Parliamentary Questions from Louis Ng, 1-2 Oct 2018
1.To ask the Minister for Health
(a) what are the health effects of prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke;
(b) how many diagnoses of conditions related to secondhand smoke exposure are there each year in the past five years;
(c) how many people in Singapore die because of secondhand smoke each year in the past five years; and
(d) whether the Ministry will start collecting such data if it is currently not available.
2. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether Singapore will
(i) send another consignment of humanitarian supplies to Bangladesh to provide aid for Rohingya refugees this year and
(ii) consider increasing Singapore’s financial contribution to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) next year.
3. To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will start a licensing system for the ownership of cats to prevent cat abandonment.
Answer: Pet licensing primarily serves to protect public health. As dogs are the most common cause of rabies transmission from animals to humans globally, AVA requires them to be licensed to enable traceability for the purposes of disease control.
AVA has put in place several measures to deter pet abandonment. First, AVA conducts public education initiatives to promote responsible pet ownership, including school talks and community events. Second, AVA requires pet shops to do pre-sales screenings to assess and ensure that their customers are suitable pet owners. Finally, owners who are found to have abandoned their pets may be liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 and a jail term of up to 12 months, for first-time convictions. AVA investigates all feedback on alleged pet abandonment and will take enforcement action where required.
AVA will continue to work with stakeholders to review measures to promote responsible pet ownership and deter pet abandonment.
4. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs for firsttime offenders in Drug Rehabilitation Centres (DRCs)
(a) what are the top three reasons they consume drugs; and
(b) what is their median per capita household income.
5.To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development in each of the past five years, how many single unwed parents were at the point of the birth of their child
(i) below 35 years old
(ii) between 35 years old and 36 years old and
(iii) 36 years old and above respectively.
6. To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development
(a) whether the Ministry tracks the financial situations of Comcare’s short- to medium-term assistance recipients after they gain employment; and
(b) how many recipients of such Comcare assistance reapply for assistance within a year after the end of their assistance.