Committee of Supply debate: Ministry of Social and Family Development
KidStart: Disadvantaged kids to get help in $20m programme
1,000 children up to six years old living in five areas to be identified for three-year trial
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
An initiative to give a leg-up to young children from disadvantaged families will be rolled out in five areas in the second half of this year.
The areas are Bukit Merah, Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai.
Some 1,000 children up to six years old will be "proactively identified" by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and organisations such as family service centres, hospitals and pre-schools, for the trial of the KidStart scheme.
They could include those who come from families with poor, young or unwed parents, or with parents who are in jail.
The Government has set aside more than $20 million for the three-year trial.
The scheme will coordinate the existing support services provided by different agencies for such children. In addition, it will extend support in areas such as health and learning, and will also monitor the children's progress.
For instance, the children may get basic immunisations and placement in pre-schools.
Their parents will also get help, such as through home visits or parent support groups, so that they can better support the children during their pre-school years and transition to primary school.
These details of the KidStart scheme, first announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget speech last month, were revealed by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday.
Said Mr Tan during the debate on his ministry's budget: "Some children, possibly because of complex family circumstances, already lag behind developmentally even in their early years... In order to help (them), we have to go upstream and provide additional support."
MP Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) asked Mr Tan if children older than six years can still be helped on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Tan said KidStart is but one programme and the older children could still be eligible for other aid schemes.
He said his ministry would look at the cases if Dr Neo flagged them.
The ECDA said starting small and being focused will allow it to refine how services are delivered before evaluating if, and how, the scheme can be offered in more areas.
Mr Tan said: "I want this model to work. I want to be able to ramp up and help more children."
While the cost of KidStart works out to an average of $20,000 per child, the ECDA said the actual cost per child will depend on the child's needs and the services required, so this could range "from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each year".
It has set up a programme office to work with government agencies, social service offices, hospitals and community partners to implement KidStart.
Suitable families will be contacted and asked if they want to take part.
Ms Nur Zalina Ismail, executive principal at a My First Skool childcare centre, said it was important for organisations, such as pre-schools, to work with parents to help their children.
She said: "We should do whatever we can to make sure that no child gets left behind."
Single mum welcomes scheme to help disadvantaged children
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
Single and unwed, Ms Lina (not her real name) struggles to bring up her six-month-old daughter on her own.
Every month, the 26-year-old pre-school teacher has to pay $500 in rent to her parents for a room, and $500 to settle debts incurred by the child's father.
She broke off her engagement to him before the girl was born.
Yesterday, the Government announced a new scheme to help children from disadvantaged homes, including those of unwed mothers.
Called KidStart, it will go on trial in the second half of this year in five areas, including Ms Lina's Geylang Serai neighbourhood.
It will help children aged up to six with learning and health support, like basic immunisations.
The scheme will also coordinate existing services across agencies, offer parenting workshops and monitor the children's progress.
Ms Lina welcomed it, saying: "It would be good not to have to go to several agencies for help. I hope the parenting courses will be free."
Life is challenging although it is a notch better since she discovered help schemes in the past months.
Recounting her struggles, she said she could not find a full-time job when she was pregnant. After giving birth, she worked from home.
She also could not enrol her daughter in infant care as the fees were beyond her means.
But friends told her of government help schemes like ComCare. "They had received such help. If I had not told them I was a single mum, it would have been even harder to know of these schemes," she told The Straits Times.
She received aid from Medifund, which helps the needy pay healthcare bills, and receives $940 a month from ComCare. She also pays $310 a month for infant care instead of $1,540, after subsidies.
"I hope my child and I can get our own home. I'd like to rent an HDB home but was told we don't have a family nucleus. But my daughter is my family."
Unwed mums to get 16-week maternity leave
By Kok Xing Hui, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
Unwed mothers will soon get the same 16-week maternity leave that is given to married mothers. Their children will also get a Child Development Account (CDA), which helps pay for their childcare and healthcare needs.
Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin announced the extension of these benefits yesterday, in a move to avoid discriminating against these children. These benefits are now given only to married mothers and their children.
The maternity leave benefits will kick in early next year as Parliament will need to change the law first. But the children of unwed mothers will likely be given the CDAs by September this year, Mr Tan added.
"We can do more to support their efforts to care for their children and reduce the disadvantages that their children may face at birth," he said, adding that he has met such mothers, including at his Meet-the-People Sessions. "They are usually vulnerable because they are younger and lower-educated. Some may have been rejected by their own families," he said. "It can be difficult enough to bring up children but to do so single-handedly, without family support, is really tough. Some may have hoped to have a child within marriage, but due to circumstances ended up as unwed parents."
