Government's Plans In Our Continuing Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic

Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [26 May 2020],

"That the Ministerial Statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on the Government's Plans in Our Continuing Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic be considered by Parliament." – [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance.]

Question again proposed.

Mr Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

1.31 pm

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Finance Minister, the Government and the President for this fourth Budget in three months as we continue to navigate in unchartered territory.

Never in our wildest dream would we imagine the House to scrutinise a Budget that project an overall deficit of $74.3 billion, drawing on our past reserves for a total of $52 billion and utilising almost all our current term's reserves. Given the uncertainties that are still ahead of us, a further additional $13 billion is set aside in the Contingencies Fund.

In total, $92.9 billion or almost 20% of our GDP is dedicated to support our people to fight the pandemic.

Sir, the pandemic threatened lives and well-being of Singaporeans and has inflicted severe economic damages to businesses and Singaporeans' livelihoods. The global situation remains uncertain and we have to expect further twists and turns.

Besides taking care of the health of our people, jobs are our next foremost concerns. We know that the human costs would enormous if there are massive job losses. And having a direct bearing on jobs, are business survivability. We must prevent large number of businesses failing as it can lead to permanent damage to our economic capabilities, which will have longer term ramifications on livelihoods.

So, in view of the imperatives to save lives, save jobs and save businesses and to also pivot into seizing new opportunities ahead of us, I support the overall allocation of this fourth Budget.

Sir, the distinct focus in this fourth Budget is to shore up employment. Here, we are talking about both saving current jobs as well as creating new jobs and traineeship opportunities. This would be an uphill task, given the dire global economic circumstance and that the risk of local infections still restrict the normal function of economic activities. Understandably, businesses will take a cautious stance in new hiring. We can also expect some job loses as more companies run into financial difficulties.

The Government responded swiftly and in each of the four Budgets extended timely support and assistances to businesses, in areas of cash flow, credit and cost. The hope is that these relief measures can help buy time for companies and save jobs. And to a very large extent, this has been effective; the situation would have been worst otherwise.

Of course, all these measures also come with a very high fiscal price tag and difficult to sustain in the long run. For example, the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) itself alone accounts for about $23.5 billion of the entire $92 billion fiscal package. The JSS incentivises companies to hold on to their employees. In return, they received cash subsidies from the Government for up to 75% of most wages. By receiving direct wage support from the Government, it also obliges the company to do their part to hold on their employees which is the clear intent of the JSS.

It is commendable that some companies have come forward to return the JSS back to the Government. Others may use the wage subsidy to hire more manpower, which is also as important as it helps to absorb the excess labour in the market.

We hope those companies that can afford to hire, hire more, be it just marginally. All these add up to keep up the overall employment. Already, we have read news of companies committing to hiring more workers, some done out of corporate social responsibility.

Sir, in this very weak economic environment, we have to watch closely the employment and employability of two groups – the mid-career workers and the first-time young job seekers. We have to do whatever it takes to avoid structural unemployment from creeping up and taking root within our economy. Also, we must avoid a situation of a lost generation in the making, where young graduates are unable to find employment or being underemployed at this young age. Hence, we need a whole-of-eco-system effort to create new jobs and opportunities.

And I am glad that this fourth Budget further introduced a massive $2 billion SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package where the Government commits to a further stretched target of creating about 100,000 opportunities, 40,000 jobs, 25,000 traineeships and 30,000 skills training. The public sector will lead by example by creating 15,000 new openings and the Government will help businesses create another 25,000 with a series support measures including hiring incentives.

Sir, creating jobs is only one side of the equation. The other side is to find workers with the required skills sets that can do the job. Here is where we often run into difficulties, matching jobs to the workers with the required skills, especially for PMETs.

During the Unity Budget debate, I spoke about the inherent friction a mid-career jobseeker has to go through to make mid-career job changes. It is often a strenuous journey that comes with lots of pain points. The jobseekers often have to contend with employers' biasness or specific preferences, whether it is experience, age and others.

The other more complex challenge is a situation where there is no direct match between the jobs that are presently available versus the skills the workers currently have. We would need to train and right-skills the workers so as to match to the jobs that are available or in demand. This is, of course, a timing issue and also whether we have the ability anticipate the specific skillsets that are needed and set up the relevant training ahead of time.

The other hurdle is work experience. Employers naturally want to hire workers with the relevant experience so that the employees can ideally be productive on day one. Not an easy problem to solve but the workaround here is to offer on-the-job training by way of subsidised traineeships and programmes such as Attach-and-Train.

And I am glad the Finance Minister has noted this problem and in the fourth Budget, introduced further support and funding for traineeships and training for both recent graduates and mid-career jobseekers. Of course, this would also require employers to be open-minded about workers with no relevant experience and to take a more enlightened and a bigger picture view in the development of their workforce.

There are now a whole range of new and existing schemes helping workers to enhance employment and employability. There are also a series of initiatives for businesses to help train workers, job redesign, improve productivity and so on.

For all these efforts yield the right outcomes, the stakeholders need to work well together. whether it is their businesses, unions, Government agencies and others and the work cut across different industry, sectors and ITMs. So, this is clearly a complex and daunting undertaking – enter the National Jobs Council.

I cannot think of a better person than Senior Minister Tharman to helm this mammoth task. Senior Miniser Tharman has been instrumental in building up the SkillsFuture movement. He has in-depth knowledge and experience on the economy and the markets and certainly, the strategic wisdom, gravitas and respect to get the system going. So, I am so happy with the choice by the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Speaker, Sir, although the pandemic has injected unpleasant shocks to our lives and livelihoods, there are, however, a few silver linings that bode well for us post-COVID.

Safe distancing measures and minimising of physical contacts has changed our way of life and going forward, will change the way we live, work, learn and socialise.

For many years, businesses and governments have been talking about flexi-work arrangements, working from home and BCPs. It has never really gain tractions. Some even said that employers are mostly lip-servicing and the vision can never be realised.

However, COVID-19 has game-changed this in one stroke. Organisations are thrown into the deep end as governments introduced lockdowns and restrict human gathering and movements. Businesses are forced to quickly re-configure their operations and workflows and many have to hastily brush up their BCPs so that most of their employees, including management can work from home and alternate sites.

Digital connectivity becomes the life blood to keep businesses and operations going. And the good news is, offices and operations continue to function despite the tight circuit breaker measures. By and large, companies and employees have adjusted and adapted to the "new normal" of work. In fact, some companies are now looking to retain many of the telecommute arrangements so that a significant number of their employees can continue to work from home even after COVID-19. So, there are now more legs for an even more extensive flexi-work arrangements going forward.

In area of sales and services, those businesses and retailers with online transactional and service capabilities are able to continue doing businesses despite the circuit breaker measures. Those who have yet to adopt digitalisation, now felt more compelled to gear up their capabilities and devise new digital operating models and solutions.

So, this is the perfect timing and opportunity to mount a further home-run push for digitalisation for our small businesses. It is a case of all-stars aligned or in Chinese, they called it, 天时，地理，人和, the right time, right place and the right consensus to push for all out digital transformation.

Indeed, this what the fourth Budget has also set out to do, such as the $300 per month bonus over five months to encourage stallholders in the neigbourhood to adopt e-payments and to avoid cash handling. There is also the enhancing the SMEs Go Digital package to include a $5,000 Digital Resilience Bonus to help businesses with entry level upgrades, such as payroll, e-invoicing, e-payments and other e-commerce solutions.

This digital push should go beyond businesses and into the social spaces like the neighbourhoods, schools, homes and individuals. For digitalisation to be part of our lives, everyone should be digitally enabled so that entire eco-system can realise its full potential and to reap the benefits of scale. Here is a case where we must go down right to the last 5% and get everyone onboard. And I am very glad that MCI is doubling down on these efforts, with the announcement to recruit 1,000 Digital Ambassadors to help seniors and local stallholders be digitally enabled.

In particular, the seniors deserved our utmost attention and our concerted effort. Their quality of life can improve if they are also digitally connected. I salute MCI for setting the ambitious target of reaching out and raising the digital skills of 100,000 seniors by March 2021, in less than one year, through one-on-one efforts.

Recently, I organised e-chit chat with my grassroots seniors' group. We set up a call link and invited the seniors to join the video call. They were initially apprehensive and worried that they cannot handle the e-link up. But come the day of the meeting, I was very pleased to see almost everyone in the call. Of course, many have their children and their grandchildren by their side to help them to connect, to mute and unmute when they speak. The seniors told me they thoroughly enjoyed the session as they have not met each other for quite some time and were very glad to see the happy faces around. They were thrilled that they can speak to each other, see each other at their homes, and even took a group picture. Importantly, it helps them to overcome the mental barrier about technology and it is not as difficult as they previously thought.

Sir, while the Digital Ambassadors can help seniors overcome the mental barrier, I hope that the Government can also help the seniors lower the cost barrier, such as making available an affordable data plan and the subsidy for the necessary hardware. And this is part of the last 5% that I talked about.

Mr Speaker, Singaporeans have been in the lockdown mode for the past two months. It has not been easy for everyone. Many are looking forward to the reopening and exiting the circuit breaker measures in the coming weeks. But we must always bear in mind that the virus is still out there and there is still no vaccine yet to protect ourselves. So, every personal measure that we take to protect ourselves and others must continue.

There may well be new cases as we open up. But I believe that now, we are much better prepared. Of course, thanks to all our frontline warriors and the Multi-Ministry Task Force.

I want to specifically mention those that have worked very hard in the last few months to manage and contain the outbreak at the migrant workers' dormitories. It is a gigantic task to take care of the health and well-being of 400,000 migrant workers – a massive and complex operation that require both scale and speed of response.

While we would rather not have so many cases of infections at the dormitories, the expeditious and extensive response by the Government, which includes MOM, SAF, other stakeholders as well as volunteers to stabilise the outbreak demonstrates the strength, the versatility and the tenacity of Team Singapore.

In a way, there is now certain comfort that we do have the capability and capacity to cope with a steepened infection curve with very low fatality, although we really hope not to be stress-tested again. So, thank you to our frontline colleagues for persevering and battling on, in the most difficult circumstance and for keeping the workers and Singaporeans safe.

Sir, we are facing huge uncertainty ahead of us and not knowing how bad the situation can further develop. It is in this uncertain times and very troubling situation that all the more we need a steady hand to steer the ship and a strong leadership that unite us to overcome and forge forward. I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for his resolute effort and his decisiveness and steady handling and the leadership to help Singapore through this adversity.

I work in the financial sector and I have seen firsthand how the Deputy Prime Minister, when he was helming MAS during the Global Financial Crisis, calmly steered Singapore out of the Global Financial Crisis and in the process, strengthened our position as the premier financial hub. Hence, I am most reassured that he is now leading the charge with this comprehensive and bold response to overcome the crisis that we are now facing.

Before I end, I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister a question. He mentioned about the $16 billion contingency fund. I would like to ask if he can give us an indication of how the $16 billion contingency fund would be used potentially. What is the scope of the usage of the fund? Sir, with that, I support the Fortitude Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ms Sylvia Lim.

1.48 pm

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, this is the Government's fourth Budget in four months. While there is a need to focus on pumping oxygen into the economy, we must squarely face what the crisis has taught us if we are to truly emerge stronger. I would like to focus my speech today on what the COVID-19 virus has shown us about blind spots and the implications for long-term recovery. I will then comment on two specific Government measures.

First, blind spots and recovery. As the COVID-19 situation wears on, we are beginning to understand more about the different impact it has on the various segments of society. In Singapore, we see how the mantra of "stay home and save lives" may actually harm some who are forced to stay home. Homes that are small or overcrowded are unpleasant environments to remain in for most of the day. It was reported that domestic violence cases recorded by the Singapore Police rose by 22% since the circuit breaker measures started while the NGO, AWARE, disclosed that calls about family violence in April this year were more than double those of April last year. As far as work is concerned, we see essential workers outside battling the virus while highly paid persons stay safe at home, being classified "non-essential". Singapore's foreign workers dormitories have become "ground zero" for the battle. And the fight is not over.

Globally, evidence has emerged that women are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. For instance, a United Nations report on 9 April concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has a "shadow pandemic" exacerbating gender inequality. How so? Domestic violence has spiked in other countries as well. In terms of economic impact, there has been significant employment loss for women, who hold the majority of insecure, informal and lower-paying jobs. The global health workforce is estimated to comprise 67% women, with many women in roles most exposed to the virus. Unpaid work by women has also increased during this period.

Women are disproportionately affected in other ways too. For instance, there is growing evidence that female academics are publishing less than male academics during the COVID-19 lockdowns as they are bearing the brunt of family care responsibilities. This would clearly impact their careers where publications are a key performance indicator. Anecdotally, if one looks at Singapore's home-based learning for students, mothers on the whole appear to be spending much more time with their children than fathers, who may also be at home during this period. With everyone at home all day, foreign domestic workers face overwork and having inadequate rest.

While men appear more prone to succumb to the virus, it is women and girls who pay the social and economic toll. The UN urges governments to ensure that their response to the COVID-19 crisis does not intensify the gender inequality crisis. To that end, one of the UN's key recommendations is to ensure women's equal representation in all COVID-19 response planning and decision-making. In order to build future resilience for the next crisis, there is a need to study gender-aggregated data in all fields from public health to economics to communications.

Besides gender, any agency looking at long-term recovery should include diverse voices. It is especially necessary to include those familiar with segments that bore a disproportionate brunt of the virus. To that end, the Government has put together an Emerging Stronger Task Force consisting of 17 eminent persons. However, the membership of the Task Force has a gender imbalance with only two women out of 17 – a dismal 11%. This may be a missed opportunity, especially when it has been noted that management of the COVID-19 crisis has been particularly successful so far in Taiwan and New Zealand, with women at the helm. In my view, the task force could benefit from having more women, especially women who understand gender issues.

Also, there seems to be a weak representation of multiracial voices as there is no Malay member on the task force. It also does not seem that there is any representation for SMEs as well. With inadequate balance, will the final report and recommendations risk having blind spots that will prevent us from truly emerging stronger as a nation?

Finally, on this point, I hope that the task force will not be shackled by models from the past. The ways of the past may be inadequate or inappropriate today. For instance, is it time to include more stabilisers in the system? If there had been schemes such as redundancy or unemployment insurance, the Government may not need to spend as much as it is doing today to support workers. If, for instance, CPF members have some access to their excess CPF funds even before they reach 55, some would not be facing the cliff-edge today. These are just two examples of what I mean by the task force not being shackled by the models of the past.

Sir, next, I move on to two particular Government schemes which residents have asked me to speak on – the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) and the Seniors Go Digital movement.

First, SIRS. SIRS was announced in the Resilience Budget, promising nine months of income support to eligible self-employed persons at $1,000 per month. While it was an auto-inclusion scheme, it was announced that NTUC would be helping the Government administer appeals from those who were not auto-included. Since then, as SIRS has been rolled out, we were told that more than 60,000 appeals had been received. Questions from the ground have now emerged about the purpose and fairness of the scheme.

As pointed out by my colleague Dennis Tan during the Resilience Budget debate, one issue is what the annual value of the property one lives in has got to do with whether the person has suffered serious income disruption. It is all the more so for those who do not own the properties they live in. To illustrate, I have several residents who are disqualified from SIRS due to this criterion because they are living in their parents' homes. Others are renting. Some of their incomes have dropped to zero as they are service providers for weddings and other events, and will likely not be able to resume their work for months. Others include freelance music teachers who are unable to conduct physical classes even on a one-to-one basis.

On the other hand, SIRS is an auto-inclusion scheme that does not require the self-employed person to show income loss. The design of SIRS has thus also resulted in full SIRS payments being made to self-employed persons whose incomes are unaffected by COVID-19.

For those who appealed for SIRS, NTUC has partially allowed some appeals. In some cases, appeals resulted in payment of a reduced amount, at $800 per month instead of $1,000 per month. Others have been rejected outright. Suffice to say, these disparate outcomes have caused frustration and feelings of arbitrariness and unfairness. Questions asked include: how does NTUC decide? What are the criteria for allowing or rejecting appeals?

Speaker, SIRS involves public funds – to be exact, SIRS involves the use of past reserves. Who should be in charge of the scheme? The Government has stated that MOM oversees the scheme but NTUC helps administer appeals for those who do not automatically qualify. From the cases we have seen, it is NTUC that is fronting all communications in appeals while the role of MOM is not visible.

From a governance perspective, why was there a need to outsource the administration of SIRS appeals to NTUC in the first place? Was this done due to a lack of manpower or other reasons? Will this set a precedent for the Government to outsource its schemes to external parties to manage? What does this mean for Government accountability?

Finally, Sir, I move on to the Seniors Go Digital movement. It was announced in the Fortitude Budget that the Infocomm Media Authority (IMDA) would launch a Seniors Go Digital movement to support seniors to adopt digital channels and hone digital skills. It was highlighted that the inability to connect digitally during the circuit breaker would lead to isolation, which could affect health.

For some years now, well before COVID-19 emerged, the push for a Smart Nation had seen huge efficiencies but also costs. Everyone was channeled towards more and more digital modes of transacting with the Government, whether it be the CPF Board, LTA, or the Traffic Police. As systems got more sophisticated, citizens were required not only to log in but also to receive one-time passwords or use tokens for added security. The now default mode of needing SingPass to transact has alienated those who either cannot afford the necessary devices, who do not have the required language skills or who simply cannot wrap their heads around IT environments.

To illustrate, I visited a CPF branch office some weeks ago. I observed the typical scenario of an elderly person with his daughter. She told him in Mandarin, "爸爸，我们现在去楼上拿SingPass", meaning they had to go to another section to arrange for SingPass. The elderly man looked totally helpless as he quietly obeyed his daughter's instructions. In this case, the man is fortunate to have a caring daughter to help him navigate an unfamiliar frontier. But what about those who do not have anyone to rely on? Or worse, those who place their trust in the wrong people and become victims of crime? Has technology, instead of empowering them, disempowered them instead?

Sir, a resident wrote to me recently about SingPass difficulties for the elderly. He described the struggles of those who were illiterate or did not have a mobile phone or computer. For persons with no income, maintaining a mobile phone subscription is a financial outlay. Furthermore, even if family members were willing to assist, each SingPass could only be tied to one phone number. This is understandable for security reasons but it also means that children could not use their phone lines to transact for their elderly parents, thus requiring more purchases of items simply to transact with the Government.

To avoid being misunderstood, let me say that the Seniors Go Digital movement is well-intentioned and I support it. However, I hope it will not be approached from the perspective that seniors are somehow "falling behind" and need to "catch up", which would stress them even further. How will the Government initiatives adapt or customise digital solutions, to design them to be friendly to those who cannot see or hear well, or whose command of English is not strong? Will seniors have low-cost options that are basic in nature? Finally, I believe we all know of some seniors who simply do not wish to transact digitally for one reason or another. Can we not simply respect their choice in their old age and always have an option for counter service?

Sir, let me conclude. Currently, we are preoccupied, almost bogged down, by the health and economic fall-out of the virus. Nevertheless, it is necessary to look to building for the future, and to that end, we need to learn from the blind spots that the virus has uncovered, with humility and grace. Let us not waste this opportunity to amplify the voices of those most affected by the pandemic, in our search for a sustainable recovery. May we emerge stronger.

2.00 pm

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mr Speaker, I want to start by thanking everyone for doing your part to contain the transmission of COVID-19 as this has enabled us to start the easing of circuit breaker this week.

With the easing of circuit breaker measures, some of us are returning to work and school. But we are certainly not going back to the way things used to be pre-circuit breaker, as COVID-19 is still not behind us. In the last two months, the priority was to keep everyone safe and ensure that we are able to take care of those who did fall ill.

The need to minimise the risk of transmission and safe distancing has changed the way we work, live and even socialise. Businesses have not been able to operate as usual with some completely not able to operate at all. This has affected jobs. Many have not had work as business operations slowed or had to stop during the circuit breaker and others had to take lower pay due to the drop in business demand, while others had to be redeployed and some have lost their jobs.

The various measures with the Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets have been focused on supporting businesses with operating and wage costs with the objective to protect jobs.

The phrase that thes are “unprecedented times” has been used often these last few months. Indeed, what we are facing is not something any of us could have imagined. Everyone of us, young and old have had to make painful adjustments. While we understand the need for these adjustments to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, they have been tough and for many, jobs and livelihoods have been impacted. While still low, unemployment has risen to 3.3% and the economic impact is not trivial with the latest revised GDP for Singapore forecasted to be between -7% and -4%. Many are concerned about the future.

While the $33 billion Fortitude Budget extends more help to support individuals and households in the fight against COVID-19, the emphasis of the Fortitude Budget is on measures to enable our people and businesses to get ready for what lies ahead and to save and create jobs.

There is much in the Fortitude Budget – I will be touching on two points which is jobs and digitalisation.

Businesses large and small, across all industries have been impacted with demand and supply disruptions. This has had a direct impact on jobs and the very nature of how work is done. Anxiety over employment is felt not just by those whose jobs or incomes have been impacted but even for those who are in employment. There is a fear of further job losses as some businesses have had to close especially in sectors like F&B, retail, hospitality and tourism-related industries. While some jobs will go away, I do hope that we do not lose heart because new jobs will be created. But new skills will also be needed.

The $2 billion SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package with 40,000 jobs, 25,000 traineeships and 30,000 training places and hiring incentives is much needed and will provide quality jobs and programmes for those seeking employment. With the current economic conditions, the traineeship schemes will help new graduates entering the workforce find opportunities in emerging and growing sectors and this will allow them to gain valuable industry experience.

I am glad that the Budget has given specific attention to providing traineeship opportunities for mid-career workers who have lost their jobs as we all recognise this group of workers find it even tougher, not just in COVID times but even in ordinary times, they find it tougher and they take longer to be able to find employment after they lose their jobs.

What is key is connecting these mid-career workers who have lost their jobs with the opportunities. I hope that Deputy Prime Minister can share more on how mid-career workers can access these opportunities. While the jobs are there, there is lots of information and we need to ensure that the people who need these jobs are well-connected.

