Parliamentary Snapshots — 13 Feb 2009

February 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Parliament

CPF LIFE plans reduced from 12 to four

Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament on Friday that the CPF Board has decided to reduce the number of CPF LIFE plans from 12 to four. And the payouts for all the four plans will start from the age of 65. The four plans are as follows:

The LIFE Plus Plan offers higher monthly income but leaves behind less for beneficiaries.
The LIFE Basic Plan has members accepting a lower monthly income for higher bequest amount.
The LIFE Income Plan offers the highest monthly income, but members would leave nothing behind when they pass away.
The default plan is called the LIFE Balanced Plan, which provides a balance between a level of retirement income and some bequest amount if the CPF members pass away early.

To illustrate, if a 55-year-old man chooses the default plan with S$67,000 in his retirement account, he can expect to receive between S$570 and S$620 every month from age 65 for as long as he lives. If he passes away at the age of 70, his beneficiaries will receive a bequest amount of between S$76,000 and S$79,000.

On whether a protracted economic downturn would affect the CPF LIFE payout, Mr Gan said: “A lower interest would lead to lower payouts. Likewise if interest rates rise, payouts will be higher .. … This is in line with the principle that the scheme should be self-funded and sustainable … … Nevertheless the CPF interest paid by the Singapore government will not fall below the guaranteed floor rate of 3.5 per cent on the first S$60,000 of CPF balances and 2.5 per cent for amounts above that.”

3-pronged approach to weather downturn

Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament of the Manpower Ministry’s (MOM’s) three-pronged strategy to help workers and companies weather the downturn, which include helping businesses remain viable, saving jobs and helping the unemployed find work.

Mr Gan also gave details of the one-off Workfare Special Payment announced in the Budget’s Resilience Package.

Several Members of Parliament have called for expanding the list of approved training organisations that can offer SPUR approved courses.

The Manpower Ministry said more than 60 training institutions which offer the Workforce Skills Qualifications will also now offer SPUR-approved courses.

Low wage workers will receive a one-off Workfare Special Payment of up to a total of S$1,200 in three stages and entirely in cash. It is for work done in 2008 and 2009, together with the regular workfare payments. The first payment is in March.

Mr Gan added that the ministry recognised that some low wage workers may experience less regular employment this year during the downturn.

“Therefore the work criterion for the 2009 special payment will be less demanding to make it easier for low wage workers to qualify,” he said. “For the 2009 special payment, so long as the worker has worked two months in any six-month period, he will be entitled to half that payment.”

As for the self employed, informal workers as well as contract and part-time workers, they have to make CPF contributions and meet the criteria to enjoy the Workfare Special Payment.

Stricter S-pass criteria

Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament on Friday that the Government will tighten the criteria for semi-skilled foreign workers coming to Singapore, but he did not give details of the move.

He was responding to seven MPs who spoke about Singapore’s foreign manpower policy during the debate on his ministry’s budget. Among them, Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC) and Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) raised the plight of local professionals. They noted that this category of foreign skilled workers compete directly with local professionals facing retrenchments or looking for jobs.

Dr Lim wanted to know if the Manpower Ministry would reduce the number of employment passes to these semi-skilled foreign workers, also known as S-Pass holders.

As of December 2007, there were 757,000 non-residents on work permits, 143,000 on employment or S passes and 85,000 on student passes.

MOM, industry partners drafting new plan for workplace safety

Manpower Ministry’s Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Hawazi Daipi, told Parliament that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and its industry stakeholders are now drafting a new national plan for workplace safety and health — known as WSH 2018, whose target is to lower workplace fatalities to fewer than 1.8 per 100,000 workers by 2018.

The new plan will be unveiled in April this year, and it will develop and refine roadmaps for key sectors which have seen a relatively large number of accidents. These include the marine and construction sectors.

From March 1, the ministry will double the maximum grant from the Work-Life Works (WoW) Fund, from S$10,000 to S$20,000 per company. Under the WoW Fund, companies can introduce worklife measures with a focus on flexible work arrangements.

Mr Hawazi added that the ministry will also extend Flexi Works for another year with a budget of S$3 million.

Luring overseas-trained lawyers back home

Law Minister K Shanmugam announced changes to Singapore’s legal education system in Parliament on Friday aimed at ensuring Singapore has an adequate supply of local lawyers.

In hoping to attract overseas-trained Singapore lawyers to come back and practise law at home, the Law Ministry will abolish the one-year-long Diploma in Singapore Law course.

Mr Shanmugam noted that the course, which is a requirement for all returning lawyers, has proven to be a disadvantage as lawyers feel they can pick up most of what is taught during the practice. Hence, from June this year, such lawyers will be offered an optional three-month conversion course.

To enhance legal training, measures include:

revamping the Practice Law Course;
replacing the pupillage system with training contracts, with the intention of putting the onus on law firms to ensure that trainees have a constructive and structured learning programme;
the possibility of making continuing legal education mandatory to ensure practising lawyers are up to date on any changes to the law and are familiar with emerging areas of law.

To ensure a steady supply of lawyers, graduates with a Second Class (Lower) degree from approved universities will be admitted to the Singapore Bar without the two-year minimum legal experience requirement.

Together, Mr Shanmugam said, these moves will result in an almost 70 per cent increase in the number of local law graduates in a few years’ time — from 220 to 370 annually.

The minister also gave an update on moves to free up legal services in Singapore. The Law Ministry noted that despite the current economic crisis, there is potential in the medium term for the legal sector to expand in certain areas. One area is arbitration, as Singapore is fast becoming an arbitration venue of choice. By mid-2009, Singapore will have the Maxwell Chambers to house arbitration hearings under one roof.

Mr Shanmugam said: “Our advantage is our connectivity and world class infrastructure, our judicial philosophy in respect to arbitration and being accessible at a much lower expense than some of the other popular arbitration centres.”

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