects, interior designers, coffeeshop operators and users, we have developed a new benchmark for clean toilets at coffeeshops. By using the correct designs and materials, toilets can be built to achieve these desired outcomes as follows: first, robust and vandalism-proof; second, easy to maintain; and third, clean and safe for users. This, together with the professional training of cleaners and continuously educating our users to be kind and gracious when using toilets, can transform the toilet culture in Singapore. At the same time, it will remove potential breeding spots for bacteria and diseases.

Sir, we have adopted the Clean Toilet benchmark and upgraded a coffeeshop in Bukit Panjang as a "show flat" for clean toilets. Details of the Clean Toilet project can be downloaded from North West CDC’s website. We are pleased to note that all the coffeeshop operators in Bukit Panjang have agreed to upgrade their toilets to meet this new benchmark. This will transform our toilets to be clean and safe.

Sir, the adoption of these standards will inspire confidence in our hygiene and safety standards and will continue to boost consumption.

Sir, many will say that this is a pipe dream, given the current culture surrounding toilet usage. However, the South Korean government was able to enact huge, and, more importantly, lasting changes within the span of eight years. Clean toilets are the norm today. The transformation has been permanent and successful, with South Korean toilets continuing to be some of the cleanest in the world, 26 years after the start of the South Korean Restroom Reform. We should learn from their experiences and start our own Singaporean Restroom Revolution.

Sir, I have spoken on building capabilities on the Government and business levels. I wish to now speak on building capabilities in the community.

The community forms the first and last bulwarks against threats. It is likely that members of the public will be the first responders in crises. As such, community participation should be factored into our contingency plans. It is imperative that we equip our people with the knowledge and skills to survive and to help others during a crisis.

Sir, volunteers from North West CDC have developed a mobile application called "North West 911" to provide a mobile toolkit which one can access from the convenience of their mobile devices anywhere and anytime to better respond to emergencies. This app provides an emergency preparedness and response protocol guide for 14 crisis scenarios, such as fire, flood, bomb threats or infectious disease outbreak. It also has an illustrated first-aid guide, an emergency bag inventory checklist, a resource directory covering clinics, polyclinics, hospitals, police stations, civil defence shelters, community centres and emergency telephone numbers which Singaporeans can call to seek assistance when in Singapore or in the 10 most frequently travelled overseas destinations by Singaporeans.

Sir, there is great potential with this app, given that there are 4.7 million smart mobile device users in Singapore. By having this app downloaded by these users, we can build a 4.7 million strong community of lifesavers. I would like to urge Members of this House to download the app to your smartphones. Just go to your respective app store as the app is available on both iOS and Android, key in "North West 911" and take the lead in preparing for emergencies.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we should empower the community to come up with innovative solutions like North West 911 and build capabilities in our people to cope better during emergencies. In this regard, I would urge the Finance Minister to consider setting up an Emergency Preparedness Endowment Fund to continually train all Singaporeans to be prepared for crises which may occur in the future.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my call to the Government, businesses and the community to develop robust contingency plans and for crisis management capabilities to be developed at all levels of Singaporean society.

5.13 pm

Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Speaker, Sir, before I start my speech, I wish to congratulate the hon Member of Parliament Mr Lim Swee Say for his well-delivered speech in his special style, replete with new acronyms. He spoke from the heart and made many instructive points. One that resonated with me which I think is worth repeating in this House is that it is exceptional for a government to achieve real wage growth, real employment growth and economic growth, all at the same time.

He also reminded us that growth is not just for its own sake but it is, ultimately, about making Singapore stronger together as a society, for now and the future. His clarion call to work together to progress forever is something all Singaporeans must join in.

Sir, in my speech, I will make two suggestions, seek one clarification and then I will end off with an observation.

Turning to suggestions, on the Stabilisation package, the hon Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mr Heng expressed gratitude on behalf of the Government to all frontline officers and then he outlined the Stabilisation package. Many hon Members, including Mr Seah Kian Peng, and Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon today also echoed the sentiments of gratitude to the frontline officers. I wish to draw attention not just to these officers but their families.

A few weeks ago, I met Mdm Jorah. She is 57 years old. She is a nurse with Bukit Batok polyclinic. She was accompanied by her husband, who is a stroke patient. Her husband shared with me that on occasions, Mdm Jorah came back and shed tears. This was because she was scolded at the clinic by patients who were demanding for surgical masks even though they did not have symptoms. Her husband was the one who provided emotional support for her and as a result, Mdm Jorah was able to carry on with her duties.

I am sure there are many such examples of families supporting frontline officers. I believe these families must be recognised and supported, and to this, I make two suggestions. First is, if they are put to expense because of these deployment requirements, then I think it is only fair for them to be recompensed. One example is if they have to cancel a travel arrangement because leave had to be cancelled. Alternatively, if there had to be some care arrangement, like for example, Mdm Jorah's husband is stroke-ridden and she had to make arrangements so that he could be taken care of while she goes back to the clinic. Perhaps this can be considered.

The other thing is, it would be good if we can put together a package of discounts and even gifts for goods and services for the families. We could use perhaps the Courage Fund, with participation from Singaporeans and the private sector. The Government can play a role in providing the funds and funding incentives for organisations to honour our frontline staff and their families.

My next suggestion involves the Enabling Employment Credit (EEC). I laud the introduction of this EEC to incentivise employers to employ and retain persons with disabilities (PWDs). Just a short clarification, I would seek to understand what is the definition of PWD for this scheme? Would it, for example, include persons with mental disabilities? I know voluntary organisations such as Bizlink, who do good work on this front, would benefit if this is so.

Returning back to the point I want to make: I wonder if similar credit could be provided to employers of ex-offenders? Now, ex-offenders still have a problem in securing decent jobs. I met Mr R – he is 66 years old. He has just been released from prison after serving five years for selling contraband cigarettes. He is exceptionally fit and looks much younger than his age. He has Secondary 2 education and speaks good English. He told me that he could only secure a part-time job as a coffee shop attendant earning $40 a day. His salary seldom goes beyond $800 a month.

Many ex-offenders are under-employed. And I wonder if the EEC could be extended to provide incentives to employers to employ or give full employment to ex-offenders. We can even work the EEC such that it can be crafted to reward ex-offenders if they were to stay on working and fully rehabilitate themselves. I think that would translate to some level of savings on behalf of the Government as well, because they do not re-offend.

This would strengthen the "Unity" element of the Budget.

Before I go on to seek my clarification, I also want to acknowledge the good work of SCORE in securing employment for ex-offenders. But we can do our part to help SCORE to do its work to get better jobs for ex-offenders.

On the clarification, Mr Yee Chia Hsing spoke about electric vehicles (EVs). I note the Deputy Prime Minister's bold vision of phasing out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and having all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.

The incentives appear to centre on encouraging EV adoption as opposed to other options such as Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs), which are favoured by countries such as Japan and South Korea. The Deputy Prime Minister said and I quote, "The Government is placing a significant bet on EVs." Deputy Prime Minister Heng does not seem to me like a betting person, but may I please ask what is the basis of optimism over EVs as opposed to HFCVs? Also, what kind of infrastructural development is required to achieve the aim of 28,000 charges by 2030? Do we need to build more substations, for example? What is the expected cost? Would there be cost recovery from users and if so, how do you do so?

I wish to share one point though from personal experience. There is a potential for municipal issues to creep in during the transition period when you convert parking lots for ICE cars to EVs. I have dealt with situations where there have been complaints that EVs take the more accessible parking lots as opposed to ICE cars. So, sometimes, there is scope for such complaints to come up. Going forward, it may be better for a transparent, demand-driven model for conversion of lots.

Next, on the vehicular tax structure, I note that the Deputy Prime Minister is contemplating a lump sum tax for EVs to account for loss in fuel excise duties. I appreciate that fuel excise duties generate revenue and are also imposed to discourage excessive driving. It also has another element: it promotes less pollution. So, I take it that in relation to this lump sum tax that the Deputy Prime Minister contemplates to impose, at least there will be certain savings for EV users because it promotes less pollution. I welcome a clarification.

I end off with an observation. I had the chance to gather feedback from residents and committee leaders in Bukit Batok following Deputy Prime Minister Heng's delivery of the Budget Statement. The observations that were shared were that it was very comprehensive, that it deals with "live" issues on the ground, particularly the fears of mid-career workers, cost of living, and of course, the economic challenge posed by COVID-19.

This reflects the extent of consultation that Deputy Prime Minister Heng and his colleagues engaged with people on the ground. I understand from his speech that about 1,000 leaders from different parts of society were engaged and their ideas were incorporated in this Budget. Truly, this is a "Unity" Budget from conception.

The $106-billion expenditure is a headline grabber. I do not recall many other Budgets crossing this $100-billion mark. But we were able to do it without drawing our Reserves. Mr Liang Eng Hwa highlighted this point in his speech and he highlighted that the prudent expenditure policy of the Government helped in this regard.

But one thing which I thought is worth highlighting is that over the years, this Government had been making a heavy investment to grow the collective capabilities of our people and this in turn allowed us to achieve the real income growth as well as the economic growth. As a result, operating revenue actually went up. I checked the figures. At the start of the term of Government this year, it was about $64 billion. Now, it is about $75 billion. So, that is real growth resulting in revenue increase and I laud the Government for that. With that, I end my speech.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

5.22 pm

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, Budget 2020 is a balanced Budget with a two-pronged approach. There is a clear short-term focus on fighting the impact of COVID-19. This takes the form of protecting local jobs, lowering corporate cost structures and household stimuli to mitigate the worries concerning the day-to-day expenses. Structural transformation of the workforce continues to be the mid-term focus. It is important that even in the midst of a crisis, we must not lose perspective of the future. By recovering faster than the rest, we can leverage on a stronger headstart. In the long-term, not to mention, the efforts focused on climate change.

Mr Speaker, I will focus on three topics.

The first topic is on help for businesses. Businesses are the bread and butter of our nation. The Deputy Prime Minister is right to address the immediate cash flow needs of businesses and wages are a big part of this. The Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will certainly help to encourage enterprises to retain their local employees during this period of uncertainty.

I have two concerns. Eligible employees will receive the payment by 31 July 2020 for wages paid out from the months of October to December 2019. Can this duration be shortened? Otherwise it is almost half a year from now, which may not come in time for SMEs facing liquidity challenges. I urge for efforts to be made to prioritise payouts to companies whose finances are in poorer shape.

Another concern is the period that we are basing the wages off. Let us say an employer has hired an employee through the months of October to December. He lays off the said employee in March. I assume he will still receive his JSS payout. However, does that not defeat the primary purpose of this scheme, which is employee retention? Ultimately, helping businesses is also indirectly helping employees, so I am still glad that there is this scheme. Nevertheless, I hope the Ministry will consider the efficacy and timing issues of such disbursements to ensure they achieve maximum intended results.