While having jobs and opportunities is critical, we must also pay attention to how work is done as the nature of work has changed, given the COVID situation. For example, the circuit breaker measures have required more companies to adopt telecommuting and although the jury is out, we can expect more jobs to adopt flexible work arrangements as a norm rather than an option even after circuit breaker.

This will mean that as we prepare workers for new opportunities, beyond just upgrading skills, attention needs to be given in terms of how to adopt new ways of working and being productive working remotely. For some, their first day of work and meeting their new bosses and colleagues will be virtually. Effectively communicating and collaborating will require skills for one to be effective in their jobs and to be successful. Even how performance is being measured needs to be taken into consideration.

I do want to highlight an area that I think needs attention. With businesses resuming operations there will be also adjustments for safe distancing measures as well as dealing with the challenges of demand, supply and in some cases manpower disruptions.

Attention needs to be paid to working conditions including work hours and workplace arrangements. Especially for essential services and front-line services, manpower supply may not have fully resumed leading to constraint on manpower. This could lead workers to have to take on longer working hours. With requirements for safe distancing measures, businesses must pay attention to also things that ordinarily they would not have to which is even providing places for their workers to have a meal properly in their short break times. This was not something that employers needed to pay attention to but all this, may be difficult for some companies and the workers' welfare may be compromised.

In the recent Straits Times report on a survey conducted by Engagerocket, 90% of the respondents indicated that they wished to continue working from home in some capacity even after the circuit breaker ends. But despite this willingness, more than half indicated their productivity had dropped and was lower. The reasons cited, of course, were practical ones that included unable to access resources as well as having family members in the house and having to share resources and space constraints. One of the factors that was highlighted was also longer working hours. I think attention needs to be paid also to the nature of work and how work is being done because the work environment now is not just in the work place but it is also virtually.

Let me now touch on digitalisation. In the last two months, COVID-19 and the circuit breaker measures have accelerated digitalisation faster than one could ever imagine. There has been a lot of push back of all the areas of digitalisation, both by users, by organisations in terms of policies. But individuals and businesses have had to leverage digital platforms to continue to be able to access services, connect and continue operations. And this has created new habits and new ways of doing things. Painful as some of it may have been, I think many have seen the benefits. And so it is a real plus point that digitalisation this COVID-19 has enabled some people and organisations to get past that barrier.

An important priority of the Fortitude Budget is digital inclusion with attention on students from lower income families, seniors and the smaller businesses and hawkers. I think this is so important to ensure that no one is left behind and more importantly to be able to meaningfully engage and connect to the services and the opportunities.

While funding and support is required to go digital, digitalisation has to be more than just about technology. Going digital is also more than just mirroring traditional ways of doing things. It is an opportunity to reimagine, improve improve and redesign how we do things and enable more to be done. So, let us not waste this opportunity and ensure that this benefit of doing things differently and doing things better through digitalisation is realised for every segment of the population.

Digitalisation, as I have mentioned, entails new behaviours whether for individuals, families, businesses large or small, as we have witnessed. So, it is indeed a brilliant move and I really must say that it is indeed a brilliant move and a commitment to invest in the Senior Go Digital Movement to support digital adoption for seniors. It is not just about teaching seniors digital skills. It is about enabling them to connect, enabling them to stay engaged and all the other groups to be able to do the same thing. I really am very happy and very supportive of this programme because, as we all know, while devices are important, funds are important, to drive change you need support, you need engagement and having that with a thousand Digital Ambassadors doing that will make that big difference and will help us get past this, and allow our seniors as well as our hawkers to really fully come on board and be digitalised.

While the funding from the Fortitude Budget is needed and welcomed, we have to also recognise that it cannot go on indefinitely. We are fortunate with prudent management that our Government has built up on our reserves and we did not have to borrow to fund such a significant support package.

How and when we beat COVID-19 is not certain. But I do not think it has to necessarily be only when a vaccine is found. During these last few months, we have witnessed many examples of the Singapore spirit, generosity as well as our resilience. I believe that all of us working together as SGUnited will allow us to overcome this crisis and emerge stronger. The Government must provide the leadership, the right programmes and the right policies to build for our future. Our businesses must rebuild, recover and invest to stay relevant. Our people will need to stay positive because it is tough, what everyone is going through is tough, but we must stay positive and work together to overcome current challenges and continue to reskill and be ready for the future. I support the Fortitude Budget.

Mr Speaker: Minister Ng Chee Meng.

2.12 pm

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Ng Chee Meng): Mr Speaker, we have eased out of the circuit breaker. We have stabilised the COVID spread in our community, but we still have much to do to overcome significant economic challenges. Many companies are at breaking point and many workers are struggling to cope.

I support the Fortitude Budget, as I have the previous three, because it will keep companies afloat and it will keep Singaporeans in their jobs. Without these Budgets, many more companies would fold and many more workers would be retrenched. And frankly, we would all be in deeper dire straits.

Even with the $100 billion total Budget, we need to be realistic. This money certainly helps but it cannot replace the economic activities to sustain our livelihoods. We must therefore brace ourselves for tougher times: wage cuts and inevitable job losses.

Indeed, union leaders and workers know that. But they do tell me that they have conflicting concerns: one, is of course on their jobs and their job security but the other is how can they be safe when they go back to work? I can sense their anxieties even across the cyber domain when I chat with them on the different media.

So, what can we do? There are three things we can and must do to protect our jobs and keep our workers safe.

One, keep the economy open, help the economy re-open and, importantly, keep our economy open by diligently practising safe management measures on the ground. This is the most obvious and the most important thing to do for protecting workers' lives and for opening up the lifeline towards livelihoods.

Two, while we get our economy back into shape, we need to preserve jobs. We need to create jobs, temporary ones even; and match workers to these new jobs when old jobs are lost. Make sure that at-risk groups are taken care of. This is the immediate track of things that we must do.

Three, we must make use of the current crisis to push economic transformation. Ironically, as Mr Liang Eng Hwa has mentioned, COVID-19 has sped up disruption and moved us towards Industry 4.0 in double quick time. Businesses are on a burning platform – it is now "adopt new business models, new technologies" or die. Workers have taken to digital technology to do their work, order their food and even to keep in touch with family at a faster rate that what was previously not possible. We must use this transformative track to redesign jobs and create new, Industry 4.0, jobs so that workers, with the appropriate training, can take up these new jobs.

Mr Speaker, the Government has a good guiding strategy to safeguard lives and livelihoods. We have stabilised the community infection and safeguarded lives. We are now restarting the economy with $100 billion worth of financial muscle on the table. The key now, really is to implement this strategy well. It is not sufficient for us to simply know what to do, but to do it well. Doing so is not only the Government's responsibility alone. Every business owner and every worker has a shared responsibility and an important role to play.

NTUC, too, will also play our part.

Ms Slyvia Lim spoke about the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) that NTUC helps to administer. But, maybe she does not quite remember the history of why we stepped into SIRS in the first place. Back in January, February, when COVID-19 started to hit. NTUC, with our National Taxi Association noticed that taxi drivers' incomes were dropping like a rock. I remember going to Newton Circle hawker centre with Minister Khaw to talk to taxi drivers, because their incomes were impacted, at that time, by already 50% or more.

We set up a quick reaction small group and put up $77 million to help our drivers cope with the initial hit of COVID-19.

So, why is NTUC in this space? Simply because, we care. Why are we in this space? Because we have some capabilities to augment the Government in extending this help to taxi drivers or freelancers as quickly as possible. Well, are there things that we can do better? I think, in time to come when we can settle the immediate issues that we have to deal with with COVID-19 and the transformative things NTUC is embarking on, I will humbly say that, "Yes, we will look at areas where we can do better".

But, as it stands now, NTUC has extended a care fund to help all workers and likewise, we would like to do our part to help freelancers or self-employed persons deal with the current situation as well. We have put up a Self-Employed Person (SEP) training fund, besides SIRS, to help as SEPs and freelancers upgrade themselves and get into some training in dealing with COVID-19.

We think that this is important. In the course of the three Budgets, NTUC provided feedback to the Government that these are needed things to do. And I recall, it was a late evening, when MOF called me up and I went to the Treasury Building and was told of the request of the Government to administer SIRS. I gladly informed MOF that NTUC will take up this role – not because we want to be at the centre of things, but because we thought we had the capability to do our part as a tripartite partner.

If we look at the National Jobs Council that is set up, should NTUC not be in it? Should the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore National Employers' Federation not be in it? If all of us are not together in this fight against COVID-19 as a team, then I think we would have lost a capability unique to Singapore. Yes, the Government has put up the $100 billion Budget, but I think there is space for business owners, NTUC and the workers to play a part.

Tripartism is a strength. We should ride on this strength to execute this strategy that I mentioned, well and to the extent possible remain adaptive and learn lessons along the way.

I am humble enough to say that NTUC could have done better in some of the SIRS things that we have done. But let us draw those lessons when the time comes. Immediately, now, we want to extend assistance to as many as possible.

So, NTUC, as I have said, will do our part. As the economy reopens, workplaces must adapt and change to prevent new infections so that importantly, businesses can continue to stay open under Phase One or in the future, Phase Two conditions. To date, we had played another part to lead in terms of training over 1,800 union leaders, our management partners and staff on Safe Management Measures so that we can partner employers in companies to implement Safe Management Measures to keep workers safe and importantly, to keep businesses open. If we aggregate over the whole world economy, hopefully we can keep infection rates low and manageable, so that Singaporeans can resume some form of normalcy, some form of new economic life. This is critical to protecting lives and importantly, as COVID-19 drags on, to protecting livelihoods.

With this ability to ensure the health of workers, then we can work towards jobs preservation. The Government's Job Support Scheme (JSS) has helped many businesses manage part of the wage cost. As the Secretary-General, I thank the Government for responding to NTUC's feedback to expand JSS in more severely impacted industries. Many leaders, across different sectors, told me that without JSS, they really would not be able to keep workers on the payroll, even if workers were willing to do their part to help cut costs to save jobs.

Besides JSS, NTUC is also helping businesses access other tools to keep business costs as manageable as possible. These tools are actually already on the table but are often less well-known and utilised. In the hotel industry where the impact is very serious, the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union worked with Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa to send workers for training under the Enhanced Training Support Package.

A staff, Ms Pohleena, previously worked in the back-of-house in service performance management. But during this challenging period, she was needed in a front-facing role to take care of Stay-Home Notice guests. For this role, Ms Pohleena went for training at NTUC LearningHub, topped up on her people skills such as communications, so that she can do her new role. Ms Pohleena remained employed, increased her hospitality skill set and upped her value to her employer as a worker. The hotel also benefited – not only in having a more skilled worker but enjoyed absentee payroll support as well.

We also see companies elsewhere benefit. Singapore Aero Engine Services was very proactive in working with the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees' Union early on to make use of the training support. Aerospace by then was already impacted and they could foresee the further impact of COVID-19 on the industry, so they sent their workers for training. Mr Sahim Bin Anwar is one of the Technicians who was sent for digital training with NTUC LearningHub. Mr Sahim's digital knowledge has improved and this helps the company take one more step towards Industry 4.0.

In May alone, NTUC LearningHub helped more than 500 companies who sent their workers for over 20,000 days' worth of training, these companies received up to $80 a day in absentee payroll for each worker they sent. This support adds up. If you do the mathematics, it will add up to about $1.6 million in terms of absentee payroll support for these companies.

This is a win-win situation for both workers and companies. Ultimately, workers get to stay in their jobs, preserve their jobs and companies get help with the payroll and have better skilled workers on hand, poised for the eventual upturn.

Mr Speaker, in spite of all these efforts, unfortunately, there will be job losses. In the last three to four months, NTUC Job Security Council has been working hard to match at-risk and displaced workers into available jobs. At the earlier stages, we moved quickly to partner badly hit aviation companies to match workers to new jobs – some into community work, some into healthcare and some even into our own NTUC FairPrice Group – without the workers having to go through retrenchment anxieties.

So far, NTUC's Job Security Council has been able to match more than 10,000 workers, both rank-and-file and PMEs, into new jobs – easing workers' anxiety and most importantly, helping them earn a wage to sustain livelihood.

Ms Gina Ng is one beneficiary of the Job Security Council. She is a Senior Admin Assistant, working at Fairmont Singapore & Swissotel The Stamford for many years. But due to COVID-19, hotel work was drying up. The threat of losing her job was real. Our union and the Job Security Council worked with the hotel and found her an immediate match to an organisation that was employing. Gina was job-matched on a three-month secondment to NTUC FairPrice. She is now in the middle of her redeployment, gainfully employed while keeping her salary and job title in the hotel.

As we facilitate job matching, workers must also be willing to adapt and acquire new skills too. Before Gina was redeployed, she went for training in food hygiene and preparation which brought relevant skill sets and value to NTUC FairPrice. While the initial transition was challenging, Gina understood the need to be nimble and was willing to do her part to reskill and upskill. Gina is 59 years old. I am happy she has the ability and the agility to adopt a new mindset, adapt to new circumstances and importantly took action to acquire new skills so that she can stay in the workforce.

I spoke to Gina when writing my speech last night. I asked her if she had anything to tell fellow Singaporeans. She said with an audible chirp in her voice, "Stay positive, never give up! I am learning new things in NTUC. We are in this together. We will overcome." Gina will return to the hotel at the end of her secondment on 13 July, keeping her job, getting a secondment out, staying in the workforce.

But we, in NTUC, also understand the looming challenges ahead and are realistic that there is much more to do to help workers. This is why I fully support the Government's move to set up the National Jobs Council. The Council will have very important work to drive tripartite efforts to help Singaporeans.

Foremost, the Government and employers' role to create 40,000 jobs is critical, not easy. And where companies are not able to do so, the 25,000 SGUnited Traineeships programme will be helpful to expose both new graduates and mid-career PMEs to the new workplace, gain useful experience and be ready when the economy recovers.

The 30,000 training spaces under the SGUnited Skills Programme will be helpful to top up skills for workers looking for jobs. It is also useful for companies to co-design the training to support business restructuring and redevelopment for Industry 4.0 so that they can be poised for new and more productive Industry 4.0 ways of doing things. NTUC, as I had said, will fully support the National Jobs Council. So, for those workers that are at-risk or those workers seeking a job, there is practical help for you.

Besides the immediate task of securing jobs to protect workers, NTUC will continue to partner companies that have the capacity and vision to seize opportunities emerging from the COVID-19. Even before COVID-19 hit us, our economy was already embarking on industry transformation brought about by technological disruption. COVID-19 has accelerated this disruption and it is clear that those who started transformation early, in fact, are coping better with the COVID-19 challenges today.

"Transformation" is not just a buzzword. And, in fact, COVID-19 has made it even more apparent, more plain that businesses will need to work towards digitalisation and Industry 4.0 practices more urgently. This will help them position themselves and their workers for new opportunities post-COVID.

NTUC has been working closely with Temasek companies, amongst some 350-plus companies, to push the Company Training Committees, or CTCs, to move businesses and prepare workers for Industry 4.0. I want to thank Temasek for this support over the last two years.

NTUC will redouble our efforts to partner companies through the CTC platform, to embark on Operations and Technology Roadmapping, or OTR, to transform. This will not only help companies chart a course to recovery from COVID-19, it will, importantly, help them identify new growth areas for business, exploit new technologies and create new jobs, better jobs, more productive jobs, even starting now.

This is an involved process but companies such as Energizer, amongst quite a few, show how the benefits of the OTR can translate on the ground.

Energizer is bringing in advanced, better technologies for its line machines to increase the precision and the quality of their products. These machines need better skilled operators who are familiar with the new system overall. Energizer and the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries worked with one of our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to curate a specific training programme for their Operators to upskill in this technology and work with these new machines. These steps helped sustain the Energizer business and, importanly, keep workers gainfully employed in the short term. But in the transformative track, this will put Energizer on a trajectory ready for Industry 4.0 and for our workers to have more productive jobs, better work prospects emerging from COVID-19.

Ultimately, we in NTUC want to take the best care of our workers, whether they are freelancers or unionised workers, and the best way to do so is for the companies to have better business or economy to be able to generate growth, and for workers to have the necessary training and skills to access these jobs. So, it is not just for the immediate things that NTUC is busy with; even as we are helping workers cope with COVID-19, we are casting our vision further ahead and doing practical things to help companies transform to benefit workers now and in the future. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I announced in February this year that we are setting up the NTUC Job Security Council to match workers, who are at-risk of losing jobs, to companies that are hiring. We had over 4,000 companies on board the Job Security Council then.

Over the past four months, the number of companies in the Job Security Council has increased to over 7,000. More importantly, we have successfully matched 10,000 workers to new jobs. Companies in the Job Security Council are still hiring, from sectors such as the Healthcare, Transport and Logistics, Built Environment, as well as Electronics and Transport Engineering. We are redoubling our efforts to help these companies find new employees; and more importantly, match our workers to these companies and earn an income.

The National Jobs Council, with Senior Minister Tharman as Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat as Advisor, held its first meeting yesterday to discuss how we will help Singaporeans benefit from the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.

I am happy that NTUC is a close partner of the National Jobs Council in providing employment-related assistance to our people. NTUC will help all workers, whether you are a fresh graduate or mid-career professional, to take advantage of these nearly 100,000 jobs and training opportunities so that you will not only earn an income but gain from training and work experiences.

The Chinese word "危机" (for "crisis") consists both "danger" ("危") and "opportunity" ("机"). The most important thing is that we must remain positive and be nimble. I believe that if we stay united, we will be able to sustain our businesses, protect our workers and secure our future!

(In English) Mr Speaker, I will conclude. We have a strategy in place, backed up by a series of robust Budgets, making the necessary resources available. The key now is to implement this plan well. In the immediate term – preserve jobs, create jobs and match workers to these jobs.

But we must keep an eye out too on strengthening our economy post-COVID. We must make use of this crisis to push for industry transformation and continue developing quality jobs for quality workers and quality busineses that can out-compete in the new economy forward. These are not easy tasks but we will do our very best.

NTUC will continue to work with our tripartite partners to support our workers, our freelancers, our self-employed people – because every worker matters, every job matters. And only if we can continue the trust and the solidarity of tripartism, then we can overcome. Mr Speaker, I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ms Sylvia Lim.

2.37 pm

Ms Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have clarification for Minister Ng Chee Meng. Earlier in his response to my query, he basically said that it made sense for NTUC to be involved in SIRS because it has some understanding of the issues faced by self-employed persons. Could he clarify in this SIRS appeal process, were the appeal criteria – what factors are relevant to grant or partially grant appeals – decided by NTUC? That means NTUC came up with appeals criteria?

Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mr Speaker, NTUC work within the policy framework given to us by MOM. So, for the policy questions, the criteria, we have certain guidelines that we worked within. And Minister Josephine Teo in the right time can answer this arrangement.

Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.

2.38 pm

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Fortitude Budget. Just to chime in on what Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng shared earlier, I cannot help but emphasise that this Budget, I particularly like and applaud it because of its focus on workers – the actual focus on the lives and livelihoods of our workers. That is something that struck me very hard. But I thought to use my speech to highlight three important areas, which we should look at.

Firstly, I will use this opportunity to share some of the horror stories that we hear in the workplaces in light of COVID-19 circuit breaker and all the measures that I have been seeing the past couple of weeks. Secondly, to share a bit about the Singaporean Core. And thirdly, to highlight the plight of mid-career workers, in particular, the Professionals, Managers and Executives.

Firstly, on some of the horror stories. I wrote an opinion piece, which was published last Saturday in The Straits Times. This opinion piece came about and these horror stories came about because of the many engagements I had in the last eight weeks of circuit breaker with many union leaders, unionists, residents including fellow workers, through various platforms. In fact, it is quite a learning journey. I have been using Zoom, Webex, BigMarker, Microsoft Teams and through various platforms including Facebook Live and LinkedIn Live. It was a good opportunity to learn those skills but also a fantastic opportunity to engage a lot of workers that I have never had the opportunity to do during normal times because of various constraints and situations. So, it was great opportunity.

Just to share some of these horror stories that I have heard from many of these workers during this past eight weeks and moving forward. Firstly, we hear of workers being short-changed in the sense that, unilaterally, employers have reduced their work hours and even reduced their salaries. This is a stark wake-up call, particularly because in situations where this has happened, it is a situation where there was no consultation with the worker and no agreement with the worker. That is one example – a unilateral withdrawal or reduction of salaries and work hours.

A second horror story that often plays out that I hear from workers is a situation where a worker, suddenly, during this particular period, gets a very poor performance rating, and previously, he had always had a satisfactory or better rating in the past couple of years. Therefore, his exit from the company is expedited.

The third scenario or story that I hear about is also a situation where employee is given a new job scope, do something very different from what he used to do, or sometimes, even excluded for meetings and important company events. And, therefore, in a way, the worker is forced to exit the company.

The fourth scenario happens, as I shared earlier during Question Time, where workers are being contractually terminated, whether with or without notice. Sometimes, the reason happens because of a disguised retrenchment scenario, that is, the worker may be contractually terminated without reason, and subsequently, after he or she has left the company, realised that that particular slot was left vacant, totally vacant, and not filled up, which means there was a redundancy situation and they were not adequately compensated with retrenchment benefit or severance pay.

Another scenario or horror story we hear is also of safe workplaces. Just as recent as we reopened a couple of days ago, I also hear of workers who actually, in their course of work, can or are able to work from home, but are forced to go back to the companies by the management or employers. That is another horror story.

Finally, another horror story would be a situation where employers, although after they have terminated workers in March, April or even earlier, are still contributing employer's CPF to workers resulting in workers enjoying the employer's CPF and, of course, abusing public funds, in that while they contribute the employer's CPF, the companies enjoy the Job Support Scheme.

These are some of the horror stories we have come across. Fortunately, these are not rampant and many of these cases that workers shared about, whether through various platforms, private messages, emails or even conversations that I had in various platforms, most of these happened in many of the non-unionised companies. In unionised companies, we have the collective agreement as well as a lot of negotiation and discussion with companies. So, we do see quite a bit of these scenarios happening.

