Order questions for oral answer. Miss Joan Pereira.
Mr. Speaker, the Communicable Disease Agency (CDA) issued a press release on our responses to the Nipah virus infections in West Bengal, India, on 28 January 2026. Since then, we have further issued clinical guidance to all medical practitioners, conducted an educational webinar for primary care doctors, adjusted the electronic health declaration card for all incoming travellers, and activated temperature screening for travellers arriving on ships from affected areas. The Ministry of Manpower has also disseminated CDA's announcements on precautionary health measures to migrant workers and migrant domestic workers, as well as to employers, dormitory operators, and employment agencies. CDA is monitoring the situation in India and globally closely, and we will adjust our measures as needed based on the evolving risks that are developing. Thank you.
Thank you, Speaker and SMS. I seek two clarifications from SMS on border health measures that have been stepped up in view of the disease outbreaks overseas. First, will these include updating the SG Arrival Card declarations required of arriving passengers in terms of prior travel destinations? And I ask this because I checked the SG Arrival Card and only Africa and Latin America are listed. My second clarification is whether this information will be shared with the health authorities for further monitoring. Thank you, SMS.
So I thank the member for raising this question, which many people are naturally concerned about. And indeed, to her question, the answer is yes. We have actually enhanced the electronic health declaration card, which is part of the SG Arrival Card. So in this format, if the arriving individual on the SG Arrival Card clicks yes to any of the symptoms, then there will be a prompt to enter the destination or the previous travel destinations, and that will include the West Bengal region as well. But if the person clicks no to any of the symptoms, then you will not be prompted for any travel destinations that we are monitoring. So it is to make sure that there are no excessive compliance needs on the individual submitting the information card — make it seamless, but at the same time we also don't want to end up having over-declaration for those with no symptoms.
Sorry, what's the second question again?
Whether the information will be shared with the health authorities.
Oh yes, for sure. So any of the information collected by the SG declaration card will indeed be piped in to CDA so that we can perform any contact tracing if necessary. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have three questions and I'll just repeat them again. What is the progress of local research into new virus diagnostic kits and vaccines? And does Singapore currently possess or have any plans to develop biosafety level 4 laboratory capacity for vaccine testing? And what grants or subsidies to local firms are there to ensure that such research remains viable even though there's no commercial market?
I think SMS was only answering question one. Yours is question two, so anyway, we'll move to question two.
So the main local research programme on Nipah virus and other pathogens with pandemic potential is the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response, or PREPARE in short. PREPARE is funded under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise programme, the RIE programme, which can involve collaborations between public sector institutions and private sector firms. To date, under PREPARE, Duke-NUS, NUS, and A*STAR are conducting six research projects on Nipah virus covering diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. All of these are in progress and do not involve the use of live Nipah virus, which requires a biosafety level 4 laboratory. Singapore currently does not have a BSL4 laboratory for the purposes of research. MINDEF is upgrading the capabilities of DSO National Laboratories to BSL4.
I thank the SMS for the reply. Can the SMS provide any timeline, if any, for a locally developed and validated Nipah diagnostic kit, and when will that be ready for deployment across our public hospital network? And secondly, the concerns about Nipah virus are real. But recently, the Oxford Nipah beta vaccine has entered Phase 2 trials in Bangladesh and received PRIME designation from the European Medicines Agency to expedite review. Given these developments, will the Health Sciences Authority consider an interim authorisation for this vaccine through the pandemic special access route to ensure rapid deployment in the case of a local outbreak? And thirdly, how is Singapore coordinating with regional neighbours in ASEAN to share genomic sequencing data or research findings to ensure a collective response to any potential regional Nipah outbreak?