Next, property tax rebates have been a common offering in Budgets in times of uncertainty. While the intention is for commercial landlords to pass on the savings to their tenants, this is not guaranteed. Time is needed for landlord-tenant discussions to take place and then the administrative work involved to update the tenancy terms. Has any outreach been done in the past years to determine how much of the savings from the rebates are passed on to the tenants? Moreover, I think we can consider increasing the quantum of property tax rebates if the economy is projected to undergo a U-shaped or a slightly deeper U-shaped recovery.

In light of the difficulties experienced across many sectors, we have to ensure that the continued shift away from employment of foreign workers is also conducted in a sustainable manner. This is especially so for sub-sectors or firms which (a) have a high reliance on foreign workers, (b) are facing external headwinds from the earlier global economic tensions, and (c) are now further burdened by COVID-19 pressure on margins.

Will it be possible to introduce a waiver of the Foreign Worker Levy for the five directly affected sectors as well as other industries which are not doing so well? I also hope more can be done to support sectors directly affected by COVID-19.

An example is the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme which was introduced to the tourism industry. Can we also consider this for the other four directly affected sectors? I observe that the current measures are focused on retention and re-training of workers. But if the business fails to pick up or if businesses are unable to revise their business model, it is only a matter of time before they have little choice but to let go of workers.

Deputy Prime Minister, in the alternate worse-case scenario of a protracted global pandemic situation, can you share with us if we have enough to undertake an off Budget package if needed to help businesses and workers?

Mr Speaker, my second topic is on targeted assistance for those in the 40s and 50s group. I was extremely delighted to hear the Deputy Prime Minister mention in the Budget that he has introduced a SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package for locals in their 40s and 50s to help them stay employable and move on to new jobs or new roles. The Deputy Prime Minister has highlighted the aim to double the annual job placement of locals in their 40s and 50s to around 5,500 by the year 2025 via increasing the capacity of re-skilling programmes such as the Professional Conversion Programme under the Adapt and Grow initiative, plus other sector-specific and career transition programmes. I am in this 40 to 50 age group, so I hopefully will benefit from some of this.

It is good to know also that employers will be supported to recruit, retain and re-train our local mid-career workers, so I strongly support the effort to increase the capacity of re-skilling programmes such as the Professional Conversion Programme by 2025. This, in my view, is pertinent, because a skills-restructuring exercise is very important for Singapore in this transition phase that we are facing. So, can we hasten and intensify the efforts on this and to focus a bit more to provide more targeted help for those who are in their 40s and 50s and provide incentives for companies to absorb more of them into the Professional Conversion Programmes, which we already had, but we can actually widen a bit more and focus them in a faster way.

Many existing SkillsFuture programmes require employees to be employed and nominated by their employers. For those who are not employed by a participating company, they sign up and hope they are shortlisted. As with the typical job applications, there is no guarantee. It is not unreasonable to believe most companies will put their interests before anything else and that could mean choosing an applicant who is perceived to have greater potential, someone with better qualifications, younger and so on. This may result in the more vulnerable groups, the ones who need the training and re-skilling most, left in the lurch.

Last year, I proposed in my Adjournment Motion to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and MOM to enhance the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP) to incentivise companies to train more of their local workforce by sending them for training overseas or have them trained under a foreign specialist with the aim of transferring or sharing the new job scope. Companies should build their 40s to 50s Singaporean Core through this programme. Their experience in the workforce along with excellent work ethics make them exemplary employees to invest resources in. I hope this can still be considered by the Government, going forward.

COVID-19 also underscores the vulnerability of income sustainability for 40 to 50s gig and contract workers. Freelancers across various industries are also affected, from trainers whose class attendances are slashed, to event organisers, emcees, photographers whose events are cancelled and so on. If COVID-19's impact lasts longer than projected, a second round of stimulus may be required to provide more direct help to these individuals.

Regardless, job retrenchment and job transitions are inevitable. Besides current measures, how can we better support in these situations? How do we develop our people so they seize opportunities in this fast-changing economy? For every success story of someone who discovered their new calling, there are others who feel discouraged from months of seeking.

Mr Speaker, my third topic – cost of living. Cost of living is a perennial concern even amongst middle-class Singaporeans. Over the years, the Government has come up with new measures, raised income ceilings, provided relief to the sandwiched middle-class who have children and elderly to take care of. But in this climate of uncertainty, the current measures may be insufficient.

One major concern is inflation. Singapore imports more than 90% of our food. Climate change and natural disasters around the world threaten our food security. With demand exceeding supply, this drives up food prices everywhere. Since 2013, food prices have gone up by about 10%, while 2019 saw the fastest increase in food prices in a decade. COVID-19 brings about many knock-on effects. With the Singapore dollar hitting a three-year low against the US dollar and weakening against regional currencies, costs of our imports will go up. Shipping costs too are going up due to logistical difficulty in shipping out supplies from China. And with sudden waves of COVID-19 infection in certain countries resulting in city lockdowns, people are panicking and stockpiling food and necessities. I fear this may also contribute to further price increases in our food and essentials.

In a typical middle income family, both husband and wife work, so most Singaporeans would dine out and order delivery. Higher rentals and labour costs as well as increased water and electricity bills, have all led to increased operating costs. With prices of food and food services going up, a typical sandwiched middle income family can certainly feel the pinch from feeding their children, especially those with larger families.

Many parents have shared with me that one of their greatest concerns is paying for their children's tertiary education. So, Primary and Secondary education in Singapore are indeed extremely affordable, but the same cannot be said for Universities and Polytechnics, where tuition fees and textbooks are hefty. There are bursaries and scholarships, both from the Government and community, but availability and eligibility are limited.

Healthcare too is a natural concern. Today's sandwiched generation are worried about the healthcare costs of their elderly parents. Despite all the existing measures and schemes to keep healthcare costs affordable even for the very poor, it is apparent that healthcare costs will keep going up with the increased demand for better-skilled healthcare workers and medical equipment and pricing power of the pharmaceutical companies.

So, the announced $1.6 billion Care and Support Package provides assurance and support to Singaporean households during this period of uncertainty, by helping to defray some of their household expenses via various cash outlays, special workfare payments and others. So, it is a substantial amount for a large number of Singaporeans.

But beyond these, can the Government share how it will mitigate rising living costs or the perception of it, so that Singaporeans will feel assured to build and grow their families? One avenue that comes to mind is to ensure that we have adequate measures for a start to monitor as a whole-of-Government to ensure prices of food, necessities and energy-related products do not see profiteering and asymmetric price adjustments that could affect general households during periods of crisis or shocks. The asymmetric price adjustments is quite key because sometimes, you adjust prices lower and sometimes, you adjust prices higher. But typically, when you adjust prices lower, energy companies tend to take a lag effect. So, besides the MTI-related workgroup and committees, CASE and Competition Commission of Singapore (CCCS) looking at profiteering, can we set up a single enforcement unit to address profiteering and price adjustment asymmetries in a more sustained manner or embed it more explicitly to address inefficient pricing practices within the CCCS mandate? Mr Speaker, in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Income inequality. In the midst of all the worrying news about COVID-19 and rising economic uncertainties, there is a silver lining. A Department of Statistics' Key Household Income Trends report states that household income inequality here last year was at its lowest in almost two decades.

The improvement over time is commendable. Our key strategy to ensure access to good education opportunities for all, has likely contributed significantly to this. There has been heavy investment in education, and more recently, in early education, with deliberate effort to level the playing field at the early stage.

But we must not rest on our laurels. Today, there are still vulnerable people who require support to gain access to nutritious food, healthcare and even shelter. We read about them in the news, we hear about them from social service organisations, we see them at the Meet the People sessions. Labels like "high SES" and "low SES" are being bandied around. We are familiar with the stereotypes applied to different aspects of life in Singapore, from what sport we play to the food that we eat. Our society is becoming increasingly status-conscious, and we need to put a stop to this. We need to prevent an underclass from forming.

Plenty has been said and done about empowering people through education and skills-upgrading. The fact remains that there are many amongst the low-income group who are in low-wage jobs with little career prospects and wage growth. Due to family circumstances, such as care-giving duties or being in ill health, some of them are simply unwilling or unable to sink additional time and energy into attending courses. Yet the only way forward is through renewed opportunities and upskilling.

One way is to redesign or change these jobs, and this is already done through automation. The other way is to develop workers to switch career paths. However, we need targeted help and hand-holding to make renewing opportunities possible for the vulnerable.

Some social enterprises create job opportunities for the vulnerable. I have no doubt that they too are affected by COVID-19. Given the nature of their business model, they may be harder hit than other businesses, as are their workers, if they have to be let go during this period. Has the Government done any outreach to social enterprises to find out what kind of assistance they need? How effective have social enterprises been in offering sustainable and stable employment to the vulnerable group? Can the Government work more closely with social enterprises to uplift this vulnerable group?

(In English): Mr Speaker, in conclusion, the best laid-out plans need a sound and sustainable fiscal strategy. The challenges facing Singapore in the 10 years ahead will grow in complexity. We will need all Singaporeans to come alongside to find solutions to these challenges and chart a new course for the future.

It is reassuring that the Minister has committed expenditures beyond COVID-19 to measures ensuring our sustainability – short, medium and long term. I am confident that with the Government, businesses and the people working together and playing our part to support one another, we will pull through the challenges together, stronger and better than before. I support the Budget.

5.38 pm

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Nee Soon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I will start with our response to the COVID-19 crisis. First, most Singaporeans are heartened by the speed and scale of our initial economic response. The pressing issue now is effective implementation of the short-term economic package and a dynamic response as the crisis unfolds.

Effective implementation requires all parties to partner with one another, in the spirit of SG Together. We must also respond dynamically as events unfold. A prolong U-shape economic situation is becoming more likely. Why?

When major societies manage the pandemic in a decisive, clear and transparent way, the economic impact is limited to a short-term supply shock as well as deferred demand, all leading to a V-shape rebound.

On the other hand, if major economies fail to implement containment and mitigation efforts, widespread fear and uncertainty will trigger a second level economic impact leading to a U-shape scenario. Governments will need to coordinate economic responses within and beyond their borders. And if a coordinated economic response fails, in an extreme scenario, global economic contagion could happen.

The global financial markets are starting to price in a U-shape scenario. Investors are beginning to wonder: in the US, with the upcoming Presidential elections, can the Democrat-held House of Representative and the Trump administration, partner effectively on healthcare and fiscal responses? And also, if Northern Europe can mitigate a pandemic more effectively than Southern Europe, will the former want to bear the burden of a large EU fiscal response?

It is still too early to tell. Nevertheless, businesses, and many of them from my constituency, would like to contribute ideas on how we can implement effectively, and respond dynamically.

One, for the next 12 months, MOF, MTI and MOM can have monthly meetings with the key Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) and unions. Key areas to track include bank-lending levels by sector and company size; short-term grant utilisation and efforts to help affected workers. This allows for dynamic response.

For example, if companies withhold wage across the board, there could be less take-up on the Enhanced Wage Credit scheme. Could we then, perhaps, re-deploy funds to other short-term measures, so as to achieve the intended positive fiscal impulse?

Two, some companies in badly affected sectors hope for more assistance in a prolong downturn. Some ideas – IRAS can also consider implementing the Jobs Support Programme for them immediately.

