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END
OF FY RUSH TO SPEND
Suggestion
It seems that there is a rush by many
Government agencies to expend fully their annual budgets
just before the end of the FY, even though the spending
may be wasteful and unnecessary. Would it not be possible
to allow the unspent funds to be brought forward over
different FYs?
Reply
Thank you for sharing your concerns.
It used to be that budgets were indeed
heavily influenced by the previous year's expenditure,
so that it did make sense for departments to rush to
spend all they had before the end of each Financial
Year. But this is no longer the Ministry of Finance's
approach to budgeting. Budgets today are allocated based
on the state of the economy. If the GDP is expected
to go up, and thus revenues increase, more is allocated.
If the GDP is expected to go down, and thus revenues
reduced, less is allocated. It is required under the
Constitution that expenditures over the term of the
government cannot exceed revenues.
Although budgets are allocated based
on expected GDP growth, this may not be obvious to the
casual observer. The reason is that the budgets are
based on the GDP for the Financial Year projected at
the end of the previous calendar year. This is necessary
for the budget to be prepared in time for the Budget
Debate in Parliament in February/March each year. Yet
the actual budget may turn out to be quite different,
as has happened in recent years with unexpected events
like the Asian financial crisis, the volatility in the
US economy, the Iraq War, SARS, and so on.
Once the budget is approved by Parliament,
the Ministry of Finance will generally not cut back
the budget if the economic forecast deteriorates later
in the year, unless the circumstances are dire. This
is because many contracts would have been committed
and plans executed. Besides, a significant pullback
of government expenditure could exacerbate the economic
downturn. In fact, the tendency in recent years has
been for government to provide additional funding in
off-budget measures to help the public and businesses
cope with the decline.
Your suggestion for greater flexibility
in the utilisation of Ministries' budgets is already
possible under our current framework. The Ministry of
Finance has introduced new practices which make the
forced spending at the end of each Financial Year both
unnecessary and inappropriate.
First, there is an automatic rollover
to the following year of unspent budgets up to 5% of
the total budget. This means there is no necessity to
rush to spend all the budget money before the end of
the Financial Year, because the sums not spent by the
ministry in one year will be available to the ministry
the next year, over and above its normal provision.
Second, ministries which do not need
all the money for one year can elect not to include
the excess in the year's budget, but carry forward the
excess for the next 3 years.
Thus, with proper budget planning and
administration, there is no need to rush to spend at
the end of each Financial Year, as the amounts not needed
can still be available the next year, or even the next
3 years.
Nevertheless, it has to be recognized
that expenditures in the last quarter of each Financial
Year will tend to be greater than in all the earlier
quarters. This will naturally result from conservative
management of expenditure budgets. Where it is necessary
to spend on an item, but there is some flexibility on
timing, it makes sense for the ministry or statutory
board to delay its expenditure in the earlier part of
the Financial Year, as it can never be sure what urgent
expenditures might become necessary in the later part
of the year. But when the risk of unexpected events
becomes less towards the end of the Financial Year,
the ministry or statutory board can then proceed to
purchase the items which were not so urgent time-wise,
but still necessary.
Even so, we agree completely with you
that unnecessary expenditures should not be made, and
that it is irresponsible of officers to retire equipment
or tear down facilities prematurely, simply to use up
funds remaining in budgets. The Ministry of Finance
is calling up ministries and statutory boards to emphasise
to them that this is wrong, and that they must make
sure their budget planning and administration do not
encourage such irresponsible behaviour.
You may have read that the Ministry
of Finance has recently launched the Economy Drive (ED)
campaign to challenge public agencies to achieve more
value for the public dollar, urging them to "spend
what you need - save what you can" i.e. strive
to be efficient and effective organisations.
If you have any specific examples of how ministries
or statutory boards are wasting their resources, please
write in with more detail so that we can be more focused
in pursuing the matter. We will keep your identity confidential
when we take up the matter with them. |
|
| TOO
MANY MPs IN PARLIAMENT
Suggestion
Cut the number of MPs.
Reply
The number of MPs and ministers depends
on the level of service to be provided to the electorate.
The fewer MPs we have, the more constituents each has
to look after, and the less attention constituents will
receive. As the population increases, we should expect
the number of MPs to increase proportionally.
In fact, the increase in the number
of MPs has been very conservative. In 1959, against
a population of 1.5 million, we had 51 MPs. In 2001,
against a population of 4.1 million people, we only
had 84 MPs. Although the population in Singapore has
increased by 2.7 times between 1959 and 2001, the corresponding
number of MPs increased only by 1.6 times.
