Debate on Annual Budget Statement

Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [16 February 2021] [1st Allotted Day]

"That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022." ‒ [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance].

Question again proposed.

Mr Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh.

12.32 pm

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, as in recent years, Budget 2021 reflects not just the Government's priorities for the upcoming Financial Year but the Government's medium term direction as well. In my view, many schemes in the Budget are a continuation of the strategic agenda laid out in previous years or jigsaw pieces of a longer term plan fleshed out elsewhere. The Government's agenda continues to be guided by the Committee for the Future Economy report released four years ago and by the more recently released Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan, amongst others.

COVID-19, however, has accelerated some plans and thrown a spanner in the works of others. For example, digitalisation has found new impetus while the Changi Air Hub plans have been put on hold.

Following Minister Lawrence Wong's comments at the recent Singapore Perspectives conference, I was looking forward to indications in the Budget of a reset of the Government's agenda in the areas Minister Wong highlighted. Of particular interest to me was Minister Wong's mention of a reset in our social compact to tackle inequality to keep society fluid and mobile. His discussion of a permanent shift towards stronger social safety nets, a commitment towards a greener Singapore, and a reset to strengthen solidarity in our people also made for a refreshing vision.

However, the Budget did not sound like a reboot of ideas and the direction of yesteryear. To some extent, this is understandable as the country remains in the throes of a pandemic, along with talk of a K-shape recovery. With many uncertainties on the horizon, an instinct to stay the course and to adopt a nimble posture is not unexpected. I will speak on three main areas that address specific aspects of Deputy Prime Minister Heng's Budget speech.

First, on emerging stronger with skilled workers and innovative businesses. Sir, in my opening speech in this parliamentary term, I cautioned about the lived reality of the Singaporean worker in light of foreign competition in his or her own country. Deputy Prime Minister Heng said in his speech that a balance has to be struck with the focus on the complementarity of local and foreign manpower, alongside the stepping up of industry transformation.

As such, I was surprised by the relatively small number of Singaporeans who have benefited from the Capability Transfer Programme, or CTP. Fewer than 970 Singaporeans have benefited thus far. The CTP funds the salary and training for both foreign and local trainers and local trainees by between 30% and 90%. When the scheme was launched in 2017, about five years ago, MOM positioned it as a scheme that would strengthen the Singaporean Core of workers and enhance how local and foreign workers would complement rather than compete with each other. Considering that there are quite a few sectors in which there is a real need for talent transfer to Singaporeans, such as IT where a common complaint from employers is the lack of Singaporean talent, I would have expected to see many more Singaporean workers improving their prospects through the CTP.

Similarly, with the establishment of industry clusters through the Industry Transformation Roadmaps, identifying improved jobs and skills prospects across 23 sectors as a key ITM deliverable, one would have imagined more CTP applications, with more than a fair share qualifying for the highest tiers of the grant. The example that the Minister highlighted in his Budget speech of a technical officer at SP Services learning new skills in network support for the rollout of advanced electricity meters, suggests there is significant downstream reach of the CTP, regardless of industry. In extending the CTP until 2024, can the Minister share what has been achieved by the programme for the Singaporean worker thus far and how much money has been spent on it? What skillsets have been transferred to Singaporean workers by sector, and which industry clusters is the Government earmarking for greater talent transfer through the CTP?

I also seek greater clarity on the Minister's commitment of $24 billion to enable firms and workers to emerge stronger. Can the Minister detail what this multi-year allocation entails? More importantly, in view of the headline numbers, how does the Government plan to release information and account for the tangible and intangible outcomes of the money spent on these multi-year initiatives?

In a similar vein, Mr Speaker, the Minister shared that an additional $5.4 billion would be allocated to a second SGUnited Jobs and Skills package, on top of the $3 billion allocated last year.

Sir, from 11 August last year, MOM has been releasing weekly job situation reports providing updates on the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package. After the seventh weekly report, the reports stopped becoming weekly. Instead, periodic reports were released, focusing on the available opportunities in each sector on a monthly basis. The public sector opportunities are significantly funded by the Government. As such, the job situation reports need to be buttressed with significantly more detail. For example, while the reports state the number of successful placements and chart the salary range for major job roles in specific sectors, there is little detail on the salary levels and the age ranges of those who have been successfully placed, particularly those in long-term jobs.

Sir, outcomes for our mature workers are an important bellwether for the Government's initiatives. Shortly before COVID-19 struck, the tripartite partners acknowledged the importance of strengthening support for older workers through a range of measures, including progressively raising the CPF contribution of older workers in the years to come. The public should be given greater insight into the effectiveness of multibillion-dollar initiatives that aim to improve job opportunities and outcomes for all our workers, but especially our mature workers. This is in light of the fact that a significant number of workers will also enter their 50s by 2030.

The effectiveness of Government measures should be readily determinable. Without such scrutiny, a perception may crystallise of large sums of money being deployed to address an issue for which effectiveness is hard to establish. This follows on from my call in September for more and not less information from the Government. I encourage Singaporeans to look out for the reports of the Estimates Committee, a standing parliamentary Select Committee, one of whose roles is to examine the Government's Budget. If the Government were to consider a more aggressive reset in this regard, the establishment of an independent parliamentary Budget Office may well be another complementary addition towards the judicious use and accountability of taxpayer dollars. In fact, it would be in step with Deputy Prime Minister Heng's call for fiscal prudence and add an important element of public accountability and transparency in light of the massive drawdown of reserves to fight COVID-19.

Sir, in response to the Minister's Resilience and Solidarity Budgets of last April, I spoke of the lessons of COVID-19 raising the prospect of sectors that could be manned by more Singaporean workers for better resilience and national outcomes. I spoke of what a living wage ought to be for those who man our critical infrastructure and keep the country's heart beating. Like many Singaporeans, a high point for me in Deputy Prime Minister Heng's Budget was the announcement of a hike in the salaries of our nurses and healthcare professionals.

A crisis usually leaves lasting lessons about those you can count on and who are always there in one's most challenging times. Healthcare workers deserve their raise. I would urge the Government to look at reviewing the wages of other front-liners and, particularly, essential workers like our waste disposal workers, transport workers and many others who proved indispensable in this COVID-19 fight.

The second part of my speech covers the Minister's comments on strengthening the nation's social compact. My key query in this section pertains to the announcement of the disbursement of $100 worth of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers to all households to be used at participating heartland shops and hawker centres.

Sir, the Singaporeans who have borne the brunt of COVID-19 are the low-income. Government schemes, ranging from SIRS to various COVID-19 grants, have certainly helped stave off hardship. But there are, nonetheless, serious concerns about the state of these families and households today. Beyond Social Services is a community organisation which reaches out to 64 rental blocks where more than 10,000 individuals live. This represents a fairly large and determinative sample of Singapore’s rental housing population.

Beyond Social Services launched its COVID-19 Family Assistance Fund in March 2020 and, in six months, had committed over $3 million to more than 1,900 families. The organisation released a report earlier this month and some findings read starkly. Post-COVID-19, the median household income from work fell from $1,600 to $500, a 69% drop. The median per capita income fell 74% from $425 to $113, and 35% of FAF applicants saw their income drop to $0. I have to clarify that these numbers do not take into account the not insignificant COVID-19 financial assistance pumped in by the Government over the course of the last year.

That said, according to Deputy Prime Minister Heng in his comments to CNA over the weekend, the inequality situation measured by the Gini coefficient has actually improved over the past year. It, therefore, appears that there is divergence in what the absolute data on inequality reveals and what the lived experience is on the ground in our rental flats. I hope the Government will look into this more deeply, to assess how COVID-19 has affected our low-income households and their employment prospects.

Moving forward, the disbursement of additional assistance through other vouchers and schemes from the Contingencies Fund targeted at households in public rental units should be seriously considered throughout the course of this financial year. This would also be consistent with the findings of the Government’s Emerging Stronger Conversations thus far which, after 88 conversations involving 4,400 participants, finds social support – covering issues like dignity of the less privileged, protection of vulnerable segments, and support for giving and volunteerism – ranked as the most discussed topic.

Sir, one major purpose of the CDC vouchers, as expressed by Minister Heng is to benefit heartland shops and hawkers. This cannot be objectionable and, indeed, given the revenue and scale of operations of some of these heartland shops, incentives to purchase the goods and services they offer would indeed be helpful for shop owners and proprietors. This use of CDC vouchers follows the intervention of the former Workers' Party Member of Parliament for Hougang, Mr Png Eng Huat, who, in his Unity Budget speech last year, queried whether the Grocery vouchers announced in the Unity Budget ought to have been allowed for use in neighbourhood mom-and-pop shops as well, rather than the bigger supermarket chains only.

As a follow-up, may I ask the Minister to clarify the current scheme? The Minister’s statement does not say whether the CDC vouchers can also be used at Giant, Sheng Siong, Prime or NTUC FairPrice, for example. I would suggest that the current scheme be focused solely on heartland shops and hawkers, of which there is a broad range, such as local provision shops, Chinese sinsehs or traditional Chinese medicine providers, fruit sellers, barbers, hairdressers and so forth.

There is a risk that if this is not done, the bulk of the vouchers would be spent at supermarkets, like NTUC FairPrice, and bypass the heartland shops. If the major supermarket chains are involved, the scheme could effectively mirror a cash top-up. My final query is with regard to the implementing agency of the scheme.

The CDCs have come into the spotlight after the last General Elections because many Singaporeans are of the view that the salaries of Mayors are outrageous, principally because they are not perceived to commensurate with a Mayor's roles and functions today.

Other Singaporeans of the view that the CDCs' functions can be carried out by other existing entities or by Ministries and Statutory Boards, including other organisations under the People's Association, particularly since the social footprint of each CDC is uneven and can differ greatly compared to another. Yet, others simply do not know what the CDCs do. Effectively, the need for full-time Mayors continues to be widely questioned and it would appear that there is scope for a serious review of the necessity of having full-time Mayors today.

On the CDC voucher specifically, it is widely known that the representatives of Merchants Associations are commonly represented on the Citizens' Consultative Committees, and there is one for each ward or constituency. It would follow that these local bodies like CCCs are even more closely connected to the ground than the five CDCs, rendering the CDCs' role in the voucher scheme potentially superfluous. Sir, it would appear to me, as if the Government is trying to find some way to make the CDCs relevant, in view of their relative absence in the public mind share.

The Government allocated $20 million to the CDCs in the Unity Budget last year and this increased to $75 million a month later in the Resilience Budget. This injection is equal to all the reserves of the CDCs put together, according to the CDCs' FY2018 Annual Report. On the CDC vouchers, out of the $150 million being allocated to resource the latest initiative, how much is allocated for the scheme per se, and separately how much constitutes the amount allocated for the administration of the programme, as this is unclear in the Deputy Prime Minister's speech?

In the third and final area of my speech, Sir, I refer to where the Minister spoke of building a sustainable home for all. The science and environment correspondent of The Straits Times, in an article of 11 February 2021, observed that upon closer inspection, the Government's Singapore Green Plan 2030 was, and I quote, "more or less a compilation of existing sustainability initiatives" unquote, even as she acknowledged there were some new targets worth watching. As such, the decision to raise petrol duties came like an ill-timed bolt from the blue.

The Government's move towards a future where electric vehicles replace internal combustion vehicles is arguably one central plank of the Green Plan, nudging Singaporeans to select more environmentally friendly vehicles. However, there is much frustration and unhappiness on the ground with respect to the timing of the hike in petrol prices to support this goal. The main reason for this is that the infrastructure and registration regime for a greater adoption of EVs has not even been rolled out in great numbers, but yet, the petrol duty hike was implemented immediately on Budget Day.

Even the road tax rebate is slated only to kick in six months later. So, many Singaporeans are asking why do petrol duties go up immediately all at one go? Did the Deputy Prime Minister consider a phased and gradual increase of the petrol duties in step with the availability of EVs as a realistic consumer choice and a rise in their numbers on the roads in the years to come?

Furthermore, given the economic environment and uncertainty, there is a real prospect of a simultaneous cost of living pain-point, with the Government committed to raise the GST well before the General Elections, and in my estimation at least, over a window that traverses 2022 to 2023, after the petrol duty subsidies ends.

For middle class Singaporeans or the "sandwiched class" who do not qualify for the full extent of GST subsidies in particular, and for whom EVs may not be a compelling option in the short term, the next few years may well precipitate added cost of living pressures.

Sir, I acknowledge the rebates the Minister has announced alongside the petrol duty hike. These are expected to offset the petrol duty hike of up to a year for taxis and motorcycles, and around seven to eight months for cars. Even so, I urge the Government to review this Budget announcement and implement a more thoughtfully phased in increase of the petrol duty in proportion to the actual growth of EV usage on the roads. The rebates proposed can be given out in a similarly phased manner. Such a move will be fairer for road users, as compared to the Minister's current plan, which is also implicitly contingent on a large number of EV charging points becoming available in 12 months' time when the subsidies end. In comparison, the Government's roadmap for 60,000 EV points has 2030 as its end date.

With regard to the rise in petrol duty, I have two additional questions for the Minister. First, can Minister confirm if any assessment has been carried out as to the inflationary effect of a rise in petrol duties and its impact on cost of living for Singaporeans, particularly in this economic climate? Second, is the Government prepared to proactively look into the prospects of profiteering by unscrupulous businesses that seem to ride on this increase in petrol duties?

To conclude, Mr Speaker, there remain many uncertainties about the pace and unevenness of an economic recovery across sectors. As a hub economy, until the aviation sector reopens in a significant way and the movement of people across our borders returns to some semblance of normalcy, a sense that the Singapore growth engine is not able to fire on all cylinders is likely to persist given our reliance on the global economy. But the opportunity for a reset in some aspects is clear.

With a tighter fiscal environment in the years ahead, as stressed by the Deputy Prime Minister Heng over many speeches, closer scrutiny of expenditure should not be seen one dimensionally as political one-upmanship, but as an administrative necessity. The scrutiny raises everyone's sense of ownership in Singapore. It should logically extend to the outcomes of Budget initiatives for Singapore and workers and their success in transitioning to high value-added jobs. They should be consistently reviewed especially since significant fiscal resources are being deployed across a number of years.

The relevance of institutions whose roles and functions substantively overlap with other state agencies should also be reconsidered, with finite fiscal resources redeployed to support the low-income and needy. Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my interventions above I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

12.52 pm

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang): Mr Speaker, Sir, in these troubling times, Budget Statement speeches are really a source of reassurance. Deputy Prime Minister Heng mentioned last year that he addressed the House nine times over five Budgets and two Ministerial Statements.

Well, we certainly needed that many doses of reassurances, support and interventions last year. Otherwise, the fall-out and impact from the pandemic would have been even more devastating for our businesses and for Singaporeans.

We have put to good use the war chest and firepower that we have built up over the decades, and by any measures, we have achieved the intended outcomes. Interim assessment by MOF and MAS determined that the relief measures from the five Budgets have helped avert a deeper economic recession. The economy contracted by 5.4% in 2020, instead of contracting an estimated 12.4% without the Government's support.

The hefty $22.6 billion of JSS coupled with the $17 billion worth of financing schemes helped keep many businesses afloat and prevented massive job losses. Under the JGI, 110,000 jobseekers were hired and another 76,000 Singaporeans were placed under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.

Households were also supported with various packages such as CSP, SIRS, CSG and TRF. These measures help mitigate the inequality during this difficult year. On average, each household received $2,000 while the lower income households received up to $2,800.

On the public healthcare front, a total of $13.8 billion was committed to protect and save lives. Singaporeans felt safe and our fatality rate from COVID-19 is still among the lowest in the world at 29. Many schemes are still on-going and their effects are still working through the system and economy. But I can say that the strong and decisive interventions by the Government have made a significant difference in saving lives and livelihoods during this "crisis of a generation".

Into 2021, the battle against the onslaught of COVID-19 continues on both the healthcare and non-healthcare fronts; and continues to require considerable amounts of financial resources to safeguard Singaporeans, families and businesses. Among the key highlights for Budget 2021 are the $11 billion COVID-19 Resilience Package and the $900 million Household Support Package, among others. These are necessary measures to tackle the on-going crisis and to strengthen social safety nets.

Overall, Budget 2021 remains highly expansionary with total expenditures projected to grow by 8.8% from FY2020, which is a high-spending year, and 35% above pre-COVID-19 FY2019 spending level. Among the big-ticket items continue to be the COVID-19 related costs such as vaccination which amounts to $1 billion; testing, clinical management and tracing, which is likely to cost another $3.1 billion.

Compared to the broad-based approach in last year's Budget, in this year's Budget we heard a lot more words like "targeted" and "differentiated". And with many businesses resuming either most or all of their activities, it is timely and prudent to start tapering down the assistances so as to manage down the overall costs of the support packages.

However, the overall expenditure remains very high and notably higher than the revenue projected for the year; and hence, we would still have to count on our past reserves to fund the gap, albeit a much smaller amount this time.

Sir, I support the draw on the reserves to fund the COVID-19 Resilience Package, given the still grim circumstances where COVID-19 related expenditures continue to be very high and necessary; while revenues may take some while to recover and to return.

Sir, besides the on-going preoccupation with the pandemic, Budget 2021 steered our focus definitively to the future and to our longer term challenges. As the Deputy Prime Minister said, we must never stop thinking of the future. This is indeed the hallmark of our nation's success and what makes us an exceptional nation.

We have ambitious plans to continually expand and strengthen our overall infrastructure and to build a sustainable home for all; under the Singapore Green Plan 2030. In charting our next future trajectory, we not only talk about the "whats" but the "hows" as well, including critically, how we can fund those investments at a time where our fiscal space is at the most constrained period.

The Deputy Prime Minister announced the Government's decision to issue infrastructural bonds, the SINGA Bonds, to fund lumpy capital expenditure items such as rail lines and infrastructures to protect against rising sea levels and others. If these items are funded under the Annual Budget cycles, which is on a cash flow basis, it will put significant strains on our other Budget to other allocations.

As these long-term infrastructures benefit current and future generations of Singaporeans, it is more equitable to distribute these fiscal responsibilities across generations, by way of a longer term financing structure. So, I support to partly fund these massive outlays through long-term borrowings via the SINGA Bonds; and especially during this current low interest rates environment. The $90 billion borrowing cap is a necessary safeguard in addition to the scrutiny from the President's office and Parliament.

Also, having a wider variety of high-quality assets like SINGA and green bonds also helps develop our capital markets and facilitate better liquidity management among our financial institutions.

Sir, the other exciting area in Budget 2021 is the $24 billion action plan to invest strategically for new growth and to emerge stronger. Even as we tackle the immediate challenges, we must not lose sight of our medium to longer term economic imperatives.

COVID-19, while it has caused havoc to the global economy and our lives, has also triggered structural shifts on many fronts. Coupled with the accelerated technological changes and geopolitical shifts, the current forces at play actually open up interesting opportunities for Singapore.

The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted a few areas, such as the how we can plug ourselves into the critical parts of the reconfigured global supply chain network – an interesting area to be in – rapid digitalisations where we can build new frontiers in digital connectivity or making available of capital tools to co-fund transformation and help our companies transform and grow, among others.

Singapore needs to quickly adapt to the changed world and to be in the position to seize these opportunities and to build new competitive edges, and to do it among the early phrases of these new structural shifts.

As the Deputy Prime Minister has elaborated, we need to decisively build three enablers: firstly, a vibrant business eco-system; secondly, make available a wide range of capital sources; and, thirdly, to develop our own future-ready human capital and talents.

In all, the Government will allocate $24 billion to invest in these three strategic enablers over the next three years.

I will speak further on these enablers during the COS debate for MOF, MTI and MOM. But just to state, these are exciting developments that will give our economy that pivotal lift and we should be among the early movers. But for now, for this speech, I would focus on the funding for these $24 billion investments to emerge stronger.

The Deputy Prime Minister indicated in his speech that he expects the economy to recover, and the revenue projected will be able to support these expenditures for the investments. However, he also caveats that this is subject to the global health situation and economic outlook. And to use the Deputy Prime Minister’s words, there is still a "wide cone of uncertainty".

There is also the potential downside risk to our revenues with regard to the on-going discussion to revise international tax rules under the Base Erosion Profit Shifting or BEPS 2.0 project.

Notwithstanding, the Deputy Prime Minister said that even if the economic and fiscal conditions turn out to be worse than expected, we must still press on to invest in these areas and to ride on the opportunities presented by these structural changes.

I agree with the Deputy Prime Minister that we must move now. Delaying or deferring these investments until our finances are back in good shape is an option but that will mean passing on the opportunities to provide an early boost to our capabilities and to stay ahead of the curve, while other economies are still grappling and coping with the crisis.

The question then is should we draw on past reserves to support these additional spending? Deputy Prime Minister Heng mentioned in his speech that he has briefed the President on the potential draw in the next few years, if we are unable to generate sufficient revenue to pay for these investments.

Sir, while we should keep that option open, we could also consider other alternatives. We have already drawn on our reserves in the last two Financial Years in a row and we should only consider this as a last resort.

Reserves are our emergency backstop and we need to hold or grow the base amount to ensure a growing, if not a steady, NIRC. Each time when we draw on our past reserves, it also means divesting a part of our financial investments and, hence, we will lose out on the returns from these investments over the long term.

If the fiscal condition remains tight in this term of Government, and these are indeed time critical and worthy investments for the future, I submit that we can justify funding this emerging stronger-related investments through a special purpose borrowing. This could be a once-off bond issuance earmarked to specifically fund these economic investments. That way, we also take advantage of our very strong balance sheet and our high credit ratings where we can enjoy borrowing at zero credit cost as well as to take advantage of the low long-term interest rates.

As a prudent safeguard, we should also still set strict caps on such borrowings and it should be still subjected to the approval and the consent of the President and to Parliament's scrutiny.

Sir, finally, I want to talk about the more difficult part of the Budget, which is the increase of the GST; likely to be between 2022 and 2025.

The Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that no finance minister likes to talk about tax increases. Well, similarly, Members of Parliament would not like to debate such issues as well. We all like to talk about how much we can spend, where we can spend.

We have debated intensely the justifications during the last three Annual Budget Statement debates. I agreed with the Government’s fiscal principle that recurrent expenditure should be funded by recurrent revenue. This is sound, prudent and sustainable. And, in particular, in the healthcare spending, we must ensure that it is adequately and sustainably funded to give Singaporeans the peace of mind that their long-term healthcare needs will be well taken care of and with certainty.

Last year, I asked the Deputy Prime Minister as to who pays the biggest share of the GST based on past collections. He shared that foreigners residing in Singapore, tourists and the top 20% of resident households account for 60% of the net GST borne by all households and individuals. This is significant. We do want to collect more taxes from the top 20% households and the foreigners.

The unique critical feature of our GST system is that it comes stapled with a series of permanent GST offsets to mitigate the impact to our low- and middle income households. As a result, the top income groups and foreigners contribute the main bulk of the GST while the low- to middle income group pay no or lower GST on a net basis.

In this Budget, Deputy Prime Minister reiterated the Government's assurance that should GST be raised, the $6 billion Assurance Package, which have already been set aside in the GSTV Fund, will kick in and help cushion the impact for the low- and middle-income households.

The majority of households will receive offsets to cover at least five years’ worth of increases, while the lower income Singaporeans will receive even much more. For example, those living in 1- to 3-room HDB flats will receive offsets worth about 10 years of increases. Sir, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] What I am most concerned about in this Budget is whether the GST hike would affect the cost of living of the lower and middle income Singaporeans and the elderly.

In the past few years, Government spending has indeed been growing rapidly especially in the area of healthcare. Ten years ago, healthcare spending was $2.2 billion, now it has increased more than five times to $12 billion and will continue to rise.

On one hand, we need to constantly plan and provide more healthcare amenities. On the other hand, we need to ensure that there are sufficient, sustainable and diversified tax revenue to cope with these rising cost.

We need to balance this expenditure and income, so that Singaporeans, especially older Singaporeans, will have a greater peace of mind and a sense of reassurance in healthcare. This is what a responsible Government should do, and we do not want the Government to cut spending on healthcare and social welfare because of fiscal imbalances.

Personally, I still hope that the Government will continue to build more clinics, hospitals and nursing homes. I also hope that the Government will give Singaporeans more subsidies in healthcare, housing, education and transport, all of which require financial resources. All these expenses and subsidies need to have financial resources.

Deputy Prime Minister also reiterated that once the GST is raised, the Government will use the $6 billion Assurance Package set aside to help lower and middle income families to offset or mitigate the impact.

Under the Package, each adult Singaporean will receive an average of $700 to $1,600 in cash rebates over five years. For example, a family of four with a gross household income of about $6,000 will receive nearly $7,000 in cash rebates. Hence, most households will receive rebates to offset the impact of a GST hike over the next five years. Lower income households will receive more rebates to offset the additional GST cost over the next 10 years.

(In English): Sir, in conclusion, the last one year has been most challenging times in our fiscal management.

We set new precedents in many areas: the largest budget deficit in our history, the largest draw on our reserves for two consecutive years and, of course, five Budgets and two Ministerial Statements all in one year to fight COVID-19.

This Budget also sets in place the framework to fund our long-term infrastructure with long-term borrowings to avoid situations of extremely large outlays in each Budget year and to achieve better inter-generation equity.

This is a shift from our past approaches where we tend to cash fund all our expenditure with current budget allocations or using accumulated surpluses. We have to move with times in the way we manage our Government finances, just like how we have evolved the NIRC framework about a decade ago.

But it is important to remain steadfast to the values of prudence and discipline, and to ensure that we operate on a balanced budget basis and also to jealously safeguard our reserves so as to continue growing it for our future generations; just like how the past generations have saved it for us.

Sir, we are fortunate to be able to confront and tackle this "crisis of a generation" in a position of strength. It is always a good position to be there, to be in a position of strength. Otherwise, it will be terrible. So, let us keep thinking long term, continue to build new frontiers of growth opportunities, continue to strengthen our position of strength and to emerge stronger together from this crisis. Sir, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har.

1.11 pm

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Budget 2021 must be taken in the context of a nation emerging from the tumult of FY2020, during which no fewer than five Budgets were passed. The impact of COVID-19 on our economy might well have resulted in a deep and enduring recession, had it not been for the series of fiscal and monetary policy moves.

Besides intervention in public health management, the wide-ranging support from the Job Support Scheme (JSS), the loan moratorium to rental waivers helped sustain jobs and businesses. Sir, we averted a GDP contraction that could have been over 12.4%, and there are already early signs of a steady recovery in our economy.

Going forward, support will be targeted and loan repayments will need to resume. As we taper down the support schemes that have kept many businesses afloat, we should be prepared for the increased risk of business closures and lay-offs.

For this Budget, I agree with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat that switching our focus to transformation and growth will give us the best chance to secure the best opportunities for Singapore. We have to prepare ourselves for a post-COVID-19 world that is completely and forever changed, and secure a prominent role for ourselves in it.

Mr Speaker, in this debate, I wish to speak on the need to sustain fiscal strength and discipline as well as supporting our businesses and people in the journey of transformation.

Sir, the determination of this Government to emerge strongly from the pandemic is underscored by the extraordinary set of financials announced in this Budget. To sustain relief in the immediate term, Singapore will draw on the reserves for the second year running. For Financial Year 2021 Budget, it will be expansionary, running up a deficit of $11 billion.

Most significantly, the Government intends to borrow up to $90 billion to create fiscal space to press on with major and long-term infrastructure investment, despite the uncertain economic environment. The Government has not borrowed since the 80s for infrastructure development.

Using debt to fund large, long-term infrastructure will go some way to reduce the pressure of raising revenue and not crowd out important long-term infrastructure investment. The Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act or SINGA Bonds, which include green infrastructure bonds, will also support the development of Singapore’s bond market. Given the prevailing low interest rates coupled with Singapore’s AAA credit rating, the cost of borrowing should not place undue burden on future generations.

Sir, even as I support the use of debt, even as I do support, we must exercise great discipline in how much we borrow and what we borrow for. There is good debt and there is bad debt. We must guard against going down the slippery slope of other countries where the burden of debt repayment becomes a major component of the country's finances. It would not be sustainable to depend on borrowings to fund our recurrent spending needs, such as healthcare and education. It is in this spirit that we would not borrow money to pay for daily consumption. We would, however, borrow to invest in our flat, to provide a long-term home for our family and an asset in our retirement.

So, I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the $90 billion limit on debt issuance was set. Would this limit be adjusted as GDP grows? How vulnerable would we be if interest rates move up? What is the expected repayment burden on future generations? And how would Singapore's AAA credit rating be impacted with the borrowing?

Sir, I had previously called for measures to address tax leakage and a leveling of the playing field for local retailers. I am therefore happy to hear the Deputy Prime Minister's announcement that GST will be extended to cross-border e-commerce transactions of lower value goods, which is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. I would like to ask how much revenue this tax is expected to raise?

Mr Speaker, I had also spoken about wealth tax on numerous occasions in Parliament. The trend of getting the wealthy to contribute more is gaining traction globally. In fact, the wealthy themselves are stepping forward to give back in significant ways, with philanthropy featuring as a key agenda in their wealth planning.

Argentina imposed a one-time levy on millionaires in December. Several other countries, including the UK, has brought wealth tax into the spotlight with an independent Wealth Tax Commission issuing their final report. Proposals to make wealth levies easier to administer, for example, include targeting a smaller group of extremely wealthy people, relying on advances in financial transparency and technology.

From the various reports, a one-off wealth tax may seem economically efficient, structured as a one-off exceptional response to the pandemic. UK had introduced one-off "windfall taxes", including the 1997 windfall tax on privatised utilities. The construct of pandemic Excess Profit Tax, to extract higher revenues from businesses that are able to exploit the effects of the pandemic, has also surfaced.

Sir, when you consider that selected entities and individuals may have enjoyed outsized windfalls because of COVID-19, it may not be unreasonable to expect that them to do more for the common good. I would like to ask the Government if wealth tax is being contemplated and what the considerations for such a tax would be?

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered major shifts in the global economic landscape. Singapore needs to urgently bolster its attractiveness as a regional and global hub. I welcome the slew of capital tools to co-fund transformation. The growing awareness of climate change is spurring businesses and countries the world over to embrace sustainability as an urgent agenda.

The Singapore Green Plan 2030 is therefore well-timed to galvanise a national movement, not only to achieve sustainable development, but also to build "exportable" capabilities such as sustainable urban solutions.

Our Green agenda holds much promise for our future. The issuance of green bonds will provide a substantial capital base for sustainable developments, not only in Singapore but also throughout the region. Singapore is well-positioned to serve as a living lab and testbed for emerging green technologies as well as a hub to foster collaboration and co-creation.

It is critical that in our drive for sustainability, we fully leverage this opportunity to groom a new generation of green local firms, support them to build their green capabilities and position them to capture emerging opportunities. I would like to ask the Government to ensure development of green local firms be an integral part of the $25 billion investment under RIE2025, focusing on urban solutions and sustainability.

Mr Speaker, I welcome the generous $5.4 billion being committed to support the hiring of locals through Job Growth Initiative and also traineeship and training opportunities. I expect that this will continue to sustain green shoots of recovery in the labour market and create opportunities for this year's cohort of graduates entering the workforce.

However, whilst unemployment is kept at bay, we must be vigilant against underemployment. The mismatch of skillsets, which occur when workers take any available jobs just to stay employed, will cause their deep and hard-earned skills to "atrophy" over time, along with their motivation and commitment to their work. This issue is particularly pertinent amongst older PMETs whose careers are being disrupted, resulting in a reservoir of unused skills and experience.

We must develop new models to support mid-career professionals transition to new careers. These should include some form of financial support that enables them to take time off to study and build new expertise, so that they can meet the financial commitments they incur at their particular stage of life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also provided employers an opportunity to relook at their reliance on foreign labour. The foreign workforce was reduced by 16% during the pandemic, that is, in one year, 16%. JSS support was restricted to locals and rightfully so, and the closure of borders disrupted the supply of foreign labour.

Many employers have told me about their frustrations with foreign workers' demands for pay increases and their changing work attitudes resulting from a scarcity of workers. Together with costs resulting from workers' Stay-Home Notices and safe management measures, employers' foreign labour costs have escalated.

By contrast, I have seen many businesses thrive by cultivating a strong local team who are committed to the long-term success of their employers' business, often by focusing on the right compensation and nurturing a healthy work culture. I think Sheng Siong must have received many job applications since announcing their bonus. So, there is no better time to build a strong Singaporean Core for long-term sustainability.

Mr Speaker, the pandemic has impacted low-income workers disproportionately and we need to hasten the expansion of the Progressive Wage Model to more sectors. To keep unemployment low, I think it is right that we focus our efforts on providing jobs and training rather than unemployment benefits. However, with greater disruption and uncertainty, it is imperative that we find ways to hasten the safety net for those who are still unable to secure employment.

