Singapore's COVID-19 Response

Mr Speaker, I applaud Singapore's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as reviewed in the White Paper. In my speech today, I aim to support the White Paper, while highlighting a few areas – our healthcare workers, teachers, mental health and asatizahs.

Sir, it is important to take a moment to thank the frontline workers who have been instrumental in our success in mitigating COVID-19. Healthcare workers, in particular, have been on the frontline of this battle, working tirelessly to provide care and support to those who need it most. Their selflessness, dedication, hard work and sacrifice have inspired us all and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

However, there were reports of healthcare workers being subjected to verbal and physical abuse, online and offline; harassment and discrimination, due to fear and misinformation surrounding the pandemic. Such abuse is unacceptable and significantly impacts the mental health and well-being of our healthcare workers who were under immense pressure during the pandemic.

Therefore, I am glad that the Tripartite Workgroup for the Prevention of Abuse and Harassment of Healthcare Workers recently shared a set of recommendations that includes a zero-tolerance approach, effective reporting and escalation protocols and a support structure to report abuse and harassment. I hope that the recommendations can be implemented soon and practised, as we create a new norm. Let this be a new norm where abuse and harassment have no space in our society.

Sir, the pandemic significantly impacted the education system and our teachers were at the forefront. To me, they are as good as frontliners. I applaud the Government's stance to keep schools open and ensure that education continues.

Our teachers more than rose to the occasion to ensure that learning continued even under tremendous pressure. They had to quickly adapt to new teaching methods and find ways to engage their students in a challenging and constantly changing environment. They have demonstrated resilience and dedication to their students' education, ensuring that the next generation of leaders can thrive in a post-pandemic world.

During the pandemic, the sudden shift to online learning and the need to adopt new teaching methods became a burden to some teachers, especially when the Singapore Student Learning System (SLS) broke down intermittently. Parents became anxious and when the system failed, the teachers became anxious and came under pressure too. In that regard, we should consider setting up multiple online learning platforms, similar to SLS but different. Much like food resilience, we now want to have education resilience.

Training for both teachers and students should continue and we must encourage the usage of Home-Based Learning (HBL) as a new norm, especially for Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). This will sufficiently prepare our systems and human capabilities, if and when any other pandemic strikes.

Sir, teachers also shared how administrative duties, like attendance and contact tracing, bogged them down. Regardless, they understood the importance and went on to do any other additional jobs and duties. The Government must provide support and resources to teachers to help them navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic.

One resource available are actually the parents. This is where the parent-school relationship becomes important. We could enlist parent volunteers to help with the administrative or additional duties during a pandemic.

Thus, it is important that we begin to continually engage and recruit parents beyond the minimal service hours. Get them more involved in activities, like school games or events, and participate in pandemic scenario exercises.

Sir, the pandemic not only affected physical health, but also profoundly impacted the mental health of Singaporeans. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and stress, due to factors like social isolation, economic uncertainties and health-related factors.

I thank the Government for taking steps to address the mental health needs of Singaporeans, such as the formation of the Inter-Agency COVID-19 Mental Wellness Taskforce in October 2020 that later developed strategic recommendations for intervention and support.

Sir, the pandemic created barriers to accessing mental health care, with lockdown measures leading to the closure of some facilities and limited availability of services. We must identify ways to ensure such support continues during a high-anxiety period like the pandemic.

First is the formation of what I call a "Mental Health Community Emergency Preparedness Teams" comprised of residents, somewhat like the Community Emergency and Engagement committees that we now have in our community. In terms of emergency, the mental well-being circles must be able to transform, step up and take on bigger roles. This peer network must also leverage technology to connect residents online, so that the first level of mental health support is provided and remains accessible during a pandemic.

Second, is the creation of a central mental health op-centre to be activated only during the pandemic, to allow accessibility and channel to the many available resources that we have in the community. Sir, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for all Singaporeans. We have now left the pandemic behind, and we have progressed safely.

In the national struggle against COVID-19, the Malay/Muslim community made some important adjustments. Our asatizah, led by the Mufti and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) played an important role in our community. They calmly and astutely provided much-needed counsel during a difficult and unprecedented period.

Sir, here, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Mufti, the asatizah and MUIS for their leadership. Our religious leaders, after consulting with the Ministry of Health (MOH), had proactively provided guidance on how we can make adjustments to our religious life in order to be safe from COVID-19.

These include the closing of mosques before the circuit breaker period; the postponement of congregational prayers; the postponement of the Haj; and being unable to visit our parents and loved ones during the Hari Raya celebrations; as well as the limited prayer space in mosques.

I am grateful to the community for being understanding about the challenges at that time, supporting the decisions taken and cooperating with safe management measures to protect Singapore from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sir, we have emerged from this epidemic, as one Singapore.

As a stronger and more united people, and most importantly, one that is more caring towards each other. We made the necessary adjustments and showed a strong sense of togetherness, regardless of age, race or religion to overcome this epidemic as one nation.

In closing, I would like to express my deepest gratitude once again to all the those at the frontline, including our health workers, teachers and asatizah. With that, I thank you.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion. The White Paper on the COVID-19 Response is a fair assessment of how Singapore performed in its fight against COVID-19 and candidly stated certain areas to be improved, which I will elaborate upon in my speech today.

First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the healthcare workers, frontline essential workers and all those who have worked tirelessly to keep our communities safe during these challenging times. Your dedication, sacrifice and unwavering commitment to the well-being of our society, have not gone unnoticed and we extend our heartfelt appreciation to every one of you.

As we reflect on the past few years, it is important to acknowledge the challenges we have faced as a nation. In particular, I would like to address three areas that we could have done more to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

First, the need to build more resilient housing, especially for low-resourced and vulnerable households. Challenges in our housing structures and capabilities, especially in the case of 1- and 2-room flats, became even more apparent during the implementation of the Home Recovery Programme (HRP).

The HRP was made the default mode for managing COVID-19 cases, from 15 September 2021. Fully vaccinated individuals aged 12 to 50 years, with no or mild COVID-19 symptoms were advised to recover at home, without needing to visit a hospital or a community care facility. The transition proved frustrating for many Singaporeans. Some were unable to get through to MOH's hotline for instructions, while others who were not suited for home recovery faced delays in conveyance to recovery facilities.