Currently, unwed mothers get eight weeks of paid maternity leave. And their children do not qualify for a CDA, a savings account wherein the Government matches the deposits parents make by up to $6,000. Last month, it said it would deposit $3,000 into the accounts of children born from March 24, even before parents make a deposit.
Mr Tan said the reason for extending the benefits is to support unwed mothers' efforts to provide for their children. At the same time, the move should not "undermine parenthood within marriage", which is "still the prevalent social norm".
After the changes, unwed mothers will still not get the Baby Bonus cash gift and parenthood tax rebates. They also have to wait till they turn 35 to buy a Housing Board flat under the singles scheme.
Unwed mother Bibiana Neo, 33, who had her daughter a year ago, wishes the benefits had come sooner: "The CDA would have helped with infant care."
The Association of Women for Action and Research said the move was "in the right direction". "We hope the Government can go further and look at areas like housing," it added.
Help for those from broken homes to keep family intact
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
A pilot programme is to be rolled out for children of abusive or negligent parents to let them continue to stay at home with their loved ones instead of being sent to a children's home or put up for foster care.
In announcing the move in Parliament yesterday, Minister of Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin said it is conventional wisdom that the most ideal environment for children to grow up is in their own homes with their families.
Under the programme, to be launched by December this year, social workers will visit the families every week to understand their strengths and needs.
They will then counsel them, coach the caregivers on parenting skills and connect them to relevant resources in the community.
This "family preservation" service offered by the Ministry of Social and Family Development and voluntary welfare organisations will last for six months to ensure the family is back on an even keel.
For children already in foster care, the ministry will offer a "family reunification" service to pave the way for them to return home to their family. It will last 12 months.
Both services come under the pilot programme, to be called Safe and Strong Families.
It is expected to help 400 families and children in the next three years.
Mr Tan, speaking during the debate on his ministry's budget, said that in the coming years, the ministry will continue to strengthen "these fundamental family relationships''.
"Where relationships have problems, we try to help repair and preserve them. Where they have broken down, we try to minimise the negative impact," he said.
"Central to our work here is the interest of the children and their development," he added.
Currently, about 800 children and young people are living in 23 children's homes, and 350 with foster families.
Also, several agencies provide some form of family preservation or reunification support for such vulnerable families. These include Big Love Child Protection Specialist Centre, Gracehaven children's home run by The Salvation Army, and Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home.
But the pilot programme will be a more intensive and targeted home-based service.
Ms Serene Tan, senior social worker at Big Love welcomes it: "Children grow up best with their parents as there is natural bonding and innate attachment."
Also, research in the United States shows more such support reduces the risk of the child being physically or psychologically harmed in the family and increases the likelihood of the child continuing to live with the family.
Her centre has handled about 500 child protection cases in the last three years.
It provides counselling and other home-based services to families torn by financial, addiction, housing and employment problems as well as marital discord or mental health.
Ms Lakshmi Alagappan, deputy head of Gracehaven, said it is vital to have staff whose main task is to help the families, especially the children.
"If the children go back to unstable homes, the issues may escalate and they may have to return to children's homes again."
Teen's attitude and behaviour changed after going back to family
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
When a 13-year-old boy from a children's home was reunited with his family last year, he returned to a home with only a faulty fan, a small table and a rice cooker.
His parents and younger sister slept on the cold hard floor, devoid of any mattresses.
Besides lacking in material things, his parents were also ill-equipped to manage Bryan (not his real name).
Three years ago, Bryan was sent to Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home. He had Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), would not listen to instructions and acted up by throwing tantrums or hurling vulgarities.
His father had spinal cord injuries and could not hold down a job.
His mother was a part-time fast food server and had to care for his sister who has special needs.
The family also often moved from one rental flat to another.
But at the children's home, Bryan was unhappy as he missed his family. Every few months, he would flee from the home and stay in shopping malls and amusement arcades.
Last September, Ms Betty Lim, chief executive of the children's home, found out the family had got a Build-To-Order flat in Sengkang. She swiftly made arrangements to reunite him with his family and provide support for them.
Their home was furnished with donated items such as curtains, cupboards and beds.
Ms Lim and her staff also found the mother a job as a clerk. The family was referred to other community agencies for financial aid, food rations and counselling.
Bryan received tuition from the children's home.
Its staff also visited the familyto equip the parents with better parenting skills.
Bryan's mother, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Soon, 35, said: "Their support was crucial in helping us take that first step in creating a stable environment for Bryan.
"His principal told me they have seen a 180-degree change in Bryan's attitude and behaviour."
