Parliamentary questions for 1 March 2021

No questions filed.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) in the past two years, how many drivers have been issued with summons and fined for illegally modifying their cars; and (b) whether any action is taken against the car workshops that have carried out the illegal modifications.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the progress on reaching a bilateral agreement with countries to give recognition to the COVID-19 vaccination taken by the respective residents travelling to each other’s country; and (b) whether Singapore will only accept vaccines that have been approved by the Health Sciences Authority and residents that have taken such approved vaccines before they can travel to Singapore.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the total carbon emissions generated by the ride-hailing industry in Singapore (i) in value terms and (ii) as a proportion of the total carbon emissions of the land transport sector; and (b) whether the Government has plans to support or require the transition to electric vehicles in the ride-hailing industry, perhaps starting with rental fleet partners of ride-hailing operators.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Transport whether, for the Cross Island MRT Line, the Ministry will consider moving work site A1W1 further into the Singapore Island Country Club to reduce the impact on a group of langurs which rely on the forest where the current work site A1W1 is located.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what are (i) the amount of fare revenues that have been generated by the ThomsonEast Coast Line (TEL) since the opening of phase 1 of the MRT line and (ii) the amount of service fees paid to the rail operator in the same period; and (b) whether the rail operator is profitable in relation to the TEL.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether a review of the New Rail Financing Framework is being undertaken; (b) what are the considerations behind the review to ensure a financially sustainable rail network; and (c) when is such a review expected to be completed given continued losses for the two rail operators.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what are the current rules that apply to recumbent bikes and trikes for usage on roads, park connectors and footpaths; and (b) whether LTA will consider having separate and specific regulations applicable to such recumbent bikes and trikes given their lower profile in comparison with conventional upright bicycles.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the distribution of planned lift installations for pedestrian overhead bridges (POBs) across different towns in Singapore; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider, in its prioritisation criteria for installations, not only the absolute number of seniors in nearby blocks but also the relative number of seniors in a given town so as to ensure that the elderly living in demographically-younger towns are not disadvantaged in their access to lift-retrofitted POBs.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether consideration can be given to retrofit the overhead bridge near Block 327A Anchorvale Road with an elevator so as to benefit seniors accessing the nearby crossing; and (b) if not, whether this particular bridge will be prioritised in any impending retrofitting of POBs within Anchorvale.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether NParks will be taking any follow-up actions following an NParks-funded study titled “Restricted human activities shift the foraging strategies of feral pigeons (Columba livia) and three other commensal bird species”; and (b) if so, what are these actions.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many children currently stay in (i) 1-room rental flats and (ii) 2-room rental flats respectively; and (b) for such cases, what is the average number of occupants per unit, in (i) 1-room rental flats and (ii) 2-room rental flats respectively.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what are the redevelopment plans for Jalan Kubor Cemetery Area; and (b) whether the area can be conserved as part of the Kampong Glam conservation area.

No questions filed.

No questions filed.

Ms Joan Pereira: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what criteria need to be met before the installation of speed cameras for roads; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider installing them where speeding takes place often especially at locations where these incidents occur mostly at night.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past five years, how many persons have been rejected in driving licence applications because of their mental illness; and (b) how does the Ministry determine the types of mental disorders that bar a person from applying for a driving licence as defined under Rule 8 of the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Driving Licenses) Rules.

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether he can provide a progress update on the rollout of the Home Fire Alarm Device Assistance Scheme and what have been the issues faced during the rollout.

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Ministry will consider capping the engine capacity or engine power for vehicles allowed to be driven by new drivers.

Dr Wan Rizal: To ask the Minister for Health which body or institution has jurisdiction over the various organisations or individuals that purport to be providing psychological and mental health services.

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Health (a) in the past five years, many persons living with HIV have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted for failing to disclose their HIV-positive status to their sexual partners under Section 23(1) of the Infectious Diseases Act (IDA); and (b) whether the Ministry has conducted any studies to confirm the effectiveness of criminalising HIV non-disclosure to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Singapore.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether public hospitals are now collecting public health data on the number of children injured in motor accidents as a result of not being secured in child car seats; (b) if not, why not; and (c) if so, whether the Government will use the data in the review of its policies on child car seats in taxis.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Health what are the standard operating protocols in place to ensure that all patients suffering from eligible chronic diseases are informed about the option of applying for the Chronic Disease Management Programme.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) how many appeals have been made to have the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) payout cover the fees of non-executive directors; (b) how many of the appeals have been successful; and (c) of the successful cases, how many involved payouts made to each of the companies that the nonexecutive director held a position in.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Ministry will consider granting tax relief on cash top-ups made to the MediSave accounts of family members and dependants.

Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Education (a) in 2020, what is the number of Integrated Programme students; (b) what is the average class size; (c) how many of them took the GCE “A” levels in 2019; and (d) how many of them could not meet the entry requirements for local universities.

No questions filed.

Mr Seah Kian Peng: To ask the Minister for Manpower when will the next review of safe management measures at the workplace be conducted and what will be the considerations in such a review.

Dr Wan Rizal: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge for Muslim Affairs (a) what is the approach taken by MUIS towards individuals providing spiritual healing services beyond religious teachings that may contradict conventional Islamic beliefs; and (b) whether there are plans to include these services under the current Islamic Education Centres and Providers (IECP) framework.

Ms Raeesah Khan: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what percentage of the management and board of social service organisations serving persons with disabilities (PWDs) are made up by PWDs; (b) how many social service organisations qualify as representative organisations or organisations of persons with disabilities as defined in the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ General Comment No 7 (2018); (c) whether the present and previous Enabling Masterplan Steering Committees qualify as representative organisations; and (d) what steps does the Ministry intend to take to ensure the effective and meaningful participation of PWDs through their representative organisations in the implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

No questions filed.

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether the Hindu Endowments Board (“Board”) has undertaken a review of the case involving the alleged misappropriation and pawning of gold ceremonial jewellery between 2016 and 2020 with an aggregate pawn value amounting to more than $2 million at an endowment under its administration by its employee with a view to identify any shortcoming that led to the incident arising and steps to be taken to prevent such a situation from happening in the future at all its endowments.

Dr Wan Rizal: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth as more globally produced religious content are made available online during this COVID-19 period, whether religious bodies in Singapore will consider providing guidelines for Singaporeans to navigate and consume online religious content that are in line with Singapore’s secular and multireligious-racial landscape.

No questions filed.

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) other than the SG Fresh Produce Label, what efforts are in place to increase demand for locally grown produce; and (b) how many local companies have successfully applied for the label.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry will consider imposing a ban on smoking while walking.