For our resource-low households, particularly those living in 1- and 2-room flats, these challenges were amplified and experienced more acutely because of their space constraints.

During the Delta wave, our strategy pivoted from "zero-COVID-19" to "living with COVID-19". With the re-characterisation of the virus as a disease mild enough to recuperate at home, the directive that followed was for infected individuals to self-isolate within the confines of their homes.

However, for those living in 1- and 2-room flats, where there is only one bathroom and multiple dwellers share the same bedroom, self-isolation proved almost inconceivable and this drastically increased the risk of other household members contracting the virus. Having multiple members of a resource-low household contract COVID-19, leads to greater financial insecurity, as compared to middle- and higher-resource households.

While their ability to work is compromised, resource-low families often do not have access to work-from-home (WFH) alternatives and rely on a smaller pool of savings to tide them through periods of no work.

As a Member of Parliament of Zhenghua, I have first-hand experience of the challenges faced by such families, especially those living in our public rental flats. I was in constant communication with residents and appealed to the MOH team who did their best, given the situation, to assist them.

The limitations of our present homes in protecting residents in the face of a pandemic, especially in the case of 1- and 2-room flats, justifies a re-think of our minimum housing standards. Taking into account the challenges faced by households living in 1- and 2-room flats, due to constraints in living space, what must be done to fortify all housing types to ensure that they are resilient in future pandemics?

Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for businesses to work closely with the Government to ensure that essential services are not disrupted. During the pandemic, many businesses in Singapore worked with the Government to manage migrant workers' inflows at dormitories. This helped to ensure that essential services continued to be delivered.

Particularly, associations, such as the Dormitory Association of Singapore Limited (DASL), contributed significantly to managing the unprecedented situation in the dormitories. Were there useful lessons learned from these partnerships with DASL and the Singapore Contractors Association and has MOM put in place measures to better prepare for the next pandemic?

It is crucial to work with the trade associations (TAs) on pandemic response and establish pandemic-related SOPs and communication channels. This way, TAs will be ready with a pandemic response and there will be a clear line of communication with the Government to ensure the efficient cascading of information, both ways.

To tackle the possibility of such similar pandemics where the speed and scale of virus spread becomes unprecedented, is the Government looking to prepare pre-emptive policy coordination in the present state? Will these be included as one of the workstreams of the dedicated centre for public health and forward planning?

Lastly, I have received feedback from the business community that the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) rolled out during the pandemic to save jobs and spur hiring were, unfortunately, beset with instances of disbursement delays. In particular, Phase 5 of the JGI payout has caused some administrative pain for companies. Businesses shared that the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) conducts random checks to verify employment numbers. These checks involve specific documents, like employment details of certain employees, hours worked, work schedules and pay slips, and such reviews take up to six months.

In a particular case, since June 2022, no payouts for Phase 5 onwards have been made, although information for those phases have been asked for by IRAS and reviewed. This means that the review has taken close to 10 months. Upon further enquiry, IRAS was not able to provide the status updates and was not clear on whether the company was eligible for payouts or not. When asked about the delays, IRAS cited manpower shortages as the reason for the longer review, rather than any cause for concerns with the company's documentation.

Sir, businesses continue to be cash flow-driven and delays in payouts can make or break companies, especially in these cost-inflated times. Can the Government work towards ensuring that the disbursement process is better streamlined and efficient, without compromising on the necessary checks and balances?

This must certainly be challenging for civil servants involved too, so I do understand the operational constraints. So, any solution has to include the organisation being adequately resourced. It is important that these support measures are effective and accessible to businesses, when they need it the most. Therefore, I look forward to the review and some proposed pathways to making this better for all.

In conclusion, I have highlighted three important areas of focus in Singapore's response to COVID-19: first, ensure that our homes are resilient in the face of future pandemics and that resource-low households are safeguarded; two, work closely with TAs to prepare for future pandemics; and lastly, expedite the disbursement of Government support for businesses to save jobs and spur hiring.

Mr Speaker, the speeches by Members of the House have allowed us to reflect on our nation’s fight against COVID-19 and the lessons to prepare us for the next pandemic.

It was slightly more than three years ago when we first heard about a cluster of severe pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. No one could have imagined the prolonged impact that this would have on the world, our society and our economy.

Being in the Ministry of National Development (MND) and MOM at the onset of the pandemic, I witnessed how sectors, like construction, faced the risk of collapse if we did not intervene early to address disruptions to supply and foreign manpower; and business distress due to the pandemic and global border control measures.

I also vividly remember Prime Minister Lee's speech on our commitment to our migrant workers, for their role in building Singapore over the years. It was a powerful one – our migrant workers will be paid their salaries and that we will provide medical care and treatment that they need.

It was a bold and inclusive commitment that resonated and was very much appreciated by the workers. Members may recall seeing many videos of thanks from our migrant workers on social media then. During my rounds visiting the dormitories and in meetings, the High Commissioners and Ambassadors from our migrant workers' home countries conveyed their nations' appreciation for our efforts. Our swift actions and commitment showed Singapore to be a reliable and trusted partner.

Our migrant workers play an important role in building and maintaining Singapore’s infrastructure and I would like to reiterate our appreciation for all their contributions to Singapore and their trust, patience and understanding during the pandemic, as we worked to keep them safe during COVID-19 and manage the evolving situation.

Through this journey, we all learnt to be adaptable and resilient in overcoming the challenges before us. We rallied together – our people, the Public Service, private companies and civil society – to put the interests of our nation and others before our own and came through, as one united people.

In my speech, I will elaborate on managing the impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry; standing up emergency accommodation facilities for migrant workers and supporting their health and well-being; ensuring that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) maintained a high level of operational readiness; and adapting to adjustments to religious life by the Malay/Muslim community.

Mr Speaker, our built environment sector was one of the worst-hit sectors by the pandemic. Almost all construction work came to a halt during the circuit breaker period. Even after work resumed and the dormitories declared cleared of COVID-19, companies had to adjust their operations and adapt to new requirements, such as safe management measures (SMMs) at worksites. Companies faced manpower shortages, as they were unable to bring in new migrant workers, due to travel restrictions and border measures. And these led to project delays and significant cost increases to the sector.

