Parliamentary Question - 8 January 2025

ON EFFORTS TO FACILITATE LOW-INCOME OR ILLITERATE PERSONS’ ACCESS TO LEGAL AID BUREAU SERVICES VIA NON-DIGITAL MEANS

by Denise Phua

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Law how has the Legal Aid Bureau made provisions to offer non-digital access to its services to applicants who may be illiterate, of low-income or not digitally able.

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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I thank the Minister of State and I am really happy with that response. I would like to suggest that perhaps the Ministry of Law, and especially LAB, communicate this a lot more to the ground. Because often us as Members of Parliament, even after we make an appeal for legal assistance or aid or advice, and specifying that our our residents are not digital savvy, they are not proficient in English, they are elderly, and so forth, we will still get a template reply to "please refer to the portal". So, I thought, if there are already services available such as these, that we can actually communicate a lot better.

And also to the ground, perhaps resource even more the SSOs or the Community Clubs because they are also manned or staffed by public servants and so, the security or privacy considerations are better managed.

So, I ask for therefore better communication and really looking to this challenge on the ground.

Source: https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3764