Some deeply impacted companies are asking for a short-term waiver of the Foreign Worker Levy. If we do so, our objective must be to protect the jobs of the Singaporeans in these companies.

Also, during SARS, STB prepared an excellent marketing campaign, so that we were one of the first to pitch for tourism when travel resumed. Even as things look bleak for the tourism today, we can do similar preparations.

Three, our banks must live up to the social and moral responsibility to lend to viable companies, especially now that the Government has done its part to take on more default risk.

Many banks are digitalising their relationship and risk management approach. In fact, many smaller SMEs with me that they no longer know who are their champions within their banks, which is critical during tough times. Our Singapore banks have a strong reputation of being responsible in supporting viable companies during tough times. Now is the time for them to earn that reputation for many more years to come.

Four, MAS can consider accelerating the banking licensing process for new entrants, if they can bring different perspectives on credit-worthiness, for example, through supply chain and data analytics so that more viable firms can benefit.

Five, some foreign workers are thinking of returning home. After the Little India riot, I saw first hand how our frontbench went systematically to major dormitories to calm the ground. Our TACs, businesses, the Government and unions can consider doing something similar. And also, if there is an exodus of foreign workers from any particular country, perhaps MOM can consider temporarily expanding the countries our firms hire from.

And lastly, some Singaporeans are wondering if there will be a second economic package. Could MOF share the likely criterion to determine if a second package is needed, and the considerations and determinations on the scale and scope of further actions?

I also hope the TACs leaders, who are usually respected elders in their industry, play the difficult role to counsel owners, when their business are no longer viable and on how to move forward, so that they can seek social assistance early and move quickly to new opportunities, before their finances deteriorate beyond the point of no return.

Next, I would like to speak on MOH's and the taskforce's exceptional response to the coronavirus.

I recently ran into my family GP of many years. Like many Singaporeans, he commended MOH for the excellent response so far. He shared that during SARS, we had limited medical resources – CDC 1 was a pre-war building and CDC 2 was a converted ward. Today, we have an excellent system, with a state-of-the-art NCID at the heart of it.

Well-informed foreign investors also shared with me that should a global pandemic happen, Singapore is best placed regionally to weather the storm.

I am also heartened to see MOH's additional $800 million of funding, on top of the large post-SARS investments. As a comparison, the US is seeking additional funding of US$1.2 billion for their CDC, for a population of 300 million. Clearly, our Government spares no expenses when it comes to protecting the lives of Singaporeans!

With globalisation and climate change, we must expect more pandemics. Yet, over the years, the global healthcare supply chain has become overly lean for even crucial healthcare essentials.

According to WHO, the widespread inappropriate use of face masks and protective suits globally by those not at the frontline caring for patients, further contributed to the unexpected shortage and price surge.

Therefore, changing global circumstances require us to do an immediate review of our medical stockpile and resilience policy, both for basic drugs and medical disposables commonly used in pandemics.

If necessary, we should anchor relevant manufacturers in Singapore on strategic and not purely economic considerations. And if that is not possible, we can explore pre-position materials and manufacturing capabilities within Singapore.

Next, developing our Singaporeans. We are making wonderful progress for our seniors to age with purpose and dignity. Our urgent task now is to strengthen the employability of mid-career Singaporeans, especially in a protracted downturn. Here are some suggestions.

First, I hope mid-career Singaporeans will fully embrace the SkillsFuture NextCareer Package, now that they have an additional 1,000 dollars credit. I also hope to see stronger publicity by all for SkillsFuture.

Second of all, I hope some industries and TACs can step up. A sector is more viable if the companies actively steer industry development. Some industries have yet to come up with compelling visions, despite the additional help that the Government has provided to TACs. Without a compelling vision, Singaporeans will struggle to identify meaningful paths for upskilling within those sectors. If things do not move in some of these sectors, I hope the existing companies and Government can partner to create alternative TACs to drive industry development. Too many jobs, especially from mid-career Singaporeans, are at risk if we do not do this transformation well.

Lastly, in a protracted downturn, I hope the Government can actively work with certain established industries to absorb more mid-career Singaporeans. These include the construction, engineering services, healthcare, social work, which usually face difficulty recruiting Singaporeans. Companies can tap on MOM's many excellent initiatives to attract Singaporeans. I also hope that affected Singaporeans will also keep an open mind for these jobs. Yes, career transitions are hard. But I am confident that Singaporeans will rise to the occasion.

And if things do not move, I hope the Government can consider further DRC reduction for these specific sectors, and implement the Fair Consideration Framework vigorously. Tough actions could be necessary. Because our sectors that usually absorb mid-career Singaporeans –whether they are heartland enterprises, the IRs, airport, hospitality and private hire transportations – may not be able to do so now. We must give our mid-career Singaporeans the best fighting chance to stay employed.

Beyond current concerns, we must also look out on longer-term trends. I hope our House, as a whole, can start tracking developments on the Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS).

Our tax incentives for income within and beyond Singapore are important tools to anchor major investments in Singapore.

The G-20 has turned on the pressure on hub economies such as Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong. Singapore has weathered Phase One of BEPS well through quick adjustments.

But there is a Phase Two coming, along two dimensions.

One, EU and UK want a cut of their own citizen’s e-commerce revenue, even though existing rules dictate that tax revenue should largely reside in locations generating economic activities. The US currently stands in the way of this proposal, as they benefit from e-commerce. But one cannot rule out a future compromise, to the detriment to hub economies.

Two, some major developed economies are pushing for a minimal global tax. So that they can tax their companies more, even if companies get a preferential tax rate elsewhere, regardless of the justification.

If these developments take place, the impact on our revenue base could be swift and sizable. Billions of dollars of lost corporate income tax; additional spending to keep and attract current and future investments; loss tax revenue and spending by a reduced international workforce; and less job opportunities for our people.

I hope that within this Chamber, as we discuss about meeting current and future needs, we can keep in mind the possibility of a sudden revenue drop.

Let me now conclude. In troubled times like this, we can see the mettle of a country's governance system. Yes, Singapore is undoubtedly the canary bird for globalisation. Pandemics, trade wars, terrorism, climate change, fake news can hit Singapore hard and fast.

Nevertheless, the world can expect Singapore, in the spirit of SG Together, to emerge stronger from every crisis. Because they know the hallmark of Singapore, is our ability to implement effectively and respond dynamically to short-term, medium-term and long-term challenges all at the same time. With that, I stand in support of the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Douglas Foo.

5.49 pm

Mr Douglas Foo (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, please allow me to declare my interest as Chairman of Sakae Holdings Limited, President of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Vice-President of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

I rise to affirm my support for the recently delivered Singapore Budget Statement 2020 and to provide a response from the manufacturing and business community.

The general sentiment from the manufacturing and business community is that this is a Budget that recognises the current challenging local and global economic climate and which seeks to provide for a better short to medium term economic future for Singapore.

In this regard, as one of the local Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), and as one which represents an important contributor to Singapore's Gross Domestic Product, the SMF wishes to state unequivocally that it will stand united and work with other TACs and Government agencies to drive our businesses through the current challenging times and forge better futures for enterprises. We stand ready to assist wherever we can and will do our utmost best to prepare our members to be in the best possible condition to take advantage of the opportunities that will come with the upturn of the economic cycle.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I will divide my speech today largely into two parts – one of the relief measures and one of business capability enhancements.

Relief Measures. In relation to the relief measures for COVID-19 announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng, the feedback is that many are glad that attention is given to both enterprises and to individual workers.

Wage relief in the form of the New Jobs Support Scheme and the Enhanced Wage Credit Scheme, as well as, enterprise cash-flow relief in the form of Corporate Tax Rebates and enhancement of the Enterprise Financing Scheme, will go some way towards assuaging society’s fear of lost livelihoods and shuttered enterprises.

The SMF is also glad that the Government has taken on board the feedback from our members and stated that Government landlords are willing to exercise some form of flexibility with rentals during this difficult time.

However, while the above is indeed welcomed, the community wishes that Deputy Prime Minister can consider going further by providing a more structured framework for rental relief which provides for more immediate relief directly to the tenants, rather than through the landlords. This would aid businesses greatly by allowing them some degree of certainty in adjusting their budget amidst the current climate of uncertainty.

Another aspect which is causing much anxiety and worry for the manufacturing and business community is that of the disruption of the world-wide supply chain. As manufacturers, the worry is two-fold: one, the difficulty of attaining raw materials; and, secondly, even if products can be manufactured, how would goods reach the customers. This would, in turn, affect the manufacturing service providers downstream.

Sir, while our members appreciate that there is no easy common solution across the different industries, there is hope that the Government will extend a further helping hand by suspending or waiving the collection of foreign worker levies during this period for existing work permit holders.

In a recent dialogue session with members from the SMF family, there are many who voiced real and genuine concerns over the current economic conditions. However, many are optimistic that the economy will start to show signs of recovery six months from now. It would therefore be commensurating with such expectations and hope that relief measures factor in an efficacy timeline of between six months to a year.

Next, deepening business capabilities. In relation to preparing our businesses and economy for the future, the SMF is extremely heartened that feedback from our members has been acknowledged by Deputy Prime Minister Heng in the Budget speech. The SMF has always prided itself on being a collaborative TAC, working with the Government as well as commercial entities to broaden and open new opportunities for our members.

It is pertinent to note that Deputy Prime Minister Heng mentioned in his speech the hope that Singapore companies digitalise and internationalise. The SMF strongly believes in exploring new frontiers, which refers not just to new physical geographical locations, but also to the very much evolving digital realm.

I have always communicated to our business leaders which I have the privilege of meeting, that digitalisation is important for both society and businesses to advance further than what Singapore is today. It is ever important that as the cyber world progresses, Singapore cannot be left behind as a third world nation or even as a developing nation because the speed of progression is simply too rapid.

In this regard, I am happy to share with this House that the SMF has already embarked on several programmes, working alongside the Government, to encourage our members to transform, innovate their business models towards Industry 4.0 and explore new frontiers.

These corporate transformational programmes include: conducting hands-on knowledge and capability building courses at our Centre for Corporate Learning, leading business missions to both local and overseas markets, organising Free Trade Agreement talks and seminars and being the first TAC to administer the SMEs-Go Digital – Digital Project Management Service.

Where workforce transformation and training is concerned, the SMF has recently created a course to help businesses examine their business models and identify ways of changing these models towards Industry 4.0. We are focusing on facilitating mid-career switches and is the first Programme Manager for the Professional Conversion Programme (Broad-based) to achieve 1,000 placements. We also seek to attract young talent into the manufacturing community by being on board the Global Ready Talent Programme.

Mr Speaker, Sir, such initiatives reflect the commitment of the Federation in supporting our members and comes from the dedication of the staff. This is what I like to say, is an example of how individuals coming together, which is aligned with SG Together movement, driven by a common aim, can indeed make a difference.

The commitment by the Government to allocate $8.3 billion in this Budget to drive Singapore’s transformation and growth strategy is indeed heartening as it will continue to support the work and initiatives of TACs. It is my sincere hope that other TACs will also join in and work together in a concerted effort to drive our economy onwards and upwards.