Given the unprecedented challenges faced by the built environment sector, the Government intervened in a significant way. We introduced a $1.36 billion Construction Support Package to help companies ease back into work safely after the circuit breaker period and this came on top of the general support measures for all sectors.

We also provided companies with multiple rounds of Foreign Worker Levy rebates and waivers, as well as wage subsidies via the JSS. This relieved some of the burden from manpower costs and helped preserve jobs in the sector, including for locals.

We recognised that some companies would be unable to meet their contractual obligations and previously committed timelines, with the work stoppages and delays due to COVID-19. As such, we introduced the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, or COTMA, provisions to provide relief for defaulting parties, by putting in place a moratorium, during which legal obligations relating to inability to perform contractual obligations due to COVID-19 could not be enforced.

COTMA also provided a defence against claims for contract breaches, including liquidated damages in such instances. A universal Extension of Time of four months was granted for construction projects, to account for the circuit breaker and time taken to clear the dormitories.

We also recognised the need to ensure that no single party in the built environment value chain bore a disproportionate cost burden, arising from delays due to the pandemic. Hence, we inserted provisions in COTMA to facilitate equitable sharing of non-manpower prolongation costs and foreign manpower cost increases between project parties.

We also supported developers and end-users, such as home buyers. Developers whose projects faced construction delays could seek relief on the date of delivery of possession. Home buyers who were affected by extended delivery dates, could similarly seek reimbursement from the developer, for qualifying expenses.

Our TAs also played a pivotal role in addressing the acute manpower shortages. The Singapore Contractors Association Limited (SCAL), Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI) and Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) took the lead to pilot a tightened end-to-end process to bring migrant workers into Singapore safely.

This initiative involved integrating the testing of workers at dedicated onboarding facilities in their home countries, with protocols for them to stay safe from infection.

I thank SCAL, ASMI and ASPRI for their herculean effort in coordinating across multiple local and foreign companies in the healthcare and hospitality sectors and working closely with various public sector agencies, to facilitate the safe inflow of workers.

The pilot's success allowed us to scale up further to meet the manpower needs of the construction, marine and process industries, while safeguarding public health and our healthcare capacity.

The lessons learnt and experience gained from these initiatives will help to minimise future manpower disruptions in the next pandemic.

Today, our construction activities are now close to pre-COVID-19 levels. Firm formation and cessation numbers also point to a stable situation. I thank our TAs and all members of the built environment sector for their understanding, support and resilience, which has made this recovery possible.

The strong partnerships that we have forged over the past three years and the can-do spirit to overcome challenges will go a long way in preparing us for the next pandemic. Ultimately, what COVID-19 has taught us is that we need to transform the built environment sector towards greater resilience and productivity.

The Minister for Manpower had elaborated on the fight against COVID-19 in the dormitories yesterday and areas where we could do better.

To protect our migrant workers and reduce COVID-19 transmission within the dormitories, we brought together public agencies, private companies and NGOs to identify and stand up emergency accommodation facilities. Put together, they came up with adaptable and innovative solutions, often under tight timelines and resource constraints.

We repurposed a wide range of facilities into safe emergency accommodation facilities. These included cruise ships, floatels, hotels, as well as retrofitted state properties, such as multi-storey carparks, vacant schools and vacant HDB blocks. We also used port land and exhibition spaces, such as the Tanjong Pagar Port and Singapore Expo. We even used a vacant en bloc site, the former Chancery Court condominium, offered by the Far East Organisation.

Moving on to another group of partners, I will always be thankful for the support from our NGOs in providing care and support for our migrant workers throughout the pandemic.

I recall our many meetings and dormitory visits during the pandemic, where I felt heartened by their tireless efforts, especially during circuit breaker. They came together to forge new partnerships and coordinated efforts on the ground to meet the needs of our migrant workers in different ways.

The Migrant Workers' Centre, for example, quickly kickstarted initiatives to distribute masks, hand sanitisers, soap bars, shampoos, dental kits and other key essential items to all migrant workers in the dormitories, including those in smaller factory-converted dormitories and construction temporary quarters (CTQs).

We also had medical volunteers from NGO HealthServe, who helped to supplement the efforts of our medical teams on the ground.

As an inter-racial, inter-religious and inter-cultural organisation, Hope Initiative Alliance (HIA) played an important role in ensuring that the spiritual needs of our workers were met. They organised congregational prayers and religious services for our workers of different faiths in the dormitories and recreation centres. When workers were unable to return home during their festive holidays, HIA helped to spread cheer by distributing festive care packs and meals. Many of their volunteers came from Christian groups and I remembered them coming at 4.00 am in the morning to deliver breakfast during Ramadan and this was at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

If I had to share all our stories together on the ground, we would be here for quite a while. So, just let me just acknowledge our other NGOs who had made a difference in the lives of our migrant workers and helped as sounding boards for some of our policies and these include the development of the improved dormitory standards over the last three years.

Thank you, COVID-19 Migrant Support Coalition, Crisis Relief Alliance, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, It's Raining Raincoats, My Brother SG and The Salvation Army, for all your support.

Miss Rachel Ong spoke about how we should continue our close working relationship with our NGOs to sustain their outreach within the migrant worker community. The Alliance for Migrant Workers Support (AMWS) was initially set-up as an engagement platform with our NGOs during COVID-19. Moving forward, the AMWS will continue to be an important platform for us to come together to discuss how we can better support our migrant workers, work to improve policies affecting them as well as to build our capabilities to better coordinate the distribution of resources and respond quickly in the next pandemic.

The Minister for Manpower spoke yesterday on how the Government stood up the Inter-Agency Task Force and brought in the SAF and the Home Team to manage the COVID-19 situation in the dormitories. Despite the risks involved, we saw the unwavering dedication of these officers, including those deployed as part of the Forward Assurance and Support Teams (FAST). Allow me to share two inspiring examples.

Singapore Police Force (SPF) officer Station Inspector (SI) Sheik Ismail volunteered as a FAST officer at the S11 dormitory@Punggol, which saw the largest COVID-19 cluster. SI Sheik made sure that the workers' needs were met, helping them to talk to their employers about their salaries, ensuring that they stayed connected with their families and assisting them to remit money back home. What struck me was that SI Sheik went beyond the call of duty to lend a listening ear, taking the time to understand their fears and encouraging them to focus on their hopes and dreams.

