On Building Caring Communities and an Inclusive Society Together

Committee of Supply – Head I (Ministry of Social and Family Development)

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Chairman. I am very thankful for all the good work that is done by the Ministry. And I can see that our society and Government is one with heart. Two questions.

One is regarding the many people with good intent who support the ground, whether grassroots or donors or volunteers, and so forth. So, I find that on the ground, many of them pounce, in a positive way, on especially families in rental blocks, with food, service, bags, school shoes and everything. But is there a way that we can better coordinate all these efforts on the ground without discouraging them but encouraging them as well? So, that is my first question.

My second one is to do with adults with disabilities. I think at a macro level, as I have mentioned in my Committee of Supply speech, there is really a need to clarify, develop and communicate a continuum of the models, whether in living, working or learning. Mainly because it is just such a diverse spectrum of population. I know that some work has been done, but instead of mentioning things that are maybe more programme-centric, we can really show the community that there is a spectrum and there is a way by which people can be more proactive in assessing their needs, deciding on what models they do, and maybe even work together to develop these models together.

So, on that note, I would like to ask Senior Parliamentary Secretary because he talked about sheltered workshops and day activity centres for those with higher support needs. I just want to know how many have participated in these centres. Number two, what is the progress and outlook of these centres, knowing that they are catering to higher needs, and it is not so porous, not so easy to progress.

And second is, is there a continuum from the work front, or what are the continuum of working models from sheltered workshops like Autism Resource Centre's high model at the Enabling Village. What is the continuum?

Source: https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2638