One concern which the manufacturing community has from Deputy Prime Minister Heng's speech is that of the superseded decrease in the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) for the manufacturing sector. The community is relieved that the Government has prudently decided not to implement such a measure in such difficult times. However, there is always an innate and recurring fear of the shortage of suitable local manpower.

It is the community’s hope that if and when the Government decides to effect the decrease in the DRC for the manufacturing sector, more lead time can be given for our members to prepare and plan ahead.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, this is a Budget that seeks to assist and encourage Singaporeans to do more for themselves and for the country. The wise leaders of generations past of this country have practised financial prudence which has allowed for such a generous and decisive Budget today.

I humbly urge my fellow Singaporeans to not take this for granted. In such uncertain economic times, the ability of the Government still to seek to deepen capabilities at every stage of growth and provide for every segment of society is indeed laudable.

I am confident that working together in unity as a united country, our Singapore flag will rise above all the uncertainty as a stronger, more resilient nation that will continue to thrive and succeed on the global stage. With this, Sir, I affirm my support for the Budget 2020.

Mr Speaker: Mrs Josephine Teo.

5.58 pm

The Minister for Manpower (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, a grassroots leader shared with me how, during a previous downturn, his employer had rushed to trim its workforce by rolling out a Mutually Agreed Departure, or M-A-D scheme. Employees who signed up for the M-A-D scheme received generous payouts.

Unexpectedly, less than a year later, business picked up again. Some of his former employees – the same ones who had received payouts under the M-A-D scheme – were rehired at their previous salaries and went on to work many more years.

Now, we may laugh at the unfortunate name of the scheme and the apparent short-sightedness of the employer. But when business is down and the bottom nowhere in sight, it must cross the minds of bosses to cut jobs and save costs.

Fortunately, most employers have not done that. Last year, despite the uncertain outlook, retrenchments were maintained at 2018 levels.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]

Today, with the COVID-19 outbreak casting a pall, concerns have heightened. The recent announcements by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat therefore provide welcome relief.

Of the $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package, a whopping 60% – $2.4 billion – will go towards the Jobs Support Scheme and the enhanced Wage Credit Scheme. All businesses with local employees will benefit.

Jobs Support will provide companies an 8% cash grant based on the gross monthly wages of their local employees for three months, subject to a monthly wage cap of $3,600 per employee. This means that an SME with 10 local employees earning median salaries would get about $8,000 in Jobs Support. Over the next three months, the Government will inject about $1.3 billion to employers and help keep 1.9 million local employees in their jobs.

With the greater sense of uncertainty, employers may hold back or even reverse wage increases. Through the enhanced Wage Credit Scheme, the Government will co-pay 20% of qualifying wage increases in 2019 and 15% of increases in 2020 if this higher wage is sustained. Effectively, more than four months of the wage increase is borne by the Government over two years. The enhanced Scheme has also raised the qualifying salary from $4,000 to $5,000, with $1.1 billion going to about 90,000 employers, benefiting more than 700,000 local employees.

Why so much emphasis on jobs and wages? Neighbourhood stores have already noticed a sharp drop in revenues as shoppers cut back on spending. When livelihoods are at stake or incomes stagnate, even necessary spending on essentials like healthcare and education may be delayed. Individuals will also have limited capacity to upgrade their skills and stay relevant.

Moreover, employers would need time to mobilise and train manpower. When the upturn comes, businesses could easily find themselves short-handed and unable to respond to opportunities. This will result in the drag on our business community persisting longer than necessary. The recovery will be slower.

Understandably, besides jobs and wage support, businesses that hire foreign workers had hoped for levies to be waived. Members of Parliament like Mr Seah Kian Peng and Mr Arasu asked about it, too. We are waiving levies for employers whose foreign workers are required to serve quarantine, Leave of Absence or Stay-Home Notices when they have a travel history to China. But we have not done so for foreign workers in general because it will not benefit the many employers who only have local employees. At the same time, we have not raised levies either. In fact, levies have remained the same since 2017 for the construction sector and 2016 or earlier for other sectors.

There are two other important reasons for not waiving levies. First, in supporting businesses, our priority was also to preserve local employment. Second, as much as we want to help businesses, measures to deal with the short-term fallout should not negate longer term efforts for companies to become less reliant on foreign manpower for growth. Levy waivers or reductions would have run counter to both objectives.

In addition, after much careful consideration, we have announced forthcoming cuts in the S Pass quotas for construction, marine and process sectors, but we will give these sectors a longer period to adjust. Some commentators are troubled by the difficulty of attracting locals to these sectors. Others believe these moves are painful but necessary; they say it is "tough love". I thank Ms Sylvia Lim, for example, for supporting it.

I should point out that, unlike for the services sector, the quota cuts for the construction, marine and process sectors are at the S Pass levels and not at the work permit levels. S Pass jobs are skilled jobs which Polytechnic graduates and even ITE upgraders are able to perform.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat and several Members of Parliament asked that flexibility be provided to employers who find it difficult to attract Singaporeans to certain jobs. Today, employers can already enjoy short-term flexibility in meeting foreign workforce criteria under the Capability Transfer Programme and the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme. At a structural level, too, we recognise the differing appeal of sectors. In the construction sector, out of 100 employees, up to 87 can be foreigners, of which 15 can be S Pass holders, even after the changes kick in by 2023. A company in the services sector of the same size can have up to 35 foreign employees, of which 10 can be S Pass holders starting from January 2021.

Beyond these gradations, we should be realistic. Which sub-sector or occupation will accept having more restrictions compared to others that have less? Looking at it from a different lens, which local employees would feel it is fair that their employers need not worry or try as hard to improve job quality to retain them because of more access to foreigners? Consider the longer term, too. Can we be so sure that foreigners will always accept the work conditions our own people find unappealing or that will they not find better jobs back home in time to come?

For all these reasons, Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore has been working closely with agencies like the Building and Construction Authority to help employers reach out to fresh graduates as well as mid-career switchers. Employers, too, can help themselves by enhancing job quality and widening the pool of potential recruits. Mr Kenneth Loo, former President of the Singapore Contractors Association and Executive Director of Straits Construction, acknowledged this point and talked about the need to "…try to make jobs more meaningful and attractive through digitalisation, so that processes can change and the environment will be more palatable to workers".

If I may suggest to Mr Douglas Foo, employers in the manufacturing sector should plan ahead, too. I hope that the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, of which he is the President, will help them to do so.

These efforts to make jobs more attractive to skilled Singaporeans go hand-in-hand with an overall emphasis on business transformation. Waiving or cutting levies would blunt the motivation to restructure, improve job quality and become more manpower-lean. We would not have seen how industries can rise to the occasion. The hotel industry is an excellent example.

One lunar new year about a decade ago, when I was still serving as a labour Member of Parliament, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited a leading hotel to thank the workers for sacrificing time with family to give tourists a great guest experience. Sensing an opportunity not to be missed, the hotel's general manager literally ambushed the Prime Minister and gave an extended presentation on the hotel's manpower woes. I am not sure whether the Prime Minister remembers it.

The Prime Minister (Mr Lee Hsien Loong): Yes. [Laughter.]

Mrs Josephine Teo: As in many sectors, he cited the unappealing nature of work and asked for "flexibility".

In contrast, my visit to Copthorne King's Singapore Hotel last Friday was a breath of fresh air. Our main purpose had been to understand how the hotel was coping with the sharp fall in occupancy due to the COVID-19 situation. General Manager Kung Teong Wah, however, took delight to also outline the many ways in which work had been redesigned to raise productivity, easier and more satisfying for his employees.

For example, housekeepers no longer waste time knocking on doors to figure out which room was ready to be cleaned and are instead notified through a mobile app. The mobile app is linked to an in-room control unit which also turns off electrical power when guests have left the room and alerts facilities managers when light bulbs or other amenities need fixing. Bedding was changed so that it takes 20% less time to tidy up each room. A new vacuuming system has halved the time to get the job done. Cross-training of staff to handle expanded job roles have led to manpower savings, better wages and increased job satisfaction. Even the cleaner I met, 58-year-old Pari, is happy that the washroom renovations and upgrading of cleaning solutions will help him to work more years.

As a matter of fact, in the last few years, I have witnessed the resolve and creativity of hoteliers to overcome their manpower constraints. Yotel at Orchard Road allows guests to check-in themselves easily and get items delivered by a friendly robot. Andaz Hotel no longer has a team of confectioners in its kitchen. Instead, it keeps customers happy with supplies from Tiong Bahru Bakery and cleverly brands this as part of the heritage experience for guests. Lyf at Funan replaced the usual laundry services with a hipster corner where guests can chill out while the washing machine does its job.

These transformations have not always been easy. But they also show how important it is for us to stay the course and not give up too easily. Productivity has improved greatly in some sectors, but not fully caught up with the best in the world.

Instead of levy reductions or waivers, we have put together a multi-agency support package worth more than $15 million that also involves our tripartite partners, for businesses in the tourism sector to use the downtime for more training and transformation. Likewise, for other sectors, we should try our best to position ourselves for the future even when the chips are down. This is exactly why we have focused on Jobs Support and Wage Credits, so that businesses and their people can continue with operations and press on with restructuring with help from the Enterprise Transformation Package.

At this juncture, allow me to commend the tremendous efforts of the NTUC in support of these aims. Starting with Secretary-General Mr Ng Chee Meng, labour Members of Parliament have outlined specific initiatives like the Company Training Committees and the Jobs Security Council. MOM, MOE and MTI and all the lead agencies for the relevant sectors will certainly work closely with unions in the spirit of SG Together to make it a success for businesses in terms of their transformation for the benefit of all workers.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked whether these efforts will be enough and whether unemployment insurance will be needed. This is not a new suggestion. In fact, we had discussed this in Parliament extensively in May 2017. Countries with unemployment insurance typically have persistently high unemployment. In contrast, Singapore has consistently had full employment. Willingness to pay for unemployment insurance is not the same as most people do not expect to need it and also have other buffers, for example, a working spouse or child. While we keep an open mind on unemployment insurance, we should also be aware of its serious downsides, such as reducing employers' willingness to pay retrenchment benefits.

Studies have also found that unemployment benefits can have the unintended consequence of reducing motivation to find work. Our current approach of focusing on employment support has shown encouraging results and is likely to be more sustainable.

As Mr Lim Swee Say has pointed out, Singapore's way of managing the opportunities and challenges of globalisation has produced not just economic growth but, more importantly, employment and wage growth. As long as jobs are still being created, our focus on employment support helps both individuals and businesses. We will continue to provide short-term financial relief to the needy. Programmes like Adapt and Grow and SkillsFuture help workers reskill and seize better opportunities in the longer term. This approach has the full support of the unions and employers which other countries find harder to do.