My suggestion is three-fold. Firstly, I am glad that Minister Josephine Teo earlier on, during Question Time, has addressed this point on some of the unfair workplace practices and some abuse in the treatment of workers. I am glad that MOM, where they detect such cases, would take resolute steps to enforce against such errant or recalcitrant employers. So, I am glad that is happening.

Secondly, I think it is important that the employers are aware of the various tripartite advisories and guidelines that have been issued. There is a few that have been rolled out, in particular, to address the COVID-19 scenarios. Of course, as we reopen and as we go into Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three, the various scenarios and new normal or next normal, so to speak, that will happen.

I urge employers, in particular, to watch out for all these various advisories to ensure our workplaces are safe for their workers as well as for their customers and clients that visit the workplaces or offices. More importantly, the tripartite partners really should use this opportunity and will use this opportunity to work even more closely together because this is an opportunity. It is a great time, particularly, with all these practices, and a lot of rules and advisories are coming out hard and fast for everyone to work very, very closely together.

At the company level, the trust between employer and employee is very important. I cannot emphasise more the importance of regular open, transparent communication between employers and employees. I think this is the best time to build that trust because, not just the affected workers, but those who are not affected, are actually looking at how the employer is treating their employees. I think that is one area.

Secondly, employers, I hope, will work doubly hard, in particular, looking out for these various schemes, latching on them and, of course, not flouting any of the rules and advisories that had already been fleshed out and promulgated.

And thirdly, I think I cannot emphasise more, as what Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng mentioned earlier, the need for tripartism and the ability to work as a tripartite front and as a tripartite relationship. I cannot emphasise more the importance for us to work together, in particular, in reviewing some of these advisories. It could be the National Wages Council's recommendations or some advisories and guidelines to ensure and, even perhaps moving ahead, to review some of the employment laws because of the "new normal" that we are having to operate in and some of the new rules and more people working from home. So, that is one area – sharing some of these horror stories that are happening at workplace which I hope will be eradicated.

Secondly, with this Fortitude Budget and with the past three Budgets as well, I think it is a good time for us to reinforce the message of forging and strengthening the Singaporean Core. I am glad that through the SGUnited programme and the whole plethora of programmes that we have had. The fact that we are faced with challenges – with global lockdowns across various parts of the world and even with our neighbours – it is very important for us to relook not just self-sufficiency in many fronts, but also building and strengthening the Singaporean Core. It is a great opportunity for us to work together, to build and strengthen and hire and develop Singapore Core – which has always been our agenda in the last couple of years.

We have rolled out a series of measures in this area. We have the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). We will continue those efforts. But it is important for employers to keep their minds open and be open to strengthening the Singaporean Core in all areas, in particular, in that space where there are a lot of professionals, managers and executives (PMETs).

At this point, I would just like to highlight the plight, anxieties and fears of many of our mid-career workers, in particular, the PMETs. If you look at the global financial crises, be it SARS and even before this entire COVID-19 saga, if you look at the labour market statistics, in terms of the increase in unemployment rate, this particular group, the mid-career workers, including PMETs, are the most vulnerable and most affected. The increase has been highest in both crises. And therefore, I cannot emphasise more the many fears and anxieties. Even prior to COVID-19, they were already a very vulnerable and susceptible group of workers. With this whole game-change and "next normal", I really fear and worry for them. I am glad that in the Fortitude Budget – and not just in this Fortitude Budget, even at the first Budget that we had – we focused a lot on mid-career workers, in particular the PMETs – through the Career Support Programme, Adapt-and-Grow and a whole slew of measures.

But in this Fortitude Budget, I just like to give my thanks and support for some of the things that have been rolled out. Besides the SGUnited Traineeships and SkillsFuture Traineeships, also the hiring of local workers. In terms of helping mid-career workers – 20% for six months, the 40% for six months for those above 40. These are good and resolute measures to help and encourage those companies.

Not all companies are laying off people. I think those that are, are a small group. Though they are a small group but there are still opportunities. And I hope that through this Budget and all these measures and, of course, with a close partnership amongst the tripartite partners and the newly formed National Jobs Council, we hope more employers will step forward to embrace some of these schemes – not just the traineeship programmes but, at the same time, if they have openings, if they have opportunities, to latch on some of these useful schemes and support.

I urge the Government as well, for those companies that have this strong hiring or strengthening of Singaporean Core, at the same time, a strong support of some of these schemes and good practices, not just good, not just fair, not just responsible, but progressive practices, I hope the Government can give these companies a pat on the back and also more and greater support so that they will be encouraged to do even more.

Finally, in conclusion, I cannot emphasise more during this particular period, as we overcome COVID-19 and all the ramifications, be it from the economy, from the labour market and in particular, workers, I hope we can eradicate some of these horror stories, one by one. I hope we can build the Singaporean Core. I hope also that we can pay particular attention to the mid-career workers – even before this entire saga, they were already very vulnerable. I hope for more emphasis and more support for this particular group so that they will be able to rise up to the challenge.

As we all slowly reopen, like they say, the many "Rs" – as we renew, as we restart, as we refresh, as we rejuvenate ourselves during circuit breaker for some – let us reinvent ourselves, let us reinvigorate, rejuvenate ourselves so that we are able to reposition ourselves and ensure that in all things that we do, we reforge that trust between the employee and employer; not just an employee-employer, but the employer and his industry; the industry needs to work together and hunt as a pack.

At the bigger picture, on the national front, how we, as tripartite partners, can work together – Government, NTUC and all the employers – so that we are able to pivot, rise to the challenge and at same time, also grab the new opportunities that come before us. And on this note, I cannot emphasise more – every worker matters, every job counts. I support the Budget. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.

2.52 pm

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Fortitude Budget. My fellow Labour Members of Parliament have touched on – and others will continue to emphasise – the importance of job creation, job matching and the need to save jobs during this unprecedented period. My speech will focus on keeping our jobs and our workplaces safe because failing to do so may result in another unwelcome spike in COVID-19 cases and undo all our efforts and the billions of dollars that we have committed and are committing to tide our nation through this crisis.

Mr Speaker, we must tread carefully as we ease the circuit breaker measures. In China, over a 100 million people face renewed lockdown in the northeastern region. In Japan, Hokkaido suffered a second wave of coronavirus infections after lifting lockdown measures while in South Korea, new clusters have formed quickly after lockdown restrictions were eased, forcing closures of more than 250 schools last week, just days after they reopened. Is this a case of too much, too soon? Or too little, too late? With lives and livelihoods at stake, it is not an easy balance to make. But I would like to urge that we take a more careful and more calibrated approach to prevent this from happening in Singapore.

Let me first highlight the challenges on the ground that threaten to derail our efforts towards a safe reopening, and propose some suggestions on how we can address them.

Many businesses and their workers have been facing different requirements and different sets of instructions from different Government agencies over the past months. Sometimes, new requirements are issued just days after an earlier set of instructions; while other times, they see other businesses implementing these rules quite differently from them.

The mandatory use of SafeEntry is one such example. Most companies practise the check-in function but, as we know, some do not require you to check out when leaving the premises. Others provide a barcode reader to allow visitors to scan their NRIC as an alternative, but this is not practised universally.

Should safe management measures be implemented based on principles or should they be prescriptive? On the ground, it seems that bosses prefer to implement based on principles while staff who are tasked to implement the measures prefer a more prescriptive set of instructions for clarity and ease of implementation.

Whichever the approach, safe management measures must not inadvertently cause poor safety at the workplace. While we can understand that the aim of these measures is to minimise unnecessary social gatherings at the workplace, some types of work do require clear communication and coordinated teamwork. Keeping a "safety distance" and speaking through a mask could result in unclear communication, which may lead to heightened risks of workplace accidents. For manual work that requires heavy lifting, for example, in the construction or marine engineering sectors, wearing a mask could affect their physically demanding work.

Mr Speaker, poor implementation could also lead to risky outcomes. For example, we read last month that the safe distancing dividers on a lorry transport for workers were deemed "not sturdy enough" and could have caused more harm in the event of a traffic accident! I hope MOM can conduct regular reviews and inspections, especially for high risk sectors, and ensure that the safe management measures are working as intended.

Mr Speaker, cost may also be a factor for poor implementation of safe management practices. Many businesses are already reeling from the increasing costs of putting in place the ever-evolving set of protective measures to keep our workplaces safe – providing thermometers and masks, increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfection, employing additional staff to control access and to monitor temperatures, even increasing the number of trips to ferry workers because of safe distancing requirements. Coupled with a sharp decline in revenue, our businesses are hit with a double whammy!

Many employers that I spoke to are now concerned about the costs of having to send their workers for swab tests as we continue to ramp up community testing. Today, construction workers are required to be tested every two weeks, while pre-school and nursing home staff have taken a precautionary test before returning to work. They tell me that the cost of a swab test seems to vary significantly. Online checks reveal that a swab test can range between US$1 in Senegal to more than US$3,000 in America!

To manage costs, many businesses are leveraging technology to make our workplaces safer during this pandemic. In China, AI-powered thermal cameras are used to identify those in a crowd who have a fever and facial-recognition systems are deployed widely to identify those not wearing masks. Some isolation wards in China are entirely manned by robots that take the patient's temperature, deliver food and medicine and perform disinfection tasks. We too have deployed similar robots in our community isolation facilities and elsewhere in Singapore.

However, I am deeply concerned that some businesses are marketing products that may end up doing more harm than good. For example, we read that the use of disinfectant tunnels can cause serious harm to those walking through them. Experts have cautioned against atomising and spraying copious amount of disinfectant on a person as this may cause irritation and potentially irreversible damage to the cornea, skin and even our respiratory system. Other products, which could cause prolonged UV light exposure, are also harmful to the human body. I therefore urge the Government to review and where necessary, stop the use of such unsafe interventions at our workplaces.

Mr Speaker, until we find a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19, we should incentivise our companies to embrace remote working solutions. Many have adapted to working from home in the past two months and I encourage companies to use this opportunity to reinvent their business operations and where possible, embrace work-from-home arrangements permanently and seize the new opportunities that come with this new normal.

Our hawkers and wet market stallholders have shown that this is possible. During the circuit breaker, many hawkers have united to embrace e-commerce and food delivery. IMDA also taught stallholders from Tekka Market how to sell their produce using Facebook live-stream. Today, many stallholders have started to live-stream on their own and have been successful in selling their produce. The reinvention of our wet market stallholders to become "web market superstars" shows us that we can all adapt to and seize opportunities in this new normal.

Mr Speaker, beyond employers, workers too are facing increased levels of stress. Graduating students and retrenched workers are finding it hard to find a job. Matured workers are worried about keeping their jobs, while frontline workers fear getting an infection from prolonged exposure during work. Even young parents are struggling between balancing their work, helping their energetic children with home-based learning and taking care of their restless elderly parents.

Having a mentally healthy workforce is important as compliance to safety at the workplace may be compromised if workers are not able to focus at work. The total expenditure on mental health makes up less than 5% of MOH's annual operating expenditure. Within the population, Singapore has an estimated average of 4.4 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people. This figure is much lower than the 15 psychiatrists per 100,000 recorded by most OECD countries. I therefore urge the Government to invest more resources on mental healthcare as insufficient support in this area could lead to dire consequences, especially in this prolonged period of uncertainty, anxiety and fear.

Mr Speaker, COVID-19 has shone the spotlight on good workplace safety and health (WSH) practices. Companies are now required to appoint Safe Management Officers (SMOs) before they can resume work and NTUC has already trained over 1,700 to be SMOs. We aim to double that number in the coming months. I hope that the Government could revisit my numerous proposals to mandate a WSH representative in every company. Let us retain and expand the role of these mandatory SMOs beyond the pandemic so that our workplaces can be safer and our workers healthier.

Mr Speaker, to conclude, we are only as strong as our weakest link. To tide through this pandemic and emerge stronger, we need to rally together as one people. The Government has done much to protect lives and livelihoods through an unprecedented series of four Budgets over four months. Businesses are also doing their part to put in place measures to keep our workplaces and our workers safe. The onus is on each of us to take care of ourselves and to take care of each other as we resume "Business Unusual".

I call on the Government, all employers and workers to continue to partner with the Labour Movement so that together, we can save jobs and keep jobs safe, because every worker matters. I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Mr Douglas Foo.

3.04 pm

Mr Douglas Foo (Nominated Member): Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity. Mr Speaker, Sir, please allow me to declare my interest as chairman of Sakae Holdings Ltd, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), vice-chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and vice-president of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

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

As we prepare to exit the circuit breaker, it is again very reassuring to the business community that the central focus of the Fortitude Budget is the protection and creation of jobs. With the additional $33 billion in relief measures, the Government has now set aside close to $100 billion to support Singaporeans in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented level of financial relief continues to demonstrate the Government's unwavering commitment to support our enterprises.

As I stated before in my response to the earlier Budget Statements, businesses cannot take these support measures for granted and must actively take steps to continuously examine and tweak their business models and explore how new improvements can be incorporated sustainably.

Manufacturers here are generally very appreciative of the relief measures that will help to ease commercial financial challenges. Ranging from sustained foreign worker levy rebates and waivers as well as more robust rental relief measures to training of employees and upgrading of equipment, the SMF is thankful that the Government has largely taken on board the feedback of our members in announcing a progressively more comprehensive relief package.

Our members are also heartened that on a government-to-government level, Singapore is working with other countries to keep supply chain disruptions as minimal as possible during this time. This has significantly helped businesses continue operations during the circuit breaker.

As we take the required steps to exit the circuit breaker and work towards the new normal, I would like to share some feedback on challenges faced by businesses and encourage sustained and greater collaboration within the tripartite alliance.

On safe distancing and shop floor hygiene – Singapore first became acquainted with the COVID-19 virus early this year and since then, most companies have had to adapt processes significantly to safeguard the health of employees while they struggle with the numerous external impacts on their businesses. I would like to recognise and applaud this collective effort from businesses to place safety and health above commercial concerns. In fact, in a recent survey of members of the SMF, 62% of the members surveyed ranked safety and health as their top concern as they prepare for the reopening of more businesses after the circuit breaker.

Some members have even indicated an almost four-fold increase in monthly cleaning expenses to ensure a clean environment for their workers and products. In addition to cleaning costs, companies are now maintaining their own inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is likely to be required in daily operations for an extended period of time. As such, manufacturers largely expect these costs to be permanent additions to their operational costs.

In addition, the current necessity of remote work also presented significant costs for businesses to introduce mobility into their business models such as required laptops, setting up of remote servers, cloud access and so on. In addition, we have seen a number of companies modifying their shop floor to comply with safe distancing guidelines. All of these costs give rise to genuine concerns of the manufacturing community as to how Singapore can continue to be competitive globally as different countries practise different precautionary measures.

One of Singapore's advantage has always been speed and efficiency. While businesses understand that there is an ever important need to care for the safety and health of our people, businesses here hope that law and policy makers take into careful consideration the need not to be overly prescriptive and at the same time, ensure that regulatory bodies are sufficiently resourced and staffed so that required approvals do not become the bottleneck to efficiency.

On manpower concerns – the circuit breaker has also presented a wide number of manpower challenges to companies. Key among which is the uncertainty of the permitted workers' quota, which changes day to day for some companies.

The feedback from member companies is that such fluctuations are an added form of disruption as they are unable to plan ahead and schedule production schedules. This also has resulted in a core group of the workforce being stretched during this time as many find themselves taking up dual roles. Such also has a serious impact on manufacturers as they abide by safety standards and regulations, but staff fatigue is always an ever present danger.

Finally, companies are also eagerly awaiting the normalising of the human traffic between Singapore and Malaysia. Aside from being a key part of the workforce, some Malaysian workers who have chosen to remain in Singapore have been apart from their families for an extended period of time and these form mental welfare concerns for employers. Businesses know that this is not dependent on Singapore alone. Accordingly, businesses wish for the governments of both countries to expeditiously reach an agreement to facilitate trade. One area is the 14-day quarantine or Stay-Home Notice that workers going to and returning from either country face on each side, making it a total of 28 days that the worker is not able to work.

On overseas contractual obligations – another key concern for businesses is their inability to fully fulfill their contractual obligations to overseas clients due to circuit breaker measures. Many are worried that the longstanding relationships they have built over the years with customers and suppliers, especially those from overseas, lost during the circuit breaker, may be difficult to woo back.

Many of our members who trade internationally are especially concerned regarding their contractual obligations to overseas clients and that failure to fulfill the same could mean exposure to financial and reputational damages. In this regard, the SMF would like to advocate for the Government to take the lead and work towards getting agreement from other countries on a legal framework that transcends jurisdictional boundaries, much along the lines of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the above are concerns and feedback from the business community – genuine and from the ground. I hope that the relevant Ministries can assist to see how some of these issues can be even more quickly resolved. I will now like to move on to the next part of my speech – that of digitalisation and training.

On protecting livelihoods, transforming businesses – as president of the SMF, a common refrain when I engage with our members is the need for digitalisation. While the challenges presented by the measures to combat COVID-19 have indeed spurred on digitalisation and transformation for businesses, there is still much to be done.

The SMF administers the Digital Project Management Services programme as part of the SMEs Go Digital initiative. Since the circuit breaker, we have seen almost the same number of expressions of interest as in the months from August 2018 to April 2020, when the programme was launched. However, the adoption rate is still low. While many companies understand the need to transform, a number of concerns still hinder the adoption process. In a survey of the members of SMF conducted in early 2020, members cited uncertain return of investment, lack of technical capabilities as well as concerns on cybersecurity as key reasons holding them back from adopting digital technologies.

In this regard, the SMF is really glad and heartened that the Fortitude Budget pays importance towards incentivising and encouraging businesses to digitalise. We believe that the measures will go some way to pushing companies to take the plunge. The SMF will also be doing its part to complement that of Government's efforts to push for our members to take up digital solutions on an expedited basis.

Similarly, companies seeking to send employees for training during this period have also encountered some challenges that warrant some attention. One of the new initiatives under the Fortitude Budget is provision of training opportunities for the older workforce. Members have since highlighted that there is a challenge in upskilling their workforce in this age group as most courses are conducted in English and there is a relative scarcity of courses conducted in Chinese, Malay or Tamil that this age group of workers may be more comfortable with.

For the manufacturing sector, the transformation journey is one we are committed to and while the change will not be overnight, I strongly believe that our continued efforts as a community will set us on the right path.

On importance of the tripartite alliance – Mr Speaker, Sir, as I close my speech today, I would like to invite the hon Members of this House to spend some time to ponder on the delicate balance of our labour relations in Singapore.

I have, in my previous speeches, always made it a point to drive awareness and encourage the strengthening of our unique tripartite labour alliance. Yet, it is in trying times like these that the true work and importance of this alliance shines more brightly than ever before.

Amid the massive global economic upheaval, with the strength of our labour relations built up over decades, our workers are able to keep faith with their employers and employers are able to keep faith in the Government. This foundation has provided important stability for our economy during this crisis. It is therefore critical and timely, that as hon Members of this House, we remember and keep this delicate balance in view even as we canvass the interests and views of the organisations we represent. During such times of heightened uncertainty and anxiety, it is easy for a statement, though innocuously made, and, perhaps in support of one stakeholder, to engender feelings of negativity or suspicion in another.

It is therefore important that in the current circumstances, that we keep communication channels open and transparent between workers, employers and the Government. After all, we are all working collectively towards a common goal of emerging stronger as a nation after this pandemic. It is therefore exceedingly crucial that we continue to be ever mindful of how we can continue to build up such relations.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, by promoting continuous innovation, advancement and adaptation, and with the relief the different Budget Statements have provided for businesses, I believe we can overcome.

As a partner in nation building, the SMF is committed to stand in Solidarity and Unity with our members and the Government, increase business Resilience and surmount this difficulty with Fortitude. May we be in the best possible position to better seize opportunities presented when the effects of COVID-19 recede globally. I stand in unequivocal support of the Fortitude Budget Statement.

3.16 pm

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Mr Speaker, Sir, this is the darkest of times. COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on the economies of many countries. In Singapore, the recent circuit breaker has affected many businesses. We all have friends who have lost their jobs, or their businesses or are struggling in some way. We are certainly in this together.

This is a battle not just against COVID-19 but against some of the toughest enemies of any small state – despair, poverty, haplessness, an overwhelming sense of pessimism.

Large states have deeper resources, a stronger pull on world affairs and a sense of control and destiny. Singapore has always been a price-taker in world affairs and remains vulnerable to all the ugly forces that have come to the fore in this pandemic and we have seen this played out in many countries including Singapore.

What has come out quite starkly is the fact – a fact that we have always known, but perhaps forgotten – that we ourselves must defend Singapore, defend our laws, our rules, our way of life.

We ourselves must call out rule breakers who mock us and write home to invite their countrymen to do the same; we must think of solutions when countries where we locate our assets count their own interests above ours; in times of trouble, we must call our own home from all over the world – as our universities did to thousands of students overseas. Some of them did bring home the virus and were rightly cared for in our hospitals.

We are our best hope, and we must stand together. If we break, this dark time will not end and it will be sometime before we see more sunny days and blue skies.

We are slowly but surely emerging out of the circuit breaker.

In my speech at the debate on the Solidarity Budget, I shared how NTUC FairPrice Group proactively responded at the onset of COVID-19 to assure consumers and public on the availability and affordability of essentials. Today, I would like to share the efforts of our other various entities at NTUC Enterprise who are continuing to address the key concerns of job security and opportunity, and initiatives to moderate the cost of living. I declare my interest as the Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise and NTUC FairPrice.

First, building a resilient workforce. FairPrice Group has continued to operate our supermarket branches – on line and off line; our hawker centres, foodcourts and coffeeshops; as well as at our warehouses and central kitchens – working hard to meet consumers’ food and grocery needs and adapting to the evolving circumstances daily. These efforts help to ensure that the public have access to their daily essentials.