For gig workers, we should heed the recent ruling by the UK's Supreme Court, that Uber drivers be considered "workers" and not "independent contractors", entitled to certain protections over their pay and working conditions. Sir, we owe it to these fellow Singaporeans to make urgent progress in these areas.

Sir, in conclusion, I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and the MOF team for a thoughtful Budget. COVID-19 has shown the world yet again what Singapore is capable of. In a fragmented world where trust is sorely lacking, Singapore has much to offer as a "safe, trustworthy node", as Deputy Prime Minister said. The strategic value of our reserves has never been clearer. We have a clear roadmap to recovery. Let us press ahead together. Sir, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

1.25 pm

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Mr Speaker, Singapore faces a burning platform. The world is on fire with COVID-19, with protectionism, with disruption to supply chains, trade networks, businesses.

Climate change threatens all of us and is changing how companies and entire economies operate and compete. Climate change is also accelerating the onset of new pandemics that will threaten the world.

And all these is a serious and grave challenge for small countries like Singapore, small, open economies which need to connect to the world to survive.

So, even as we improve on existing capabilities, getting better at what we already know how to do, we need to go further. We need to move boldly, to do things which we have not done before, learning how to do things which we could not do before.

Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister, last month published an article on pandemic response in a COVID-19 world. One quote stood out: "The question which should be asked of policymakers in government is not what is possible, but what is necessary."

"Not what is possible, but what is necessary."

Our existing work is important. Builds our capabilities, maintains what we already know is possible. But beyond our report card, we must ask ourselves: "In a world on fire, on a burning platform, what is necessary for Singapore to continue to survive and thrive tomorrow?"

Sir, let me outline three areas. There are more but I will speak on three topics today – vaccine development, R&D and commercialisation, and public sector recruitment.

Sir, my first point on vaccines. COVID-19 is a grave threat, but we must assume the next pandemic will be much worse. Imagine what researchers call "Disease X", an unknown pathogen more contagious than COVID-19, more deadly than SARS.

We have seen what happens amidst this pandemic, when countries are burning with fear, when the world and countries grow desperate. COVID-19 has shown us.

We have seen what happens with PPE nationalism, where protective equipment is hoarded. In the early days of COVID, there were some countries that blocked the exports of PPE, even if the purchase contracts had already been signed, even if the bill had already been paid.

Today, we see vaccine nationalism – certain countries placing export controls on vaccines for COVID-19. So, imagine when "Disease X" hits the world, it will be worse than COVID-19.

To survive such a future, Singapore has to go beyond asking what is possible today. We need to ask ourselves and search ourselves to ask what is necessary for a more dangerous tomorrow.

The Government has spoken about "fill-and-finish" production and regional distribution for COVID-19 vaccines. "Fill-and-finish" means filling the containers, the vials with vaccine and then finishing the packaging of vaccine for distribution.

We can and need to go beyond this and to go upstream.

We need to be able to analyse new pandemics, develop new vaccines and new medications and to manufacture them quickly onshore – quickly, at speed.

We can, of course, continue collaborating with other centres of excellence around the world. But we should have the development and manufacturing capability onshore, in Singapore.

Even before "Disease X", there is the chance that COVID-19 will mutate into new strains which no current vaccines can protect against. So, there are very real reasons to build this capability, in Singapore, onshore, today.

If Singapore can be among the first countries to develop a vaccine for the next pandemic, it will be good for our fellow Singaporeans, good for our economy and good for the world.

Sir, my second point on R&D and commercialisation. We have a published strategy for Research, Innovation and Enterprise – RIE 2025. We know what is possible, we know what is in the report card. But we can and must do even better, to meet the challenge of what is necessary.

I remember an overseas meeting with the Chief Scientist of the national innovation authority from a small country with a reputation for innovating against the odds and punching above its weight. What this Chief Scientist from another country told me – he left a deep impression – he said that his national innovation agency wants to fund projects which the market would not normally fund. That the most interesting projects are not the ones where the outcome is guaranteed. That the potential breakthroughs are where half the experts say it cannot be done, while half the experts think it can.

Sir, public money is precious. Research funding must be stewarded responsibly. But we must also be unafraid to try new things, to break new paths, blaze new trails.

In the USA, there is an agency called DARPA. It brings together experts from industry and academia to work on urgent challenging problems facing the real world. Although the US military was the original customer for DARPA, its innovations have created and shaped many multi-billion dollar industries. Innovations such as today's Internet, carbon composites used in advanced manufacturing, the GPS navigation system that our smartphones use to operate, telepresence surgery which allows robotic surgery to take place. Even Siri, the iPhone personal assistant, is a spin-off from a DARPA artificial intelligence project.

Research with real-world outcomes. Commercial outcomes.

In the UK, there is a research foundation called the Wellcome Trust. They have funded a new R&D agency called Wellcome Leap – a DARPA model for human health. Some of their mission statements for projects are inspiring. For example, "What if we could develop a universal cancer vaccine to stimulate an immune response at the earliest sign of abnormal cells?"; "What if we could grow fully functional replacement human organs in a lab" – to help people with kidney failure, on dialysis?

Some will say this seems far-fetched. But if a reputable research organisation like the Wellcome Trust is imagining this, aspiring to this, making the leap – it tells us something.

Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, recently wrote an op-ed, "Why once successful countries like the UK get left behind". He sees a need for greater government support for innovation in the advanced economies. There are lessons for us to avoid being left behind.

Mariana Mazzucato, an economist, who has advised the European Commission, talks of mission-oriented research, bold missions which mobilise the public sector, private sector and academia. Chasing challenging mission statements beyond what is capable today but thereby setting goals that can improve human health, improve the environment, improve sustainability and the economy.

Sir, today’s research investment is the infrastructure of tomorrow’s innovation. So, I call on this Government: increase our investments in research, be even bolder in the projects we choose.

Our ability to respond to COVID was learnt through the hard journey of SARS and the investments in biomedical research more than two decades ago. Our ability to battle Disease X and survive the next pandemic will depend on what we do today.

In short, again, "Not just what is possible, but what is necessary." Not just the report card on what we have achieved today, but what is necessary for Singapore tomorrow.

My third point on public sector talent recruitment. During the past year, I met a number of Clementi residents who had returned from overseas jobs. Some had held very big portfolios. I had coffee in one of our Clementi coffee shops with a Clementi resident who used to manage a multi-billion-dollar cash portfolio for a MNC regional office. His regional role was relocated because of COVID-19 and he was not keen to uproot his very young family to relocate, especially in a pandemic.

He told me about how he was looking at jobs in the public sector, now that he was based back in Singapore for the foreseeable.

There are many more like him. Private sector. Non-profit sector. People sector. Research sector. International experience. And a breadth of experience from all over the world.

Mr Speaker, COVID-19 is a generational opportunity for our public sector to recruit top private sector talent. There are highly qualified Singaporeans who because of COVID-19, are no longer keen to continue overseas. Some have young family, some have ageing parents back in Singapore. These are candidates who previously because of their journeys would not have considered joining the public sector.

We should not squander the opportunity to recruit and retain mid-career and experienced private sector talent from these diverse backgrounds. All the more so amidst a burning platform for Singapore and other small open economies.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, we value what Singapore has achieved today. It is the report card of our people, our agencies, our society. But we must also ask ourselves beyond what is possible today what is necessary for tomorrow? What do we need to do that we cannot yet do? We must be bold enough to make necessary dreams into necessary reality.

And so I stand in support of our Budget – what it is today and what it can be tomorrow.

Mr Speaker: Mr Darryl David.

1.37 pm

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, in 2020, Singapore, and pretty much the rest of the world, experienced one of the most challenging years in human history.

Economically, the COVID-19 pandemic battered our economy. Socially, we had to learn how to live with the pandemic by changing the ways we interact and socialise. At workplaces, companies had to pivot their operations and rejig their business models overnight.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on in many parts of the world, it is fair to say that we are far from being out of the woods.

While the Singapore economy is projected to make a recovery of between 4% and 6% this year, this recovery is set against the backdrop of a 5.8% contraction in 2020 and is from a relatively low starting position compared to pre-COVID-19 years. Recovery is likely to be uneven, with some sectors of the economy perhaps taking longer to recover than others.

I am thus glad to learn that the Government has made further commitments to ensure that the hardest hit sectors in our economy will continue to receive the support that they need. Today, with a relatively weakened financial position, Government support will have to be more calibrated and targeted and Budget expenditures be geared towards helping Singapore thrive in a post-COVID-19 world.

While we continue to preserve the immediate livelihood of our workers, we need to keep an eye on the gaps that have also appeared and undertake systematic steps to close them.

I would like to speak on enhancing the salaries of healthcare workers and nurses, Mr Speaker, in this first part of my speech.

Many years after SARS, we were reminded once again during the COVID-19 pandemic about the tremendous sacrifices that our healthcare workers make on their jobs. Indeed, as a nation, we owe our healthcare workers, especially our nurses and allied healthcare workers, a deep, deep debt of gratitude.

The recent announcement that the Government will enhance the salary of nurses and healthcare workers is long overdue. Nurses and allied healthcare workers have traditionally formed the bulk of all medical workers in Singapore.

I am thus glad to learn that the Government is planning to enhance the salary of nurses and healthcare workers so that their wages are, perhaps, more commensurate with the work that they do. Apart from enhancing their pay scale, I hope that the Government will also continue to enhance the career prospects for nurses and healthcare professionals, especially those who desire progression.

Under MOH’s classification, nurses are classified as "enrolled nurses" and "registered nurses". Registered nurses are required to attain a tertiary qualification and can specialise in different practice areas. They have a clear career pathway that enables them to eventually become, perhaps, even nurse managers.

This pathway of progression is generally different for enrolled nurses who typically are those who possess a Nitec in Nursing from the ITE. So, while we enhance the salary level for nurses as a whole, I hope the Government will consider putting in place a progression ladder similar to those of registered nurses by taking into consideration their experience on the job, providing them with skills upgrading opportunities through both formal and on-the-job training, and even more scholarships for those who desire to enter the nursing profession and to those who aspire to higher qualifications in the nursing profession.

Apart from salary and career progression, I urge the Government to also consider enhancing the work environment and conditions for nurses as well. Singapore has traditionally depended heavily on foreign nurses, as we all know, to supplement our pool of local nurses. And it is not for want for trying. I believe we have been trying consistently to attract more Singaporeans and PRs into the nursing profession.

I believe the reasons as to why Singaporeans are generally unwilling to enter the profession, perhaps, go beyond just wages alone. Perhaps, they are deterred by the long working hours, stress from having to deal manage difficult patients, their family members and expectations, as well as potential disruptions to family life arising from irregular work shifts.

I hope the Government can consider doubling-down on the recommendations made by the Future Nursing Career Review Committee and enhance the attractiveness of the profession for local Singaporeans. We could consider implementing mandatory leave and even possibly paid holidays as additional benefits for local nurses so that they can take a break from being on the frontline and recharge from time to time.

As part of a longer term plan, I would also like to urge the Government to develop a mid-career conversion programme for those who wish to enter the nursing profession.

Many Singaporeans were employed as temporary-swabbers or as allied healthcare professionals during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Singaporeans who, perhaps, have not worked in the healthcare sector or experience what our healthcare professionals and nurses go through now find themselves on the frontline, as it were, and have the experience that would be so critical to enabling them to succeed in this profession. So, I hope the Government can consider more options for these mid-career professionals to enter into the nursing and healthcare profession, perhaps, under a train-and-place model or other similar scheme that would enable us to recruit these people into the healthcare sector on a full-time basis.

I would like to shift my next point, Mr Speaker, Sir, to the topic of the raised petrol duties that was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in the Budget announcement. This is a topic that will be spoken about in the House and I have received much feedback from my interactions with many Singaporeans on the ground with regard to this.

I agree that in a concerted effort to push Singapore towards a car-lite society and to encourage the use of cleaner fuel and electric vehicles for sustainability, one would find it hard to argue against the rationale for supporting this green agenda.

Now, the immediate rise in petrol duties, however, will no doubt have more of an impact on some groups than others, specifically those who need their vehicles for practical and professional uses, and they are unable to switch over to alternate mode of transportation – be it electric vehicles or other forms of public transport in the short to mid term. I am speaking, of course, about those who need their vehicles to ferry young children, elderly or disabled family members around; and those who need their vehicles for work.

As part of the Budget, I do note the Government has acknowledged that taxi and private hire car drivers who have been hit hard by the drop in ridership will continue to receive various forms of financial assistance support till the COVID-19 pandemic eases somewhat.

So, it is part of the measures I spoke about earlier, of the Government targeting specific groups in the industry who needed more support. Yet, the rise in petrol duties will impact this group significantly, and possibly negating some of the COVID-19 related assistance that they are already receiving elsewhere, as these drivers would have experienced an immediate increase in their daily operating costs.

I know that to cushion the impact of the hike in petrol duties, the Government has announced road tax and petrol duty rebates for car owners, taxis and private-hire cars. However, while the price hikes have been immediate, I believe that the road tax rebates and the duty rebates may come somewhat later.

The other point I would like to make, Mr Speaker, Sir, is, that while those who own their cars will receive their rebates directly, how can the Government ensure that taxi companies and car-rental companies pass on the savings to their drivers or hirers in as timely a manner as possible? Also, will the Government be open to extending the rebates for taxi drivers and private hire car drivers beyond the present period if required?

At a broader level, the hike in petrol duties could also be accompanied by a series of price increases downstream – that is something that I am also quite concerned about, Mr Speaker. For example, logistics companies could pass on cost increases to retailers and retailers could similarly pass the increase on to consumers; consumers who make online purchases could end up paying more for their delivery if these costs were passed on; school bus drivers might raise their fees. I guess there are many many other examples that could see companies and organisations raising their prices and fees, citing the rise in petrol prices as justification.

I noted that the Government has also mentioned the measures to help households as a whole, manage increased costs of living and to deal with some of the financial challenges that they could face, not just in 2021 but in the future as well. So, I hope that in this particular case, those measures to help these families will not be possibly offset by a rise in prices that some companies might choose to implement, citing the petrol price rises as a possible reason.

So, I hope the Government can actually consider putting in safeguards to curb unjustified increases in fares, fees and prices to help protect a wider range of consumers and customers in this regard.

Mr Speaker, Sir, 2020 was a tumultuous year, but thanks to the strong support provided by the Government and to the resilience of our people, we were able to get through very, very difficult time. We are not sure what 2021 will bring, but I am confident that if we stay together, as one people, one Singapore, then we will be able to deal with whatever challenges come our way. My previous clarifications notwithstanding, I conclude my speech in firm support of the Budget.

1.48 pm

Prof Hoon Hian Teck (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, preparing the Government's Budget in the middle of a pandemic has presented challenges not faced to the same extent in the preparation of past Budgets. The new element added is that of great uncertainty about the length of the adverse economic-health shock that is hitting the economy. The emphasis in my last sentence is on the words "uncertainty about the length".

Singapore's recession in 1985 was deep and sharp, but its recovery was rapid. In the face of the shock from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the recovery was also rapid. The Budgets could therefore be strongly expansionary in the short term to save jobs and businesses, and thus, fulfil the stabilisation function of the Government. Once out of the recession, subsequent Budgets could focus on structural transformation of the economy, gearing the economy to expand is productive capacity to create good jobs with good pay for its residents. This fulfils the allocation function of the Government.

In contrast, in our current environment – even though the big storm that ravaged our economy and the rest of the world started more than a year ago – there is much uncertainty about when normal economic conditions will return. Budget 2021 therefore, has to find a balance between using fiscal resources which are finite, to close the output gap; that is, to fight recession on one hand and providing fiscal incentives to spur structural transformation to achieve a medium to long-term productivity growth of say, 2% per annum, on the other hand. The 2% growth rate is the rate at which advanced economies have been able to grow over the 20th century. At that rate, you double your standard of living every 35 years.

If the slum is prolonged and becomes a multi-year affair, how does the Government balance between using its fiscal resources to fulfil its stabilisation function on one hand, and allocation function on the other hand?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to suggest three principles that might guide us in finding this right balance in the face of uncertainty. First, in crafting the Budget, we should make optimal use of the best information we currently have. There are some aspects of the nature of the slum caused by COVID-19 that are now reasonably well understood: a negative supply shock in a contact-intensive and travel-related sector – let us call it the affected sector – produces a negative demand shock which affects the whole economy. The affected sector contracted output most obviously during the circuit breaker period, but even post-circuit-breaker, the non-arrival of international tourists means that businesses in the affected sector must cut back output and would have to lay off workers in the absence of wage subsidies given under the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS.

Massive loss of jobs in the affected sector will be socially costly for several reasons. As workers, especially low-wage workers, typically phase credit constraints so that they are unable to borrow against future incomes, they and their family members would face severe economic hardship. With a loss of income, there is also a contraction of demand for all goods, not just goods produced by the affected sector. Job retrenchments in the affected sector will also imply that there is a loss of firm-specific capital that workers would have built up over time during their employment with their current employers. Should normal conditions return to the affected sector, firms – if the workers had been retrenched earlier – would have to incur costs once again to make new investment, to orientate new employees. Therefore, there remains a need to provide wage subsidies through the Jobs Support Scheme to enable firms in the affected sector to keep their workers.

I think Budget 2021 recognises the uneven nature of the COVID-19 shock, quite different from other shocks that tend to be aggregate in nature, affecting many sectors in the economy.

Second, my second point about what we can recognise as we try to establish good fiscal principles with the dilemma of this shock that I mentioned. Despite the occurrence of prolonged slums, such as the Great Depression in the 1930s. In the US, it began in 1929, recovery began only in 1933, but it took much of the 1930s for the slum to end. Nevertheless, the study of today's advanced economies over the whole of 20th century suggest that economies do return to their trend growth path. Despite a prolonged slump like the Great Depression, nearly a decade in length, the economy resumed to grow at roughly 2% per annum over the 20th century.

What does that mean for us? Should the pandemic turn out to be prolonged, then, despite the argument I have just made, that fiscal resources be expended to keep businesses in the affected sector afloat and to avoid retrenchment, the consideration of efficiency dictates that fiscal stimulus be gradually scaled down. This is so as to allow a process of creative destruction to enable entrepreneurs with good ideas to launch new businesses, even as other firms exit. It has been observed by many that onslaught of COVID-19 has led to a rapid adoption of digital technology and more generally of digital transformation that can position Singapore well as it seeks to raise the firm's productivity.

Building a common digital platform with other countries will enable start-ups as well as SMEs to sell overseas and enlarge their market. As new business processes as well as new products and services are created to cater to a COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 world, there will be demand for workers with new skills. An increasing share of fiscal resources should, therefore, on this principle that I have argued, be directed at supporting workers, including those previously employed in the affected sector, to reskill to fill these new job positions. I am gratified that Budget 2021 keeps a focus on facilitating structural transformation, even as it meets the short-term needs I mentioned, to enable the economy to return to a strong trend path that will deliver good jobs with good pay over the longer term.

Third, and my final point, given the uncertainty surrounding the length of the COVID-19 slump, there is a question of fiscal sustainability. Would a government that is required to maintain budget balance over its term of government have the required fiscal resources to achieve its stabilisation function in a prolonged slump? How do we prevent workers and their dependents, from suffering a sharp drop in consumption when fiscal stimulus is removed because the recession drags on for several years. It is not an easy problem, we have never quite had to encounter this problem, because past recessions were deep and sharp but recovery was rapid, possibly not this one. The Contingencies Fund, which Deputy Prime Minister Heng referred to in last year's Fortitude Budget, sets aside an extra $13 billion, and that, goes some way to address the concern that I just mentioned. Hopefully, this provides sufficient resources to meet emergency needs arising either from health or economic considerations.

Nevertheless, in general, how do we think about this problem? Self insurance and a national unemployment insurance scheme are alternatives for providing the needed cash should a resident be out of work after JSS ceases. Faced with the prospect of being laid off, workers might increase their savings to insure against a drop in consumption, that is self insurance. Self insurance, however, is not possible for hand-to-mouth workers.

We, therefore, I believe, need to examine the costs and benefits of providing social insurance to cover the risk of unemployment. To be very clear, this is not something to implement in the midst of the pandemic, but it is an option to be studied when this storm is past.

Let me just end with a couple of comments about the tension in putting in place something like a national unemployment insurance scheme. It obviously involves a trade-off. As extending unemployment benefits tends – other things being equal – to increase the duration of unemployment as workers are able to hold out longer before taking on a job, there is the prospect that introducing a national unemployment insurance scheme can raise the overall rate of unemployment. On the other hand, having such an insurance scheme enables workers and their dependants to have access to cash to finance consumption when breadwinners lose their jobs for an extended period. Whether or not to have a national unemployment insurance scheme is not an easy question to answer because it involves trading off the benefits of providing liquidity on one hand and you have to match that against the cost of higher unemployment.

Mr Speaker, Sir, COVID-19 is unprecedented in being a recessionary shock that comes with much uncertainty about its length. It poses a challenge to find a balance between the Government's stabilisation and allocation functions. In the near term, fiscal resources should still be directed to keep businesses afloat and save jobs in the affected sector. If the slump is prolonged, efficiency considerations dictate that fiscal resources should be directed more towards facilitating structural transformation to raise the productive capacity of the economy. There may also be a need to study whether a national unemployment insurance scheme is warranted to provide workers with liquidity in the event of future, future long and deep recessions.

With attention given in this Budget to short-term needs, but also investing and steepening the trend growth path, while being open to policy ideas, I support this Budget.

2.00 pm

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to participate in this Budget debate. Many business owners and leaders I have spoken to have shared that, while they are grateful that things are stabilising and improving, and their businesses are somewhat stabilised, what we now need is to grow.

For many individuals, their jobs have been affected in one way or another. For some, while they are employed, many are under-employed and they can and want to do more.

I thank Deputy Prime Minister Heng for a Budget that is trying to balance, that continues to support the workers and sectors that are still affected by COVID-19 but, at the same time, trying to balance and take a very decisive step and clear signal that we need to move forward and we need to invest in the future.

In my speech today, I will focus on three topics: positioning for transformation and change – building resilience and deep capability in the Singapore Core to seize opportunities; number two, something that no one wants to talk about, is rising GST and to fund increased spending; and third, ensuring that no one is left behind.

COVID-19 has accelerated the need and momentum for transformation. We need to position for transformation and change and the window of opportunity to do so is now.

Relevant grants and support programmes are available from previous Budgets to build skills and support transformation. The extensions of these programmes announced in Budget 2021 builds on this. The Jobs Growth Incentive (JCI) is aimed at helping people get jobs in the growth sectors by encouraging employers to create and hire early for these roles in these sectors. The SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme which offers company attachments; the SGUnited Skills for mid-career individuals; SGUnited Traineeship Programme for fresh graduates. These programmes help both mid-career workers and fresh graduate get into the industry or stay in the industry as well as prepare them for jobs.

But beyond these grants and Government support, what we now need is an eco-system to drive and step up the momentum to build capability. We need to identify capabilities required to build the depth of expertise and knowledge for long-term resilience and competitiveness. These capabilities include technical, functional and leadership skills.

It was reported in a recent Straits Times article this month that employment for fresh graduates from our local Universities increased in 2020 from 2019. However, the number that started in part-time or temporary work has increased to 22.3%, up from the 7% the previous year with more than half indicating that they did so because they had no choice. This was most likely attributed to the impact of COVID-19.

So, as we open the economy, we need to pay attention to the conversions to full employment for these attachments and traineeships. The conversions are important. Traineeships and attachments provide the platforms for learning. Workers need to not only get the opportunity to learn but they need to also get deeper long-term commitment to develop and to build the required expertise.

We are seeing new employment trends as well. People are moving and changing jobs more frequently. Employment models are also evolving with an increasing trend of companies hiring contract workers or freelancers, rather than full-time employees. With this pace of change and business transformation, the development of skills and capability is even more important. With increasing challenges in the workforce, retention and a growing proportion of non-permanent employees in the workforce, it will be increasingly more difficult for employers to develop build skills in their own workforce. So, while individuals must continue to own their own development, the scale will not be the same.

So, with these trends and the pace of change, how can we continue to transform and build deep skills in the Singapore Core? We have witnessed supply chain disruptions with COVID-19 and the need to rethink our supply chains to strengthen and build resilience. So, this same analogy, if I could say, applies to that of capability building in our workforce and the Singapore Core. It is not realistic for us to be fully self-sufficient and I am not advocating for it. I do, however, feel strongly on the need for us to invest in the Singapore Core by identifying and investing in building deep skills in the areas that matter. This will enable Singaporeans not only to take on jobs in the emerging growth sectors but more importantly, innovate, lead and thrive.

This is beyond the current and important work that our education system and our efforts on continual training is doing. If I can be so bold to say this, is that we need to invest in building deep skills and this is a big effort in itself and may require us to consider if there should be a body to synthesise, coordinate and drive this effort. This requires deliberate effort across the eco-system of companies, workers and the industry sectors.

Another point I want to highlight is the topic of skills and talent and the talent pool that women make up. It is indeed heartening that the number of women in science, tech, engineering and maths, or STEM as we call it, in our University cohort in 2019 was up to 41%, from 38% in 2017. But data from IMDA does shown that representation of women in this sector is still not as high. It is at 30%. So, with the strong trend in digitalisation and the competition for talent, employers must leverage the talent pool of women in STEM or risk missing out on tapping on almost half of the talent pool. The inaugural Singapore Women in Tech list of Singapore 100 Women in Tech last year, I think is a very good initiative to encourage women to join the workforce to take on tech careers. But I think that more needs to be done to understand what is it that it is going to take to attract more women to take tech careers.

Now, let me touch on the thorny issue of raising GST to finance recurrent spending. While Deputy Prime Minister Heng did say that GST will not be increased this year and he did confirm that GST will need to be increased between 2022 and 2025, and this is to finance increased recurrent expenditure especially in the area of healthcare. Raising GST will impact Singaporeans, and as announced in last year's Budget, a $6 billion Assurance Package has been set aside to help cushion the impact of the GST increase on Singaporeans. What this equates to for a majority of Singaporean households is the offsets will cover at least five years' worth of additional expenses incurred because of the higher GST, with more going to the lower income households. Those living in 1-room to 3-room HDB flats will receive offsets equivalent to about 10 years of additional GST expenses. Deputy Prime Minister Heng also said that the Government will continue to absorb the GST on publicly subsidised healthcare and education.

The question is: why raise tax, then give reliefs?

I think Deputy Prime Minister Heng also said in his speech was the majority or 60% of the net GST borne by households and individuals is actually borne by foreigners residing in Singapore, tourists and the top 20% of resident households. The question I have is that, with the impact of COVID and the lower number of tourists as well as the impact of COVID-19 on foreigners working and living in Singapore, how does this affect that amount that was projected for the GST increase? And will it be sufficient to fund the increase in healthcare spending? If not, then is the Government considering other forms of tax to fund increasing healthcare spending? And if so, I do hope that it would be calibrated and that we would not be implementing similar caps as we saw in Budget 2016 on total tax relief because at that time, I had feedback from many working mothers claiming the Working Mother's Child Relief, who were impacted and had to pay higher taxes. I know, if you need to spend more, something has to give, you have to pay it somehow. But it is affecting a big group of middle income.

Now, let me touch on the point of leaving no one behind. COVID-19 has and made more evident potential gaps. Digitalisation and the need for and increasing reliance on digital, while not intentional, does increase the risk of alienating some segments of the population and increasing the divide.

Let me just share a very simple story of a resident who came to see me and the pin really dropped for me then. He said he had a simple task to do. He had to get PMD inspected before he would be slapped to the penalty. And he was really at a loss. He came to see me and he said, "I received an SMS saying I had to go and do an inspection." And he tried to call, could not get through, went down to get his inspection done. And lo and behold, guess what? He could not get his inspection done because he did not make an appointment and he could only made an appointment online. So, he came to me and said, "Jessica, can you tell me what is an 'e-letter'?" He showed me an SMS and said, "What is an 'e-letter'?" And it really dawned on me that things we take for granted, things that we do daily and we think it is something that is a matter of fact in the digital world – I mean, he is the phone, he is using a smartphone but he did not know what an "e-letter" was. And then, I said, "Let me try and show you", because he said all the information is inside in this "e-letter". So, I tapped. And guess what? I realised he is not connected to data. And then, he did not have his SingPass! You get the point.

So, basically, what happened was, we set it up and he is now being supported by a Digital Ambassador.

The point I want to make here is that you can see from the story that while my resident was not tech savvy, the gap was not caused by a resistance to getting help, a resistance to use the digital. Rather, it shows that there are many moving parts. And it is not just about technology but the changes and how we do things, things that we take for granted and leads to a vicious cycle. So, what this shows, it takes a whole system's approach and change management to bring people along. We must all participate to ensure that while the progress and support are available, each of us need to make sure that we bring everyone along.

COVID-19 has also accelerated the pace of disruptions and impacted jobs and employment. All segments of society have not been spared and the impact on jobs has not been seen only on the lower income or the low-wage workers, but also on the middle and the PMETs. While there are support packages in last year's five Budgets to help workers and families, for example, the COVID-19 Support Grant, the Self- Employed Person Income Relief Scheme, GST Vouchers, many in the middle income were not eligible given the criterion of annual value of the homes they live in.

I do agree on the need for eligibility criteria for support schemes as funds are finite. However, some of these criteria may be too broad and may miss those that should be supported or result in a delay in the support reaching them, as the exceptions are being reviewed and approved.

With the pace of disruptions or shocks like COVID-19, while individuals may have assets like their home, they do need short-term support to help them tide over. In some cases, the affected individuals do not own the properties they live in. For means-testing for application and eligibility for short-term support to assist individuals and families to manage such disruptions, I would like to ask the Minister if consideration can be made to remove the criterion of annual value of the property of the home, for those who own one property or do not own the property they live in. I know this is a tough decision but I hope that some consideration can be made because we have seen the exception was quite large during this period because of the short-term needs.

Mr Speaker, as we continue to support workers and businesses still suffering from the impact of COVID-19, we must move from containment to decisively positioning for transformation and invest in the future in order to emerge stronger. I support the Budget.

2.14 pm

Ms Janet Ang (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to start by sharing a moment of gratitude on behalf of the business community for the leadership and support extended by this House since the COVID-19 virus hit our shores some 12 months ago.

In the recent national business study conducted by the Singapore Business Federation or SBF, about two-thirds of businesses reported that they were negatively impacted by COVID-19. And looking ahead, about one-third are unsure about the future of their businesses. And amongst those negatively impacted, 70% thinks that it will take more than a year to fully recover from the pandemic.

Last week, after Deputy Prime Minister Heng's Budget 2021 announcement, SBF organised a closed-door dialogue with some trade associations and chambers or TACs and myself. Participants all expressed gratitude for the strong leadership by the Singapore Government and acknowledged that Budget 2021 is balanced with realism and sensitivity to the on-going crisis, while at the same time, is forward-looking and projects a hopeful and exciting future.

Mr Speaker: Ms Ang, would you like to remove your mask?

Ms Janet Ang: Sorry. I hope I could still have been heard. I apologise for that.

Participants all expressed gratitude for the strong leadership by the Singapore Government and acknowledged that Budget 2021 is balanced with realism and sensitivity to the on-going crisis, while at the same time is forward looking and projects a hopeful and exciting future.

With the vaccination programme underway, there is optimism going forward and businesses are encouraged by the COVID-19 Resilience Package that will help safeguard public health and provide targeted help for the hardest hit sectors. The additional Jobs Growth Incentive with SGUnited Jobs and Skills to support employers to accelerate hiring of local workers will help businesses and employees move up the value chain together.

Many understand the prudence in the gradual opening up of travel but have expressed concerns that the continued restrain on the opening up of global borders will have its impact on recovery. It is hoped that the Government will continue to calibrate its risk management approach, to gradually ease the COVID-19 restrictions, both on the domestic front as well as allowing for business travel and tourism bubbles without Stay-Home Notice.

That aside, the Government shifting investments and support in Budget 2021 toward enabling companies to accelerate digitalisation, seize new opportunities of growth in tech, in green and in the region, while continuing to uplift the skills of our workers, is applauded. The Enterprise Financing Scheme will add the capital boost needed to help our companies spur ahead. And, we believe that expert help from CTO-as-a-Service and Digital Leaders will help their digitalisation transformation. Businesses are also excited about the Singapore Green Plan 2030 which serves to give the Whole of Singapore a visionary goalpost to shoot for.

