Parliament passes Bill to improve enforcement of maintenance payments in family justice cases

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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND GENDER-NEUTRAL MAINTENANCE

As part of the Maintenance Enforcement Process, respondents who cannot pay maintenance will be channelled to the appropriate financial assistance.

MP Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang) proposed that the government consider granting a baseline level of financial assistance to parties referred to social service offices. He noted that a reduction in the maintenance order could lead to divorcees facing an additional financial burden and lower quality of life.

Noting that parents who failed to pay maintenance under the new process may face a jail term, MP Wan Rizal (PAP-Jalan Besar) asked if this measure may be “too harsh for the low-income families who are genuinely unable to pay maintenance”.

He also asked about measures in place to address any potential power imbalance between parties involved in hearings.

Minister of State for Social and Family Development and Home Affairs Sun Xueling responded that the social service offices will assess applicants’ circumstances and needs holistically, and assist them accordingly, including with interim or urgent assistance.

Widening the debate, MP Leon Perera (WP-Aljunied) called for the government to provide for “gender-neutral maintenance” by giving the courts the discretion to order wives to pay maintenance to ex-husbands who are not incapacitated, in appropriate cases.

“Such cases could include where the husband earns much less than his wife … or is a stay-at-home husband, and has borne the bulk of domestic chores and caregiving,” he said.

Currently, in divorce cases, wives can claim maintenance from husbands, but only incapacitated husbands can only claim maintenance from wives.

Mr Perera cited a gradual increase in the number of stay-home husbands, with the percentage of married households where wives were the sole breadwinners growing to 7.4 per cent in the 2020 census.

He argued that the current maintenance regime reinforces traditional gendered household roles where men are regarded as “breadwinners” and women as “homemakers”.

Gender-neutral maintenance would “help to send the correct message that the contributions of stay-home husbands are as valued as the care work done by stay-home wives”, he said.

Other jurisdictions including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States already allow men to claim maintenance, he added.

Noting that this had been raised in parliament previously, Ms Sun said that in 2016, the government took the “significant” step of allowing men to apply for maintenance if they were incapacitated before or during the marriage, unable to earn a livelihood and unable to support themselves.

She added that the courts have refrained from granting high levels of maintenance to wives who are able to work, even if they have not worked or stopped for some years.

“I would like to state unequivocally that we fully appreciate the sacrifice that men make when they step away from their careers to become stay-home husbands and acknowledge their efforts towards their families,” she said. 

MSF will continue to study the issue and review whether husbands and ex-husbands can apply for maintenance payments, she added.

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Security officer at City Square Residences left injured after alleged group assault

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SINGAPORE: A security officer was left injured after he was allegedly assaulted by a group of individuals at City Square Residences, said the Security Association Singapore (SAS) on Monday (May 8).  The officer, a security supervisor from Security Agency Trek Investigations and Security Management Services, was performing his regular entry checks whenContinue Reading

Millennia Institute turns 20: School still plays key role for students who need paced-out learning

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SCHOOL TO CONTINUE UNIQUE ROLE WITH THREE-YEAR TRACK

MI principal Tan Wan Yu said the school will continue to play a unique role with its three-year track, compared to the two-year programme that junior colleges offer. 
 
“We always try to stay relevant for the students who need a place where there is greater flexibility and porosity for them to be looking for what they really want and what they’re really good at,” she added. 
 
“Students can develop at their own pace and, at the same time, be able to pursue their interests and continue developing other areas.”
 
The school welcomes around three transfer students from junior colleges every year. 
 
MI student Zhou Ling, for instance, did so for a less hectic student life. 
 
“I think MI’s pace is more suitable for me because MI has three years, so it has actually a longer time for me to learn English, compared to JC, which is so rushed and so busy.”

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Alternative ways to distribute COE, fast increasing prices among concerns raised by MPs

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SINGAPORE: Suggestions on alternative ways to distribute Certificates of Entitlement (COE) and fast-increasing COE prices were among the concerns raised by Members of Parliament on Monday (May 8). 

Following a ministerial statement on COE supply delivered by Minister for Transport S Iswaran, several MPs rose to offer alternative ways to distribute the certificates. 

In his speech earlier on Monday, Mr Iswaran had said that COE premiums are expected to trend upwards, with Singapore’s policy of zero-growth in its car population and as household incomes rise. 

“Fundamentally, the COE prices reflect demand for a limited and falling supply of COEs,” Mr Iswaran said in his statement, responding to more than 20 parliamentary questions filed on the topic. 

Demand for vehicles has remained “resilient”, especially as the economy recovers after COVID-19. Incomes have also been rising over the long term, and the ratio of COE price to median monthly household income has fallen, he said. 