So on the member's first question on timeline for the outcomes of research, I do not have definitive timelines, and I think the member would understand that for research activities, even the researchers themselves probably wouldn't know when they will hit jackpot. So I think we will continue to fund and support them in any way we can, and hope that their research will bear fruits in the time horizon that they are hoping to achieve. So that's something that I'm afraid we just have to let time take its course and for the research activities to be concluded. For the vaccine targets that may well be on trial elsewhere, we will keep a close eye on some of the developments and see if these are useful products that we can actually have access to as well. But I must also caution the member's suggestion that the Nipah virus outbreak at this moment is localized. It is not something that is widespread, and Nipah virus in the South Asia continent has been something that occurs there from time to time. So this is not the first time it's happening. But generally, it is a zoonotic infection that has very rare and does not often have human-to-human transmission. So the current transmission is localized to certain localities. It's not widespread. But we are raising our caution to watch this carefully, and it's not the same posture that we should adopt as COVID, which has become a generalized pandemic in the episode we've just been through. So there's probably no urgency at all for now for us to look at procuring vaccine targets ahead of time in anticipation of a widespread global pandemic. Nonetheless, we have stepped up our national posture and issued alerts to healthcare practitioners and institutions, as well as tightened some of the monitoring at our migrant worker onboarding centres to make sure that we keep our borders under some observation, and for any incoming individuals who may have symptoms, to take proactive actions to contain, to isolate, and also to give them supportive care if necessary, at the same time also to help them to monitor their symptoms within the first 14 days of arrival in Singapore, for example. So we're adopting a cautious posture, but looking for vaccine targets at this moment is premature. And thirdly, on his question for coordinating with other regional and global partners, that is an ongoing stream of work that CDA has always undertaken, and that was the reason why we have raised our alerts, because we have information from our partners in WHO and in other jurisdictions such as West Bengal as well. So we will continue to maintain those links, share information as needed, and continue to adjust our posture.
David Ho, question three.
Mr. Speaker, the work of the Uplift Task Force has been scaled up through integration with ComLink Plus, which is a whole-of-society effort led by government to provide comprehensive, convenient, and coordinated support for low-income families with children. According to the latest available data, in 2023 and 2024, about 70% of ComLink Plus families with school-going children had all children attending school regularly and progressing to post-secondary education institutions. More detailed information and data is publicly available in MSF's Supporting Lower-Income Households trend report. As ComLink Plus was launched recently in 2023, we would need more time to observe trends arising from efforts under ComLink Plus.
I thank the minister for his response, and I understand that more time is required to study the trends. Now, I have three supplementary questions. The first, based on the latest data provided, what is MOE's view on that 70% of school-going children attending school and also being able to progress to secondary school? I ask this because what is MOE's view — is this a positive outcome? If this is a positive outcome, what interventions actually contributed to this outcome? Knowing this would help us to better channel our resources. The second question I have is on the role of community. I do know of many ground-ups and also social service agencies that provide academic support for students from disadvantaged families, specifically homework clubs and mentoring clubs. Aside from having access to the syllabus online, are there any other resources that can be considered to support such social service agencies, such as pedagogical training? Just because one can do math doesn't necessarily mean that he or she is able to teach math well. My third question is: beyond academic support, how does Uplift enable students from disadvantaged backgrounds to be able to discover their strengths in non-academic pathways, be it in sports, arts, or also in the digital space as well? Thank you, Minister Lee.
I thank the member for his questions. The first question he asked is what to make of the data that MSF had put out, which incorporates the enrolment, attendance, and progression outcomes for children from ComLink families who are in school. And I would say that it is a result of the efforts to provide holistic wraparound through integration of support from various agencies and social service agencies, as well as community groups and corporates. It's more data-driven. There is a family coach. There are colleagues in the schools brought in, such as special education needs officers, student welfare officers, and so on, to better support the children, but also link up with the agencies and SSAs supporting the family, because often the challenges that the student faces is not necessarily just limited in school, but also relates to challenges they face at home and in the community. So we, of course, want to keep assessing the impact of our school-based programmes. You know, each partner in the ComLink Alliance Working Group will need to continuously assess the efficacy of the programmes that they bring to bear into the overall ComLink efforts. And for our schools, we look at the impact of the extra resourcing we provide, the support in schools through, say, after-school support, and of course the partners that we bring into the schools through the Opportunity Fund and other programmes, in order for them to support our children in school.
The second question, if I recall, the member is asking is that there are community groups that do homework club support and mentoring support, and what more can be done to coordinate. Am I right? More to coordinate. I would encourage the member, or all members who know of these groups, to link them up with the ComLink Alliance Working Group in every town where there are rental flats or where there are families supported under ComLink. There will be an alliance working group. Please link them up so that the alliance of social service agencies and government agencies, including our schools who are represented, can better coordinate these efforts so that nobody works in silo. The member's third question is whether the support through Uplift in our schools that contribute to the overall ComLink efforts nationwide support only academics. I would say they provide support for the holistic development and enrichment of our children in our schools. So some of our after-school support doesn't just cover academic or homework support. They also provide mentoring, they provide learning journeys, interest-based activities like photography, sports, arts, and so on. And so in that regard, in school as well as outside school, our community partners also provide not just academic support but holistic development.
