SPEECH BY MR YIP HON WENG, MP FOR YIO CHU KANG SMC AT THE REVIEW OF THE WHITE PAPER ON SINGAPORE’S RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ON 20 MARCH 2023

Mr Speaker Sir,?

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1.???I wish to start by expressing my appreciation to all our frontline workers who have made sacrifices and worked extremely hard to get Singapore through the pandemic to emerge stronger. This Covid AAR process provides us with an opportunity to learn and improve for the next pandemic. My clarifications on the White Paper will focus on the areas of Health and Manpower, given my roles in the two Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs).

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(A)???Health

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2.???First, Mr Speaker sir, on healthcare related measures, it is important to acknowledge the role of international bodies such as the WHO in shaping our pandemic response. We adopted many WHO-recommended measures, including mask-wearing and border restrictions.?But every country has different traits, such as demographics, population density, geography, etc., that require different approaches to managing pandemics. Therefore, our response should be tailored according to Singapore’s unique traits.?

3.???It is thus essential to ensure that we have access to independent data and research to make informed decisions that align with our best interests. We should not blindly follow the advice of international bodies. Such advice can serve as a general guideline, but may not apply to individual countries’ interests. Likewise, the recommendations may only be announced after an incident has happened, making it difficult to implement them in a timely manner. Can the Ministry explain how we can develop access to such independent data and research, especially from overseas? How do we develop the capability to evaluate global data and guidance critically, with a view to adapt them to our local context? How can we pre-emptively develop our own guidelines to shield our population from the next pandemic?

4.???Another area of concern is vaccine approvals. Given that there were many types of vaccines to tackle Covid-19 for example, mRNA and non-mRNA, each manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies, how can Singapore further hasten the process of vaccine approval for future pandemics, learning from the Covid-19 experience? How can we also support our local research and developments like the Covid-19 vaccine that was developed by Arcturus and Duke-NUS?

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(B)???Manpower

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5.???Next, Mr Speaker Sir, I would like to raise several manpower-related questions. Firstly, was the implementation of Vaccination-Differentiated Safe Management Measures (or VDS) necessary in the workplace in January 2022? Looking back, were Safe Management Measures (or SMMs) and mandatory mask-wearing sufficient in managing the risk of Covid-19 spread at the workplace? How were the measures enforced at workplaces? Were the efforts deemed successful? I believe that implementing SMMs can help prevent the spread of diseases in the workplace. However, their effectiveness depends on both employees and employers following them diligently. It would certainly be too intrusive and resource-intensive to monitor workers to ensure they wear masks at all times and keep the recommended distance between them. So, how can we strike a balance in future pandemics to ensure that everyone takes responsibility for good personal hygiene and follows SMMs?

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6.???Secondly, there were employees who lost their jobs due to VDS. What was the assessment of the support given to these employees? How did tripartite partners provide guidance to employers, through advisories like the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment? Were these advisories sufficient and effective? How did MOM ensure compliance? Or should we have done more, like move legislation to ensure that retrenchments were necessary, and done as a last resort?

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7.???Lastly, due to the pandemic, numerous businesses had to downsize, shut down entirely or pivot operations, which led to retrenchments. How did the Government assist workers who were retrenched, particularly older workers who faced challenges in finding new employment? What were the lessons learnt? And how can we apply these lessons, as we move ahead to promote senior employability in the workplaces?

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8.???By addressing these issues, we can improve our approach to manpower management in future pandemics. It is already challenging enough to navigate a pandemic, and we should strive to prevent additional job losses and financial insecurity.

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What if the next pandemic strikes tomorrow?

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9.???In conclusion, Mr Speaker Sir,?the key question is: what if the next pandemic strikes tomorrow?

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10.???Three years have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Yet, many aspects of how we should respond, should a novel virus emerge and spread, remains uncertain and fiercely debated. How do we get our population vaccinated as quickly as possible, without knowing the full side-effects and safety aspects of new vaccines? How do we build stronger supply chains, without over-spending, in order to improve our resilience? Most importantly, how does the Government instil trust, while making hard policy decisions with little details,?when the next Disease X hits us?

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11.???Covid-19 brought out tremendous resolve, scientific innovation and individual and collective steadfastness. But even so, millions across the globe died, and economies were set back around the world. Disease X could be a similar threat like Covid-19. It could also be far worse.?

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12.???So the question remains: what if the next pandemic happens tomorrow?

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13.???Our experience taught us that things happen quickly with little information. Our Government must have the gumption to make hard policy decisions swiftly, as each decision has huge ramifications on our people, on Singapore and for the course of the pandemic. This was how it was like in the early days of Covid. It is also how it will be in other pandemics. To me, this boils down to one thing. We must build and maintain the trust that Singaporeans have in our Government, to do the right thing and to do things right. And we must do that by learning from past pandemics and preparing for our pandemic response now.

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14.???Thank you.