Go beyond Band-Aid in social policy

Transforming Singapore into a more inclusive society needs more than just funding welfare relief

By Tan Chi Chiu & Jacqueline Loh, Published The Straits Times, 29 Feb 2012

IT IS heartening that this year's Budget targets some of those sorely in need of assistance, namely older workers, the disabled and low-income families, and has forgone the mass handouts of recent years that have also benefited middle- and high-income households.

Special transfers to the poor appear to have become permanent via the GST rebate vouchers and other schemes. Even though this is not the same as the welfare schemes of developed countries, it institutionalises welfare provisions, a significant departure from previous policies. It implies that the Government sees the economic divide between Singaporeans as structural and permanent. While it is right to address economic hardship, it is even more important to address the need for social inclusion, which is more about quality of life and social participation. In this respect, it is unclear if special transfers to the poor are enough.

For students from low-income households, the additional financial support as well as the extension of that support to a larger group of households is welcome. However what is still inadequately addressed is the inclusivity of Singapore's educational system. Without fully investigating this contentious subject, financial support may be only a Band-Aid approach to a system that may ultimately perpetuate rather than ameliorate existing inequalities.

It is worth exploring if Singapore's current education system features some of the key characteristics of low mobility systems found elsewhere, including early streaming and increasing differentiation of educational options, with more and better options for those who can afford to pay more. A recent study on social mobility by the Ministry of Finance found relatively high mobility - but it looked at children born between 1969 and 1978, a generation for whom mobility was generally perceived to be high.

Budget 2012 debate: Day 1

Ease pain of economic makeover, urge MPs

Inclusive Budget lauded, but concerns raised about impact on SMEs

By Lydia Lim, The Straits Times, 29 Feb 2012

THE pace of economic restructuring and the pain it will inflict on local companies and low-skilled workers emerged as a key theme of the first day of Parliament's debate yesterday on the Government's Budget.

The 25 Members of Parliament (MPs) who spoke gave their support to the Government's broad push to raise productivity. While generally supporting the long-term gains that the Budget measures would bring, they voiced concerns about the short-term pain.

Seven MPs questioned the lack of measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cope with rising costs, even as foreign worker inflows are further reduced.

Veteran People's Action Party (PAP) member Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) was the most hard-hitting. He rapped the Government for expecting SMEs to become more productive overnight, and for allowing industrial rents to shoot up. He called on the Government to do a thorough review of ways to cut business costs.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) and Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) warned of the impact on workers if SMEs fail or are forced to relocate because of cost pressures and tight labour supply.

Hawker Centre Public Consultation Panel Recommendations 2012: Hawker centres of the future

Future hawker centres: Keeping food cheap

Panel recommends that not-for-profit operators run centres

By Huang Lijie, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2012

IN A move to keep hawker food prices affordable, a public panel has called on hawker centres of the future to be run and priced in a new way.

Instead of the Government tendering out stalls as is mostly the case now, a not-for-profit operator such as a social enterprise or cooperative should be in charge of running the centre.

It would have some autonomy to decide matters like tenant mix and use of space, but would defer to broad terms set out by the National Environment Agency (NEA), which will fund and own the centres, and regulate the licensing of stalls.



This hawker centre social enterprise would pre-determine the rental rates of the stalls, and invite 'operators with credentials' to run them.

Rentals would be lower than those usually offered by food courts and coffee shops, and hawkers could be made to offer at least one 'value meal' which would be cheaper than meals sold at nearby eateries.

To prevent profiteering by stallholders who do not intend to operate the stalls themselves, full-day sub-letting could be disallowed.

If hawkers do not wish to operate their stalls, they should return them, said the panel, which released its recommendations yesterday.

The current practice of allowing stallholders who enjoy subsidised rents to 'assign' their stalls to another hawker should also be abolished, it said.

Flood-prevention systems to be tightened at six MRT stations

By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2012

THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) is taking steps to beef up flood-prevention systems in six downtown MRT stations.

The stations are all sited in low-lying areas with track records of flash floods, but have themselves never been flooded.

They are Raffles Place, City Hall, Tanjong Pagar, Novena, Little India and Orchard.

A tender called this month said the works will include the installation of flood-barrier systems at the stations, the sealing of glass panels and other openings to make them watertight, and the raising of the height of vent shafts and firemen's staircases. The works are to be completed within a year.