We are grateful to the member, Miss Denise Phua, for caring for users with medical conditions. The member may refer to the Straits Times forum letter reply issued jointly by GovTech and the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 4 February 2026 regarding alternative biometric or non-facial verification options for Singpass. As explained in the reply, there are alternative verification methods for users who are unable to use the facial recognition technology for reasons such as medical conditions or disabilities. Examples include one-time passwords or hardware tokens. Singpass users who require assistance may contact the Singpass team via email or call the Singpass help desk. Organisations who have onboarded Singpass as a means for authentication are expected to have at least one non-Singpass alternative method for users. The government will continue to work with relevant stakeholders on alternative methods to facial recognition technology for all users to maintain accessibility to digital services.
Thank you for your assurance to the House that there are indeed alternative identification methods available for those who are unable to use facial recognition, for example. And just a couple of questions. Number one, are these measures systemic and applicable for all digital or all fully digital or not fully digital banks, for example? Number two, are these available alternatives communicated so that all affected will know and that they will not have to resort to raising the questions in forum letters or even in this House? Thank you, Minister.
MAS does require the banks to have the alternative methods for verification and for digital services that are offered by government. We do make sure that we engage citizens across all ranges of abilities to test out our services to ensure accessibility for all. On the point about public education, we definitely can do much better in communicating and explaining these different methods of access to our citizens.
The Ministry of Manpower had called for a voluntary safety timeout from the 13th to the 27th of January 2026, focusing on vehicular safety because of four vehicle-related workplace fatalities in December. The objective of the timeout was to remind companies to take time off from their regular work routine to review and ensure that appropriate safety measures and procedures were in place, and for workers to refresh their knowledge of these procedures and to stay vigilant. In line with the voluntary nature of the safety timeout, there were no inspections nor enforcement actions. MOM and the Workplace Safety and Health Council, through its existing channels, have encouraged companies to participate in the safety timeout. They have also issued WSH advisories to guide companies on the key learning points from the recent incidents and the relevant safety practices to be reinforced with their workers. In addition to initiating the recent safety timeout, MOM conducts regular inspections in the high-risk sectors where vehicular hazards are present. This ensures that companies comply with the measures, such as having proper traffic management at the workplace and ensuring that drivers or operators have the requisite competencies. Around 500 inspections have been conducted in January. Three stop work orders and five fines were issued to companies and individuals for work-related breaches.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the MOS for his reply. The reality on the ground is that tight scheduling and shift work patterns continue to entrench workers' fatigue, and we all know driving heavy vehicles is a very challenging task because of the vehicle's large size and unladen weight. So fatigue therefore compounds this difficulty and increases safety risk. So can the MOS share whether there are further plans to manage drivers' fatigue? I would also like to ask how many employers have tapped on the resources and grants available for companies to adopt vehicular safety technologies. So if these technologies are proven to improve safety but the take-up rate among these companies is low, then would the ministry consider mandating the adoption of such technology to improve vehicular safety outcomes? Perhaps we can start off with the higher-risk sectors.
