Volume 94 Wednesday No 28 9 November 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES SINGAPORE OFFICIAL REPORT CONTENTS Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer Not Answered by End of Question Time Page 18. Crew of Singapore-registered Vessels Encountering Difficulties in South China Sea (Mr Leon Perera) 1 20. Becoming an Autonomous Vehicle-ready Nation (Mr Azmoon Ahmad) 1 21. Students affected by GCE 'O' Level Maths Exam Mix-up (Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar) 2 23. Link between Entrepreneurship and Degree of Open Competition (Mr Leon Perera) 3 27. Incidence of Pre-school Centres Allowing Staff to Start Work before Passing Pre- employment Medical Screening (Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong) 4 CREW OF SINGAPORE-REGISTERED VESSELS ENCOUNTERING DIFFICULTIES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA 18 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Transport what practical steps and mechanisms does the Government have in place to help owners and crew of Singapore-registered civilian vessels avoid encountering difficulties when sailing over the disputed South China Sea. Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The "practical steps and mechanisms" for passages by vessels are implemented within the framework of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. Freedom of navigation, including navigation by Singapore-registered civilian vessels, is a fundamental element of that framework. This freedom of navigation enables vessels to ply their trade to different parts of the world, including through vital sea lines of communication in the South China Sea. More recently, ASEAN Member States and China have also reaffirmed their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight above the South China Sea in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including UNCLOS. To ensure a smooth voyage, all vessels must exercise due care. Vessels are required to carry nautical charts to plan its route and monitor its position throughout the voyage, exercising care to avoid navigational hazards. Ships owners should also ensure that their vessels are properly maintained and adequately manned by competent crew. To this end, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, or MPA, ensures that Singapore-registered vessels are seaworthy and crew on-board are duly certified. Singapore-registered vessels in situation of distress should contact MPA and the surrounding coastal states for assistance. To date MPA has not received any reports of interference from Singapore-registered vessels traversing the South China Sea. Back to Contents BECOMING AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE-READY NATION 20 Mr Azmoon Ahmad asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether Singapore is ready to be claimed as an autonomous vehicle ready nation; (b) if so, whether the regulations and legal framework have been established; and (c) how does the Ministry intend to deal with the recent accident involving an autonomous driving vehicle. 2 Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Self-driving technology gives us the opportunity to improve the public transport system in a significant way. For example, we can overcome manpower shortages with self-driving buses. We can also introduce new mobility concepts such as fleets of self- driving pods to enhance first-last mile travel. We are testing these and other concepts to better understand the technology and their potential for application in Singapore. Self-driving technology, however, is not yet mature enough for widespread public deployment. Most analysts believe that this day is about 10 to 15 years away. But over the next few years, we will see incremental deployment in limited circumstances and geographies. LTA has established a regulatory framework to facilitate trials of self-driving vehicles in Singapore. To trial on public roads, self-driving vehicles must demonstrate roadworthiness by passing an overall vehicle safety assessment. All trial participants must have in place insurance covering injury to persons, death and property damage. We are also studying the regulatory and legal frameworks we would need to have in place for the day when self-driving vehicles are deployed on our roads on an actual-use basis, and no longer for trials and pilots. The trials currently being conducted in one-north and other parts of Singapore will give us a better understanding of these issues. We are also sharing notes with overseas counterparts. LTA and the Traffic Police are investigating the accident involving nuTonomy’s self- driving car. In the meantime, nuTonomy has stopped its trials while it reviews the causes of the accident and how to improve the safety of its trials, and rectifies any technological shortcomings it may find. Back to Contents STUDENTS AFFECTED BY GCE 'O' LEVEL MATHS EXAM MIX-UP 21 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Education (Schools) what led to the mix-up of the GCE 'O' Level examination papers for Mathematics recently and how fairness and objectivity will be ensured in assessing the 70 affected students for their final Mathematics grade. Mr Ng Chee Meng: In 2016, schools could offer different 'O' level Mathematics examination papers to Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) [N(A)] students due to a change in 3 syllabus. However, the topics examined under the old and revised syllabi are largely comparable. While the Secondary 4 Express students are the first batch to take the examination under the revised syllabus, the old syllabus is still available for the Secondary 5N(A) students. On 20 October 2016, 73 Secondary 5N(A) candidates from two schools mistakenly sat for 'O' Level Mathematics Paper 1 under the new syllabus. This error was caused by their schools registering them using the wrong syllabus code. Upon discovering the error, the two schools and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) took immediate steps to ensure that the affected candidates would sit for the correct Paper 2 the following day. This was indeed the case the next day. Schools have processes in place to ensure the accuracy of the examination registration, and both affected schools acknowledged that such an error could have been avoided if checks in the registration processes were more thorough, especially in instances where two different syllabi were offered for the same subject. The two schools have reviewed their processes and tightened checks for future examination registration. SEAB is working with the two schools and the University of Cambridge International Examinations to ensure that the affected candidates will be fairly assessed in the GCE 'O' Level Mathematics Paper 1 examination. SEAB will take into consideration the circumstances of the incident and various other information, including the candidates’ performance in the school’s preliminary examination for Mathematics, their performance in the GCE 'O' Level Mathematics examination and the cohort's performance in the GCE 'O' Level Mathematics examination. This is a rare and unfortunate incident, and I assure Members that my colleagues are working very conscientiously not just to make sure it does not recur, but also to facilitate a fair assessment for each affected student in this case. Back to Contents LINK BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEGREE OF OPEN COMPETITION 23 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) whether the Ministry will consider undertaking a study to determine the link between rates of entrepreneurship in specific industries and the degree of open competition in that industry as measured by the market share of the top companies. 4 Mr S Iswaran: The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) administers and enforces the Competition Act which prohibits anti-competitive conduct. This would facilitate market access by entrepreneurs, and ensure a level playing field for all businesses. CCS takes action against anti-competitive agreements and exclusionary conduct by dominant players by removing anti-competitive restrictions that could hinder new businesses. While market share information can be used as an indicator for the level of competition and entrepreneurship in a market, CCS also takes into consideration other factors such as the degree of product differentiation, the responsiveness of buyers to price increases, and the price responsiveness of competitors. Besides regulatory aspects, industry-specific characteristics also cause significant variations. For example, the process from ideation to production could take a few years for deep technology sectors such as medical technology (MedTech) and clean technology (CleanTech) because of significant hardware development, larger capital investment, and deeper expertise. Back to Contents INCIDENCE OF PRE-SCHOOL CENTRES ALLOWING STAFF TO START WORK BEFORE PASSING PRE-EMPLOYMENT MEDICAL SCREENING 27 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) for the past three years, how many cases have there been of schools and childcare centres allowing potential teachers or staff to start work before they have passed the pre-employment medical screening; and (b) what actions have been taken against these schools and childcare centres. Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Under the Child Care Centres Act and Education Act, new child care, kindergarten and school staff members are required to obtain medical clearances before they commence work. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) requires childcare centres and kindergartens to register their staff members and declare on-line that this requirement has been adhered to. ECDA also conducts random checks to verify the declarations. Over the past three years, one childcare centre was found to have allowed their teacher to work before obtaining the pre-employment medical certification. ECDA issued a warning letter to the centre and put it on a short probationary licence. ECDA also stepped up supervision of the 5 centre to ensure that it had put in place measures to avoid future lapses. Back to Contents Office of the Clerk of Parliament Singapore, 9 November 2016 .