Corporal (NS) Vinod, a Combat Medic with the 2nd Combat Support Hospital, was deployed to the EXPO Community Care Facility. He supported the operations to plan, monitor and deliver care to affected migrant workers. He shared that his In-Camp Training (ICT) has been "the most meaningful one" for him. He felt a strong commitment to "fight a different kind of war" in a hall filled with thousands of migrant workers with COVID-19.

Against an enemy that threatened to instil fear and destroy our way of life, Singaporeans from all walks of life, the Public Service, private sector, NGOs, volunteers and national servicemen, have indeed come together to "fight a different kind of war", each playing their part through Total Defence.

One of the key lessons from the pandemic is the importance of adaptability and the resilience of our infrastructure. The unprecedented scale and prolonged nature of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in overwhelming demand for quarantine housing and temporary accommodations.

Learning from this experience, public sector agencies are working to identify suitable facilities to meet possible crisis scenarios and better safeguard and operationalise sites for emergency needs. This includes exploring developing dual-use facilities to serve both peacetime and crises functions.

One way to do this is by retrofitting available and suitable state properties to be able to pivot from peacetime to crisis use when necessary. An example is the Quick-Built Dormitory at Sengkang West. It is currently used for new migrant workers to undergo residential onboarding and medical examination when they first arrived in Singapore. In the event of a pandemic, the Onboard Centre can be quickly converted into a dedicated facility for newly-arrived workers to serve their Stay-Home Notice.

Public sector agencies will also explore with private sector owners to potentially utilise a wide variety of private infrastructure for emergency housing. These include chalets, hotels, serviced apartments and exhibition spaces. One such example was how D'Resort@Downtown East was used as a Government Quarantine Facility.

The two new migrant worker dormitories that MOM will be operating in partnership with the private sector, will have enhanced liveability and adaptability features for both peacetime and future disease outbreaks. For example, there will be larger recreation spaces, such as multi-purpose and sports courts, which can be repurposed as medical facilities.

We are also looking at strengthening the resilience of key food distribution facilities, such as the Jurong Fishery Port and Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, against future emergencies and pandemics, as raised by Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

The Singapore Food Agency is carrying out upgrades to enhance the security, surveillance and access control systems of our key food supply facilities. This would allow for better contact tracing, in the event of a future disease outbreak and support the enforcement of control measures. Businesses should also continue to review and keep their business continuity plans relevant, to ensure supply resiliency at the company level.

Even as we continue to enhance the adaptability of our infrastructure, we need to maintain strong partnerships across the people, the private and the public sector. This will be instrumental to enable us to meet demands for quarantine housing and temporary accommodations in the next pandemic.

Let me take this opportunity to also address some of the matters relating to our workforce and workplaces during COVID-19, which were mentioned in some of the Members' speeches.

One concern was on the necessity of Workforce Vaccination Measures (WVM), raised by Ms Hazel Poa and Mr Yip Hon Weng. At that time, the virus was mutating and new variants, which were highly transmissible, were emerging; while time was needed to assess whether these new variants also put infected persons at a higher risk of severe disease. This was when we were still grappling with Omicron, by the way.

Unvaccinated individuals, especially those who are older, would have put themselves at risk of infection at the workplace. We were concerned that infected, unvaccinated individuals could be at risk of severe illness. There could also be significant added strain on our healthcare system.

The Government, therefore, decided that there was a need to put in place stronger measures at the workplaces to protect vulnerable and at-risk groups. These measures complemented the public health measures in the community, such as the vaccination-differentiated safe management measures (VDS).

In the Advisory on COVID-19 Vaccination at the Workplace, the tripartite partners made it very clear that dismissal is a last resort and employers should try to allow unvaccinated workers to work from home, including through redeployment. Following the lifting of the Workforce Vaccination Measures, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) had reached out to and offered employment assistance to such unvaccinated employees. Unvaccinated individuals can also approach WSG or e2i, if they require further assistance.

The lifting of the Workforce Vaccination Measures followed the relaxation of the VDS in April 2022. With the full lifting of the VDS in October 2022, if an individual feels that an employer is making vaccination-differentiated requirements without genuine occupational needs to do so, he or she may approach MOM or the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices for assistance. Since October 2022, there has only been a handful of complaints.

For the broader workforce, a key lesson from the pandemic is developing a strong Singapore Core and complementing it with a diverse foreign workforce, to ensure the resilience of our businesses and our economy. This was a point that Mr Saktiandi Supaat spoke about as well. Due to border restrictions during the pandemic, the total number of foreign workers fell from about 1.4 million in December 2019 to about 1.2 million in December 2021. However, the number has since recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels, as border restrictions were relaxed and employers tried to catch the upswing of economic recovery.

Even as we strengthen the complementarity of our foreign workforce and continue to attract global talent, international investments and companies, our focus on strengthening the Singapore Core in our workforce will remain.

We have developed Industry Transformation Maps and Jobs Transformation Maps, which include strategies to prepare our workers for higher value-added jobs in each sector. We have in place an ecosystem of programmes and schemes to prepare workers for jobs of the future, such as the Career Conversion Programmes and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme. We have also put in place various programmes to increase the global and regional exposure of locals to enable them to take up leadership positions in global firms.

By combining and complementing local and foreign expertise, we can grow the pie for Singapore and provide more good opportunities for all.

Mr Speaker, I spoke earlier about how the SAF contributed to Singapore's fight against COVID-19 in the dormitories. At the same time, more than 7,000 SAF personnel were deployed across operations – ranging from contact tracing, call centre operations, logistical support to medical operations.

While our nation grappled with and were fully focused on overcoming COVID-19, Singaporeans can be assured that the SAF kept up our security operations and maintained a high level of operational readiness to keep us safe from external threats. Critical SAF operations, such as maritime security, air defence, protection of key installations and counter-terrorism, continued round-the-clock even during the pandemic.

Our servicemen had to train in challenging conditions arising from pandemic restrictions. These conditions tested the SAF's grit, tenacity and resilience. But our people adapted quickly and quickly rose to the challenge.

To minimise infection risk, SAF implemented strict health and safety measures. These included vaccination, cohorting, safe distancing, reduction in training group sizes and COVID-19 testing regimes. Some personnel performing critical operations had to isolate themselves in camps and bases for days, to ensure that they were free from infection before they could start their duties. For many, this also meant sacrificing time away from their family and loved ones.