Well, I'd like to thank the member for the question and for the passion that you have for our workers. I'd like to assure him that I personally went through every single case, particularly the ones in December. And as tragic as it was, I couldn't see any common trends or any root causes per se. These could potentially have happened due to unfortunate lapses of judgment or not adhering to the existing safety protocols. But that said, I would urge the member to await the final investigations which are currently ongoing, and then we can discuss subsequent moves that need to be put in place, whether because of fatigue or otherwise. But you have raised important points about fatigue affecting drivers that we have, and I wanted to just say that beyond what we have in place is really WSH guidelines on fatigue management, where rest breaks are mandated and the need to manage shift work as well, as part of these WSH guidelines. And in terms of technologies, we see some useful technologies such as the driver status monitoring system which detects driver fatigue. Now, on the question that the member had on grants, I wanted to just highlight that we have a Productivity Solutions Grant where SMEs can tap upon, where 50% of funding can be defrayed for up to a cap of $30,000. And as of July 2025, about a thousand companies have adopted these vehicle safety technologies via the PSG, and a total of about $12.5 million had been dispensed. We will, I think, have to continue to push the adoption of technologies, especially the proven ones. But as to whether or not it should be mandated, I think we take a holistic and calibrated approach to all the solutions as well as the situation that we have. And I think what we want to try to avoid is having a sledgehammer type of situation where every problem is seen to be a nail that requires hammering, and instead what we need to have is a repertoire of solutions. Sometimes a loving nudge, a firm stare, or a warning might in fact do the trick. Now, having said that, the ultimate aim is really to have a lasting and sustainable safety culture in Singapore, and I look forward to working with the member on it. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, Singapore's exports to the US are currently subject to a baseline reciprocal tariff rate of 10%. The US has also imposed various Section 232 sectoral tariffs that are applicable to Singapore, such as on steel and aluminium. Singapore's non-oil domestic exports to the US fell by 9.2% year-on-year from April to December 2025. The tariffs and corresponding decline in exports to the US are not expected to have a direct impact on Singapore's inflation. This is because the tariffs are paid for by the US importers. Nonetheless, there could be an indirect impact if higher prices in the US lead to an increase in the prices of its exports, including to Singapore, in the future. Thus far, we have not observed any tariff impact on Singapore's import prices, with our import prices falling in 2025. In turn, the decline in import prices helped lower CPI-all items inflation and MAS core inflation to 0.9% and 0.7% respectively last year. We will continue to closely monitor our import prices and inflation rates and the corresponding impact on Singaporeans, especially those from lower household income groups. And we stand ready to provide further support if needed.
Mr. Christopher de Souza.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the MOS for her reply and that there is an indirect impact. MTI regularly assesses macro price pressures, but does the ministry use indicators to identify disproportionate effects on low-income households, such as changes in the cost of basic food, transport, and utilities? Thank you.
The answer is yes. We do look at various indices and indicators to understand the impact of inflation on different household income groups. For example, for the lowest 20% income household groups, we know that the CPI-all items inflation on them was 0.6%, and this is different from that for the middle-income 60% income group of 0.9%. So we do look into such details so that we can provide targeted support to Singaporeans, especially those from the lower household income groups.
Mr. Speaker, we use wages as a key operational measure to track if proposed investments create good jobs, since this is the most objective indicator of job quality. This enables comparisons across sectors, firms, occupations, and workers. Now, having said that, the notion of a good job varies across individuals, shaped by their circumstances and aspirations. It often includes factors such as wage growth, opportunities for career development, fair and safe workplaces, and personal fulfilment, and what gives someone the highest utility, among many others. But there are multiple dimensions to good jobs, and no single universally accepted framework for measuring job quality. The perception of what constitutes good jobs also has a time dimension to it and may change with age. Hence, we chose to measure a range of more objectively measurable labour market indicators and regularly benchmark our labour market performance internationally across key dimensions that cover job creation and job quality, such as: one, labour market participation; two, labour underutilisation; and three, earnings. These are broadly aligned with the OECD framework, and across these domains, Singapore generally ranks favourably relative to OECD economies. Local workers have experienced sustained and inclusive wage growth. From 2021 to 2025, real gross monthly income at the median grew by 7.4%. At the 20th percentile, income grew even faster, by 10.1%, over the same period. Two-thirds of private sector establishments provided structured training to employees, demonstrating that employers continue to invest in their workers. Fewer employees experience discrimination at work, with the proportion decreasing from 8.5% in 2021 to 6% in 2023. We have also enacted the Workplace Fairness Act to promote fair employment practices and protect employees from workplace discrimination. Our workplace safety and health performance also ranks amongst the top-performing countries, with a five-year average workplace fatality rate of 1.1 per 100,000 workers in 2024. We will continue working to ensure that our economic strategies translate economic growth into good jobs for Singaporeans.
Thank you, Speaker. So the ESR midterm update fact sheet uses the phrase 'good jobs' six times without defining it. So my first ask is: what is the issue with creating a job quality framework that the OECD has done? Now, second, I thank the SMS for mentioning the different factors that he tracks. Now, our wage share of GDP remains lower than many OECD countries. I believe it's in the mid-40s, where OECD countries are under 50s. So will the government track this and look to define this as part of their definition of a good job? And my last ask: the ESR also says it will uplift and transform roles like electricians and care workers. But a commitment that cannot be proven true or false is not really a countable commitment. So will the ministry set clear benchmarks in terms of pay progression and working conditions so that Parliament can actually determine whether uplift has occurred?