The office of Member of Parliament
is not an office for profit or gain. The MPs' undertaking
is a response to a call to public service. Personal
sacrifices are made in the spirit of service to the
people, and it would be unrealistic and impractical
to expect MPs to make total sacrifices. Hence, MPs are
granted an allowance in recognition of their service,
but not a salary. In 2002, the MPs in Parliament agreed
to Government's proposal to tax their allowances, which
in effect reduced the take-home allowance by at least
10%, based on the most conservative assumption. |
|
| MINISTERS'
PAY Suggestion
Ministers' pay is too high. Cut Ministers'
salaries.
Reply
We believe in having competitive salaries
for Ministers, so as to be able to attract able people
into leadership positions, while maintaining a high
standard of integrity. The 1994 White Paper on "Competitive
Salaries for Honest and Competent Government" provided
the framework for doing so. Over the years, the framework
has been refined and robustly debated in Parliament
on many occasions.
Under the existing framework, ministerial
salaries are rigorously reviewed every year, using salary
data from the private sector as the benchmarks. Ministerial
salaries are supposed to move in tandem with the private
sector benchmarks.
Notwithstanding this, in recent years
we have frozen and reduced Ministerial salaries well
below the established benchmarks, in order to set the
example during difficult times. The Government took
the further initiative to cut ministers' salaries by
a combined total of 30% in Nov 2001 and Jul 2003.
The big items of expenditure are maintaining
the SAF, providing practically free education in schools,
subsidized HDB housing and healthcare services for the
people. Cutting Ministerial salaries, even to zero,
is not going to solve our current economic difficulties,
because Ministerial salaries form a miniscule percentage
of Government's expenditure. Instead we would be sending
a dangerous signal to investors and the rest of the
world that during hard times, Singaporeans prefer to
give up an able leadership rather than tackling serious
problems facing the country.
Ministerial salary benchmarks were
provided in Parliament on 29 Jun 2000. The Straits Times
article "Paying what it takes for a first class
Civil Service" on 30 June 2000 provided comprehensive
details on the benchmarks and salary components of political
appointment holders.
When ministers took a combined 30%
pay cut in Nov 2001 and Jul 2003, details were again
provided in the press, including Straits Times articles
"Ministers to take 10% pay cut from July"
on 23 May 2003, and "DPM Lee answers critics of
10% pay cut" on 24 May 2003. Additional information
was provided in the 10 Sep 2003 Straits Times article
"Cutting Ministers' pay 'won't trim fat' ".
Information on Ministerial salaries
can also be requested through the respective MPs in
Parliament. |
|
| GOVERNMENT
DIRECTORY Suggestion
Print one edition each year to save
money for the Government.
Reply
The Government does not publish the
Directory. It is published by Times Business Information
Pte Ltd (TBI) under a license from the Ministry
of Information, Communications and the Arts (MITA).
The directory is marketed and sold commercially by TBI.
Under this arrangement, MITA collects a $10,000 royalty
from TBI for each of the four editions from January
2003 to July 2004.
|
| LIGHTING
1. Reduce the level of street
lighting
Suggestion
a) Switch on only alternate street
lights.
b) Switch off street lights during the hours past
midnight.
Reply
a) Switch on only alternate street
lights.
b) Switch off street lights during the hours past
midnight.
This is unsuitable for implementation
as it will create an imbalance to the uniform
illumination on our roads. The contrast between the
bright and dark areas ("zebra effect") will cause
tiredness to motorists and increase the risk
of accidents. The current estimated cost savings
if we switch off 50% of our street lights for 6 hours
(11pm to 5am) is about $3.5 million per year. This has
to be balanced against the cost of accidents.
However, LTA is actively studying other
means of conserving energy in the use of street
lights, such as lowering the wattage, using more energy
efficient lamps and the possibility of increasing the
distance between the lamps.
2. HDB Multi-storey Car Park
Lighting
Suggestion
a) Switch off all lights in Multi-Storey
Car Parks (MSCP) during the day.
b) Switch off all lights on the roof decks of HDB
MSCPs as roof decks are not used much and are adequately
lit by lights in adjacent high-rise flats or public
roads.
Reply
a) Switch off all lights in Multi-Storey
Car Parks (MSCP) during the day.
Even during the day, MSCPs can be still
quite dark hence the lights are switched on for safety
and security reasons.
b) Switch off all lights on the
roof decks of HDB MSCPs as roof decks are not used much
and are adequately lit by lights in adjacent high-rise
flats or public roads.
At night, the lights on the roof decks
of MSCPs need to be switched on to provide sufficient
light to enhance security for crime prevention purposes.
However, HDB will explore halving the illumination
by switching on half the lights, provided this does
not incur further costs to modify the lighting circuitry
design.