A key challenge for many of them, however, is availability of manpower. They cannot find enough Singapore workers to take up the roles, especially when it comes to expertise and in-demand skills they need to recover and grow. In the Manufacturing sector, the reduction in S Pass Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) announced in Budget 2021 is worrisome for many of them, especially when Singaporeans may have expectation mismatches and not aspire to those jobs.

Nett, my view is that the Budget 2021 has the critical elements of tech, plus skills, plus capital, plus vision. So, what will determine success for Singapore to emerge stronger, is going to be how we execute and the speed of execution.

COVID-19 has given the impetus for many of our companies to "pivot" to new business models, for example, e-commerce, to accelerate technology adoption and digitalisation, and to look for new revenue-generating activities. The time for companies and industries to push on with their transformation efforts, taking advantage of Government support and industry collaboration, is now.

COVID-19 hit a global reset and I think it is an opportunity for us – workers, industry and Government – to review, rethink and re-imagine the way we execute. For today's speech, I would like to start the dialogue on three issues: skills for transformation; fair practice in the workplace; and organisations to re-think their stewardship responsibilities.

Let us start with skills for transformation. I would like to put forward a few ideas to explore together.

One suggestion specifically to address the tech talent crunch is to encourage our companies to invest in Singaporean graduates, whether University, Polytechnic and ITE graduates for entry-level tech jobs, despite being able to hire experienced foreign developers at equivalent salaries.

In product development, for example, there is no substitute for experience. Experienced developers are able to start contributing quicker to the company's product development, and be ahead for advancement to take on higher level roles in project leadership and IT solution architecture. If our Singapore graduates do not start with those jobs, they cannot possibly take on those higher value jobs especially in tech.

Perhaps the SGUnited Traineeship top-ups can help make the difference, and over time, we will have more Singaporean Core experienced developers who can move on to higher value jobs.

Singapore has the aspiration to build more digital product companies and we need to have a deeper "Skills for Transformation" strategy. We need all hands on deck – companies, Government and workers.

Point two, I urge the business community to continue to work with education institutions to ensure a ready pipeline of labour with the right skill sets. I believe there is opportunity for more collaboration within and across sectors to uplift the labour eco-system, as having a larger pool of skilled labour would benefit businesses in the long run. Nett, we are calling for companies to train more than what they need, or more than the number of skills that they need, and make it available to the rest of the industry.

And as for in-demand skills like tech and digital, there are more jobs than there are Singaporeans with the skills and experience, and desire to take on those jobs at the salaries that companies currently are paying. For example, the construction and IT industries face challenges with hiring local talents with the right skill sets, while the nightlife, hospitality and F&B sectors struggle to fill critical "rank-and-file" roles with local employees. Foreign talents with the skills we need do complement our Singaporean talents.

I believe that our Singapore workers are confident, determined and ready to work hard, and our companies should invest in them and give them the opportunities from when they graduate through their life-long professional learning journey.

The Government is trying to help with the programmes and policies but in the meantime, some companies with contracts need the workers to fulfil their commitments, while other companies need to be sure that they can get the workers if they bid for the work. This is a catch-22 situation.

The business community hopes that the Government could fine-tune manpower policies to strike a better balance with regard to hiring of local and foreign talent. Perhaps the Government can consider a differentiated intervention for different businesses and industries and skills, to support them to recover, and for them to recover, they need the manpower.

My personal opinion having worked in the tech industry for more than 37 years, and having been a resident foreign talent myself – I lived three years in Tokyo and eight years in Beijing – we are in a global war for talent. We should attract the best foreign brains and talents to come to Singapore, and they add value by way of skills, experience, expertise and knowledge. The foreign skills also complement us in numbers where we do not have enough. We must remember that we are not competing for jobs amongst ourselves. Every day, we are coming out for jobs, competing for jobs, not just when the jobs are here in Singapore but globally.

Let me switch to this next issue – fair practice in the workplace. Over the years, many Singaporean workers believe that they have not been given the fair chance for jobs that are created here in Singapore. Fair practice in the workplace needs an urgent review.

I am happy to report that in January 2021, 29 trade associations and chambers or TACs, including the Singapore Business Federation have signed a joint statement in support of fair hiring and employment practices. I think that is a good first step.

I believe it is time for a renewed dialogue amongst stakeholders – Singapore workers, businesses and the Government – to re-think the social compact and in so doing, create positive momentum for win-win-win.

I was an IBMer for 33 years, and am very blessed to be a reasonably successful product of Singapore’s MNC or FDI strategy along with the likes of Mr Koh Boon Hwee who started with HP, Mr Russell Tham with Applied Materials, Mr Lee Kok Choy with Micron, Ms Teo Lay Lim with Accenture, our Deputy Speaker Jessica Tan with IBM and then Microsoft, DBS’ Ms Tan Su Shan with Citi and Morgan, and scores more. I hope my friends do not mind me calling them out. We were all trained and developed by foreign bosses. In those days, our foreign bosses were probably evaluated – and their promotions depended on it – based on how many Singaporean leaders they have developed, not only for Singapore but for the region and for the world.

Skills transfer and knowledge transfer as well as leadership development are some of the key values in successful partnerships between MNCs and Singapore. Our EDB is one of the best marketing engine you can ever find on earth; serious. And I would urge that, perhaps, this conversation of skills transfer, knowledge transfer, how many Jessica Tans and how many Russel Thams they are going to develop for us in Singapore, needs to be re-started in the board room – between the Singapore EDB and the MNC head honchos both at HQ and here.

My next point: organisations to re-think their stewardship responsibilities.

During COVID-19, Singapore Business Federation Foundation together with seven TACs launched the Industry-Led Compassion Fund. I was so heartened to see the response by the businesses, who probably themselves are not having an easy time. They came together to set up the fund to support the employees in their own industry. SBF Foundation matched the funds raised by the TACs and together, $1.9 million was raised and it is projected to help more than 3,000 employees in those industries. This is very heartwarming to see – companies coming forward to help themselves and the employees who are affected in their own industries.

During these trying times, there are also vulnerable groups trying to enter and re-enter our workforce. Employment is key to their independence. The best way we can help them is actually the dignity of work. Everyone has something to offer. SBF Foundation, which is the social impact arm of the SBF, with support by Tote Board, has set up the Employability Fund and Empower Circles to work with and rally businesses to train and re-design work for these vulnerable groups, to provide job coach support linkages and so on. Of course, we hope that the Civil Service can also join in.

Talking about the vulnerable groups, those who are affected by COVID-19, now we take it at a little bit more macro level. Many around the world are waking up to the massive issue of growing inequality, and business leaders and civil society and even governments are calling for a re-thinking and re-framing of capitalism. How society can be better off for all and not just for a few? What corporate values need to be renewed and what are those that need to be reset? How can our companies reframe their purpose so as – to quote Konosuke Matshushita – "to improve human life through enterprise management?" What government policies are needed to drive behaviour and to support businesses in this effort?

I believe that when business leaders come together and galvanise other business leaders, we can effect change for the vulnerable groups which include the marginalised or disadvantaged SMEs, amongst us. Temasek has been a big champion in this movement. We can see in Budget 2021 where Temasek has come out with a $500 million match by Government to support the LLEs in Singapore to become true local champions.

Mr Speaker, these are but some of my thoughts and reflections. We need on-going dialogue amongst stakeholders to listen to each other, to better understand the issues and find the solutions together.

I beg your indulgence as I close with my Singapore Dream.

I have a dream – of a Singapore where a culture of care and dialogue amongst all stakeholders for the common good for all and for the greater good of the economy, our health, the environment and society is part of our DNA.

I have a dream – where citizens, residents, businesses, civil society and Government work together and take an integral development approach to tackle the issues at hand, always ensuring the poorer amongst us, the disadvantaged, the vulnerable families and SMEs are not left behind.

I have a dream – that, in Singapore, we have diversity and inclusion in education, digital access, work opportunities, business leadership and politics – at all levels from workers to businesses and society at large; where we practise fair and just code of ethics which reflect our Singapore values; where we guard our racial and religious harmony; and that we, as a people, do not lose our strengths of being a caring and welcoming society.

I have a dream – of a Singapore where our people and organisations are confident to embrace and lead in the innovation, development and application of new technologies and new ideas because we are a learning nation, strong in collaborating with the best minds in the world, and always restlessly re-inventing ourselves to stay humbly relevant in the global economy. And I am so blessed that our Singapore Dream is already a work-in-progress.

In closing, I challenge us with this quote by St Francis of Assisi: “Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible”.

With this, I conclude with my support for the Budget. Thank you, Mr Speaker and the House, for your kind attention. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Mr Faisal Manap.

2.32 pm

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, I welcome the Budget Statement delivered by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. I note that the theme for the Budget is "Emerging Stronger Together" and I believe all in this House share the Deputy Prime Minister's hope that we will, indeed, find a way to emerge from this crisis with greater strength and unity. There are three areas in the Budget Statement that I would like to speak on today.

First, I am heartened that the salaries of all our healthcare workers, including both our nurses and our support care workers, will be enhanced under the Budget. I look forward to learning more details on the level of increment which our healthcare workers can look forward to from the Minister for Health.

Our nurses have devoted their time and energy, as well as faced numerous risks, to keep our healthcare system going. It is past due that their remuneration is relooked. The 2018 report by the Lien Foundation showed that, amongst the five advanced economies with ageing populations in the Asia Pacific region, the average monthly pay of nurses was the lowest in Singapore, at S$3,000. This is almost half of the average pay of nurses in Australia, at S$5,780.

Even though 2020 had been a challenging year economically, Singapore is still on par with the countries in this survey in terms of GDP per capita. It seems odd that the remuneration for essential healthcare workers would continue to be lower than those of their counterparts elsewhere.

Inadequate remuneration could lead to other problems down the road as well. A shortage of nurses is not a new problem in Singapore. In the last decade alone, MOH has acknowledged this a few times as an issue to be addressed. Further, Singapore is not the only country facing a shortage of nurses. In April 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that the world faced a shortage of six million nurses.

We have been able to attract nurses from other countries to come and work in Singapore. They make up for the shortage of local nurses. However, if remuneration levels are not considered adequate, you face the potential of our nurses being drawn to foreign shores. This will make it even harder for us to handle the ageing population.

As such, I would like to propose that we consider either pegging the salaries of our nurses to a weighted basket of salaries from the countries of a similar economic status as Singapore. Another possibility is for us to use the salary scales of our uniformed services as a benchmark. Our nurses also put their lives on the line at work each day.

The second issue I would like to raise relates to the environmental policies which were announced during the Budget Statement, specifically, the immediate increase in the duties on premium and intermediate petrol by 15 cents and 10 cents per litre respectively. There is no one who could disagree that we must take urgent action in order to address climate change and I appreciate that the Government intends to help all those affected by the increased duties by offering rebates which are expected to defray the increased cost for a year.

However, I have to question why the increased rates had to take immediate effect. Such an approach creates a shock amongst vehicle users, especially for those whose livelihood depends on internal combustion engine vehicles. Following the announcement, CNA reported that some drivers estimate that their costs will go up by about $60 to $100 a month.

Sir, private hire drivers have been adversely affected for more than a year now as we battle the COVID-19 pandemic. They have seen reduced demand and have struggled to make up for the loss of income. While the situation has improved, private hire drivers are a long way from stability. With practically no tourism and fewer people heading to their offices on a daily basis likely to be the prevailing scenario for the foreseeable future, the outlook for drivers is bleak.

A TODAY news article from December 2020 captured the struggles of not only the private hire drivers, but also taxi drivers, many of whom have seen severe drops in their income even with relief measures, such as the Self-employed Income Relief Scheme (SIRS), the COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund (CDRF) and the vehicle rental rebates. The drivers interviewed for the news article related their efforts to stay afloat by taking on extra jobs, and some are considering leaving the industry entirely. However, not all drivers will be able to upskill and/or reskill themselves for other industries in the near to medium term because they are locked in contracts which were signed before COVID-19 became a global pandemic.

I acknowledge the efforts by MOT and LTA to mitigate the suffering of our drivers. The new requirement for private hire drivers to be 30 years old and above and having Singapore citizenship, similar to the standards required for taxi drivers, should be described as a market correction that was timely. The announcement of higher payouts for drivers in the point-to-point transport sector to cushion the end of SIRS is also welcome news. However, the increased petrol duties could mean that the money that was meant to bring relief for our drivers would end up being redirected towards Government coffers instead.

While it is important to set behavioural norms away from a reliance on fossil fuels, this is not an excuse to inflict unnecessary trauma on an already besieged group. By the time the rebates reach the pockets of the drivers, some of them may have resorted to drastic measures already, to keep themselves and their families economically afloat.

I am also concerned that the increased petrol duties will lead to increases in the price of other goods, especially the daily necessities. It is inevitable that companies will pass the burden to consumers, at least in part. Will the rebates be sufficient to help families, especially the lower income earners, to cope with the increased costs of living?

In January 2021, the Straits Times reported that while electricity, petrol and outpatient services were cheaper in 2020, the price of food, as well as public transport fares, went up. In early February 2021, Beyond Social Services released a report which showed that the median household income of families who sought help from it fell from S$1,600 to S$500 a month. Similarly, the Department of Statistics (DOS) released figures showing that the median income of the bottom 10% of lower income households saw a 6.1% decline in real income, compared to 1.4% to 3.2% in other households.

I am aware that the Government has provided significant amounts of relief for lower income groups and will be setting aside more to continue assisting them. However, the increased petrol duties may have an indirect negative impact if, as a result, the price of consumer goods, especially essential goods, increase as a result of higher fuel and transport costs.

As mentioned earlier, most would agree on the need to take urgent step action in order to address climate change. However, the decision to increase the duties on petrol at this time is a case of "doing the right thing but with the wrong timing".

Notwithstanding all this, Sir, I acknowledge, that the decision has already been made and implemented. Hence, I echo the call made by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh, for the Government to consider reviewing the immediate hike in the petrol duties rates.

The third and final point I would like to raise is an extension of the second, and is related to the issues of sustainability and the environment. The Government has signalled that it will be making bold steps towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. It was not too long ago that this House adopted a Motion declaring that the climate situation presents an emergency which needs to be addressed, and many of my colleagues have spoken on what can be done.

The tone of the Budget Statement is also a welcome one. However, it has to be more than just the tone that shifts.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the unsavoury truth that we have to accept as a nation is that our track record demonstrates that when it comes to making a choice between nature and modern development, it is always the former that is sacrificed. We have seen this with land reclamation, construction of highways, MRT lines and stations and other infrastructure. The latest incident whereby a patch of forest was mistakenly cleared was a tragic example of how we can get this wrong.

The Government has recently launched Singapore Green Plan 2030. As mentioned by Minister Heng in his Budget speech, "This is an ambitious long-term plan that builds on on-going efforts to secure a green, liveable and sustainable home for generations of Singaporeans to come".

Sir, I commend the Government for the plan and I am supportive of any efforts in making a more sustainable living environment in Singapore. Planning for future and continuity is critical and of paramount importance, and, as the saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail".

However, Sir, at this juncture, I believe it is worthwhile for us to pause and consider the lessons which we can learn from the erroneous clearing of Kranji Forest which happened recently, before we move any further on our 2030 Green Plan.

Sir, we should ponder, why have we planned to plant more than a million trees across Singapore over the next 10 years when, according to the Global Forest Watch, we have lost 2.22 kilohectares of tree cover, a 12% decrease which is equivalent to 580 kilotons of carbon dioxide emissions. We also should ponder if we should be working towards a more harmonious relationship with our natural environment in Singapore instead of imposing our own artificial solutions for sustainability.

Sir, having said these, I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement that the Government will take the lead. There is a saying in Malay “Bagai enau di dalam belukar, melepaskan pucuk masing-masing”, a reference to a kind of plant that grows in the underbrush. Its meaning is a reference to a situation whereby narrow interests are prioritised over the greater good. For too long, we have prioritised urban development over the environment. The Green Plan is a major step in rebalancing our priorities. Sir, I will continue in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Minister for Finance, on the salary increase for nurses and healthcare sector workers is most welcome.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have seen various efforts by every segment of society displaying strong support and expressing gratitude for our healthcare workers. Among the efforts undertaken include F&B businessmen providing free food and beverages, thank-you notes by students using home-made cards as well as simultaneous applause and cheers from Singaporeans.

Sir, the various forms of community support play an important role in providing psychological encouragement and motivation to those who serve in the healthcare sector. However, financial support and rewards are equally important especially in the current situation where the cost of living is increasing.

As I mentioned earlier, the announcement of salary increases for nurses and health sector workers is most welcome.

The question now is, how much is the amount of increase that has been decided? As stated by Minister Heng, this announcement will be made by the Minister for Health at the Committee of Supply debates.

Sir, I hope that the incomes or salaries of nurses and healthcare workers can be raised to a level similar to the salary of nurses and healthcare workers in developed countries in the Asia-Pacific region such as South Korea, Japan, Hongkong and Australia.

This is because the quality and standard of our health systems and expertise are equivalent to these countries. Singapore's level of economic development is also similar to those countries. Therefore, the benefits given to our health sector workers should commensurate with their counterparts in these countries.

Next, I would like to comment on Minister Heng's speech on the Government’s plan to balance the number of local and foreign workers. I would like to touch on this especially for the healthcare sector.

As we know, we have many foreign nurses in our healthcare institutions, especially in the restructured hospitals and polyclinics.

Sir, here I would like to reiterate my call to allow the wearing of tudung as part of the nurses' uniform. It cannot be denied that there are some Muslim women who have to forgo their wish to serve as nurses because they know that they will not be allowed to wear the tudung. By allowing the tudung to be worn as part of the nurses' uniform, perhaps more Muslim women can fulfil their wish to work as nurses. At the same time, it will also increase the number of local nurses and make nursing in Singapore become more inclusive.

(In English): Hence, my views and concern on one, nurses' remuneration; two, increase in petrol litre rates; and three, sustainable environment. The intent of my sharing is to contribute to our nation's on-going discussions and efforts to bounce from this crisis with greater strength and unity, emerging stronger together. I look forward to more sharing from the respective Ministries on the issues mentioned in my speech.

Mr Speaker: Dr Lim Wee Kiak.

2.47 pm

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister as well as the men and women of MOF for delivering a Budget that will help us to meet our short-term challenges posed by this pandemic and the ravages it is doing to our various sectors of the economy, while catering to the long-term needs and keeping an eye on the future.

This is indeed a very uncertain time and it is very difficult for the Minister to forecast with any certainty what are the possible scenarios as vaccination gains momentum in Singapore and globally.

Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants will occur from time to time. Today, you have the UK variant, you have the South African variant, we also have the Brazil variant. I am not sure tomorrow, what will be the next variants. We also have to assess whether the current vaccination – are they effective against protecting us against the new variant? While we can postulate some of the possible scenarios and outcome, things are still very fluid and very unpredictable.

I would like to take this opportunity to raise four issues which my residents have raised to me during my block visits as well as in a youth dialogue over the last weekend.

The four issues are: first, the distribution of the CDC Vouchers; second, incentives for Singaporeans who opt in for COVID-19 vaccination; third, the issuance of the Green Bonds; and fourth, the Electric Vehicles.

I shall start off with the CDC Vouchers distribution. First, let me thank the Government for the additional $150 million grant provided to the CDCs. This will benefit 1.3 million Singaporean households who will receive $100 CDC Vouchers that can be used at participating heartland shops and hawker centres. This will definitely boost our local consumption as well. The idea is good except that this distribution is by per household. And as we know, per household means that number of people within the household differs. This project will benefit those with small households rather than those with larger households because more people under one roof for larger households have to share the $100. Is it being considered when the concept of per household was being mooted? Why not adopt previous distribution method of all Singaporeans above aged 21 years and above? You can distribute about $50 per person and the total amount amount would still be about the same.

Second, incentives for Singaporeans who opt in for COVID-19 vaccination. I would like to lend my voice and support to urge all residents to get COVID-19 vaccination done as soon as possible, if they are eligible. The faster we get vaccinated, the faster we can get ourselves protected and lower the risks of local cluster outbreaks. I know many are fearful of unknown future side effects of this new vaccine. I have faith in the science behind this development. All the data and facts have been carefully considered by MOH and our vaccine expert committee before approval for public use. In order to encourage more to opt in for the vaccination, I would like to suggest the Government consider giving some incentives to all Singaporeans who opt in for the vaccination. This can be in terms of additional CDC Vouchers or even CPF MediSave top-ups.

Third, the issue on Green Bonds. Mr Speaker, indeed, many countries are putting focus on sustainability issues to jump start their economy. This is one problem which we know is pressing and it is more predictable than the second-guessing of virus mutation. To finance this, the Government will issue new bonds, Green Bonds on selected public infrastructures, up to $19 billion of public sector green projects already identified. The issuance of Green Bonds will deepen market liquidity for Green Bonds attract green issuers, capital, as well as investors, and anchor Singapore as a Green finance hub. But we are also worried. May I ask: how will this affect our Singapore bonds ratings as Government takes on more debt and the interests we need to bear for these bonds, will it increase? If Minister can share his thoughts on this

The last topic is on electric cars. It is well and good to push our plans on Electric Vehicles (EVs), but we have to recognise it takes a lot to win over Singaporeans to move in this direction.

We have all heard how one of the areas of contention is that there is just not enough charging points for those who opt in for EV at this moment. I note the plans to have 28,000 charging points by 2030 and that commercial entities can be roped in to help build up this infrastructure. Currently, how many charging points do we have, I mean, in the public, as well as how many EV to each charging points now do we have? That is, what is the ratio?

Two things stand in the way of mass adoption of EVs now are vehicle economics and charging infrastructure availability. This is not unique to Singapore but global as well.

Let me start with the charging infrastructure. Let us say 80% of our car owners switch over to EVs. As of 2020, our car population was about 974,000 – which is near to one million – according to LTA data. So, how many charging stations do we need to attract car owners to switch to EVs? That means giving drivers ease of mind to know that they do not need to desperately hunt for a charging point when their batteries run low. Plus, they do not need to go into long queues to wait for their turns. Singaporeans want to get things done fast and efficiently. The question is how many public charging stations do we need to have to cater for 800,000 EVs?

Let us look at the scenario elsewhere. In the UK, according to a recent report by Auto Express, a weekly motoring magazine, there is less than one charging point for each six Electric Vehicles sold in the country in 2017. Another motoring publication, Autocar, said in total, the British version of low-speed electric vehicles, also known as quadricycles, electric motorcycles, and plug-in commercial delivery vans, every public charging point caters to 8.9 plug-in vehicles. That is "close to the European Union’s preferred maximum ratio of 10 vehicles per public charging point," it said.

Let us look at China. The total number of motor vehicle population as of July 2019 is 340 million. About 5% of these vehicles are EVs. China is the country with the most EV charging points in the world – with 1.2 million in 2019. That is still 283 EVs to one charging point. And it is looking to add another 600,000 more charging points like a petrol station. Despite this aggressive building of charging stations, as of November 2019, 324,000 EVs in China do not have a charging facility alongside the space where the vehicle is normally parked. So, there is still a lot of room for EVs to grow and for charging stations to be built.

Finding space for charging stations is just one hurdle. The stations have to provide fast and normal charging so that the turnaround can be faster. In land scarce Singapore, we now have to struggle to give space for charging stations all over the island, including HDB car parks. Residents would now be fighting for charging points and Members of Parliament will have a new wave of complaints.

Batteries would be another problem. Battery manufacturers are still working out on producing better batteries with longer driving range, with longer lifespan and support faster charging. This is over and above producing them at competitive prices. After the batteries have outlived their lifespan, we also have to take a look at how do we dispose of these batteries? Will it be an environmental issue? There are also many other issues to be addressed. Around the world, EVs are still sort of an advanced stage of work-in-progress, in my view.

Next, our repair workshops. Are our engineers, technicians and mechanics sufficiently equipped to handle EVs? There are many independent motor workshops would have to upgrade their skillsets to maintain and repair EVs.

Overall, how cost effective will it be to use an EV versus an internal combustion engine vehicle? The amount of energy that we have to produce additional to power 800,000 vehicles on a daily basis. Do we have enough power supply to do that as well? And what is the cost to the whole country?

Mr Speaker, I would like to raise the same question as to why is it necessary to raise the tax on petrol with immediate effect while we are targeting more charging points and EVs only for 2030, and the ARF and road tax reductions for EVs are only implementing next year? Why are motorists penalised or coerced to move to EVs when we have not got enough infrastructures in place? And the cost of EV is still high.

With ERP resuming and the raising of petrol price, would it not cause inflation to rise? The cost of higher petrol cost will impact all sectors of economy from retail to manufacturing, to transport for office workers and students, as well as goods and services. While we want to support our lower and middle income households, no one would be spared from inflation.

The Government has announced that motorists would be given road tax and additional petrol duty rebates to help offset the higher costs but all these changes is only applicable from 1 August onwards this year all the way to 31 July next year. May I suggest MOF bring forward the road tax rebates and the additional petrol duty rebates upfront to take effect, with immediate effect since the petrol increase is with immediate effect? This will help ease the cash flow for our residents.

The last point is on COE. Currently, now, for internal combustion engine COEs, I can understand. As the car gets older, it becomes less efficient, it becomes more pollutive. With EVs, can we now review this 10-year COE lifespan? Is it possible for us to consider a longer lifespan for COE for EVs since EVs are less of a pollution, and definitely, frequent changing of cars is not environmentally friendly? We definitely want to conserve as much resources as possible.

One last ground feedback is regarding the Government taking the lead to convert all public vehicles to EVs, including the Police, LTA, NParks, SCDF. And there should also be incentive to get the commercial vehicles to be converted to EVs.

Can the Minister also share with us overall how many new jobs can be expected to be created for the green industry in Singapore, under the Singapore Green Plan, when all the EVs plan is being implemented? How is the Government planning to provide the skill training to our workforce so they can take advantage of this new growth industry?

Mr Speaker, car ownership is an issue close to the heart of many Singaporeans and I hope those who are planning for policies on car ownership would think deeper and assess the implications before rolling out. With that, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ms Nadia Samdin.

3.00 pm

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, growing up, my dad was the sole breadwinner. Although he did not a degree, he had the opportunity to work for a national carrier in the early glory days. Over three decades, he took night classes, was loyal, worked hard and got promoted. But in 2003, SARS hit Singapore and many in his rank could not be retained. My family was not spared. How tough it was for my amazing parents to put up a brave front for my brother and I to pick up something new.

Fast forward to today, and families across Singapore find themselves in a similar circumstance due to COVID-19 and I find myself in the position of having a voice in this House, which was unimaginable to the teenage me 18 years ago. I understand deeply the worries that come with an uncertain view of one's future, the opportunity costs that come with dreams deferred.

With this in mind and in heart, my speech today is in hopes for continued commitment to an inclusive, sustainable and equitable Singapore for all in Budget 2021.

An earlier version of our pledge that was suggested by former Deputy Prime Minister S Rajaratnam in a letter dated February 1966 said, "We, as citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves to forget differences of race, language or religion and become one united people; to build a democratic society where justice and equality will prevail, where we will seek happiness and progress by helping one another."

The nuance of that last sentence is beautiful. In this pandemic, we have indeed seen Singaporeans seeking happiness in progress by helping one another – from keeping food on the table to keeping each other safe from the virus. Amidst the pandemic, we have yet again shown that this young nation can stay united in pursuit of common goals despite our differences, emerging stronger. Sir, it is for this reason that I have faith that Singapore can navigate the social and environmental perils that often rear its heads in a young and growing capitalist economy.

Mr Speaker, I am heartened by the Budget's approach to economic recovery. There is stimulus to spur the growth of green industries and liquidity for local businesses to sprout and adapt to the future.

Sir, these plans are meant to be good for Singapore and our people, but over the years, both locally and abroad, we have seen the exploitation of Government schemes by some businesses. It is for this reason that I ask we ensure that the potential for abuse remains low as we administer these funds so that the funds fulfil the intended purpose.

Among local businesses, there is worry that when wage support runs out, they may not be able to keep people employed. In his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister spoke about the purpose of economic transformation, being to grow opportunities for our people to realise their full potential and aspirations.

With stiffer competition from global talents as well as long-term wage support being untenable, I would like to touch on employment opportunities for two groups in particular.

For a young person graduating today. The employment landscape is daunting. The annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey last year found that 69.8% of fresh graduates from permanent full-time jobs down from 81.7% the year before. This means that the future for our youths is less certain, less stable. Many are also required to support elderly parents.

But there have been efforts to give our youths options and I recognise that. I hope these continue. For example, a push towards entrepreneurship to initiatives in Institutes of Higher Learning's accelerator programmes supported by corporates or even grants like the Youth Action Challenge, a programme I know from my days at the National Youth Council. And we also have the SGUnited Traineeship Programme.

While these policies provide opportunities, I am also wary of the potential consequences that our fresh graduates may face in the medium or longer run. Grants do not translate to salaries and some may turn to temporary gig jobs to make ends meet and get stuck where they do not want to be. While the training allowance does help our graduates gain employment in the short run, I hope we also consider how employment might look like for them after six months. For example, under-employment issues and access to subsequent employment opportunities or wage growth after trainee allowances for these young entrants to the workforce.

Under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package, there is some incentive for firms who employ mature local hires above 40 years old, persons with disabilities and ex-offenders. How can the Government lead by example and how will our institutions, such as a Singapore Prison Service, be able to offer timely training opportunities in relevant industries? Do inmates have the opportunity to develop other job-ready skills, so that re-integration and ability to provide for their family upon release is a smoother transition?

Beyond incentives, it is also about society, reducing stigma against this group of workers. Residents in my Meet-the-People sessions have shared how tough it can be to get a job except in, perhaps, certain industries, such as logistics or F&B. How are we going to ensure that they will be able to access the jobs that are currently being created?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I welcome the announcement of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. This is a chance for us to approach recovery the right way – to ensure that it is not growth at all costs. The Green Plan has five pillars. But did you know that in 2018, more than 100 people contributed to the third edition of the Blue Plan, which has six recommendations in protecting our marine environment? I hope that our Green Plan can incorporate some of the recommendations of the Blue Plan. Our blue spaces are precious and generally multi-used for the volume of activities that it accommodates. We see more and more people appreciating our blue spaces, our oceans, through rising number of visitors in our Southern Islands, for example. And I hope for a stronger commitment so that our blue spaces are not left out of Green Plan conversations.

For example, our Park Connector Network connects green spaces around Singapore. We also need to consider the protection of blue connectors in our marine systems, which connect open seas, seagrass meadows, reefs, intertidal habitats and are impacted by debris pollution and coastal development. I hope there will be resources for better management of marine species, for example, which will lead to healthier oceans. The community groups, such as Friends of the Marine Park is ready in to contribute to these efforts.

Sir, I am also heartened by the Government's commitment to mainstream adoption of Electric Vehicles, or EVs. Aside from continued improvement to our public transport system, policies that encourage EV adoption is a way forward in giving our citizens the ability to participate in the reduction of their carbon footprint.

Based on reports, the number of EVs on the road makes up 0.2% of the cars in circulation. EVs are a discontinuous innovation which requires significant behavioural change from customers. Geoffrey Moore, who studies patterns of adoption suggests that there is a chasm of adoption between the early market and the mainstream market that sits between 15% and 18% of adoption rates and crossing that chasm will see widespread adoption, while failing to cross that chasm will see these technologies fail to make it to mainstream. I do believe the financial incentives announced are welcome and will create visible change in the landscape of vehicles that we see on our roads in the coming years. And, in fact, EV sales have picked up in January. But we are a far cry away from crossing the chasm.

Many of the incentives have a stop date by 2023 attached to them and it may take us longer than that to cross the chasm. One of the biggest consumer concerns when it comes to EVs is reliable, convenient and consistent access to charging stations or better yet, supercharging stations. The economics and infrastructure considerations of installing charging stations are complex, from how our AC power grids affect considerations for charging stations to policies that help keep charging affordable for consumers and profitable for partners interested in installing these stations. I hope the Government keeps the public informed on the mechanisms it intends to deploy on these and other factors so as to allay consumer concerns. And beyond land transportation, I hope more can be done to encourage cleaner energy and electric marine vehicles and boats in our waters

The ability for all Singaporeans to share in the progress of the nation is a cornerstone in ensuring our collective success. As a younger male woman, I am conscious that in the Fourteenth Parliament, we have the fifth, sixth and seventh Malay women Members of Parliament in this House since the beginning of Parliament. Today, Malay women occupy spaces in advocacy, education, law, the arts, environmental issues, research and many more, and we will continue to progress with continued access to the opportunities to do so.