Contractors are expected to design and install two types of flood-barrier system at several points in each station - a manual stackable type and a swing-type which stays open during normal times.

Both systems must be designed to be watertight when flood waters are below 1.5m - the height of the flood barriers.

The flood barriers should be made of lightweight aluminium panels, said the LTA in its tender documents.

The stackable barriers must also be made so user-friendly that they take two people no more than 15 minutes to set up.

When contacted, an LTA spokesman said: 'All MRT stations were designed so that the station entrances are high enough to accommodate potential flooding should it occur in lower-lying areas.'

But as a result of the ongoing monitoring of the MRT network, the LTA has decided to take additional measures for these stations, given their locations, he said.

No MRT station has ever been flooded, and the works are preventive in nature.

Associate Professor Susanto Teng of Nanyang Technological University's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering said that while MRT stations are flood-proof for now, there is no guarantee they will remain so in the future.

He said: 'It's good to be ahead of the problem. It's much cheaper to prevent something than to try and fix it when something happens. By then, it's too late.'

He noted that the systems of the kind being called for in the LTA tender are used in cities in the United States, where it is impractical to build permanent flood barriers.

Commuter Chua Wei Yang agreed that it was a good move to make MRT stations such as Orchard more flood-proof.

The 25-year-old associate engineer said: 'The station is underground and there could be a lot of damage if it is flooded.'

Big push to fight colorectal cancer as cases continue to rise

By Poon Chian Hui, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2012

THE health authorities are stepping up efforts to fight colorectal cancer, the most common cancer here.

All Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 50 and above are being invited to go for screenings as the number of cases continues to rise.

By next month, nearly 100,000 people would have received letters from the Health Promotion Board (HPB) inviting them to visit family doctors to discuss screenings.

The campaign started last July.

The doctors will advise them on how to do the screening at home and where to send the completed kits for processing. Any abnormal results are followed up on, and patients are sent to a specialist if necessary.

Those with lower incomes who are eligible for subsidies have to pay only the doctor's consultation fee and not the $30 for the kit.

In total, 900,000 people aged 50 and above will receive the letters in the next three years, said the HPB.

Next month and in April, anyone aged 50 and above can pick up a free test kit at the 71 Guardian pharmacy outlets islandwide.

Kits are also available at any of the 18 polyclinics from March 5 to 9.

These kits are funded by the Singapore Cancer Society to mark Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month next month.

The number of cases of the disease is increasing, going by figures released by the Singapore Cancer Registry yesterday.

About 8,200 new cases were diagnosed between 2006 and 2010, compared with about 7,900 cases from 2005 to 2009.

Associate Professor Tang Choong Leong, who heads the colorectal surgery department at Singapore General Hospital, pointed out that the number of deaths has also increased slightly.

Some 3,435 people succumbed to the disease from 2006 to 2010, a rise from the 3,373 in the five-year period starting from 2005.

'It's possible that the cancer is still being detected too late,' Prof Tang said.

One way of identifying the cancer early is to make use of the faecal occult blood test, which checks for blood in stools and can detect the disease even at an early stage.

The Singapore Cancer Society has been giving out free test kits since 2003. Last year, 34,069 kits were given out, with 66 per cent of recipients sending in their stool samples for testing.

The year before, 71 per cent of the 32,416 kits given out were returned. Of these, 28 people were found to have colorectal cancer.

Despite the wider reach, Associate Professor Lim Soon Thye, a council member of the Singapore Cancer Society, said the figure is but a fraction of the number of people aged 50 and above in Singapore, which stands at more than one million.

'There is significant room for improvement,' said the medical oncologist from the National Cancer Centre Singapore.

But he noted that the return rate for the free test kits is quite good compared with that in other countries.

People who receive the letters from the HPB have a pick of 700 private general practitioners whom they can make appointments with.

Test results will be ready in one month.

Retiree Ronald Lee, 72, has benefited from regular screenings.

The former sales and marketing officer has done the test every year for six years. Last year, it helped him detect the cancer at an early stage. He required surgery to remove 15cm of his colon but did not have to go for chemotherapy.

Mr Lee encourages others to take the step to protect their health.

'The test is a simple thing. It is also free of charge, what more do you want?' he said.

'If you have cancer, isn't it better to have it taken out early?'