“As household incomes continue to rise in the coming years, coupled with our policy of zero-growth in the car population, we must expect the long-term trajectory for COE prices to be upwards,” said the Transport Minister. 

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO ALLOCATE COE

In clarifications after Mr Iswaran’s speech, Mr Liang Eng Hwa (PAP-Bukit Panjang) suggested that “some amount of allocation” by balloting, similar to how Housing Development Board flats are sold, could be piloted. 

Ms Hazel Poa (PSP-NCMP) asked if the Transport Ministry would consider allocating vehicle quotas based on other factors beyond price. 

“For example, maybe a points-based system, where apart from the bidding price, we also consider other factors like nationality and needs-based factors like families with young children or persons with disability,” she added. 

Similar to the implementation of additional buyer stamp duties on those who buy multiple residential properties, Ms Poa also suggested the ministry consider implementing additional levies on multiple vehicle purchases. 

In response to suggestions about different ways to allocate the quotas, Mr Iswaran said that the government would then have to decide how to allocate Ms Poa’s proposed point system, and what would factor into the final COE allocation. 

“Does that mean if someone has got more points and they are entitled to a different price when it comes to the COE? Or does it mean that they go into a different pool? 

“And if they go into a different pool, how do we segment the pools?” he asked. 

If balloting is implemented, the government would also have to decide how to price COE if one segment’s quota is secure, and another segment is based on the luck of the draw, said Mr Iswaran in response to Mr Liang’s question. 

“Do you price it at the same price as the COE in that period? Or do you say no, it’s a discounted price,” he continued, adding that this may prompt those who secured cheaper COEs to resell their cars at a windfall. 

“Then the question is, what justifies such a ballot? Who qualifies and how do we do it?” said Mr Iswaran. 

A balloting system is not a panacea, and may instead aggravate the problems if the concerns are around price and unevenness in the market, he stressed. 

Leader of the opposition Pritam Singh (WP-Aljunied) and Ms Mariam Jaafar (PAP-Sembawang) asked whether the government was looking into curbs on car loans to ensure that loopholes can be tightened. 

“It’s not uncommon to hear of companies … or dealerships offering 100 per cent loans and things of that nature,” said Mr Singh. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s restrictions on loans that are granted by financial institutions are to encourage borrowers to spend or borrow prudently, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan, standing to respond on the matter. 

In his response to Mr Singh, Mr Iswaran stressed that the objective of the exercise was to control volatility in COE supply, not prices. 

“If every time COE prices go up, we approach it as some kind of new phenomenon, I think we should take pause and understand that these are the fundamentals we are dealing with,” he added. 

The decision to have zero vehicle growth rate is a hard choice, said the Transport Minister. 

“But what is the alternative?” he continued. 

“So I just want to be very clear. It is not about price volatility, although I know that is a political concern. It is about supply volatility and how much we can smoothen that so that the market can function.” 

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Thai election agency criticised after snags in early voting

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Yingcheep Atchanont, executive director of NGO iLaw, which is part of the monitoring group, said mistakes were not major but showed a lack of understanding or training by some election personnel on the ground. “They don’t understand the system so they only do what they understand,” Yingcheep said, adding manyContinue Reading

With zero car-growth and rising incomes, COE prices will trend upwards: Iswaran

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Responding to the questions on COEs for private hire cars, Mr Iswaran said that for the last four years, the number of private hire cars has remained at about 10 per cent of the total car population and has averaged around 70,000 since 2019.

“While COE prices have been rising over the past several quarters, demand from PHC companies has in fact been moderating,” said Mr Iswaran.

The minister added that shared transport, including car-sharing services, allows for more efficient and inclusive use of roads, as compared with individually owned private cars. He thus cautioned against imposing any “arbitrary cap” on the private hire car population.

“That said, PHCs are a relatively new development … and COVID-19 has caused some disruption in the market. We are studying this further to ascertain the effect of PHCs, if there is any impact, on the market,” Mr Iswaran said.

SMOOTHENING COE SUPPLY

Addressing questions on improving the COE system for both cars and motorcycles, Mr Iswaran pointed to how the system has been adjusted over time.

“On the whole, the system continues to serve our policy objective of efficiently allocating the limited supply of COEs,” he said.

In response to questions from two MPs, Mr Iswaran said that the proportion of car COEs secured by foreigners remains low – at less than 3 per cent – and has not changed significantly over the years.

He also gave statistics about households that own multiple cars, saying that over the past decade, the proportion has been steadily declining from about 19 per cent of households in 2012 to less than 15 per cent today.
 
He said last November that of the 471,000 households that own cars, 12 per cent own two cars and less than 3 per cent own three or more cars.

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