Public safety & law — Topics

20 Mar 2023

Number of Foreign Students Caught Working Illegally in 2022 and Actions Taken against Hiring Companies

In 2022, 38 foreign students holding a Student’s Pass were caught working illegally, all of whom were warned and had their passes cancelled while being barred from working in Singapore.
The 21 companies that illegally hired these students faced enforcement actions, including 11 stern warnings, nine composition fines, and one prosecution.
Foreign students may only work up to 16 hours per week if enrolled in a recognized institution or during approved industrial attachments, otherwise they require a valid Work Pass.

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20 Mar 2023

Awareness on Spotting Signs of Abuse in Schools

The Minister of State for Education highlighted that student safety is a top priority, with Character and Citizenship Education lessons teaching students how to protect themselves from abuse and encouraging them to seek help from trusted adults.
Schools have established peer support structures to encourage students to look out for one another and report distress to adults, alongside providing resources and community helplines.
The Ministry for Social and Family Development has introduced tools like the Sector-Specific Screening Guide and Child Abuse Reporting Guide since 2015 to assist schools in handling abuse cases, with school leaders collaborating with counsellors and welfare officers to report suspicions to Child Protective Services.

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20 Mar 2023

Child Protective Service's Procedures for Suspected Child Abuse Cases Reported by Schools

The Child Protective Service investigates suspected child abuse based on reasonable grounds under the Children and Young Persons Act, using phone or video calls for initial assessments and conducting in-person assessments when there are immediate safety concerns or uncooperative caregivers.
MSF promotes public awareness through campaigns, helplines, and school education to help detect abuse, especially for children who may not have direct access to reporting channels.
Parliament members highlighted concerns about timely intervention, such as in-person home visits, and suggested improvements like anonymous reporting or peer support, with MSF noting ongoing reviews and expanded reporting options like an online text-based channel.

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20 Mar 2023

Sociological Factors Linked to Trend of Teens Being Detained Under Internal Security Act

Mark Chay asked if the Ministry has identified sociological factors like broken homes common to teens detained under the Internal Security Act and what proactive steps are being taken against radicalisation within this group.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs responded that no common sociological factors were observed, but highlighted youths’ exposure to online extremist content and their adolescent developmental vulnerabilities as key factors.
The Internal Security Department collaborates with other agencies and community partners on upstream outreach, including nearly 70 events in 2022 reaching over 2,300 participants such as students, educators, and counsellors.

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20 Mar 2023

Naming of Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern when Being Investigated for Giving False Evidence in Judicial Proceedings while Keppel Offshore & Marine Senior Staff were Not Named

Minister Shanmugam explained that the names of Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern were disclosed during an ongoing police investigation due to their alleged absconding and the significant public interest in the Oxley Road matter, similar to prior cases like Karl Liew where court findings of dishonesty were involved.
He contrasted this with the Keppel Offshore & Marine case, where the six former management staff were not named because the investigation could not lead to charges due to insufficient evidence from overseas, and the general policy is not to disclose names unless specific exceptions apply.
The Minister emphasized that disclosure decisions are based on a careful assessment of public interest, potential prejudice to individuals, and whether the facts are already in the public domain, as seen in the court rulings against the Lees.
Supplementary questions raised concerns about fairness, the lack of a formal police order to the Lees, and whether the disclosure prejudiced due process, to which the Minister responded that prejudice was minimal given the existing public court findings.

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6 Mar 2023

Lessons on Dangers of Online Scams and Plans to Expand Financial Literacy Programmes in Schools

Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Ministry of Education about lessons on online scam dangers and whether financial literacy programmes will be expanded to cover banking services and safe online banking habits.
Chan Chun Sing explained that schools already teach scam awareness through Character and Citizenship Education, Food and Consumer Education, and Social Studies, focusing on evaluating online information, recognising scams, and understanding cybersecurity risks.
The Ministry also uses the Singapore Student Learning Space for self-paced financial literacy lessons and collaborates with agencies to promote anti-scam messages in schools and higher learning institutions.
The response emphasised that while school programmes are in place, public education for adults remains necessary as scams evolve.