3. Lighting for common areas
in HDB flats
Suggestion
HDB blocks are brightly lit even late
at night. Suggest that HDB consider switching off 50%
of the lights at the common area after a certain time
in the night. Alternatively HDB can leave the lights
as they are but have simple devices to reduce the lighting
at the staircase/common corridors to fair visibilty
e.g. replace flourescent lights with LED lights or alternate
compact fluo with LED lights.
Reply
i) Energy Conservation for Lighting
in HDB Blocks
Although the blocks have been designed
to switch off half the lighting , it is important to
remember that a decrease in illumination during the
late hours does depend on the acceptance level by the
residents who have other security and safety concerns.
HDB and the Town Councils have to strike a balance between
the need for energy conservation and these other needs.
Since 2000, all new blocks have been fitted with new
light fixtures which have a dual circuit with twin tubes
in each lighting fitting. The second tube can be programmed
by Town Councils, when desired, to switch off at a predetermined
time setting, e.g. after midnight where there is less
human traffic. With one lamp off, this is similar to
the 1970s practice of switching off half the lights.
However, it is an improvement as illumination is more
uniform.
We have considered using Light Emitting Diode (LED)
lighting which does not need any magnetic or electronic
ballast. It has the advantage of a long service life,
low maintenance and energy consumption. However the
LED lights are more expensive. Our previous studies
have shown that illumination by LED lighting as a complete
replacement for fluorescent lighting was not cost-effective
for our common areas. This was largely because the brightness
of LED lights was lower than the fluorescent lights,
resulting in the need for more LED lights to illuminate
a corridor of the same length sufficiently. This is
different for the LED "EXIT" lights which
we have implemented since 2003. The lighting requirements
for such "EXIT" lights are lower and can be
met by a single one-for-one replacement of the original
fluorescent type.
Having a combination of compact fluorescent lighting
and LED lights is not preferred as there are likely
to be additional wiring requirements if the voltages
required by the different lighting types are not compatible.
There would be an increase in maintenance cost due to
the reduced economies of scale when the lighting types
are different. In addition, compact fluorescent lights
(which were used in the 1990s for aesthetic reasons)
have been discontinued in our design for new flats since
2004 due to its high replacement cost. Instead, HDB
is now looking into newer, brighter LED lights, which
have appeared on the market, to see if they are a viable
as a total replacement to the fluorescent lighting.
ii) Recent Improvements and On-going Studies
Since 2004, we have been using T8 fluorescent lamps
with electronic ballasts. Our recently completed study
has shown that T5 fluorescent lamps with electronic
ballasts are more efficient. This will be implemented
in the design of new HDB blocks from next year.
For estates which have T8 fluorescent lamps and magnetic
ballasts (the standard before compact fluorescent lights)
we are studying the use of a Power Saving Device to
further reduce energy consumption. Essentially, the
device works like a big dimmer. It is installed in the
main switchroom and reduces the input voltage (hence
energy consumption) of the fluorescent lighting circuit
when needed.
4. Library Lights
Suggestion
Switch off Library Lights after Library
Hours.
Reply
Most lights are switched off
in our library branches after closing hours. Only some
lights are left on for security. These are energy-saving
lights which have been programmed to be activated only
after the libraries' closing hours. The NLB is reviewing
whether any of these lights could be switched off without
compromising the security of our library branches.
5. Reducing number of lamp
posts in parks
Suggestion
Reduce the level of lighting in parks.
Reply
The lighting provision is adjusted
by the National Parks Board (NParks) to suit the site
condition and the nature of usage in the parks. From
NParks' experience, most of the feedback from
park users about park and park connector lighting consists
of requests for higher lighting levels, especially
when evening usage is high. NParks is prudent in
assessing these requests and does not add in lighting
where lighting levels are already sufficient.
Separately, the Community Improvement
Projects Committee (CIPC) also considers requests from
grassroots organizations for funding support of lighting
along footpaths. The CIPC will be reminding all its
implementing agencies of the importance of being financially
prudent and cost-conscious in the implementation of
all CIPC projects, and avoid unnecessary expenditure.
6. Reducing voltage of lights/
Auto-transformer Installation
Suggestion
Install an auto-transformer in series
to the lighting load to reduce the operating voltages
by about 15V-25V for all government buildings.
Reply
This suggestion will reduce the power
consumed by the lights, but such devices will also result
in a reduction in light output.
There are several patented building
products in the marketplace today that claim to generate
energy savings through their use. While these auto-transformer
products do conserve energy, they also have other
shortcomings. For instance, one such product tested
on commercial buildings yielded savings of 30%-38% but
at a corresponding lux (or light intensity) reduction
of 20%-25%. Because of the reduced lux, the product
is best suited for non-critical areas such as perimeter
lighting.
