Parliamentary questions from Louis Ng, 14-18 May 2018
1. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Minister will consider reviewing the Criminal Procedure Code to
(i) provide the courts with sentencing discretion for offences mandating imprisonment and caning where the offender is intellectually disabled and
(ii) expand the sentencing options for intellectually disabled offenders such as mandatory treatment orders.
2. To ask the Minister for Finance
(a) what is the rationale behind allowing taxi drivers but not private-hire vehicle drivers to deduct expenses such as vehicle rental fees, fuel and ERP from their assessable income tax; and
(b) whether the Ministry will consider allowing tax deductibility of these expenses for private-hire vehicle drivers based on the mileage clocked on private-hire driving.
Answer
3. To ask the Minister for Manpower
(a) whether the mandatory medical insurance purchased by an employer for a domestic worker continues when the worker is put on a special pass by the Ministry or the police; and
(b) if not, who is responsible for the worker’s medical bills such as cost of consultation, prescription and procedures in those situations.
4. To ask the Minister for Health
(a) whether the Ministry monitors health effects from exposure to phthalates and plasticizers that are linked to hormone disruption and reproductive harm, particularly in male infants; and
(b) whether the Ministry will consider putting in place regulations for consumer goods that contain harmful plasticizers.
Answer
5. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs for each of the past three years
(a) how many inmates go through divorce proceedings while in the Drug Rehabilitation Centres, or while undergoing incarceration under the Long-Term Imprisonment 1 and Long-Term Imprisonment 2 regimes respectively;
(b) how many go through divorce proceedings within two years of release respectively; and
(c) what is the recidivism rate of inmates who have undergone divorce during incarceration and following release respectively.