Parliament Questions on 12 September 2022 Sitting
QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what will make the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass more attractive to foreign talent than the Tech.Pass; and (b) why are the dependants of ONE Pass holders able to work in Singapore on a Letter of Consent instead of being assessed based on their own merits.
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower in view that an Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass holder is allowed to work at multiple companies (a) whether such Pass holder can work as a freelancer or must be employed by a company; (b) whether the multiple companies are required to be Singapore-based; and (c) whether the fixed monthly salary of at least $30,000 for the ONE Pass holder is shared among the multiple companies.
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the inflow of foreign money into the local property market has increased in the last two years; (b) if so, whether such inflow has pushed up private and public property prices in the last two years; and (c) whether the Government intends to introduce new policies to manage the impact of the flow of foreign money into the local property market.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Manpower what are some of the considerations for (i) not imposing a time limit requiring eligible Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass applicants to remain employed and (ii) allowing their spouses to work in Singapore on a Letter of Consent without having to meet other work pass requirements.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many of the existing Employment Pass holders will meet the eligibility criteria for the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass; and (b) how many (i) Singapore citizens and (ii) permanent residents are in direct competition with eligible ONE Pass holders for jobs respectively.
QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) from 2010 to 2021, whether there were any prosecutions of employers inflating their foreign worker quota by employing Singaporean phantom workers; and (b) if so, how many of such employers were prosecuted in each year.
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower what is the current number of Singaporean workers who are employed by two or more companies and paid less than $1,500 per month at each company, where such companies are using their Singaporean worker headcount to compute its foreign worker quota for work permit and S Pass holders.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the current number of non-Singapore citizen students in each Government-funded autonomous university; (b) what are the absolute number and percentage of non-Singapore citizen students who are paying full fees versus those receiving tuition grants; and (c) whether the Ministry has similar data on autonomous universities in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and, if so, how do the data compare with each other.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether he can provide an update on the review of ComCare eligibility criteria; (b) as Social Service Offices may exercise flexibility when providing financial assistance, whether the Ministry has data on the annual number of families and individuals who did not satisfy the eligibility criteria but were provided ComCare assistance nonetheless, in the past three years; and (c) if so, what is the amount disbursed.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the Ministry has data on the percentage of retail properties that are owned by (i) the Government and (ii) Government- and Temasek-linked entities and companies; and (b) if so, what are they.
Parliament Questions on 13 September 2022 Sitting
QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) from 2000 to 2021, what is the annual number of male citizens granted Singapore citizenship who did not serve National Service in the age groups of (i) 18 to 30 years old (ii) 31 to 40 years old and (iii) above 40 years old; and (b) of these male citizens, how many joined the SAF Volunteer Corps.
QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what is the total amount of funds raised by People’s Association and the Office of the Mayors for community and charitable causes in 2021.
Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether a monthly breakdown can be provided on the number of wage cut notifications received by the Ministry from March 2020 to July 2022; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider re-implementing the wage cut notification measures as a way of monitoring businesses that use wage cuts as a solution to overcome business challenges.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the total financial assets of $1.57 trillion in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as per the Government Financial Statements for FY 2021/2022 include the latest reported increase in assets held by GIC and Temasek Holdings; and (b) if not, how much will those contribute to the increase in the total financial assets for FY 2022/2023.
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance what is the breakdown of the $980 billion in the Government Securities Fund as per the Government Financial Statements for FY 2021/2022.
