From The Backbench

GAN THIAM POH (ANG MO KIO GRC)

Extending childcare leave amid Covid-19

Mr Gan noted that currently, if a young child falls sick, he is given at least five days of medical leave by the doctor due to Covid-19 conditions.

“At least one parent has to take leave to look after the child. If the same child falls sick again, the other parent will have to take leave,” he said, appealing for the extension of childcare support leave for working parents who do not have family support to look after their children.

LEON PERERA (ALJUNIED GRC)

Tax capital gains in property sector

Instead of hiking broad-based taxes such as petrol duty or the goods and services tax, Mr Perera of the Workers’ Party suggested raising the stamp duty and additional buyer’s stamp duty for more expensive properties. “Such a fiscal move would be progressive and would impact the capital gains made by sellers in the higher end of the property market,” he said. “A tax on such a class of capital gains will not run the risk of unintended inflationary effects, will not damage work incentives,” he added.

NG LING LING (ANG MO KIO GRC)

Tech to support seniors living alone

There is a need to continue improving the living environment of seniors to help them age in place, especially in mature estates, said Ms Ng.

She suggested integrating successful features from the community care apartment pilot in Bukit Batok to the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme.

“In addition to incorporating technology for an elderly monitoring and alert system, perhaps telecare, providing remote health monitoring devices, supported by care providers, could also be considered as part of (the programme),” she said.

DENNIS TAN (HOUGANG)

More protection for secondary forests

Mr Tan of the Workers’ Party called for greater legal protection for secondary forests and suggested some of them could be regulated as nature reserves, while simple recreational activities could be allowed in others, but with more stringent rules and penalties than in parks.

He said: “By legislating to this end, Parliament will send a clear signal to not only future generations, but also various actors including contractors, ministries and statutory boards, and the Government itself that the destruction of forested areas will come at a cost.”