I never thought I would have the opportunity to study law or become a lawyer and for some of the young women I have befriended and worked with during their time in prison and after release, I know that many of them do not dare to plan for a future or have the social capital to apply to someone, somewhere in hopes of getting a job. One girl had shared that she was awarded a bursary assistance to do a course and joined the Armed Forces – her childhood ambition. But due to bad company, being locked out of home by her family, she relapsed and offended again before she could even try to pick up the pieces. When she came out, she worked in a warehouse as a pest fumigator. Her dreams were gone.

I hope that efforts, through the M³ framework, such as FITRAH, Ciptasama and youth mentoring will be resourced, evolved and diversified to include particularly vulnerable groups, such as at-risk youths, and spouses and children of repeat offenders who may be stuck in cycles of not having hope, on a structural and consistent basis working in partnership with Malay/Muslim organisations, many of which are looking forward and are grateful for the announcement on support for charity sector. I hope this work continues.

In conclusion, I reference a portion of Senior Minister Tharman's interview with Stephen Sackur in 2015. He was asked if Singapore believes in the notion of a safety net for those who fall between the cracks of a successful economy. And, in response, Senior Minister Tharman spoke about the notion of a trampoline which we are familiar with. An economy that helps people bounce back is hard to argue against and I think that most people would agree with the visual narrative of people being able to bounce back higher with effort from the difficulties that we face. Particularly during a time like this when families who have never had to ask for help before, now find themselves in that position.

I ask this House to visualise the diversity of people we see in Singapore in our house visits, in our Meet-the-People sessions and in our daily activities. Do some people have others around them that care enough to help teach them the best way to jump on the trampoline while others may not? For those who are unable to jump as high, is it possible that some of their trampolines need fixing? And is it possible that some of them do not have the physical or mental faculties to jump on a trampoline?

I think for most of us, we would say yes to the above. So, how are we going to provide for access to opportunities for the different levels of people on the trampoline? What is the quality of life for those who, through no fault of their own, can no longer jump on?

Mr Speaker, Sir, we need to plan prudently to get through the pandemic and today's Budget policies affect tomorrow's generations as our youth will inherit the world we are creating today. May this Budget and the ones in years to come help us find ourselves in a caring, compassionate and confidence society, long into the future. On that note, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Edward Chia.

3.13 pm

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Speaker, Sir, as we begin 2021, our battle with the global COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. The unprecedented series of five Budgets, totalling around $100 billion last year, were pivotal in supporting our businesses and Singaporeans through this difficult period. It is likely that our route back to growth will be slow and gradual as we are dependent on how the world recovers. Therefore, our continued resilience and resolve are central outcomes in this year's Budget and this has to include being even more targeted so that Singapore and Singaporeans emerge stronger amidst COVID-19 and beyond.

I would like to propose: one, ways we can consider to be more targeted and calibrated on our support for businesses; and two, the structural shift that provides new growth opportunities for our businesses and economy.

We have an opportunity to supplement our current classification of companies beyond just by vertical industry sectors. Since last year, as someone in business, I have personally seen: (a) the emergence of many new companies that are not only created by young technopreneurs but by a much wider profile; (b) the restructuring of many incumbent companies as they focus on their cost structures; and (c) the repositioning of traditional businesses to go beyond their current industry sector in search of new revenue opportunities. Added to this, many traditional businesses are family owned and how these businesses evolve and pivot across different generations of leadership determine their contribution to our economy. Such family inter-generation leadership changes require better understanding.

A good example of a Singapore company that has evolved horizontally, not founded by a techonopreneur and repositioned from a traditional family business, is PBA Group. PBA was founded in 1987 by Mr Tony Yap as a hardware shop trading in ball-bearings, bolts, nuts and belts. Instead of sticking to the less risky business model of trading, Mr Tony Yap and his son Mr Derrick Yap pivoted PBA to a precision robotics manufacturer. PBA now provides businesses with precision and general robotics across verticals to allow them to scale up their operations. They developed and manufactured precision robotics for the semiconductor, electric vehicle battery, mobile devices, fibre optics sectors; collaborative robots for industries like construction, medical, the logistics sector such as SingPost's smart letterbox; automonous mobile robots to transport goods autonomously to replace forklifts for warehouses, and most recently, the COVID-19 disinfection robot, a first for Southeast Asia. Derrick also shared that a robotic arm cooking his favourite local food "bak chor mee" may also be on the cards.

PBA used to stand for "precision, bearings and accessories". Fast forward today, PBA now stands for "platform for bots and automation". PBA's evolution as a business exemplifies how a traditional business pivots across verticals as part of its business life stage and cycle, and the heartwarming story of how a family business transcends across generations. In fact, as PBA sets itself up as a platform for bots and automation across verticals, it finds it challenging to navigate different rules, regulations, Statutory Boards, departments that are currently structured on industry verticals.

I would like to propose that the Government include a horizontal frame or approach by way of life stage and cycle of a business to supplement the current industry classifications – from the start-up phase, to the early growth phase, to the scaling phase and even to the pivoting phase for many. At each of this phase, entrepreneurs face a different set of challenges.

At the start-up phase, I believe we will see greater entrepreneurial efforts over the next two to three years and we may want to provide targeted help here, especially for those who can see this as another option to the traditional employment route. This is especially so amongst our youths. At the early growth phase, entrepreneurs and their firms' capability needs will face the challenge of time and resources. So, targeted help to get them to adopt training will have to go beyond financial support.

At the scaling up or pivoting phases, both short-term financing and even financial restructuring could be essential for the company. Here is one example: one condition to get credit often involves providing personal guarantees by the entrepreneur, despite risk-sharing by the Government. This puts smaller businesses at a disadvantage and those who really need help may not get the help needed. Therefore, the initiatives to provide more credit and financing needs to be calibrated and fine-tuned for SMEs who are in a specific stage of growth.

Being even more contextual is important for our efforts to be relevant. Different companies in the same sector, at different growth stage or at different part of the value chain, face different challenges and opportunities.

The extent to which a sub-sector can automate differs too. We need to understand the nuances and be precise in our support. For instance, a hawker stall and a restaurant in the food services sector may grow differently, grappling with different issues. The consumers of hawker centres are more price sensitive and any increase in food prices will cause disappointment. Hence, hawkerpreneurs are less likely to increase the price of food, even as manpower costs or other operating costs increase.

We want our hawkerpreneurs to do well, and continue to provide affordable and diverse food options for our people. Hence, our measures for smaller businesses like hawker stalls needs to be specific and bespoke. With targeted support and measures, all our businesses – small, medium, and large – will be able to restart, pivot and grow, resulting in job security and more good job opportunities for Singaporeans.

I do believe that both WSG and ESG can provide a lot of expertise in this area. For example, training in the form of consultative training can take into account what the entrepreneur or the business owner needs to be exposed to and upskilled at the particular stage of the company's growth, to the workers skillset that is required, so that training can be more targeted and translate to a company's top line and bottom line growth.

It is crucial that as we beef up workers' training, we need to also beef up training for business owners so that management can be more insightful. Crucially, business consultancy should go hand-in-hand with training so that training for all level of staff within a business is tailored to match the business growth stage and journey. This dovetails the investments in consultancy and training, and maximises on the return on investments. Even our manpower policy can be further calibrated by business growth stage and sub-sector classifications. This will enable a more targeted approach to optimise our lean manpower resource base.

Secondly, Singapore is well poised to seize the opportunities of the green economy. Deputy Prime Minister Heng's Budget initiatives to catalyse green adoption provides the necessary green beacon for us to rally on. I believe the Singapore Green Plan is an economic growth opportunity and positions our economy and businesses favourably as more investors and end consumers are demanding more from the products and businesses, based on their overall impact to the environment and society.

On a global level, investors, clients and end consumers are increasingly adopting the environment, social and government-recommended measurements to decide on which business to support. This is a structural shift. This is a structural shift.

Hence, we can further seize opportunities in the social impact space in addition to green economy. With a growing wealth management base in Singapore and more investors, especially family offices, keen on impact investments where investments achieve both economic gains and social impact, we need to position our entrepreneurs to ride this wave of new investors and end consumers consciousness.

By assisting our local businesses to re-position their business models ensures: one, that our local businesses tap on the growing appetite of impact investments thereby creating opportunities for wealth managed to flow into our local economy; two, build greater resilience, greater resilience, as more clients and end consumers are shifting their purchasing preferences to value for money and value for good; and three, expands both economic value and deep societal value of an enterprise, transforming businesses into agents of societal change, that value adds to our society and improves our societal well-being.

We really need to help as many businesses, especially SMEs to embrace the ESG mandate. We need to create benchmarks and standards for our business to rally around this green beacon. I will share more about how the Government can play a role in establishing standards and a benchmark for our businesses to create the best eco-system for such a leap forward in my MTI cuts.

In conclusion: one, I would like to propose that the Government include a horizontal frame or approach by way of the life stage and cycle of a business to supplement the current industry classifications; two, to be more contextual in recognising that different companies in the same sector, at different growth stage or at different part of the value chain, face different challenges and opportunities and will require more bespoke support; and three, position our businesses and economy to ride the wave of growing demand for products services based on environment and social impact, value for money and value for good.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we will emerge stronger after this battle. Putting together precise, bespoke and updated policies will strengthen our Singapore business for a better Singapore. I stand in support of the Budget.

3.26 pm

Mr Cheng Hsing Yao (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to declare that I am the Group Managing Director of GuocoLand Singapore and a Member of the National Parks Board. I would like to speak about the importance of a balanced and pragmatic approach for Singapore to emerge stronger.

In my conversations recently with some astute overseas investors, who are also keen observers of Singapore, I have received many positive feedback. They felt that Singapore has continued to demonstrate the ability to identify challenges ahead of time and more importantly, has clear and concrete action plans to address them. For example, our plans for rising sea levels and raising our local food supply. They were also impressed with the way we handled the COVID-19 situation; not just in tackling the public health crisis, including mobilising the support and unity of our people, but also with the proactive and pragmatic approach taken to mitigate supply chain and economic disruptions.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, polarising geopolitical competition and the social unrests in some cities in the region, Singapore stands out even more. Our long-standing socio-political order, our commitment to a plural and multi-ethnic society, our strong legal system and our highly liveable city, are a few of the things that make us stand out. The question is, going forward, how will Singapore balance economic growth against challenges of domestic issues.

The current crisis is presenting us now with opportunities for growth. However, boldly seizing these opportunities will augment the K-shape economic recovery we are already seeing. New sectors of growth will require talents with skills which the people from sectors in decline may not possess. In fact, our local talent pool may not even be sufficient in numbers or expertise to meet the growth demand of some of the sectors, such as technology. Our economy and labour market will undergo massive re-ordering. The division between the haves and have-nots will increase.

Having said that, standing still is not an option. I hope as a society, we will not opt to level down and forego growth for fear of the challenges that it brings. I hope we will be pragmatic as we have always been, by seizing the growth opportunities, while working hard on addressing empathetically, the social and human challenges that will arise. Such as, how to reskill our workers and also how to better share the benefits of growth equitably.

After two consecutive years of dipping into our past reserves and being in a still highly uncertain economic situation, revitalising and growing the economy now is paramount. I believe in a balanced and pragmatic approach for sustainable development. I am very glad we are now giving climate change and social equity more emphasis. But we also have to remember, sustainable development has three key pillars: social, environmental and economic. Balancing the three pillars is key to success.

Continued economic success gives us more means to fulfill the needs of the other pillars. For example, with our ageing population, the associated health care costs will increase. To provide more support for the less advantaged families and individuals, we will also need more resources. Thus, growing our economy sustainably will enable us to do more good.

We should seek balanced and constructive ways to move ahead and not get stuck in binaries which polarises. That also includes the things we say. Singaporeans and observers of Singapore take reference from what we say in public as indicators for the direction the country is heading.

As we push for our personal subject of passion, we should strive to minimise any form of polarisation. To be constructive, we need to recognise the trade-offs the other side has to make. Sometimes, we have to make hard choices, but if we focus our energy on finding common grounds, we might end up with synergistic and creative solutions that make us collectively better off.

Besides balancing the three key pillars of sustainability, in Singapore, whatever we do, we are always making a trade-off between the short term and the long term. No matter how sick we are of hearing this, it will always be true that we are an island with limited resources and a little more than 700 sq km of land to accommodate the needs of a city, country and nation.

If we believe in SG100 or SG150, then our land use policies, for instance, cannot safeguard the needs just for the next 10 to 20 years. We have to think the next 50 or 100 years. Precisely because we cannot predict the future, we should be careful not to circumscribe the flexibility or options for the many generations of Singaporeans down the road. Because the planners in the 1960s and 1970s had the foresight to do so and safeguard future development options, we now enjoy the luxury of the choices we can make.

Dealing with our resource constraints will not only solve our problems today, it can help us develop useful new capabilities for the future. Take the built environment sector for example, our drive for higher productivity in the construction sector requires bold moves, but the capabilities developed can enable us to find new opportunities overseas.

And although the Singapore city is already held in high regard in terms of its infrastructure and quality of life, we can still do much better. For example, we can raise our green buildings standards even further; we can be a front runner in creating new economic infrastructure. How about a food-self-sufficiency urban system, or creating more biodiversity even as we are building? The list goes on.

Private sector capabilities, capital and mindsets have much to offer. The public sector has a key role in opening up the space for the private sector to participate and innovate. Our future challenges are complex, in addressing them, more heads are better than one. We should bear in mind that private companies that have a long-term growth plan in Singapore, also want Singapore to be successful.

I applaud the Ministries and agencies that have the wisdom to take on the twin role of regulator and promoter for the sectors they are in charge of. Even as they regulate the sector for "common good", they also promote the sector’s growth and innovation. If more government departments adopt the same, we will encourage more collaboration and creativity around us, and create even more engines of growth in the process.

Private corporates, when called upon to act, need to step up and balance short-term pains with long-term gains. Private corporates have to broaden the mindset of just serving their shareholders to serving their relevant stakeholders better. To do so can in fact be good for business. Indeed, there is already a clear trend among global corporates and investors that ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance –considerations are being factored more in their business decisions.

To emerge stronger, it will take many hands to work together and with a shared sense of purpose and ideals. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Henry Kwek.

3.34 pm

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Kebun Baru): Mr Speaker, Sir, the COVID pandemic has tested our generation – people, workers, business, and the Government – in many ways. It has also brought out the best of our Singaporeans in terms of teamwork, creativity and spirit of enterprise. Within months, we came together to re-energise, re-organise our society and re-imagine our economy.

As we begin large-scale vaccination this week in Singapore, we can start planning for the post-pandemic future. We should also tap on this newfound teamwork that this generation has forged – especially between the Government and the private sector – for the betterment of our people.

Today, I would like to speak about two ways to do so: one, accelerate government transformation by tapping on creativity and the capability of the private sector; two, accelerate the economy by beefing up our trade association and chambers in the matured parts of our economy. Beyond this, I will also speak about enhancing seniors’ livelihood through micro-jobs.

Let me first speak about tapping on the private sector for government transformation. This is an issue close to my heart and I spoke about this multiple times in Parliament.

I am delighted to see that over the years, the Government has taken on some of these suggestions, to inject private sector talent into the the Government and to tap on private sector insights to reduce business red-tape through the creation of the Pro-Enterprise Panel.

As such, I am heartened to hear the Deputy Prime Minister announce the Open Innovation Platform, which facilitates the matching of problems faced by companies and public agencies, with solution providers from the private sector. To accelerate this process, I would like to further propose that the Open Innovation Platform be opened up to the Pro-Enterprise Panel.

The Pro-Enterprise Panel, which is helmed by the Head of Civil Service and distinguished business leaders, understands the complexity of governance, especially including inter-agencies coordination, or interaction between agencies and businesses. Many of these complexities can only be described as "wicked" problems. Now, if the Pro-Enterprise Panel is given the funding and access to the Open Innovation Platform, I strongly believe we can come up with even better and faster solutions to cut red tape while ensuring governance. I also hope that in future speeches, we can hear from the Deputy Prime Minister about more success stories created by the Open Innovation Platform, because process transformation by the Government can do much to spark growth and productivity.

Next, let me talk about strengthening the Government’s partnership with the businesses, especially mature businesses. At this point, let me declare my interest as Advisor to the Federation of Merchants Associations, which helps heartland enterprises transform and grow.

Since 2016, Singapore has achieved much through our Industry Transformation Maps, and have sharpened Singaporean’s competitiveness. This can be shown and seen through the anchoring of many impressive inward investments, and through the rapid restructuring of industries affected by COVID-19.

Many of these successful industries have enterprising leadership centered around their trade association and chambers or TACs. These TACs partnered with our economic agencies to imagine and implement their industry’s future. However, there are still many parts of our economy which are only seeing limited transformation.

After much discussion with business leaders, I have concluded that the key to successful transformation is in the leadership, especially at the TAC level. The conventional wisdom is that TACs in certain industries are more likely to succeed, such as those with a small number of large and dynamic players, especially focused on manufacturing and exportable services; those in industries that Singapore is already competitive in, or those in new industries that the Government seeks to grow.

However, we are beginning to see successful transformation in more matured part of the economy. Two prime examples are our food manufacturing industry, as well as our heartland enterprises.

And in both of these, there are common critical success factors. One, they have a strong TAC with a capable secretariat comprising of seconded civil servants who have served in economic development agencies. Two, these TAC represents sub-industries rather than the broader business sector, and this gives the TACs focus and clarity in their mission. Three, there is strong Government support, especially from Enterprise Singapore.

Therefore, now that there is a clear formula, I think it is the right time for the Government to replicate this success in the other parts of the economy.

Unfortunately, the reality is that TACs are of uneven quality, because many of them have their roots in business networking. A large number of them do not have effective secretariat capabilities, let alone the ability to partner with our economic agencies to forge new grounds.

As such, I believe the Government should go big to upgrade various sub-industry TACs, including seconding capable industry officials there, and help them strengthen their relationship with the businesses they serve. And if for some reasons, these sub-industry TACs are not forthcoming to change, I sincerely hope the Government can proactively work with the established players to create a parallel TAC, one that can move the sub-industry forward.

We already pour in so much resources to help individual companies transform and to build broad-base efforts such as SkillsFuture. Therefore, the relatively minor investments to beef up the sub-industry TAC leadership is a logical and wise next step.

Next, let me talk about improving seniors' employability through micro-jobs. Over the next quarter, I hope the majority of our seniors will be vaccinated and this will allow us to shift more focus on improving their livelihoods.

When I speak to senior workers about their livelihoods, a number of them do not know how they fit into our future economy, or how they can overcome ageism. This is not due to a lack of effort by the Government.

Today, we already have forward-looking policies for our senior workers, such as the Special Employment Credit or the Retirement and Re-employment Act. Yet despite regulations, it is hard for us to fully remove ageism, especially towards seniors above the age of 67.

Many companies, especially in the midst of COVID-19, are unwilling to take on the risk of hiring or even retaining senior workers. This issue will get more serious as we continue to restructure, and as our workforce continues to age.

I strongly believe the gig economy can help us combat ageism. In fact, two years ago, while doing PAP Senior Group’s engagement, I had the chance to be in the same dialogue as Nominated Member of Parliament Ms Janet Ang. I believe she shared that as seniors age, no matter how wonderful their resumes are, at some point many companies will have reservations. So rather than helping seniors polish their resumes for the next full-time job, we might want to consider identifying the portfolios of skills they have accumulated in their whole life, and these skills can be applied to part-time or micro-jobs within a variety of industries and not just the industries they serve the bulk of their careers in.

In particular, creating micro-jobs for our seniors makes a lot of sense to me. On the one hand, a company may have reservations on the health and healthcare cost of the full-time worker. But on the other hand, consumers who rely on seniors for micro-jobs do not face much risk because what is at stake is only that one single service experience. And customers can rely on customer feedback or reviews. As such, customers using gig economy are less likely to discriminate against seniors compared to companies who are looking at seniors as full-time employees.

Our Government can take the lead to create a gig economy for our seniors by doing three things. One, creating micro-jobs for our seniors starting with those in social services sectors; two, creating a national digital platform and app; and, three, equipping our seniors to do micro-jobs through SkillsFuture.

Let us use the example of the delivery of home-based healthcare. Today, we sometimes send two nurses to visit patients, many of whom are bedridden or have mobility challenges. Why do we not cut it down to one nurse instead and hire a trained senior living, perhaps, in a nearby block or street, to provide the necessary support, such as carrying the patients and assisting in wound dressing?

There are many seniors living in our midst who can qualify to do such micro-jobs. How can we page for these seniors? Through this gig economy app that the Government creates, perhaps by working with existing gig-economy companies. How do we prepare our seniors for these micro-jobs? Through SkillsFuture, of course.

Let us imagine the vast possibilities. Can we certify some of our able grandmothers to provide infant care services for a few infants in their homes, or retired teachers to provide after school care for a few students at their own home? Can we equip our seniors to provide simple care-giving or respite care services to their neighbours? If we do all that, how many purpose-built infant care, after school care centres, or respite care centres can we not build?

When I talk to civil service officers or social service agency leaders about these ideas, they get it. But they also confide with me that they cannot do it alone and that is why we need the Government to spearhead this, using social services as a start. Perhaps we can tap on the Open Innovation Platform and customise existing platforms from the private sector.

Mr Speaker, Sir, let me conclude. While preparing for this Budget debate speech, I took the chance to look through all my past Budget speeches in the last term of Government. I am pleasantly surprised that so many suggestions have been translated into actual plans. Now, of course, in making these policy improvements, the Government hears from people from all walks of life, including Members of Parliament. But this realisation convinced me that our present Government listens, consults and engages.

And as we continue to recover from the pandemic, I am confident that this openness to ideas will serve Singapore well, in our journey ahead. With that, I stand in full support of the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ms Hazel Poa.

3.46 pm

Ms Hazel Poa (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister has pointed out in his Budget Statement that Singapore can expect a Budget deficit of $11 billion, representing about 2.2% of GDP. This can be attributed to the COVID-19 Resilience Package.

As it stands, why $11 billion, and not, say, $22 billion is the prudent Budget deficit figure, can only be answered by a select few. Because the national reserves remain a national secret, we must take the Deputy Prime Minister's word for it.

But in the interest of the nation, especially during these tough economic times, I must raise the question again, as many others before me have done so, and ask if it is time to make our national reserves part of our national conversation.

Our Elected President carries the responsibility of safeguarding our reserves. But we still remember President Ong Teng Cheong's unsuccessful attempt to know the size of the reserve he was supposed to protect. I would like to seek a clarification from the Deputy Prime Minister. Is the current President aware of the exact size of our reserves when she made decisions on its drawdown?

While I do not yet know the answer to that question, I do know that Members of Parliament are being asked to vote on a Budget that would require a drawdown on our reserves without knowing its size. Without knowing our nation's financial position, it would be difficult to make sound and prudent decisions, and certainly not informed ones.

So, again, I ask that more transparency with regard to the national reserves be made, if not only that Singaporeans better understand the rationale for difficult decisions like the need to raise the GST to 9% in the future.

Last year, the Government committed nearly $100 billion through various packages to support Singaporeans and the economy through the COVID-19 crisis. In a report released by MOF on the impact of the COVID-19 Budget measures, it was stated that MAS estimated that the five Budgets in 2020 supported GDP growth by 5.5% in 2020, representing only about $28 billion. Did Singapore get a bang for its buck?

MAS also estimated that the measures saved or created 155,000 jobs. To put the numbers in perspective, if we were to pay 155,000 people $4,000 per month, it would cost us $7.4 billion per year. One hundred billion dollars is sufficient for 13.4 years of payment.

Can MOF give a fuller accounting of the benefits of the Budget measures and an assessment of whether those resources have been used effectively and efficiently?

Each transfer ended up somewhere. For example, the Job Support Scheme, or JSS, payments either saved jobs, or were paid as additional wages, or stayed in the employers' bank accounts. The wages paid out either ended up in consumption, which would contribute to GDP, or stayed in the pockets of employees. How much of the JSS went to benefit companies that were unaffected by the COVID-19 problem, with the same or more profits?

In the MOF report mentioned earlier, it was stated that the transfers did not result in such a high spend on consumption because of safe distancing. More benefits would come later when demand returns. What is the forecast deferred impact from the transfers not spent on consumption or investment in 2020?

One hundred billion dollars is not a small amount. We ask for a cost benefit analysis of each scheme put in place. We recognise that it is not easy coming up with measures within a short timeframe to deal with a pandemic. So, we ask not for a perfect solution, but an honest and transparent assessment and review.

Measuring the effectiveness of each measure will help us make better allocations in future – like should more transfers go to companies or to families and individuals in need? I believe that the latest $900 million allocated to help Singapore households ride out the COVID-19 crisis is inadequate. With more business closures and unemployment expected to increase after March when many of the support measures start to taper off, more households will likely suffer financial stress. I hope the Government will consider increasing its support for the many who are likely to need it.

Singapore has a small domestic market so our SMEs need help to grow and develop into a size that will enable them to compete globally. While the Budget has addressed the capital needs for Singapore businesses, the Government can do more.

Let me quote the example of Israel. In 1995, Israel approved the "Preference for Israeli Products" regulation that stipulated that a 15% price-differential preference be awarded to Israeli manufacturers for certain items and for products with 35% Israeli content and with a value not exceeding $500,000. Israeli manufacturers in "National Priority Zones" even received an additional 5%-15% advantage.

A "Mandatory Industrial Cooperation" regulation also required foreign suppliers that had won government or public tenders to engage in an offset procurement in Israel to the extent of 20%-50% of the contract value by local subcontracting, procurement of Israeli goods and services, cooperation in R&D and investment or assistance for an Israeli industrialist or exporter abroad.

Have these regulations impacted Israel's competitiveness to a degree that it can no longer compete globally? Few would think so. The Progress Singapore Party or PSP urges the Government to consider similar preferential treatment for local businesses in Government procurements.

In his Budget Statement, Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the focus on growing the economy is to benefit the people. To this end, PSP would like to suggest that the Government set a target for the wage component of our GDP to ensure that the fruits of economic development are enjoyed by its people.

According to SingStats, in 2020, wages formed about 43.6% of GDP while operating surplus of corporates and other organisations formed about 56.2% of GDP. The operating surplus was 29% higher than wages.

In comparison, according to OECD Statistics, the German wage component of GDP was 54% while operating surplus was 37%. Their wage component was 45% higher than the operating surplus component. Similarly, in the UK, the wage component was 53% of GDP and the operating surplus, 39%. In the US and Switzerland, the numbers also compare favourably.

If we want to ensure that our people enjoy the benefits of this economic growth, we should set an initial target of having the wage component form at least 50% of GDP. This should be an important KPI for the Government moving forward.

Only with the focus on an equitable solution to the current crisis will Singapore emerge stronger. Sir, I support the Budget.

3.55 pm

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Mr Speaker, the past year has been a tumultuous and rather peculiar one. Even as Parliament sits now, the recent Chinese New Year celebrations have been a rather quiet affair for many families and friends. While the on-going vaccination programme offers a sliver of hope that we might emerge from this pandemic sooner than later, the task of rebuilding for a new normal begins now.

More than that, we must be cognisant that there has never been a more opportune time to take firm action, to reform our economy and social compact, with the hope that we might be able to come out of the woods stronger than ever. Beyond the pandemic, we need to look at not just headline economic growth, but instead quality or inclusive growth; to sharpen our focus on how we can uplift our entire country and maximise the overall well-being of all Singaporeans in a sustainable manner, in the long run.

On this note, I would like to highlight three broad areas we should focus on in my speech.

The first point I would like to make would be on the urgent need to restructure our economy. Even prior to 2020, our five-year average GDP growth rate through 2019 is at 2.9%, lagging that of the global economy at 3.4%. If we use the public markets as a proxy to the state of corporate performance in Singapore, return on equity for the Singapore market, ex-financials, has also seen a steady decline, falling to a 20-year low of 5.9% in 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2019, 35% of firms listed in Singapore were already loss making, the highest since the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis. And these were even before the effects of COVID-19 in 2020.

With COVID-19 comes a crisis, but also an opportunity for us to use this time to restructure our economy, focusing our growth in areas where we might be able to develop and maintain a competitive advantage. To restructure our economy, efforts should be targeted at the building blocks of our economy, our local enterprises and local workforce.

On local enterprises, I believe the initiatives announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng to accelerate the growth of new digital capabilities are laudable. These include the emerging technology programme, CTO-as-a-service and digital leaders programme to help more businesses adopt increased digitalisation solutions, as part of their core competencies.

These are good solutions to support our local businesses, small or large. We should also, however, double down on efforts to better support SMEs to scale up and internationalise. While this could involve Government agencies facilitating access to global markets, while providing technical and financial assistance, could we better incentivise large local GLCs or even MNCs, to partner with our local SMEs in their internationalisation efforts?

Today, SMEs represent 99% of companies in Singapore and employ 72% of our workforce. However, SMEs contribute just 44% to Singapore's GDP in 2019, having steadily declined from 50% in 2014. A vibrant SME eco-system is thus imperative for our future economy, with SMEs' success key to driving entrepreneurship and innovation in Singapore.

Yet, while we look to support local SMEs' internationalisation efforts, our open economy and transparent business rules also mean that international MNCs can easily outbid local SMEs in domestic tenders, especially in price-based contracts. Looking around construction sites across Singapore, one cannot help but notice the large number of foreign conglomerates appointed as main contractor for building and infrastructure sites. In 2017, it was revealed in Parliament that while 80% of Government contracts in number are awarded to SMEs, only half by contract value is awarded to SMEs. Could more be done to provide greater opportunities to local SMEs, to give them the chance to scale up and build up a requisite track record in our very own home market?

Supporting our local workers should also go hand-in-hand with supporting our enterprises. With the shortening of business cycles and hastening of technological disruption, the threat of widespread job losses and rapid job irrelevance is only going to rise in future.

During this crisis, the Jobs Support Scheme, or JSS, has been an important policy measure to provide direct wage support. Given the uneven economic recovery, in what is called a K-shaped recovery, it is important to ensure that the hardest hit sectors and workers are given a fair chance of survival. While there remains debate as to the tiering of sectors and the adequacy of continuing support, the extended JSS support to tier 1 and tier 2 sectors is nonetheless a welcome relief to companies in these selected sectors.

The launch of the COVID-19 Recovery Grant to directly support lower to middle income workers, presently experiencing involuntary job losses or income loss is also a timely and important one.

Whether or not COVID-19 is here to stay for the next few years, there will continue to be redundancies and job losses at any stage of the economic cycle. As the schemes borne out of COVID-19 such as the COVID-19 Recovery Grant are already designed and implemented, could they remain a more permanent feature of our financial assistance schemes to workers?

Ultimately, we may need to think of implementing automatic stabilisers instead of discretionary, ad hoc schemes to enhance the resilience of our workforce. An example would be unemployment insurance, which can provide workers with resources to alleviate near term anxieties associated with job losses, while reducing the incidence of under-employment. Further, in a working paper published by the Institute of Policy Studies on 9 February this year, the researchers highlighted if the Government issues debt to finance a programme in unemployment insurance, inter-generational equality could be improved. The paper further stated, and I quote, "children of unemployed parents have a greater chance of social mobility if their parents are supported by a Government provisioned unemployment insurance programme".

The second point I want to raise is a broader question on the appropriateness of our fiscal policies. Having recognised the challenging terrain that Singapore is in today, our Budget and financial policies should then be the key enabler rather than impediment, towards allowing us to chart our roadmap to success, and embark confidently on a journey towards truly emerging stronger from this crisis.

In October last year, I spoke about the continued need for an accommodative fiscal policy. Despite the hopes we pin on a successful vaccination programme, we are not out of the woods yet, and the economic recovery we are hopeful of, is a fragile one. We should thus continue focusing on policies that aim to stimulate and boost domestic demand and keep our economy going, keep businesses and consumer confidence high, while minimising the long-term scarring caused by the pandemic.

As we speak, the largest economy in the world, the US is looking to put through a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, equivalent to about 9% of GDP, on the back of a $3 trillion package in 2020. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has highlighted the case for increased fiscal spending to avoid a "longer, more painful recession". She said and I quote, "the smartest thing we can do is act big. In the long run, I believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time".

I believe Singapore is no different. In order to reverse the pains from this recession, we must be willing to devote more resources to supporting our businesses and fellow Singaporeans.

I recognise that Budget 2021 is an expansionary one, similar to Budget 2020. The Government expects an overall budget deficit of $11.0 billion, or 2.2% of GDP. But this has to be seen against the context of Singapore’s unique budgetary policies. Had we taken the total estimated receipts of $103.7 billion, less the total expenditure of $107.2 billion, then the deficit would have been a more modest $3.5 billion or 0.7% of GDP.

If we extend this analysis and took the total receipts less the total expenditure over the last 10 years from 2011 to 2020, then the total surplus would have amounted to about $205 billion. This would be vastly different compared to the reported cumulative deficit of about minus $32 billion over the same period from 2011 to 2020.