This made celebrations like Mother's Day during the circuit breaker period slightly different for our servicewomen.

Major Doris Sam, for example, an RSAF Air Warfare Officer, was isolated in base with her unit to ensure they were free from infection and could continue to safeguard Singapore's skies. This was the first time she was apart from her two-year-old toddler, Atlas, over a prolonged period. Despite the sacrifices required, Doris, like many fellow sons and daughters of Singapore, stayed true to her mission and continued to defend our home.

With the gradual easing of restrictions, the SAF progressively resumed training, often operating under conditions more strenuous than before the pandemic.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Singapore Navy participated in the SAF's first overseas training since the onset of COVID-19. This was for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, a multinational naval exercise.

The crew of the RSS Supreme embarked on one of their longest sails – 67 consecutive days on board the ship travelling across the Pacific Ocean. No shore leave. Vaccines were not available at that time, so they were in a COVID-19-safe bubble and had no interactions with anyone else apart from their fellow crewmates. The ship was reconfigured with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capabilities in the event that someone turned positive. Fortunately, the entire crew tested negative throughout their deployment and successfully completed the exercise.

One of them was Weapons Systems Cluster Chief Military Expert 3 (ME3) Suresh Subramaniam, a father of three. ME3 Suresh told me that he was thankful for his wife's support and assurance on the home front.

The SAF is grateful for the support from spouses and families of our servicemen and women, who also shared the belief on the need to uphold high standards of training amidst COVID-19 in the defence of Singapore to ensure our sovereignty and our way of life.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many groups who also kept Singapore going in different ways.

One such group is our public transport workers, as mentioned by Mr Melvin Yong earlier. They braved the virus every day to keep public transport services running. Some workers also volunteered to come back to work on their rest days to cover colleagues who were sick, especially when COVID-19 clusters were emerging among bus captains.

Taxi drivers supported the conveyance of travellers on Stay-Home Notice to their accommodation and COVID-19 positive patients to and from healthcare facilities.

Employers too, played their part. Public transport operators – SBS Transit, SMRT, Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore – adjusted shifts to ensure that their workers had sufficient rest while minimising impact on commuters.

At the height of the pandemic, platform operators and their workers also provided much-needed services: point-to-point transport, food and goods delivery.

The Government had earlier accepted the recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers to strengthen protections for platform workers, such as in areas of financial protection in case of work injury and for housing and retirement adequacy.

I echo Ms Janet Ang and Mr Melvin Yong's tribute and thank our public transport workers and operators, platform workers and operators, workers in the air and sea transport sector and many others in our fight against COVID-19. This was a whole-of-society effort, one filled with sacrifice, dedication and duty.

Mr Speaker, moving on to the Malay/Muslim community.

Our Malay/Muslim community, too, played an important role. The community had to adjust to the closure of mosques and suspension of congregational prayers, which Mr Sharael Taha and Dr Wan Rizal spoke about. While in circuit breaker, the community also had to observe Ramadan and Hari Raya away from their loved ones.

With the month of Ramadan upon us in just two days' time, there is much to be grateful for to be able to observe and pray together without COVID-19 restrictions.

I recognise that it has not been easy for the Malay/Muslim community or the Muslim community in general, including our religious leaders, because of the sacrifices needed over the past three years to battle and to overcome COVID-19. I thank our Malay/Muslim community for making adjustments to their religious and cultural practices and staying united with fellow Singaporeans to keep our country safe. Speaker, I will deliver the next segment in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] For many Muslims, the circuit breaker phase had been a very difficult period. We could not perform religious practices and obligations, such as our congregational Friday prayers. We also had to suspend prayers and other activities that were typically conducted during Ramadan, such as Terawih prayers at mosques.

But the community quickly adapted ─ performing their congregational prayers at home with their family. The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) also introduced online religious resources, such as SalamSG TV to support home-based Ramadan activities. In retaining traditions, the community also turned to online means to convey their well-wishes to family and loved ones for Hari Raya.

In 2020 and 2021, we also had to defer the annual Haj for Singaporean pilgrims. Singapore was among the first countries to do so, before other countries made similar decisions. This included Saudi Arabia who announced that the Haj would be limited to domestic pilgrims only, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Many pilgrims were saddened by this decision, especially because of the very long waiting time to perform the Haj. But the community understood the need to do so as it would not only protect our pilgrims, but those around them as well.

These measures would not have been possible without strong religious leadership of the Mufti, the Fatwa Committee and our asatizah, as well as the strong partnerships within the community.

Our religious leaders were astute in assessing the health risks and adjusting religious practices to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. These were difficult decisions that needed courage during our most trying moments to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Our religious leadership benefitted from the close partnership with our Muslim healthcare professionals, through the Malay/Muslim COVID-19 Working Group. This Group advised MUIS in developing the necessary precautionary measures and communicating the scientific reasons behind them to the general public.

For example, Dr Norhisham Main, the President of the Muslim Healthcare Professionals Association, alongside the Mufti, explained the closing of mosques and other changes to the community's socio-religious norms from a medical perspective during an interactive online talk show.

Through these adjustments, the community has shown its progressiveness – one that is able to make adjustments to their religious life, without compromising on religious tenets. I am proud that the community played an impactful role through a strong sense of citizenry, as displayed in our fight against COVID-19. Such contributions are important, particularly in our multi-cultural, multi-religious society.

I am also heartened that their contributions have been recognised by the international community as well.

Last year, our Fatwa Committee under our Mufti’s leadership was conferred the Al-Qarafi Award by the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide under the Dar al-Ifta in Egypt, for their leadership and contributions in guiding the community through the pandemic. This is more than just an award for Mufti and the Fatwa Committee, but also a recognition to the community who responded well to the adjustments that had to be made.

I am glad that the community continues to apply the lessons learnt and good practices from the pandemic. This builds our resilience, which will come in handy as we face future challenges.

For example, many mosques continue to offer multiple Friday prayer sessions. This was initially introduced in response to the reduced size for congregational prayers, but now provides more flexibility on the timing for individuals to perform their prayers.

In a few days, the Muslim community will enter the month of Ramadan. Three years ago, we observed Ramadan during the circuit breaker period. Since then, the community has overcome many things. As we return to normalcy, let us continue to build on the gotong royong spirit that we demonstrated during the pandemic, to build a united and resilient Singapore.

