Update on Management of COVID-19 Impact on Employment of Fresh Graduates, General Workforce and Foreign Worker Dormitories

11 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the latest update on the COVID-19 infection situation in the foreign worker dormitories; and (b) whether the stepped-up measures have been effective in containing the spread.

12 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower given that the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Little India Riot in 2014 noted "housing available to foreign workers in Singapore ranks well in the world", whether the Government will appoint a COI to (i) investigate the causes of the COVID-19 outbreak amongst residents of foreign worker dormitories (ii) identify the responsibility borne by the various stakeholders, including any lapses committed between the 2014 COI and the present date and (iii) propose reforms to be implemented to ensure that a similar public health crisis will not recur.

13 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Manpower on the employment prospects for fresh graduates amidst the difficult economic environment, what are the available employment and other options and how can employers and the Government work together to assist fresh graduates.

14 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider amending the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act so that its regulatory framework applies to all purpose-built dormitories, factory-converted dormitories, construction temporary quarters, standalone temporary quarters, construction temporary quarters, quarters in buildings under construction, and temporary occupation licence quarters.

15 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider (i) increasing the minimum gross floor area of 4.5 square metres for each resident in a foreign workers' dormitory and (ii) not including the basic living facilities such as living quarters, kitchen, dining, and toilet areas in the computation for the minimum gross floor area.

16 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether a Commission of Inquiry will be appointed to investigate the causes of high COVID-19 incidence amongst foreign workers (FWs), particularly (i) pre-COVID-19 outbreak living conditions of FWs in dormitories and non-dormitories (ii) how these conditions may have led to the disease spread (iii) the kinds of support provided to dormitory operators to ensure physical and psychological health of FWs (iv) forms of support provided to FWs not living in dormitories (v) how dormitories housing fewer than 1,000 FWs are regulated; and (b) if so, whether the COI will recommend strategic policy changes to improve the living conditions of FWs and enhance our future public health emergency preparedness.

17 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Manpower in view of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus among foreign workers in the dormitories (a) what lessons can be drawn from the management of dormitories and whether safe distancing can be practically practised in the existing purpose-built dormitories; (b) what roles have dormitory owners played to mitigate the spread of the virus; and (c) whether there is evidence that infected foreign workers have spread the virus to the community beyond the migrant workers.

18 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Manpower since the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act was enacted on 1 January 2016 (a) how many warnings have been issued to licensed operators of foreign workers' dormitories for not meeting the licence conditions under section 11 of the Act; and (b) how many have been charged and fined.

19 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Manpower what is the recourse available to employees who have not been paid their wages despite their employers having received the benefits of the Jobs Support Scheme including employees who have been placed on no-pay leave or reduced pay.

20 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Manpower whether all essential workers among the foreign workers living in all dormitories and other forms of accommodation have already been safely separated from the non-essential workers by 19 April 2020.

21 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Minister for Manpower in light of the COVID-19 infection in the foreign workers dormitories (a) what will be the measures to improve the living conditions in the dormitories and contain the spread of COVID-19; and (b) as the healthy workers are relocated to old schools, army camps and flats in the community, how will they be educated on hygiene and social distancing habits to reassure our residents.

The Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Mr Speaker, Sir, as Minister Josephine Teo will be delivering her Ministerial Statement, may I also have your permission to allow her to take Question Nos 11 to 21 in her Statement, please.

Mr Speaker: Yes, please. Mr Gan Thiam Poh.

14 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) to what extent are licensing conditions under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act based on the Singapore Standards Council's Technical Reference 37 (2014) on the "design, management, maintenance and operation of foreign employee dormitories"; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider updating the Technical Reference, adopting it as a Singapore Standard, and requiring all foreign workers' dormitory operators to adhere to it.

15 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower for each year in the past five years, with regard to foreign workers residing in purpose-built dormitories, factory-converted dormitories, construction temporary quarters, standalone temporary quarters, temporary quarters, quarters in buildings under construction, temporary occupation licence quarters, HDB flats, and private residential premises (a) what was the total number of foreign workers residing in each housing type; (b) how many of each housing type were there respectively; and (c) whether the Ministry will start collecting or compiling this data if it is not already doing so.

16 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many Malaysian workers have stayed behind in Singapore after Malaysia started its movement control order on 18 March 2020; and (b) how many of these workers have returned to Malaysia after Singapore started its circuit breaker measures on 7 April 2020.

17 Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there is a significant number of Singaporeans returning from overseas and seeking jobs in the local job market in the past six months; (b) if so, whether the Ministry foresees challenges in placing these Singaporeans in the current job market and what are some of these challenges; (c) how can these challenges be overcome; and (d) whether the Ministry will consider creating specific programmes to help those who have returned to adjust to the local work environment by equipping them with the relevant skill sets and information about the local job market.

18 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower in each of the past three years (a) how many offences has the Commissioner for Foreign Employee Dormitories charged operators for breaching the licensing standards for accommodation, health, safety and emergency preparedness; (b) how many compliance directives and regulatory actions have been issued respectively; and (c) whether there is any relationship between the violations and the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak at the dormitories.

19 Assoc Prof Walter Theseira asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act, in each of the past three years (a) how many public officers have been appointed as Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners respectively; (b) whether the officers are appointed to these duties on a full-time basis; (c) how many staff have been appointed as Dormitory Inspectors; and (d) how many dormitories have been inspected and how frequently have the dormitories been inspected on average.

20 Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Manpower how can the Ministry partner other stakeholders in the public, private and people sectors to seek permanent/temporary job or internship opportunities for fresh graduates in a labour market impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mrs Josephine Teo: These questions have been responded to via a Ministerial Statement on 4 May 2020.