Debated in Parliament on 20 Jan 2014.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for National Development whether the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) scheme can be reviewed where Singaporean citizen households with at least one member aged 60 years old and above can automatically be eligible for the scheme.
Madam, currently, the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme is offered to residents in two ways.
First, EASE is offered as part of HDB's enhanced Home Improvement Programme (HIP). There is no age criterion for such a scheme.
Second, home owners whose blocks are not undergoing HIP but who wish to benefit from EASE may apply directly to HDB for it. To qualify, they must be citizen households with elderly who are 70 years old and above, or between 65 and 69 years old and require assistance for Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
The age criterion for direct application is in place to give priority to older residents. To date, more than 5,400 households who applied directly for EASE have benefited from the scheme. HDB is currently reviewing EASE, in consultation with the Ministry of Health. We thank the Member for her suggestions and will take them into consideration in the course of this review.
Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister of State. While HDB is reviewing the scheme, may I also suggest a few things? We know that there are increasingly more senior citizen households in blocks which are less than 30 years old. That means they are not eligible for the Home Improvement Programme yet and it is still a few more years to go. May I suggest that EASE be expanded, for example, the anti-slip treatment for tiles to be extended to also the kitchen, and not just one bathroom but both bathrooms in the kitchen; and the bamboo pole support holders to be included as part of EASE rather than HIP? There have increasingly been more residents asking for that in particular.
I thank the Member for her suggestions. We will take all these into account in the course of the comprehensive review.
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