On a side note, I must declare that Fairprice Group has a food services division through our Kopitiam and FoodFare outlets. I wish to make a call out for all those in the F&B sector. In fact, earlier hon Member Mr Lim Biow Chuan made the same call. Those in the F&B sector have indeed been very badly hit in this crisis because the dining in crowd is a very, very important component of their overall business model.

So, whilst the various support schemes by Government have been indeed very helpful, this is but a stop-gap measure and so the earlier we can provide guidance and clarity for the F&B sector, and in particular to ensure that the various measures and reliefs that Government has announced that they accrue and are received by the F&B operators in its entirety. As is, we can expect more F&B firms to exit this industry and with it, a lot more job losses.

Of course, there will be businesses which are less affected by COVID-19. For such organisations, they should always remember to recognise the people that make up the organisation. So, like others in the essential services, FairPrice group has given special monetary awards and incentives to our colleagues, especially those working at the frontline. Many customers have also joined us in appreciating our service staff through testimonies on social media as well as through personal cards and letters of encouragement.

Over the last two months, FairPrice group has provided employment opportunities for an additional 4,000 staff – full time, part-time and temporary workers – to support operations and the high transaction volume that we experience and this includes people like Ms Gina Ng, a lady that Mr Ng Chee Meng referred to just now and, indeed, this was arranged though the Job Security Council. Ms Ng was from the Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel. Besides Fairmont, we at FairPrice group also managed to get staff from Grand Hyatt, Orchard Hotel, Ritz Carlton, Changi Airport Group, Wildlife Reserves and several others to help us out. Their stints will end some in July and some in August. We are currently looking to fill another 300 more positions and working with other agencies to provide employment for workers, especially those who have been displaced.

NTUC Enterprise group will certainly be supporting the SGUnited Traineeships Scheme and offer 300 training places to help trainees in exposure and experience in the various areas of business.

Next, let me cover what we have done in terms of commitment to learning. NTUC LearningHub continues to make learning accessible during this period. To encourage all our workers to make good use of time to upgrade their skillsets, NTUC LearningHub has provided access to online courses that covers both Adaptive Skills and Technological Skills.

In addition, LearningHub has provided opportunities for self-employed persons to earn as they train to deepen or acquire new competencies, all this in preparation for when the economy picks up and new opportunities arise.

During this circuit breaker period, two of our NTUC Social Enterprises quickly pivoted and launched new digital initiatives:

LearningHub introduced free online courses, which received close to 70,000 sign-ups. Completion rates of these courses were very encouraging and significantly higher than the industry benchmark.

On the other hand, our NTUC First Campus also launched “Kidzmatters” for parents, and this received 90,000 sign-ups. For the last two months, I think these have all been very well used by parents of such children.

Our MoneyOwl too conducted more online webinars and e-learning to educate the public on financial planning and management.

Whilst jobs continue to be a major concern for all, we were also kept busy keeping our operations running and services accessible, and at the same time, doing our best to keep cost of living in check.

During the circuit breaker period, to cope with the continued surge in demand and provide greater convenience to customers, FairPrice had to develop various solutions and initiatives. They include the setting up of pop-up and atrium stores, increasing online capacity, and instituting a "priority shopping hour" for the Pioneer Generation and vulnerables. And, in fact, this week we started a priority queue for healthcare workers. And then there were the mobile grocery vans which brought essential products to residents in selected areas without them having to venture too far away from home. FairPrice on Wheels is now in eight locations and growing to grow.

Our sourcing teams continued in overdrive mode as we strengthened our network of suppliers across the globe to mitigate any disruptions in supply especially that of essential items.

Efforts to contain COVID-19 will be a long and protracted one. The Labour Movement has always looked after workers and their welfare. For today, I am highlighting two areas only – jobs and cost of living. We pledge to ensure stable jobs, affordable groceries, quality and value meals. As a group, we will continue to do our part for the community through our corporate giving, whether it is donations to vulnerable and community groups or providing more relief to needy families and workers during this difficult period.

The NTUC Enterprise group of social enterprises led by FairPrice will be putting together a package to help Singaporeans and families address this for the services that we are involved. This is very much part of our DNA and what the public has grown to expect and can expect the NTUC group of Social Enterprises to continue to do so. We are finalising these measures and will share with the public soon. Secretary-General Mr Ng Chee Meng indeed will be the one, together with a few of us, to launch this.

Yes, in the best of times, we cared less for bread and butter – opting for sashimi and salmon. We aim for high pay and long holidays. Today, travel, dining out and shopping seem like a dream from the past.

But Singapore was born on dreams. We made a nation out of nothing but gumption and a Separation Agreement. Our first meals were from lean tables; and we can today, endure and grow from these hard times to strength and prosperity. The sun will shine on Singapore again, but we must ourselves first break through the darkness. Sir, I support the Fortitude Budget.

Mr Speaker: Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon.

3.27 pm

The Senior Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak in support of the Fortitude Budget as Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC.

Sir, COVID-19 has transformed our world drastically and the past few months had been challenging for everybody. Since MTI’s last review in March, the disruptions to economic activity in major economies around the world have been more severe than expected due to the stringent containment measures taken by various governments to slow the spread of COVID-19. Most of the major advanced economies as well as the emerging economies are now projected to see full-year recessions in 2020.

Against this backdrop, the outlook for the Singapore economy has weakened further.

As a small and open economy, Singapore’s GDP growth is expected to come in at -7% to -4%. Sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale trade and transportation and storage will be adversely affected by the sharper-than-expected slowdown in many of Singapore’s key markets and there will be prolonged uncertainties as well disruptions in the global supply chains.

The implementation of circuit breaker measures to contain the COVID-19 virus in Singapore was necessary but it has also created an impact on our economy – business operations were disrupted and non-essential business services were forced to close during the circuit breaker period; workers have to make alternative arrangements to work from home.

While we have managed to flatten the epidemic curve, we must now shift our focus to tackle the "unemployment" curve as retrenchment and job losses will inevitably rise. As the Executive Secretary of the Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU), I had the chance to speak with many of our employer partners as well as our workers on the ground. They were seeing reduced work hours, shorter work weeks and even no-pay leave is becoming more frequent now in many of our branches and our partner companies. So, naturally, I understand that our union leaders and workers are concerned about their job security in the immediate and longer term.

Therefore, the Labour Movement welcomes the Fortitude Budget that supports the gradual reopening of our economy. The enhancement to the Jobs Support Scheme will help to sustain companies in the early phase of reopening and reduce the pressure to retrench workers.

PMETs and workers, aged in the 40s to 50s, are expected to be more impacted by any retrenchments. They are more likely to face difficulties in finding jobs in this distressed job market. To help workers stay employed and employable, the new SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package will create close to 100,000 placement opportunities in the three areas of jobs, traineeships and training. This is very much welcomed by union leaders and workers that I spoke to.

The National Jobs Council chaired by Senior Minister Tharman will oversee this effort. NTUC hopes that the NJC will leverage the NTUC Job Security Council set up earlier in February this year to pre-emptively match at-risk and soon-to-be displaced workers into available job opportunities. NTUC JSC, as Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng has shared earlier, has more than 7,000 companies in our network and has emplaced more than 10,000 workers into job opportunities. These jobs were mainly in essential services or to support COVID-19 efforts, especially in sectors such as healthcare, retail and logistics.

Through this, and with the help of many of our unions and the various Company Training Committees (CTCs), NTUC stands ready to support the Government in the National Jobs Council, leveraging our existing capabilities and our network to help match workers to new jobs and also to equip them with deeper skills at the national level.

I hope policy incentives being considered by National Jobs Council can further support the early success of NTUC Job Security Council and encourage more companies to join us in this network to create more traineeship placements and more job opportunities.

One of the key enablers to allow better job matching is skills training to ensure our workers acquire future-ready and industry relevant skills. During this economic slowdown, NTUC has been working closely with our unions to encourage companies to send their workers for training and to take advantage of the various schemes, like absentee payroll, for example, to help defray wage costs when the workers are away on training. Companies should also leverage on the CTCs to identify skills and training needs to better upskill their workers.

One example is Diethelm Keller Aviation (DKA). This is an unionised company under Metal Industries Workers Union (MIWU). Together with the union, the company set up a CTC in 2019, with the aim of furthering workers' career prospects through relevant skills training. The company engaged NTUC's e2i or the Employment and Employability Institute, to redesign the jobs and raised productivity of their workers. While DKA's business in the aviation sector has been affected by COVID-19, they will be using this downtime to cross-skill workers through structured on-the-job training so that they have flexibility to re-deploy workers to areas of need and emerge stronger from the crisis.

Many companies like DKA in the manufacturing sector has been impacted by disruption to the Malaysian workers commuting across from the Causeway due to the lockdowns and the situation in Malaysia. And by cross-skilling their workers, they are able to respond to this transient manpower shortages and cope with the skill gaps that they may have.

Some companies have pivoted to other business segments with growth opportunities and accelerated their business transformation during this period. One example is Certact Engineering, a unionised company under MIWU as well. This company has recently transformed their business from a plastic and aluminum manufacturing company, to manufacture medical equipment components like the COVID-19 test kits and ventilator component parts. To support the new business requirements, Certact had to remodel their business processes, redesign existing jobs and send their workers for training to operate their new manufacturing lines. So, even as I speak today, Certact is partnering NTUC to leverage the CTC and Operations Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process to implement their new business model and strengthen their workforce capabilities.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, physical OTR sessions cannot be conducted. Hence, NTUC worked with A*STAR to develop a virtual-OTR methodology and we embarked on this virtual OTR process with Certact Engineering recently. They have given good feedback. It is a useful process. It allows us to conduct such processes even with circuit breaker measures. We will be conducting more virtual-OTRs with the various CTCs using online platforms to ensure that companies' transformation needs and workers' training needs continue to be served by the virtual-OTR during this pandemic.

Workers have also shared with me that training-related costs may deter their employers facing cashflow challenges during COVID-19 pandemic from undertaking skills upgrading for their workers. NTUC introduced the NTUC-Education and Training Fund (NETF) Collaborative Fund (NCF) in March 2019 to provide training-related funding support to our unionised companies who send their unionised employees for training programmes.

To help the increasing number of affected workers and to ensure that training costs to companies are further reduced during this COVID-19 period, I am glad to share that NTUC has increased the training support funding cap of this NCF from S$30,000 to S$50,000 per unionised company. To speed up business recovery, we will also introduce NETF Collaborative Fund Lite or NCF-Lite, for non-unionised companies with 50 or more NTUC union members in their workforce, with training support of up to $8,000 per company.

I want to encourage more companies, both unionised and non-unionised, to approach NTUC to set up CTCs and tap into the additional funding support to send their workers for training.

Sir, Singapore is not immune to the disruptions brought about by COVID-19. We have in place structures and initiatives to help the Singapore economy recover. The Government has set aside nearly $100 billion through the four Budgets to support both businesses and workers. The Labour Movement also stands ready to journey with our tripartite partners through this challenging period.

We will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to keep our workers in jobs, to enhance job matching and job creation for our workers, to encourage skills training so that we can collectively navigate through the new post-COVID era. Tough times do not last but tough people do. And I believe that if we continue to stay united, band together, face the challenges head-on as One United Singapore, we will be able to go through this global pandemic together and be ready when the upturn comes. With that, Sir, I stand in support of the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Ang Hin Kee.

3.38 pm

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the livelihood of over 200,000 freelancers and self-employed persons (SEPs). Thankfully, many received support in various forms during this period. Unfortunately, their income continues to be severely affected. To assist SEPs cover their immediate and future needs, I have three proposals to make. These are: support to mitigate income drop, support for licensing and accreditation and support in finding new income sources.

Firstly, we need solutions to help them deal with a sudden and likely prolonged drop in income. This is a most pressing need. A case in point is with the two largest groups of SEPs in Singapore, namely, taxi and private hire drivers. Together, the National Taxi Association and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association, the Point-to-Point operators and MOT worked out several solutions to deal with a severe drop in passenger numbers and earnings.

Mr Speaker, in the past, in this House and outside this House, I have debated actively with the Ministry and the operators on things to improve and tackle challenges faced by drivers. But this is a time where we collaborate and work together. And, as a result, we were able to pool our resources and swiftly rolled out rental rebates and financial aids to drivers. We, in the NTUC, were also able to extend further assistance to those who were union members.

On their part, I am very grateful to the Point-to-Point operators who gave additional support such as rental waiver, which means they did not collect a single dollar in rental during the circuit breaker period from the taxi drivers and rental reductions even after the circuit breaker period has ended. Drivers I spoke too are deeply appreciative of the various support given.

Mr Speaker, during this whole entire period of COVID impact, our union leaders also went down to the ground to gather with the operator staff, the officials from the Ministry, to hand out masks, take temperature, give out food packs and bentos to the drivers in need. This is indeed tripartism in action.

MOT has also supported not just full-time drivers but part-time drivers as well. Part-time private hire drivers who do not qualify for the daily rental rebates under the Special Relief Fund was given a $300 Driver Care Fund which the Ministry provides for part-time driver. NTUC helped administered the Fund and over 3,500 drivers have benefited from that scheme. We handled the administration because we know the ground and could handle the appeal process swiftly.

As takings are unlikely to return to pre-COVID levels anytime soon, the Ministry has extended the Special Relief Fund to help full-time drivers with rental costs. But the Driver Care Fund has not been extended for part-time drivers who are also struggling. I hope MOT and MOF can consider giving part-time private hire drivers a second tranche of Driver Care Fund and to review the eligibility criteria and allow more drivers to qualify.

Secondly, the second support I would like to propose is in licensing and accreditation for SEPs. To help them deal with a sudden drop in income, we heard earlier about the $9,000 Self-employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS). SIRS, based on eligibility criteria, benefited 130,000 SEPs who are auto-qualify to benefit. Those who do not meet the criteria have submitted applications. Understandably, many SEPs who are not in the auto-qualify group are anxious.

One common issue they face is the lack of a licensing regime to verify if they are SEPs and whether they are struggling with a severe drop in income. Many also had not been diligent in contributing to their MediSave or filing their income tax returns. This added to the lack of information to verify their status.

Previously, in this House, I have appealed for more groups of SEPs to be issued with a licence. I have also called upon the Government to offer co-contributions to help them contribute to their MediSave. I would like to repeat that call today.

For instance, SEPs, such as private hire drivers and tour guides hold a vocational licence and are contracted with an operator. That allowed accurate identification of those who have suffered a severe drop in income. Furthermore, those SEPs who are registered with the unions could grant and gain immediate access to help offered by the NTUC. This covers people such as those who in the National Instructors and Coaches Association who are dealing mainly with people who are sports instructors and coaches offering services.

However, we do not yet have a licensing regime for people such as tuition teachers, photographers, performers, dancers, riggers, sound system men in the self-employed group. Whether it is to offer financial assistance or training help, much effort is needed to ensure that genuine freelancers in need are identified and assisted.

MOM had earlier launched the Contribute-As-You-Earn initiative to help SEPs contribute regularly into their MediSave account. However, it is only in its early stage and has not reached many of the 200,000 SEPs in Singapore.

It is a useful scheme. Therefore, I would like to propose that MOM spearhead a whole-of-Government approach to have more groups of SEPs issued with a vocation licence or to form accredited professional guilds or join the union. This will allow for proper assessment of their professional needs and provide them with support during a downturn.

The NTUC has, in the past, formed unions for different groups of SEPs and we stand ready to work with the Government to do more.

Mr Speaker, there is a need to do more for this group but we need the recognition by the industry and the Government agencies in order for the guilds and the unions to take work. Only then will guilds be effective and more SEPs see a need to join.

This has been my experience as an advisor with the union, working together with the Point-to-Point Operators and MOT. Because of the strong tripartite relationship, we were able to deliver strong support swiftly to many taxi and private hire drivers. My other union colleagues shared the same experience when they work with the travel operators and MTI to help our tour guides. Moving forward, we must ensure that more SEPs can benefit from such a tripartite arrangement.

Furthermore, I would like to repeat my call for a one-off co-funding by the Government to self-employed persons who make voluntary contributions to their MediSave. This will also go towards ensuring that more of them will be able to save up for their immediate and future medical needs.

And finally, we also need to look at ways to help self-employed persons find new sources of income. Many lost their income when their clients stopped buying services from them because of restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NTUC's Employment & Employability Institute has been conducting job-matching for self-employed persons who would like to consider temporary jobs or make a career switch. The recently announced National Jobs Council is indeed a further boost to this effort.

There are sectors that are still hiring and the most pressing task now is to quickly acquire the skills needed and match workers to those vacancies. But are our self-employed persons ready and have the appropriate mindset to make such switches? I have spoken to many drivers, taxi drivers and private hire drivers, who have changed career tracks and become bus captains as well as event emcees and tour guides, who have taken on temporary roles as temperature screeners or swabbers.

Also, we read recently that over 10,000 taxi and private hire drivers have moved from serving commuters to delivering food, groceries and parcels – this is thanks to the MOT's help to liberalise the current point-to-point regulations. The drivers learnt the skills of engaging customers on delivery matters, use cashless payment and even made adjustments to their daily routine – no more do they queue outside at the airport, but outside of restaurants or supermarkets in order to collect the delivery on time. Our workers are indeed adaptable.

To support them, I hope that the National Jobs Council can look at enabling more self-employed persons attain more vocational skills and to earn income from various channels. This way, our scarce manpower can be better deployed across various industries. It will also support self-employed persons reduce their downtime through matching them with various assignments. There may be concern that this multi-skilling of self-employed persons would eat into the domain of other trades. But the COVID-19 pandemic has already compelled even countries to relook at their longstanding economic strategy and even geared up to becoming less reliant on others.

Similarly, we must help reduce the risks self-employed persons face, support them to acquire new skills and leverage on digital tools to optimise their access to work assignments. Due to the pandemic, more of us have begun to better understand the needs of the over 200,000 self-employed persons in Singapore. All businesses and service buyers, and yes, including Government as buyers, can help by looking beyond the boundaries of contractual relationships and support our self-employed persons.

It is imperative that we work towards ensuring that the self-employed persons workforce that contributes significantly to the development of many sectors remain viable and intact even after the pandemic has ended. Mr Speaker, I support the Budget.

3.48 pm

Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Speaker, COVID-19 has caused massive disruptions in our way of life. Experts are predicting that the way we live, work and play will be very much different post COVID-19. There will be a new normal. We experienced some of this possible new normal during the circuit breaker period. As a nation, we were united, we showed resilience, we fought in solidarity, we strengthened our fortitude.

But this crisis also revealed our vulnerabilities. We know we need to reduce our dependence in some areas and at the same time, develop new mindset and capabilities for us to live, work and play in the new normal.

This current crisis has forced many to re-think on the value that our society has placed on essential service workers. The services provided by these workers are truly useful, necessary and the impact will be felt if the work is not done. Unfortunately, in many societies, the more useful the work is, the less they pay you. However, this crisis has caused some to change their attitude and behaviour, and we have witnessed many more people who are being gracious, generous and grateful for the work of our essential service workers.

NTUC, together with our affiliated unions and associations, have long championed the cause of our low-wage essential service workers. To us, every worker matters and every job counts. While I am heartened that we have made good progress in terms of pushing for better wages and skills, there is much more to be done. In post COVID-19, what would be the new normal for essential service workers in the outsourced sectors that keep Singapore safe, clean and green?

Currently, most of the companies in the outsourced industries where the Progressive Wage Model is made mandatory, are characterised by an older workforce, limited use of technology, relatively low productivity, heavy reliance on foreign manpower, and their salaries hover at the bottom fifth percentile of the resident workforce in terms of gross monthly salary.

This situation cannot persist in post COVID-19. As a society, if we truly value the work of our essential service workers, then it is time for all stakeholders to be bold and embrace change in the new normal.

In the new normal, we must change how we treat our essential service workers. We must continue to find ways to narrow the income gap and ensure their average wage growth continue to be higher than the median. Currently, under the mandatory Progessive Wage Model (PWM), our cleaners and landscape workers are given only two weeks of PWM bonus but, there is none for the security officers. Simply giving them an annual bonus of one month would increase the percentage of wage increment by about 8%. The tripartite committees overseeing these essential services must work together to enhance the skills and wage ladders to ensure our workers continue to remain relevant and due recognition be given for the importance of their work.

In the new normal, we need a PWM where these essential services would be anchored by a skillful and productive workforce, balanced with both the young and old. Attracting a younger or more skillful workforce has always been a key outcome desired under PWM and to achieve this, we must change how we do things by leveraging technology and digitalisation to support higher productivity and sustain higher wages to attract younger Singaporeans to be essential service workers.

As there will be older workers in these sectors, we also need to drive a change in our mindset. We must inculcate in all workers a growth mindset where one is never too old to learn new things. We need to encourage them to embrace technology to make the work safer and smarter.

Changing the way we do things for the future is already mapped out in the different Industry Transformation Maps for the respective essential services industries. This plan must be reviewed for the new normal. We need to change the assumptions when these plans were developed to accelerate the transformation of the industry for the new normal where we drive productivity increase through technology and digitalisation. All of this require a highly skilled workforce and the new PWM must reflect the changes in skills and productivity required to justify higher salaries.

In the new normal, we must change how we classify occupations. This crisis has shown the importance of the work of these essential service workers. With higher skills and greater productivity, these environmental services workers, security officers and landscape specialists should be regarded as specialists in their own respective areas and would not be seen or regarded as low-wage workers. Only then perhaps, younger Singaporeans will see this as a viable career.

In the new normal, we need to change consumers' and service buyers' behaviour where we demand higher standards of procurement practices. Outcome-based Contracting must be the norm for procuring services and service buyers should only award contracts to companies with progressive employment practices that reward and recognise their workers right. It is important that every socially responsible service buyer leads by example and reject service providers that provide services at low cost but always at the expense of the welfare of these essential service workers.

This crisis has also forced us to reflect our core values and principles to fellow human beings and highlighted our unseen class system. At the same time, it also showed that we can rise to the occasion to put things right. I would like to take this opportunity to applaud all those who have played a part to help, protect and support our migrant workers.