Such a calculation, while simplistic would also be broadly in line with official data from the Department of Statistics, where the Government cash surplus from 2011 to 2019, the latest available data point, is a cumulative $261 billion. In other words, we run on a recurring basis an average of $29 billion of cash surplus a year.

Why is this important? I recognise that the official Budget is based on revenues that the Government of the day can spend under the Constitution. Not all Government revenues and receipts collected can be spent by the Government.

But when we say that we need to raise GST sometime during 2022 to 2025 and sooner rather than later, that “without the GST rate increase, we will not be able to meet our rising recurrent needs”, and that “it is not tenable for the Government to run persistent budget deficits outside periods of crisis”, then these statements ought to be framed in the context of the Government’s recurring cash surplus every year up to 2019. Is the imposition of a broad based, regressive tax then truly justified?

Further, I observe that in the official Budget, NIRC contributions are expected to continue its steady path of increase, from $17 billion in 2019 to $18.1 billion in 2020 and $19.5 billion in 2021. Even amidst the crisis of a generation, the NIRC alone is expected to rise by $1.4 billion in 2021. With NIRC estimates supposed to be based off expected long-term real rates of return, and with a draw on the reserves amounting to a generation's worth of savings, what then has led to the increase, and is the growth in NIRC expected to continue accelerating?

The bottom line to me then is therefore that we must caution against being overzealous in strengthening our revenue position through multiple pathways, such as the impending GST hike, especially amidst the macroeconomic uncertainties of today.

This brings me to my third point, and that is on a countrywide level, while we talk about how much excess cash we truly have, and how much of our revenues are not revenues at all, on an individual level, Singaporeans are increasingly worried about their lack of a rainy-day fund, with many of our elderly residents suffering from retirement inadequacy.

Earlier this month, I filed a Parliamentary Question on the number and percentage of active and inactive CPF members who are able to meet the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS). While the proportion of active members turning 55 who have been able to set aside the BRS improved from 62% in 2018 to 66% in 2020, there remains a third of active members today who were not even able to have $93,000 in their Retirement Accounts last year.

Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Heng shared that 435,000 Singaporeans aged 55 to 70 have not been able to set aside the prevailing Basic Retirement Sum. This represents approximately 58% of Singaporeans in that age band in 2019. Despite a lifetime of hard work and contribution to our nation, sadly more than half of our seniors do not appear to have sufficient funds to have the option to retire comfortably.

We can choose to think that outside of CPF balances, our elderly residents are likely to have other means of provision, which the CPF Board has no sight of. We could also fall back on self-reliance through working beyond retirement, or family support.

And I do recognise efforts by CPF to make it easier for members to top up their own or their loved ones' CPF accounts. However, this only seem to pass the problem to the younger generation, where they not only have to worry about having adequate CPF balances for their retirement, but they also worry for their parents' retirement as well. All this while the rising cost of living, increase in property prices continue to erode the disposable cashflow of households, and therefore the ability of the sandwiched generation to contribute more to their own and their parents' CPF accounts.

What can we do to ensure that we progress closer to the 100% mark that all Singaporeans are adequately prepared for retirement, with minimal financial stress on the younger generation? With rising life expectancy and an ageing population, how can we devote resources to ensure that Singaporeans who devoted their lives building the country, can retire with a decent living standard and live their lives in dignity? Mr Speaker, allow me to conclude in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Speaker, Sir, COVID-19 has undoubtedly brought about a crisis, but it has also brought about opportunities for change. There is no doubt that we should take this opportunity to restructure the economy and encourage businesses to transform, so as to ensure that our economy can ride out the storm. However, we should also bear in mind that in formulating policies, we should not just consider the economic aspects; we should give priority to the welfare of all Singaporeans and take care of the disadvantaged groups in society.

As Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has said, the focus of our next phase of work should shift from tackling the pandemic to emerging stronger in the post-COVID era. Similarly, while it is important to ensure the sustainability of our economy, the country’s sustainable development is also based on social sustainability.

The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of our society and reflected the many inadequacies of our social safety net. It is a continuous effort to strengthen and expand our social safety net. To encourage Singaporeans to face changes more bravely, to transform and accept re-training with more adaptability in the post-COVID era, we need a strong safety net to enable Singaporeans to face future challenges with greater confidence and ease.

4.10 pm

Mr Mark Chay (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. Before I begin, I would like to thank the Finance Minister for a comprehensive and forward-thinking Budget, which I believe addresses a wide range of relevant issues and concerns that impact Singaporeans today.

Twenty-twenty was a challenging year for many, including, the sports, fitness and wellness industry. Many businesses in this sector started to feel the effects of the pandemic as early as January 2020, when news of COVID-19 first emerged. However, while the industry has partially resumed operations, albeit under strict social distancing controls, the industry has yet to really recover.

There are an estimated 500 to 600 sports and fitness establishments in Singapore, serving over 500,000 members and participants through their programmes. Some establishments have recovered better than others, with big box gyms having been the hardest hit, with revenues up to 40% to 50% of the pre-COVID-19 level. Some of these gyms have developed and implemented digital strategies offering online classes and programmes; however, more thought needs to be put in on how these gyms and academies can successfully monetise these online programmes.

Now that Singapore is easing into Phase Three, it is time to focus on the industry and rehabilitation efforts and how we can allow the sports industry, both sports enterprises and people participating in sports, to get back on their feet. I am heartened to hear that the Sports Resilience Package will be extended in FY2021 to support businesses and self-employed persons in the sector. I am also encouraged to note that an additional $45 million will be set aside for the Arts, Culture and Sports sectors to supply capacity building and sector transformation.

Participation in sports and fitness in a broader sense can instil and develop physical resilience. Through the pandemic, we saw Singaporeans battle through several difficult situations, including social isolation and caring for their mental health. Physical activity has a considerable potential to enhance our well-being. A short burst of a 10 minutes' brisk walk increases a person's mental alertness, energy and positive mood, as shown in a recent study in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine. Participation in regular physical activity can boost self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety. According to an article by the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, it also plays a role in preventing mental health problems and improving people's quality of life.

Sports can inspire and unite people. We experienced it when our athletes take to the pool, track, field, or court and bring glory to Singapore. We felt the high when Joseph Schooling had his "where were you when it happened" Olympic gold medal moment; we remember our Lion’s glory and the Kallang Roar. In 2021, our Team Singapore athletes will have multiple opportunities to fly our flag high at the Olympics and Paralympics and Southeast Asian Games. I hope that our athletes and support teams harness the opportunity whilst protecting themselves as they train and prepare for their competitions. I want to acknowledge and thank the MCCY and SportSG, to make the COVID-19 vaccination available for athletes who need to go abroad for training and competitions. I would also like to ask that we should not waste the opportunity to elevate these moments to inspire and unite our nation.

At this juncture, Mr Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognise our past athletes. They have done Singapore proud in times when resources were scarce and inspired generations after them to take on the mantle and fly Singapore’s flag high on the world stage: Neo Chwee Kok, Tang Pui Wah, Tan Howe Liang, Wong Peng Soon and many more. These are some of the names I grew up hearing and inspired me to train and represent Singapore. I have no doubt these were household names for some of our fellow Members, too, and they perhaps inspired some of us to pick up a racket, stick, ball, or track shoes and compete.

I believe that Singapore has the talent to produce world beaters if we provide the right environment for the enterprises and athletes to grow and develop. These sports icons have shown us it is possible; however, we must recognise our past achievements and be proud of our sporting heritage. A Singapore sporting heritage. Perhaps, it is time to set up a Team Singapore Alumni programme that recognises the accomplishments of our Pioneers and allows retired athletes to continue contributing to the sporting eco-system.

Our National Sports Associations (NSAs) form a key pillar in our local sports infrastructure locally. The NSAs' developed their respective sports, whose programmes form great social significance by being the glue that binds communities together. The challenge for our NSA programmes in times of the pandemic is access to facilities and the ability to pivot during the pandemic. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach urged International Federations, not once but twice in 2020, to consider their sport in electronic and virtual forms. An example of international sports federations pivoting to virtual platforms is the F1 Virtual Grand Prix.

I want to encourage the Government to work together with NSAs to develop their respective digital strategies. Use technology as an enabler, keep our athletes in the sport where they may not be physically able to participate, and keep them engaged as it is vital piece of our pipeline for athletes to continue participating in their respective development programmes.

Needless to say, while the pandemic has negatively affected the sports and fitness industry in general; however, there were those who were able to thrive and were able to find new avenues of business. E-sports and gaming, for example, were sectors that grew during the pandemic. In a year where regular broadcast and scheduling of sports games have been affected, e-sports maintained most of its original programming. Players and leagues moved to remote broadcasting and content was streamed from homes or other remote locations. E-sports' revenues in 2020 are expected to grow US$1.1 billion, a 15.7% year-on-year growth from 2019. Some of the biggest gaming firms, such as Tencent, Garena, Ubisoft and DEA are locating their regional headquarters in Singapore. Singapore is in an excellent position to develop this industry, leading to good jobs for Singaporeans in the fast-growing industry.

However, we must also not forget the other parts of the sports industry and sports enterprises whom the pandemic has adversely impacted. More could be done to help the private sports enterprises survive and to allow them to recover and grow stronger.

The pandemic has presented a unique opportunity for Singapore to play a crucial role in international events. In January, Singapore played host to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M2 World Championships; this week, Singapore hosts the ATP 250 tennis tournament, and other major international events that are on the horizon, such as the World Economic Forum in August.

Singapore's stable and secure conditions make us an attractive destination to host events in the current global environment. Organisers that would not have thought Singapore previously are considering hosting their events here. Singapore should consider taking on these opportunities, as there are many benefits to hosting these industry events here. They are reinforcing our role in the global sporting scene and add vibrancy to the local sporting environment.

Mr Speaker, please allow me to conclude by saying that sports is an enabler to better heath, creates opportunities beneficial to our population and unites Singaporeans. Sport is relatable to many of us – we have yet to realise the full potential in maximising the opportunities. Sport is important to Singapore and Singapore can play an important role in global sports.

I sincerely hope that this year's, and indeed future Budgets, will reflect the critical role that sports and athletes and sports business can, and do, play in our country, both economically and socially. With that, Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget.

4.20 pm

Mr Don Wee (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Speaker, Sir, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] As the world continues to battle COVID-19, I am heartened that Singapore is positioned to plan for our future, thus with this Budget focusing on "Emerging Stronger Together".

Earlier, Sengkang GRC Member of Parliament Louis Chua reminded the Government that while we rejuvenate the economy, we should not overlook the vulnerable group. This is why the Government has rolled out many schemes in a "kuih-lapis" style to support lobal businesses and the vulnerable group.

I would like to make some suggestions about supporting SMEs and lower income families.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng has committed $24 billion over three years to enable our firms and workers to emerge stronger from this crisis. This follows up on the changes started five years ago with the Industry Transformation Maps. To enable businesses to innovate, transform and scale up, the Government intends to co-fund businesses of all sizes at all stages of growth.

I welcome the Government's decision to step up risk-sharing arrangements with capital providers through the extension and enhancement of the Enterprise Financing Scheme - Venture Debt programme.

For the Venture Debt programme, the Government shares up to 70% of the risk on eligible loans with Participating Financial Institutions and even increases the cap on loan quantum supported, from $5 million to $8 million. This new measure broadens the existing scope of assistance schemes.

My concern is that many financial institutions may be so conservative that even bearing 30% of the loan risk is too much for them, resulting in smaller and newer firms not being able to get any loans.

During this age of massive transformation, there will be new business models, products and services which are coming onstream. Some of these new projects can be very capital intensive and need expensive equipment, such as digital services and urban vertical farming equipment.

Please allow me to continue in English.

(In English): The senior executives responsible for approving loans at financial institutions will proceed with an abundance of caution because their objective – to preserve capital – is different from the perspective of our Government, which is to encourage innovation and new engines of growth. In addition, they tend to rely more on track records, proven business models, tried-and-tested products and services. In fact, the more experienced they are in the financial services sector, the more likely they will have deeper in-built preconceptions and biases.

For this reason, venture capitalists fill the gap for funding start-ups. But many newer and smaller firms will have difficulty attracting venture capitalists. Without Government intervention, our small start-ups will find it hard to assess the Venture Debt programme.

I would like to suggest that MOF considers drawing up a list of qualifying prescriptive criteria that will help to reduce subjectivity in the process of assessment. As long as a firm meets the criteria, it should be able to qualify for the programme.

I would also like to ask if the Local Enterprises Funding Platform could be opened to larger SMEs as well. They may find this scheme useful as they do not qualify for grants nor are able to position themselves as regional or international companies. Another suggestion which I support is to require Large Local Enterprises (LLEs) selected for this scheme to make complementary local SMEs and start-ups part of their overseas expansion efforts. In other words, to hunt in a pack.

Local companies employ more than 60% of Singaporean workforce, therefore elevating SMEs' capabilities also improves social mobility. And this brings me to talk about the support rendered towards the lower income families.

Children are our future. For disadvantaged children, we must make every effort to assist them so that they will have the best chances of growing up healthy and living fulfilling lives. I am very glad that the Government will be boosting the provision of social services and holistic care for lower income families with children who are staying in HDB rental flats. They have been hard hit by the pandemic.

I am delighted that the Community Link (ComLink) initiative will be expanded from 1,000 families to a nationwide programme to benefit 14,000 families over the next two years, in coordination with other schemes such as UPLIFT and KidSTART. This will really help these vulnerable families.

However, I would like to suggest that we make better use of data technology to reduce the administrative work and processing time for assistance applications. As I had suggested before in my maiden speech, the Ministry may consider allowing Social Service Offices' records to be shared with schools so that needy children do not need to apply for the Financial Assistance Scheme and school pocket money fund separately.

Similarly, for vulnerable families, particularly those with adults who are unfit for work and thus unable to find employment, their medical records stored in the National Electronic Health Record can be shared with the Social Service Offices in a secured manner, with authorisation by the needy applicants. This will enable the deserving cases to be assisted expediently. Many of the applicants are frustrated as they have problems navigating the variety of programmes and initiatives.

For students from vulnerable families, will the Ministry guarantee them places in their own schools' Student Care Centres? This will save them from having to travel from their schools to another centre. It is safer for younger students as well. At school-based Student Care Centres, we can help to ensure that needy children enjoy enrichment programmes and get nutritious lunches, even dinners.

As the recent Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study funded by MOE had found, children from poorer homes have less healthy diets and suffer from food insecurity. Not only do their diets affect their health and development, poor nutrition is linked to, I quote, "aggression, delinquency, anxiety and depression". Longer term impact from poor diets in the young includes potential obesity and weaker academic performance.

I would also like to request for more resources and the deployment of Allied Educators to assist this group of students with their homework. Such an arrangement will benefit children living in less conducive home environments where crowding and noise, and the lack of supervision, books and IT equipment, prevent them from learning well.

Will the National Library Board install book dispensers at estates with rental blocks which house many young families, such as Brickland and Hong Kah North constituencies, so that the children can have easier access to books?

In addition, I would like to request childcare for shift workers to help parents who work night shifts who have no family support and cannot afford a domestic helper or sitter to keep an eye on young children. We need to ensure their safety and well-being.

Last but not least, I urge the Government to expedite and increase assistance for vulnerable families with children with issues or special needs. These can range from those with milder to severe conditions, whether these are learning or behavioural issues, such as ADHD or autism, or other disabilities. I would like to ask if all these students are able to find a place at Special Student Care Centres. Is there any shortage of vacancies and if so, how many more places will be made available in the coming years?

Since July last year, MSF had increased the subsidies and broaden the income criteria so that more families qualify for the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme. With these changes, how many more families does the scheme cover?

Mr Speaker, it has been said of children with special needs, I quote, "sometimes, real super heros live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles". Let us send in more reinforcements and secure more victories. I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.50 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 4.30 pm until 4.50 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.50 pm.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Debate on Annual Budget Statement

Debate resumed.

Mr Derrick Goh (Nee Soon): Mr Speaker, Sir, Budget 2021 comes at a critical point for Singapore as we continue to navigate our way safely into a new and unfamiliar horizon. Thus far, we have collectively fared well relative to other countries in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been largely due to the leadership of our Government and the trust and co-operation of our citizens.

Although this Budget will not provide as much in support schemes compared to the prior year, I applaud the Government for putting forward an expansionary Budget at $102 billion, representing an 8.8% increase year over year. It is critical that our Government continues to take leadership by investing in key areas to help us seize opportunities to maintain our competitive edge even in challenging times like this.

Not only does this Budget support Singaporean workers and businesses in need of assistance, it is also seeking to bolster Singapore’s position in the new post-pandemic world through capability building, along with strengthening safeguards.

It is Deputy Prime Minister’s message about “Building a Stronger Singapore, Together” with the focus on "Ensuring equal opportunities for all and supporting the vulnerable segments of our society” that resonates with me. I support this Budget of pursuing a Stronger Singapore that is defined beyond the sole objective of economic vibrancy.

The reason is that as we pursue transformation in 2021 and speak of a digital, innovation-driven economy, we need to keep focused that the key objective is meant to help our industries and our people to harness the power of data and technology, to be future-ready. The end objective is to improve the quality of our lives as well as create better opportunities for ourselves, including those amongst us who are less digitally savvy.

If we are to achieve this, then our Government must stay ahead of the curve by putting in safeguards to assist and protect the different segments of the digitally vulnerable groups as we jump onto the transformation train.

As the transformation train moves fast, it is critical that we manage digitisation risks to better protect our public and maintain public confidence so that we can make this transformation together, safely. There are specifically two areas that I would like to highlight. They are:

(a) redoubling our efforts to help citizens strengthen digital muscles to improve cyber safety;

(b) addressing the escalating cases of scams

As we push for greater digital adoption and innovation, our citizens will find themselves empowered to do a broader range of tasks and services conveniently. In doing so, we need to help them build more digital muscles as they will each face not just opportunities but also challenges – the digital life ahead is fraught with challenges.

An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study released recently in December 2020 noted that the levels of digital literacy in Singapore is low. More than half who are deemed savvy information-wise did not spot signs that information was manipulated. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, or CSA, too, had similar findings, reporting in August 2020 that, of the people who know about phishing, only 6% in the survey were able to correctly identify all the phishing emails that were tested. What is concerning is that many felt that cybersecurity incidents will not happen to them and that less than half installed security applications even though a majority of them know the risks of not doing so.

It is good that our Government has rolled out many digital literacy initiatives through the Media Literacy Council, National Crime Prevention Council or the National Digital Literacy Programme in schools, or CSA initiatives, such as the cybersecurity labelling on all smart home devices, to name a few. So, perhaps some time is needed for these programmes to take effect and it could be worthwhile for a co-ordinating body to take stock holistically based on the learnings above. This is to shepherd our population towards greater digital discipline as well as build a deeper awareness, especially in areas that need attention, to strengthen digital muscles across our country. After all, in cybersecurity terms, it is often said that we are only as strong as the weakest link.

A more fundamental issue at hand is that more Singaporeans are falling prey to online scams, losing large sums of hard-earned money. On 9 February this year, the Straits Times reported that scam cases grew 65% in 2020 over the prior year. This is a record number where more than $201 million were lost across the top 10 scam types. Of this, online scams made up 60%, of which, most were related to e-commerce and social media impersonation.

This topic strikes close to my heart as, in my resident’s case, it left him, an 80-year-old, in a despondent state. He lost over $400,000, most of this from his retirement savings from the sale of his 5-room flat. He had released his bank’s ID, password and authentication token to a scam. The money, it seems, was transferred to Hong Kong and the Police had told him that he is unlikely to get his money back. My heart goes out to him and other citizens who are like him.

It is tempting to say that “giving your ID, password and token is like giving away your house keys”. At one level, we need to continue to emphasise the need for individual responsibility and education. However, social engineering can be sophisticated, which is why even savvy people can be duped. The reality is that our citizens are faced with a full spectrum, from simple to sophisticated scams.

I often hear people say, “What are the Police doing about it or what is MAS or the Banks doing about it?” However, at the heart of the issue is that the problem cannot be approached by focusing on a single or a few parts of the digital eco-system. We already know that it is impossible to secure an email or bank account if the mobile phone is not secure and it is also impossible to secure a transaction if the e-commerce website is also not secure and so on. Hence, the interaction of so many digital hand-offs creates complexity. So, we need a multi-layered, whole-of-nation approach. I believe that while the Government is taking the lead, consumers wanting the convenience as well as companies seeking to profit in the digital economy must also bear a fair share of the burden in protecting the system. Our solutions to scams – processes, actions, laws and regulations – need to reflect this holistic approach.

On this point, I have five recommendations to further sharpen our approach.

One, maintain our current stance on community education. This is an essential pillar for our multi-layered defence to strengthen awareness and accountability at the individual level.

Two, like cybersecurity, we must always assume that scams will succeed. Perhaps, we need to prioritise recovery so that we have a higher chance to get the funds back, target a national level response time for recovery of domestic fund flows and push for commitments across Government agencies and the private sector to act within the response times agreed.

Three, with the target response times in mind, review whether our law enforcement and similar agencies are sufficiently resourced and fit for purpose, supported by effective regulations since digital crimes are very different from physical crimes due to anonymity and speed. The economics are compelling enough – with the sizeable amount of monies lost through scams, we should allocate a proportionately higher expenditure to fight online scams head-on.

Four, relevant agencies should develop fraud prevention and detection standards with relevant private sector groups that they interact with. MAS is very engaged with the banking sector, and perhaps we can do more with other sectors as well. Given the knowledge of these criminal typologies, could MHA take the lead as the overall coordinator?

And lastly, there is also a need to increase cross jurisdictional cooperation to come up with a more comprehensive plan to recover funds as more monies are being lost overseas.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the problem of online scams is but an inevitable consequence of pursuing a digital economy. As such, let us make sure that our digital economy has a multi-layered defence against cyber threats that necessarily includes a multi-layered defence against scams.

In conclusion, Sir, I reflected on the Singapore's Budget Statement for 2021 and I recall my former boss once telling me that requesting for a higher Budget just means more work ahead. So, I am heartened that this Government has shown commitment and leadership in putting forward an expansionary Budget to put more effort to help Singapore stay ahead and securing Singapore with the community. Sir, I support this Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Sharael Taha.

5.02 pm

Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you. These are truly challenging times as our economy shrank by 5.8%, the worst recession since Independence. This Budget, aptly named "Emerging Stronger Together", balances the following considerations: immediate needs to overcome the pandemic; investing in business and developing people to emerge from this pandemic stronger; strengthening our social compact; building a sustainable future; and maintaining financial prudence.

Understandably, this year's Budget is in the deficit as we continue to assist our residents to overcome the pandemic while sending a strong signal on the need for transformation and supporting future growth. For immediate needs, schemes like the COVID-19 Recovery Grant, the $900 million household support package and JSS sector-specific support will be a much-needed respite for those most affected by the pandemic.

Beyond addressing the immediate needs, I will touch on three suggestions as we work towards an inclusive, rapid transformation to secure Singapore's future.

Firstly, how do we increase the momentum of real sustainable transformation in digitalisation? Secondly, the need to leverage on workplace transformation as our comparative advantage; and thirdly, to prepare our workforce for a successful transition to support our future economy, in particular, the Green Plan.

COVID-19 is a catalyst for many workplace changes. In the past, there was no urgency to digitalise to bridge physical distances in a country like ours. However, the pandemic made it necessary for organisations to explore digital solutions, such as the use of Zoom, e-payment and e-commerce.

We now better understand how digitalisation can help make our operations more convenient and efficient. The next step is to move from pockets of digitalisation, or "pilots", to fully adopting real and sustainable digital transformation. This will enable us to go beyond the superficial grafting of technology onto current processes and instead, leverage fully on digitalisation and create fundamental shifts to our business models. Only then can we be fully poised to take full advantage of the opportunities emerging from the post-pandemic world economy.

It is noteworthy that a recent McKinsey report indicated that 85% of ASEAN companies are still stuck in this digitalisation pilot trap. How can MCI, MTI and MOM work closer together to support companies in driving real sustained digital transformation by stringing together cohesive programmes across Ministries to enable companies to build a coherent, successful growth strategy possibly through a clear Operations and Technology Roadmap from MTI supported by skilled manpower through MCI's Digital Leaders Programme and SGUnited Jobs and Skills training guided by experienced practitioners using MCI's CTO-as-a-service while training organisational’s capability to use data better through MCI's Better Data Driven Business Programme?

Coming from the industry, trying to navigate transformation is difficult as this is not merely improving productivity but this is fundamentally transforming business models. Many companies, especially SMEs, may need help to navigate the multitude of different schemes available. To assist companies to fully leverage on the suite of support packages available, can the Ministries consider some form of over-arching business transformation support through a mentorship programme or hand-holding to help companies navigate the cross-Ministerial support for transformation? We need a more concerted approach to business transformation to help companies gain traction and better navigate the diverse cross-Ministerial support provided.

For investment in training, we plan to spend $5.4 billion in addition to the $3 billion already spent on SGUnited Jobs and Skills package for our workers. Of the many upgrading courses available, many are on digital skills. These courses need to translate into real changes. How can we increase the efficacy of these trainings into driving real digital transformation?

One suggestion is to move away from measuring success through course take-up rates to measuring transformation driven metrics. A tiered approach can be used, where applicable, to provide basic subsidy for attending the course and enhanced subsidy for achieving the improvement. An example is the lean sigma course where a participant receives his certification only after showing $1 million operational improvement to his organisation.

The pandemic has taught us that for 60% of PMETs in Singapore, our jobs are able to be done anywhere and at any part of the globe. Workers are no longer confined to office cubicles and close physical proximity is no longer a prerequisite for collaborative work.

Employers are trying to implement HR policies that strike a fair balance between work from home (WFH) and work from office (WFO). WFH and WFO represents both a boon and bane. We find the lines between work and home get increasingly blurred. Considering new working norms, MOM must ensure that the rights of both employers and employees are protected. Singapore must remain an attractive place to work and we must retain talent within Singapore. Fair workplace practices and good work life balance will provide us a comparative advantage as we shift towards new working norms.

WFH has demonstrated clearly how jobs can be done anywhere in the world. While we debate extensively on foreign workforce quotas, let it not distract us from the fundamental question: how do we keep our workforce competitive and relevant in the global market especially when workforce quotas are losing relevance in protecting jobs? How can we prepare and upskill our workforce such that we remain relevant in the global economy and not only do jobs in Singapore, but also do jobs for other countries remotely? Hence, our workforce must be able to compete locally, as well as globally. And we must continue to focus on driving best added value with the right skillset, mindset and attitudes needed to thrive in a remote working environment.

Remote working requires a different set of skills for both employer and employee. Clear work targets must be set in order to manage the output of the team. And targets based purely on clocking number of hours have become obsolete. Employees are expected to be more self-directed and not take advantage of the flexibility afforded to them due to remote working. While it is important to upgrade our workforce in terms of hard digital skills, we must also adopt the soft skills and a more suitable work culture for remote working. I do not think it is premature to consider how schools can better prepare our children for a future of remote working.

Our industry transformation roadmap was designed pre-COVID-19 and remains relevant even in the face of this pandemic. We aspire to be a greener nation as expressed through our Green Plan and a successful transformation necessitates getting everyone on this journey. It is inevitable that certain industries, like petrol-based industries, face decline while others, such as cleantech, green financing and horticulture see an increase in demand.

Bridging between the contracting and emerging industries will be challenging and it would be erroneous to assume that everyone can make the transition smoothly. Hence, we need to balance and manage this workforce transition, especially when most of the jobs that will be lost are those of the lower wage roles. While I applaud the cross-Ministry efforts for the Green Plan, we need to chart out our workforce requirement and our workforce transition plan.

One suggestion is to have our Industry Transformation Roadmap be updated to specifically include transition strategies for low-wage workers, seniors and persons with disability. Our Industry Transformation Roadmap should purposefully feature this group of workers so that the industries can proactively redesign jobs for them in the post-pandemic economy. This would ensure inclusivity even at the point of job design. Mr Speaker, Sir, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] This year's Budget is in the deficit as it not only aims to help families overcome the pandemic, but also to send a signal about the importance of economic transformation and supporting future growth. I am confident that the $900 million allocated through the Family Support Package, where low-income families are given more support, will help many families overcome this pandemic.

In addition, specific support for the worst affected sectors, such as the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS, for the aviation and aerospace industries, is very important as it ensures that we retain the talent and workforce available in this strategic sector, while preparing them for the future.

What is notable is how COVID-19 has transformed our world. Some industries will enjoy growth, although some will shrink. Our world continues to move towards digitalisation, industry 4.0, "electrification" and clean energy and we need to move in the same direction or we will be left behind.

The increase in oil prices may cause our cost of living to rise, especially for those who use transport to earn a living, but I am heartened that the 2021 Budget mitigates the impact of this price increase with road tax subsidies.

The COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund also assists taxi drivers and private rental car drivers who receive $600 per month between January and March and a further $450 between April and June. This rebate, together with the Family Support Package, to some extent reduces the impact of rising oil prices as we prepare for and weather through the challenges of a rapidly changing world. However, I hope that the Government can study which rebates and relief packages are sufficient or need to be re-evaluated.

There is no right time to raise taxes and we also cannot impose high taxes in the future in the hope that people will quickly switch to electric cars. Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to start using vehicles with lower fuel consumption or hybrid vehicles first to enjoy cheaper road taxes and petrol usage while also starting to do our share to lower emission rates. I would also like to take this opportunity to elaborate on the two things that need to be addressed as we move forward.

Firstly, transformation at work as an economic advantage. Secondly, preparing our workforce for the Singapore Green Plan. The pandemic has, undoubtedly, shown that we need not necessarily have to be at the workplace to do our job effectively. In fact, many local workers, including 60% of PMETs, can perform their duties anywhere.

While we are debating extensively on the foreign manpower quota, we should not let this matter divert our focus from the basic question, which is, how we can maintain the competitiveness of our workforce in the global market, whereas the manpower quota is increasingly less effective in protecting our jobs.

How can we prepare the workforce and expand their skills so that we can continue to play a role in the world economy, not only doing jobs in Singapore but also jobs in other countries? The first step in doing so is to change our mindset, because we can no longer sit still and try to protect our jobs with methods that are previously effective for that objective.

On the other hand, we need to stand out and show the world how we give the best value to any organisation around the world. As we move towards a greener future together, we need to realise that some industries will enjoy growth, although some will shrink. For example, we aspire to reduce dependence on petrol and engines that use fuel, namely the internal combustion engine (ICE), while promoting the use of public transport. Traditional jobs in the fuel economy is more likely to diminish. Our workers who are involved in this industry need to shift to industries that show growth potential and we need to manage this process carefully, so that no workers will make the wrong move and get left out.

This is especially important because, usually, low-wage workers in the industry are also the most vulnerable to structural changes in the industry. We need to start this process now, so that we are able to take advantage and seize the opportunities available in the new green economy.

Our future generations also need to make wise decisions to seize opportunities in an economy based on future trends and not just make decisions based on choices that are easy or readily available. We need to place our community in a more strategic position so that we can seize new opportunities and transit more easily to a future workplace.

(In English): In summary, Mr Speaker, Sir, I have touched on three suggestions that we need to work on to seize the opportunity as we head towards an inclusive transformation for Singapore’s future: firstly, how do we increase the momentum of real sustainable transformation in digitalisation? Secondly, the need to leverage on workplace transformation as our comparative advantage; and thirdly, to prepare our workers for a successful transition to support our future economy.

That being said, Mr Speaker, Sir, notwithstanding the arguments above, I stand in support of the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Shawn Huang.

5.16 pm

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong (Jurong): Mr Speaker, Sir, before I begin my speech, I would like to respond to Mr Louis Chua's comment on GST.

Is GST a regressive tax? Yes, it is. Standalone only without intervention.

GST forms part of Singapore's overall tax and benefit system which is progressive. The Government redistributes taxes, revenues through a progressive system of tax and transfers and one such example is the $6 billion Assurance Package that was announced at the Unity Budget last year. No matter when GST is implemented, the lower and middle income groups will be buffered for 10 and five years respectively.

In addition, additional assurances were also made that when GST is increased on healthcare and education, these increases will be absorbed by the Government.

Mr Speaker, Sir, for the endangered Hawksbill turtle, life is mostly a journey faced alone. At the beginning of its life, it had to face its own battle for survival. Odds are not in his favour. Eggs are under constant threat by predators and harvested by people. After hatching, it would have to unbury itself and cross the open beach to reach the ocean, all without being eaten. Even in the ocean, life is never easy. What then, counts as a good life for the Hawksbill turtle? Perhaps to live pain-free, to escape plastic pollution and fishing nets? To find enough food in our depleted waters? Or perhaps to beat all odds to find a mate amongst the rare few that remains.