(In English): Mr Speaker, in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's national broadcast on 7 June 2020, just as Singapore emerged from the circuit breaker, the Prime Minister addressed Singaporeans that we faced "the crisis of a generation" and also expressed his hope that "an even stronger and better Singapore will emerge from this crisis".

Three years later and on this side of the crisis, I believe that this holds true. We can be heartened by how our people have shown resilience, adaptability and unity throughout the pandemic. I am confident that the lessons we have learnt will put us in good stead for the future and prepare us for the next crisis.

In June 2020, at the start of the pandemic, I began my speech on the Supplementary Budget with a verse from a song by the legendary band, Queen. That verse was, "Your every day is full of sunshine. But into every life, a little rain must fall."

Today, I would like to close this chapter with another verse, this time from another legendary band, The Beatles. It goes this way. You can also imagine Deputy Prime Minister Wong playing his guitar, strumming in the background. "Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright." [Applause.]

Mr Speaker, Sir, COVID-19 is known to be the most dangerous pandemic in more than a generation. Together with my fellow Parliamentarians, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all Singaporeans who have stepped forward and done their part to assist Singapore during the crisis.

Our nation's founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his team understood the importance of building up substantial national reserves for rainy days. Their vision saved Singapore, in more ways than one, during the pandemic. For a nation of 5.5 million people, $72.3 billion was spent to ensure that our economy will come through and survive the pandemic. These reserves provided our Government the ability to work fast and speed up purchases of essential supplies and vaccines. On top of that, Deputy Prime Minister Wong and his team was able to roll out essential assistance schemes to businesses for employers and the self-employed.

Needless to say, it is now time to replenish our reserves, in order for future generations to have that advantage during their rainy days. This White Paper captures the lessons to be learnt and as a nation, we know we must always be better prepared for the next crisis.

Singapore cannot be totally dependent only on a task force to resolve problems during a pandemic. We must look into preparing Singaporeans to manage daily concerns on the ground.

There were many groups of Singaporeans who made significant contributions during the pandemic. I would like to specifically acknowledge the contributions of two groups and, at the same time, highlight the realities facing us should we encounter another pandemic.

The outbreak in the migrant worker dormitories during the early months of the pandemic was at a near-tipping point, as the virus could have spread rapidly into the rest of our society. Not many are aware that there were about 200,000 migrant workers staying in more than 40 dormitories across the island. Our military and Police services took control, contained and stabilised the situation. The Joint Task Force (JTF) was quickly set up to contain the cases within the migrant worker dormitories. There were no vaccines then and these officers risked their own health and safety to be on ground. Some even contracted COVID-19.

During the circuit breaker, some officers had to stay in a hotel for fear of passing the virus to their families. Our nation depends on the SAF and SPF to protect us and to restore order.

Here is the reality. Will we still have these well-trained military and Police personnel during the next pandemic? Attitudes have been more distinct due to the fast-changing times that we live in. Younger Singaporeans are also re-evaluating their priorities. We need to be able to attract good people to join and maintain excellence in our military and Police services. Not to add fuel to fire, we do have an expedited falling birth rate.

The second group of people will be our grassroots network and volunteers. This network was built-up over the past five decades. This extensive and close-knitted network was able to help affected residents very quickly. They were responsible for distribution of masks, sanitizers, TraceTogether tokens and care packs, and so on.

Again, how do we ensure that we are able to continue having such support? How can we strengthen our grassroots networks and volunteerism, especially amongst the younger Singaporeans?

Mr Speaker, I would also like to speak up for three groups of Singaporeans who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While no fault of theirs, they have been severely or permanently impacted by the COVID-19 policies and restrictions. I hope to be able to appeal for more assistance to help these Singaporeans.

The mRNA vaccine is a very new technology and a small number of people developed severe reactions as a result of administering it. The first group consist of Singaporeans who suffered permanent injuries or deaths after taking the mRNA vaccines.

A resident residing in Sembawang West constituency lost her husband and brother due to heart attacks soon after they were administered the first dose of mRNA vaccines. Within a short span of time, she and her children had to deal with the sudden grief of losing of two loved ones. Coping with financial difficulties under such sad circumstances is extremely tough.

There were other examples of Singaporeans who suffered severe reactions, such as strokes, severe rash breakouts and so on. They shared their experiences with me during my Meet-the-People Sessions and house visits. It was also reported that a nurse was hospitalised for five months and was handicapped after recovery.

There may not be many such cases and there is not anyone to blame. However, we have to acknowledge what these innocent Singaporeans had to go through, how their families have been permanently affected and how much they had to suffer. Unfortunately, some of them did not receive any Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme compensation, for various reasons cited by MOH. They trusted the vaccines to protect themselves from the COVID-19 virus but, unfortunately, instead of being protected, they suffered. I hope the Government will look into ways to assist Singaporeans who had to go through such a painful experience.

The second group will be the workers and companies in the construction sector.

During the outbreak, strict SMM were imposed at the worksites. Workers had to be transported everywhere they went. Meal breaks were carefully scheduled and migrant worker dormitories had to be drastically reduced in capacity.

All these regulations changed how construction companies operate and productivity diminished due to the restricted construction work processes. As a result, many construction projects, including various Build-To-Orders (BTOs), were severely delayed.

Many workers left the construction industry during the pandemic. Many who left are not returning. There is now a real shortage of workers. The construction companies had to increase the salaries of workers quite significantly to avoid bigger financial losses arising from delays in project completion. In fact, some large-scale local construction companies, such as Greatearth, could not survive the cost pressures and had to close.

Many local companies are still struggling with the massive financial losses incurred during the pandemic. The rising costs of materials, utilities, fuel and high Certificates of Entitlement prices for their vehicles are not helping them to gradually recover. I do hope the Government will try to provide even more assistance to the local construction companies during this vital recovery phase.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I declare my interest as an employee working in Changi Airport. The third group that I would like to mention are workers and companies in the aviation industry.