As to the question of using CPF monies to fund reskilling, the key question is whether the lack of training funds is the main bearer to career transitions. The Government directly subsidises a very wide range of training programmes, up to 90% in some instances. To fund the unsubsidised portion of reskilling or self-improvement courses, Singaporeans have access to workplace sponsorships and schemes, such as SkillsFuture, Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy and the Workfare Training Support. At present, it does not appear that the lack of funds is a significant barrier. As Ms Sylvia Lim herself has also acknowledged, we are redoubling support to both employers and individuals. The employers can now access SkillsFuture Enterprise Credits up to $10,000 while the employees themselves have SkillsFuture Credit top-ups.

I suggest that we focus on these initiatives instead of putting at risk the Retirement Savings of our people. At the same time, focus on issues that matter to mid-career persons which Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Ms Jessica Tan and several labour Members of Parliament talked about.

Mr Deputy Speaker, with your permission, I will say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, of the $4 billion Stability and Support Package in this year's Budget, 60% of the funds will be used to help Singaporeans retain their jobs. It demonstrates the Government’s resolve to help businesses and workers ride out the challenges amidst economic uncertainties.

Focusing on helping Singaporeans retain their jobs and providing Wage Credit so that businesses can maintain the momentum of transformation, will have a profound impact on our economy when it recovers.

Amidst economic uncertainties, some businesses that employ foreign workers might ask, why does MOM not reduce or even waive foreign workers levies? The fact is that since 2016, levies have not been raised for vast majority of sectors.

Apart from that, levies are waived for employees under Leave of Absence, Stay-Home Notice or Quarantine Order.

We do not intend to reduce or waive the foreign workers levy across the board because of two key reasons.

First, as the saying goes, those who do not plan for the future will find trouble on their doorstep. Although we want to help companies ride out the current economic uncertainties smoothly, we also hope that companies will sustain their transformation efforts and thereby reduce reliance on foreign workers.

Second, we must first and foremost ensure that all Singaporeans can keep their jobs. Hence, from the long-term point of view, companies must quicken the pace of transformation, improve productivity and create more jobs to attract Singaporeans.

As a whole, our measures must take into account two sets of considerations: reducing business costs in the short term, and keeping up with transformation efforts over the longer term.

I am heartened to see that many companies are planning to use this lull period to send their employees for training. I think these companies have an eye on the future, because once the economy picks up, they will be in the forefront of the starting line and raring to go, and they would be able to take their businesses to greater heights.

(In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, in the meantime, even with all the help provided, I acknowledge that some businesses may still have to manage access manpower. Is there a right way of doing it? Yes, but let me tell you of one wrong way. An employer claimed she was recently told by MOM to lay off employees much against her own wishes. This sounded really odd to me. Well, it turns out the employer did not tell the full story.

In fact, she had decided to shut operations temporarily and told her workers to go on no pay leave until further notice. It is unfortunate if she has to close even with Jobs Support and Wage Credits. But asking the workers to bear the uncertainty of waiting for her business to re-start, makes matters worse. For those workers without savings, they will need other jobs to pay their bills. It is one thing to ask if her employees would like to volunteer for no pay leave; it is quite another to force it upon them.

As the employer had stopped paying salaries, it would also not have been fair to expect her foreign workers to stay in Singapore with limited means of supporting themselves. Instead of seeking levy waivers, MOM advised her that it would be more appropriate to repatriate the foreign workers responsibly and to reapply for work permits in future when business picks up.

In fact, the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment recommends other options besides no-pay leave and layoffs. This could include redeployment to other work areas, shorter work weeks, job sharing or adjustments to certain wage components. These options would at least maintain most, if not all of the workers' past incomes.

For employers with excess foreign workers, the Singapore Business Federation will also administer a temporary scheme to help the workers be transferred to employers with manpower shortages. This will help employers whose Chinese workers have not gotten approval to return to Singapore and also cannot hire new Chinese workers because we have suspended approvals.

I am heartened to see that businesses are paying attention. In their own ways, they are responding to these challenging times in the spirit of SG together. Some are asking their workers to clear their annual leave or time-off. Others are exploring shorter work-weeks while sending their workers for skills upgrading.

NTUC Health Co-operative shared with me that this virus situation has sparked a viral interest amongst its workers in leveraging technology for alternative work arrangements. Almost overnight, even if they are mature workers who were struggling to pick up digital tools, had found ways to hang out and engage in discussions virtually with their younger colleagues. Kudos to the companies that are proactively considering such sensible measures – not just to cut costs, but to save jobs as well.

Mr Deputy Speaker, next week, I will say more about support for self-employed persons and how we can tackle medium-term challenges though the SkillsFuture Mid-career Support Package and the Senior Worker Support Package. This is our commitment to Singaporeans in their 40s and 50s – that they too, can have an extended runway; and that everyone, at every stage of life, will get the fair chance they deserve to grow and progress at work. After all, every worker matters. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, Ms Sylvia Lim.

6.22 pm

Ms Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I have two clarifications for the Minister. First, it is regarding my suggestion on the use of CPF. I have actually filed a cut in the MOM Committee of Supply (COS), so please let me elaborate more at the time, and I will be interested to hear Minister's response then.

The second clarification is that I am glad to note Minister saying the Government still keeps an open mind on solutions including insurance. On the ground, we are getting some feedback that mid-career professionals who try to tap on the existing Adapt and Grow Schemes; some of them are still finding difficulties getting a job after some time. So, how confident is the Government moving forward that you will be able to handle and find solutions for everyone who applies under those schemes?

Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Deputy Speaker, I am very conscious of the concerns that some of our mid-career professionals have expressed. I understand their anxieties and they matter very much to me.

Not long ago, MOM published a report which shows over the last 10 years what the employment outcomes have been for PMETs. We looked at it, at the level of all local PMETs. We looked at it also at the level of all citizen PMETs. So, it is quite a comprehensive report and it is publicly available. I think it was also quite well reported in the media.

We do not take the improved employment outcomes of our citizens for granted. It is not a given. We have to work very hard for it. In fact, in the last Parliament sitting, actually, I think it was the same Parliament sitting that Deputy Prime Minister Heng delivered the Budget Statement. Mr Pritam Singh had filed a question specifically on how we are helping these PMETs enter into areas of job growth, enter into occupations that they may have been unfamiliar with. The results that we have so far are quite encouraging.

How will the situation evolve? I think our approach in handling this challenge is to go at it from different angles. First, it is really important to sustain the momentum of job creation. If the engine for job creation goes flat, all bets are off. Which is why in terms of how we think for enterprise growth, enterprise transformation, because ultimately it is businesses that create jobs. We are very mindful to help make sure that they can upkeep a certain momentum. We are very focused on that. So, the first thing to do is that we must always keep creating jobs and not just any jobs, but good jobs. That is the first thing.

What that means is that you need to keep ensuring that the business environment is pro-business. Mr Lim Swee Say earlier talked about the importance of Artificial Intelligence. I think it is Artificial Intelligence plus many other domains where we want to make sure that our businesses will be able to develop a competitive edge in. So, that is the most important foundation for ensuring good employment outcomes – PMETs and non PMETs.

The second, I think, that is also very important is to maintain a sense of motivation on the part of individuals, to keep upskilling. For this, I find the attitudes of Singaporeans very commendable. Most people are very aware of it and they are personally invested in it. In fact, I think that is the reason why there have been so many calls consistently, "Please top up our SkillsFuture Credits" and so on.

Third, it is important to keep promoting Fair Employment. Promotion of Fair Employment, letting businesses know that they have to keep recruitment open and to consider all candidates fairly and not discriminate anyone, particularly our locals, particularly those who are not necessarily so young anymore, I think that is also another very important part of the effort.

So, you have the three things that are necessary. Then, at the same time, we also need to ensure that there is continued Government support for re-skilling and job creation. Those pieces, you need to have in place.

Will there be individuals who still find difficulty? I acknowledge, there will always be. Mr Liang, earlier in his opening speech to kick-off the debate, highlighted how difficult it is to go through transition. The sense of insecurity, perhaps a sense of not being able to navigate. Ms Jessica Tan talked about it too. I think we are very cognisant of it. In the WSG as well as e2i, quite apart from doing job matching, we are very mindful that sometimes just getting jobseekers to a place where they are receptive to the different opportunities, that is also a very important part of the work. One significant barrier – I think much more so than the lack of funds for training – is that there is a concern about moving into new occupation, new sectors that individuals are unfamiliar with. So, how can we provide the scaffolding and the hand-holding to help people to make those transitions? That is very much a part of the effort.

But the Member is right. There is MOM COS coming up next week and we can speak more about that.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Irene Quay.

6.28 pm

Ms Irene Quay Siew Ching (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank Deputy Prime Minister Heng and his team for planning this comprehensive and strategic Budget, which aims to tackle a wide scope of upcoming challenges such as the gloomy economic outlook, further complicated by COVID-19.

This Budget aims to provide Singaporeans with new job opportunities as well as care and support for those in need of financial and social assistance. Just as important, I admire the foresightedness and pro-activeness in safeguarding our future against the potential harm brought about by climate changes.

The decisive move of providing financial assistance to help businesses, especially those heavily impacted by COVID-19, is also critical and timely. The Budget set aside to prepare our youths to be more globally ready through overseas exposure is also a step in the right direction. However, I would like to ask the effectiveness of the SkillsFuture credit top-up of $500 scheme for adult Singaporeans aged 25 and above and the special SkillsFuture credit top-up scheme for Singaporeans aged 40-60.

May I know what is the percentage of the originally allocated funds that have been used so far and what is the participation rate across the nation over the years, especially for the individual participants? For those who have utilised the SkillsFuture Credit, what percentage has actually resulted in successful career switch or career progression?

I believe that a one-time funding of $500 may not be sufficient in paying for a fully effective, upskilling course as lifelong learning requires continuous, on-going support. Furthermore, not everyone has the desire for upskilling and should there be much of these funds left unused, there will be misallocation and underutilisation of resources.

While I understand that these courses are already highly subsidised, I am wondering would it be more effective to further subsidise it, but add a limit to the number of courses each individual can take up per year, instead of mass distribution of these funds? This would allow interested citizens to reap the full benefits of the subsidy while we continue to encourage those who are not to sign up.

Secondly, while I support the financial assistance schemes such as ComCare and MediFund top-ups, which aim to provide support for our needy families, I am concerned about the central checks and governance that ensure appropriate utilisation of these funds.

At this juncture, I would like to declare my interest as the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore and the Head of Pharmacy at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

As a healthcare professional working in public over the past 20 years, I foresee potential loopholes. For example, what is in place to prevent a MediFund applicant from going to different healthcare institutions seeking more-than-required medical supplies, nutritional supplements and medications? Can the applicant ask for waiver from the National Electronic Medical Record sharing, quoting Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) rights, to avoid detection? How can we tell if each claim is within reasonable limits and not excessive? And f there are excess claims, how are these re-channelled to help other needy patients and not inappropriately disposed of?

There is a need to tighten how these funds are used to ensure that the taxpayers' money is spent appropriately. Without central audits and controls in place, there is a potential for misuse.