"He no longer shows the symptoms of ODD and takes the initiative to help out with household chores," she added.
Ms Lim said: "Family integration is very important and a lot of children long to go back home but their parents are not ready or able to manage them.
"They need more support," she added.
Public Assistance allowances up to keep pace with costs
By Kok Xing Hui, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
From July, Singaporeans who are unable to work and support themselves will get more cash as part of their Public Assistance allowance.
A recipient living alone will get $500 per month from July, $50 more than currently. A two-person household will get $870 per month, up from the current $790.
These details were made public during the debate on the Ministry of Social and Family Development's budget yesterday.
"We are aware that the cost of living is high and our low-income households are struggling," Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin told the House.
The increase "is to keep pace with the cost of living", Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Faishal Ibrahim added.
Those on Public Assistance - also known as ComCare Long Term Assistance - are citizens who cannot work due to old age, illness or disability. They also have little or no means of income or family support.
About 3,800 households, many of them elderly, are expected to benefit from the cash allowance increase.
Apart from the cash allowance, Public Assistance includes assistance for recurring expenses such as medical consumables and household appliances, and free medical treatment at public hospitals and polyclinics.
One recipient is Madam Angela Goh, 90, who has no children and lives alone in a one-room rental flat in Ang Mo Kio. She is glad for the raise, saying it will go a long way in helping her to make ends meet.
"I'm happy about it. The $50 increment is enough since I'm alone and don't have to pay for anyone else," she added in Mandarin.
Committee of Supply debate: Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
Smoking ban to extend to reservoirs, parks
On list: Over 400 parks, including those in private and public estates
By Samantha Boh, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
Smokers have to stub out in more public places from June.
Reservoirs and more than 400 parks, including those in private and public housing estates, have been added to the list of smoke-free areas.
The parks include those managed by JTC Corporation and town councils, as well as neighbourhood parks managed by the National Parks Board (NParks) in private estates, like Yunnan Park in Jurong West.
The new move comes three years after the smoking ban was extended to common areas, such as void decks, sheltered walkways and linkways, and any area within a 5m radius of a bus stop.
Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor, in announcing the change yesterday, said the Government's long-term goal is to snuff out smoking in all public areas.
This is to protect non-smokers from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, she said during the parliamentary debate on the budget of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.
Smokers caught lighting up in reservoirs and parks in the first three months will get a warning.
"This is to give members of the public time to adjust to the extension of the smoking prohibition," said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
But smokers who repeatedly flout the law "in spite of prior warnings" can be fined, NEA added.
The fine for smoking in NParks' neighbourhood parks in private housing estates is up to $2,000, while in other prohibited places it is at most $1,000.
Currently, smoking is prohibited in 32,000 places such as shopping malls, cinemas and hospitals. Last year, about 17,000 fines were handed out to smokers.
NEA also said owners of premises affected by the latest extension can set up designated smoking areas in their premises.
It added that it has been working with them to put up "No Smoking" signs, and to re-locate bins with ashtrays or replace them with bins without them.
Separately, premises managed by the Singapore Armed Forces and Ministry of Home Affairs will come under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act.
The NEA said the new rules will not change how both agencies punish their personnel for smoking on their premises. But civilians caught doing so will have their personal particulars handed to the NEA for enforcement action.
Greener moves for cleaner air
By Samantha Boh, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
The Government will buy only printing paper products that carry the Singapore Green Label come September.
Public agencies will also procure only electrical products certified with "high energy efficiency", starting with air-conditioners, refrigerators, televisions and lamps. For example, only air-conditioners rated at least three-ticks will be allowed.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli made this commitment to signal the public sector's efforts to take the lead in encouraging sustainable practices. A Green Label indicates that suppliers practise sustainable forestry management, which helps tackle the root cause of transboundary haze pollution.
Mr Masagos also announced a key measure to tackle local air pollution: All new motorcycles above 200cc will need to comply with the Euro 4 emission standard from Jan 1, 2018. For new motorcycles under or equal to 200cc, the rules apply from Jan 1, 2020.
Motorcycles are significant contributors to carbon monoxide and ozone, Mr Masagos said.
The Euro 4 standard will reduce emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which form ozone, by an estimated 50 per cent in new motorcycles, compared to Euro 3.
A study of the pollution caused by diesel vehicles in Singapore is also being done, to analyse the impact on public health and the environment. The results will be used to review vehicle emission policies.
MPs Faishal Ibrahim (Nee Soon GRC) and Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) asked about ongoing efforts by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to take to task companies responsible for illegal forest fires that caused last year's haze.
