Parliament Questions for September 2024 Sitting

NCMPs Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai have filed a total of 24 parliamentary questions for September’s sitting.

Hazel Poa

1. To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the respective fees paid by non-ASEAN international students (i) in polytechnics or (ii) who are undergraduates, and who pay fees nett of a tuition grant, are lower than their fees for secondary school and junior college; and (b) if so, what is the justification for such a situation.
2. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has recovered any funds from Sunshine Empire since 2007; and (b) if so, whether CAD is still holding on to any of the funds; and (c) what is the process and estimated completion timeline for the funds to be liquidated and distributed to creditors.
3. To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry can release the data on deaths of Singapore citizens over the last 10 years, as distinct from resident deaths; and (b) what is the projected year in which citizen deaths will exceed citizen births based on current trends.
4. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the current status of plans to build the Tuas South extension of the MRT line; and (b) whether the two unused platforms at Gul Circle MRT station will be utilised under such plans.
5. To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry can provide an update on the invitation for research proposals on studies on particulate matter generated by tyres and brakes under the Air Quality Monitoring and Control Funding Initiative.
6. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether LTA can work with HDB to make public the Public Transport Accessibility Level values of new BTO developments, so that prospective applicants can consider the accessibility of BTO developments by public transport; and (b) if not, why not.
7. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether LTA calculates Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) values in their Transport Impact Assessments for developments based on different (i) subzones (ii) planning areas or (iii) regions of Singapore to determine which areas are under-served by public transport; and (b) if so, which are the (i) subzones (ii) planning areas or (iii) regions that have the lowest PTAL values and are considered under-served by public transport.
8. To ask the Minister for Manpower what is the rationale for (i) giving permanent residents the same benefits as Singapore citizens under the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme (ii) payments that are stepped down with time (iii) not extending support under the scheme to workers earning above $5,000 per month but with dependants like children and (iv) excluding those who have received such assistance in the last three years.
9. To ask the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) is assisting the Ministry in investigating the Mobile Guardian hacking incident in August 2024; (b) what is CSA’s role in assisting other agencies in investigating security vulnerabilities in IT systems owned, operated, or otherwise used by the Government; and (c) whether the task force set up to bolster Singapore’s tech resilience following the CrowdStrike outage will also be assessing the Mobile Guardian incident in August 2024.
10. To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there is an update on the efforts to restore devices that are affected by the Mobile Guardian system glitch and cybersecurity breach; and (b) in particular, whether students taking their national examinations have all been able to restore their devices.
11. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what percentage of cycling lanes that run parallel to footpaths are currently fully grade-separated; (b) whether there are plans for all cycling lanes to be grade-separated from footpaths; and (c) if not, why not.

Leong Mun Wai

1. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the number and percentage of social visit pass holders from China who have been arrested has increased since the 30-day visa exemption arrangement became effective on 9 February 2024; and (b) whether the ability of all foreigners to enter via automated lanes at Changi Airport without presenting themselves before an immigration officer since May 2024 has increased the risk of persons who are not bona fide travellers entering Singapore.
2. To ask the Minister for Education (a) what lessons have been learnt from the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in catering for the academic, emotional and social needs of high-ability students over the last 40 years; and (b) what measures have been planned to ensure that the revamped GEP will continue to meet the emotional and social needs of high-ability students, including ensuring that there are a sufficient number of teachers who are trained to manage high-ability learners.
3. To ask the Minister for National Development for each year since 2020, what is the breakdown by race and citizenship status of HDB flat owners whose HDB flats sold for at least $1 million.
4. To ask the Minister for Defence in the last five years (a) what is the number of complaints made to the SAF Hotline; (b) of which, how many of such calls were made by (i) Full-Time National Servicemen and (ii) Regulars, respectively; and (c) how many of these calls resulted in an investigation where an officer or sergeant was penalised.
5. To ask the Minister for Defence (a) in each year since 2010, how many National Service (NS) pre-enlistees have been exempted from NS because of mental health disorders; (b) how many of such individuals voluntarily choose to serve NS despite their exemption; (c) of these individuals, how many subsequently completed NS; and (d) how does the Ministry verify that pre-enlistees who have been diagnosed with mental health disorders by private doctors are indeed unfit to serve NS.
6. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what are the average observed headways and crowding levels on Bus Services 180, 992 and 993 plying Bukit Batok Road during the weekday peak hours; (b) what are the congestion levels on Bukit Batok Road during the weekday peak hours affecting the buses; and (c) whether there is any need for additional steps to relieve congestion on Bus Services 180, 992 and 993 plying Bukit Batok Road.
7. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the current average ridership and cost per passenger for operating Bus Service 825; (b) whether electric minibuses which operates on Bus Service 825 can be similarly deployed on bus routes plying narrow roads and where there is low ridership, to improve connectivity throughout the public transportation system; and (c) if not, why not.
8. To ask the Minister for Education (a) how many complaints has the Committee for Private Education received each year since 2016; and (b) what are the top ten categories of these complaints.
9. To ask the Minister for Transport (a) in each year since 2010, what is the percentage of land allocated to roads and carparks respectively; (b) in light of Singapore’s zero-growth rate policy for cars and motorcycles, whether the Government will also pursue a policy of zero-growth in the percentage of land allocated to roads and carparks and begin reallocating land allocated to roads and carparks for other social purposes; and (c) if not, why not.
10. To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the amount of the SkillsFuture Credit (SFC) used by Singaporeans for courses offered at private education institutes (PEIs) in 2023; (b) which are the top five PEIs receiving the SFC in 2023; and (c) what proportion of the SFC has been used at the PEIs in 2023.
11. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of stateless residents living in Singapore as of 31 December 2023; and (b) what proportion of these stateless residents are (i) born in Singapore (ii) permanent residents and (iii) aged above 65, respectively.
12. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the rules governing a change of race for Singapore citizens and permanent residents also apply to foreign pass holders; and (b) whether ICA verifies the race declared by foreign pass holders and, if so, how.
13. To ask the Minister for Manpower whether workers who have experienced employment discrimination because of their tattoos can seek recourse under the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices framework.

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