The facility management contractor
of public sector buildings will be discussing with
the relevant public sector agencies (such as NParks
and JTC) on the potential use of this product in areas
where some lux reduction is acceptable.
|
| MOE
AND SCHOOLS 1. Sharing
of facilities
Suggestion
a) Schools should allow the public
to use their sports facilities.
b) Schools in the same area should share laboratories
and special rooms.
Reply
a) Schools should allow the public
to use their sports facilities.
Currently, MOE has in place sharing
schemes by which the community can use school facilities
outside school hours. The majority of our schools
are already involved in the sharing of school facilities
with the community. In addition, MOE has, since April
this year, worked on a co-sharing of school field
scheme with the Singapore Sports Council to share
school fields with the community.
b) Schools in the same area should
share laboratories and special rooms.
Schools have the same operating
hours and special rooms such as labs are required
more or less at the same time of the day. In
addition, it is impractical to move large numbers
of pupils from schools to schools on a regular basis.
|
| TRANSPORT
1. Road Resurfacing
Suggestion
Road resurfacing should be coordinated
with other road works.
Reply
LTA does coordinate road opening
activities with utility service agencies/providers.
There are 2 types of road openings- planned and unplanned.
Planned road openings are coordinated amongst the agencies
so that the roads need only be opened once. However,
most road openings are unplanned due to unforeseen circumstances.
LTA does monitor and ensure that unplanned road openings
are controlled to minimize disruption to the public
and to save costs.
2. Electronic Traffic Signages
Suggestion
Electronic traffic signages showing
the traffic time display are not necessary.
Reply
There are some motorists who find
the signages useful. Thus, the display should not
be removed without a review of the types of messages
in the electronic sign boards which will be useful to
motorists. A study is currently being conducted.
3. TV Mobile
Suggestion
Although the main aim of the TV Mobile
service is probably to provide passengers with news
entertainment, some people may not enjoy the service.
Hence, this service should be discontinued to save on
the TVs’ operating costs.
Reply
The TV Mobile installed on SBS Transit’s
(SBST) buses is a commercial initiative from the Media
Corporation of Singapore. Based on TV Mobile’s
customer satisfaction survey carried out by Media Research,
89% of the interviewees enjoyed watching the TV programmes
on buses. SBST has also not received significant number
of adverse feedback after the initial period when TV
Mobile has some teething technical problems.
TV Mobile bears the full costs of installation,
maintenance and hardware cost of the equipment. In addition,
SBST is paid for the leasing of the space on the buses.
Hence, there are no additional costs to SBST as result
of TV Mobile.
4. Ez-Link Cards
Suggestion
Why were the magnetic farecards replaced
by ez-link cards?
Reply
The magnetic ticketing system was introduced
in 1987, together with our MRT system. The magnetic
ticketing system was subsequently extended to the buses,
so commuters would require only one card for both trains
and buses. As we expanded our public transport network,
the amount of information that we needed to store in
the magnetic fare card increased. The existing magnetic
fare card system could no longer meet the needs of the
expanding MRT system.
The contactless smart card system was
chosen to meet our ticketing requirements because of
its processing speed, reliability and performance, as
well as its potential for non-transit application use.
It is a proven technology that was already implemented
in Hong Kong. Today, similar systems are used in cities
like Tokyo, Shenzhen and Delhi.
5. Road Signs
Suggestion
Why did LTA spend money unnecessarily
designing the new ‘white lettering on blue’
road signs, when the current ‘yellow lettering
on green background’ signs are serving their purpose
and are still usable?
Reply
LTA did not engage any consultant specifically
to review the signs. As part of their research activities,
NUS had undertaken a study which compared the various
colour schemes and sheeting materials for directional
signs. This study involved both quantitative and qualitative
analyses based on laboratory experiments. LTA staff
designed the new expressway signs and the colour scheme
taking into consideration the findings from the NUS
study.
LTA received feedback that the existing
'yellow lettering on green background' expressway signs
are not visible especially at night. Similarly, road
safety consultants also expressed the need to improve
the prominence of our road signs during road safety
audit of our expressways. To enhance safety on our roads
and provide convenience to the public, we formulated
a new colour scheme for these signs and are currently
undertaking field trials. This colour scheme is also
in line with international practices and is used in
countries like Australia, UK and the US.
There will not be an island-wide exercise
to change all the existing road signs. Instead, some
new signs will be installed at theTPE/Sengkang East
Road Interchange, KJE and arterial roads in the vicinity
of Lam San and Jalan Bahar Flyover for a public trial
first. If the trial proves successful, the new road
signs colour scheme would be used for new road projects,
while the old signs on existing roads will only be replaced
when they are worn out.
|
| RADIO
& TV LICENCES Suggestion
Why is there a need to levy a fee for
Radio and TV licences?