Green Mark hits 1,000th landmark

Pasir Ris sports centre is latest to be certified for eco-friendly features

By Lin Zhaowei, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2012

THE sun louvres on the facade of the recently opened Pasir Ris Sports and Recreation Centre look brand-new, but they were actually made from timber benches from the old National Stadium.

The use of the recycled materials and other environmentally friendly features has won the complex the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) green certification, known as the Green Mark.

The sports complex is also the 1,000th building here to attain the Green Mark, a milestone for the scheme that started with just 17 buildings in 2005.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who went on a morning walk with 500 residents yesterday to mark the occasion, described the recycling of the National Stadium benches as a 'nice touch'.

The old stadium held many fond memories for him, said Mr Teo, who is an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. He cited the National Day Parades, football matches and South-east Asian Games events that used to be held there.

The Green Mark scheme, he said, is an integral part of national efforts to reduce emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation efforts.

Now, 13 per cent of the buildings here have some form of Green Mark certification. The BCA aims to have 80 per cent of all buildings here certified by 2030.

The sports and recreation centre, officially opened last November, is the Singapore Sports Council's (SSC) first Green Mark-certified sports complex. Costing around $40 million to build, it houses an indoor sports hall, swimming pools, futsal and tennis courts and a gym. It also has food and sporting equipment outlets.

The building comes with several environmentally friendly features.

It has 2,400 sq m of rooftop solar panels installed, which generate enough energy to power 43 four-room Housing Board flats. The panels supply up to 12 per cent of the total energy used by the centre and will save the SSC about $57,000 in electricity bills a year.

The complex has energy-efficient LED lighting and green walls installed, and is designed such that wind is funnelled into the corridors for natural ventilation.

The louvres made from the benches shade the corridors from the sun, which further reduces the build-up of heat.

SSC chief of sports facilities Kenneth Hui said the council will gradually introduce green features to its 20 other sports complexes, instead of closing them temporarily for major upgrades. 'We do not want to inconvenience our users. Whatever we can do, we will do in bits and pieces as part of our normal upgrading.'

BCA chief executive John Keung said he expects more owners of existing buildings to introduce green features, especially with rising energy costs.

He highlighted the $100 million Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings as a source of funding to assist building owners in undertaking such projects.

He said the BCA will soon introduce a new Green Mark scheme for data centres. It is developed in partnership with the Infocomm Development Authority.

MOH reviewing pay of health-care staff

Salary, career pathways being looked into in bid to attract staff

By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2012

DOCTORS, nurses and allied health professionals working in the public sector could be looking at a pay rise soon.

The Health Ministry is reviewing the salary structure of health professionals to attract more people to join the industry, said Minister of State for Health Amy Khor yesterday. She added that the ministry will touch on salary reviews during the upcoming Committee of Supply debates in Parliament.

This came after Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his Budget speech earlier this month that the Government would engage 'many more health-care professionals' and pay them 'more competitively'.

He added that 1,900 public general hospital beds and 1,800 community hospital beds would be added by 2020.

Dr Khor, speaking on the sidelines of a health-care career fair at *Scape yesterday, said about 6,400 nurses and 1,800 allied health professionals and support staff would be needed for those facilities.

Although pay is a key factor in attracting new staff, other things matter as well, she noted. 'We have to pay a reasonable salary to attract people, but I think we have to look at the whole environment as well as career pathways and career enhancement opportunities.'

Health-care fund for the needy elderly in MacPherson

By Phua Mei Pin, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2012

A FUND subsidising the health-care expenses of the needy elderly in MacPherson was launched yesterday by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry S. Iswaran.

The $150,000 fund will give up to $300 a year in cash reimbursement for medical bills.

The launch of the MacPherson Care Fund capped off the ministerial community visit by Mr Iswaran, who is an MP for West Coast GRC, to the MacPherson division in Marine Parade GRC.

These visits are conducted once a month for ministers to get a better understanding of a constituency other than their own.

During a dialogue session with more than 300 MacPherson residents, Mr Iswaran lauded the Care Fund and other initiatives in the division as complementing the national thrust to support the elderly, lower-income and disabled.

Residents shared their thoughts on issues ranging from long term health-care costs and integrating foreign workers, to encouraging family cohesion and the cost of housing.

Mr Iswaran encouraged the residents to keep up the dialogue between government agencies and community groups.

'We need to work together... not just to deliver services but also to understand new needs on the ground,' he said.