Humans are different. We have become exceptionally good at survival. We are in the Anthropocene Epoch, where human activities have a significant impact on the planet’s eco-system. Humans thrive in societies of interconnected individuals who work collectively. And this collective culture that allowed us to progress far beyond other animals. By teaching, learning and relying on one another for resources, it has given humans the ultimate edge. But today, cities and countries around the world are facing a multitude of challenges. Here in Singapore, we are not spared. No one will spare us quarter, we have to fight for our lives and our future.

This Budget will give us the strength to survive, pivot, and an edge to seize the opportunities of the future. Many have been severely affected by the pandemic. The extension of the Jobs Support Scheme is well targeted to support our workers and businesses in this time of need and prepare them for a post pandemic future. We must continue to support our workers, fight unemployment and embark on a massive scale of education, training and reskilling. We must help our low-wage workers and fight for those who are vulnerable.

SGUnited Skills as well as the Jobs and Skills package ensures that our human capital will continue to be agile to changes and growing capabilities. Job growth incentive is one of the best ways in providing support to our graduates and mid-career jobseekers. However, more support is needed to quickly acquire skills that are relevant and deep in their new domains. We must keep our edge, sharpen the edge and ensure that we operate at the frontier with a trail-blazing spirit.

Why is this edge important?

This competition and innovative edge, driven by the same ability to connect, learn, collaborate and execute, is most poignant for survival and leadership. These attributes enabled the rise of global market leaders. The largest and most valuable companies from the 1960s to 2010s were General Motors, Wal Mart, Exxon, Ford and General Electric. The list remained largely unchanged. However, in the last 10 years, this list would have changed dramatically with Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook taking on leadership roles.

What had caused this dramatic shift?

Artificial intelligence has enabled the exponential ability to learn, connect, collaborate and execute. It is self learning, it does deep learning, ever enthusiastic, ever curious and hungry for more data, ever analysing and tweaking for optimum outcomes and executing with flawless precision.

In 2020, the total accumulated data in the world reached 44 Zettabytes. This is 10 times more than it was in 2013. You can have data without information but you cannot have information without data. The goal is to turn data into information and information into insight and with insight one will be able to have the ability to execute. Information is the oil of the 21st century and artificial intelligence is its combustion engine.

Are we ready for this? Is Singapore ready for this?

“Are we all going to be working for a smart machine, or will we have smart people around machine”. This question was posed some 30 years ago but this 30-plus years old question has returned with a vengeance because of Big Data. The Intelligent Age driven by Big Data has been accelerated by advances in emerging technologies and connectivity. In fact, we are living at a time where everything that you have seen, heard or experienced is fast becoming searchable.

Machine Learning, a subset of the AI technology pillar, has been recognised as the engine of productivity and one that spurs economic growth. When incorporated into an organisation, it provides a 360-degree, multi-dimensional view of important metrics of the company and significantly improves the decision-making process. The analysis of large volumes of data reveals trends and bolsters the innovation of new products and services and generating new revenue streams. The granularity of data enables decision makers to drill-down to reveal insights into a variety of predictable behaviors and incidents.

To cite an industrial advantage would be the manufacturing industry as they stand to gain the most from the digital revolution. Technology pillars such as the Internet-of-Things, 5G connectivity and Big Data Analytics are likely to transform the industry into a cyber-physical hub, capable of assimilating and leveraging on these technologies. The return-of-investments would be most evident in the long run, when AI would further cultivate automation, ensure robust quality control and possibly actualising a near-zero downtime manufacturing plant.

Is Singapore ready for such a speed?

Future software development will be automated through data. Deep learning will continue to develop future capabilities such as conversational computers, self-driving cars, and consumer apps such as Tik Tok. Tik Tok uses deep learning to push video recommendations and its success has outstripped many other first movers in the market. Over the last two decades, the Internet has created over $13 trillion in value whilst AI has created $2 trillion in just 2020. The growth in the value of AI is expected to grow at close to 20% CAGR to surpass the value of the Internet by the next decade.

Is Singapore AI ready?

In this Information Age, the distinction between market and society as a whole and market and individual has been substantially eroded. This is because human beings are fast becoming both the raw material and the customer. The interesting development is that the raw material in the Information Age is the "human natural resource", is no longer scarce, but readily available and free.

Our behavior is being captured, stored and processed instantaneously. Services and products are being developed through us which has come to be known as personalisation. Essentially, this is a commoditisation of human behavior.

This situation will continue to influence and impact human nature, the future of societies and new business models as we ourselves are fast becoming "human natural resources". This requires new ways of thought leadership, Government policies and laws. As Singapore hones itself digitally and in other areas, it can also aspire to be a leader in this space.

Andy Grove once said, "technology runs 3 times faster than normal businesses and the government runs 3 times slower than normal businesses. So we potentially have a nine-times gap".

There is some merit to this. What are the existing models, regulation, assumptions, norms today, existed because of the industrial age? Are they still relevant in the Age of Information? How shall we evolve? A recent example is Facebook and Google in Australia. AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain and Crypto are paragons of how transformational this revolution will and can be. In Mrs Lim Hwee Hua’s latest book "Government in Business – Leading or Lagging", provides poignant examples in a landscape of disruptive technology.

At such a speed, will Singapore be displaced?

Unlike other sectorial, incremental innovations and creative ideas, unlike existing platforms and eco-systems, AI is a general-purpose technology that has the cross-domain capability to raise all sectors and all industries. It can be the tide that rises all boats. Like fire, the spoken language, pottery, electricity, steam and internal combustion engine, it will affect the entire economy. And unlike its predecessors, this pervasive reach into the psychological, biological and natural world can and will alter societies.

Imagine a world at the advent of electricity, to have a bulb and a plug ready. Ready to plug in and light up the world. Or remain plugged out like the Hawksbill turtle.

In the words of HG Wells in his book "A Short History of the World", written in 1922: "Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative." Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Dr Koh Poh Koon.

5.30 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Labour Movement welcomes the Budget 2021 measures outlined by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat to help workers emerge stronger from this pandemic.

The extension of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) in sectors still facing headwinds and the Covid-19 Recovery Grant for severely impacted workers are welcomed by many of our sisters and brothers in the Labour Movement. The extension of SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package will continue to support the hiring of 200,000 locals this year and provide up to 35,000 traineeships and training positions.

Together with the extension of the Wage Credit Scheme and the Capability Transfer Programme, these measures ensure that our workers have good jobs and job opportunities.

Over the last one year, NTUC's key priority was on protecting our workers’ livelihoods. Through our NTUC Job Security Council and the Fair Retrenchment Framework, our unions have worked with management to cut costs and save jobs, as well as train and redeploy workers to sectors of need.

Many of us in the House would know that the aviation sector has been severely impacted by the pandemic. At the height of the crisis, Scoot’s parent company, Singapore Airlines, had to cut 96% of its flight capacity.

After Malaysia announced the Movement Control Order to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus in early March last year, many manufacturing companies had a manpower shortage as Malaysian workers who commute daily between Singapore and Malaysia were unable to come to Singapore for work. Many of my brothers and sisters in manufacturing sector had to pull extra shifts and put in extra hours in over time, just to keep up with the manpower shortage.

Scoot Staff Union together with another Union, the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI) worked closely with NTUC's Job Security Council and our tripartite partners to match some 300 flight crew members from Scoot to jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Both unions worked closely with the companies’ human resource team to coordinate virtual job interviews and continued to keep in touch with these cross-deployed crew members to support their adjustment in the new workplaces.

With many workers' jobs at-risk, our unions' actions helped to secure secondment, contract or part-time positions into other sectors of need. NTUC was able to leverage on our strong labour-management relations and our network of partners to make a difference in a dire situation. I salute our workers for their fortitude and resilience and their adaptability; and of course, our unions who have worked hard to support them in this time of distress.

This year, as we prepare to vaccinate our population and emerge stronger from this pandemic crisis, NTUC will continue to pay close attention to vulnerable worker groups who are more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and who may also face additional pressures in the new economy.

For today’s Budget Debate, NTUC's Labour Members of Parliament will be advocating for the various vulnerable worker groups. This is in the DNA of the unions and also, in the DNA of the PAP Government.

We will also lay out NTUC's proposals to better protect and empower these workers in order to strengthen Singapore's social compact.

Labour Member of Parliament brother Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Nominated Member brother Abdul Samad and myself, we will share more about NTUC's aspirations and ideas to expand Progressive Wages and Practices to uplift our low-wage workers.

With an eye to our ageing and shrinking workforce, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General brother Heng Chee How will share about what “Emerging Stronger Together” really means for senior workers. NTUC Assistant Secretary-General brother Patrick Tay will advocate for boosting the employment and employability of PMEs, especially those in their 40s to 60s. And NTUC Assistant Secretary-General brother Desmond Choo will call to strengthen the structure of the gig economy and support for young workers.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]

Labour Member brother Seah Kian Peng will raise concerns on vulnerable citizens who fall through the cracks.

A second key thrust of our speeches is on protecting jobs through this pandemic and beyond. I will share our plans for more pervasive business transformation to ensure workers and businesses are future-ready via the Company Training Committees (CTCs) and the Operations and Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process.

NTUC Assistant Secretary-General brother Melvin Yong will offer insights on how we should respond to the Work-From-Anywhere and the Work-From-Home phenomena developing in our workforce. And brother Patrick Tay will also call to strengthen the Singaporean Core while Labour Member sister Yeo Wan Ling will advocate for better choices, potential and protection for women in the workplace.

Let me begin with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged segment of our workforce – the Lower Wage Workers. I will then talk about how the efforts of NTUC’s Training and Transformation Group in Training of our workforce and Transformation of businesses via the CTCs and OTR has been useful in our collective efforts to emerge stronger.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the consciousness of Singaporeans the important roles that essential services workers perform in our daily lives. Nurses and healthcare workers are not low-wage workers but they are perhaps the most visible and recognisable of all the frontline workers performing essential roles during the COVID-19 crisis. As a doctor, as a political officeholder in MOH and as a unionist, I certainly welcome Deputy Prime Minister Heng's announcement in this Budget that the salary of nurses and support care staff will be enhanced.

Unfortunately, many of our other essential workers have incomes at the bottom 20 percent of all wage earners. Singaporeans questioned the gap between their salaries and their contributions to society. Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and industry associations that the NTUC have engaged with, agree that lower wage workers should be paid a fair wage.

Consumers have also shared that they are willing to pay more, if lower wage workers can directly benefit though higher wages. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis in June 2020, a survey commissioned by The Sunday Times showed that eight in 10 Singaporeans are willing to pay up to 10% or 20% more for essential services, if the money goes to the workers.

This mirrors two separate surveys commissioned by the NTUC in late 2020. While consumers are willing to pay more for Progressive Wage Model, or PWM wages, we too need to guard against companies profiteering from these efforts. To do so, I suggest that a tripartite committee similar to the Committee Against GST Profiteering be formed. This tripartite set-up could investigate allegations of profiteering and ensure that any price increases flow into the hands of our lower wage workers.

This reflects the desire of Singaporeans for a fairer and more inclusive society that cares about the dignity of those who are less privileged. Building an inclusive and compassionate society is also a key thrust of this year’s Budget. Indeed, Every worker matters and every bit of effort counts.

Ensuring that those in the lower wage rungs get a fair wage must be a manifestation of a more inclusive society. There will always be a group at the lower end of the wage spectrum that we need to continually support. It is something that we will always have to keep working on. But starting at the "right" wage level is only the first step. If we just stop there, then we run the risk of wage and career stagnation over time. We must ensure that there is wage progression. We need to address the following four areas so that our sisters and brothers can start right and progress well in their careers.

First, narrow the wage difference between the 20th percentile or P20 earners and the median income or the 50th percentile or P50 earners; second, enhance Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) to provide an immediate uplift; third, expand sectoral PWM faster to cover more sectors; fourth, implement "vocational" PWM to cover remaining lower wage workers in job roles that are distributed across multiple sectors.

Let me elaborate on each of these four measures.

First, on the narrowing of the wage gap between the P20 and P50, via the PWM. The Labour Movement first championed the PWM in 2012 to help all workers across different sectors achieve sustainable real wage increases in tandem with skills upgrading and increased productivity levels.

Since then, through the combined efforts of the tripartite partners, 80,000 workers in the three mandatory PWM sectors of cleaning, security and landscaping have seen cumulative wage growth of around 30%, compared to 24% for workers at the 20th percentile of wages over the last five years. Lift and escalator workers will also soon enjoy mandated annual wage increases in 2022 in the fourth PWM that will become mandatory. I will share more on this later.

Building on the impact brought about by these three mandatory PWMs, I suggest three further enhancements that tripartite partners can consider.

First, include in-house cleaners and security officers in mandatory PWM. Currently, the mandatory PWMs for these sectors apply only to outsourced workers. Our sisters and brothers working as in-house cleaners and in-house security officers are not included in the PWMs. I propose that they should be included in the mandatory PWMs, so that those doing the same jobs should enjoy the same protection, progression and wages. This should be implemented as soon as possible because the framework and mechanisms are already there.

Second, the wage gap between the P20 and the P50 must be narrowed so that the wage and social stratification will not be too stark and lead to social fragmentation.

Today, the P20/P50 ratio is about 0.54, indicating that the P20 salary is only about half that of the median income earner. But 75% of OECD countries have a P20/P50 ratio of 0.67 or better, indicating that the P20 salary is at least two-thirds of the median income earners in these countries, suggesting a narrower wage gap. I can appreciate the different social economic situations and structures in different OECD countries that could account for these observed differences. But regardless of the reasons, NTUC hopes to see a greater range of salary increases for our lower wage workers over the next five to 10 years, so that cumulatively, our lower wage workers can close the wage gap with those earning median salaries in these sectors. Our sisters and brothers in the bottom 20%, should not become a social underclass.

I hope MOM and the tripartite workgroup will study this possibility and work on a mechanism to uplift their wages.

Third, repurpose the Wage Credit Scheme as transitional support for PWM implementation. Recognising that the current economic climate may be challenging for businesses and consumers to bear the costs of the faster rate of wage growth associated with PWM fully, NTUC calls on the Government to consider transitional support measures for companies coming on board the PWM to help with the increased wage costs.

Many SME bosses I spoke to are concerned about the additional wage costs they must bear. Furthermore, it takes a longer time for outsourced sectors, like the Lift and Escalator maintenance to implement mandatory PWMs, because companies need time for current contracts to run out and renegotiate contract prices based on new wage costs with their clients. This means that workers would have to wait a longer period to get their salaries uplifted.

I thus urge the Government to provide transitional support to companies, especially to our SMEs, who commit to paying PWM wages, to allow such workers to benefit from PWMs earlier, rather than later.

The Wage Credit Scheme has been extended in this Budget. I suggest the Government further consider repurposing the Wage Credit Scheme as a form of transitional wage support to help companies in new sectors implementing mandatory PWMs.

Next, let me talk about enhancing Workfare Income Supplement. While awaiting the wider implementation of the PWM, I hope that Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme can also be expanded to provide an immediate uplift. I hope the Government will consider removing the differentiation of the payout by age groups and base the WIS eligibility purely on income. For example, a worker aged 40, earning $1,500 a month gets an annual WIS payout of $1,704.

Another worker, 10 years older, aged 50, earning the same salary of $1,500 a month, gets an annual WIS payout of $2,496, an additional $792 more than the worker who is 10 years younger. The 40-year old worker is more likely to have younger dependants and would certainly benefit from a higher WIS payout to supplement his take home pay. I hope that every worker, every low-wage worker with similar earnings gets an equal uplift regardless of their age, to further strengthen our social compact.

In addition to the above recommendations, I call on the Government to shorten the income assessment period for WIS eligibility. Currently, the recipients must fulfil the WIS income ceiling criteria in the preceding 12 months before qualifying. This delays much needed support for lower wage workers. Shortening the income assessment period for Workfare will ensure that we continue to support our low-wage workers in a timely manner, leaving no one behind.

Thirdly, let me talk about expanding the coverage of PWM to more sectors. Sir, in 2018, the Government accepted the recommendations of the Lift and Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee to implement a PWM for this sector. My fellow Labour Member of Parliament, brother Melvin Yong, has been leading this effort since 2017. Following a three-year transition period, lift technicians will be the fourth group of workers to come under the mandatory PWM and enjoy higher salaries in 2022. Over 2,000 lift technicians in this sector will benefit from a more structured career progression and an uplift to their wages.

I recall the story of brother Dickson Tong, my Union Leader in Metal Industries Workers' Union (MIWU). Brother Dickson is a senior lift technician with Hitachi Elevator Asia. He remembered being rather fearful after being stuck in a lift when he was just five years old. To his young mind, the lift technician who came to his rescue was like a superhero. Imagine in a dark lift and the door opens, this lift technician has a halo of light around him, coming from the outside. This has inspired him to join the lift maintenance sector. In the past 20 years, as a lift technician, he kept up with the technological advances in his area of work, ensuring that he had the skills to stay relevant.

Now, with the recommendations of the Sectoral Tripartite Committee for Lift and Escalator sector, brother Dickson and other lift technicians can look forward to two career progression pathways: supervisory or specialist tracks, where skills are the benchmark for career progression with corresponding salary increases. The implementation of PWM in this sector will hopefully attract more new entrants for a more fulfilling career. Hopefully, we will have many more superheroes, amongst us, waiting to rescue anyone who may be stuck.

NTUC wants to speed up the implementation and expansion of PWM into six more sectors.

Last year, NTUC mooted for PWM for the Waste Management sector. Since the formation of the Tripartite Workgroup for Lower-Wage Workers (TWG-LWW) in October 2020, the Tripartite Cluster for Waste Management has been formed in January this year, to develop and implement a PWM for this sector. NTUC has also been pushing for a PWM in the Food Services sector since 2018.

In my recent engagement with business owners and members of the Restaurant Association of Singapore, many expressed support to raising the wages of the lower wage workers and are supportive of the PWM for this sector. We certainly hope to make progress in this aspect over the next two to three years.

The tripartite partners also see the potential in the Retail Trade sector. PWMs in food service and retail sectors will benefit a potential pool of about 70,000 workers. NTUC hopes that the Tripartite Clusters for these two sectors – food services and retail trade sectors – will be set up soon, with recommendations released by this year and implemented within the next two to three years.

The next sector, Strata Management. While most workers in this sector are technically not low-wage, a PWM for this sector can be an enabler for better progression and better work prospects for them. This is because their wages can remain quite stagnant due to the outsourcing nature of this industry. This could potentially benefit more than 5,000 workers in the strata management sector.

Another sector, Pest Management. NTUC will begin discussions with the relevant sector agencies on the key milestones for this year to implement a PWM in the sector, which could potentially benefit up to 3,000 workers. NTUC intends to submit our proposal to MOM by mid-2021.

The sixth sector, Solar Technology. Following the launch of the industry-led Career Development Plan (CDP) for the Solar Technology sector in December 2020, NTUC has also started discussions with the relevant associations to develop this CDP further into a PWM. Again, while this is technically not a low-wage sector, we believe a wage-skills ladder linked to productivity and career progression will be useful for this growing sector.

Let me talk about the fourth measure, which is a Vocational PWM to impact more job roles across multiple sectors.

During my last Parliamentary speech on the topic of PWM in October 2020, I proposed that beyond a sectoral PWM approach, the tripartite partners should also look at a "vocational PWM" for lower wage occupations that cut across multiple sectors to improve their wage prospects. Expanding the PWM efforts beyond the confines of the sectoral boundaries will allow larger groups of workers such as clerks and logistics drivers to benefit from the PWM to uplift their wages.

The skills framework for these vocations that has already been developed by the Tripartite partners together with SSG can form the basis for a "Vocational PWM" to be developed. This approach should also form a key outcome of the TWG-LWW discussions.

One key tenet of the PWM is sustainability, ensuring that the higher wages are coupled with higher skills and productivity. Training of workers and transformation of business is key.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now like to speak in Mandarin regarding NTUC's plans to actualise more pervasive business transformation to ensure workers and businesses are future-ready.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The NTUC Training and Transformation Group (T&T) set up in September 2019 aims to address this need by supporting the formation of Company Training Committees (CTCs) between companies and the unions. NTUC partnered A*STAR in the utilisation of the Operations Technology Roadmap (OTR) which facilitates the companies' transformation process and develops mid- and long-term business strategies and workforce training plans. To date, more than 600 CTCs have been formed with over 100 companies having already embarked on the OTR. Approximately 25% of companies are SMEs.

Last year, with many more companies seeing the need to transform and respond to the challenges and restrictions imposed by COVID-19, NTUC T&T developed a virtual/hybrid OTR in collaboration with A*STAR, leveraging on digital technology to assist companies in their transformation. Close to 60 companies undertook the OTR via a virtual or hybrid approach and we expect more to do so in the months ahead.

Beyond engaging individual companies in CTC and OTR, NTUC T&T has embarked on Sector OTRs working in close collaboration with Trade Associations.

An example of a sector OTR is with Waste Management sector between NTUC, the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees' Union (BATU), the Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore (WMRAS) and the National Environment Agency (NEA). Seventeen companies in the Waste Management Sector came together and developed a sector OTR in October 2020. Importantly, this sector OTR provided further impetus for the implementation of a PWM for the Waste Management sector last month, uplifting wages of 3,000 local workers.

Following the success of the sector OTR, NTUC T&T is engaging individual companies in WMRAS to form individual CTCs to develop their Company level OTR for customised action plans and deeper transformation of the companies.

In the next two years, NTUC Training and Transformation Group will reach out to more TACs and business groups to pursue Sector OTRs, including sectors like Food Services and Retail where there is a growing consensus to implement PWMs. We look forward to working closely with the respective TACs to advance our mutual interest of Training Workers and Transforming Businesses.

(In English): Sir, I will now conclude in English. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, a mandatory PWM or for that matter, a mandatory minimum wage will not guarantee employment for the unemployed because it is not a mandatory employment law that mandates employment.

Upskilling and ensuring our workers have the skills relevant to industry needs is an important aspect of the PWM that ensures employability. The PWM is minimum wage plus, because to the Labour Movement, the minimum is just not good enough. Why stop only at the minimum? We want to see progression of wages over time through upskilling.

A progressive wage is not about charity. A progressive wage is about recognising the dignity of our workers through their work. It is about paying a fair wage and ensuring that the wages of those in the bottom 20% keep pace with the rest of society.

The PWM implementation must move faster and wider in line with the aspirations of Singaporeans to build a more just, compassionate and inclusive society where we leave no one behind – every worker matters.

Together with our Training and Transformation efforts via the CTC and OTR, NTUC wants to make "Every Worker a Better Worker", make "Every Job a Better Job" and to match every "Better Worker to the Better Job", so that we can make "Every Company a Better Company". Only then, can we emerge stronger with a better economy and secure three wins all round for our tripartite partners and make Singapore a "Better Singapore for every Singaporean". Sir, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Chua, you have a clarification?

5.58 pm

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Just a short clarification on Member Shawn Huang's clarification earlier just now. I do recognise that the $6 billion assurance package does go some way to offset the GST increase for families up to between five and 10 years. But I think, thereafter, the reality of the higher GST will still hit them for the rest of their lives.

So, I think the starting point is then, there are progressive elements in our tax system and regressive elements. As what another Member, Ms Foo also said, perhaps we could look at wealth taxes being another option if we really do determine that a raise in tax in necessary.

But I think the broader point that I was raising in my speech is actually is the imposition of such a tax necessary in the first place, especially amidst the macro economic uncertainties.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Shawn Huang.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: Mr Deputy Speaker, I would just like to clarify on Mr Louis Chua's comments. I do not debate with him on the timeline, on the implementation, but just to say that in Singapore, we need to see the entire tax and benefit system as a holistic system, and that in itself, GST, yes, it is a regressive tax. But when you look at the entire system, it is progressive because of the way it is redistributed.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Let us move on. Mr Fahmi Aliman.

6.01 pm

Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman (Marine Parade): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this has traditionally been a time when as a country we outlined our direction and aspirations for the year ahead. It is especially poignant when the world is still dealing with the effects of COVID-19.

I am encouraged by the "Emerging Stronger Together" Budget and I am certain that I speak for both myself as well as my colleagues in the Labour Movement in supporting the response of the Government in helping all sectors of society.

As mentioned by our Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC Dr Koh Poh Koon, over the last one year, NTUC's key priority was on protecting our workers' livelihoods. Having said that, "Emerging Stronger Together" also means being aware of those with additional challenges, such as our lower wage essential workers and our foreign workers, and making sure they have the help they need so that we move together in unison.

COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed how we live and work, and it has prompted us to question the norms that we have become used to. One of these norms in question is the value our society have placed on the work of our brothers and sisters in essential services such as cleaning and security.

As we adjusted to our new normal, these everyday heroes stepped up despite the risks to their health and took on extra duties such as the additional sanitisation of high-touched surfaces and temperature screening, so that we can safely continue with our lives.

The formation of the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower Wage Workers is a step in the right direction in acknowledging their contributions to our country. Representatives from various stakeholder groups have come together in the tripartite workgroup in recognition of the importance of uplifting our lower wage workers, and NTUC will continue to contribute significantly to this conversation and champion our lower wage workers as it has always done.

The Labour Movement is sensitive to the concerns of these workers. We are cognisant, for example, that workers, especially those who earn lower wages, are concerned about their cash in hand to meet their daily needs. The Workfare Income Supplement or WIS has been a welcomed step, but I would like to once again call for the Government to consider providing a higher WIS payout to workers in the essential services to acknowledge their social value and the hardship faced in their line of work.

NTUC is also acutely aware from our interactions with essential service workers that many of them face barriers when it comes to training. This could be due to factors such as time constraints, lack of support from employers and even language barriers. As part of the tripartite workgroup, NTUC is committed to finding ways for workers to overcome these barriers and look forward to working with our partners to ensure that any worker who wants to upgrade their skillsets to remain relevant will be able to do easily. I would like to call on service buyers and service providers to provide ample opportunities for their workers to go for further training and upskilling. By providing adequate support to our workers, all of us will benefit from a more knowledgeable and professional workforce.

We have seen and heard how the Progressive Wage Models or PWMs have proved successful in uplifting around 80,000 workers in the Cleaning, Landscape Maintenance and Security sectors with its holistic approach. With it, workers have a clear sense of the skills needed to do their jobs and the skills they should attain to move up the career ladder. Companies have also benefited from better trained and skilled workers while service buyers benefit from a more professional workforce.

Despite this, we must acknowledge that the wages in these PWM sectors need to commiserate with the skills and the essential services provided by our workers. I applaud the announcement made by our Deputy Prime Minister recently to enhance the wages of our nurses and other healthcare workers such as the support care staff. This move is to be commended and underlines the important work of our healthcare workers.

On this note, I would like to call upon all the stakeholders involved in the PWM to take a hard look on the value of the jobs provided by our essential service workers and consequently increase PWM wages, so that all Singaporean workers are uplifted.

The reality is that in increasing the wages of our essential workers, consumers may have to pay more for their services. This is never an easy call to make but it is an important step towards a fairer and more enlightened society, where we ensure that all workers can live with dignity. To ease the initial transition, I would like to call on the Government to consider a form of transitional support to help service buyers in the interim as we adjust the wages of our essential workers to adequately acknowledge the value of their work to our society.

It is also timely that we look into other sectors where the PWM could benefit our workers. Just last month, it was announced that the PWM has been expanded to the Waste Management sector. NTUC had lobbied hard for the expansion into this sector and had engaged the associations and the relevant Government bodies to make this happen. This is an important step in recognising the efforts of around 3,000 unsung heroes and as the Chair of the Tripartite Cluster for Waste Management, I look forward to continuing with stakeholders to deliberate a PWM for this sector.

NTUC is also constantly looking at other sectors to cover more workers under the PWM. In 2019, it was announced that the pest management sector will be subsumed under the Environmental Services Industry Transformation Map in the hopes of transforming and uplifting the sector to provide good and sustainable jobs to Singaporeans. This marked a step in the right direction in acknowledging the integral role pest management plays in safeguarding public health in providing essential services such as preventing the spread of dengue, rodent and pest infestations. Despite this, more needs to be done as the sector is faced with many of the same challenges as that of other outsourced sectors such as stagnating wages, lack of manpower and poor public perceptions. For the industry to meet the rising demand and expectation of service standards for services, there is a need to build a strong and skilled professional local workforce.

In the Labour Movement’s interactions on the ground, we have also found that the workers in the Strata Management Sector take on the important and demanding task of managing estates and providing all with a conducive and safe environment for us to work and play, and their duties include the control, administration, maintenance and management of common property for the benefit of all. In 2019, the Facilities Management Implementation Committee was formed, comprising tripartite representatives to develop and implement strategies to create a more dynamic and professional industry. The Facilities Management Skills Framework was launched in September of last year to provide the industry with information on the occupations, skills and competencies, and the possible career pathways available. The development of an FMC Accreditation is also underway, which will encourage higher management competencies and skillsets for workers in the industry.

The introduction of a PWM can uplift these sectors and their workers with a clear career progression pathway, coupled with the relevant skills, improved productivity and the commensurate wages. NTUC will continue to lobby for the expansion of the PWM into other sectors and will work with the relevant stakeholders to make this a reality for more workers.

One clear step is to procure and support companies that have progressive practices. This admittedly may mean paying more, but we can and should be mindful of unethical companies who choose to undercut to win contracts at the expense of their workers. Workers in these situations can suffer by having their wages reset or their benefits cut at the onset of their employer taking on a new contract. Service buyers should also adopt outcome-based contracts or OBCs as a complement to PWM. OBCs prioritise the outcomes rather than simply warm bodies which allows service providers to use technology to make work safer and more efficient for workers. Besides, OBCs should incorporate clauses to minimise wages and benefit resets and abide by the principle of proportionality where liquidated damages should be proportionate to non-delivery of services.

While we look at wages and work prospects, the welfare of our workers is equally as important. I would like to encourage service buyers to set up proper rest areas for their outsourced workers in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Provision of Rest Areas for Outsourced Workers that was released in 2019. Outsourced workers should have access to proper and reasonable rest areas for their well-being. Services buyers will also benefit from well-rested workers who would be productive. I would also like to take this opportunity to call on the Government to issue a Gross Floor Area waiver for areas stipulated as rest areas to encourage more landlords to adopt the tripartite guidelines.

Another hard but necessary conversation that COVID-19 has sprung upon us is regarding our migrant workers. I will not be the first to thank our migrant workers for their hard work and their contributions to our country, all while working in difficult conditions far from their homes and loved ones. In working towards a more progressive and moral society, we must not forget our vulnerable brothers and sisters who have come here to do hard work so that we can continue to move forward.

Via the Migrant Workers' Centre, NTUC mobilised together with our other stakeholders during the lockdowns at the dormitories to ensure that the migrant workers continued to have the necessities they needed and also reassured them that they had the full support of Singaporeans in tiding through the crisis.

One of the issues that the crisis brought to light was the immediate need to improve the living conditions of our migrant workers. While many changes have been made to make the dormitories safer and safe-distancing measures have been put in place, there remains a need for us at this time to review how foreign worker dormitories are regulated, and if these regulations should be enhanced.

The Foreign Employee Dormitories Act or FEDA ensures that the accommodations of our foreign workers are regulated and must comply with a list of requirements to ensure the health and safety of their residents. However, FEDA only applies to larger dormitories that accommodate 1,000 or more workers. I would like to call upon the Government to consider a review of this policy and increase the scope to dormitories that house lesser than 1,000 workers. This move would ensure that more or all the foreign workers in Singapore will be housed in accommodations that are regulated and meet the minimal provisions for their health and safety.

During the lockdown, it was also brought to NTUC’s attention that many foreign workers faced difficulties in remitting money to continue to support their families back home, many of whom were in more dire straits due to the global pandemic. This was a distressing problem for our migrant brothers, despite the simple solution by ensuring that all migrant workers are paid electronically. This is not a novel solution. Employers of S Pass holders, for example, are required to pay salaries electronically, start the electronic payments within three months of the issue of the S Pass and maintain a record of salary payments. Extending this requirement to migrant workers would not only make it easier for these workers to manage their finances electronically, but also protect these workers from being exploited as all salary payments are recorded.

