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'Integrate migrants with CD training'
Thu, Mar 04, 2010
my paper
By Koh Hui Theng
THE nation could expect new immigrants to come rushing to its rescue in a crisis, if one suggestion on how to better integrate them into society is adopted.
Saying that this group boosts economic mobility and generates positive effects, MP Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade
GRC) said that more needs to be done to assimilate them.
His suggestion: Send new immigrants for month-long civil defence (CD) training or even military-type basic training, so they can better "work with the old team and feel a part of us".
Such an initiative would come on top of $10 million that the Government has set aside for national integration efforts, a move that caused much discussion about the use of public funds for foreigners.
Yesterday was Day 2 of the Budget debate that follows Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's Budget announcement last month.
Though explorations of the impact of a drive towards raising productivity dominated the proceedings, MPs also suggested ways to help vulnerable groups.
Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) broached exempting voluntary welfare organisations that run nursing homes serving the chronic sick and disabled from planned foreign worker levy increases, and setting up a fund to marshal resources for the aged sick.
Pursue a Top Australian Business Degree in 12 months at Kaplan
This would make the Budget more inclusive for Singaporeans of mixed abilities, ages and needs, she said.
In the same vein, Nominated MP Laurence Wee suggested topping up Medisave and the ElderCare Fund, which helps needy elderly Singaporeans pay for long-term health care, in anticipation of a projected increase in the elderly population.
Ms Phua did not forget younger Singaporeans either.
She hoped to see Medisave top-ups for the handicapped, to ensure they get basic health care. And she urged that Medi-Shield be extended to those with congenital diseases.
"We want to encourage couples to have babies. (Though) we cannot guarantee the baby's condition, we can't deny these children who turn out less than perfect the right to decent health-care coverage," she said.
The Budget's lack of a green focus, meanwhile, troubled Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC).
He felt that giving more grants to public-transport operators to "go green" and lower the cost of shared transport would help cut the transportation sector's 40 per cent contribution to Singapore's carbon emissions.
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Thu, Mar 04, 2010
my paper
By Koh Hui Theng
THE nation could expect new immigrants to come rushing to its rescue in a crisis, if one suggestion on how to better integrate them into society is adopted.
Saying that this group boosts economic mobility and generates positive effects, MP Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade
GRC) said that more needs to be done to assimilate them.
His suggestion: Send new immigrants for month-long civil defence (CD) training or even military-type basic training, so they can better "work with the old team and feel a part of us".
Such an initiative would come on top of $10 million that the Government has set aside for national integration efforts, a move that caused much discussion about the use of public funds for foreigners.
Yesterday was Day 2 of the Budget debate that follows Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's Budget announcement last month.
Though explorations of the impact of a drive towards raising productivity dominated the proceedings, MPs also suggested ways to help vulnerable groups.
Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) broached exempting voluntary welfare organisations that run nursing homes serving the chronic sick and disabled from planned foreign worker levy increases, and setting up a fund to marshal resources for the aged sick.
Pursue a Top Australian Business Degree in 12 months at Kaplan
This would make the Budget more inclusive for Singaporeans of mixed abilities, ages and needs, she said.
In the same vein, Nominated MP Laurence Wee suggested topping up Medisave and the ElderCare Fund, which helps needy elderly Singaporeans pay for long-term health care, in anticipation of a projected increase in the elderly population.
Ms Phua did not forget younger Singaporeans either.
She hoped to see Medisave top-ups for the handicapped, to ensure they get basic health care. And she urged that Medi-Shield be extended to those with congenital diseases.
"We want to encourage couples to have babies. (Though) we cannot guarantee the baby's condition, we can't deny these children who turn out less than perfect the right to decent health-care coverage," she said.
The Budget's lack of a green focus, meanwhile, troubled Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC).
He felt that giving more grants to public-transport operators to "go green" and lower the cost of shared transport would help cut the transportation sector's 40 per cent contribution to Singapore's carbon emissions.
[email protected]