Mr Masagos said the NEA has sent Preventive Measures Notices under Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to six Indonesia-based companies, asking them to take immediate steps to mitigate fires and prevent a repeat.
Two - PT Bumi Sriwijaya Sentosa and PT Wachyuni Mandira - have responded, and NEA is in touch with them to verify their information.
NEA is also reviewing information from Asia Pulp and Paper on its subsidiaries and steps taken by its Indonesian suppliers to put out fires in their concessions.
A foreign director from one of the four firms that have yet to respond was also recently served with a notice when he was in Singapore, asking him to give information and attend an interview related to the ongoing investigations.
Tightening the tap on water wastage: Measures ticking along
By Carolyn Khew, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
To encourage water conservation, national water agency PUB will phase out the sale of less efficient taps and mixers as well as introduce new ratings for washing machines.
A new "four-tick" rating will be introduced next year for washing machines under the Mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme.
The scheme enables consumers to make informed decisions by choosing more water-efficient water fittings and appliances such as taps and mixers, and flushing cisterns. The more ticks a product has, the more water-efficient it is.
Currently, washing machines sold have either two- or three-tick water efficiency ratings.
The sale and supply of taps and mixers with "zero ticks" will also be disallowed from early next year.
These measures are all part of the Government's plan to manage water demand.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said that extreme weather patterns due to climate change will pose a challenge to Singapore's water sustainability.
While the amount of water used by Singapore residents fell from 160 litres per person per day in 2003, to 150 litres in 2014, the figure rose last year - to about 151 litres of water a day.
Separately, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor said that, by 2018, the manufacture, import and export of non-compliant mercury-added batteries will be prohibited.
This refers to those containing more than five parts-per-million mercury per cell.
Singapore generates more than 60,000 tonnes of e-waste each year, and this will only grow as electronic items become more common, Dr Khor added.
A study is under way to look at how feasible system designs can be developed for the collection, recycling and management of e-waste in Singapore.
Field study to assess using special mozzies against dengue
It entails releasing bacteria-carrying male mosquitoes into environment; steps taken to safeguard public health
By Carolyn Khew, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
A field study will be conducted at the end of this year to assess if a special type of mosquito can be a weapon against dengue.
The male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes will be released into the environment in the small-scale study to be conducted by the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Speaking during the debate on the ministry's budget, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said the Government was not embarking on the study "lightly", and had "studied this for years and taken all steps to ensure that public health and safety will not be compromised".
Only male mosquitoes, which do not bite, will be released.
Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacteria that can be found in over 60 per cent of insect species, but not in dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
When male mosquitoes carrying the bacteria mate with wild female mosquitoes, they produce eggs that do not hatch. This could help to suppress the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the long run. The method has been used in the fight against dengue in countries such as Australia and Brazil.
The study will look at the behaviour of these special mosquitoes in the built-up environment, such as how long they can live in the wild and their flight range. The data collected will help in the design of a future trial. Previously, studies were conducted in the laboratory by the Environmental Health Institute under the NEA.
Based on the NEA's assessment so far, the technology poses no or insignificant risk of negative impact on public health or ecology.
The NEA has appointed a research firm to identify any potential secondary environmental and social impact that may arise.
Dengue expert Tikki Pang said each country's situation is unique and "only time will tell" if the technology will work in Singapore.
"Any tool that helps in the battle against dengue should be considered and tested," added the visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
The announcement comes on the back of a sharp rise in the number of dengue cases this year. A total of 6,338 dengue cases were reported between January and March this year, almost three times as many as the 2,251 cases reported in the same period last year.
The authorities have warned that unless immediate action is taken to suppress the Aedes mosquito population, the number of dengue cases this year may exceed 30,000 - higher than the record set in 2013 when 22,170 cases were reported.
Several MPs also asked about the Government's plan to approve the dengue vaccine for use here.
Mr Masagos replied that it has been closely tracking the development of the vaccine. But as the vaccine is new, "we do not know yet whether its quality is what (the manufacturer) promised it to be".
Serving up help for hawkers and better hawker centres
By Samantha Boh, The Straits Times, 13 Apr 2016
To keep Singapore's hawker culture strong, a committee has been set up to help hawkers and hawker centres evolve.
It will do so by looking into ways to keep hawker businesses viable.
It will also suggest improvements to hawker centres, including increasing productivity, enhancing these centres as spaces for community bonding, and promoting graciousness among people who eat there.
Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor, who leads the Hawker Centre 3.0 committee, said: "It is timely for a comprehensive review of our hawker centres as Singapore moves beyond SG50. Hawker food is close to the heart of many Singaporeans."
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