In the new normal, we must change how we regard the migrant workers and welcome them in our community. We must realise that they are the ones who keep Singapore going; cleaners and maintenance workers who keep our neighbourhoods clean and hygienic, workers who keep our transport running so we can get our essential supplies, workers who keep electricity and water flowing to our homes, and workers who provide other services in our neighbourhoods.

Some of these migrant workers will be housed in vacated school sites to ensure that the safety and welfare of our migrant workers as they continue working during this crisis. In my constituency, I am heartened that many of my residents demonstrated understanding for the need to have this arrangement but, what if these temporary dormitories must remain for a much longer period? Do we then adopt the perverse attitude of resisting them again because we do not want them in our backyard? I hope the new normal for our foreign friends will see them being accepted as a fellow human being who has the right to enjoy the surrounding that they helped to maintain and build.

I see the changes needed for the new normal will complement our efforts to create better jobs, better wages and better welfare for our workers regardless of collar, age, nationalities and sector. Mr Speaker, in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: In our efforts to change to the new normal, it is important that we take cognizance of the challenge faced by workers currently as they can be in financial distress due to the crisis now. In a recent survey conducted by OCBC, it was shared that 70% of working adults do not have enough funds to last them beyond six months if they were to lose their jobs now. I would not be surprised if many low-wage workers would fall into this group as they have very little savings. Hence, I would like the Government to consider reviewing the criteria for Short to Mid-Term ComCare Assistance to enable more households to be eligible.

Many WIS recipients welcome the $3000 one-off special cash payment which will be paid over two equal payments of $1,500 each, in July and October 2020. I hope that should the crisis be prolonged, the Government could consider another one-off special payment but perhaps in smaller amount spread over a longer period.

(In English): In conclusion, the road ahead will be a long one, but hard times create strong people. Every one of us must play our part to create a new normal. This will require a shift in mindset for many, but we must also not lose sight of the opportunities ahead. If the $100 billion we have spent in this crisis does not lead us to a future where we can be more progressive, more equitable and more enlightened, then indeed it would be a tragedy if the only thing we did was just trying to survive, rather than coming out stronger as a society. I support the Budget.

3.59 pm

Mr Arasu Duraisamy (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, COVID-19 has impacted economies worldwide. Singapore is also not spared. With supply chains being impacted, the transport and logistic sector will also be affected. As the General Secretary of the Singapore Port Workers' Union, I too, am worried for my brothers and sisters in the sector.

As compared to the four sectors worst hit by COVID-19, the impact on the transport and logistics sectors are not as pronounced yet. However, workers are concerned that they might soon be the "next in line" as they see telling signs of businesses slowing down, a reduction in overtime and incentive earnings as well as being asked to clear their vocational leave due to the low activities. It is not just our local workers who are worried about losing their jobs or having a reduction in their take-home pay; our migrant workers in the transport and logistics sectors are also concerned. It is in the time of crisis where we must leverage the existing labour-management relations or LMR in short, to help workers and companies through this challenging period.

I recall when Malaysia first announced the Movement Control Order, the union and PSA management quickly came together to make arrangements to house our Malaysian counterparts in PSA-operated dormitories. Issues raised by these members were resolved quickly and amicably. When the Singapore Government imposed movement restrictions on workers staying at the dormitories, once again, the union and the management partners moved quickly to ensure that the workers' needs are taken care of. Union leaders and members volunteered their help to support the management in the distribution of meals and daily essentials to these workers in the dormitories. Some even stepped up to be safe distancing ambassadors at the dormitories and the workplaces.

These are just some of my personal experiences of how LMR has come to play an essential role during this challenging period. Even as Singapore gradually reopens our economy, LMR can continue to play a crucial role to ensure that workers can return to work safely and businesses can continue to operate.

For companies to resume operations, safe management measures must be put in place to minimise the re-emergence of COVID-19 community cases. While it might bring about some inconveniences, we all know that these measures are necessary. Due to this necessity, NTUC has worked with Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute and NTUC LearningHub to facilitate the training of union leaders, management partners and union staff as Safe Management Officers. Having knowledge of safe management measures, union leaders will then be able to work with their management partners to coordinate and implement these measures on the ground. Each one of us must do our part in adhering to these measures, and I hope that more companies can come on board and get trained so that businesses can continue to operate safely and workers can work in a safe environment.

Another area that we can leverage LMR is in workers’ training. Compared to pre-COVID times, business activity might not be as high during this period, and we should make use of this time to retrain workers. In the port sector, our unions are working with the company to train workers to have dual skills so that they can be cross-deployed across roles. One example is how we are encouraging our crane operators and drivers to be reskilled as reefer and equipment maintenance technicians. This will not only give the company the flexibility to deploy these workers but also increase the value-add the workers bring to the company. I believe we can also explore similar cross-training opportunities in other sectors.

Our unions and management must work even more closely during this challenging period to give confidence to our workers. In areas, such as workers’ safety and workers’ training, we should take proactive steps to reassure our workers that we are still doing our utmost best to improve their wages, welfare and work prospects.

Moving forward, what else can we do to keep our workers' jobs and livelihoods? At a recent dialogue with PSA Group CEO Tan Chong Meng, our union leaders and PSA’s senior management partners, he shared with us four steps which we can take to help the organisation move forward in post-COVID times. Taking a page out of that, I feel that these steps are very much relevant to us as a nation.

First, be prepared for recession. In the most recent estimate by MTI, Singapore’s GDP is projected to be -7% to -4%. Job losses and retrenchments are inevitable. In a typical business environment, it takes a retrenched worker about three to six months to secure a new job. But the current climate has exacerbated these norms.

In light of this possible impact on workers, can the Government explore making COVID-19 Support Grant a long-term help to provide workers facing short-term unemployment? For example, can the Government consider extending the length of support beyond three months, with each applicant reassessed every three months based on their past training and job search efforts? Can we also increase the quantum of assistance to $1,000 per month, aligning with Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) because both employees and the self-employed face the same pressure during the period of unemployment? Can the scheme be more favourable to workers who are sole breadwinners of their families, as they would be under greater financial pressure compared to dual-income families?

Second, be resilient. As a country, we need to be resilient. Businesses can use this time to relook at work processes and business strategies while workers can review their training needs. Take this opportunity to reflect and learn from our past experiences and, hopefully, this will bring about new and innovative solutions which we can leverage when the economy recovers. Let us work together as a country to develop more win-win solutions for both companies and workers to enable us to be more resilient in the face of future adversities.

While there might be some short-term pains, it is not all doom and gloom as the recovery will eventually come. Therefore, we must use this downtime strategically to transform our economy and accelerate the push for Industry 4.0 in the various sectors. If we can take this period to leverage and adopt technology, increase productivity, reduce our reliance on foreign workforce and reskill our workers to take up new jobs, I believe Singapore is well-poised to take advantage of the new opportunities when the global economy recovers.

Third, be prepared to go regional. As supply chain and global manufacturing start to shift away from China, we need to refocus on regional manufacturing zones, such as Central and Eastern Europe (or CEE) for Europe, Mexico for the Americas, as well as India and South-East Asia countries for Asia. These shifts in the supply chain will cause inter-regional trade to slow down but intra-regional trade will likely grow at a faster pace. We must support our businesses to venture into these countries and prepare our workforce to work in these regions.

Fourth, prepare to reform. While Singapore has embarked on transforming our economy and our businesses to adopt Industry 4.0 technological advances, the progress is not as fast as we had expected it to be. However, with COVID-19, it has accelerated some of these transformations, particularly in the area of digital transformation. Adoption of digital solutions has increased exponentially. This calls for reformation, a change in our convictions or perhaps a rewiring of our professional DNA to open up to transformation or reforms. Within the last six weeks, we have learnt how to work and study from home, shop online, pay via e-payment, entertain and socially interact online. Online shopping, ordering of food and services via apps, telecommuting and virtual meetings have become the new norm. It has changed the way we look at everything, including the way we transform and the speed of transformation. Thus, I applaud the Government for sustaining the momentum of digitalisation. But can we do more by extending this support to all sectors?

Sir, in conclusion, never in the history of this nation has this House approved four Budgets within four months. So, let us not let these efforts go to waste and press ahead with the transformation. Let us be prepared for recession, be resilient, be prepared to go regional and be prepared to reform.

This assistance cannot go on indefinitely and we cannot keep drawing down on our Reserves. Whether you are a worker, business owner or even just a citizen of Singapore, let us all do our part to support one another through this challenging period. Let us unite in solidarity as one people, one nation, one Singapore. With resilience and fortitude, we shall prevail. I support the Budget.

Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic and the circuit breaker have gotten many of our families to experience first-hand and, more than ever before, the maniacal task of balancing work, household and childcare duties. Of course, this juggling act is nothing new to many women. After all, they had and still assumed the bulk of care-giving duties. For many men like myself, we are getting a really close first-row view of the Herculean effort needed to work from home, get through the work calls while participating in home-based learning (HBL), attending to potty calls and getting food on the table. The circuit breaker is perhaps also called the “Grand Resocialisation of the Working Men”. It would have been clear to many by now that juggling work and family should never have been just a women's thing. It is a family's thing.

For many of my male friends with young children and had the chance to work from home, this was the golden age of family togetherness. We are mindful that not all families could do that, especially those in essential services and needed at the frontlines. We are fortunate that we get to participate deeper than ever in our children's lives. We learned how they learn. We learned how they like to be loved. We learned how to love all over again. And amidst this strengthened bedrock of family, we discovered working without ostensibly losing productivity. We saw how work and family can thrive if only we work together.

In taking on more care-giving duties, we were forced to probe and challenge the fallacies of gendered norms. There might be a sea change in gendered norms creating a wave of gender equality greater than that experienced before. It is an important change that a progressive society must embrace. And we would do well to keep this momentum going. As we ought not to let a good crisis go to waste, we should not let this revival of family togetherness go to waste.

For a very long time – even now – we have often framed flexible work arrangement (FWA) as a support to care-givers, especially women on maternity or with young children. We have framed it such that women needed more support. COVID-19 has torn up such a frame. It is still true that they need more support. But that support must be a family-based one, with men strongly leaning in and making that change. For the first time since the advent of work have we seen so many people on FWA. But it is also evident that FWA can only work if (a) there is a strong care-giving infrastructure, and (b) FWA must be pervasive. For example, wherein FWA is unable to apply for essential workers needed in hospitals, a good childcare is critical for those workers. For those who can work from home, both parents really need to be around and both of them will need FWA.

The post-circuit breaker and COVID-19 workplace will not and must not be the same. FWA is, after all, no longer just a mark of a progressive employer but the enabler of a safer workplace. Many companies, such as Facebook, Twitter and larger banks, are preparing for some of their workforce to be telecommuting permanently. It is their way of building resilience within their workforce and, perhaps, also reap savings from reducing city office rentals and lost productivity through commuting.

Thus, the pandemic has shown employers that employees cannot be productive without accommodating their family responsibilities. We must now consider institutionalising the right to FWA for families. Such a right was previously denied to workers because companies found it impossible to adjust their business processes. Where CEOs have failed, COVID-19 has succeeded. Even traditional companies are conducting their work via Zoom. Employers should have a better idea now of how to successfully operationalise telecommuting and even other types of FWA. COVID-19 will bring down the last bastion of industrial era workplace practices.

As much as it is difficult to look beyond the next few months on how deep this crisis might be, some forward-looking companies are already looking at the scale and structure of their workforce. This is critical to emerging stronger from this crisis. We will need to consider changing the traditional work structure which is incompatible with the modern workforce. The traditional work structure assumes that there is a spouse at home or a childcare centre that allows that employee to work nine to 12 hours at the shopfloor or office. The new work structure prioritises care-giving and equips an employee to work away from the office.

On the other hand, we do acknowledge that not all businesses have the resources to allow for full telecommuting or FWA. With so many of our workers in SMEs, it is an important obstacle to overcome and we must do more to help them. The WorkPro Grant has been instrumental. Can we also consider enhancing this so that we can entrench telecommuting and FWA for the smaller companies?

Also, even though schools and childcare centres are slowly reopening, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we may have to close them again, should a second wave occur. We must explore how childcare or student care can be better provided if the whole family needs to remain at home. I have heard of some who even provided babysitting services and entertainment over Zoom for slightly older children.

The next thing is that the pandemic has also forced us to re-examine breadwinning vs care-giving. Breadwinning has always occupied primacy roles. After all, it generates economic output. Care-giving is that supporting enabler of breadwinning. This crisis has shown that we need both to be as important if we want to evolve to a higher form of the workforce. Thus, we will need to change our mindset on a couple of things.

One, valuing care-giving and unpaid work correctly. We have usually given higher childcare subsidies to working women. There are good reasons for doing this. Firstly, it encourages a higher workforce participation rate and, secondly, perhaps only those who work need childcare. But what if one of them has another family member that needs care-giving? And does keeping a family or household going require as much effort as working? A shorter duration of child or student care service is needed even by the best of homemakers at times. I hope that we can value unpaid work more accurately and provide greater support to our homemakers.

This crisis has illustrated that we need a care-giving infrastructure as much as building tunnels and data networks. This infrastructure should help families to better cope with family care-giving such as balancing the costs of child and elder care-giving. In addition, with added medical checks and costs of running childcare and eldercare facilities, fees might increase and increase the burden on families. How, then, can the Government reassure families?

Lastly, as I was hopelessly trying to attend to home-based learning or HBL and work calls as I was this morning, it dawned on me how lucky I was to have my wife to rotate HBL duties. Many families have that type of arrangement. But what about single parent families? The support for them is even more needed.

Next, I would like to turn our attention to support for younger Singaporeans.

With no end in sight to the spread of COVID-19, most companies have put off hiring if they have not already reduced excess manpower. For the graduating class of 2020 and some graduates in 2019, job prospects are not rosy. Many of them are concerned about getting jobs, let alone getting one of their preferred ones. One resident even told me that her University internship has been shortened to part-time because the company's workload had reduced drastically. This would affect her industrial learning and training exposure.

It is not surprising that many of our younger Singaporeans are anxious, having to worry about job prospects on top of the need to pay off their student loans. Since the pandemic started, Young NTUC, the youth wing of NTUC, has been actively engaging younger Singaporeans to help them secure jobs, upgrade their skills and build up resilience in the face of this unprecedented crisis. We have extended a series of career programmes to provide timely support and career guidance to help fresh graduates and young workers navigate in a post COVID-19 world.

The Resilience Budget's student loan repayment relief is a huge relief for graduating students. We also hope that in this Budget, that the Government can work with private education institutions and banks to provide similar relief for our private education institute (PEI) students. Their tuition fees are unsubsidised and the amount owed can be substantial.

Some studies have suggested that students graduating in a recession year earn less than their peers graduating in non-recession years, and that effect continues for a few years. This is primarily because new hires have scant bargaining powers and companies have reduced manpower budget during dire times, and pay increases will not jump dramatically post-recession. I would like to suggest a couple of ways to help them. The SGUnited Traineeship programme is very useful. We should also consider incentivising companies to convert these into full-time hires and support.

Even with the additional traineeships, it might not be possible to absorb so many new graduates. For some younger Singaporeans, it might be better to stay in school, further their studies or pick up new skills. I suggest that we can help to provide subsidies and loans for second diplomas, degrees or masters to give them the option to do so. For National Servicemen (NSFs) who are going to have their Operationally Ready Date (ORD) this year, could the uniformed services consider giving them the option to extend their National Service (NS) and deepen their skills since training has been compromised due to COVID-19 and that paramedic and security functions, for example, have continued to be in acute supply? Notwithstanding my suggestions on the Fortitude Budget, I support the Bill.

Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.40 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 4.19 pm until 4.40 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.40 pm.

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

Government's Plans In Our Continuing Fight Against Covid-19 Pandemic

Debate resumed.

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

4.40 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Mr Heng Chee How): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join this debate. I stand in support of the Budget.

In late July 2019, MOM estimated that there were 60,000 vacancies in our economy waiting to be filled. Now, less than a year later, we are staring at an annual GDP shrinkage of between -4% and -7%. Before the year 2020 began, the global economy was already feeling the effects of the US-China trade war. And then COVID-19 struck. The world became a totally different place for everyone.

If the projected shrinkage of the national pie materialises, it would be the worst since Singapore’s Independence. It reflects the serious anxiety we see on the ground – businesses worrying about survival, workers worrying about their jobs. This is why the Government has had to roll out four Budgets totalling $93 billion in as many months, and which entails drawing $52 billion from our national reserves – all unprecedented moves.

Even so, we cannot realistically expect the cushioning to completely counter what COVID-19 has done or will do – hitting both supply and demand at the same time. Not all businesses will survive this. Neither can all jobs be saved from this tsunami.

When push comes to shove, and beyond what the very important Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) can do for businesses and to save the jobs for all local workers, what specificaly will happen to the older segment of our workforce?

Over the past weeks, I have had discussions with union leaders and also with employers' representatives over the subject of older workers, in the context of COVID-19 and our economy. They shared their views candidly with me and I have put them together and will share some of their views here, and to make some recommendations.

First, on saving jobs. We know from experience and studies that older workers are at greater risk of being retrenched than younger workers. We also know that when an older worker loses his job, he will take longer than a younger worker of an otherwise similar profile to find new work, and even then, would in all likelihood take a substantial pay cut. Therefore, the most merciful thing to do for older workers is to minimise the risk of retrenchment.

The tripartite agreement to delay the CPF contribution rate changes from January 2020 to January 2022, the original proposed increases, that agreement to delay is a step in this direction, a step taken in order not to inadvertently raise the risk of retrenchment for older workers aged 55 and above.

In delaying the change of the increase, Government also decided to remove the corresponding wage offset which was meant to help employers shoulder half the cost of that CPF increase.

I hope that Government can consider re-channelling the $80 million originally earmarked for that transitional offset into strengthening the Senior Employment Credit for the next one year. This Senior Employment Credit, which was announced in the Unity Budget, incentivises companies to hire older workers aged 55 and above. So, it is paying for an outcome and every percentage help to companies is helpful towards inventivising employment and employability of workers. I believe that if Government is prepared to do so, it will send a strong and visible signal to both employers and older workers that it is resolute in wanting to save jobs for older workers in this difficult time.

In the Unity Budget 2020, Government also announced a new Part-time Re-employment Grant, or PTRG, for employers who offer it to re-employed workers aged 62 and above, who request for it. I hope that Government can apply this incentive to a slightly younger age group from age 55 and above, those who would be employed on that basis for the next one year, because this one year is a critical period.

I make this call not only to lower the cost of such workers to their employers who respond positively to suchrequest, but also in view of the fact that COVID-19 is especially harsh toward older persons and employers are therefore also worried about how to deploy such workers and manage their safe return to work; they have concerns. We must therefore find ways to incentivise employers to keep such workers hired, whether full-time or part-time, back to work at the workplace or telecommute, rather than to have the employers decide that they will do without them.

Next, matching jobs. No matter how hard we try, I think it is inevitable that some older workers will be displaced as companies take measures to cope and to transform. It is imperative that we find ways to help as many older workers earn income as possible. If not, they will become structurally unemployed prematurely, and will then have to depend more on their children, who themselves are under pressure, or on general taxes for support.

In this regard, I urge our National Jobs Council to pay due attention to job preservation and job creation for older workers as well. The Circuit-Breaker period has illustrated cross-industry job possibilities. Whether it is Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) for older PMEs or full-time/part-time/gig jobs in retail, logistics, healthcare, transport, the public sector and others, let us give older workers a fair go at these opportunities as well.

I recall that when we battled SARS back in 2003, there were a number of big projects that created many thousands of new jobs. That helped absorbed displaced workers. This time round, the Government has also announced moves to create public and private sector jobs and traineeships. MTI has also just very recently announced a very good investment pipeline coming into Singapore that will create thousands of jobs as well.

Aside from opportunities in areas such as healthcare and e-logistics, we should also consider how areas that might be linked to our longer term security, such as urban farming, renewable energy, such areas as well; whether jobs could also be created are this be given due attention and development.

Next, advocating fairness and opportunity at workplaces. Over the years, through wage reform, many jobs have wages that have become much more performance-based rather than seniority-based. I urge employers, therefore, in considering how to manage their excess manpower to be fair. Please do not target older workers as a category. The Labour Movement and tripartite partners will be on the look-out for age-specific and other unfair practices.

COVID-19 has also revealed the sudden disruption to manning when segments of workers are stuck elsewhere even when the company is allowed to operate. There is therefore scope for localisation to help companies be more resilient against such sudden supply disruptions. There will be roles that can be done by willing and properly trained and re-trained local workers, including older workers. The Labour Movement will be keen to work with companies on such initiatives through the Company Training Committees (CTCs) and the NTUC Jobs Security Council (JSC), which will now also function in support of our National Jobs Council.

In this regard, the hiring incentive that was introduced as part of the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package (SMCSP) in February's Unity Budget will come in very handy. This Incentive targets employers who hire local workers aged 40 and above through eligible re-skilling programmes, and it was meant to last six months. I call for the duration of this hiring incentive to be extended from six months to 12 months, in order to make the incentive more attractive to employers to offer job contracts of at least a year to such mature, mid-career job seekers.

I also ask Government to consider help – both monetary and non-monetary – to enable organisations, workplaces, to be reshaped to be COVID-safe for workers of all ages, to be age barrier free, with respect to COVID-19. This should become part and parcel of the basic Workplace Safety and Health, or WSH, specifications, so that Singapore will have a sustainable operating model in this new normal, and we will not just work on the notion or the assumption that COVID-19 is a one-off event and somehow it will go away and neither it nor anything similar will hit us in future. We have to now be ready for all time.

As part of the reopening of the economy after the circuit breaker ends, workers will progressively return to work in some way. For occupations that employ a large number of older workers at the frontline, I urge the Government to prioritise testing for these workers. This will give both they, their employers and their customers greater peace of mind. It would also enable those infected to be identified as early as possible and given treatment, and thus limiting transmission, both in the community and at the workplace.