Changi Airport was a ghost town when the borders were closed. At one point, our air hub's passenger traffic fell to less than 0.5% of pre-COVID-19 traffic. There used to be some 50,000 staff employed in Changi Airport pre-COVID-19. About one-third of the staff lost their jobs or got redeployed to other sectors. During the pandemic, the aircrew suffered significant pay cuts and some had to switch careers – like one airline pilot, Johnny Tan, who had to sell durians instead of being able to fly a plane.

In response to the fluid situation during the pandemic, the border control measures had to change every now and then. Airport staff working in the transit areas had to don PPEs, as they faced the highest risks of contracting the virus from arriving passengers. Similarly, aircrew risked their own health and safety, serving passengers who could be COVID-19-positive.

We are now almost back to pre-COVID-19 days, but our recovery has a different set of challenges. Over the last 10 months, passenger numbers rebounded from 2% to 80%. Companies are struggling to find staff who can be trained quickly in order to deal with the sudden surge. With the opening of the Chinese border, manpower demand will further increase. Manpower is a major problem. In addition, companies operating in Changi Airport will have to deal with the increase in utility cost, fuel cost, salaries, GST, carbon taxes and so on.

Changi is one of our most important strategic assets and being Skytrax's Best Airport comes with a price. That only means that we have to deliver and confront the challenges facing the aviation sector.

Mr Speaker, no country is immune to the trials and tribulations caused by the pandemic and the rapid-changing world. I hope that Singaporeans who have saved us from COVID-19 are celebrated, that we will continue to have such individuals to serve Singapore; and that the inadvertent impact and hardship suffered by various groups of Singaporeans will be addressed. I support the Motion.

Mr Speaker, Sir, 1,711 – this is the number of people in Singapore who had died of COVID-19 infections as of 31 December 2022 and as reported in the White Paper.

MOH estimated an additional 2,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic – that is above the expected number of deaths based on pre-pandemic trends. These individuals, not recorded in the official death toll for COVID-19, might have died of undiagnosed COVID-19 infections or COVID-19 could have worsened some underlying conditions, leading to their deaths.

All in, over 3,700 deaths, estimated – most of them older, with co-morbidities, underlying illnesses, many unvaccinated and they are most affected by COVID-19 infections. We will never know the exact number or all the names and the faces of every victim of this pandemic crisis.

Never had Singapore gone through a crisis that inflicted such a heavy toll on the lives of our fellow men and women since Independence. I think nothing even comes close. This is, indeed, the crisis of a generation.

And behind every passing, there were family members, loved ones, doctors and healthcare workers doing their best to comfort them, to save them. At MOH and, I am sure, in this House, we mourn their deaths and extend our deepest condolences to their families.

COVID-19 placed lives and livelihoods in very stark contrast – or, maybe more aptly put – it put in contrast your desire to survive and live vs what is the purpose of living.

This same challenge was faced by every country, every region, which is: how do you navigate out of this dangerous conundrum, regain your normal lives while protecting the lives of your people as much as possible?

Every country and region faced this challenge. And every one took their own or its own path – some by choice, others forced by circumstances. I would say how each country or region faired in this COVID-19 common challenge, essentially, boils down to the following three judgement calls.

First, whether through our decisions and, in the early stages of the pandemic, we effectively made hospitals the singular defence against the virus. Here, past experiences mattered.

Many countries in Europe or the Western Hemisphere – the Americas – deal routinely with influenza, including very severe winter seasons. The influenza playbook – they used that and it was proven to be inadequate for COVID-19. So, the virus spread widely, hospitals effectively became their singular defence, which became overwhelmed, leading to many deaths.

On the other hand, places like Singapore, South Korea, China, we had seen "ghosts" before. We had seen SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). We had the processes and capabilities in place and then we moved quickly to contain our initial outbreaks with stringent border measures, testing and isolation of cases, tracing and quarantining of individuals.

So, we used our entire public health arsenal and we succeeded in preventing our hospitals from being overwhelmed, especially in the initial stages of the pandemic before there were vaccinations.

If there was one thing the Prime Minister constantly reminded the MTF chairs, it was this golden instruction – protect our hospitals' capacity – and we took it all very seriously. Because when the entire weight of the country's health rests on hospitals, even if that was not the intention, it will not just be COVID-19 patients that die, but everyone who needs urgent medical attention can die.

In many countries, this was what happened. Doctors had to turn away patients who were very ill and they were all just waiting along the corridors. When a hospital bed or ventilator became available, the doctor had the heart-wrenching task of deciding – who do I save?

This judgement call – the careful husbandry of our hospital beds before the great majority of our population was vaccinated – is the primary reason why Singapore kept our COVID-19 mortality rate low.

The second judgement call has to deal with vaccination coverage. Most countries rolled out national vaccination programmes and they achieved varying levels of coverage and then resilience.

Those, if Members remember, were confusing times, because the vaccines were new and anti-vaxxers were out in full force, spreading falsehoods and half-truths to persuade people to avoid vaccinations. I know of friends who do not want to take the vaccines. But I think it is one thing to have a personal preference, and quite another to make it into a public campaign because that affects other lives.

I had to exercise my authority under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) when I judged that a circulating falsehood was misleading people into avoiding vaccines. The law was designed for such occasions, especially when lives are at stake.

It is worth stating in this House, again, that the weight of global evidence clearly shows that COVID-19 vaccines are effective and safe. Our latest MOH data shows that during the Omicron waves of 2022, vaccines lowered the probability of severe disease and deaths for the elderly by more than five times.

Do COVID-19 vaccinations have side effects? Definitely, they do. Dr Lim Wee Kiak, my colleague, always says, if a medicine has effects, it can have side-effects. A medicine without side effects has no effect.

We were clear and transparent and published the incidence of side effects every quarter. The incidence of severe adverse effects for the vaccines has been low – typically, five to seven per 100,000 – and a great majority recover on their own, without even going to the hospital. So, the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Fortunately, the great majority of Singaporeans and the public trusted our recommendations to take the vaccines. We achieved over 90% vaccine coverage and I thank the Workers' Party for supporting this very pivotal national effort to vaccinate our population.

This is our collective judgement, as a people, to achieve high vaccination coverage. And this is the other big reason why we could minimise the number of deaths due to COVID-19.

Then came the third judgement call – the tricky one – which is, having achieved high population immunity, when should we open up?