Reply
The purpose of the radio and TV licence
fee is to ensure that the public has access to public
service broadcasts (PSB). These are programmes in
the public interest, which the market would ordinarily
not provide as they are unable to attract sufficient
advertising and hence are not viable commercially. Such
programmes include: current affairs, information, children,
culture, local drama and minority language programmes.
Local programming, which help to anchor
local audiences to national values and bond the various
community groups, are more costly to produce than acquired
foreign programmes, as they are tailored to meet specific,
local audience needs. They inherently attract less advertising
revenue and hence need to be supported from public funding
through radio & TV licence fee revenues.
Public funding of the public service
broadcasts (PSB) has enabled our broadcast services
to offer a more healthy balance and variety in broadcast
programmes for Singaporeans. Regular funding is
also provided for minority-language radio stations as
they are less commercially viable. This has helped us
to meet the needs of our multi-racial and multi-cultural
society moving forward in the information age.
Besides the greater variety of programmes,
there have been many developments for TV audiences in
Singapore since then, including longer transmission
hours which more than doubled, from an estimated total
of 16,000 hours in 1997 to over 48,000 hours in 2003.
There has also been an increase in the number of free-to-air
channels - from 16 radio and 4 free-to-air TV channels
in 1994, to 20 radio and 7 free-to-air TV channels currently.
All this has been achieved with the
same licence fees as in 1994. Since then, licence
fees have not increased although the number of TV channels
and radio stations, and consequently the variety and
range of programming, have. TV licence fees are also
not unique to Singapore. Countries like Britain,
Japan, France and Germany similarly finance PSBs through
public licence fee collection.
At present, MDA funds over 3,500 hours
of public service programmes on TV to ensure that our
local audiences have access to a significant amount
of quality programmes in the four languages. Some recent
PSB programmes include :
-
No Place Like Home (drama
anthology on marriage and family issues) on Channel
5,
-
Tuesday Report and Money Week
(information programmes that reflect social and
economic issues) on Channel 8,
-
Inside Out (Chinese current
affairs programme) on Channel U,
-
SecretWorlds (environmental
documentary) on Channel i,
-
Contact China (information
programme on the latest developments in China) on
Channel NewsAsia,
-
Ikon Wanita (Woman Icons
- documentary on successful female role models for
the Malay community) on Suria,
-
Sorkkalam 2003 (Battle of
Words – debate series for Indian students)
on Vasantham Central,
-
Watch Eat! and Cows and Crayons
(educational programmes for children) on Kids Central,
and
-
Art Nation (regular magazine
programme on the arts scene) on Arts Central.
Some of these public funded PSB
programmes have gone on to earn regional and international
awards. Information programmes like Extraordinary
People, A Stroke of Genius have been recognised at the
Asian Television Awards. Documentaries such as Burning
Earth, Go Green and Third Age have also won accolades
at the prestigious New York Festivals. Children's information
programme The Big Q and social dramas Growing Up and
AlterAsians also picked up medals at the same Festivals.
Public service programmes for the Malay community, for
example, Kau Istimewa (You Are Special) and Klinik Kita
(Our Clinic) have also won awards at the US International
Film and Video Festival.
The current level of TV licence
fee is still deemed as affordable. At 30 cents per
day per household, the fee does not impose an unduly
heavy financial burden on a typical Singapore family,
but goes a long way towards providing much needed quality,
balanced range of broadcast programming, accessible
to all members of a Singaporean household and major
segments of our society. However, for families facing
financial difficulties in paying their TV licence fees,
MDA is prepared to consider their application for assistance.
|
| HDB
UPGRADING 1. Main Upgrading
Programme (MUP)
Suggestion
Given the poor economic climate, the
HDB’s Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) should be
discontinued.
Reply
The Main Upgrading Programme (MUP)
serves to improve the environment of older estates and
bring them to a standard comparable to the newer ones.
Without upgrading, the physical conditions of these
estates will deteriorate, become unattractive to residents
and, in the long run, may cost more to maintain.
Residents' support for upgrading has
always been strong. Despite the current economic situation,
all the precincts, except one still voted for upgrading.
For the only precinct at Pandan Gardens which did not
get the 75% required for the upgrading works to proceed,
there was still a higher percentage of residents who
voted for the Main Upgrading Programme than those who
voted against it. This shows that there is still a demand
for upgrading and residents still value it as it does
serve their needs.
Furthermore, for precincts that are
not viable for redevelopment, upgrading would give them
a new lease of life. Nevertheless, as the programme
is heavily subsidised, the government will pace it in
line with the state of the economy. We will continue
to review the upgrading programme to ensure that it
remains relevant.
2. Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP)
Suggestion
Why upgrade the lifts in HDB flats,
since they are still working well?
Reply
The new lifts provided under Lift Upgrading
Programme (LUP) would enable all the residents to enjoy
lift accessibility on every floor. This is especially
useful for the elderly and residents who are wheelchair
bound.
