Enhancing Public Awareness of Special Needs Children and Needs of Their Parents and Caregivers

5 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what measures are ongoing to enhance public awareness of special needs children and the needs of the parents and caregivers of special needs children; and (b) how can the Ministry encourage employers and the broader community to facilitate better workplace support, such as flexible working arrangements, for parents of children with special needs.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, there are several public education efforts underway to create greater awareness of the aspirations and needs of persons with disabilities, including special needs children and their caregivers.

One such effort is the National Council of Social Service's (NCSS') "See the True Me" campaign, a five-year public education initiative that started in 2016 to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Singapore. The campaign aims to create greater awareness and improve understanding of persons with disabilities, including children with special needs. Over the last two years, NCSS has also held campaigns promoting inclusiveness across various platforms which reached over three million people in Singapore and engaged about 95,000 members of the public.

Building an inclusive society and raising the public's awareness and understanding of persons with disabilities and their caregivers are a continuous work in progress. This is why the third Enabling Masterplan includes efforts that start with the young, so that we can nurture future generations of citizens who care for others. These efforts would need to extend to our built environment as well. For example, the building of inclusive playgrounds at our public parks has enabled children with special needs to play with other children and also serve as a platform to enhance awareness of children with disabilities.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) works closely with other Government agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower, and the tripartite partners to encourage employers and the broad community to support parents in the workplace. When employers and co-workers are supportive and understanding of parents' caregiving needs, this not only makes it easier for these parents to care for their children, including those with special needs, but also benefits employers by helping them attract and retain talent. Family-friendly practices can bring great benefit, including raising staff morale, productivity and loyalty.

Employers can tap on various resources available to implement flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The Work-Life Grant provides employers with funding support to sustain FWAs and defray the costs of implementing these measures at the workplace. In addition, the tripartite partners have also jointly developed a Tripartite Standard on FWAs to help jobseekers and employees identify progressive employers with strong support for FWAs.

It is said that it takes a whole village to raise a child. In the same vein, we need the support and partnership of the people, private and public sectors to build a more inclusive society.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answer. I just wanted to raise one supplementary question. In my home visits in Clementi, I have met mothers with special needs children who sometimes felt unsupported by employers. I was wondering whether MSF has plans to engage more directly with employers, including with the human resource (HR) teams, and employees in some workplaces to further increase awareness and understanding of special needs children and the challenges that parents of special needs children face.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Yes, indeed, as Members can see from the answer, we have been reaching out to all Singaporeans. As I have said, it takes the support and partnership of the public, private and people sectors to make our society more inclusive. With FWAs, we also want to reach out to more to see how we can build not only about having legislation but it is about the heart and mind of our people, including employers, when we want to see and build a community that cares for one another. I want to thank the Member for that suggestion.

Mr Speaker: Ms Denise Phua.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Speaker, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his constant support for this community. I would like to ask, besides the campaigns which are usually more costly, can the Ministry promote public awareness of the disability and special needs sector with a bit more sustainable effort on a daily basis. For example, putting up more information using Smart Nation strategies at the public places of interest and also at places, such as Mass Rapid Transit train stations, for example? I see that in quite a number of countries which are more progressive in this. That is one.

The second is also if MSF would consider using good establishments or proven organisations, such as the Pioneer Generation Office (PGO), to include younger people with disabilities in their efforts so that, as they reach out to the elderly, some of whom are disabled, they are also able to reach out to the younger ones who may be disabled or need some support by their family members.

So, just two efforts: one, more public awareness at more public places; second, using proven establishments to support these public awareness efforts.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the suggestions and we will consider them. I would like to share, as I have said earlier, we have gone through the "See the True Me" campaign. If Members have the time, please take a look at the YouTube videos. It is not only something that we want to relate to people, but I am very heartened to see the number of views that we have recorded since we launched the different videos, and the support that we get from the community. We will continue to do this and we will also look at areas where we can put posters and messages, as suggested by the Member, to see how we can reach out to more people. So, it is important for us to work together.

Secondly, about using established modes of engagement, I am very sure someone who visits a home, including the PGO officers, when he or she sees someone who needs help because of disability, be it children or seniors, that it will be a stimulant for us to look at it. For example, in my area, there has been more than one occasion where my PGO officers shared with me and we have gone down to see how we can help the families better.

So, we will do all we can to make Singapore more inclusive. Nevertheless, I am very heartened that we have Members in this House who care and continue to work with us to make Singapore a more inclusive society.