NTUC has long looked after the welfare of our migrant workers. An example is NTUC's MWC working with MOM’s ACE to materialise the Settling-in Programme at the various onboarding centres. While this has been a challenging project, NTUC has stepped up and is ready and willing to work with MOM towards building a robust system for future new entries to protect the workers as well as the greater community. The MWC has also 5,000 ambassadors in the more than 1,000 dormitories in our volunteer network, and we are constantly looking for ways to scale up to support any new initiatives and programmes that can benefit our migrant workers. This network has helped us reach out to our migrant workers and we will continue to work hard so that we can push on in fighting for their rights and welfare. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, please allow me to speak in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In summary, I spoke today about how the Labour Movement has always championed our workers. We have worked even harder for them during the COVID-19 pandemic and we will continue working to overcome this crisis together. I have called for:

(a) The Government to consider providing a higher WIS payout to workers in the essential services to acknowledge their social value and the hardship faced in their line of work

(b) I have called on Service Buyers and Service Providers to provide ample opportunities for their workers to undergo training in order to enhance their skills. By providing adequate support to our workers, all of us will benefit from a more knowledgeable and professional workforce.

As for the PWM, I would like to call upon all stakeholders to consider the value of the jobs and increase the PWM wages so that the lives of all Singaporean workers are uplifted. I would also like to call on the Government to consider transitional support to help service buyers as we adjust workers’ wages to commensurate with the value of their work. I have also asked for the PWM to be expanded to other sectors like the pest management and strata management sectors.

In terms of workers’ welfare, I would like to encourage service buyers to set up rest areas for their workers in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Provision of Rest Areas for Outsourced Workers, and would also like to take this opportunity to call on the Government to issue a Gross Floor Area waiver for areas stipulated as rest areas to encourage more buildings to set up rest areas.

I also spoke about migrant workers and would like to call upon the Government to consider a review of FEDA and increase the scope to dormitories that house lesser than 1,000 workers, to ensure that more or all the foreign workers in Singapore will be housed in accommodations that are regulated and meet the minimal provisions for their health and safety. I also said that mandatory electronic payments for migrant workers will not only make it easier for these workers to manage their finances electronically but also protect migrant workers from being exploited as all salary payments are recorded.

(In English): In conclusion, we have come a long way since the first few cases of COVID-19 appeared on our shores. There is still a long way to go and, inevitably, there will be challenges along the way. However, as a country, we have weathered similar storms and emerged stronger. The Government and NTUC are committed to helping workers every step of the way and will continue our fight for a fairer and more progressive society for all because every worker matters. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Gerald Giam, you have a clarification of a Member who has spoken previously?

6.20 pm

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have a clarification for Senior Minister of State Koh based on his speech just now.

I believe Senior Minister of State Koh mentioned in October last year that after implementing the PWM for the cleaning, security and landscaping sectors, there will be a residual 100,000 workers who are still earning less than $1,300 a month. With the new six sectors added to the PWM fold, how many workers will still be earning less than $1,300 a month?

Secondly, how many workers will be covered under this vocational PWM that he has just proposed? And are there any plans to include self-employed and daily-rated workers under the PWM?

And lastly, what is the timeline for the rollout of the PWM to these six new sectors plus the vocational PWM?

Mr Deputy Speaker: Senior Minister of State Koh.

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for asking those clarifications. These are questions that we are also working out in the tripartite workgroup because each and every sector will require a discussion with the relevant stakeholders, both on the employers' side and the other agencies, to determine which particular job roles we want to include in the PWM. So, the numbers will not be something that we can tell offhand. There is a process to discuss, and also how, in the vocational type of PWM, we have yet to define what exactly are the vocations that we want to go into.

It is not something that you can just say that we want to do so. But we need to get more data, working with the relevant stakeholders. So, give us some time. We will come back – I suppose at some point – to this House and, certainly, the tripartite workgroup will release a stronger recommendation with more details towards the end of the process.

Mr Deputy Speaker: I will allow one more clarification, Mr Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Sir, I just want to get some sense of the kind of timeline that the NTUC and the Government are looking at to implement PWM across all these different sectors. I understand that things are still in the works, but what is the kind of rough timeline? Is it five years, 10 years or 20 years?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, as I have said earlier my speech, NTUC hopes that we can get traction within the next two to three years and, certainly, we want to uplift and close the wage gaps for the P20 and P50, hopefully within the next five to 10 years. And for different sectors, some may be more ready to implement earlier, some may take a little bit more time because either the wage structure or the skills framework needs to be more tightly stitched together.

Also, for certain sectors, it could be the transitional period required because there could be contractual issues that we need to work with from the employers' side of the house. But, certainly, as I have mentioned in my speech earlier, for the six sectors, the majority of them, we hope to make some progress in the next two to three years.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.

6.24 pm

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Pioneer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of Budget 2021. I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for a 4F Budget. One that is Focused, Forward Looking, For businesses and, most importantly, For workers.

I wish to make a special highlight for a segment of our workforce which the current downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted immensely. They are the Professionals, Managers and Executives, PMEs in short, in Singapore, especially those in their 40s to 60s.

Total retrenchment numbers have reached an all-time high of about 26,000 in 2020, compared with just less than 11,000 in 2019. It is noteworthy that in 2019, about 60% of those retrenched were PMETs and, in the latest Q3 2020 figures, about 50% of those retrenched were PMETs. By the same token, about 62% of the retrenched resident PMETs re-entered the workforce within six months of their displacement in 2019 whereas in the latest Q3 2020 figures, only about 55% of retrenched resident PMETs re-entered the workforce within six months.

The NTUC-SNEF PME Taskforce, which was formed end 2020, has started to engage PMEs to better understand their concerns and priorities in the past three months. We found that PMEs are particularly concerned with job security and employability.

A recent survey conducted by the taskforce with 3,500 PMEs across varying ages, professions and gender revealed that six in 10 PMEs felt that they needed protection against job losses, and seven in 10 expressed the need for more support in employment opportunities.

The taskforce also conducted a series of Focus Group Discussions, which are still on-going, with various segments of PMEs from the young to the not-so-young, including our union leaders. The PMEs we met highlighted the concerns of unfair hiring practices, workplace discrimination, career progression, as well as health and mental wellness issues. Many also shared their personal anecdotes on difficulties in getting employed due to their age, inability to land a job despite undergoing training, as well as coping with disruption and the next normal.

Despite that, it was encouraging to hear that many of our PMEs recognised and acknowledged the importance of continued upskilling, reskilling and multi-skilling to ride the wave of disruption and to stay relevant in the labour market.

In fact, 81% of those surveyed attended training over the last three years and 98% agreed that companies should proactively send their employees for training to stay relevant.

Against the current economic climate and the challenges that COVID-19 has brought about, I cannot help but emphasise the need to put Singaporeans at the heart of our policies and programmes that impact their employment and employability – in short, their lives and livelihoods.

For a start, more must be done to better protect vulnerable PMEs who are in their 40s to 60s. We need support from both Government and employers to ensure that they are not discriminated at workplaces, have fair access to PME roles, as well as training and progression opportunities.

It is, therefore, timely to review, expand, extend and tighten related schemes, laws, policies and programmes which can better protect and support PMEs in the areas of employment and employability to ensure fairness and inclusivity. In this regard, I have three suggestions.

One, tougher measures to strengthen the Singaporean Core. While many of us recognise the contribution of foreign PMEs to Singapore’s economy and reasons why we need them, there remains a ground concern that the reliance on foreign PMEs has led to an unnecessary increase in competition in the job market and employment. To safeguard the Singaporean Core and curb discriminatory hiring, we must ensure that Singaporean PMEs have access to a level-playing field for jobs while balancing companies’ manpower needs in the intermediate and longer term.

The qualifying salaries of both the Employment Pass and S Pass holders were recently raised in 2020. But this needs to be regularly reviewed and raised in line with rising median wages of PMETs.

The problem is that some PMETs view the increase in qualifying salaries as "raising" minimum wages for foreign talents. There are also ground concerns pointing to employers who raise the salaries or repackage the compensation and benefits of their foreign PMETs to comply with the rules, and not give similar pay hikes to the Singaporean PMETs who work alongside these foreign PMETs performing similar or even same jobs. This results in serious parity issues. We also hear that there are employers who "downgraded" their Employment Pass holders performing the same job functions to S-Pass to "comply" with the policy changes.

We therefore need to look at ways to further strengthen the S Pass criteria and conditions to prevent such a back-door approach.

This also means we need continued stricter enforcement against errant companies with a weakening Singaporean Core, especially those who continue to be "triple weak" – companies with highly disproportionate number of foreign PMEs, weak commitment to nurture and strengthen the Singaporean Core, and weak relevance to Singapore's economy and society.

Besides administrative and penal sanctions that are already in place and can be enhanced, I have lobbied before in this House and am highlighting again that enforcement can come in the form of revealing or publishing the "triple weak" watchlist which Ministry of Manpower and Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) maintain, so that the potential reputational loss would serve as a deterrence.

We can also impose mandatory audits and penalties, such as removing preferential tax and other benefits, including curtailment of the award of public sector contracts on companies with discriminatory hiring practices and high proportion of grievance cases if no improvement is made within a stipulated time period.

To strengthen the Singaporean Core, employers must ensure locals have fair access to PME roles and progression opportunities. I agree and support when Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the principle of "complementarity" when it comes to hiring of foreign manpower. Often, employers bring in foreign PMEs to fill skills or knowledge gaps in their current workforce. As such, it is imperative that we monitor and ensure concerted, structured and institutionalised skills and knowledge transfer from these foreign PMEs to our local PMEs within a stipulated and agreed timeframe. Employers must also have clear development plans to grow the Singaporean Core and build a pipeline of locals to fill roles at all levels of the hierarchy including the top.

Anecdotally, some companies increase the hire of only the entry-level Singaporean PMEs to increase the workforce size to circumvent the issue of a disproportionate percentage or number of foreign PMEs. Besides employers and businesses, employment agents and agencies operating locally and also overseas, and hiring for PME roles in Singapore must also be closely scrutinised to ensure they keep within the boundaries of the law and eradicate unfair recruitment practices.

Two, anti-discrimination legislation. By the same token and in the spirit of strengthening the Singaporean Core and cases of preference for foreign PMEs, which is a form of nationality discrimination, we also continue to hear anecdotally of ageism, especially from the mature PMEs we speak to, as well as other forms of discrimination impacting workers, such as in relation to gender, disability and race and so on.

Perhaps, it is time for us to seriously deep dive and consider, beyond mere tripartite advisories, guidelines and standards, to promulgate anti-discrimination legislation to give a stronger set of teeth to existing institutions like TAFEP which has done well in educating, promoting and encouraging fair and progressive hiring practices since its set-up. Such a legislation could send a stronger signal than the current tripartite standards and guidelines, to send a clear deterrence, give TAFEP wider powers and eradicate all forms of discrimination and discriminatory practices at workplaces by employers as well as employment agents or agencies.

Third, transitionary insurance, also known as unemployment insurance. As we have seen in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many sectors and workers have been affected. In fact, the Government had to set aside a budget of $100 billion to save businesses and save jobs and to provide income relief and assistance to those affected by retrenchment or severe wage cuts. In this regard, and having gleaned from the various recessions and downturns, including this current downturn, it may be timely for us to consider introducing some form of transitionary insurance, commonly referred to as unemployment insurance, to help workers affected by retrenchments and job loss.

I agree with Prof Hoon Hian Teck and I am cognisant that there is a need to do a deeper dive and examine the mechanics and the actuarial viability and sustainability of such a scheme. There are important considerations, such as the trigger event, premium amounts, duration and amount of payouts, whether it should be made compulsory to avoid self-selection, how we price the risk, the need for a critical mass or universality and whether it is to be implemented by any of our tripartite partners or all three partners together or by a private sector entity or a social enterprise.

Notwithstanding, we have seen such a scheme work well in countries like Germany and in some of the Scandinavian countries without causing excessive burdens on governments, employers and employees alike. There could also be a possibility to explore and seed fintech or an insurtech start-ups to come up with such a scheme but with strong support from tripartite partners especially the Government in the form of seed funding and support as well as co-funding. Mr Deputy Speaker, in Chinese.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, this year's budget is a targeted, forward-looking Budget, designed to help businesses and workers. I am most concerned about our mature PMEs. When implementing the schemes and roadmaps, I hope that we can, first, build a workforce with a Singaporean Core; second, promulgate anti-discrimination legislation to eliminate workplace discrimination; third, explore the possibility of unemployment insurance so that workers can have some basic protection when unemployed.

(In English): We recognise the growing need to ensure PMEs are adequately protected, have access to good jobs and are equipped with the relevant skills. As we prepare for the next normal, it is important that we continue to entrench progressive and fair practices at workplaces and extend schemes to support local PMEs, especially the vulnerable workers because every worker matters.

The Labour Movement and our unions can support local PMEs by working closely with employers to put in place multi-faceted support and strategies to enhance one's job security and skills security through our Company Training Committees and Job Security Council.

However, it continues to be crucial to level the playing field for our Singaporean PMEs, strengthen the Singaporean Core, eradicate all forms of discrimination through tougher measures and targeted legislation and support PMEs and workers in general, to transit effectively and less painfully between jobs.

In conclusion, the tripartite partners, Government, employers and the Labour Movement need to embrace the changes and disruptions with the right attitude and right mindset to see this period not as a threat but as an opportunity to re-invent and transform and test new boundaries and innovations.

To put it simply, we need to prepare ourselves with new skills, pivot to new industries and jobs and persevere amidst the next normal. I thank our fellow workers who had stood strong, united and remained resilient in the past year. I hope we will upturn the downturn this year, build back better and emerge stronger. I support this Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Deputy Leader, Zaqy Mohamad.

Debate resumed.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.

6.39 pm

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Budget, which seeks to help all segments of our economy – workers, businesses and households – to rebound strongly from the devastating impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, I support the Government's proposal to set aside $11 billion under the COVID-19 Resilience Package to support workers and businesses, especially for sectors that are still under duress. The extension of the Jobs Support Scheme and the COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund, for example, will go a long way to assist our brothers and sisters in the aviation, tourism and point-to-point transport sectors.

But while we continue to provide support to affected sectors, we need to also address new macro trends that are developing in our workforce and at our workplaces. I will focus on two of them in my speech today. They are the phenomena of Work-From-Anywhere and the Work-From-Home.

In his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister spoke briefly about workplace trends and hinted how in the not-too-distant future, Singaporeans will be able to work from anywhere in the world, with just a laptop. I cannot agree more with the Deputy Prime Minister. In fact, I would argue that the Work-From-Anywhere trend is already happening today.

This ability to work from anywhere is both an excellent opportunity, as well as a serious threat for Singapore and Singaporeans. How so?

Competition for jobs will increase and this will no longer just be limited to talents located in Singapore. Instead, competition can come from literally anywhere in the world. What kind of jobs will be at risk? With seamless connectivity, supported by 5G technology, every job is at risk. But Singapore has never feared competition, even in the darkest of times. Instead, we learn, we adapt and we always strive to do better than the competition.

To prepare Singapore for the eventuality of global competition, we will need to re-think our key manpower policies. Will our Work Pass and Employment Pass regime remain relevant when companies no longer need employees to be physically based in one location to perform the work? How long will this conventional system of balancing our local-foreign workforce mix continue to serve us?

But it is not all bad news. The ability to work from anywhere will bring the world closer to Singaporeans. A good example is James Kwa, a Business Development Manager at Asia Market Entry, a consultancy company that partners with the Economic Development Board to bring investments into Singapore. Prior to the pandemic, James had to travel up to three times a week to meet and attract technology companies to set up shop in Singapore. But his company had to innovate due to the global shutdown in air travel. James now hosts overseas companies virtually through a suite of video content and video conferencing tools. When the pandemic is over, James and his company intend to continue hosting clients virtually, as the time saved from travelling allows them to showcase Singapore to even more clients.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we must not underestimate the pace of transformation. By 2035, technological advances will have a major impact on the social and economic foundations of society. Today, we are already seeing an increase in the popularity of online project management tools, such as Asana, which allows managers to remotely manage team members based anywhere in the world. As technologies like 5G and autonomous robotics begin to proliferate, governments will have to confront a major dilemma – how much of the country's key economic activities will be permitted to be run by companies and operated by a growing workforce domiciled elsewhere?

Our public officers will need adapt in the face of such major developments. But how many of our public officers today are ready to take on the challenges for tomorrow? Are our public service schemes ready for the day where life expectancies in Singapore reach well over 90 years? I will speak more about the pressing need for our Public Service to take the lead in remaining adaptable during the COS debate.

We also need to invest in the right public service infrastructure to seize the opportunities of tomorrow. While I am heartened that the Government will commit 1% of our GDP, or about $25 billion, over the next five years to invest in research and innovation, we need to ask ourselves: is this ambitious enough?

According to the latest list of the world's top 500 supercomputers, the processing power of Singapore's fastest supercomputer is ranked at 390th in the world. Contrast this to January 2017, just four years ago, when our first supercomputer, the Aspire 1, was then ranked 115th in the world. Have we lost pace in the development of deep technology infrastructure? What can we do to catch up?

6.45 pm

There is also an urgent need to re-look at SkillsFuture. Since its launch, less than 24% of eligible Singaporeans have utilised their SkillsFuture Credits. Clearly, we have hit a point of marginal returns. We need to thoroughly review the SkillsFuture Credits programme and tweak the objectives of the programme to equip Singaporeans with future-ready skills.

Mr Deputy Speaker, training for jobs of the future is not as daunting as it sounds. During my multiple visits to our Autonomous Vehicle (AV) trials locally, I met Ken Chia, a member of the National Transport Workers’ Union. Ken is a bus captain who is now a certified AV operator. When the AV is in operation, Ken’s responsibility is to ensure the safety of his passengers, and to take over manual control of the vehicle when needed.

Instead of a conventional steering wheel, Ken uses a small hand-held console comprising two joysticks. He jokingly said that it was easy for him, as he played plenty of video games during his teenage days. But in reality, the initial training was anything but easy for Ken. More comfortable with the Chinese language, he had a tough time understanding the original training content, as it was taught in English by a French instructor! But the company stepped in and the training materials were translated into Chinese for him. The lessons were also adapted to provide more hands-on training.

Ken is a good example of a worker who is already performing a job of the future. Every worker matters. And the Labour Movement is committed to helping every worker transform and be ready to take on the jobs of tomorrow,

Mr Deputy Speaker, COVID-19 has caused a fundamental shift to our workplace culture, with many companies allowing their employees to telecommute; and local banks, such as DBS and UOB, have already committed to make flexi-work arrangements a permanent policy post-pandemic. Working from home, however, has brought along its own set of challenges, relating to space and care-giving needs.

First, being productive while you work from home requires sufficient space. Parents will know what I mean. Without a dedicated area to work, we are easily distracted with our children and by other things in the house that need our attention. Unfortunately, space is increasingly difficult to come by.

In the 1980s, a 4-room HDB Model "A" flat would come with a floor area of between 105 to 108 sqm. Today, new 4-room HDB flats have a floor area of 90 sqm. HDB flats have shrunk in size, understandably, due to the reduction in our average household in size. But with more working and learning from home, is it time for us to return to building bigger HDB flats once again? An extra 15 sqm can provide Singaporeans with a study room that can also double up as a home office.

Second, let us provide better support to care-givers. For many, working from home also means juggling work with care-giving needs. These informal care-givers are often disadvantaged in their careers and retirement adequacy. But we have an opportunity to change this. According to a Straits Times survey, eight in 10 workers in Singapore prefer to work from home or have flexible work arrangements. With this new normal of working from home, we need to encourage more employers to adopt flexible work arrangements. This will allow care-givers to concurrently work and care for their loved ones, without having to make the difficult decision to choose one over the other.

In Radin Mas, we are building an eco-system to support our residents with care-giving needs. Last year, we brought some of NTUC's most experienced career coaches to the community centre to help those who need career guidance and job placement services. This has been particularly helpful for care-givers who had left work for a period of time and were struggling to return to the workforce.

Today, I am happy to announce the new Jobs Closer to Home programme. This is a pilot partnership between the NTUC and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, to help residents in Radin Mas find jobs closer to home – more specifically, within a 5-km radius of the constituency. Residents with care-giving needs often tell me that they cannot afford a long commute to work. With this initiative, we hope to plug this gap and help match our residents with nearby companies. Most jobs on offer today are just a short bus ride away.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Budget 2021 will be the first time in our history that we are drawing on our reserves for a second consecutive financial year. This is an unprecedented move that befits the unprecedented crisis that we are facing.

As we tackle the twin challenges brought about by the pandemic and the macro global trends affecting our workplaces, I am confident that the resources set aside in this Budget will spur transformation among our workers and our businesses. The extension and enhancements made to the Jobs Growth Incentive will help all segments of workers, including mature workers, persons with disabilities, as well as ex-offenders, to transit into jobs in growth sectors.

The Labour Movement stands united with the Government in helping Singapore emerge stronger together from the shadows of the pandemic and tap on the opportunities that the future holds. With that, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Abdul Samad.

6.52 pm

Mr Abdul Samad (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, I will be speaking as a union leader and a workers' representative.

First, let me begin by stating that I welcome the Budget as it supports businesses and workers to adapt and grow in a post-COVID-19 world. I am especially heartened by the additional wage support through the extension of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) to support our workers in the hard-hit sectors. I would like to also express their hope that the JSS will be extended further should the situation not improve.

I would like to touch on three topics, namely: Strengthening Singaporean Core; Workforce transformation through training; and expanding the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to other sectors, beyond those sectors where there are a higher proportion of low-wage workers.

Singapore's only natural resource is our people, and safeguarding jobs for Singaporeans must continue to be our key focus. I am encouraged by the various measures in the past and current Budgets to strengthen the Singaporean Core.

While we keep our economy open and have foreign workers to augment our local workforce, we must create more employment opportunities for our locals and continue to strengthen our Singaporean Core at both the sectoral and company levels. I would like to share some good examples.

In my engagements with fellow union leaders from NTUC's Oil, Petrochemical, Energy and Chemicals cluster, we do have a strong Singaporean Core in the sector's unionised companies, with a 70% local workforce. The local and foreign talent complement has also resulted in high reliability standards that the sector is known for. In specifically the power sector, we have a stronger Singaporean Core with a local workforce of more than 90%. In Singapore Power (SP) Group, where I am working, there is a local workforce of more than 95%.

The employment practices in this sector to build the Singaporean Core can be a learning model for other companies to emulate. Here, I would like to call on all employers to make the local workforce your employee of choice and ensure skills transfer to the local workers to moderate reliance on foreign labour.

Perhaps, our Government can consider putting in place policies or incentives to recognise companies who build a stronger Singaporean Core and develop their local workforce across all levels, through positive differentiation among companies who do not. There are many manpower policies that are at the disposal of MOM to achieve this intended outcome of developing a Singaporean Core.

My next topic is about workforce transformation through training.

Having a strong Singaporean Core includes ensuring that their skills remain relevant. This brings me to my second point which is about the importance of training has shifted from equipping workers with today’s skills to preparing the workers for the jobs of tomorrow. Unions are committed to work with employers to help our workers build their capabilities, upgrade their skills and transform by setting up Company Training Committees.

For instance, the Union of Power and Gas Employees where I have the privilege to be the General-Secretary, has collaborated with SP Group in their mission to develop future skills roadmap to enhance the employability of the workforce. Launched in 2018, Project Fusion, which stands for "Future Skills in Everyone", looks at how will current jobs change, what are the new jobs, what are the future skills, and how can our workers learn these future skills. It is a holistic approach to future-proof the workforce.

I urge employers to take the lead in the development of workers to meet the evolving needs of your industry by identifying relevant future skills and taking advantage of the economic downturn to train and transform your workers. NTUC can support by working with the companies to facilitate an Operation Technology Roadmap workshop to identify strategic technological changes and training needed to help the company transform.

Skills upgrading must go hand in hand with productivity improvement and career advancement to ensure sustainable wage increases. Workers who are performing higher value-added jobs should look forward to better wages, welfare and work prospects, in line with the productivity gains. This can be achieved through the PWM, which leads to my third topic for today.

PWM was launched in June 2012 to enable workers to achieve sustainable wage increases through the acquisition of better skills and higher productivity. While it has thus far been implemented in low-wage outsourced sectors, including cleaning, security and landscape, the PWM is applicable to all sectors and PME jobs as well.

In fact, many of the unionised companies in the Oil, Petrochemicals, Energy and Chemical industries have a structured career development plan for their employees that is mapped to skills and salary ladder. This is akin to the PWM's value proposition and has allowed many workers to achieve sustainable wage growth through upskilling and career progression.

I believe every responsible employer has a career development plan for their workers. Beyond having that career development plan reside in the individual company, I would like to echo NTUC’s aims to have PWM in more sectors and call for sectoral agencies to work with employers, unions and professional associations to implement the model, beyond the existing mandatory sectors.

The sectoral level PWM will allow workers to have the visibility of the career pathways and salary progression in tandem with the skill upgrading and productivity improvements. Workers will have sight of the career and salaries that the sector has to offer them as well as the required skills and training. This will provide a useful roadmap to attract fresh graduates, mid-career switchers, develop and retain locals in the sector.

During downturns, the visibility of the sectoral PWM’s skills will facilitate cross-function, cross-company and cross-sector mobility for workers from restructuring companies to companies that are hiring.

As shared, NTUC is in talks with the relevant stakeholders to develop a PWM for the Solar Energy Sector. With Singapore aiming to achieve almost five times the current solar usage by 2030 and together with the industry career development plan for Solar Technologists, a PWM for this sector would provide a clearer career development and wage progression plan as this sector develops a Singapore Core.

With all the above effort and examples, I hope to see more sectors come onboard and implement the PWM! Let me now say a few words in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The extension of the Jobs Support Scheme or JSS into the aviation, aerospace and tourism sectors is truly welcomed by the trade unions in those sectors. They also hope that it can be extended further if the economy remains sluggish.

In fact, they also hope that the Government constantly monitors this situation and continues to implement measures to reopen the sector with international partners, so that the industry can resume its activities.

On this note, the Labour Movement wished to express their appreciation to all companies that retain and support their workers through the Jobs Support Scheme. As far as possible, please avoid any retrenchment because when a worker loses his job, it will impact the whole family's finances, and not just the worker's.

Make use this time instead to send your workers for training to upgrade their skills and to identify new skills that you will need, so that your workers are better equipped for any new job in the future. Among the skills needed right now and in the future are the various technology-related skills such as digital skills, data analysis, artificial intelligence and so on. Employers need to identify the type of skills required from their employees when identifying the type of training required.

We always hear about workers having difficulty or refusing to undergo training. That is a misconception. Please do not blame the workers entirely on this issue of training. Actually, our hope is that such training will enhance our status as workers in order for us to have good careers, better welfare and a better working environment. In fact, we also hope that, after undergoing training, our salaries will increase in line with improvements in our productivity.

Besides training, the labour unions call on the Government to encourage employers to build a strong Singapore core in their workforce not just in terms of numbers, but also in term of skills and capabilities as well as competitiveness.

It will be even better if the Government can incentivise employers with a strong Singaporean core in their workforce.

Having a strong Singaporean core will encourage and motivate Singaporean core workers to upgrade their skills and compete hard to secure employment opportunities.

(In English): I would like to close my speech by making two key points. First, NTUC will continue to help workers of all collars, ages and nationalities achieve gainful employment through better jobs and a better living through higher wages, so that they can live a better life.

We call on the Government to continue formulating and implementing labour policies that aim to develop a globally competitive workforce and a great workplace, for a cohesive society and a secure economic future for all Singaporeans.

To our employers, who are tuning into this Budget debate, we hope that you will do your part to transform your business, enhance productivity and competitiveness and upskill your workers for future jobs. This is Singapore’s Tripartism Model!

Finally, this pandemic has been with us since early 2020 and there is still no sign it will go away anytime soon. As a union leader and on behalf of all my fellow sisters and brothers in the Labour Movement, I would like to take this opportunity to express our utmost appreciation to all my fellow essential service workers, be it in healthcare, cleaning, security, transport, telecommunication, nearer to my heart – power and gas, even water. Thank you, thank you very much for your unwavering commitment, dedication and resilience to serve our country and our people during this pandemic. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How.

7.06 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Mr Heng Chee How): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join this debate.

The impact of COVID-19 on the world and on Singapore has been tremendous. While we in Singapore have kept fatalities to a minimum, the devastating effect of the pandemic on the economy and on our livelihoods is obvious.

In order to buffer the impact, the Government rolled out five Budgets last year and spent close to $100 billion to help businesses cut costs and to help workers save jobs. If not for that decisive and massive action, the GDP drop last year would not be the minus 5.4%; it would be something more like minus 12.4%. And it is not just the percentage points; that will convert into jobs loss, families impacted. So, I think it is important for us to recognise what that massive action has helped stave off, in terms of suffering, for fellow Singaporeans.

For 2021, whilst we must continue to look after our jobs and businesses, and contain the negative impact of the pandemic, we cannot just do that. We must, at the same time, look at how to get back on track for the future. And this is the theme of this year's Budget, "Emerging Stronger Together".

"Emerging Stronger Together" is not a slogan. It is not a nice-to-have, it is crucial. Why? Let me break it down into why it is important to emerge stronger and why it is important to emerge together.

First, why is it necessary to emerge stronger. The $100 billion from our reserves, once it is spent, it is spent. We all know that we cannot count on an endless $100 billion. Never mind what size of our reserves but we would not have an endless $100 billion to keep on spending time after time to block pain. We must also assume that there will be future downturns that will come our way. In what way, in what form, what triggers it, we do not know, but come they will, one day. Therefore, we have to find sustainable ways to replenish our national kitty. Our reserves are like the airbag in our car. If we used it, we have to refill it. Otherwise, the next accident, we may not survive so well.

Second, the global low interest rate environment is likely to persist for some time. Major economies will use fiscal and monetary policies to keep their economies going to avoid the recession, amid a tepid inflationary environment. Now, what this means is that the returns we can expect from investments are likely to stay low. As we all know, we already used a good proportion of our NIRC to fund Government expenditure. And if the outlook is so, then we cannot just plan on the basis that what we do not want to spend out of our reserves, should the need be that we will naturally get it from increased investment income. We cannot plan on that basis.

Third, whereas on the revenue and the money side, we have to more careful, but the need for the Government to spend more in upgrading our infrastructure, as so many Members have explained, in the different sectors is clear. And so is the crucial need to continue investing in our people and taking better care especially of our ageing local population and our workforce in an increasingly volatile environment. That need will only go up. It is a reality that we cannot escape, be it structural. To do that spending, we have to find the money somehow.

These reasons and factors converge to make it imperative that we go back into maintaining a laser-sharp focus on transforming our economy and to get growth going again. Otherwise, Singapore will be hard pressed to find or to create the resources that we need for that national journey ahead. That is why we must emerge stronger.

Why must we emerge together? As we seek ways to emerge stronger, we must also ensure that we do so together. And I can think of two reasons, at least.

First, we must plan on not leaving any group behind as we emerge stronger. When we say in the Labour Movement "Every worker matters", that is Labour Movement. For Singapore, every Singaporean matters. This is key to our national, social cohesion and stability.

Second, we must enlist the contribution from every group, every segment and every individual toward emerging stronger and staying resilient and self-reliant. The more we can do so, the more we will strengthen national resource creation and moderate the rise in Government welfare expenditure or the need to bring forth more taxation.

How to emerge stronger together in the context of the senior worker – that will be the focus of my speech today, Mr Deputy Speaker.

With regard to senior workforce, I would like to propose five measures in order for us to emerge stronger together.

First, continue to save jobs and create jobs. Sir, I thank the Government very much for the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI), the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, the enhanced Wage Credit Scheme and the Senior Employment Credit Scheme. I name all these because sometimes they get lost as we look at the overall Budget. But I just want everybody to remember that all these schemes were rolled out purposefully in order to make a difference to the employment and employability of all our workers, senior workers included. They have given much breathing room to firms in 2020 and have helped thousands of workers keep jobs. This has enabled the overall employment rate for our senior workers to remain stable last year. In fact, for the age band 65 and above, the employment rate last year went up by 0.9-percentage points, compared to 2019. I therefore fully support the fine-tuned extension of these schemes in this year's Budget to continue to save jobs and lighten the load on firms.

At the same time, Mr Deputy Speaker, I must also point out that for the distressed sectors such as aerospace, aviation and retail, senior workers have experienced significant impact through non-offers or non-renewals of re-employment contracts as the firms downsized. It would not be easy for such displaced senior workers to find new work.

I therefore urge more Government support in order to step up specific, industry-focused efforts to help senior workers in these distressed sectors to keep their jobs, or if not, then to proactively be retrained and placed into jobs in other sectors and industries.

Two, press on with agreed timetable to raise statutory retirement and re-employment ages and CPF contributions. The tripartite partners have taken to legislation to ensure older workers have the opportunity to work longer by raising the retirement and re-employment ages. After all, being employed is the best safety net and companies need workers.