3. Covered Walkways
Suggestion
Why build covered walkways during HDB
upgrading?
Reply
Covered linkways are provided to link
the residential blocks to the multi-storey carparks
(MSCPs) and precinct pavilions as well as to form a
continuous covered area for the residents' convenience
during rainy days. The construction of covered linkways
is undertaken by both the HDB and the Town Councils.
HDB provides covered linkways in the newer HDB estates
and as one of the precinct improvement items under the
Main Upgrading Programme (MUP). Additional covered linkways
are also undertaken by the Town Councils as improvement
work to further upgrade the living environment of HDB
housing estates.
Due to its function and convenience, the provision
of linkways has always been very popular and well-accepted
by residents. Often, residents would request for additional
linkways in their precinct. The decision to construct
additional covered walkways is then decided by the Town
Councils after consultation with their respective grassroots
organisations (GROs), such as Citizen Consultative Committee
(CCCs), on the need of such facilities by the residents.
4. Features – Functionality
& Aesthetics
Suggestion
Many features, such as decorative arches,
columns and rooftops are not functional and merely add
to the costs. These are good to have but unnecessary.
Reply
The "decorative arches" constructed
over the entrances to HDB estates' carparks have multiple
functions. Other than serving as part of the network
of covered walkway that provides shelter against rain,
some of these structures serve as drop-off porch for
vehicular passengers.
They also act as an entrance gateway incorporating
the precinct's name and portray the precinct's unique
identity/character. These structures have to comply
with the minimum headroom (eg. for vehicle access) as
well as satisfy structural and design requirements for
its intended use. Nevertheless, HDB agrees that such
structure could be kept minimal in serving its designated
purposes.
To ensure that the upgrading programme remains relevant
to residents' needs, HDB carries out periodic reviews
of the upgrading package based on residents' feedback
and the experience of past precincts. The last review,
done in 2002, focuses on value-for-money items that
provide more direct and tangible benefits.
The items are grouped into "core" and "non-core"
categories. The former comprises items that residents
see as value-add and should be provided. They include
toilet upgrading, lift upgrading and linkways. "Non-core"
items are provided based on residents' feedback and
subject to budget availability. They include facade
enhancement and replacement of windows and grilles.
With this review, residents have more flexibility to
choose, through their working committee, the items that
they find most essential and useful.
5. Signages
Suggestion
The numbering signages for HDB blocks
need not use a 3-dimensional (3D) type-font. Just a
normal acrylic colour numbering sign would suffice.
Reply
HDB has introduced directional sign
plates with acrylic panels at staircases and lift lobby/staircase
in newer developments.
However, normal acrylic colour numbering signs are
not suitable. The 3-dimensional (3D) numeral estate
block number signage is required to provide visibility
to the general public, including motorists and pedestrians.
Additionally, for blocks and multi-storey car parks
(MSCPs) that are located near to bus stops and other
public amenities, these signs serve to guide members
of the public to the correct blocks/parking facilities.
|
| MINDEF
1. Staff Cars
Suggestion
Should MINDEF provide expensive cars
like Mercedes Benzs and Audis to military officers for
both official work and for private use. Even commanding
officers (COs) and regimental sergeant majors (RSMs)/staff
sergeant majors (SSMs) are given general purpose (GP)
cars to use.
Reply
Staff Cars
1. The SAF works on a chain of command.
Soldiers, airmen and sailors look up to their commanders
for inspiration and direction. SAF commanders need to
lead, inspire, direct and discipline their men. Commanders
need to move among their troops frequently and they
have to be seen and heard by their troops. The commander’s
presence must be felt by the troops. This command presence
is an important element in a military chain of command.
At all times, the SAF also require key commanders to
be able to return to camp or to be present at the site
of an emergency quickly.
2. For these reasons, selected officers
are given the use of staff cars, depending on rank and
appointment. An easily identifiable car helps to communicate
the commander’s presence. The presence of the car
informs the troops that their commander is now with
them even as their carry out their training and operational
duties.
3. The choice of models for staff cars
is reviewed from time to time. Different types of cars
are provided according to different levels of commands.
Today only the Chiefs of Service and above are allocated
the use of the Mercedes Benz.
4. The selection of all the other cars
was made through competitive tender. The Audi was chosen
as it had the lowest life-cycle cost (i.e. including
maintenance) over its lifespan in that engine size category.
Special attention was paid to ensure that the tender
conditions did not rule out the common makes like Japanese
cars, but the Audi was still the most competitive bid.
The tender offer for the Japanese model was more than
20% higher than the Audi. Please note that the relative
prices of tender bids for bulk purchases do not necessarily
correspond to the relative prices in the retail market,
as companies have different marketing strategies.