Thirdly, Deputy Prime Minister Heng and Minister Teo spoke about foreign worker policy and the need to further restrict S Pass holders for the identified industries. While we agree that we should always put Singaporeans first and give them the best possible opportunities, but we know that there are jobs out there that are really challenging to find locals to take on. An example of healthcare-related jobs are pharmacy technicians, whose service is required 24/7, including public holidays and weekends. Although we have Polytechnics that specialise in training and educating diploma holders to support this pipeline of pharmacy technicians, most of our youngsters aspire to take on higher qualifications after their graduation, leaving a constant vacuum in the system. I am concern if this persists, pharmaceutical care for our patients will be significantly impacted.

To overcome this long drought, pharmacists are actually standing in to take on pharmacy technicians' duties. This is extremely cost-inefficient, especially in view of rising healthcare cost, as we are not fully utilising their advanced skills and knowledge to serve our patients.

I believe that service industries in other fields are also facing similar problems.

While the Government may advocate for automation to improve productivity, there are situations where automation, for various reasons, is not feasible. In healthcare, a lot of frontline patient care activities require healthcare professionals to display empathy and compassion to each individual patient. Such duty of care simply cannot just be easily replaced by machines, and I think similar sentiments can apply to many service industries.

As such, instead of a blanket policy to limit S Passes with minimal exceptions, I would still like to appeal for MOM to consider showing flexibility to employers trying to hire locally with failed attempts to turn to foreign workers.

I believe that if we want to reserve jobs for Singaporeans, we should reserve jobs that they prefer – jobs with good career upside and work-life balance. And if the intent is to avoid over-reliance on foreign workers, then there is a need to ensure that the solutions provided to solve current problems are feasible – for example, if there is good headway with mid-career transition programmes – before we further cut S Pass quotas. Mr Deputy Speaker, notwithstanding the above, I stand to support the Budget.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Josephine Teo, go ahead.

6.34 pm

Mrs Josephine Teo: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Can I provide a quick response to Ms Irene Quay. I understand where she is coming from, but can I just say that at today's stage of development for Singapore, especially when it comes to seeking productivity improvements and finding manpower savings in the Services sector, we have gone far beyond the idea of simply automating things. It is a much more sophisticated approach towards becoming more manpower-lean. I shared earlier the examples of hotels. Not all of them have to do with automation at all.

Even in some areas where automation can play a part, it does not mean that we are asking companies in the Services sector to automate human interaction or automate the customer experience. I give you an example. In manufacturing, I visited a company making noodles. They make hokkien noodles that we eat, they make kuay teow that we also eat. So, I asked them, "Where are you finding business opportunities?" And they told me that one of the things that they discovered was that in F&B outlets, quite often, two staff spend two hours every day doing one thing: portioning out noodles that were delivered to the outlet in 3-kg packs into smaller portions of 150 grams. Why? Because at peak hours, when the customers start arriving in the restaurant in droves, you have no more time to do portioning. You must be able to cook very quickly. So, what do the restaurants do? They get two workers standing there – maybe around 10 o'clock, nine o'clock – and for two hours, they do nothing but portion out the noodles.

So, he said, "This is a business opportunity for me." The outlet has got a lot of manpower constraints, but actually this portioning can be done by the machine. Hokkien noodles are produced using the extrusion method. You extrude the noodles, then you cook it in a big pot of water and then you —

Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Josephine Teo, are you giving another speech or are you providing a very extended clarification?

Mrs Josephine Teo: I apologise, but very quickly, let me just summarise. Actually, there are many of these things that are backroom. Retail outlets – same. Stock-taking – the customer does not care about you taking stock, taking note of inventory. So, we have gone far beyond automation. There are so many more things that we can do. And credit to the businesses – they are much more creative. I just want to share that with you. I hope that as the leader of your professional association, you can consider trying out these ideas too.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap.

6.37 pm

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Sir, I will deliver my speech in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, the theme for this year's Budget is a Unity Budget, or in our national language "Bajet Perpaduan". I welcome the efforts to provide more support to Singaporeans during a time when the people are facing the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this Budget, measures are taken so that the industries, businessmen and those affected with the current situation, are given help and support to mitigate their financial burden, and at the same time, help to maintain financial resilience in an increasingly gloomy economic outlook.

Help and support are also provided for those affected in society so that they can rise up and rebuild their financial capabilities during the recovery phase. Such financial assistance and support are essential because it will make those affected feel that their needs and their future are looked after and not neglected, and this will eventually preserve and strengthen social unity.

Sir, financial resilience is an important factor in preserving and strengthening social unity. This is seen in many studies where social class divide has an impact on social unity. This is because those who lead a disadvantaged life will feel dissatisfied, because while they have to go through a difficult life and there is no one looking after them, there are others who live a life of luxury.

Sir, although financial resilience is important, what is more important and foremost in preserving and strengthening social unity is psychological resilience. Building and maintaining psychological resilience is no easy task, as it requires patience and sustained efforts. Building psychological resilience can only be achieved by inculcating positive thinking and values within society. We can all agree that any society that possesses strong psychological resilience will not easily crumble when going through challenging times like the one right now.

Sir, in this speech, I will like to briefly touch on the importance of psychological resilience when undergoing challenging situations, and at the same time, how we can learn important lessons from a crisis.

When any crisis happens to a nation, society, family and individual, it has always been good practice or good culture if some introspection or self-reflection was done on its causes and the lessons that can be gleaned from it.

My experience as a family counsellor has taught me that we can choose whether we want to go through a crisis positively or negatively.

If we choose to see the crisis from a positive aspect, we will be able to learn many lessons behind each episode, and conversely, if we choose to see it negatively, then there will be a lot of grievances, sadness, anger and even depression.

This situation is best described through an analogy called "The Eyes of a Fly" and "The Eyes of a Bee".

Sir, a fly, upon entering a garden full of fragrant flowers, will still look for something filthy to land on.

On the other hand, when a bee flies into a place full of trash and other kinds of filth, it will still try to find a fragrant flower to land on.

This analogy, to me, is the best example that can be used to guide us whenever we face an undesirable situation. We can choose whether we wish to view a situation using "The Eyes of a Fly" or "The Eyes of a Bee".

Sir, when an undesirable situation happens, the question on everyone’s minds is usually what could have caused it? Whose fault caused this to happen? When looking for answers, finger pointing and accusations often take place.

Finger pointing is one of the negative traits that can exist in a person. It is human nature to have such negative feelings, and while it is not wrong to have such feelings, it is definitely wrong when we express those feelings through remarks, words and actions that hurt the feelings of others and make them angry.

Sir, it is worse when snide remarks are made by individuals who have a certain standing in society. Leaders in politics, community and organisations, including heads of households have a duty to set a good example so that those under them will follow their lead. As the bearer of this responsibility, a leader must be big hearted and view certain incidents with a sincere and compassionate heart. In doing so, a leader will be able to make a positive and objective assessment whenever an adverse incident takes place, and thus will be able to think about and work on ways to improve the situation as much as possible. This is no mean feat, but it is the duty of any leader to continue trying and developing the values that I mentioned earlier.

Sir, lately we have seen and heard Singaporeans' reactions when faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. Praises and words of encouragement have flooded social media channels and the mainstream media, directed towards fellow Singaporeans who are in the frontline in the fight against the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Healthcare workers like doctors, nurses, paramedics and other healthcare officers were honoured as heroes for carrying on with their duties sincerely and diligently even though they face the possibility of getting infected.

It was amazing and heart-warming to hear about some food and beverage establishment owners coming forward to provide free food and drinks as a token of appreciation and support to those working in the frontline. We also witnessed wonderful efforts from Singaporeans who wish to contribute positively to promote community spirit by distributing free masks and hand sanitisers to the public. This is something that we can be proud of and it is touching.

Sir, these are just some commendable examples of unity shown by Singaporeans. The unity on display in the situations I mentioned earlier is something positive that can ignite a community spirit that makes them stand united in the face of challenges.

Unfortunately, Sir, there had also been some incidents that were less pleasant and could erode this spirit of unity. Several posts shared on social media channels showed incidents where healthcare workers received cynical comments and were treated poorly.

Some members of the public also shared that they received sharp stares when they coughed or sneezed in public places. This is an unhealthy situation and it must stop.

Sir, we have also seen certain Singapore citizens and residents who were so worried that they participated in panic buying due to their concern about food shortage, as soon as the Health Ministry change the DORSCON level from yellow to orange.

This incident caused many people to make comments that rebuke and criticise, that described those who took part in panic buying as people who only think of themselves and as kiasu people. Many also gave their take on the reasons behind this situation. Some felt that panic buying was a reaction to a previous situation, where the stock of masks and hand sanitisers were depleted despite assurances by the Government that there are enough supplies of masks and asked Singaporeans not to worry.

Sir, words that hurt feelings and are insulting should not be said by anyone, either by the people or the leaders.

Accusations and finger pointing are unwarranted and may further aggravate the anxiety that was already there. These kind of negative actions like condemnations, criticisms and finger pointing will weaken psychological resilience and have an unhealthy impact on social unity.

As a society, we must try to practise the following pearl of wisdom, that is, “It is Better to Stay Silent if One Does Not Have Anything Good To Say”.

Sir, let us all, leaders and followers, including myself, do some self-reflection and introspection, and stop doing things that can worsen the situation. We should all take a constructive and positive approach. Avoid any finger pointing because as the saying goes 'When you point one finger at others, the rest of your fingers are pointing at yourself."

Sir, it is true that the practice of advising one another, reminding others to be good and patient with others is a good practice that should be encouraged. This practice is a constructive effort that should be done at all levels of society in order to inculcate, preserve and strengthen psychological resilience so that social and national unity will not be shaken or become tainted during challenging times. Thank you, Sir.

6.47 pm

Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to speak on Budget 2020. This year's Budget is, indeed, generous, particularly with the Stabilisation and Support Package, which helps to mitigate current economic challenges, partly fueled by the COVID-19 public health situation.

Employment and employability support measures are needed as jobs become more challenging to be created or retained. Hence, any form of support for both employers and employees to continue to hire and be hired, is very much welcome.

For my speech on the Budget, I wish to speak on employment-related matters and will focus on three aspects: one, support for older workers to continue working; two, support for persons with disabilities or special needs to be employed and be financially independent; and three, flexi-work provisions and support.

First, on support for older workers to continue working. As Singaporeans live longer and the proportion of older Singaporeans increase relative to younger residents, we have to make provisions and review our policies to ensure older Singaporeans can continue to stay actively employed and engaged in our society. The Government has done well in this and there are many initiatives, programmes and policies that have been revised and implemented to cater to this. Hence, I am heartened by the The Next Bound of SkillsFuture announced in this year's Budget, which will help provide Singaporeans with opportunities to develop to their fullest potential throughout life and not only when they are young.

I laud the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package and the SkillsFuture Credit Top-up for Singaporeans in their 40s and 50s, which, essentially, means they get a total of $1,000 per person. Both initiatives will help older Singaporeans remain employable and provide opportunities for them to continue to learn and upskill.

At this juncture, Mr Deputy Speaker, please allow me to speak in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] A part of this year's Budget is for the allocation and assistance to Singaporean senior workers as well as mature workers in Singapore. I welcome such allocation and support for workers.

