From housing to jobs, here are some key changes announced in Parliament that will affect young S'poreans

SINGAPORE — The policies and strategies debated over the last two weeks in Parliament will help Singapore navigate a world that is vastly different from the one that existed before the pandemic, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said on Monday (March 6).

Speaking at the end of seven days of Committee of Supply debates on the various government ministries' budgets, Ms Indranee said that in approving the S$104.2 billion Budget 2023 and the supply Bills, Parliament has taken an important step forward in positioning Singapore well for a “more complicated and unpredictable” post-pandemic future.

Beyond these, however, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin said that the nation has a strong foundation because of its people.

He added that one of Singapore’s “significant strengths” that should never be taken for granted is its people who carry out the policies launched in the parliamentary chamber.

"We almost never see these actions, and they go beyond the policies that we launch here. And these folks play such critical roles to make sure that we are not just going through motions,” Mr Tan said when thanking them.

Members of Parliament have over the last two weeks debated for almost 70 hours, spanning two-and-a-half days of Budget debate and covering 661 cuts over seven days of the Committee of Supply debates.

TODAY recaps the key initiatives for young Singaporeans announced by the various ministries during the debates.

TACKLING ONLINE HARM

BETTER ONLINE PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

A code of practice for online application stores aimed at protecting children from harmful content is now in the works, Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo said.

Giving a timeframe, she said that the Government will be working towards curbing harmful content for children over the next 12 to 18 months.

A classification system for online games is also being considered. This will clarify the age appropriateness of games and “help parents exercise better supervision over their children’s online gaming”, she added.

ONLINE CRIMINAL HARMS ACT

Later this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs will table a new legislation to better tackle crimes committed in cyberspace.

If passed, the proposed Online Criminal Harms Act will grant the Government powers to stop or remove online communications that pave the way for crimes in the physical world.

These crimes include syndicated ones such as scams, online incitement of mass public disorder and malicious cyberactivities such as phishing and the distribution of malware.

Separately, Mrs Teo, who is also Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, said that a ScamShield Bot on WhatsApp will be launched later this year to make it more convenient for members of the public to identify if a suspicious message they receive is a scam.

EDUCATION AND TALENT

A-LEVELS REVAMP

The following changes were announced to “rebalance” the overall A-Level curriculum load:

• From 2026, a GCE A-Levels candidate’s fourth content-based subject will only be counted for university admissions if it improves their score
• From 2024, Project Work, now a graded subject included in the computation of their score, will be changed to a pass-or-fail grading system. Students will need to pass it for university applications
• Education Minister Chan Chun Sing also announced that mid-year examinations will be progressively removed for consecutive cohorts of junior college and Millennia Institute students from 2024 

MORE DIVERSE SECONDARY SCHOOL CLASSES

Students will be posted to secondary schools through three posting groups, which are assigned based on Primary School Leaving Examination scores from next year as full subject-based banding will be implemented in 120 secondary schools.

Form classes will comprise students from different posting groups and offer subjects at different levels, enabling “diversity at the class level”, Mr Chan said. 

LEG UP FOR CHILDREN FROM LOWER-INCOME FAMILIES

The Ministry of Social and Family Development announced that since the start of the year, children from families with a gross monthly household income of up to S$6,000 have been prioritised for enrolment into anchor operator preschools, where fees are capped at more affordable levels.

Families with a gross monthly household income of S$3,000 and below, as well as those supported by KidStart and the Preschool Outreach Programme — both targeting low-income families — will be given higher priority.

The KidStart programme will also be extended to Jalan Besar, Toa Payoh, Sengkang, Hougang and Serangoon in the coming year, benefiting more children.

BETTER SUPPORT FOR FOOTBALL TALENTS

A national football development centre will be set up as part of the Government’s efforts to develop a strong pipeline of football talents here. 

The centre will be the main training centre for promising footballers aged 13 to 17 drawn from various football academies and private clubs, who will train and compete regularly as a team and travel as a squad to compete overseas for exposure. 

Promising footballers can also look forward to a scholarship programme, for which the first cohort is expected to be awarded by the end of this year. More details on the scholarship and eligibility criteria will be announced in the coming months.

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY

TEMPORARY CURBS FOR PEOPLE WHO REJECT BTO FLAT OFFER

Starting from the Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise this August, first-timer applicants who are invited to book a flat but reject it will have a slimmer chance of securing a different BTO flat for a year because they will be temporarily considered as second-timers.

Right now, first-timer applicants face such a restriction if they reject the offer by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) twice.

In addition, second-timer applicants — generally BTO flat buyers who have benefited from HDB subsidies in the past and plan to buy another subsidised flat again — will have to wait for a year to pass before they can apply for another BTO flat. Right now, the wait-out period applies if they reject HDB’s offer twice.

The tightened rules will be waived if applicants are left with very limited choices when offered a BTO flat or if they are under certain extenuating circumstances.

COMPULSORY MEDIATION FOR DISPUTING NEIGHBOURS

Disputing neighbours in some cases such as those involving complaints of noise will be required to go for mandatory mediation.

Penalties will be imposed on them if they fail to show up, and they will not be able to take their case to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal, which hears cases on neighbourly disputes. 

These are part of the Ministry of Law's efforts to improve the take-up of mediation among disputing neighbours at an early stage and prevent disputes from escalating to court unnecessarily.

YOUNG WORKERS

CPF SUPPORT FOR PLATFORM WORKERS

The Government will provide support for lower-income platform workers, such as food delivery riders, when these workers aged under 30 come under the Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme from next year.

Workers earning S$2,500 or less will receive a 75 per cent offset from the Government to the increase in their CPF contributions in the first year that they are phased into the CPF scheme.

Support for this group of platform workers will then be tapered down over the next three years that their additional CPF contributions are being phased into the scheme.

BETTER TRAINING SUPPORT

Lower-income workers from a younger age group are expected to benefit from a training support scheme from July this year.

The Workfare Skills Support will be extended to workers aged 30 and older, earn S$2,500 a month or less, and meet its eligibility requirements. Currently, the workers must be at least 35 years old and earn not more than S$2,300 a month.

About 70,000 more workers are expected to qualify from the scheme due to the change in eligibility criteria.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Manpower,  said that lowering the eligibility age allows more lower-wage workers to upskill earlier in their careers.

MORE JOBS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced that 3,800 more jobs for professionals, managers, executives and technicians will be generated in the professional services industry yearly until 2025, under a refreshed five-year industry transformation map.