5. The staff cars are generally used
for the performance of official duties. In the event
that a senior officer wishes to use the allocated car
for private journeys, he is required to pay a monthly
fee and is also liable for taxation in accordance to
IRAS' ruling. The officer is also required to purchase
third party insurance to protect the government from
possible liabilities vis-a-vis the public resulting
from accidents during private journeys. This is to maximise
the use of the vehicles when they are not utilised for
official purposes such as after office hours.
General Purpose (GP) Cars
6. General Purpose (GP) cars are part
of a unit's pooled vehicles and are used for routine
administrative purposes. To maximise usage of MINDEF's
resources, COs and RSMs/SSMs may use the GP cars for
journeys between home and office, subject to availability.
An added advantage is that COs and RSMs/SSMs who do
not own cars would now have the means to return to camp
quickly if required. COs and RSMs/SSMs have to make
a fee payment for such usage.
2. MINDEF's Suggestions Scheme
Suggestion
Tighten the approval criteria for MINDEF’s
Unit Suggestions Management Scheme (USMS) and National
Servicemen Suggestions Management Scheme (NSMS). Remove
quotas if it does not lead to better USMS/NSMS.
Reply
1. Currently, only implemented suggestions
are given cash rewards in MINDEF. Each suggestion is
evaluated using a set of rigorous criteria:
- Effectiveness/Operational worth
- Originality
- Effort
- Ease of implementation
- Safety enhancement
- Cost saving/cost avoidance
2. MINDEF has achieved a savings of
$67.94 per $1 awarded for implemented suggestions in
FY 2002. This amounts to a total saving of about $64
million. For a large organisation like MINDEF, targets
help to rally the staff towards a common goal to promote
and inculcate the culture of continuous improvement
in every serviceman.
3. Nevertheless, MINDEF has moved from
quantitative to qualitative goals. From 1 Apr 2003,
MINDEF had adopted a Two-Tier cum Two-Target system.
This system not only differentiates targets between
units with a high population of full-time national servicemen
and training tempo, but also pushes the servicemen to
focus more on quality suggestions.
- Tier 1 applies to operational units with high NSF
population.
- Tier 2 applies to Division and above, training
schools/centres, logistic units and MINDEF departments.
4. This revised system allows the servicemen
to focus on their respective experience and learning
gained in generating more quality suggestions. This
drive to encourage quality suggestions was further reinforced
by reducing the suggestion ratio targets from the previous
standard of 6 suggestions to 1 quality suggestion per
personnel for Tier 1 units, and 3 quality suggestions
per personnel for Tier 2 units.
5. For NSmen, MINDEF has lifted the
suggestion target for NSMS since Oct 2002.
3. MINDEF’s Rations and Food
Suggestion
Look into the feasibility of replacing
cookhouses with canteens in the SAF camps. Issue food
vouchers or rations allowance to servicemen to minimise
wastage of food in the SAF camps.
Reply
1. The provision of rations to the
servicemen is an operational and training requirement.
In view of the tight training schedule, the availability
of the cookhouse allows our servicemen to be provided
their meals promptly so that they are sufficiently replenished
before the next training activity. To support our operational
units, the cookhouse operator is expected to support
all meals from breakfast to night snack.
2. Canteen operators have shorter operating
hours as compared to the cookhouse operator. Replacing
the cookhouse with a canteen will compromise the supply
of food to the operational units in the SAF. To optimise
scarce manpower resources and improve productivity,
the SAF cookhouses have been commercialised. The operator
is selected through competitive tender. Not only do
our cookhouse operators have to demonstrate their capability,
they also have to conform to stringent requirements
such as hygiene and quality of food; and must be able
to support the SAF during periods of tension and war.
Having two caterers operating in the same cookhouse
is not feasible as there must be sufficient economies
of scale to make it economically viable for the caterer
and to lower cost for the SAF.
3. Similarly, giving food vouchers
or ration allowance to servicemen will compromise the
SAF operational requirements. Moreover, the dietary
intake of the servicemen cannot be assured. The SAF
must ensure that its servicemen are provided with the
necessary nutrients to support their vigorous physical
training.
4. To reduce wastage of food, the SAF
undertakes to pay based on the actual eating strength
in its agreement with the cookhouse operators. If the
actual eating strength is less than what the unit indented,
the SAF pays a minimum 90% of the indent strength and
the operator also has to bear the cost of food wastage.
For example, if a unit indented for 100 servicemen but
only 80 turn up, the unit will pay for an eating strength
of 90. In this way, the operator has to share in bearing
the additional cost for the other 10. Hence, the operator
would be equally concerned about food wastage and will
minimise over-provision of food on their part. This
way, the SAF inculcate a 'shared responsibility' between
the unit and its cookhouse operator. To prevent an over-indent
of food, units are allowed to make amendments to the
indent strength up to one day before the consumption
date.
