Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I just jump in on this? I have a very similar case where an elderly resident who has difficulty trying to file a claim to the CDRT. May I humbly suggest that perhaps MCI can work with the Courts on how to facilitate laypeople, especially seniors with digital issues and difficulties with using digital platforms, to file appropriate claims in the CDRT?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his comment. It is certainly a good suggestion.
May I also just say the broader point that Mr Dennis Tan as well as Mr Lim Biow Chuan brought up, is that even in terms of the way we design services, and as agencies pivot to digital delivery, they should be conscious of the fact that there will be certain segments of the population that will not find it so comfortable to use digital services and to make the non-digital service options still available. That is indeed the philosophy that we are trying to adopt.
One very common reference that we can all relate to is the use of the CDC vouchers, for example. Even in terms of how it is being designed, it has in mind how citizens who are not so comfortable using digital tools can be enabled to benefit from the scheme. That is why a non-digital option was retained.
Over time, I think we see that fewer and fewer of our citizens need to rely on those non-digital options, but we will obviously have to keep those non-digital options available until such time that most, if not all, of these citizens can migrate to the digital versions.
Ministry of Communications and Information
30 November 2022
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3000
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 