Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: Last year, my Sengkang colleague Assoc Prof Jamus Lim elucidated that pricey coffee shop rents form part of the recipe for expensive hawker food. Likewise, hawkers operating from hawker centres face significant pressures from high and rising rents, causing them much financial strain and, inevitably, many may have to raise theirContinue reading “Affordability of Our Hawker Centres”
Category Archives: Budget 2024
Lim Chu Kang Masterplan
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Chairman, I wish to request that MSE share with us a progress update on the Lim Chu Kang Masterplan. The Lim Chu Kang Agri-Food Production Hub has been positioned as a key initiative to support Singapore’s “30 by 30” ambition. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) had earlier said thatContinue reading “Lim Chu Kang Masterplan”
Adequacy of Workers’ Dormitories
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: Chairman, employers of work permit holders have been sounding the alarm bells on surging costs of workers’ accommodation. Ministry statistics show that median monthly rentals for a bed hit $420 at the start of last year, up from $280 four years before. That is an 11% annual inflation rate, which isContinue reading “Adequacy of Workers’ Dormitories”
Predatory Employment Contracts
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: Chairman, I wish to raise the issue of predatory employment contract terms, which many Singaporeans, especially of a younger disposition, may be unknowingly entering into. To better protect our Singaporean workers and educate them on their rights to fair employment and rein in errant employers who make use of unfairContinue reading “Predatory Employment Contracts”
CPF Ordinary Account Reform
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Chairman, I would like to once again repeat my call for us to reform the long-outdated and archaic formula in which OA interest is computed. This was last changed in 1999, when the ratio of fixed deposits to savings was updated from 50-50 to 80-20 to reflect the longerContinue reading “CPF Ordinary Account Reform”
Enhancing CPF Returns
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Chairman, I would like to once again take the chance to raise concerns that I have previously voiced out in Parliament over the past three years and also earlier this year, during the debate on our reserves. There are already certain financial instruments available for members to invest their CPFContinue reading “Enhancing CPF Returns”
Pernicious Non-competes and Junior Workers
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: Non-compete clauses are included in many modern labour contracts and impose restrictions on a worker joining or otherwise doing business with a rival firm even after employment with the firm in question is over, usually for a specified period of time. Many companies sign non-competes in the name of protecting proprietaryContinue reading “Pernicious Non-competes and Junior Workers”
Leave for Singles and Family Care
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Currently, under the Child Development and Co-Savings Act, working parents are eligible for up to six days of paid childcare leave a year. While I suspect that many parents find this insufficient, especially if they have multiple children – each with unique contingencies that could keep them out of school, IContinue reading “Leave for Singles and Family Care”
Funding for SPH Media Trust
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chair, the first tranche of public funds was disbursed to SPH Media Trust in March 2023. Over four Ministerial Statements in this House, the Government has put out its reasons for making the taxpayers subsidise the running of SPH Media Trust or at least, partly subsidising the running of SPH MediaContinue reading “Funding for SPH Media Trust”
Funding for Bilingual Education
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Chairman, bilingual education is a cornerstone of our education policy. In the early 1990s, the Government moved to allow Indian students to sit for five non-Tamil Indian languages, or NTILs, at major examinations, such as the “O” levels. Separately, and in recognition of the status of Tamil as an official IndianContinue reading “Funding for Bilingual Education”
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 