4. In-Camp Training (ICT)
Suggestion
Minimise waiting time for NSmen reporting
for in-camp trainings (ICTs). Reduce the length of ICTs.
Reply
1. MINDEF recognises that there are
limitations in the current in/out processing of NSmen
which, to a large extent, contributes to the negative
experiences of NSmen when they report for ICTs. To minimise
waiting time and inconveniences, a new initiative to
automate the In/Out Processing System is currently in
the process of being deployed in an effort to improve
the administrative efficiency. The initiative will be
implemented SAF-wide from Jun 2004.
2. The SAF continually reviews the
NS training system to optimise training time and ensure
a meaningful NS experience. Previously, NS units are
required to go through a progressive and systematic
training syllabus regardless of the proficiency level
of the unit. With the introduction of the SAF's modular
training syllabus, NS units are given the discretion
to identify specific areas to hone their military skills
and improve on them. This enables units to optimise
the time spent by NSmen. The NS training system (NSTS)
has also been revised in Apr 2003, from a 13-year ICT
training cycle to a 10-year ICT with 3-year Basic Individual
Training (BIT) cycle. The 2-day BIT, conducted in the
last 3 years of NS, refreshes NSmen on their basic soldiering
skills.
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| VENUE
OF OFFICIAL EVENTS Suggestion
Is it really necessary to hold ministry
events and functions at country clubs or hotels? Cheaper
venues should be used instead.
Reply
In general, government agencies are
aware of the need to be cost-conscious when holding
events. However, there cannot have a blanket black-and-white
rule on whether events and functions could be held at
country clubs or hotels. Agencies need to have flexibility
to determine which are the cost-effective way of organising
an event or function. Nevertheless, government agencies
are mindful not to be wasteful.
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| AIR-CONDITIONING
Suggestion
Office air-con units should be fitted
with timers and thermosets, to automatically adjust
the air-con as necessary. This would reduce electricity
use by not cooling the rooms excessively.
Reply
Over the last two years, various government
agencies have been working with their facility management
contractors to audit and conserve energy in their buildings.
Various energy conservation measures have been implemented,
including frequent checks on air-conditioning set points.
Government agencies are conscious of the need to be
energy efficient in the design and operation of government-owned
buildings. The clinching of the top positions by five
government buildings in the 2002 and 2003 BCA Energy
Efficient Building Awards are testimony to this.
Moreover, there are already guidelines given to public
sector agencies on how to economise. Some public sector
agencies have also implemented shorter air-conditioner
running time. For example, the Treasury (which houses
agencies like the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade
and industry and Ministry of Law) has, since early 2003,
finetuned and reduced the building’s central cooling
unit’s operating hours to save energy. The Treasury
is now studying the feasibility of going one step further
and finetuning the central cooling unit’s operating
hours even during lunchtimes.
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| AIR
TRAVEL BY CIVIL SERVANTS Suggestion
Government agencies should be prudent
in its expenditure on air travel. All civil servants
should be encouraged to travel by economy class for
official duties while First Class or Business Class
should be limited to ministers and very senior ranking
officials.
Reply
Generally, all public officers travel
by economy class, regardless of the flight duration.
Apart from ministers, only a small group of senior civil
servants are eligible for Business Class travel while
a handful of very senior officers are eligible for First
Class travel. This is similar to the class of travel
accorded to senior employees in many reputable private
sector organizations and takes into account government-to-government
protocol and ease of clearance/reception by the host
nation.
Since 1 Dec 2003, all government officers
have been told to travel on a lower fare class for flights
that are 6 hours or less; and for all forms of study
trips. This means that almost all civil servants would
travel on economy class, especially on regional flights
and study trips
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| HDB
SEASON PARKING TICKETS Suggestion
HDB should do away with sending out
monthly HDB Season Parking Tickets which is a waste
of paper and postage for the government and a waste
of time for the car owners who are required to display
the ticket on the windscreen. The information/record
should be stored in the parking warden''''s handheld
device who would then check against the car plates.
Reply
The paper season parking ticket (SPT)
is required for enforcement purpose. The enforcement
staff verifies the validity of the ticket by looking
at the place of parking, effective and expiry date of
the ticket instead of having to individually key in
each vehicle number into the electronic handheld terminal,
which takes a longer time.
HDB is in the process of exploring
the use of technology which will dispense with the need
for paper SPTs for the convenience of the SPT holders.
Under such a system, motorists need only to display
a tag and pay for their season parking charges through
the usual channels. Motorists will enjoy the convenience
as they need not replace the paper season parking ticket
on the vehicle each time the ticket is renewed.
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