Therefore, I hope that our senior workers and mature workers will seize the opportunity to enhance their skills and continue training in their respective jobs and careers.

Certainly, the journey and the effort towards upskilling and continuous training are not easy. It takes time, it requires determination and hard work, it requires more expenditure and it also involves personal sacrifice. However, this sacrifice will result in a wealth of benefits and opportunities that will be enjoyed in the future – the chance for job promotion, job opportunities or a higher pay, as well as growing our self-worth. As the saying goes "You have to undergo hardship and difficulties before you can enjoy the fruits of your labour". And let us not give up too easily if things get tough when undergoing upskilling and continuous training – as the saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound”.

At the same time, we must also acknowledge that the times are changing rapidly and we cannot ignore the impact of disruptive technologies, as well as economic transformations that have and will change the way we work or do business. Therefore, we must be ready to ride through this inevitable change.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will continue in English.

(In English): I also laud the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant and the Part-time Re-employment Grant that will help companies and employers review their hiring policies to help older workers stay employed. I look forward to the details of these two initiatives during MOM's Committee of Supply debate.

While numerous provisions, schemes, grants and initiatives have been introduced, implemented and led by the Government and Government agencies, employers need to also do their part to facilitate the training, continued employment and contributions of older workers in Singapore. For a start, the jobs that older workers do have to be meaningful and cannot simply be menial work that younger Singaporeans shun.

Taking on the role of mentors, trainers, coaches or supervisors would be more meaningful for older workers who have a wealth of experience to draw from and impart to younger workers. Employers need to explore ways to redesign jobs for older workers so that they can continue to contribute and draw from their experience, skills and knowledge meaningfully.

Let me move on to the next segment of my speech on support for persons with disabilities or special needs. Persons with disabilities or special needs have always found it more challenging than most of us to be gainfully employed, stay employed and have opportunities for career progression.

For some of them, finding employment is a seemingly insurmountable hurdle. Not many employers are willing to employ persons with disabilities or special needs even though there are Government-funded employment grants to facilitate this, such as the Special Employment Credit, Workfare Training Scheme and the Open Door Programme. Employer contribution and support is still substantially required and not many employers are willing to go that extra mile to invest in persons with disabilities or special needs.

Other than employer support, persons with disabilities or special needs seem to earn relatively lower salaries than typical hires. While there is insufficient data to confirm this, the anecdotal evidence is already quite disturbing.

Do we expect persons with disabilities or special needs to be able to fend for themselves with much less disposable income? Do we expect them to be dependent on others for the rest of their lives? Can we not accord them greater recognition, as well as remuneration, for their abilities and talents out of the goodness of our hearts as fellow human beings and not just depend on numbers reflecting positive returns on investments?

While there have been improvements made to making our society and workplaces more inclusive towards persons with disabilities or special needs, there is still a long way to go in ensuring they can be financially independent, recognised for their abilities and talents and not be judged for being atypical and that they can very much be a part of our community, society, schools and workplaces as every one else.

I will speak more on providing the necessary employment support for persons with disabilities or special needs in the MOM COS.

Let me now move to the last segment of my speech on flexi-work provisions and support.

The current COVID-19 public health situation has been a very challenging one. Our daily work routines are drastically changed and remote interactions and communication have replaced physical interactions or face-to-face communication. However, with every challenge comes an opportunity for us to learn and initiate and embrace change.

Flexi-work provisions, arrangement and support have been extensively rolled out during this period. We find that even with some initial inconveniences, we are able to work remotely, flexibly and still fulfil our daily work or meet our daily business targets, with some creative provisions and solutions, to ensure business and work continuity. Flexi-work is not too difficult to implement after all. Necessity is truly the mother of all inventions.

I hope that once we are able to ride out the current COVID-19 public health situation, we will remember the lessons we have learnt during this period and we will continue to implement flexi-work with the support of employers and companies. Just as we trust our workers and staff to work remotely or on a flexible work arrangement during this period, we must continue to trust them to give the same amount of commitment and effort when the worst is over.

In addition, as I have mentioned in my Budget speech last year, flexi-work arrangements can provide for better employment opportunities for persons with disabilities or special needs to work from home or to gradually adjust to their work environments and work commitments at a pace they are comfortable with. Being gainfully employed and being able to be remunerated for doing meaningful work is a start in helping persons with disabilities or special needs live independently like many others and it accords sufficient opportunities to develop that much-needed self belief and self dignity. Hence, I urge employers and companies to carry on with their flexi-work arrangements that we already have in place now during the current COVID-19 public health situation so that our society, communities and workplaces can be a lot more inclusive, especially for those who are less privileged or who face more challenges in life.

To conclude, Mr Deputy Speaker, I reiterate my support for the various provisions, as well as the employment and employability assistance measures provided for in this year's Budget. While there are still areas in which the necessary provisions and assistance can be even further enhanced, the Government is cognisant of the various needs of the different segments of our society and has done much to ensure there is some help for everyone.

Beyond the dollars and cents, the Government will be spending on helping the different segments of our society, including for employers, we have to continue to work together to make our society, communities and workplaces better, stronger and more inclusive. Let us continue to build our "democracy of deeds". This is what SG Together is all about.

If I may end with a quote by Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get; We make a life by what we give." Notwithstanding the suggestions I have for future provisions and assistance by the Government, I support this year's Budget.

Debate resumed.

6.58 pm

Ms Anthea Ong (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to first thank Deputy Prime Minister Heng and his MOF team for the hard work they had put in with a generous Budget that aims to address the storms in sight, whilst at the same time prepare us for the tectonic shifts ahead.

Last year, I asked for mental health to be a whole-of-Government priority. It was unintentionally prescient then to see this in action now with the multi-Ministry task force set up to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. The psychology of our people became more than a priority for the Government to understand so as to manage the panic buying, hoarding and shunning of healthcare workers – all coping mechanisms to deal with underlying fear and anxiety. Research studies have found that these deficiencies of community resilience can be caused by poor mental health, leading affected communities to be less cohesive, adaptive and more vulnerable to shocks and disruption.

The near-term uncertainties and long-term structural shifts that Deputy Prime Minister highlighted should, therefore, alarm us to the need to prioritise mental health. I was very encouraged in the recent month by Prime Minister Lee, Deputy Prime Minister and several Ministers rallying Singaporeans around the need to strengthen social and psychological resilience, both critical pillars of our Total Defence strategy.

So, Mr Deputy Speaker, you will understand why I was disappointed that mental health was not mentioned at all by Deputy Prime Minister during his speech, despite mentioning "resilience" four times. The ability to adapt to significant and adverse changes we call resilience is not happenstance – it is enabled by good mental health.

As a nation, we clearly struggle with mental health. There has been a steady increase in the lifetime prevalence of mental illness in Singapore over two decades – 10% or more when it was first tracked in 1998 and 2007, to 12% in 2010 and now 13.9%. To put into perspective, which I also did last year to limited success apparently, the prevalence for diabetes in Singapore was 8.6% in 1992, peaked at 11.3% in 2010 and has seen remarkable improvements since the "war on diabetes", decreasing to 8.8% today. As one doctor shared with me: "Until the Government starts taking the stand that mental health is as important as diabetes, there is a limit to what individual organisations can accomplish".

Mr Deputy Speaker, despite two decades of increasing prevalence of mental illness in our society, the Government still seems to be struggling to do more for the mental well-being of our people. In fact, the Health Minister has previously shared in this House that we only spent 3% of our healthcare operating expenditure in FY2017 on mental health compared to 11% for diabetes. Under our FY2020 expenditure estimates for healthcare, there are only three expenditure items targeted to support mental health. In comparison, many other developed countries such as New Zealand, Scotland, Iceland, Finland, Canada, Norway and Australia have identified mental health as a budget priority with significant resources dedicated to support mental well-being in their societies.

Sir, at this juncture, Members may think that I am recycling my speech from last year but let me assure you that I am not, although that would be clearly so much easier for this part-time Nominated Member of Parliament with no institutional support! Last year, I shared the mental health struggles of those near and dear to me including my own close shave with depression more than a decade ago. Perhaps, these sharings did not seem substantive or representative enough to persuade our policy-makers. So, earlier this year, my amazing team of volunteers and I decided to launch the first-ever public consultation on mental health in Singapore. Rudimentary it may be – given less-than-limited resources – we were surprised and heartened by the more than 400 responses received from Singaporeans, 70% with lived experiences whilst the rest from care-givers and mental healthcare professionals! Many of these personal stories are heart wrenching – we even ended up doing "case work" with some! But since personal stories did not seem to move policy-makers last year, I decided I will focus this year’s speech on where we are falling short in the specific areas of affordability, accessibility and quality in mental healthcare and concrete urgent actions that I hope Deputy Prime Minister and relevant Ministers will take.

First, on affordability. It broke my heart when I read one respondent "having to starve to afford therapy". At least 10 respondents shared they stopped seeking help because of financial struggles. Sixty-six percent of the respondents shared that mental healthcare costs were high, with more than half of them being users of public healthcare services. How is it that our world-class healthcare system has denied so many people the mental healthcare that they need?

Sir, you may not know that as much as a seven-time difference still exists between MediSave and MediShield Life limits imposed on treatment for physical health versus mental health conditions. A respondent shared, I quote, "I paid over $10,000 total [purely] for inpatient care after deduction of MediSave and MediShield Life for the past two years", even after "opt[ing] for class B2 and C wards to save costs". It is time to remove this entrenched stigma by bringing these limits to parity for both mental and physical health conditions. MediSave should also be allowed for services at Government or quasi-Government-funded community organisations because how can we have a community health approach if it is not?

Next, on accessibility. There are around 248 psychiatrists and 473 psychologists practising in Singapore, or 4.4 psychiatrists and 8.3 psychologists per 100,000 population which may explain why the overall median waiting time for new subsidised appointments across the public hospitals is 27 days to see a psychiatrist and 28 days to see a psychologist . Seventy-one respondents also shared that lack of relevant and trusted information was a prohibitive factor against seeking help.

I was, however, encouraged by the 23 respondents who commended CHAT, which is Community Health Assessment Team, a public healthcare initiative by IMH located within the community. CHAT provides a unique combination of: one, free and confidential mental health check service that guarantees data will not be entered into the public health system; and two, care navigation that includes subsidised referral for public mental healthcare services if required. Unfortunately, CHAT currently only serves the youth segment but I hope this model could be adapted and expanded to support all ages.

And now, quality. First, let me commend our mental healthcare professionals for their hard work, many of whom I know personally. More than 50 respondents, however, indicated grave dissatisfaction with the quality of public mental healthcare. Thirty-six percent explicitly mentioned lack of empathy in the professionals they interacted with and the dismal environment of psychiatric wards in our public hospitals.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we are not saying all mental healthcare professionals are incompetent or without heart. In fact, many respondents indicated that the poor quality could be attributed to the excessive workload which strains both professionals and the system. As one respondent puts it, "While the Government is ostensibly pushing campaigns that aim to reduce the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues, there is a lack of parallel funding for actual mental health services, such as the hiring of more counsellors and mental health professionals".

