Volume 94 Monday No 9 14 March 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES SINGAPORE OFFICIAL REPORT CONTENTS Written Answers to Questions Page 1, 2. Paternity and Childcare Leave Policies (Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang) 1 3. Corruption Trend (Er Dr Lee Bee Wah) 3 4. Extending Parent-care and Childcare Leave Schemes to Family Care (Dr Tan Wu Meng) 3 5. Accidents Involving E-bikes (Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong) 4 6. Companies Benefitting from Developmental Grant under Work-Life Grant (Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong) 4 7. Companies Benefitting from Flexi-Work Arrangements Incentive under Work-Life Grant (Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong) 5 8. Breakdown of New Citizens (Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong) 6 9. Basis of Yearly Medisave Claim Limits (Ms Foo Mee Har) 6 10. Singapore Start-ups Receiving Government Grants Exiting via IPO, Merger or Acquisition (Mr Leon Perera) 7 11. Government Bodies Oursourcing IT, HR, Customer Contact Centre Functions (Mr Leon Perera) 8 12. Extending Wage Credit Scheme (Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang) 9 13, 14. Personal Protection Orders and Family Violence Cases (Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong) 9 15. Sole Tenancy of Public Rental Housing (Mr Alex Yam Ziming) 11 16. Population of Stray Animals (Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang) 11 17. Funding Given to Schools (Mr Png Eng Huat) 12 18. Physical Education Lessons in Schools (Er Dr Lee Bee Wah) 13 PATERNITY AND CHILDCARE LEAVE POLICIES 1 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the Government will consider legislating (i) a second week of paternity leave for fathers and (ii) an increased share of maternity leave that mothers can share with their husbands; and (b) what are the measures or incentives that the Government is further considering to implement to improve the participation rate by companies to provide paternity leave. 2 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the Government will be reviewing childcare leave policies; (b) whether it will consider increasing the amount of extended childcare leave; and (c) whether it will consider pegging the amount of childcare leave to not only the age of the children but also the number of children one has. Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): The Government is strongly committed to supporting Singaporeans in their marriage and parenthood aspirations. Leave is one of the range of measures to support parenthood and like many other countries, Singapore has legislated leave provisions to support parents’ infant and child caregiving needs. These provisions have been progressively enhanced over the years to help parents better manage both their work and family commitments. Childcare leave provisions were increased in 2008 from two days to six days per parent per year, for those with children below the age of seven. We extended these provisions further in 2013 so that parents with children aged seven to 12 can also enjoy two days of Government-paid childcare leave each year. Parents with more children are able to enjoy the annual childcare leave entitlement of six days per parent for a longer period of time, until their youngest child has turned seven years old. They continue to enjoy two days of childcare leave per parent per year, until their youngest child is aged 13. Beyond this, we have also enhanced our leave schemes to enable fathers to play an active role in raising their children. International studies have shown that children with more involved fathers have better physical, cognitive and emotional developmental outcomes. Greater paternal involvement in child-raising also helps mothers to stay active in the workforce. 2 In 2013, we introduced one week of legislated Government-paid Paternity Leave, as well as one week of Government-paid Shared Parental Leave, which allows fathers to share a week of their spouses’ Maternity Leave entitlement. This is in addition to unpaid infant-care leave of one week which both parents may take. Last year we enhanced Government-paid Paternity Leave by an additional week, which employers may offer voluntarily. Taken together with infant-care and childcare leave provisions, fathers can enjoy up to five weeks of leave upon the birth of their child to bond with their new- borns and care for their wives.1 In considering whether to provide parents with more leave to care for their children, we are mindful of the possible impact on businesses’ operational and manpower needs. In particular, given that childcare leave is provided for 12 years after birth, we are careful not to inadvertently affect parents’ employability. Further enhancements to these leave provisions have to be considered, balancing both the needs of parents and concerns of employers and employees. This is why the second week of Government-paid Paternity Leave was introduced on a voluntary basis. The Government is now considering when to legislate the second week of Paternity Leave, with a view to providing a reasonable amount of time for businesses to make the necessary adjustments. At the same time, some parents have provided feedback that they would like more flexibility for mothers to share their Maternity Leave entitlement with fathers, even as overall leave provisions remain unchanged. This would enable fathers to play a larger role in caring for their new-borns, and allow parents to decide flexibly how best to care for the child according to their family circumstances. We are considering this proposal carefully. The Government will continue to encourage companies to do their part by providing a family-friendly work environment, including the provision of flexible work arrangements (FWAs). Such measures can also help employers to attract and retain talent. Employers can tap on the Work-Life Grant administered by Ministry of Manpower, under which eligible companies can receive up to $160,000 to help them defray the costs of developing, piloting and sustaining FWAs. 1 The five weeks comprise paternity leave (two weeks), shared parental leave (one week), six days of paid childcare leave, and six days of unpaid infant-care leave. 3 Back to Contents CORRUPTION TREND 3 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Prime Minister (a) what is the trend of corruption in Singapore over the past five years; (b) whether the trend is expected to rise in the near future; and (c) why is there a need to set up the Corruption Reporting Centre at Whitley Road. Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Prime Minister): In the five-year period from 2010 to 2014, the number of corruption complaints received and cases registered for investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) have remained stable. The CPIB will be releasing its latest annual corruption statistics in April 2016. This will incorporate latest corruption statistics from the year 2015. The Corruption Reporting Centre at Whitley Road, which will be co-located with CPIB’s Heritage Gallery, is set up to provide an accessible and convenient platform outside of the CPIB Headquarters for members of the public to make corruption-related complaints or to find out more information about corruption. Based on CPIB’s statistics, complaints lodged in person are significantly more pursuable and are three times more likely to result in investigation compared with other modes of complaints such as through phone calls or written correspondence. This new facility will provide an additional access point for members of the public to come forward with information on suspected graft cases. Back to Contents EXTENDING PARENT-CARE AND CHILDCARE LEAVE SCHEMES TO FAMILY CARE 4 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Prime Minister whether the Public Service Division will consider (i) extending parent-care and childcare leave schemes to include family care for other immediate family members such as siblings, grandparents and children above 12 who require care and attention; and (ii) increasing the total number of days of such leave. Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): As an employer, the Public Service provides family-care leave for our officers, separate from their vacation leave. Our officers enjoy 4 up to 15 days of childcare leave, two weeks of paternity leave, four months of maternity leave and two days of parent-care leave. Where the job allows, our officers may also apply for flexible arrangements in the forms of staggering their work hours, telecommuting or working part-time. We have progressively enhanced our family-care leave benefits over the years. We introduced two days of parent-care leave in 2012. In 2015, we took the lead to enhance paternity leave from one week to two weeks ahead of national legislation. As a large employer in Singapore, any change we make to our family-care leave benefits will put pressure on private sector employers to follow suit. Even as we support pro-family initiatives, we will have to carefully consider the implication of more generous family-care leave benefits on private sector business cost and on the employability of private sector workers. Back to Contents ACCIDENTS INVOLVING E-BIKES 5 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport for each of the years from 2010 to 2015, what is the number of accidents involving e-bikes that have been reported. Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The number of road accidents involving power-assisted bicycles from 2010 to 2015 is in Table 1 below. Back to Contents COMPANIES BENEFITTING FROM DEVELOPMENTAL GRANT UNDER WORK-LIFE GRANT 6 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many companies have benefited from the Developmental Grant under the Work-Life Grant since the scheme was started; (b) how many of the companies are SMEs; and (c) how many of the companies have formalised the Flexi-Work Arrangements.