Maintenance of Parents (Amendment) Bill

Mr Seah Kian Peng.

Mdm Deputy Speaker, I beg to move*, "That leave be given to introduce a Bill intituled 'An Act to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995'", or MPA, in short.

*The Motion also stood in the names of Mr Murali Pillai and Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Twelve years ago, I led a Working Group comprising about 10 members and we tabled the 2010 Maintenance of Parents (Amendment) Bill.

We introduced the conciliation-first approach to help elderly parents and their children resolve maintenance disputes out of Court. This was a major change as they used to apply directly to the Tribunal for the Maintenance of the Parents for an order, for their children to pay them maintenance. This tended to worsen the already strained family ties.

The conciliation-first approach has seen positive results. Since its implementation in March 2011, about 90% of the claims referred annually to the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents were settled at conciliation. Consequently, the number of elderly parents who applied to the Tribunal has dropped significantly from 183 in 2010 to 110 within the first year of implementation. The applications dropped steadily over the years, have now stabilised and number at around 30 per year.

It is timely to review the MPA. So, I formed a nine-member Work Group comprising of Parliamentarians here. We formed this group more than a year ago and we have completed our deliberations and review.

My Work Group's key thrust is to strike the right balance in strengthening provisions for parents while introducing measures to prevent its misuse. Our recommendations are two-fold.

First, we propose to amend the MPA to enhance the powers of the Tribunal and the Commissioner in ensuring that neglected elderly parents are adequately supported.

Second, we propose to put in place new processes to prevent the misuse of the MPA by parents who have abandoned, abused or neglected their children and did not fulfil their parental duties. In so doing, we also protect and spare their children from unnecessary distress.

We conducted two rounds of public consultation in January and November last year with citizens, stakeholders and professionals from the social and legal sectors. We also had an online survey as part of our consultative process.

All said, there was general support for the proposed amendments.

Mdm Deputy Speaker, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved, "That leave be given to introduce a Bill to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995."

Who is prepared to introduce the Bill?

I am, Madam.

Please proceed.

Mdm Deputy Speaker, I beg to introduce a Bill intituled "An Act to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995."

Bill read the First time.

Second Reading, what day?

At the next available Sitting, Madam.

So be it. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Orders of the Day.