Parliamentary Questions from Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, 14-15 Jan 2019
1. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs as Singapore and Malaysia shares a common sea boundary which gives rise to various issues cropping up from time-to-time (a) whether there is a hotline between Singapore and Malaysian leaders for quick direct communication between the two countries; and (b) what is the current channel for top political leaders to contact each other to diffuse any escalation of conflicts.
2.To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) whether Singapore will bring up its current sea boundary issue to the UN Law of the Sea Conference for a permanent settlement; and (b) for countries that share common sea boundaries, what is the international protocol when one country intends to extend its port limits.
3.To ask the Minister for Defence on the issue of Singapore’s defence (a) how does our armed services react to any violation of Singapore’s sovereignty; and (b) at what juncture will our services challenge any intruding ship or aircraft and be prepared for all consequences.
4.To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether someone who offers a cigarette to a person below the age of 21 is committing an offence; (b) whether the receiver of the cigarette is also an offender; (c) how many of such offenders have been booked in the past three years; and (d) what has been the fine imposed on these offenders.
5.To ask the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether he can update the House on NEA’s implementation of a smoke-free zone in the Orchard Road area; and (b) what are the challenges faced in designating smoking areas in this part of the city with high human traffic.
6.To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) in the past three years, what is the percentage of successful appeals for earlier withdrawal of payouts by CPF members who had to retire early; (b) what are the main reasons for disallowing the appeals; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider another
option for CPF Life payments that start payouts at the minimum retirement age.
7.To ask the Minister for Transport (a) how much flexibility is there for bus captains to meet the requirements of the Bus Service Reliability Framework (BSRF) which aims to improve punctuality and reliability of bus services; and (b) what are the common complaints relating to BSRF by bus captains and commuters.
8.To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the Ministry has received objections to the performance of the RuPauls’ Drag Race show in Singapore; (b) what are the criteria for approving such performances; (c) how does the Ministry deal with approval and censorship of performances dealing with LGBT issues; and (d) how is the age restriction for the audience determined for such shows.