Model ID: 9922fb51-9ea5-4c5a-8bb8-0a856f5735aa
Sitecore Context Id: 9922fb51-9ea5-4c5a-8bb8-0a856f5735aa;
Mdm Deputy Speaker, I thank fellow NMP Dr Tan Yia Swam for allowing me to be part of her team in raising this motion. As I represent the voices of the working people, there are two main areas that my speech will focus on; namely: (1) the welfare of healthcare workers and (2) the challenges of enticing young Singaporeans to embark on a career in the healthcare sector. They are the future of our healthcare workforce.
For a start, I would like to share with this house that the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU) and The Singapore Manual & Mercantile Workers’ Union (SMMWU), which represents nurses, allied health professionals and support staff, collectively have a membership strength of more than 35,000 members. We call on those who are not members yet to quickly join the Unions. The reason is simple: Unions will not just represent your Voice at the Workplace but will also be your Voice for a Reason.
While the healthcare industry is not within my purview, I have nonetheless reached out to the leaders of both HSEU and SMMWU to get their feedback on their members’ concerns, challenges and aspirations, both in the near and long-term future. With the recent pandemic, we realise how much our healthcare workers are doing for Singapore, behind the scenes. Indeed, the hours are long, and from time to time, they are on the receiving end of abuse by families of the patients.
The question is – why should it only take a pandemic for us to realise the importance of healthcare workers? Why do we need a pandemic to learn how to appreciate them? Sadly, this is the reality of life. It is only in periods of crisis that we know importance of these frontline workers.
Just like myself in the power industry, it is only when there are tariff hikes or power failures, we start to realise the importance of a stable and reliable power supply that we have taken for granted in our daily lives. Don’t be ashamed to deny this reality in this real world.
Mdm, this House debated quite at length last year on the topic of Healthier SG. Many good suggestions and ideas were proposed by all in this chamber for us to remind ourselves on leading a healthier lifestyle. While the focus was on developing healthier lifestyles, we should not forget the efforts of those who helped us to develop healthier lifestyles – namely, our healthcare workers. Let us be aware of the challenges faced by the healthcare workers, including those by our administrative and support staff, not just doctors and nurses who are facing patients directly. Let us not forget the equally critical roles of those supporting at various other departments like radiology, pathology and more.
This then brings me to focus on the welfare of healthcare workers now and preparing the future generation to serve in this industry. Prior to this sitting, I reached out to not just the two Unions, but also cousins, friends and my network as well as fellow Singaporeans who observed first-hand the hard work of our healthcare workers.
We acknowledged that while the Ministry has done their part to better support this group of workers via the hospitals’ management, there are still areas that can be further improved like shift work, wages and more.
I would like touch on shift rosters and in fact note that the Ministry has repeatedly stated that it does not regulate such rosters and leaves the same to the hospitals management team. Accordingly, I appeal to the Ministry to really have a team to observe, independently, the shift rosters that healthcare workers are assigned. Let us not wait until an unforeseen incident happens before we start to investigate. We need to ensure that shift rosters pay close attention to rest time in between as we need physically alert workers, at all times, to attend to patients and supporting doctors.
I feel strongly for this because my daughter is one of the thousands of healthcare workers. I have witnessed first-hand, the long working hours that she had to go through during her past tenure at Sengkang Hospital. Sometimes I feel it’s not about the corporate shift policy, but the line managers who plan the rosters that may be biased towards their preferred choice of workers. She left recently and shared with me that about half of her colleagues in the same team also left much earlier. She is now embarking on a new journey at a new workplace.
Ironically prior to that, she was an intern in that same hospital in 2020 during her final year of studies in Republic Polytechnic. I was shocked then to hear that she received zero allowance during her internship. I didn’t raise this flag earlier as I was still doing my checks with my close friends within the sector. While doing my checks, I then recalled this same issue was raised many years earlier at some dialogue sessions and incidentally my daughter also suffered the same fate.
I would like to ask if MOH is aware of such situations whereby interns are not compensated for their labour. Let us not paint internships like another day at school. It is NOT and never WILL be the same between academic and work experiences. I don’t think it will cripple the hospitals or MOH’s finance to grant an allowance to these students as they are working in the real world, not in school. I call on the Ministry and hospitals to review this immediately and not make our students subject to free labour. Let us not make our children, the workforce of the future, as a source of free labour for today. We should not be perpetuating such practices.
Mdm, as Singapore builds more restructured hospitals across the island, that means there will be more job opportunities. This will also mean healthcare workers may be able to relocate to their preferred hospitals near their homes or even get better pay or even both. Are we prepared for the pipeline of Singaporeans wanting to work in the healthcare sector, especially the young ones? While we remain open to foreign healthcare workers to supplement our resident workforce, what are the steps in place to ensure that we have sufficient Singaporeans to be the core of our healthcare workers?
The above concern also represents few of the many concerns that were shared with me by my fellow Brothers and Sisters in the Unions.
