Parliamentary Questions from MP Lee Bee Wah on 8 July
1) To ask the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to fraudulent websites and fake social media accounts using the names of Singapore Ministers
(a) whether the perpetrators have been caught;
(b) what penalties will they face; and
(c) what action is being taken against pages that are still active.
2) To ask the Minister for Manpower
(a) what are the penalties for foreign domestic workers who give false information or accuse employers wrongly; and
(b) how many of such complaints has the Ministry received in the past three years.
3) To ask the Minister for Home Affairs
(a) in the past year, how many road accidents have involved cyclists;
(b) how many of such accidents have resulted from cyclists cycling against traffic;
(c) what is the maximum penalty for cycling against traffic; and
(d) what is LTA doing to create greater awareness for and deterrence against such behaviour.
4) To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development
(a) what is the total capacity of infant care centres in Yishun;
(b) how many applicants are currently in the wait list;
(c) how long do they normally have to wait; and
(d) what plans are there to meet the demand.
Response by MSF:
As of February 2019, there are about 30 childcare centres in Yishun estate with a licensed capacity of 430 infant care places.
While we do not have the wait lists of individual centres, through the Registration Management System under the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), about 100 parents in Yishun have registered interest in an infant care place for their child. This constitutes 2% of all parents with infants living in Yishun.
Often, parents may register their interest early without an immediate need for infant care places as they have alternative arrangements, such as home-based care, or have registered interest for specific centres. Nevertheless, about 10 centres have immediate vacancies, and another 10 have vacancies within the next six months. Parents may have to wait longer if they prefer to send their infants to specific centres.
Providing access to quality, affordable infant and childcare remains a key priority for the Government. We will continue to increase capacity where needed to meet demand for early childhood services, including infant care. By 2022, we plan to develop another six centres to provide 130 more infant care places in Yishun. They will be built in tandem with future new Build-To-Order (BTO) the housing development, so that they can be operational in time to meet parents’ needs.
5) To ask the Minister for Home Affairs
(a) in the past three years, whether there has been any study on the number of minors tattooing their body;
(b) how does the Ministry ensure that a minor has the consent of his/her parent/guardian before getting a tattoo;
(c) what is the redress for parents if a minor has been tattooed without parental consent;
(d) whether any person has been prosecuted for such an offence; and
(e) whether the Ministry will consider imposing a minimum age on getting tattoos in
Singapore.