Twenty-six respondents cited the importance of feedback on treatment to improve their health outcomes. One respondent lamented, I quote, "They never asked me for feedback. I would like them to ask for feedback." Continuous improvements happen when we empower clients and patients by recognising that they are part of their care process too.

In the same vein, strategic plans such as the Community Mental Health Masterplan must involve extensive public consultation, especially those with lived experiences and their care-givers, while ensuring that aggregated public health data continues to be shared transparently. This helps to improve local research on mental health issues and better coordinate efforts in supporting mental well-being of our communities.

The recent launch of a multi-agency consultation effort on youth mental well-being is a wonderful start. Yet, to truly facilitate a SG Together response, we need such conversations to move beyond only the youth, especially since the average age of subsidised patients for the different mental health conditions was between 40 to 50 years old in the last three years. Incidentally, in the spirit of SG Together, my team of volunteers created a simple website called SGMentalHealth.com, so that we can also share what we found from the public consultation.

We also received responses on other policies, ranging from confidentiality, support in schools and workplaces to issues surrounding mental healthcare for marginalised or vulnerable communities like the differently-abled, LGBTQ+ and migrant workers. I will highlight these issues separately with the relevant Ministries during the COS debates.

These fundamental issues in affordability, accessibility and quality of our mental healthcare must be addressed by the Government with a fierce urgency or we risk another decade of increasing prevalence in mental illness, despite the well-meaning awareness and anti-stigma efforts.

Mr Deputy Speaker, this brings me to my last point on the paradigm shifts we need to make to move beyond mental healthcare to total well-being for every Singaporean.

The structural and policy issues discussed earlier aim to close the treatment gap. But what if we could reduce the number of people getting ill in the first place? What if we paradigm-shift mental health as a public health issue? What would our policies for mental health promotion and illness prevention look like? Would we then start to ask what are the causes of rising levels of mental distress in childhood that saw calls made by five- to nine-year-olds to SOS Singapore jumped by 500% over a three-year period? And the spike in the number of teenage suicides in 2018? Might we not insist on conducting mental health screening for our students every year, like physical health and dental checks? Will we begin to study the role of social justice, family and schools in mental health so that we can address the underlying social determinants? Will we also start to understand the impact of public policies on the psychological capital of our people and endeavour to create a psychological safety climate for innovation and well-being to flourish that truly binds Singapore Together?

Another paradigm shift we urgently need to make, Sir, is the long overdue recognition that mental health is a critical part of total well-being. Mental health is a continuum. It is not "I'm mentally sick, or I'm not". It’s not "I'm over it, or I'm still in it". It's not "I got it, I will never get it". We may think that mental health challenges only affect certain people, or some segments of our society. But if we just pause and have an honest conversation with ourselves, we will realise that we are navigating along this continuum at any point in time through our life. Because who has not suffered a loss? Who has not had a major life transition? Who has not felt overwhelmed with responsibility for another? Who has not been marginalised in some way? Who has not been made to feel like a failure?

None of us in this House can pretend that we have not struggled with a dearth of mental health at some point in our lives. Changing this paradigm of thought will help us think about how we can strengthen the support available within our communities. When asked what helped them most in their mental health journey, many respondents shared the importance of community support.

When we translate these paradigm shifts into strategies across the system, we may then see why it makes sense to expand physical health education to total health education in schools to include mental health. Why workplace health and safety must be beyond physical health and safety, which I am very happy to note that the Tripartite Oversight Committee on Workplace Health and Safety – of which I declare I am a member of – has started doing good work in this area with employers and employees. Why there is merit in making it explicitly clear to employers that the Sick Leave entitlement for each worker can also be used for mental health treatment and recovery and that mental health insurance is not a luxury but a necessity for employers to support their employees' total health.

Strong mental health support at schools and workplace directly impacts how we show up for our roles in our family and community – which contributes to how we support our children as parents, our elderly parents as care-givers and how we build strong ties and connections with our friends, our colleagues and our neighbours.

This returns us to the importance of resilience as individuals and communities, Mr Deputy Speaker. The mental well-being of our people – man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, working or jobless, straight or gay – forms the bedrock of our psychological resilience and social cohesion, which may be the only sure way to secure our future in Advancing as One Singapore against the headwinds ahead.

Already, a late 2019 study found that stress-related illnesses cost Singapore's economy $3.2 billion annually. So, I would like to earnestly ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what needs to happen for mental health to be a national and budget priority? Do we have to wait for one in four Singaporeans with mental health conditions, like the current global average, for us to take urgent action? Do we need to see more parents lose their children to suicide or more young people in distress for mental health to be a public health priority? Can we afford negative growth in productivity and innovation before realising how mental well-being is intricately tied to human performance?

Mr Deputy Speaker, this is likely my last Budget speech. So, I wish to conclude by imploring the Government to take action now to make quality mental healthcare accessible and affordable for all Singaporeans, to bring this on par to the world class public healthcare system for all that we are proud of. This is surely the loudest anti-stigma signal to send!

In addition, I challenge the Government to boldly take a strategic and preventive approach to deliver mental well-being and total health to our people as it has done spectacularly with economic well-being, so that we can bring and build the social resilience and psychological capital to thrive as a nation and flourish as human beings.

I also urge all Members of Parliament in this House to support the mental health needs of their constituents so as to create resilient communities as part of this SG Together effort.

To Singaporeans, I invite you to remember that wherever you are on the mental health continuum is not solely a matter of personal agency but also largely determined by your social support structures, or lack of. So, if you are struggling right now, I hope you know it is not a personal failing. We are all responsible for each other's mental well-being, including the Government and institutions. You have, in fact, shown us what true resilience is by fiercely living each day with less-than-adequate state support in mental healthcare whilst constantly dealing with structural stigma and discriminative behaviours.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I look forward to the Deputy Prime Minister's response to the hopes of the 400 Singaporeans and many hundreds more who have reached out to me over the years, including my tireless team of volunteers. They have bravely come forward to share their struggles. Their generosity and courage keep me going on this crusade for change. I share the same hope as this respondent who said, “I hope that the day comes soon where no one has to feel alone in their mental health journey.” [Applause.]

7.16 pm

Miss Cheng Li Hui (Tampines): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Budget. Twenty-twenty started with a lot of uncertainty. The US-China trade war still not settled and technology continued to disrupt businesses and threaten jobs. Against this backdrop, COVID-19 came along and slammed our economy and our way of life and threatened to bring us into a recession.

To help us overcome these challenges, Deputy Prime Minister Heng and his team have put together a very generous Budget 2020 with a wide-ranging package of measures to support and sustain businesses, workers and families in the short term. At the same time, it allows to focus on the longer term to transform our economy and re-skill our workers for our long term sustainability and success.

This is a good reminder that the reason why we have been able to put together such a package is because of the surplus generated and reserves accumulated over the years by our previous generations. Successive generations of Government and Singaporeans have worked hand in hand to get to where we are today. Our Pioneers led the way and the Merdeka Generation worked hard and transformed our country. A wealthier Government today is showing their appreciation with generous packages and top-ups. Therefore, I am especially happy that our seniors have been given special attention in this Budget: more Silver Support Scheme beneficiaries, higher payouts and dollar-for-dollar matching when their families top up their CPF accounts.

One of the values that have got us this far is resilience, as a nation and as individuals.

This year's Tampines East Edusave Merits Bursary (EMB) ceremonies coincided with Total Defence Day. I took the opportunity to remind the audience that Total Defence is more than just military deterrence. Home team agencies and institutions such as our hospitals play a critical role too. The COVID-19 crisis has shown us once again that defending Singapore against threats often requires a whole of Government approach. It involves coordination between multiple ministries and agencies, with an eye always on the bigger picture.

Our response to the COVID-19 emergency has been admired by many. The researchers of a Harvard University study said, "Singapore set gold standard for COVID-19 detection around the world”. This entire response and operations that the taskforce has mounted is not something we should take for granted.

On behalf of my residents, may I say "thank you" to all involved in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.

What is heartening is that during my house visits, I met several residents ho told me “we have to play our part against the virus”. Some of them, I learnt, sanitised the lifts daily on their own accord and their neighbours were not aware. They also realised that the cleaners were busy cleaning common touch points and so swept their own corridors.

At EMB ceremonies I noticed some of the children were having stage fright. I encouraged parents to share with their children their own fears and insecurities. Let our children know that everyone has fears and we must try and overcome them. I told the audience, I do not like public speaking. I still do not. But I am really glad I did not let that stop me from doing my work now. I love my work.

Likewise, parents can share meaningful lessons in their lives so their children get to understand difficult situations and decisions. They can learn to think through some of the challenges and build resilience. These lessons often come in everyday scenarios.

In Tampines, we have a free bowling programme during the school holidays. We deliberately mix students of different races and schools during the game. One of the girls went home crying because she was afraid and uncomfortable mixing with students she did not know. Her mum took leave to bring her for the next session and shared with her that she will not be able to choose her own Secondary school classmates or work colleagues in future. She told her to try and adapt and she will be there to support her. We watched the girl as she finally enjoyed the company of her lane mates and even forgot about our presence. She just needed the morale booster.

We love and protect our children. Give them the very best we can, put them first. But the most important value we can teach is to instill strength, the tenacity to try things, be adventurous in thoughts if not actions.

Sir, our people strive to be the best they can be – acquiring knowledge and skills, possessing determination and drive, working hard to get ahead. Striving is a fulfilling process but it is not easy one. I am heartened that this Budget signals that the Government is standing with all Singaporeans in their determination to build a better future for themselves and their children. And coupled with resilience, we will all emerge stronger and better together.

Resilience is only one face of the Singapore Spirit. The other equally important face embodies the graciousness and kindness that many Singaporeans are displaying every day.

I witnessed that first-hand in Tampines earlier this month. Just two days after the raising of the DORSCON alert to Orange, and amidst reports of panic buying at supermarkets islandwide, our volunteers continued their monthly food donation drive to help needy residents. Not only did more volunteers turned up to help, we also saw more residents, including new faces, approaching us to donate food items. Some thoughtfully added bottles of hand soap in their donations.

During the same period, I visited a family in Tampines who has a member who was infected. The rest of the family members were quarantined at home. We delivered some daily necessities to the family. I also took the opportunity to visit the other residents in the block. While I sensed some residents had uneasiness and questions about the virus outbreak, I was especially heartened when I witnessed neighbours rallying around the infected family. One neighbour offered to buy the family their daily necessities while another offered to deliver meals.

My heart swelled with pride as I witnessed our residents putting aside their concerns to step forward to help fellow residents in need.

Sir, before I end, I do have one suggestion for the Finance Minister to consider. Budget 2020 has many schemes and enhancements. Some people such as our seniors and smaller enterprises may be overwhelmed by all the information. May I urge the Government to step up on engagements and communications to targeted groups like families, companies, workers, especially seniors so that they can better understand and benefit from all the available schemes.

I am optimistic that this Budget will resonate with Singaporeans and set us on a firm footing for our continuous nation-building journey. So, let us persist and continue to strive together for our people and our country. SG United. On this note, Sir, I support this Budget.