While much have been said for those at hospitals, let us not forget the healthcare workers at our neighbourhood polyclinics. The stress that they face at work is equivalent to those working at hospitals. Based on my interactions, some have highlighted that they hope polyclinics operate strictly on appointments as they still see many walk-ins even when appointments are already full. This really stretches them and even doctors there. Separately, there are those that hope that polyclinic operations can soon be reduced to a 5-day work week upon review of operating hours.
On a lighter note, I do understand that there on going tripartite efforts around the protection and prevention of abuse and harassment of our fellow healthcare workers. More severe action must be taken against any such abuse, regardless of the magnitude, towards healthcare workers.
I will now speak in Malay.
Dalam perjalanan kita membuat persiapan bagi rakyat lebih tua, meningkatkan rancangan kesihatan kita yang juga termasuk pekerja jagaan kesihatan. Melengkapi pekerja masa kini dengan pengetahuan dan kemahiran baharu adalah penting memandangkan terdapat permintaan pekerjaan dan kekurangan tenaga kerja. Kita perlukan pekerja jagaan kesihatan yang terlatih dan prihatin untuk memantau dan menjaga rakyat Singapura yang semakin menua, baik di hospital mahupun di rumah rawatan masyarakat. Pekerjaan ini memerlukan bukan sahaja kekuatan fizikal tetapi juga kekuatan mental apabila berhadapan dengan pesakit yang sukar dan ahli keluarga yang mencabar.
Sepertimana dalam ucapan bahasa Inggeris saya tadi, cabaran masa lalu, sekarang dan masa depan akan dihadapi kita semua. Harap maklum bahawa terdapat dua Kesatuan Sekerja, iaitu HSEU dan SMMWU, yang mewakili anda untuk mendengar dan bercakap bagi pihak anda tentang perihal tempat kerja. Sertai mereka sekarang dan jangan berlengah!
Kesatuan sekerja anda tahu tentang cabaran di tempat kerja anda dan akan berusaha sebaik mungkin untuk menyokong kepentingan anda dari segi tempat kerja sehinggalah tentang peruntukan faedah kebajikan yang lain. Jangan malu untuk memberi maklum balas kerana saya tahu bahawa rakan-rakan kesatuan sekerja saya akan sentiasa berada di sisi anda.
Di antara cabarannya ialah waktu bekerja panjang bagi golongan bekerja syif, keletihan akibat waktu kerja tambahan, pesakit dan penjaga yang suka mendesak, dan gaji yang selaras dengan beban kerja, bukan hanya semasa krisis.
Saya merayu kepada Kementerian Kesihatan (MOH) untuk benar-benar meneliti waktu bekerja syif di hospital dan tidak menunggu sehingga satu kejadian yang tidak diingini berlaku. Gesaan ini telah dibuat berulang kali oleh Anggota Parlimen di Dewan ini dan saya harap ia tidak akan dipandang ringan.
Satu lagi perkara yang membimbangkan ialah pelajar latihan amali di hospital tidak mendapat sebarang elaun tetapi melakukan kerja yang serupa dengan kakitangan, yang boleh disifatkan sebagai buruh percuma. Saya pernah meragui amalan sedemikian pada masa lalu apabila saya mendengarnya tetapi ini menjadi kenyataan apabila anak perempuan saya sendiri mengalaminya ketika dia melalui latihan amali di Hospital Sengkang pada tahun 2020. Maka itu, saya menyeru Institusi Pengajian Tinggi dan Kementerian Kesihatan, untuk mengkaji semula amalan ini dan tidak membenarkan buruh percuma diamalkan di Singapura.
Amalan di atas jika tidak diatasi boleh menghalang golongan muda Singapura daripada menyertai sektor yang bermakna ini. Kita memerlukan lebih ramai golongan muda Singapura untuk menyertai sektor ini sebagai persiapan kita bagi penduduk yang semakin menua. Hospital-hospital baharu dibina dan mereka menghargai usaha saudara-saudara Kesatuan sekerja saya dari HSEU dan SMMWU untuk bekerjasama dengan rakan pengurusan, untuk meningkatkan kemahiran anggota dan pekerja mereka untuk mod kerja hari ini yang lebih maju dan bersiap sedia untuk masa depan.
Tolong pastikan bahawa pekerja kita yang telah menjalani latihan akan mempunyai gaji yang lebih baik dan prospek kerja yang lebih baik.
Conclusion
Once again, I call on all relevant parties to remind our ourselves about the importance of this group of healthcare workers and doctors and never be shy to appreciate and say thank you to them whenever you visit hospitals, both restructured and private, polyclinics and even neighbourhood clinics.
On behalf of all my fellow leaders from the Labour Movement, we would like to thank you for your efforts to lookout for our families, friends and fellow Singaporeans.
Once again, don’t forget, join the Union! Because for the Unions, Members First Workers Always!
Mdm Speaker, I support the motion.