Next, recreating jobs. While I call for the preservation of jobs for older workers, this does not mean that the way in which these jobs are to be carried out should remain the same. Far from it. Unless companies and workers transform job designs and work processes, and increase their use of technology and spur innovation, they will not escape the worst that this storm will bring. This COVID-19 storm is so furious that there simply would not be enough resources to prop up zombie companies and jobs. This means that we must spur companies to press on with job redesign.

I call for practical support for companies, again, in both monetary and non-monetary, such as expertise terms, to help them quickly redesign jobs and processes that incorporate the following key dimensions.

First, how to re-engineer processes and use technology to render more jobs Easier, Safer and Smarter, or what we call ESS. ESS jobs, the concept is not new at all. The hon Mr Lim Swee Say, when he was Secretary-General NTUC as well as Manpower Minister, tried very hard to promote the adoption and innovation in this area. What is different though is that current times provide the opportunity to take this up, because companies now can see for themselves the obvious need, advantage and imperative of doing so; it increases competitiveness, enhances resilience, attractiveness, increase your flexibility. And here, the WorkPro Job Redesign Grant of up to $300,000 per company can be reviewed and re-energised to spur action in this harsh but opportune moment.

Next, with many SMEs struggling badly and yet in total employing some two-thirds of our workforce, and within that two-thirds, many are older workers as well, how we help SMEs redesign processes, jobs, their entire operations for this new enviornment and transform, if we can do that, that will really move the needle as well. Is it easy? It is not easy; it has been tried before; it is so dispersed – very hard to do. But if that ground does not move or does not move quick or well enough, then actually it is very difficult to move the overall; it is just simply because the number of businesses that are SMEs.

Again, tapping into the moment that we are in now, where everybody knows that we have to change, not because you like it but because that is the reality, then let us do it with a concerted tripartite effort, at least minimally, let us target the more promising SMEs, and through them to show to the rest, let them lead the pack in this transformation.

Next, training and re-training. This topic has been covered in depth earlier by the Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon, so I will not belabour the points on training except to make one, which is once again call on employers to remember and to please invest in the training and re-training of your older workers. Do not leave them out, do not just do it for your younger workers. Give these older workers, your older workers, a fair go at training, especially training that makes them digitally employable.

When the dust settles, countries that best invest in their workforce and infrastructure to be fighting fit in a very digital future are likely to out-compete the rest.

An employer who views his older workers as assets and another employer who views them as liabilities will both be right, because they will each act in a self-fulfilling manner. The enlightened employer will continue investing in sharpening the skills of his older workers just as he does his younger ones. The ageist employer will deny his older workers the opportunities to keep current and they will rust away, just as he predicted. I therefore call on employers to adopt a progressive mindset.

I thank every progressive employer who are already doing so, and I say it needs a proper and equally progressive response from olders workers. Therefore, likewise, I urge my fellow older workers to be enthusiastic about learning new skills to stay employable. This is the best favour we can do for ourselves in this environment.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, disease and geo-politics have put Singapore in particularly daunting circumstances. But we shall not be daunted. Mr Lee Kuan Yew, speaking at the 1966 National Day Rally, said "Never be depressed, never be deflated by setbacks. We face facts. This is one of the greatest strengths about Singapore: its willingness to face reality… not because we wished it to be but because it was. This capacity to face up to situations, however intractable, however unpleasant, is one of the great qualities for survival. A people able to look facts squarely in the face, able to calculate the odds, to weigh the chances and then to decide to go for it, are a people not likely to go under."

Mr Deputy Speaker, we are that people. We can and we will overcome. I support the Budget.

Mr Speaker: Assoc Prof Walter Theseira.

5.00 pm

Assoc Prof Walter Theseira (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, while Singapore has managed the COVID-19 pandemic with courage and strength, we must acknowledge our shortcomings as well. Even as we Singaporeans slowly return to work, we must be mindful that many of our migrant worker friends cannot. They remain restricted to their dormitories to help protect our community from infection risks. Initial shortcomings aside, we are now sparing no effort to make things right. The Government has committed to improve living conditions for migrant workers.

But this only addresses the public health aspects of our migrant worker population. There are more fundamental questions about the structure of our economy and our reliance on foreign labour that must be explored if we are to emerge stronger from this pandemic. Old assumptions about these matters have never been properly examined.

In 1970, there were about 21,000 foreign workers in Singapore making up just above 3% of the labour force. By 2019, the number was closer to 1.42 million, which is about 38% of our labour force.

What are the reasons behind this vast increase in foreign labour and what have been the effects on our economy?

Let me first put migration in perspective. The facts are that successful cities throughout history have grown rapidly through migration and not because of the fertility of the existing population. If we had remained part of Malaysia, we would have grown through domestic migration from the hinterland. The major Chinese cities have grown through domestic migration, as has Jakarta, Tokyo, London, New York. Because we have no hinterland, every migrant is, by definition, foreign. But like those global cities, we attract migrants because we offer the opportunity to build a better life.

Nonetheless, migration is still a policy choice, even within a country. The Chinese cities impose the Hukou system, which differentiates between urban residents and rural migrants. Malaysians cannot freely migrate between Peninsular and East Malaysia. So, the question of whether to slow or stop migration is relevant even when migrants carry the same passport.

So, when can we justify growing the labour force through migration? In some sense, the answer is trivial. We permit migration to grow our economy faster than our purely local labour force can. This gives us a bigger pie so that everyone – migrants and locals alike – can meet their needs and aspirations better. But even if overall growth is positive, migration creates winners and losers. We have an obligation to the public to understand how labour migration affects Singaporean jobs and to discuss the consequences of migration on our economy – positive and negative.

Consider the sector at the heart of our COVID-19 outbreak. There are nearly 300,000 work permit holders in construction. Including other work passes, foreign labour accounts for nearly four out of every five workers in construction. Some argue that reliance on low cost work permit holders has made our construction industry less skill intensive than other developed countries. There is some evidence for that, but that is not the whole story. Within the 20% of construction workforce who are locals, more than half are actually PMETs – our project and engineering managers. In comparison, in the United States, one in four of their construction workforce are PMETs.

So, because less skilled positions are filled by migrant workers, the Singaporean workforce can actually be more skill intensive compared to their counterparts elsewhere. There are also benefits to Singaporeans in manual construction work as they supervise migrant workers. Median wages for Singaporean supervisors and foremen are close to $3,000 a month – much higher than similarly skilled workers in some other sectors. Migrant workers may well complement our Singaporean core in construction.

However, we must also consider cases where migrant labour may have mixed effects on Singaporean workers. In food and beverage (F&B) services, and cleaning and landscape maintenance, the share of foreign labour is also high. At the broad sectoral level, about half of the workers are foreign. But the wages and conditions of work for locals are not as good as in construction. Median wages for cleaners, F&B assistants and maintenance workers are below $1,500 a month and employment benefits and conditions of work can be poor.

We should ask whether this is because migrant labour in these sectors often fill the same types of jobs that locals do, including supervisor positions. It is the degree of substitutability that matters and migrant labour in many service sectors could potentially replace local labour, which would then pressure wages and benefits downwards.

Taking a step back, the next question is how our migrant labour policy affects our economic structure, productivity and growth.

The economist Alwyn Young famously argued in 1992 that Singapore's rapid growth was driven by the accumulation of labour and capital rather than by total factor productivity growth. Singaporean economists Linda Lim and Pang Eng Fong, in an article published on academia.sg on 2 June, noted that concerns on the impact of foreign labour date back to the 1970s. They hold the view that "an over-reliance on cheap foreign labour...distorts factor prices and resource allocation, resulting in economic inefficiency and inequality, without enabling higher growth."

These are, as you can see, very old questions. Yet, we seem to have made little progress in understanding the role of foreign labour in Singapore's economy since then. There are relatively few rigorous pieces of research on the Singapore economy and labour market, despite the high quality of our economists. This is partially because microeconomic data on the Singapore labour market is rarely available to researchers.

It does not need to be this way. In 2013, the World Bank released a report on immigration in Malaysia. The Malaysian government commissioned the report and provided detailed labour market data. The World Bank found that migrant labour improved employment and wages for medium to high-skilled Malaysians. However, there were also negative effects for the lowest skilled Malaysians. What would we find in Singapore if we were to conduct such a study?

Sir, the Government has likely conducted many such high quality studies on migrant labour and the Singapore economy over the years. But the quality of the public discourse is harmed when such research is not put into the public eye, is not taught or conducted by our Universities and is not debated by the public. This is an issue that goes beyond politics. It is part of the democratic discourse that we need to progress as a nation.

A great society is able to confront the unpleasant realities beneath the surface and resolve to make painful but necessary changes for collective progress. Our present economic structure and migrant labour system has created entrenched interests who would be harmed by and will resist any attempts at reform. I speak not just of the obvious interests among business owners who rely on migrant workers but also of each one of us as ordinary Singaporeans who benefit from the system regardless whether we directly employ a migrant worker. The high quality of life that we take for granted is built in part on the ceaseless toil of a vast trickle-up economy of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, Malaysian day workers and even our own Singaporean low-wage workers. We must examine the hidden costs to social stability when we expect to have a first-world standard of living, delivered at third-world prices.

Despite what we consider to be low wages and difficult working conditions, many migrant workers want to work in Singapore. They build a pathway to the middle class or better back home with their earnings. Our own low-wage workers do and must continue to get substantial Government support. But while we do not bear the moral stain of forced labour, we have fallen short of providing dignified work conditions for all. Our collective indifference to the struggles of low-wage workers in Singapore, whatever their nationality, has hurt our ability to cope with this crisis and it will continue to harm our ability to build a compassionate and resilient society. If we fail to build the capacity to question, understand and reform our system, if necessary, to provide better treatment and living wages for low-wage workers, we will each bear the complicity of the bystander.

We will face the question in the coming months of how to restructure our economy and society for a more sustainable and resilient future. The unceasing efforts of the Government, healthcare system and volunteers have forestalled what could have been a humanitarian disaster in our migrant worker dormitories due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We have also committed vast sums from the reserves to preserve as many Singaporean jobs as possible and to help provide for those whose jobs cannot be saved. But we must resist the temptation to use the reserves simply to preserve the economic model of the past in the hopes that we can return to it once the COVID-19 outbreak subsides.

Is the right economic model for our future that which has driven us over the past decades, one where we aim as far as possible to have Singaporeans take up PMET jobs and migrant workers the rest? I think there are some real difficulties with that approach. It is akin to running an army with only sergeants and officers. If we recognise that all work, especially socially essential work, has value, then we need to agree there is no shame in having Singaporeans take up manual and service jobs. The only shame is if we who have power and influence fail to ensure that the conditions of work and wages in these service jobs are such that Singaporeans find no dignity in taking them up.

More generally, we should realise now that it is neither safe nor resilient to decouple essential service jobs that must physically take place in Singapore from residency in Singapore. The on-going closure of the Malaysian border, which has forced our Malaysian day workers to choose between their families and their jobs, has dealt a blow mitigated only by the temporary hibernation of our economy during the circuit breaker.

This is not a problem unique to Singapore. The unseen engine behind global cities worldwide is a vast army of essential workers who are frequently paid too little to live next to those they provide services to. Singapore has been able to cope in part because migrant workers and Malaysian day workers are willing to do these jobs at wages which are nearly unliveable in Singapore. But it is not sustainable to depend on continuing low wages in migrant worker source countries to excuse us from finding a solution.

If anything, we should recognise that essential services and manual jobs, by their physical presence requirements, offer some resilience against a world where office work can be shifted globally. Working from home has weakened the physical link between doing business in Singapore and having that business actually be done by a Singaporean here. Rather than develop an economy where most Singaporeans, despite their different skills and talents, feel compelled to earn degrees to hold down PMET jobs, we can build an economy that also includes many skilled and decently paid craftsmen, technicians and service workers.

Sir, I am heartened that this Government appreciates many of the challenges I have discussed, although I do not presume that it agrees with all of my views. Unlike many countries worldwide, economic restructuring and transformation is an integral part of our public spending to deal with COVID-19. But we would be shortsighted to assume that our own entrenched interests, our implicit assumptions, our comfort with the existing economic structure play no role in affecting the quality of our judgments about the path ahead.

I therefore suggest that we broaden representation on the councils that we have set up – the Emerging Stronger Task Force and the National Jobs Council – beyond just the captains of industry and state. We should consider having members from the rank and file, the essential services, social services, civil society and academia.

And we must engage the public in this great exercise of economic restructuring – not as a public consultation exercise, but as equal partners in the creation of a new Singapore. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Government's Fortitude Budget.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

5.13 pm

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to record my appreciation to our Minister for Finance and his team, who have worked tirelessly to produce our four Budgets in less than four months. With COVID-19, nobody really knows when things will start to brighten up. But we can take heart that our Government is determined to make things right. Businesses and individuals must make the best use of resources provided by our Government and put our best foot forward.

It is heartwarming to hear about the businesses who returned the benefits from the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) to the Government. Then, there are others, some food and beverage businesses, who are cooking and distributing food to the needy. And those who helped free up commercial resources for mass production of surgical masks or pooling together resources to sew reusable masks. Many of my residents and supporters donated masks, face shields, sanitisers and vitamins, and some of them even donated their $600 which they received from the Government.

This is truly a display of our nation's fortitude. But in the meantime, some challenges remain which require attention.

First, more help for home-grown large companies with a localised workforce which have ventured abroad.

The focus of our four Budgets is to preserve lives and livelihoods, saving and creating jobs. It benefits almost all our SMEs. How about our bigger home-grown companies whose sales turnover are more than $100 million, like Charles & Keith, Osim, Breadtalk and many others? Do we give them sufficient support? They hire many Singaporeans; they venture and expand overseas.

Now that the global economy is doing poorly, they are also struggling to keep above water. Will they be given rental rebates too for their shops in Singapore? It takes decades for some of these made-in-Singapore brands to achieve the regional and global recognition. Does the Government have a strategy to reach out to them to see what help these local companies require? I am glad that Temasek came in to help SIA so that we do not lose our national carrier.

Next, I would like to talk about the construction sector. Before I proceed further, I would like to declare my interest as a professional engineer (PE) and my involvement in property development and construction.

At first, when the Government announced that the construction sector can start work in Phase One, all the contractors were very happy. All those businesses who can start business in Phase One, they were very happy. But their happiness turned to frustration soon when they found out about the number of approvals required before they can start work. And I have received many complaints from them. They were very confused and unhappy. Why? They are faced with many challenges and let me share with the House.

First, more stringent dormitory requirements from MOM, which is expected because of the recent COVID-19 spread in the dormitories. But suddenly, MOM said no double decker beds – each one must have at least 6 m² instead of 4.5 m² and so on. So, all the current dormitories do not comply. So, if you do not have dormitories that comply, no approval for safe dormitories, cannot start work. So, how to comply to new requirements within a short period? Normally, such requirements, the process of approval from various Government agencies will take at least three months.

Medical experts have been saying that as long as people live together, they are likely to infect each other since COVID-19 is very contagious. So, is the 6 m² requirement much safer than the current provision? Of course, contractors are not convinced.

For those who are currently stay in factory-converted dormitories (FCD) or in the construction temporary quarters (CTQ) where all their workers are healthy, can we let them maintain the status quo for now, quickly arrange swab tests for the workers so that they can start work without shifting them and without further delay?

Now, every contractor is scratching their head – how to meet the new MOM requirements? Where to house their workers? Can MOM be more flexible on the existing CTQ and FCD? Otherwise, how to start work?

The next challenge is the compulsory swab tests. What is our swabbing capacity? Why such long queue? Why those S Pass holders who are not living in dormitory are unable to register for swab tests? Those who are housed in their own factory dormitory, well taken care of for the last two months, just because they are not swab tested, they cannot start work. A contractor said: 等来等去, swab 来, swab 去, 天都亮了。 This compulsory swab test exercise can easily stretch until August or September. So, how to start work?

The next challenge – compulsory safe management officer (SMO), safe distancing officer (SDO). For contractors to start work, they must have SMO, SDO. There is long queue too for training of SMO and SDO. I checked two days ago. The next available session is 5 July. And this is an online course. Why this is not conducted during circuit breaker? Can we have more sessions so that this does not become a bottleneck? So, no SMO, no SDO, no start work.

An uproar came last Sunday, 24 May. Suddenly, I received many text messages and phone calls. Why? Contractors have to give consent to MOM to deploy their workers who have recovered from COVID-19. Otherwise, they will not get the levy waiver. And the consent must be given by 10 June. Is this not very high-handed? Why does not MOM just return the workers to the rightful employers? Why force people to give up their workers?

For some sub-contractors, they said they only have two or three charge hands, that means, important staff. And they say if MOM were to take them away, they cannot function when their works can restart. For those who are forced to take in workers, also not happy. They said it is very difficult to use other people's workers to work in your team. Perhaps, it works only for housekeeping or general works. So, why not leave it to them to handle their own workers?

This pandemic further illustrates the need to have multi-agencies working together and not in silos. BCA, MOM, MOH and FAST Team all are working very hard but they need to work together, and also get industry input and not force their way through. There needs to be more communication so that the intent is well understood.

Many contractors I spoke to say let those workers who are healthy and swab tested, start work first. No need to follow BCA tiers. Currently, for all the projects, BCA has given them tiers – tier A, tier B, tier C, tier D. And the contractors do not know their project is in which tier. So, what they want is let more projects start but gradually. For those who do not have enough workers to start, contractors will know how to work out among themselves.

With all these challenges, many will not be able to start work for at least another three months, perhaps September. And the income will only come in another two to three months later, maybe end of the year. Meanwhile, operating costs are running every day! Operating costs are going up due to more stringent requirements while productivity is going down. I am afraid many firms will go bust. As one contractor puts it: all these administrative roadblocks are turning Phase One restart into an extended circuit breaker for the construction industry.

I wish to appeal for more support for the construction industry.

Thanks to the Government for the JSS. But contractors have many other bills to pay, such as machineries rental, dormitory, loans and so on. They have been having zero income since April. Definitely, they need more help. May I appeal to the Deputy Prime Minister for his understanding?

I would like to propose the following additional help.

First, can the Government absorb the swab testing cost beyond August? Because currently, the swab test is free only up to August. But after August, every worker needs to be sent for a swab test every 14 days and they did not price in all these costs. Or perhaps by then, we can remove the swab test.

Second, can the Government extend 100% workers levy waiver and $750 rebates till August since most of them will not be able to work until September or later? Currently, they are given 100% waiver for June only. From July, it is 50%. So, can we give them full rebate until August?

Third, the industry feedback is that it seems like there is not much help given by JTC. Can the Government extend the 30% property tax rebate to all industrial buildings as most of the contractors occupy industrial buildings and waive the land rental till August?

Fourth, another group of people serving the construction industry – that is, consultants, engineers and architects – will they be given similar support like what we have given to contractors, especially the JSS, because they are very worried about the staff cost? Will resident engineers and resident technical officers be similarly supported? Because in the industry, they are very confused – they are not sure.

Enough said about the construction industry. My next topic in this speech is the opening of sports facilities.

I have always been a huge advocate of active living. With this pandemic, sport has taken a huge hit. A resident, Josephine, told me that she had vertigo 20 years ago and it went away because of sport. With the circuit breaker, her vertigo came back with a vengeance.

I urge the Government to consider allowing the commencement of non-contact sports during Phase One. A study was done by the Italian Ministry of Sport and Italian Olympic Committee to evaluate the risk of contracting COVID-19 for various sports. It was a long report. I think it is 400 pages. The risk was found to be non-existent or weak for individual non-contact sports like athletics, that means running, sailing, open water swimming, golf and tennis. In fact, many other countries allowed some sports in their first phase of restart with some safety measures. For example, Malaysia allows two golfers per flight, but cannot share buggy. Swimmers are back in the pools in Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, China and so on with safe distancing measures, such as one swimmer per lane and some started without the opening of changing rooms.

Can we not open up our stadiums with SafeEntry, crowd size control, designated lane usage and so on? I am sure it can be much safer than some of the park connectors which are so congested.

In fact, many associations such as Singapore Swimming Association, many clubs already have thought about this. They would like more guidance and to resume their activities. Will the Government work with SportsSG to determine the sports suitable to make a return for Phase One with relevant safety guidelines? And I hope whatever measures that we want to put in place, the training can commence now. Otherwise, it may lead to bottlenecks like what happened to the construction industry. So many people feel so stressed when they cannot do their favourite sports. Also, there are many freelance coaches who can no longer survive without income. Sir, in Chinese, please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: Some residents told me that this Fortitude Budget gave more support to businesses, but less to families. The increased utilities expenses due to telecommuting may have exceeded the $100 subsidy. They hope that people living in 3-room flats can also receive grocery vouchers, if their per capita income is relatively low.

The outbreak has also quickened the pace of digitalisation. This is encouraging. However, many people are worried that the vulnerable groups may not be able to keep up with this pace. I hope the Government can continue to pay attention to those who cannot afford a computer or data connection, and make sure that those students whose family environment is not conducive for home-based learning are not lagging further behind.

In addition, while we introduce e-payment in the neighbourhood, the seniors should not feel that they cannot adapt. When we introduce these measures, we should give those who are not used to using smart phones sufficient training and time to adjust, including stallholders at coffee shops and hawkers at hawker centres.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Er Dr Lee, you have 30 seconds to wrap up your speech.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Yes, I am going to conclude. We may have to live with COVID-19 for a long time. We must support everyone in our society to adapt to this new normal. So, we must help local businesses and contractors stay afloat. Our businesses first and foremost want to get back to work, to stand on their own two feet. Therefore, they hope the Government can be flexible in its requirements and listen more to their feedback. We must also look after the physical and mental well-being of our people.

Singapore has pulled through many crises in the past. Each time, we have not just survived, but emerged stronger. This time let us again pull together and help every Singaporean get through this. We are SGUnited. I support the Budget.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Christopher de Souza, please.

5.34 pm

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, fortitude is about courage in adversity. Just as gold is refined in fire so also do the testing and hardships of life build character. Today we are debating the Fortitude Budget – a Budget to strengthen Singapore as we forge ahead.