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6 Mar 2023

Plans to Curtail Cross-border Scams Given Ease of Money Transfers through Real-time Payments

The Government plans to balance the benefits of faster, cheaper cross-border payments with stricter anti-scam controls, such as lowering transaction notification thresholds and daily transfer limits for real-time transfers.
Internationally, Singapore collaborates with counterparts like the Asset-Recovery Interagency Network-Asia Pacific and INTERPOL to exchange information, conduct joint operations, and disrupt cross-border scam syndicates.
MAS and the Singapore Police Force will continue working with the financial industry to monitor scam trends and enhance anti-scam measures as needed.

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6 Mar 2023

Trend of Youths Radicalising via Gaming, Chat and Social Media Platforms

Youths in Singapore are increasingly radicalised via gaming, chat, and social media platforms, with 11 self-radicalised youths aged 15–20 detained or placed under restriction orders since 2015, up from only one in the previous period.
The government has strengthened counter-radicalisation measures, including blocking extremist websites, empowering authorities to disable terrorist content on social media, and preparing new legislation to combat online criminal harms and incitement.
Community and family engagement is central to prevention, with agencies like the Religious Rehabilitation Group and the Ministry of Education conducting outreach, counselling, and awareness sessions to build resilience among youths and their families.
Early reporting by family, friends, or the public is encouraged through hotlines and apps to enable timely intervention, which may involve counselling rather than detention for those in early stages of radicalisation.
Authorities acknowledge it is impossible to block all extremist content online due to the vastness of the internet, so they focus on raising public awareness and operational capabilities to counter evolving threats.

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3 Mar 2023

Preventing Extremist Ideologies and Radicalisation from Propagating in Online Gaming Platforms

The Minister for Communications and Information outlined Singapore's zero-tolerance approach against extremist ideologies, noting the Online Safety Act empowers the Infocomm Media Development Authority to disable access to terror-related content, with plans to extend these levers to online gaming platforms like Roblox.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is introducing legislation to combat online criminal harms, which will cover content inciting terror activities across all online communication mediums, including games accessible via app stores.
A whole-of-society strategy involves community outreach through movements like SGSecure and organizations such as the Religious Rehabilitation Group to raise awareness and build resilience against radicalization, emphasizing that government regulations must be supported by community and family efforts.

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3 Mar 2023

Cases against Holders of Work Permits for Performing Artistes and Their Top Three Offences

Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Home Affairs for statistics on criminal cases involving holders of Work Permits for performing artistes over the last three years, including numbers reported, prosecuted, and convicted, as well as the top three offences.
K Shanmugam responded that the Police do not track data on offences specifically by holders of Work Permits for performing artistes.
The debate highlighted the lack of specific data available for this group of permit holders.
No further details on offences or statistics were provided in the exchange.

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3 Mar 2023

Outcome of Illegal Multi-level Marketing Scheme Cases

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin inquired about the number of illegal multi-level marketing cases referred to the Commercial Affairs Department and their prosecution outcomes over the last five years.
The Minister for Home Affairs, K Shanmugam, stated that the police do not track cases referred but only those investigated where an offence is disclosed.
Between 2018 and 2022, the Commercial Affairs Department investigated one case under the Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act, with investigations still ongoing.
Ten individuals were convicted for offences under the MLM Act during this period, though these convictions stemmed from investigations that began before 2018.
The response highlights that case tracking is limited to investigations rather than referrals, with specific prosecution numbers provided for the period.

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3 Mar 2023

Training for Service Staff at Telecommunications Companies to Spot Possible Scams Targeted at Customers from Vulnerable Groups

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim raised a case where an intellectually disabled adult was scammed into signing multiple telco contracts, prompting a question on safeguards for vulnerable groups.
The Senior Minister of State outlined existing IMDA regulations requiring telco staff to verify identities and explain contracts, alongside public education programmes like Seniors Go Digital.
The Minister agreed to work with telcos to review and potentially enhance frontline staff training to identify red flags and prevent scams targeting vulnerable individuals.

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2 Mar 2023

Forgery of In-principle Approval Letters for Employment Purposes

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Ministry of Manpower for data over the past five years on investigations, convictions, and stern warnings for forging in-principle approval (IPA) letters for employment.
From 2018 to 2022, MOM received 70 reports of forged IPA letters, typically involving overseas agents who alter employment terms like salary before providing the forged letters to migrant workers.
One employer was convicted for forging an IPA letter during this period, while the overseas perpetrators often remain beyond MOM's enforcement reach.