The Labour Movement called for tripartite discussions on this subject in 2018. The Government responded positively to our call and set up the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers, which then reached consensus to raise the Statutory Retirement Age from 62 to 65, and the re-employment age ceiling from 67 to 70 progressively over the coming decade, starting with a new retirement age of 63 and a new re-employment age ceiling of 68 from July 2022.

This schedule was first put in place by the tripartite partners to enhance the retirement and re-employment framework, strengthen older workers’ retirement adequacy, and to further promote progressive workplaces that value older workers.

Many companies and organisations have proven that this can be done. NTUC, for example, we walked the talk. As an employer ourselves, we have taken the lead. We have raised the organisational retirement age and re-employment age ceiling by one year from 1 January 2021. This was earlier announced. Our social enterprises will do so from 1 July this year, also as earlier announced and this is a year ahead of the national timeline. The public sector has done likewise. The Civil Service announced in 2019 that it will raise the retirement and re-employment ages of its officers by one year to 63 and 68 respectively in July this year – again, a year ahead of the national schedule.

Outside NTUC, outside the public sector, when we look within the unionised sector at the private sector employers, we have been encouraged. We have seen more than 100 employers in the unionised sector who have voluntarily either upped the retirement age within the company or increased the re-employment age within the company, or both. This number, compared to the number that we saw in 2019, it basically doubled. And it covers companies across different sectors – we have companies who are in the attractions area, the hotels, food manufacturing, childcare and there are many other sectors. So, it is fairly broad-based.

To help workers enhance their retirement adequacy, we also called for sustainable increases in CPF contributions for older workers over the years. Unfortunately, COVID-19 disrupted our whole economy, forcing the planned CPF enhancements to be deferred by a year, to 1 January 2022. The Labour Movement deliberated hard but we supported that deferment because we understood that in the depth of that pandemic, in the depth of that disruption, the most important thing is employment. We do not want our older workers to be put at unnecessary, greater risk of losing their jobs.

Yet, Mr Deputy Speaker, while we do that, I want to remind this House and everyone out there, that we must be careful to keep pace with our original intent and purpose of helping older workers enhance their retirement adequacy, given our longer lifespans, on average. This was the purpose for that workgroup, for my calling for it in 2018, for the consensus that was developed for that agreement. It was not done haphazardly. It was for a strategic purpose – in order to secure our national objectives and to make that as many of our older workers would have better retirement adequacy, which is a point that is shared by both sides of the House. Therefore, we must be careful not to kick the can down the road further because if we negatively impact on retirement adequacy, that will come back to bite us earlier and harder.

I am therefore calling for the planned raising of the Statutory Retirement and Re-employment Ages in July 2022, as well as with the agreed deferred improvements to the CPF contributions now due in January 2022, to be proceeded with, without further delay. At the same time, I also urge the Government to help employers defray the cost of their enhanced CPF contributions through the CPF Transition Offset, which was also within the plan prior to the deferment.

Three, strengthen adoption of Flexible Work Arrangements. In Budget 2019, I pointed out that if we can implement flexible work arrangements more systematically and pervasively, we will be able to retain significantly more local workers, and allow more middle-aged workers to undertake care-giving without having to quit work, and to return to work post-care-giving. I was very pleased that Mr Melvin Yong has made specific arrangements within his Radin Mas constituency in order to bring this forward. And it is important that we do so, because it would be a pity if our workers have to choose between work and family, just because companies do not offer enough flexible work options.

Here, COVID-19 has done something good. It has forced the employers to re-assess how work can be conducted in non-traditional ways. In other words, not necessarily at the workplace, not necessarily full-time. Certain roles can be done from home, at least a good part of the time or part-time work might be actually doable in combination, or to implement, for example, staggered starting times. So, the way in which you can maximise the use of your manpower and tap manpower sources can be a lot more flexible. COVID-19 has opened the eyes of both employers as well as workers too to that possibility. And both have learnt and adapted.

We must build on this insight and make gains, and not just lapse back into the status quo and go back into the same-old, same-old of must be here at the workplace and must be full-time.

I therefore urge Government to strongly support the more pervasive adoption of Flexible Work Arrangements. This can significantly improve employment outcomes for senior workers, for the middle-aged older workers who might otherwise have to leave work in order to look after older family members and then, cannot come back.

Four, strengthen skills building for senior workers. When COVID-19 struck, businesses started to pivot more to technology and individuals also had to quickly pick up new skills in order to be able to cope well within that new situation. Nowadays, using our smart phones, laptops and tablets to order food, scan QR codes for services, to conduct meetings online and leverage e-commerce platforms have now become very normal, second nature to businesses and many individuals. Senior workers had to adapt and many did.

What has that taught both employers and our senior workers? That lifelong learning for lifelong employability is completely achievable, can be done, has been done. COVID-19 forced us; a lot more amongst us have done so.

Therefore, once again, just like my call on that flexible work arrangement insight not to go to waste, we must also not let the progress achieved through this painful adaptation during the pandemic with regard picking up new skills, using of new technology, we must not let that be wasted and must not allow old mindsets and prejudices and old practices to return that would only stymy us. Otherwise, with these fast-changing business models and technology, we can only expect even more and faster displacement of our senior workers and that would lead to all those negative scenarios we really dread and want to avoid – chief among which would be retirement inadequacy.

To do so effectively, there must be specific mechanisms within industries and workplaces to operationalise the intent. Here, what do I mean? It means that it is not only about policy. Policies are important. It is not only about funding. But funding is important. It is about who is supposed to get together with whom in the company to discuss what is needed, who is supposed to be sent for what and then, to execute that. Only that action will give us the results that we need.

I therefore urge further integration between the jobs-skills ladders of the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and the work of Company Training Committees (CTCs), including the sectoral versions. The CTCs are equipped to help companies undertake Operations-Technology-Skills road-mapping. I think we should do more in order to resource them so that they can propagate even faster. They can then be our machinery to ensure that purposeful skills building takes place in the economy, and that workers of all ages – and here, I have a particular emphasis on senior workers, for reasons that are quite obvious to us all, that they are vulnerable to be left out and therefore, we must not let that happen. CTCs will be the machinery where we can better ensure that they are not forgotten but that they are included and they are part of this progress.

Five, strengthen health of senior workers. For many years now, workplace health has focused on wellness and chronic disease management – diabetes, high blood pressure and the like. All these remain valid. At the same time, COVID-19 has taught us something else, that we cannot say that we are not vulnerable to infectious diseases. And depending on what we are talking about, these diseases can indeed pose a severe threat to individuals, corporates and even to our whole economy and society. Where such infectious diseases can be prevented or be better managed with vaccination, it must be to the advantage of workers, firms and the state to assess which are the most cost-effective, science-based ones, to vaccinate against.

MOH established what is called the National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS) in November 2017 – that was pre-COVID-19 – in order to provide guidance on vaccinations that persons aged 18 years or older should adopt to protect themselves against vaccine-preventable diseases. In the light of the COVID-19 experience, I think the usefulness of this schedule has become much more salient.

I urge Government and the tripartite partners to work together to see how best to leverage science-based cost-effective vaccination to enhance business resilience and senior worker health. This will also help forestall potential discrimination against senior workers’ employment or employability on account of real or perceived higher risks of infection and the impact that might have on company operations.

Mr Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that the perceived barriers to employing older workers can be overcome and that older workers have once again proven their value and adaptability.

The Labour Movement will continue to do our utmost to work with tripartite partners and senior workers to enhance their employment and employability. We must also ensure that the right HR practices are in place to tap the potential of senior workers and to recognise their contribution because every worker matters, our older workers matter.

This is what emerging stronger together really means for senior workers. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Seah Kian Peng.

7.28 pm

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join the debate. In the coming Committee of Supply (COS), most of my cuts will be on social and family development issues, covering our social safety net, social service delivery, partnerships with community, building resilient families and also, how we can further make lives better for our women. So, I will not dwell on these here.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister’s Budget is a careful rendering of the bread and butter of our national life. It takes care of all the big moving parts – health, housing – and the big items – defence and education. Sir, last year, we blew all our savings that we took 10 years to accumulate in one large cushion. Imagine if I tell you now your last 10 years of your own savings or you had to use it all up in one year. It shows the magnitude. But the $100 billion that the Finance Minister used, was it well used?

As Deputy Prime Minister Heng said, and I quote him, "We averted the worst and prevented deep economic scarring and permanent impairment of our economic strengths."

We saved jobs, spent on healthcare and now we are making sure all of us are protected. This is the clear and visible, the immediate and vital policy goal.

But there many things that are invisible and they take generations to grow. Our sense of identity, what kinds of persons we are and how we relate to each other. Increasingly, this is not just a matter of real life interaction, but also a matter of online culture – how we speak and write to each other when we cannot see each other face to face, when we think of the "other side", not as a human being with feelings, a sense of dignity and to whom we owe duties, but as faceless digits.

It is then that we feel free to insult, to complain, to load with vulgarities, expletives and crass innuendos.

Sir, the digital world is now an empire, far reaching and powerful. To live the good life there, we need to develop a good online culture.

A debate on the Budget may seem like an odd place to speak about this because I am speaking of things that money cannot buy – grace, civility, integrity and simple good manners. These are things that we cannot tax into oblivion or incentivise into existence. But together, they form the culture of our public life and we can only cultivate these by mutual agreement and collective effort. Increasingly, this means paying more attention to the way we live online.

For many of us, using cash has become a rare occurrence, as we move more and more to tap our cards, or to scan with our phones. But online payments require not just a smartphone but also reliable wifi or broadband – bare essentials to some, but expensive for others. We need to do more to make these available to the lower income. In an increasingly digital world, these must not be seen as luxuries but as basic transport into a life of dignity and ease. Providing the basics of a digital life is as much a public duty as it is providing national defence and education.

In one of my cuts to MCI later on in COS, I will speak about the trend of rising online scams. We have already put in place a few piece of key legislation in terms of disinformation and falsehoods. One missing piece I think in our policy to protect Singaporeans against scams and to grow their digital literacy is to identify who among us is vulnerable.

Can the Government put together a simple online literacy assessment, or give guidance on a specific set of information that all of us should know so that we can see where our weak spots are? This is a simple "scan", like the way we would scan our computers, so see where our weak spots are, or a health check-up so we can see if our cholesterol or blood pressure is too high.

I think MCI would be best placed to see this through and provide different scans to different age groups.

MOE is already providing the necessary hardware for all students to learn. In the pandemic that we are going through, the move to online learning and the use of technology has been very quick and much faster than originally planned. Today, low-income families can already apply for subsidised computers and free broadband through the IMDA's NEU PC Plus programme.

But "owning a PC" is not enough. We need to make sure that families have devices that are functioning at a high enough standard for good online learning. More important, children from lower income homes are struck much harder. Research on a representative sample of Singaporeans has shown that 44% families who lived in rental units, they did not have a connection, and another 44% lacked a computer or a laptop at home.

And which is why when my hat as the Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise, at our NTUC First Campus, just two months ago, we launched a scheme to loan iPads to more than 2,000 low-income families and their children attending our My First Skool centres to help them bridge this digital divide. I hope more can be done on this front by Government.

I think it may be worth looking at this more closely. So, of all the families who are living in rental flats with school-going children, how many do not have a PC, and how many do not have broadband connections?

But hardware is only half the story. Since 2014, the Home Access programme has provided many low-income households with subsidised broadband and cheaper devices. Today, there are hundreds of families who have access to free broadband. I think this is a very useful and helpful scheme that can be greatly expanded. So I urge the Government to consider giving all low-income households, especially those with school-going children, free broadband connections. I think this will be a great equaliser.

The above are some things that money can buy. Now, I want come to things that money cannot buy.

First, I call attention to the rising culture of negativity in the way we relate to each other online. We have had, for many years, ambitions towards a kinder, a more caring and inclusive society. While there has been good progress, there is much scope for further improvement.

So, first, I suggest we turn our good intentions into action. Deputy Prime Minister Heng has announced that a $20 million fund will be set aside to match the Community Chest (ComChest) donations raised through spontaneous acts daily. The is under the new Change for Charity Grant that he announced.

Corporations and public alike should give it full support to make it work and to bring cheer to the disadvantaged in our midst. Hopefully, this could become a regular feature and part of the Singapore way of life in future. Again, wearing my NTUC Enterprise hat, we are already doing some of this but I have asked my colleagues to see how we can participate and support this programme in a stronger way.

Last, something simple. Can we ourselves to be more considerate before we demand others to be so? Can we cut everyone some "slack" especially when they get it right most of the time? Can we be less entitled?

Let me give you an example. SIRS, as you know, is a COVID-19 assistance programme which provided self-employed people with three quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each in May, July and October and it is opened to those who earned a net trade income of up to $100,000 and live in a property with an annual value of no more than $21,000. I had a resident staying in a nice $6 million house, that is my estimate of the worth of the house. She complained and demanded to know why she was unable to get the SIRS payout.

A second example. Another resident of mine who, without fail, will, on a regular basis, send me photographs of how a particular staircase in his block would be littered with tissue paper here and there. Fortunately, for both him and me, this problem has been solved.

Sir, having spoken out against complaining, I must say that I am not now complaining, but there are examples of where I feel we can improve in our public life, to reduce this culture of negativity.

This culture is leading to a certain type of online persona, where cynicism, anti-establishment, is a shorthand for intellectualism and political sophistication. In this trend, general negativity towards all things Singaporean is taken as proxy for moral courage, especially when it includes a dose of disdain and disrespect for public institutions.

This is a poor reflection on us, at a time where we have done so much that we can be proud of.

So, what can we do? First, we need to recognise that being a nation of champion complainers is not all there is to being Singaporeans. This indeed, is a part of us. We cannot help it, and taken in moderation, complaints are a vital part of public life. We must notice mistakes, we must raise our voices and we must hold each other to the highest standards. I do not want to be a Pollyanna about our political landscape. There is indeed much to improve on. But I ask today for us to consider whether we have gone too far in the other direction, to feel every pin prick as a broken bone, to raise our voices and abuse our fellow countrymen, especially those in the public services and in the frontline, as if they are in our debt.

Building a culture of unity and a strong sense of identity has always been a challenge in Singapore, a country that is too small to count on its own domestic market, but an ambition too large to be denied, too diverse to take our nationhood for granted but united enough to agree, over 50 years, on things which have torn many other countries apart – race, religion, language, politics.

Before I end, I want to highlight my strong support and thanks to Government for the continued enhancements and incentive schemes for organisations to build and to strengthen their local core and the strong support for mature workers, as what my colleague Senior Minister of State Mr Heng Chee How has just talked about.

Wearing my NTUC Enterprise hat, this is close to our hearts. We are proud that we have a very strong local core at all levels – management as well as rank and file. And look at the demographics of our workforce at our largest social enterprise, NTUC Fairprice, our mature workforce speaks of our value system and we see it as a strength: 66% of our staff, that is about two-thirds, are more than 40 years old; 46% are more than 50 years old and 22% more than 60 years old. And we have quite a few who are over 70 years old. These statistics all outperform the national workforce demographics. Yes, the more senior in age staff, they may be a tad slower, less physically agile but they make up for it with their patience, their dedication, their competence and their reliability. All said, every worker, young and old, every worker matters.

As a country, we must welcome diversity. We must look out for each other and always make sure we bring people along in our transformation journeys and leave no one behind and most importantly, we must accord respect to all.

These threats towards fragmentation and polarisation have become ever more important, as the reach of the digital empire grows. To combat the dark sides of this empire, we must recall what we owe each other, an obligation and a duty to respect each other. We must recognise the role each of us play in our public life and join together in this journey with maturity and common purpose.

For my fellow Labour Members of Parliament and the many union leaders, like Nominated Member of Parliament Abdul Samad, and many other Industrial Relations Officers working hard on the ground, NTUC led by our Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, will continue to walk the talk, will continue to push for workers' interests, always striving to do better with our actions amidst the complaints. Sir, I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

7.41 pm

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Deputy Speaker, 2021 is a very exciting year for me and many fellow women, as this has been earmarked as a year for Celebrating Singaporean Women. Indeed, there is much to celebrate! Our sisterhood in the union is stronger than they have ever been, with our sisters being represented in leadership positions in every single union, and indeed, even in Parliament, the female voice is strong. Out of the 93 seats for elected Members of Parliament, 29% of the elected seats belong to women, compared to just four seats two decades ago.

As I look upon the women in my life, whether it is my mother and sister who are always there for me, the ladies in the taxi unions who would make passionate points about the need for self-care; the young ladies at my Edusave Awards who would beam at me with such pride when I tell them to shine bright for other little girls; the women in my constituency who comes to me with tired eyes because of their relentless care-giving duties. I cannot help but think that there are miles to go before we sleep, that there are miles to go before we sleep.

Indeed, while we live in a contemporary society that promotes equal opportunities in school and proactively creates level playing fields at work for both men and women, the work must continue to hum along to allow women to: one, reimagine their career and livelihood pathways; two, protect women when their decisions impact their livelihoods; and three, to ignite women to fully achieve their potential as they reach for the stars and beyond.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, perhaps it is because I am a female Member of Parliament and a Labour Member of Parliament at that, that I have been meeting with many women who have come up to me with their dreams and their aspirations of being able to contribute to their family and, at the same time, to be part of Singapore's economic recovery. Even as we weather the storms of crisis, where households incomes have taken a hit, women have once again risen to the occasion.

In World War II, as men were called to the frontlines, women held the fort by stepping up to the plate at home, in industry, in healthcare, to carry families and nations through, in times of great crisis. Today, it is no different. Our women warriors are gritting their teeth and putting on their battle gear as they enter, or re-enter the workforce, take on multiple jobs, or keep at it with their unwavering work ethic to maintain their family's livelihoods, while keeping the nation's economy vibrant and diverse.

COVID-19 blew into existence, a strong and wicked storm that devastated many livelihoods and brought many to their knees. This same storm also brought with it, strong tailwinds that created the opportunity for reimagining the impossible.

For decades, companies had struggled with the notions of flexible work arrangements vis-a-vis company productivity and bottom line. With COVID-19, overnight, most companies had to deep dive into work from home arrangements and many companies are now considering making this the default in their new normal.

Indeed, the same forces which kept our women workers out of the workforce – long working hours, long work commutes – are now being resolved, and there is now a wonderful open opportunity for a different narrative on redesigning jobs for a more inclusive workplace, not only just for women, but also for workers who need flexible work arrangements such as PWDs, seniors and well, people who just prefer such progressive work cultures.

Indeed, we must make use of this opportunity to continue to let women reimagine their many possible livelihood options. Women can be anything they choose or desire to be: a career in STEM, a professional crane operator, a plumber, a harbour pilot! Our career choices are limited only by the imagination, and the union will work with our Labour Movement companies and associations to redesign and reimagine jobs.

In turn too, I hope that the Government would be able to place more resources to encourage companies to have a relook into their work processes and to support companies through their job redesign strategies.

Every woman warrior needs to be equipped with armour so that they can go the distance. I recently met with our female union leaders of our taxi driving sisterhood and they made a very passionate point about how the recent petrol duties hike would impact their livelihoods in adverse ways. The petrol duties increase effectively means that for our drivers, they pay another 10 cents per litre of petrol that they need for their livelihoods. While the urgent need to go green for national security is definitely something that is not lost on our sisters, this 10 cents per litre, means that they would need to spend more long gruelling hours driving their taxis, this made all the more challenging with street hails at a low due to the dearth of tourism and night spots remaining closed. This impacts the careful balance between their caregiving duties at home, self-care for their mental wellness and the time spent on their livelihoods.

Indeed, it might be worth noting that many of our female cabbies are single parents and thereby just makes the balance even more challenging.

The community appreciates the six-month $3,150 COVID Drivers Relief Fund (CDRF) and is heartened by the close tripartite relationship that brought along the expedited disbursement of the tax and additional petrol duty rebates. But our community is still worried that the COVID-19 situation will stretch beyond six months and would like to know what would happen once the support ends.

True to the protective gear that the union would provide for all our workers, our unions would take the feedback and work with our tripartite partners – LTA, the taxi, private hire platforms, taxi platform in coming up with further support to ease the transition into the higher duties and also other COVID-19 related difficulties.

I met with a rather distraught constituent who was very stressed about managing her care-giving responsibilities at home. Her husband suffers from OCD. She has three young ones and her youngest one has special needs. After speaking with me at length about her issues, she actually heaved a sigh of relief and said that she would now go over to the nearby KFC. She explained that once a week, she goes to KFC for 45 minutes for a coffee break. She spends this time all by herself and she will watch a quick episode of a Korean drama, which, incidentally is also 45 minutes. I was intrigued and I spoke with my friend, who is a clinician about this. She smiled and brought up that, indeed, studies have shown that women need 40 to 45 minutes a week for themselves to recharge before going back to the marathon of life’s responsibilities.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, considering how many hours are in a day, all this woman needed was a fraction of it, for herself to rest – 45 minutes, an episode of a K-drama, a meal, a nap. If we see our pots boiling over on the stove, do we not remove the lid a little to remove the pressure? As we recognise the pressures faced by our women warriors, I put forth that there might be a need to provide support for respite care that might alleviate the burdens of our women workers. An in-community registry of professional care-givers, who could help with eldercare, childcare, and even cleaning services could be made publicly available for women to access short-term care in community easily.

An important figure in this whole eco-system to support the movement of Singaporean women returning to work are actually our foreign domestic workers (FDWs). Many women workers I know have shared with me that they see their helpers as an extension of their own families, and form close ties with these "aunties" who help look after the elderly and young in the family as if they were their own relatives.

Although it is regretful that recent spotlights have been cast on negative practices between employers and their FDWs, I believe that the general undercurrent is optimistic. Together with the NTUC’s Centre for Domestic Employees, my team over at the Women and Family Unit conducts a monthly advisory and legal clinic for employers and FDWs. I was delighted to observe that the vast majority of people who came to our clinics were here to ask for pro tips on how to best relate to the people who were living with under the same roof.

I believe that with mutual respect, understanding and awareness of each other’s needs and boundaries, FDWs and their employers in Singapore, can be good model examples of exemplary employer-employee relations. Over the next few months, the unions hope that with the support of the Government, we will be able to promote more wide spread awareness to better employment practices and understanding the expectations and aspirations of our women employers and their hired help.

However, although respite care options are available, they might not be affordable for certain families that already carry the burden of expensive medical bills and daily expenses. Thus, it presents itself as necessary for there to be additional subsidies to help primary care-givers relieve the financial burden of seeking assistance.

As we support women with their responsibilities at home and eagerly beckon them into the promised land of the workforce – work must be done to ensure that the land of opportunity does not turn into the land of the opportunistic. Workplace harassment spares no gender, but women undoubtedly bear the disproportionate portion of such incidences. Plenty of women go to work every day, looking forward to maintain a livelihood, support their families and fulfil their career aspirations – yet are forced by "necessity" and "conventional wisdom" to occasionally look over their shoulders in case of practices, actions or even speech that threaten to muddy the professionalism of their workplaces.

However, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must enquire whether these narratives of "conventional wisdom" that suggest harassment is a mainstay to be expected, the default way of things, should still stand. Surely, I do not think this is how things are meant to be. Coveted honours of being a "great place to work" must always play second fiddle to the bare necessities of a "safe place to work". And this is the assurance our workforce needs. Indeed, a safe place to work also extends to good fair hiring practices, good work-life harmony and progressive retention and employee development policies. Mr Deputy Speaker, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Amidst the hustle and bustle in Singapore, is a 40-minute break considered long or short? At a Meet-the-People Session, I met an angry middle-aged woman. Honestly speaking, her aggressive and angry look was very intimidating indeed. We spoke for a while, gradually her anger subsided and turned into a stream of endless grievances and helplessness. To a woman in her 30s, troubled by endless family problems such as annoying children, no income, no food for the next meal and so on, a 40-minute break has unknowingly turned into a kind of luxury, a desire and an out-of-reach oasis.

We must provide care-givers with respite service as soon as possible. Respite service is a short-term service provided with the aim of alleviating the burden of care-givers. We must raise people's awareness, build an inclusive and empathetic society together, and reduce the worries of care-givers.

(In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, in English please. Looking at the world through the lens of our women, their dreams, aspirations, grievances, and indeed, their humanity, has led me to dream up the possibilities created by having a Singapore Centre for Working Women. Imagine, a single resource centre for women, covering everything I have spoken about in the past 15 minutes and more, where women can come to explore new livelihood options, air grievances, seek mentorship, access best practices, apply for support, seek redress, form alliances and of course, to assist and guide along other women.

It is my hope for our women warriors to have a safe space to be themselves amidst other women warriors – a place where women can be unabashedly themselves, unashamed to seek help. And in these connections, be empowered to be the best versions of themselves. It is by capturing the diversity of the concerns and aspirations of our women warriors that we may best release their potential. Sisters, every worker matters. The Labour Movement will be here to walk with you on your journey, protect you, and help you reach for the stars. I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.

7.57 pm

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join the Debate. The world is still mired in COVID cases and lockdowns. We are now seeing shoots of growth in key economies as vaccination efforts continue to expand. While the worst of the pandemic has seemingly been averted, future recovery is far from certain. It must not be lost on us as we conduct the debate that we had narrowly averted a much deeper recession and that the next cliff can be just the next cluster away.

While we need to deal with the current pandemic and recession, problems that come with it, it is equally important to plan for the nation’s future in a post-pandemic world. We must tackle structural changes such as accelerated digitalisation, the new normal of remote working and reconfiguration of supply chains. These are existential challenges. We must retool, reskill. We must transform.

First of all, we must continue to support Singaporeans through difficult times by enhancing and shoring up local hiring demand. Protecting the Singaporean Core is a key priority for both the Government and the labour movement. Our labour market has shown a marked improvement. Resident employment has, in fact, returned to pre-pandemic level at end of 2020. This is the result of the Government’s initiatives in protecting the Singaporean Core, and the sacrifices of workers and companies.

The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) has seen extremely promising results – with more than 110,000 local hires last year. This is clearly an important measure in shoring up local hiring. I fully support the extension of the JGI. While some companies have progressively started to hire, many are still hesitant. The JGI extension helps to bridge this hiring gap.

I also suggest that the Government can consider enhancing JGI for our workers above the age of 62 through added subsidies. These workers are more prone to cyclical and structural changes. Furthermore, they are likely not to be re-employed as companies reduce costs. This will help companies to hire older workers even during uncertain economic times.

Next, the Job Support Scheme, or JSS, is one massive life jacket. It kept businesses afloat and workers in their jobs. Some industries have since stabilised, others have grown. The Labour Movement supports the extension of the JSS to companies and workers in sectors that are still hard-hit. The unions and workers in the aviation, aerospace and hospitality sectors register their appreciation. With the global border restrictions, these sectors will need longer recovery timelines as they reconfigure their business models. These sectors need workers and companies to be ready to capture rebound opportunities when the world is eventually opened for business.

Next, we need to provide additional assistance to our younger Singaporeans to adapt to the new economy. The pandemic has accelerated the growth and demise of many industries, jobs and skillsets. But many younger Singaporeans could now find themselves on the wrong side of the growth curve and are unable to take advantage of the new growth opportunities in fast-growing industries. To do so, I have three suggestions to make.

Some studies have suggested that students graduating in recession years earn less than their peers graduating in non-recession years, and the effects persist for a few years. For some younger Singaporeans, they need to pivot to other sectors that are growing. I suggest that we can help to provide subsidies and loans for their second diplomas, or degrees. Not only would this improve the economy structurally, but this would also complement the lifelong learning attitude we wish to instil in all Singaporeans.

Second, I support the Government's move to extend the SGUnited Traineeships until 31 March 2022. In the annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey, SGUnited Traineeships made up 16.9% of graduates who found employment. This shows the importance of the programme in helping our graduates get skills and opportunities even during the pandemic. Could the Ministry consider the provision of incentives to encourage and support host companies to convert these trainees to full-time hires? This will help companies hire these graduates ahead of time.

Third, we must enhance the mental well-being support for our workforce. The economic outlook has understandably caused much stress across the workforce, especially that of our younger Singaporeans still hunting for full-time jobs. To better support the mental well-being of our youths, could the Ministry consider training youth care ambassadors equipped with the requisite adjunct support skills to help fellow peers? The labour movement, especially that of the Young NTUC, will work towards extending our support for the Government's initiatives in providing peers with emotional and employment support.

Mr Deputy Speaker, my last point relates to supporting the gig economy. The key attraction of the gig economy is in its flexibility. It gives workers the autonomy to choose when, where and how they want to work. As of 2019, there were about 200,000 residents who did freelance work as a regular form of employment. With the creation of new business models, this segment of the workforce is expected to grow. It is already an important and permanent part of our workforce. And the measures must recognise that and support that growth.

The pandemic has unearthed structural problems within the current state of protection for the platform workers. SIRS was instrumental in supporting these workers during the crisis. Going forward, it is timely for us to review the regulatory framework to protect these workers. This is especially important as workers dependent on large platform companies or organisations as their primary source of income.

There are three salient issues to be tackled: platform workers are unprotected by key employment legislation, there is insufficient social protection and the lack of incentives to upgrade this segment of the workforce.

First, the lack of protection for platform workers under the Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act has provided significant power to platform companies relative to the workers. This has left platform workers on the shorter end of the stick without statutory recourse such as medical benefits. This is understandable as the Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act are premised on an employer-employee relationship. And platform workers are not employees. Yet, most of these workers are lowly-skilled and wholly dependent upon the platform companies for their livelihood. The lopsided bargaining powers also means that companies can unilaterally change the terms of their service and incentive structures. Moreover, as workers are classified as independent contractors, they lack the ability to collectively bargain and negotiate wages or change working conditions with these companies.

The Labour Movement's recent formation of the National Delivery Champions Association is a positive step forward. But their hands might be tied by legal restrictions on collective representation for service or employment terms. I believe that more can be done to level the playing field between workers and platform companies to ensure that parties are treated fairly. I suggest that we can consider either allowing the Union to represent these workers collectively or to provide these workers with some level of statutory protection under this Employment Act.

Next, on the lack of social protection for platform workers. The crisis and rapid growth of e-commerce have provided a livelihood for workers performing work for platform companies. This is seen in the food or goods delivery, especially during the circuit breaker. Yet, this can be a problem in the long run. Because there are no CPF contributions from both employers and employees, the state will have to shoulder social support eventually. There is a pressing need to review the social protection of these workers if we want this sector to thrive.

Ideally, platform companies should voluntarily commit to the protection of their workers' social security. On the other hand, if there are such contributions, this might reduce the take-home pay for such workers. The current nature of regulation towards these companies is rather light touch. As with many other countries, many platform companies enjoy employer-type of powers without similar and few responsibilities. There can be more room for companies to commit to the protection of our workers, without curtailing the industry's viability. In this vein, can consider looking into subsidies and or disincentives to further encourage platform companies to commit to the longer-term social protection of our workers?

Lastly, because these workers are considered independent contractors, there are no incentives from companies to train them. Yet, there are long term impact on Singapore's workforce productivity. To ensure that these workers can thrive as an essential part of the workforce, workers must work continually upskill for greater employment security. Can the Government look into cost-sharing schemes with platform companies to encourage training support for these workers?

There are difficult trade-offs in developing the gig economy, especially for the gig workers. This is a big piece of work that the country has to work on and the Labour Movement stands ready to support the Government's initiatives to better protect gig workers to ensure the development of the gig economy as a permanent fixture of our workforce.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Labour Members of Parliament before me have spoken at length on behalf of our workers. We have advocated for the greater protection and empowerment of vulnerable groups including lower wage Workers, Professionals, Managers and Executives, Self-Employed Persons, and mature workers. We recognise that many of these challenges, the cyclical ones are still before us and we also deeply recognise that many of the challenges, the structural ones are existential threats to Singapore if we do not manage them carefully. It will take strong tripartism to tackle them. Therefore, we must work even closer to re-tool, reskill and transform.

We will and must continue to work with the Government as partners to support workers through job re-design, training and workplace support. Our message is a simple one – "Protect Vulnerable Workers, Protect Jobs". The Labour Movement will continue to work closely with the Government and employers to do right by our workers.

Over the course of the five Budgets in 2020, according to MOF, $27.4 billion in grants were used to shore beleaguered companies; 155,000 jobs were saved or created. We shaved 1.7% from the rise in unemployment. I think that is putting workers at its core. I believe that similarly, this Budget reflects the People's Action Party's Government and NTUC's DNA that Every Worker Matters.

So, we must work together. Because tripartite partners have worked closely together and Singaporeans singularly united, did we avoid a deeper recession. So now, we must work together to emerge stronger from this crisis to ensure that workers continue to enjoy better wages, welfare, prospects in the years to come. Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Deputy Speaker: Deputy Leader of the House, Mr Zaqy Mohmad.