In a recent survey conducted by OCBC on over 1,000 Singaporean and Permanent Resident working adults at about 1.5 months into the circuit breaker, about 55% reported experiencing some form of wage cut, reduction in commissioning earnings, wage freezing and being forced to convert to a part-time role, contractual instead of permanent role, or to take no-pay leave. Almost half were worried about being retrenched or terminated within the next six months.

In light of the heightened concern on being retrenched or terminated, it is important that our workers have sufficient protection from disguised retrenchments, which would not only remove any retrenchment benefit that a worker may be entitled to and would desperately need in today’s job climate, but would also obscure our ability to monitor the situation on retrenchments.

Even though the “Advisory on retrenchment benefits payable to retrenched employees as a result of business difficulties due to COVID-19” issued on 20 May 2020 specify that “an employer who terminates an employment contract with no plan to fill the vacancy any time soon is presumed to have retrenched the employee,” it is unclear whether it goes far enough to protect employees from disguised retrenchments.

How soon is “some time soon” and how will employees who have been terminated know whether or not there are any plans to fill the vacancy any time soon? As employees need to bring a claim of wrongful dismissal to the Tripartite Alliance of Dispute Management within one month of being terminated, the uncertainty and practical difficulties of this guideline could have a real impact on the employee’s ability to potentially seek redress.

The current 100,000 places in SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package may or, in fact, is likely less than the estimated number of retrenchments as well if you combine them that job entrants such as fresh graduates entering the workforce. Here I would like to make the point that with the accelerated digitalisation of the world, the skill gap needed to be overcome by job seekers has, in some instances, also increased tremendously. If not, the gap dividing the people who have the ability to understand the digital world and the equipment and those who do not, that gap will exponentially widen. Is the current training support sufficient, especially for those who require extensive reskilling of workers after their jobs may become obsolete in the post COVID world, especially where digitalisation is concerned?

While there is only so much that can be done to create jobs, would the Government consider promoting mentorship programmes as well, where the focus is on professional development and exposure, though may not necessarily be salaried or fully salaried. Being able to work on ad hoc projects, for instance, to be provided guidance from an industry professional on what courses are industry relevant, as well as being introduced to a network of other professionals may also be invaluable for job seekers even if they are unable to find a permanent job at the moment.

COVID-19 has accelerated digitalisation, making digital literacy something necessary; no longer merely supplementary. The global mass working from home exercise has caused employers to rethink the need for employees to be physically present in the workplace, with some companies like Facebook even thinking of hiring remote staff who would permanently telecommute. What I am getting at is that COVID-19 has changed the labour market, the need for such large commercial rental space and also skillsets. The strong uptake of digitalisation and support for telecommuting will provide opportunities job seekers in previous generations would find hard to imagine.

For instance, while it may be that job seekers will face global competition, the converse is also true – job seekers have opportunities from all around the world, able to live in Singapore but able to work for an overseas employer. Riding this wave of digitalisation is therefore key to ensuring our Singaporeans are equipped and ready for borderless job opportunities.

For others, the greater support for working from home, that is, flexible work arrangements, may mean greater opportunities for mothers seeking to re-enter the workforce.

We can convert adversity into strength, supporting workers and businesses in digitalisation. Companies who can implement work from home arrangements well, will in turn be able to reduce the commercial floor space they need, reducing rental fees and overhead charges. This would free up costs in the long run to invest in the development of personnel, it will also allow more money to be deployed into planning for the future instead of paying large amounts of commercial rent; it will allow effective utilisation of technology; it will create a future for the company through virtual communication.

How companies cope and adapt to the COVID-19 virus is important to the Fortitude Budget.

And at this point, I like to record my thanks to the Deputy Prime Minister and his MOF team for putting out a fourth Budget in record time.

Indeed, the Job Support Scheme focuses on the ability to captalise on our reserves to support employers at this time. The Fortitude Budget extends the Job Support Scheme to those businesses that are still unable to reopen.

It is good that the sectors of aviation and aerospace, tourism, hospitality, conventions and exhibitions and the built environment will receive 1st tier support for June to August 2020. Even for essential projects that have been allowed to reopen, many have not been able to. Indeed, many will not be able to hit the ground running at pre-circuit breaker levels even if they can reopen in Phase One. Besides getting workers swabbed, having dormitories cleared, those in some industries may need to seek workers from other companies due to border restrictions and manpower supply shortages. Those with many workers who are still in Malaysia will have to plan their teams without the level of manpower that they once had. Even for those who have been able to work from home, their clients or customers may not have sufficient cash flow to pay them for the services rendered during the circuit breaker period owing to the whole demand-supply shock and disruption. So, bills go unpaid.

Due to how the circuit breaker pushed the pause button on most of our businesses and firms as well as how integrated our whole economy is even on a domestic level, would the Deputy Prime Minister and the relevant ministries consider increasing the Jobs Support Scheme to 75% for all firms and businesses up to and including August 2020?

Sir, onto another topic – specifically onto home renovation works, I would like to raise a suggestion. As a result of the circuit breaker, home renovation works had to be halted. Some families had to rent another place for accommodation for an extended period of time and now need to rethink whether they need to extend their tenancies and pay additional rent because their home is still in the middle of a renovation that has been halted. Other families have or are still roughing it out in their half-completed homes. The home renovation sector is part of the built environment sector that requires specific approval to resume works.

On 3 June 2020, BCA and the relevant agencies and Ministries clarified some of the delays, simplified the process to obtain approval, and estimated a shorter period for approval if the application is in order. There are still difficulties that some home renovation contractors face. I understand that testing of workers is essential. Given the homes are half-renovated and much disamenity is caused to the families, would there be priority given to test these workers so that the renovation can then be completed. This will seriously assist the family waiting for their renovation to be completed in their actual home, the contractor as well as the sub-contractors.

Sir, the COVID-19 pandemic does not merely impact businesses or individuals but also has a knock-on effect on society. Something important that arises out of the COVID-19 pandemic and our response to it, is ensuring social inclusion in a society of increased digitalisation.

In my constituency, we have procured laptops for students for lower income families to support their studies during the period of home-based learning, but on a national scale this is also very important. It is good that there will be Digital Ambassadors who will help introduce stallholders and the elderly to the online world. They play an important role. In an age of digitalisation and digital gadgets, we should be cautious about the exponentially wide gap this will create between children whose parents can afford the digital equipment and the children whose parents may not be able to afford. It is something that needs to be watched out for and bridged, where possible, ensuring that individuals and families can have access to wifi and certain core digital equipment that may be deemed essential in this day and age.

I look forward to hearing the details on how this will be addressed nationally. In the meantime, we will continue to carry out the local laptop, wifi and free Zoom tuition programmes in Ulu Pandan, the constituency I serve and I am responsible for.

Sir, even as the central focus of the Budget is on jobs, behind jobs there are workers, there are businesses and there is the society to which we all belong. In concluding, Sir, I wish to lean on the wise words of an Ulu Pandan Pioneer Generation resident whom I briefly met at a mask collection point over the last weekend. He shared with me a formula to overcome this crisis. He said, and I quote:

"We must have the right stamina

We must have the right attitude

For we are all sons of the soil."

Indeed, he is right. We are all in this together – facing this crisis. With the right stamina, with the right attitude and with the right unity, we will prevail. And that, to me, Sir, is fortitude.

5.48 pm

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

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: This is the fourth budget tabled in this House in the span of a few months. I have submitted several proposals and expressed concern in my speech for the previous Budget debate and I will state a few more suggestions and would also like to seek some clarification in my speech this time.

Firstly, I would like to touch on the rental fees for rental flats under the HDB Public Rental Scheme. I would like to know whether there is an increase in the number of flat tenants who failed to pay their rental payments in the past few months.

Sir, one of the long-term objectives of HDB's provision of rental flats under the Public Rental Scheme is to provide short-term residence for individuals or families while they are trying to build and strengthen their finances, so that one day, they will buy and own permanent housing that belongs to them.

A large number of tenants under this scheme are Singaporeans with low household income. In recent months, I have been contacted by some of my residents who are asking for exemption in their rental fees during these challenging times. I would like to ask the government to consider this request. Any support in this matter can further ease the burden of Singaporeans living in rental flats under the HDB Public Rental Scheme. Such assistance will help them to maintain a financial position, which is already weak to begin with, from becoming fragile. This is especially for those who are striving to strengthen their financial position in order to get their permanent dream home.

The second issue is also related to the provision of support for low-income Singaporeans. Currently, our country is undertaking government-led efforts to spur our society towards digitalisation to achieve the goal of a "Smart Nation". I am confident that we want every Singaporean regardless of their socio-economic background to move together and not be left behind in this digitalisation effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance for every home to have an internet connection to enable learning and to work from home. I believe many members of this Chamber have met low-income residents who sought help to appeal on their behalf about their outstanding internet subscription bills.

In our country's preparation and effort to achieve the "Smart Nation" goal, I would like the government to consider my suggestion to introduce a rebate scheme to help in the payment of internet subscription fees to support Singaporeans with low household incomes so that they can continue to have a more stable and uninterrupted internet connection.

At this time, I think it is not wrong to say that internet connectivity is a basic need.

Presently, there is a government rebate scheme to help ease the cost of basic necessities such as the utilities rebate, and the services and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebate. My proposal is to incorporate the internet subscription fee into the existing list of rebates.

Sir, my recommendations to provide support to Singaporeans who belong to the low household income group by providing exemptions to flat rental fees and rebates for Internet subscription fees, are appropriate and in line with the objectives of our four national budgets, that is, to instill a sense of unity and resilience, so that we can overcome the challenges that arise from this pandemic with solidarity and fortitude. I sincerely hope that both of my proposals will be given the best consideration.

The next matter is the COVID-19 swab test. It has been reported that all teachers and staff of pre-school centres and kindergartens have to undergo the COVID-19 swab test. As explained by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) through media reports, this is a precautionary measure in preparation for the reopening of kindergartens and pre-school centres.

I would like to find out why the COVID-19 swab test is not conducted on teachers and staff of Primary and Secondary Schools, as well as Junior Colleges and Centralised Institutes.

Sir, finally, I would like to seek clarification on the process of obtaining consent from the President for the use of the national reserves (past reserves). To date, three out of four budgets require the use of national reserves.

For the use of reserves, the process to go through is that the government needs to provide a detailed explanation that is supported by information and facts to the President. The President will consult and consider with assistance and advice from the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) whether to approve the government's request or otherwise.

The Elected President scheme was introduced in 1991. One of the main objectives of the scheme was for the elected President, who received the the people’s mandate through the electoral process, to be given the role or responsibility as the co-protector or the second key to the national reserves. In short, the elected President has the power to say "yes" or "no" if the Government wants to use the national reserves.

I would like to seek clarification on whether during the process of obtaining the consent to use the national reserves – was President Madam Halimah Yacob given information on the balance or amount that we have in the national reserves? Such critical information is very crucial for the President make an evaluation in order to reach a decision.

Sir, in general, it is a practice or a must in any entity, whether a Government entity, for example a Ministry and a Statutory Board, or a private entity, that critical information about the balance of an account or a fund will be disclosed to any party or a decision-making body about the evaluation process, so as to make an informed decision, whether or not to allow an expenditure or the use of funds.

I hope Deputy Prime Minister Heng can explain whether the President has been given information about the amount available in the national reserves, when the Government presented the information and facts to support its request to obtain the President's consent, to use the national reserves for the three budgets, Solidarity, Resilience and Fortitude.

Sir, I conclude my speech by expressing my support for this Budget. Thank you, Sir.

5.56 pm

Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mr Deputy Speaker, in 1978, the number one song on the "US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart" was a comeback duet by Johnny Matthis and Deniece Williams. Many of you may remember the title of the song as being "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late". It spent 18 weeks on the charts. Incidentally, this past Tuesday marked 18 weeks since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Singapore on 23 January 2020.

For a song, 18 weeks is a good run on the billboard. For us in Singapore, these have been 18 very long and extraordinary weeks. Here in Parliament, we have also witnessed unprecedented times. Since the first Unity Budget 15 weeks ago, we are now into our fourth Budget, almost one Budget per month and almost $100 billion committed to save lives and to save livelihoods.

But there have been varied reactions to our commitment, much like the title of the song. A small number say: "Too much for them, too little for me, too late for us."

One example is the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS). Some say that "you have given too much to MNCs, they are profitable at the end of the day, give less to them, because there’s too little for me. And even if you do, it may be too late for us."

Is it really true? That more for them means less for us and therefore, less for them means more for us? To me, it is a misinterpretation of the intent. It is not "for them", the MNCs, but for "us", the jobs that they provide. We are preserving the jobs, the jobs that could easily go somewhere else at a moment's notice.

This is an investment, an investment for jobs, for jobs to remain here.

Yes, some of the MNCs have already decided that they do not need the JSS. They have returned it, they have donated it. But the MNCs know that here in Singapore, we care for our workers, we care enough to pay a significant part of their salary, so that in the future, the company, the MNCs remain and thus, the jobs also remain.

We are not in a dichotomy of one or the other, all livelihoods that we can preserve, secure, retain are worth the investment in. And we cannot wait until it is too late to do so.

On the other hand, for the COVID-19 Support Grant (CSG) or SIRS for self-employed people, these are unprecedented as well. A serious commitment of this Government to Singaporeans.

There are others, who are worried. Worried about our health, also about money, worried about how we are using our reserves. Some say that this is too much, too generous. Others say it is too little left for the future or too late to reverse the positions that have already been made. Yet, there are also others who say that there is too much in the reserves. There is too little that is being spent on us and it is too late to make a difference. Is it really too much? Or too little? Or are we too late?

But, it can never be too much to do whatever we can to save lives, to save jobs. We cannot, in the biggest existential crisis that we are facing since the withdrawal of the British in 1967, to do too little too late. What we can be assured of, and I have had a few video conferences with fellow legislators, friends from overseas, that even if we are accused of spending too much, we are not borrowing it, we are not spending money that is not ours. This is money that we have saved over the years.

So, that the decision on maintaining our reserves has been the right one. We can be comforted that it was not wrong. Even if some believe that we have too much reserves, it is not wrong too, to use whatever we have to save lives and save jobs, to not use too little during this crisis and that we did not wait till it was too late for us to do so. It is also not wrong to ensure that the keys to our reserves ensure that we use it prudently, wisely, rightly.

In the same song, the lyrics in the rift say, "Somewhere we lost the key, So little left for you and me and it's clear to see."

We have a responsible Government and we have a second key – in the hand of our elected President. In taking prudent decisions, we are able to save wisely, spend prudently and put it to the best use possible.

There are still others who talk about other issues that have arisen during COVID-19. For example, migrant workers have been a hot topic for a number of weeks. Some say that too much is being done for migrant workers, too little for the rest of us, too late in reacting to the high numbers. Still more also say: too much talk over the years, too little done in the past, too late to try again. Even more may exclaim: too much reliance on foreign workers, too little investment in our local workforce, too late now for Singapore. Is it really too much, too little or too late?

We can all admit that we can do much more to improve living conditions but we are certainly not housing our migrant workers in slums. We can all admit that we must not pay too little attention to building up local capability, especially in construction in our built sector, but there are certainly sacrifices that we must all make. And it is certainly never too late.

But there is one point worth clarifying on the accusation of being too late, that we did too much in tracing and testing, resulting in too much an increase in numbers; that we did too little, resulting in high daily numbers for our migrant workers; that it was too late, resulting in the explosion of numbers.

I am not medically trained, but I believe that the transparency of our system in identifying every risk – isolating and putting the workers in quarantine – is far better than classifying some while ignoring others, just so that our numbers may look better.

Some expound conspiracy theories, saying that it is a mess in the facilities, that is why there are so many cases.

Again, I am not a medical professional, but I believe cases do not just burn themselves out. It is not just a medical 21 days of being in isolation and, therefore, there are no other cases.

We just need to ask ourselves. At home, let us say, you have a family of five people. One of you gets the common cold. You get home. It does not mean that all four other family members get the common cold instantly. Perhaps, not all will get it even. Maybe your wife will get it the next day. Your kid? Maybe a few days later. And maybe your kid did not catch it from you but caught it from your wife, not you.

So, it is not as simple as saying 21 days have passed, something must be horrendously wrong and, therefore, we have so many cases.

But what we must know is that we must never be afraid that just because we do so many tests, resulting in too high a number, because, as I have mentioned earlier, it is far better for us to be transparent, cautious and safe than to regret later and say, really, it was too late. If not, we will really be accused of doing too little, too late.

In the spirit of the song, I do urge the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance to reassure the House and Singaporeans that we really have not spent too much. I believe that we can never do too much for our citizens during this crisis. Better too much than too little. But do we have enough? And as we project ahead, as the crisis continues – not just in Singapore but across the world – do we have enough?

I also ask that our agencies take the gentlest possible touch with citizens during these unprecedented times in listening to those who feel that because of their circumstances, they have too little and will need much more. We are all in the same choppy oceans now but, perhaps, we are all in different vessels. It is not just about having a great captain on every boat or lighthouse to provide comfort. We need all hands on deck. We need the coast guard, lighter boatmen, pilots, pilot boats to help the different vessels.

We have different needs and are in different situations. Many hon Members before me have raised examples like housing agents, car salesmen who have been facing difficulties over the years, F&B operators, casual workers, low-income families, persons with disabilities. We can never be too late. If not, even if we spend too much, it will truly be too little for some and too late for Singapore.

The chorus of the song goes, "Too much, too little, too late to ever try again. Too much, too little, too late, we knew it had to end." It is a nice sentimental chorus for a song, but it will be a tragedy if we ever have to sing about this, about our Singapore.

So, let us not be afraid to do much more for our citizens. It is never too late to do more and we can never have too little heart as we work to save lives and livelihoods in Singapore.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Lim Biow Chuan.

6.06 pm

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Sir, in the Ministerial Statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on 5 May, he explained that large parts of the last three Budgets were directed at protecting the livelihoods of our workers. The central focus of the Fortitude Budget is on jobs.

Sir, I support the focus of the Fortitude Budget, which sees a further commitment of $33 billion by the Government to support companies and residents affected by COVID-19. In particular, the extension of the Jobs Support Scheme to affected businesses would certainly help businesses adjust to the loss of revenue during this period.

I also support the $2.7 billion stimulus to strengthen employment and to create more jobs, traineeships and skills training. In the COVID-19 environment, many businesses face uncertainty about the future and many are scaling down their hiring as they worry about an impending recession. Many businesses ask, "With a slowing economy, would my business be able to survive, much less employ new staff?"

Thus, the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package would help to assure jobseekers, especially those entering the workforce after graduation, that there are still job opportunities and skills training or upgrading available to citizens who want a job.

It has been seven weeks since the Solidarity Budget was announced. Over the past two months, due to the circuit breaker measures, many businesses which are non-essential have to cease operations totally. Although the Solidarity Budget announced on 7 April 2020 had helped many businesses, the financial impact on many others who have not benefited from the budgetary provisions are felt deeply and keenly.

I wish to highlight one group, and this would be persons who are self-employed but not eligible for the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) due to the eligibility criteria. Some of them had missed out because their trade income had exceeded $100,000. Some had missed out because they reside in homes with an annual value of more than $21,000. Even if the homes are not owned by them but rented by them, or even if they are staying with their parents, they would not be eligible if the annual values of the home exceed $21,000.

Sir, I urge the Minister for Finance to reconsider the eligibility criteria. I received many messages from self-employed persons like housing agents, insurance agents, tuition teachers, instructors, contractors and people in the sales industry. They said that for the last two months, their income had fallen drastically because they were all required to stay at home and unable to carry out their business activities. For some of the housing agents, they said their income had been totally zero for the past two months, even though they tried to sell properties online. They dread that their income will remain zero for the third month because the Council of Estate Agents had informed them that they are still not allowed to bring their clients to the show flats.

Many of them accept that it is part of their duty as Singaporeans to stay at home and are willing to do their part to break the COVID-19 virus transmission. However, for a person who has a net trade income of, say, $120,000 per annum or an average of $10,000 per month, he would not be eligible for the income relief scheme. From earning an average of $10,000 per month, he now gets zero income for two or even three months. Hence, he would struggle to bear the entire expenses for his family.

I have received emails from my residents appealing for help. One said that she is a licensed estate agent divorced a few years ago. She has four children aged between 10 and 15 in her custody. She has a wheelchair-bound mother to look after. Another wrote to me stating that she needed to financially provide for her aged parents and their children. Her spouse had just been retrenched. And on top of all their daily living expenses, they still had to pay for their housing mortgage loans for the past two months.

The recent announcement that some of their businesses cannot resume even after 2 June has caused them more financial pain as they have to struggle for another one to two months.

Sir, as a general principle, taxpayers' monies should be used to help the lower-income or those in greater need, and I am not referring to the really higher income residents who have deeper pockets or have large savings. But I submit that the fact that some self-employed persons who had a higher income in the last year or that they lived in a home with a higher annual value of more than $21,000 does not mean that they have the ability to survive two to three more months without any income. It all depends on their savings and expenses. In a recent OCBC survey of Singaporeans' ability to save, 18% of working adults say that they do not have savings to last them one month, and 28% say that they do not have savings to last them beyond three months. That means that 46% cannot last three months.

Thus, if these self-employed persons had less savings or they had higher expenses, should they be left without any support from the Government? If they happen to stay with their parents in a better home, should they also be excluded from the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme?

If the intent of the Government is to protect the livelihood of the workers, then I submit that we must do more to help self-employed persons who are badly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Even as we ask our citizens to make a sacrifice, the Government should also bear part of the sacrifice with them. The $1,000 per month for nine months is not a big sum of money, compared to what they have lost during this period.

This group of people are not asking for charity. They would be much happier carrying out their commercial activities, earning their income based on their skills and expertise. They do expect a drastic fall in their income due to the expected financial downturn even after the COVID-19 crisis. But what they are asking for is some form of financial support to tide them over to meet their basic expenses during this period because their businesses are forced to cease operations. I am of the view that this request is not unreasonable.

Sir, I urge the Government to extend the benefits of the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme to more self-employed persons. Consider raising the criteria of the trade income to $250,000 per annum and remove the criteria of the annual value of the homes.