Earlier in the morning, he went on a whirlwind visit through the mature estate, where one in three of the roughly 47,000 residents is aged 50 or above.

He was also introduced to a slew of other initiatives for the elderly. These included Project Angelz, where volunteers help the elderly through activities like repainting homes and changing light bulbs.

Another project, Say 'No' to Fall, assesses the elderly residents' risks of falling at home with an aim to modify their surroundings to increase their safety.

MediWheels - scheme provides subsidised medical transport services

Wheeling out help for those with trouble getting around

MediWheels scheme to help them get to medical check-ups more easily

By Teo Wan Gek, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2012

MR YASIN Mohd Ali, 56, unemployed and diabetic, walks three times a week to the kidney dialysis centre which is six bus stops away from his home in Block 924, Hougang Avenue 9, so that he can save on bus fare.

He, however, suffers from numbness in his legs, and has to stop every five minutes for a break.

On the occasions that he takes the bus, he has trouble climbing the steps.

Yesterday, relief came for Mr Yasin, with the launch of a new programme called MediWheels.

He can now rent a mobility scooter at $10 a month and make the trips to the kidney dialysis centre with ease.



The $120,000 programme was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, together with Mayor of Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) Sam Tan, and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, MP for Ang Mo Kio-Hougang division.

Funded by the CDC and sponsors, it provides subsidised medical transport services to elderly and needy residents, and those with disabilities.

It will undergo a six-month trial in the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang division before being rolled out in the rest of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Singapore's Casino Control Act under review in 2012

By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia, 26 Feb 2012

The Government is currently reviewing the Casino Control Act, which among other things, governs the operations of the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) in Singapore.

This was disclosed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr S Iswaran, who added that the review is timely.

Mr Iswaran also heads a multi-agency committee looking into issues concerning the IRs.

It has been two years since both Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands started operations in Singapore.

And with the two IRs reporting some 135,000 people visiting each casino last year, a stock take is timely.



Mr Iswaran said: "Responsible gaming is an important aspect of the entire integrated resorts and responsible is not just about regulation, it is also about the operators themselves, stepping up as good corporate citizens. If you look at the practices around the world, if you look at Australia and if you look at some of the other countries, they are an important part of the equation.

"Many of them understand very clearly that they have to be ensuring a responsible gaming regime as part of the overall evolution of the market because commercially or in terms of their standing in the committee, it is not in their interest to have some of the egregious aspects become a problem in the community at large.

"The government has a role to play as well. We need to define clearly what our expectations are. Some of these can be achieved through rules and new legislation or regulations. Some of these would have to be working with the community groups, the National Council for Problem Gambling and other interested parties, and the casino operators working together to implement some of these schemes."

Just earlier this week, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports gave details of gambling trends in Singapore, in particular the types of people and the profiles of the people visiting the two Integrated Resorts.

Govt to tackle pet welfare

Task force to be set up to push for more responsible ownership of dogs and cats

By Judith Tan, The Sunday Times, 26 Feb 2012

A task force will be set up to look into the matter of responsible pet ownership, and how the well-being of cats and dogs can be further improved.

The team will come under the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for National Development.

Speaking to The Sunday Times yesterday, GPC member Yeo Guat Kwang said the task force will study the situation and come up with 'concrete recommendations, hopefully to change policies and regulations on the issues by the end of this year'.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium and Public Forum on Animal Welfare Policies, held at Chong Pang Community Club.

The Round Island Route - A seamless green corridor spanning 150km

Island-wide green link in the works

Route will connect parks, existing cycling paths and heritage spots around Singapore

By Kezia Toh, The Sunday Times, 26 Feb 2012

A seamless green corridor spanning 150km that links up heritage areas in the city, coastal spots in the east and rustic greenery in the north and west will be Singapore's next big green project.

The Round Island Route, which is more than three times the length of Singapore, will connect more than 3.5 million residents.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced this yesterday at the launch of the North Eastern Riverine Loop at the Sungei Serangoon park connector.

'The Round Island Route will allow us to embark on journeys to look at Singapore in new and wonderful ways, as it passes through popular recreation nodes and also the less seen and explored corners of our island,' said DPM Teo, who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, which oversees the Riverine Loop area.

NParks is seeking the public's views on areas where the route would pass through. The route will also link some parts of the existing network of park connectors, which now spans 200km.