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2 Mar 2023

Disqualification Orders against Animal Cruelty Offenders Owning Animals

Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development for the number of disqualification orders issued against animal cruelty offenders over the past five years and the average and median lengths of these orders.
Desmond Lee provided data from 2018 to 2022 on the number of disqualification orders issued and a breakdown of the disqualification periods.

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2 Mar 2023

Enhancing Penalties for Suppliers of E-cigarettes

Yip Hon Weng asked the Ministry of Health whether it will consider enhancing penalties for suppliers of e-cigarettes to better deter sales in Singapore.
Ong Ye Kung stated that under the Tobacco Act, first-time offenders face fines up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to six months or both, while repeat offenders face fines up to $20,000 or imprisonment up to 12 months or both.
The Ministry of Health is monitoring e-vaporiser use trends and holistically reviewing strategies, including penalties, enforcement, and education, to reduce demand and supply.
The ministry will continue collaborating with partner agencies to curb and prevent e-vaporiser use.

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2 Mar 2023

Probation Period Imposed on Children and Young Offenders

Louis Ng asked for data on the average and median lengths of probation, the number and percentage of reoffenders, and the top three offences for probation among children and young persons over the past five years.
The Minister stated that from 2018 to 2022, the median probation length was 21 months, with the top three offences being theft, voluntarily causing hurt, and housebreaking.
During the same period, about 9.5% of youth probationers, or seven youths, reoffended while on probation, leading to the revocation of their orders.

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2 Mar 2023

New Admissions to Remand Homes and Places of Detention Living in Public Rental Flats

Louis Ng asked the Ministry for Social and Family Development for the percentage of children newly admitted to remand homes and places of detention who lived in public rental flats over the past five years, and whether the Ministry would collect this data if unavailable.
The Ministry responded that the Singapore Boys' Home and Singapore Girls' Home serve as remand homes and places of detention for children and young persons.
The Ministry provided data that, on average, about 28% of newly admitted children and young persons between 2018 and 2022 lived in public rental flats.
The Ministry did not explicitly state whether it intends to collect such data if it is unavailable, but it provided the requested statistics.

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2 Mar 2023

Cause of Breakdown of State Courts' Online Case Management System

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Law about the cause of the hardware failure that disrupted the State Courts' online case management system for over two days and the steps to prevent recurrence.
The disruption in February 2023 was caused by a hardware failure at the centralized hosting centre for ICMS servers, leading to database errors, but the database was fully recovered with no data loss.
The State Courts are investigating the incident and will address root causes upon completion, while also pursuing improvements to minimize future disruption risks.

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2 Mar 2023

Frontline Police Officers Trained to Identify and Handle Persons with Mental Health Challenges

Leon Perera questioned the number of frontline police officers trained to handle persons with mental health challenges, the indicators used to measure training effectiveness, the frequency of refresher courses, and whether Standard Operating Procedures are based on diagnostic guidelines like DSM-5.
K Shanmugam stated that over 3,000 officers have undergone mental health awareness training with assessments to evaluate their competencies.
He clarified that Standard Operating Procedures do not include diagnostic guidelines, as officers are not trained to diagnose but to identify signs and refer individuals, such as those with suicidal tendencies, to professional teams like the Institute of Mental Health’s crisis response.

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2 Mar 2023

Accuracy of E-book’s Representation of the Signing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will

The e-book "The Battle Over Lee Kuan Yew's Last Will" has been criticized for inaccurately representing the circumstances of the signing, as established by the Disciplinary Tribunal and the Court of Three Judges in findings of professional misconduct against Mrs Lee Suet Fern.
Official proceedings found that Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern misled Mr Lee Kuan Yew regarding the will's execution and lied under oath, leading to Mrs Lee Suet Fern's suspension from legal practice.
The Senior Minister stated the e-book ignores these judicial findings and instead exonerates the individuals involved, which is considered misleading and contrary to the established facts.
Police have begun investigations into potential false evidence offenses, but Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern refused to participate and have left Singapore, prompting questions about their cooperation.
The government emphasizes the seriousness of the findings and urges the individuals to engage with investigations to clarify their position.

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