In unprecedented times like this, the Government should try to assist as many people as possible. And for those who do not require any help from the Government, they can always be encouraged to return the grant or the subsidies back to the Government, which has already been done by many companies.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Josephine Teo.

6.13 pm

The Minister for Manpower (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Deputy Speaker, the overwhelming majority of Members of Parliament speaking today expressed concerns about jobs. Since the last quarter of 2019 before COVID-19 hit, I had described Singapore's job market as experiencing "persistent showers with pockets of sunshine". With the evolving COVID-19 situation, the weather has become even more uneven and unpredictable. Clearly, some sectors have experienced a downpour. Others are beginning to brighten up. However, unlike cyclical downturns, with COVID-19, there is much less visibility about the future. It is hard to tell if a bigger storm is brewing or how long it may last.

Bad weather is something my husband and I learnt to embrace. On our travels, we like to go hiking. When we were younger, we used to fret whenever the weather turned bad. Later, we learnt a saying that is popular among Scandinavians, that "there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing."

Even with the best of plans, bad weather cannot always be avoided. Instead of being frustrated, we learnt to gear up and be ready to step out in any weather. It is not just to wander aimlessly, but to try and make our way to where there are clearer skies and to get back in the sun. It takes a lot of effort, but it is better than to be stuck with nowhere to go.

That is how I think we can deal with the situation today. Focus on getting ready for a possible storm, and put all our energies into gearing up.

Part of the gearing up is the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and other support programmes under the Unity, Resilience, Solidarity and Fortitude Budgets. Each of these schemes is helping to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the labour market. They are providing much needed cover to businesses and workers, saving jobs and livelihoods. If we did not have this cover, we would already be drenched in soaring unemployment, as can be seen in some countries. We would be dealing with a very different problem today.

Instead, we now have a window of opportunity to get organised. This year, we expect the economy to shrink by between 4% and 7%. We must gear up for further job losses, although we do not know exactly how severe it will be. Uncertainty about the future will also moderate hiring.

Besides defending existing jobs, we must try to open up many more pathways to jobs. There is a Chinese idiom "未雨绸缪". It reminds us to plan ahead before the storm hits. This will be critical in the months ahead.

There will have to be a big push for many pathways to jobs: pathways for retrenched and mid-career persons from all sectors and all ages, middle-aged or older; pathways for fresh graduates from our ITEs, Polytechnics, Universities and other educational institutions; pathways for self-employed persons (SEPs) who want to remain SEPs or to move into regular employment.

We will need tight coordination to create multiple pathways for a whole range of workers. But where should these pathways lead?

Ideally, they should lead to a job. But in today’s context, it may not be an immediate job or even a permanent one at the start. It should, however, be a pathway that allows for people to use their time meaningfully, learn something useful and gain valuable experience. As much as possible, it should be a path to a better, brighter future.

We have a real stake in doing this well. Not only do we want to enable every Singaporean to remain meaningfully occupied, we want to help each citizen to preserve his or her human capital and to build on it. Collectively for Singapore, this means not allowing the downturn to erode our human capital but, instead, to enhance it so that we can emerge stronger as one. This is the challenge we should set for ourselves.

I need not tell Members how enormous this challenge is. The Government, as a whole, has declared our collective ambition – to generate close to 100,000 opportunities in jobs, traineeships or attachments and skills training through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package.

To give Members a sense of scale, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and its partners like NTUC's e2i and MAS placed an average of 29,000 locals into jobs every year in the last three years – 29,000 as opposed to the 100,000 that we are aiming for between now and the end of the year. Each of these 29,000, on average, already involves painstaking work. In many cases, there are job and skills mismatches. In others, there are mismatches of wage expectations.

In today’s context, we must add another significant mismatch and it has to do with timing. Many jobseekers will be hungry for work and school leavers eager to start their careers. But employers will be hesitant and not ready to hire. After all, they may not themselves have enough visibility about the business. As a result, there will likely be many more jobseekers than jobs available. We must expect many roadblocks on previously well-established pathways to jobs.

As a millennial might put it, it is an epic challenge to create new pathways for 100,000 people under such circumstances. Recognising the enormity of the task, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has described the National Jobs Council (NJC) as a “national team” to rally and mobilise every possible partner to build up a pipeline of such opportunities, catering to multiple sectors and every skill level. The target of close to 100,000 opportunities is not insurmountable but the NJC will have to work very, very hard to create the pathways, involving multiple partners.

Notwithstanding the challenges, our top-most priority is still to promote jobs and making sure that jobseekers have access to them. The SGUnited Jobs initiative will be scaled up to provide more than 40,000 jobs in 2020.

Many of the permanent positions in the public sector are a result of hiring plans being brought forward. These include science and engineering roles in agencies like HTX and positions in early childhood education, healthcare and long-term care.

We will also ramp up capacity of career conversion programmes to help jobseekers reskill for new roles in the private sector, such as for Auxiliary Police Officers in the security sector. As businesses transform, workers may become redundant. We will work with employers to prepare them for redeployment rather than unemployment.

In this climate, I think we should be realistic but also opportunistic – in a good way. Employers may hold back job offers but we can encourage them to offer traineeship or attachment pathways, through meaningful funding support. These traineeships may not provide the same security as a job, but they will provide valuable industry-relevant experience and better position a jobseeker when the economy recovers.

For a start, we aim to open up about 25,000 traineeship pathways for recent graduates and mid-career jobseekers. We are heartened that more than 1,000 organisations, including many SMEs, have stepped forward to offer to host more than 11,000 traineeships. One example is familiar to us – Carousell, a homegrown tech scale-up – no longer a start-up but a scale-up. Carousell created a new trainee position for graduates to learn how the company strategises to grow its markets and build customer loyalty. The experience of working in a start-up culture or scale-up culture is certainly useful.

We are also very keen to open up attachment pathways for mid-career jobseekers. At the first NJC meeting yesterday, there was intense discussion about the potential for such experienced mid-career persons to help businesses transform, particularly SMEs. This will supplement the resources of hard-pressed SMEs to build up their capabilities. More pathways of this type could be win-win.

Another important pathway could be through the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres and Institutes of Higher Learning. While looking to land a job or attachment pathway, it is useful to acquire new skills through a structured programme. Such programmes can have a combination of classroom training and company involvement, such as industrial project work. The SGUnited Skills programme aims to create up to 30,000 of such pathways.

To help jobseekers find the most suitable pathway, we will expand our ground presence. We now have five career centres island-wide and partnerships with NTUC’s e2i, the Social Service Offices, CDCs, self-help groups, such as MENDAKI. To be closer to jobseekers, we aim to build up a presence in all HDB towns through satellite career centres.

But in any case, not every jobseeker needs to come through WSG's physical door. This is why we have significantly built up our digital presence and range of digital services on MyCareersFuture.sg. Even before the circuit breaker, we rolled out a series of thematic Virtual Career Fairs (VCFs) in sectors, such as ICT, Logistics & Transport, and Healthcare and Community Care. We will bring this to the SGUnited Traineeships as well.

Let me put this plainly. We will spare no effort to open up new pathways for jobseekers and guide them appropriately – as big a push as we can muster. But for matches to happen, I urge jobseekers to keep an open mind – stay open to pathways that you would not have considered previously. Give the employers a chance and give yourself a chance.

To extend our reach to more workers and employers, we have been working closely with our tripartite partners, with encouraging results. When air travel came to a standstill due to COVID-19, NTUC played an instrumental role in kick-starting job redesign projects. Close to 4,000 workers in the Air Transport sector will be reskilled for new roles, ready when our airhub opens in a much bigger way. NTUC's e2i has been working through the NTUC Job Security Council to push out short-term and long-term job opportunities for retrenched workers. The Singapore Business Federation signed up to be our main programme partner for the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.

We will reach out and partner more trade associations and chambers to open up pathways in their respective sectors. We value the networks that they have and we believe that by working closely with them, we will be able to reach more businesses and enable more pathways to open up for jobseekers. I want to also add that these partnerships can include SEP associations like those for sports coaches and media freelancers. We welcome all partners.

Mr Speaker, I said at the start that we should gear up for a storm. This may sound frightening and, indeed, we should not underestimate how rough the weather might become. But we are not going in without some cover. In fact, I think there are at least three reasons to be hopeful.

First, for well over a decade, we have invested heavily in our CET infrastructure and embarked on the SkillsFuture movement since 2015. We now have a very vibrant CET ecosystem that provides quality training to working adults, which we will continue to strengthen under the Next Bound of SkillsFuture. When I meet with my international counterparts, this very well-developed CET eco-system and the SkillsFuture movement are a great source of envy for them.

Second, even with low visibility, we are not navigating without compasses and searchlights. For several years now, we have developed Industry Transformation Maps and carefully positioned each sector for future growth. This is the work of the Future Economy Council, which Deputy Prime Minister Heng chairs, and it has been investing a tremendous amount of time and effort to ensure that the roadmap to the future is well outlined at the very least and we know what we need to do.

In Financial Services, for example, we know the new skills needed within the next three years for practically every job role there is – that level of detail – every job role. That makes for much more effective curation of training and attachment pathways.

Third, and perhaps most important of all, Singapore's unique brand of tripartism means that even in stormy waters, we can row as one, in unison towards the same destination. In Chinese, we would say: "风雨同舟, 向前推进". Few other countries have this extraordinary advantage. Working together, we can clear roadblocks, widen existing pathways and open up new pathways where none existed.

A big push for these pathways will inspire hope and confidence in our people and keep us moving forward.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I am not a particularly big fan of motivational quotes but this one by a certain Vivian Greene struck a chord. She says poetically, "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain".

COVID-19 is a powerful virus that has unleashed a storm worldwide. But for Singapore, it is igniting something quite remarkable – our unity, resilience, solidarity and fortitude. And along the way, if we also learn to dance in the rain, why not? Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Budget.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Tin Pei Ling.

6.32 pm

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is my third speech on the Budget in this House this year.

Today, I will focus on three points. First, on the Budgets being a responsive one and finetuning for maximum impact. Second, our fiscal sustainability, reserves for next generation and shared responsibility in crisis. And third, that this is a good time now to transform.

On the first point, responsive Budgets, finetuning for maximum impact.

We are now midway through the year 2020. This pandemic has wreaked havoc in many ways around the world. Over 200 countries affected, more than six million infected and close to 400,000 deaths, so far. Economists described this as equivalent to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Even some of my older residents told me that they had not experienced such hardship in decades.

Therefore, I am grateful that our Government introduced four budgets to help our people cope with the hardship. Each successive Budget responded to the latest development and the latest emerging need. No other country has done so.

New schemes, such as the TRF, COVID-19 Support Grant and Solidarity payments were administered in record short time. This is untypical of governments. But it is clear that our Government wants to put cash into people's hands as soon as possible to reduce the pain.

Still, we see and feel the pain. Residents write to me to say how the rolling living and business expenses are "killing" them figuratively and mentally. They know that the pandemic is a worldwide problem and appreciate the cash assistance. But it is not enough.

A self-employed home cleaner David told me that he could not work for three months and has to pay bills and rental. The monthly rental of the van he uses to transport tools alone already cost him $1,700, exceeding the cash assistance he could receive in April or May. Of course, he has to give up the van at this moment. He is now desperately looking forward to resuming his work and start earning again.

During the distribution of Government-issued masks, I met an 80-year-old uncle who is still raising his family. He was crying as he told me about his job loss and his fears of being unable to see his son through school. To see a man cry is hard, to see an elderly man cry is just heartbreaking.

This crisis is indeed unprecedented. Many households that used to get by or used to do well are now under water.

When the help schemes were announced, many rejoiced. But concerns also emerged as they tried to apply for it. For example, loan deferment. Businesses appreciate the reprieve that this can offer. But a resident Andy told me that when he and his peers realised they still have to pay significant interest during the deferment period, they all backed out. In Andy's case, the deferment interest is more than the cash assistance he could get and there is no certainty whether his business will have a full recovery before the bank starts asking him to pay again. This seems to defeat the purpose of having this facility, even for viable businesses.

Such a situation will save companies with normally healthy cashflow, but perhaps not those that may have been or are planning to invest in strategic capabilities. Despite this, I can understand that there are implications on banks and therefore the entire system. But could we help these businesses by offering a 0.1% low interest to existing business loans in this deferment period, similar to new ESG loans?

Second, on rental. There were still fears that the initial reliefs are not enough and some subtenants fear that waivers will not be passed down to them or that landlords will take a long time to do so. But this will be addressed in the amendments to the Temporary Measures Act later, so this is great news!

Third, SafeEntry. The reasons for contact tracing and using technology to do so are understandable. But this is causing some difficulty for seniors to access certain essential services, because manual registration at present is only a guideline. For example, my resident Yui Mun said that her mother and other elderly cannot enter the private clinics they usually go to, because they do not have smartphones with data plan to scan and register via SafeEntry. The normal argument would have been to take the business elsewhere, but in this case, it is disruptive to switch as elderly usually have longstanding relationships with their GPs. Might there be ways to compel such operators to accommodate?

Therefore, I urge the Government to continue finetuning the measures implemented, as we learn from experience and start stabilising.

The second point is really about fiscal sustainability, having reserves for next generation and sharing the responsibility in a crisis.

As we battle this crisis, I am again thankful that our past and present leaders have been judicious in managing our reserves, painstakingly saving up for "storms" like this. Because of this, we can now confidently dip in to help Singaporeans – for the third time. Within a short span of five months, our Government is pumping in S$93 billion just to combat the pandemic. This amount already exceeds the total full year public expenditure in 2019.

Looking around the world, only Japan and Singapore are able to pump in hefty stimulus packages. Comparatively, others in our region may find it difficult to implement similar support packages. Some of our neighbours do not have deep reserves, and while they could reach loans with ultra-low interest rates, this could threaten their fiscal sustainability.

To give a sense of how much our Government is putting in to help Singaporeans and businesses, I did a back-of-envelope estimation of economic relief per capita – migrant not included – among developed countries.

If we look at the relief per citizen or PR, Singapore tops the chart at S$23,225 per capita. Japan is next at S$21,355 per capita. The United States – world superpower, world largest economy and worst hit by the pandemic – is third at S$12,765 per capita. These are calculated based on publicly available figures.

These figures are coarse estimations taking into account direct and indirect support. But it gives us a very good sense of our Government's determination in supporting our people and seeing Singapore through this crisis.

Alas, this pandemic is expected to last for many more months and the world economy remains uncertain. Some experts think that the worst has yet to come. Therefore, I wonder how many more packages we will need and how much more might we have to dip into our reserves for.

Lest I get misunderstood, let me state that I believe it is necessary for us to draw on our reserves to help Singapore and Singaporeans get through this storm.

But I am concerned if we have enough to leave behind for our future generations. Again, I want to ask how do we moderate ourselves and is there a red line beyond which we shall not draw further from our reserves? How can we sustain help and not deplete this pot of gold for our children and theirs?

Our Pioneers took more than 50 years to save up this pot of gold because they want to protect their children and future generations. Similarly, we have a duty to use this pot of gold wisely and make sure that we put back what we took once we can, so that our children and their children will continue to have this asset to fall back on when they face the crisis of their generation. Will the Government assure us that it will do so? How does it plan to do so?

To this end, I therefore think that it is important that we all shoulder the responsibility of overcoming this crisis together.

The Government will draw from our treasury and reserves to provide the financial stimulus and put in place schemes and legislation to ensure fair distribution of help and boost sectors that are flailing. Businesses will have to do its best to survive and keep jobs for the workers; and workers need to be willing to accept concessions so that everyone can stay above water. Landlords need to learn to share because they have a symbiotic relationship with tenants. If the tenants fail, they may not find another and all will suffer. At the society level, the more abled need to be willing to take less and give more. The less abled need to be willing to try their best to adjust, to change track, to upskill and to progress.

Everyone is affected. It would be quite difficult for the Government alone to eradicate all the pain for everyone, although it is trying.

If we can all be more accommodating, a bit more "give-and-take" and try a bit harder, we will have a good chance of succeeding together. By sharing more is perhaps the only way to attain a more sustainable future.

And onto my third point, that this is a good time now to transform.

On this note, as we look ahead, we can expect the world to change post COVID-19. It is a tough time now, but since we are already in this predicament, there is also no better time to transform for the future.

McKinsey, in a recent article, suggested that there will be seven key changes. I am going to paraphrase them here.

First, "distance is back" with technology enabling communications, work and trade being done without physical proximity. Second, in strategising, businesses need to be able to absorb shock, on top of just being efficient. Third, rise of the contact-free economy, including digital commerce, telemedicine and automation. Fourth, more Government intervention to ensure fairer distribution of precious resources. Fifth, more scrutiny for businesses as they will increasingly be expected by the public to contribute more socially for the public good. Sixth, industry structures, consumer behaviours, market positions and sector attractiveness will change. And seventh, everyone is compelled to innovate to connect and solve problems in new ways.

The pandemic displaced many individuals and businesses. In some instances, they may not find a way back to their old jobs. But there are new opportunities on the horizon.

Despite our circumstances, Singapore secured about S$13 billion in investment commitments in the first half of this year for the "next few years". These investments, in sectors including electronics and infocomm, will generate "a few thousand jobs" for workers in Singapore in the coming years. But all these jobs will demand a new set of skills in the innovation and technology area.

Therefore, Singaporeans need to be prepared to train for it. Human capital and the quality of our talent pool will be a crucial differentiating factor for Singapore.

In a recent encounter, a very wise elder and prominent business leader asked me about what I thought about the fourth industrial revolution. I was a bit surprised as I am a junior but I suppose he just wanted to know how a younger person like me think about this issue. So, I shared that the digital future is inevitable and we all know why it is important. I trust the Government to get the infrastructure, the big pieces right and ready. But the quality of our people will decide whether Singapore continues to have a voice on the world stage. Our people have to be ready fast and my own estimate of our window of opportunity would be two to three years or maybe even faster.

If we do not have enough people with the right skills to fill these new jobs, investments can go away and we will all be for the poorer. As countries around us step up, our talent pool must be ready earlier than them so that we can anchor these opportunities here in Singapore. Ultimately, it is the quality of our people that will determine if we can lead in this innovation race.

Hence, I am heartened that this fourth Budget not only addresses immediate needs, but also locked its vision on the future.

I welcome the digital resilience bonus. I hope this will be the final push to reach the tipping point for our SMEs to transform. If this proves to be successful, I hope the bonus can be applied to other sectors in time to come as well. I will describe this as "涅槃重生，破茧成蝶" – to breakthrough and rise from the ashes.

I also welcome the creation of SG Digital Office and 1,000 digital ambassadors. I spoke about avoiding a new social divide inadvertently caused by our push for digitalisation in past years' debates. On the ground, I have also been working with our grassroots to champion digital readiness for our seniors and low-income families. I hope we can press on and scale up. From observations, seniors who are digital converts are well placed to help other seniors. If we can leverage them more actively and allow them to earn an extra allowance, I believe we will see better results.

And since we are investing in digital capabilities, might the Government consider offering a "digital conversion bonus" for our seniors in the very near future? Similar in spirit to the digital resilience bonus, perhaps a digital wallet with e-cash vouchers would incentivise more seniors to give digital solutions a chance. And in the spirit of sharing responsibilities, local grassroots could explore strategic partnerships to raise funds and issue these vouchers. It is doing the same thing but in a different way.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.]: COVID-19 is a major event that has changed the whole world. Some experts are of the view that this pandemic has caused more harm than the Great Depression in the 1930s. Some residents in my constituency remarked that this was the most serious crisis they have seen in the past decades.

In this crisis, no one can be spared. Everyone is facing a certain amount of challenges and sufferings. Too many uncertainties can be confusing. Many of my residents came to me for help. It is heart breaking to see that they are full of anxieties and are at a loss.

As the pandemic evolves and demand changes, the Government has introduced 4 Budgets to help Singaporeans and businesses. Based on rough calculations, the Government has provided an average of $23,225 per person to cope with COVID-19, much higher than many other developed countries. This demonstrated the Government's determination to help our people. It is the fiscal prudence by our past and present government that has enabled us to draw such a big sum of money from the past reserves to deal with this crisis. We must thank our forefathers for their hard work.

The Government has been flexible, and acted boldly and decisively to introduce a series of measures to revive the economy and assist the people. This is much appreciated by the people and I agree with them.

However, the pandemic is still raging. The fight against COVID-19 seems to be a prolonged battle. I cannot help worrying whether our reserves, built up painstakingly over the years, will be depleted. If our future generations were to face such situation, what are they going to rely upon?

I would like to ask the Government once again: do we have some kind of mechanism to define how we should effectively make use of our reserves and how much we can use? Will the Government promise to return the money to the reserves when the economy gets better and how is the Government going to fulfil this promise?

Take a step back. In times of crisis, everyone could and should help to shoulder responsibilities, working in solidarity to overcome the difficulties. The Government is setting aside a huge amount of money to revitalise the economy and help the people. Employers should do their best to keep the business going and retain their workers; Workers should cooperate with the company to make necessary adjustments. Landlords should be compassionate to the tenants and give them some breathing space. There will be many days ahead as long as we manage to survive this outbreak. In the community, the abled can make more sacrifices, and the beneficiaries should solider on with fortitude. By doing this, we will be able to achieve sustainability in the future.

This is a difficult time. I keep thinking of this poem "Grass" which says that "Grass in the wild are not thoroughly burned off; they will grow again in the spring". I often recite this poem to my two sons. I hope they can develop in them the same tenacious spirit as the wild grass.

I would like to borrow a phrase from Venerable Master Xing Yue. He once said, "The tiny grass does not succumb to adversities. It does not feel inferior just because it is tiny. This is the spirit of a tiny grass."

A sparkle can ignite a whole prairie; small streams can converge into rivers and oceans; a tiny seed can grow into a big tree, a small tiny screw can affect the performance of the entire machine.

We may feel that we are insignificant, but when united we can be very powerful. Perhaps, this is what the Fortitude Budget seeks to achieve.

(In English): I support the Budget.