Debated in Parliament on 21 Oct 2013.
Mr Laurence Lien asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in view of Singapore being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child, whether the Government will consider (a) covering youths between ages of 16 and 18 under the Children and Young Persons Act; (b) setting the age of criminal responsibility of children at above seven years old; (c) prohibiting corporal punishment in institutional settings; and (d) improving access to health care and education for all children who are stateless or who have a Singaporean parent but are foreign citizens.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as below 18 years of age. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, a child or young person is a person aged below 16 years.
Notwithstanding the different legal age definitions, Singapore is committed to protecting and rehabilitating children and young persons, including those above 16 years old. There are legislative provisions to protect older youth. For example, the Penal Code provides protection against commercial sexual exploitation for all persons below 18 years of age and the Women's Charter provides protection for girls and women who are or may be sexually exploited. For older youth who commit an offence, there are services and programmes in place that take a restorative instead of a punitive approach. These include court diversionary measures that redirect first-time young offenders up to 19 years who commit minor offences to voluntary rehabilitation programmes, and alternative sentencing options, such as Probation and Community Service
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orders.
Although the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Singapore is seven, children below 12 years of age will not be considered to have committed an offence if they are judged to be of insufficient maturity to understand the consequences of their conduct.11 The main priority for very young offenders is to provide early intervention to prevent their behaviour from escalating to serious delinquency. Rehabilitation options are available in both the community and in residential settings, depending on the needs of each child.
Corporal punishment in correctional institutions and in schools is sparingly used and for very serious offences only. It is meted out only as a last resort after counselling and alternative disciplinary methods have repeatedly failed. There are clear procedures in place for meting out caning, to safeguard the safety and longer-term mental and physical well-being of the child. The punishment is usually followed up with counselling to help the offenders/students learn from their mistakes, accept the consequences and learn that they must take responsibility for and control their actions.
Foreign children with a Singapore parent can currently apply to be educated in local or international schools and access healthcare services. They, however, do not enjoy the same level of healthcare and education subsidies as citizen children. Families in such circumstances can take steps to apply for Singapore citizenship for the child or formalise parental rights so as to secure care arrangements in the best interests of the child.
PAPERCUTS