Debated in Parliament on 8 Jan 2025.
Mr Desmond Choo asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry what is the Ministry's assessment of the impact that the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link will have on retail, services, manufacturing industries and the commercial rental market in Singapore; and (b) how will the job market be affected.
Sir, I refer the Member to the written response that Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong had issued yesterday to Mr Lim Biow Chuan's Parliamentary Question (PQ), Question No 72 listed in yesterday's Order Paper, which also addressed the matters raised in the PQ filed by Mr Desmond Choo. I would be happy to address any supplementary questions Members may have on the topic.
Ms Hany Soh.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply and I have also referred to Deputy Prime Minister's reply.
While we recognise the convenience that we can envisage with the rolling out of the Rapid Transit System (RTS), I think I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the concerns that we have often heard from merchants in the Woodlands area – particularly, in my ward, it will be from Woodgrove's Fuchun Neighbourhood Centre and also the 888 Plaza.
Long gone are the days where they welcome Malaysian travellers to come and the businesses actually prospered along with the transport networks that bring benefits for both sides. But at this point in time, their concern is that it would only benefit one side.
I recognise that there are agencies that are already working on the ground to support the merchants in a way to improve their business operations. My suggestion is for the Ministry to look at it in a more macro manner, where it is also about improving the public transport networks overall, making it more attractive and also, for example, in terms of the recreation facilities and even things in relations to hawker centres – the food that we sell, the overall shopping experience that may actually attract the Malaysian travellers that come to Singapore, to also consider shopping around the Marsiling area, the Woodgrove area and also the Woodlands area to begin with, before taking the other public transports to other parts of Singapore.
So, I hope that the Minister can look into this to engage the other Ministries in a more comprehensive manner.
Sir, I thank Ms Hany Soh for her suggestions. Indeed, the Government will take those into account. There are already a few existing plans: Enterprise Singapore is working with the neighbourhood centres, for example, to upgrade; and there are plans to upgrade Fuchun Neighbourhood Centre, for example. In fact, five neighbourhood centres in Woodlands have been upgraded under the Housing and Development Board's Remaking Our Heartland's programme. I also encourage the grassroots advisor, and particularly, Ms Hany Soh, to work with us to encourage the heartland enterprises to make use of many of the different schemes – heartland merchandising improvement schemes, place-making grants, and in fact, also the Heartland's Enterprise Centre Singapore – to increase their marketing ability and to increase their competitiveness. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister of State for Trade and Industry", Official Report, 8 January 2025, Vol 95, Issue 149, Correction By Written Statement section.]
So, we thank Ms Hany Soh for her suggestions and we look forward to working with her on some of these in due time.
Last supplementary question. Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
Sir, I do not think it is just the heartland shops in the Woodlands area that are going to be affected. The RTS will allow many Singaporeans to cross over to JB to do their shopping. As it is, that is already happening almost practically every weekend.
So, my question to the Ministry of Trade and Industry is what other plans do we have to help not just the heartlanders, but also the entire retail industry in Singapore. Because this will have a big impact on all retail industries within Singapore, as the goods in Johor are really much cheaper.
Sir, I thank Mr Lim Biow Chuan for his supplementary questions. Singapore is a geographically small country. Johor and Singapore have complementary strengths. Singapore has a strong financial centre, we have headquarters located here. Johor's complementary strengths are their workforce, as well as the larger hinterland, as well as the larger geographical area.
So, this is not just confined, as Mr Lim Biow Chuan had mentioned, to the northern parts, but many of the initiatives, including heartland place-making grants, are available to all heartland enterprises across the country. That is one.
Second, neighbourhood upgrading plans across the country, not just confined to the north, is also underway, and there will be more plans that Government will announce in due time. But, if you also look at the Community Development Council vouchers that we have launched and most recently last Friday, these are also meant to help supplement residents' spending needs, but also to help to augment businesses in the heartlands as well.
So, we are looking at this comprehensively and we look forward to working with Members to enhance competitiveness for businesses, not just in the north, but across Singapore.
PAPERCUTS