For many countries in Europe and America, after the virus had spread widely, with many people infected and many deaths, their population immunity was actually high and they could afford to open up early. So, in the course of the pandemic, many people also urged MOH and MTF – can you quickly open up like other countries in the West, in Europe, in the Western Hemisphere?

The desire is understandable, but they overlooked the key difference between us and them. They paid the price in human lives, which we refused to pay. We, along with a small handful of countries, managed the situation tightly, contained the spread of the virus and used the time to vaccinate as many people as possible.

Then, came a time to open up and you had to switch from one set of rules to another. You had to switch playbooks – from Queen to The Beatles, from a zero-COVID-19 policy to something closer to managing a bad influenza season. This was a major psychological leap for doctors, MOH and the society.

Countries adopted different timetables to this reopening. I think Australia probably went first. They took the first step, followed by Singapore. China only recently opened up.

Looking back, in all three decisive moments of judgement, I think we, collectively, made the right calls. Despite this, COVID-19 has been a humbling experience. We have a duty to learn from the crisis and ensure that those whose lives were lost to COVID-19, did not pass in vain. It will not be in vain. We have translated the trials and tribulations of the pandemic into six areas of improvements, to better prepare Singapore for the next pandemic.

Sir, for the rest of my speech, I will go through each of these areas. The White Paper had mentioned them briefly but I will elaborate.

First, we will strengthen our hospital capacity.

Our healthcare system was severely tested during the pandemic. At one point, we were monitoring bed availability, capacity, caseloads almost by the hour, to detect any signs of imminent collapse. Fortunately, we had the SMMs in place; we had high coverage of vaccinations, which protected our hospitals.

At that time, many questions were asked, including in this House: why did we not plan for more hospital capacity in anticipation of the pandemic crisis? At that time, I was asked: if we did, we could have relaxed the SMMs.

This would not be a realistic course of action. To illustrate, even with vaccinations and SMMs, at the peak of the Delta wave in 2021, we had almost 1,300 patients hospitalised, 140 in ICU. If we had relaxed the SMMs, the number, I think, would have easily doubled, probably tripled.

This is equivalent to three or four full general hospitals set aside as spare capacity during peacetime, waiting for a surge and then be deployed. So, it is just not realistic to set aside so much spare capacity.

So, we should not size the healthcare system to take on the full brunt of the next pandemic. This pandemic has taught us that true resilience must not come from just adequate infrastructure, but also from our social resilience – our collective behaviour.

That said, with delays in our infrastructure development due to COVID-19 and rising hospital workload post-crisis, our healthcare system today is less resilient than ideal. Dr Wan Rizal and Mr Gerald Giam raised concerns in this area, which I agree with, especially the stress that it is giving our healthcare workers.

Our public hospital bed occupancy has risen, from a pre-COVID level of 87.6% in 2019, to 93.1% in 2022. It has gone up by almost six percentage points. This is largely driven by patients staying longer in hospitals. From an average of 6.1 days in 2019, to seven days in 2022. So, that increase alone explained for all the increases in occupancy.

Why is that so? Because we are seeing more older patients with complex conditions and they need to stay longer in hospitals. So, the percentage of senior patients aged 65 and above has risen from 39% in 2019 to 43% now, that is, 2022.

Many of them are frail and with co-morbidities and we also found an increasing number being hospitalised because of other viral infections. Not COVID-19 but other viral infections, respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia.

We cannot rule out that this could be after-effects of being infected with COVID-19 for some, or it could be a rebound of other forms of infections post-crisis and, during the crisis, suppressed. Once masks are removed, we go back to the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) Green, they rebounded. It may also simply be a result of our population ageing very rapidly.

As I have explained to this House, MOH is doing many things to address this. I will not repeat them today and this includes the recent announcement to strongly protect our healthcare workers against abuse and harassment.

However, a post-crisis initiative, which I have yet to explain, is the Transitional Care Facilities (TCFs).

TCFs are for medically-stable patients from public hospitals waiting for long-term care arrangements, such as going to a nursing home or going for home care. During the pandemic, we set up 500 TCF beds across five sites operated by five private sector healthcare providers.

The TCFs have proven to be very useful. They are very well-utilised and it is as good as adding 500 more beds to our acute hospitals.

We have, therefore, decided that TCFs will become a medium or even long-term feature of our healthcare system. We will retain the current facilities, including continuing to use Changi Expo Hall 9 primarily as a TCF. We have about 200 beds there. I thank MTI for sacrificing some exhibition space for MOH.

Today, we do not have a TCF in the West and we will start one there in the next few months, in close proximity to the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. We will also continue to expand the community and step-down care sector, such as community hospitals and nursing homes.

Now, let me move to the second area of improvement, which is, we will boost our pandemic preparedness and response. This means having the capability to quickly understand what this virus or pathogen we are dealing with is, and then what actions to take.

When dealing with any infectious disease, we, generally, need to understand six key characteristics in order to formulate the right response. COVID-19 really helped us boil down to these six important characteristics.

One, how it spreads – for example, between persons in close proximity; or is it airborne through aerosol. Two, the length of its incubation and infection periods. Three, R0 or reproduction number, which is a measure of its infectiousness. Four, how deadly it is. Five, who are the vulnerable groups? For example: is it seniors, children, or both? Spanish flu, for example, affects young children especially. And six, how to treat and prevent it.

Without good answers to these six basic questions, we will be fighting in the dark and, most likely, end up fighting the last war. As Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Yip Hon Weng have pointed out, we need strong public health scientific and research capabilities to quickly assess these key characteristics.

That is the objective of PREPARE. It stands for the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response that I launched in November last year. This is our national epidemic R&D plan and a major initiative arising from the crisis.

It will also strengthen our international pandemic research partnerships – to build a network of partners and allies to play our part in strengthening global surveillance of emerging pathogens.

We will leverage the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). GISAID played an instrumental role during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a global non-profit platform for open sharing of genomic data of viral pathogens and, today, it is the world’s largest repository of SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Singapore will work closely with GISAID, and they have established a base here in collaboration with A*STAR.

After we understand the characteristics of a dangerous pathogen, what do we do with the information?

Having gone through SARS, H1N1 and the various phases of COVID-19, we have developed a range of responses. The characteristics of the pathogen will determine our response.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong mentioned this briefly in his opening speech yesterday, but let me elaborate a little. Mr Speaker, Sir, can I show a chart on the screen please?