A more targeted approach in helping companies restructure and transform will have a bigger impact in the long term than using broad- based measures, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.

Mr Heng, who was part of a panel discussing the Budget on Channel NewsAsia’s Ask The Finance Minister programme last night, said broad-based schemes such as the popular Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) have played a role in raising awareness about the importance of productivity.

But the next stage of restructuring will involve industry-specific measures which aim to be more effective in improving efficiency and processes across entire sectors, he added.

“Going forward, we need to look at more targeted measures that will achieve a bigger impact… More targeted measures produce better results for companies.”

The PIC scheme encourages small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to spur investment in productivity by offering them cash and tax deductions for costs like worker training, automation and research.

Mr Heng announced in his maiden Budget speech last Thursday that cash rebates under the PIC scheme will be decreased this year, as the Government seeks to replace broad-based measures with more targeted support for firms.

He added that the PIC scheme will expire in the 2018 year of assessment, as scheduled.

Responding to concerns raised by SMEs during last night’s programme about the winding down of the PIC, Mr Heng noted that firms still have many other sources of help to tap.

The Government will work closely with industry trade associations and companies to ascertain the needs of each sector, he added.

Veteran unionist and Nominated MP K. Thanaletchimi, who was also a member of the panel on last night’s programme, said labour productivity has stayed flat in recent years despite the range of schemes available to companies.

This is a sign that a more targeted approach is needed, Ms Thanaletchimi added.

The panel also covered a range of other issues surrounding the recent Budget, including Singaporeans’ concerns about their job prospects, given the economic slowdown, as well as the move to cap personal income tax reliefs at $80,000, which has stirred up some debate.

The limit will be set at $80,000 from Year of Assessment 2018, and is expected to raise additional tax revenue of $100 million a year.

Under the new cap, some high- income working mothers may end up paying more tax.

Mr Heng said 99 per cent of tax-resident individuals will not be affected, and 90 per cent of female taxpayers claiming the Working Mother’s Child Relief are expected to continue to claim it fully.

The move was made “in the interest of ensuring our tax system remains progressive” and “was not targeted at any particular group”.

The tax burden in Singapore is also low compared with “almost anywhere in the world”, the minister added.

This article was first published on March 29, 2016.
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Getting more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to think about going abroad is the Government’s core challenge rather than dishing out more new programmes, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran said yesterday.

Ahead of the Budget, some SMEs had asked for more assistance with their internationalisation efforts, especially monetary support.

But with one modest exception, there were no additional measures of this type announced last Thursday by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.

The exception was the extension of the Double Tax Deduction for International scheme – which covers expenses for activities such as overseas business development and investment study trips – to 2020.

“It is not about the schemes – the number of schemes or the range of the schemes per se – but it is about ensuring that our companies understand and undertake the internationalisation decision,” Mr Iswaran said.

Once firms decide to venture abroad, they may need help getting market access or talent to help support their overseas strategies.

But there is already a range of programmes on offer to help firms in these areas. It is more a matter of helping them better utilise the programmes, he said.

“Along the way, if we receive feedback that there are gaps or the need for variations, then our government agencies are always willing to listen and adapt the programmes to meet those needs as we have done over time in a range of efforts,” he said.

Mr Iswaran was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event organised by the Workforce Advancement Federation (WAF) at its chairman Chan Chong Beng’s interior furnishing firm Goodrich Global.

He lauded the SME for having successfully navigated the internationalisation strategy over 30 years.

Today, Goodrich has more than 30 offices in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

At the event, Mr Chan told 50 other fellow SME bosses that he had ventured into Kuala Lumpur in 1985 out of necessity, for the market in Singapore was too small.

“If I don’t have enough purchases, I cannot have any meaningful influence over my suppliers,” he said.

Growing and retaining talent was another key reason for the move. He cited the example of his managing director in charge of the Hong Kong and China market, as well as his general manager in Dubai.

“I know that I cannot satisfy them by stationing them in Singapore. They are looking for bigger roles and bigger things in life.”

Mr Iswaran said internationalisation could be one way for SMEs to attract local talent to join them.

By nature, SMEs offer an “interesting career option” as their employees are exposed to a whole gamut of functions and business activities right from the start.

And when this includes going overseas to set up a plant, or developing strategies for a new market, it could add to the unique value proposition SMEs offer to Singaporeans in the workforce.

This article was first published on March 29, 2016.
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The Elections Department (ELD) is preparing the electoral register for the Bukit Batok ward by-election, it said in a press release yesterday. ELD will transfer voters’ names to the appropriate registers of electors on April 14 based on the addresses on their identity cards as of March 16, it said.

The list of electors’ names to be transferred will be available for inspection at the Elections Department for two weeks – from today to April 11.

Singaporeans can also check their particulars in the registers of electors online, at community centres or clubs and at Singapore overseas missions that serve as overseas registration centres.

They should bring their identity card or passport when they do so in person.

Applications for non-voter restoration and overseas elector registration can continue for Bukit Batok voters until the Writ for by-election for the constituency is issued.

The by-election was triggered by the sudden resignation of Bukit Batok Member of Parliament David Ong on March 12 over an alleged extramarital affair with a married grassroots activist in his constituency.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) have announced their candidates for the by-election. They are lawyer and veteran party activist Murali Pillai of the PAP, and SDP chief Chee Soon Juan respectively.

The date for the by-election has not been announced but analysts say it could take place as early as May.

chuimin@sph.com.sg

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A 45-year-old man has been living like a hermit for five years under a flyover, without piped water or electricity.

Lu Guofa told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao in a report yesterday that he had come here from Selangor, Malaysia, for work.

He spoke to Wanbao on Sunday afternoon at a forested area beside a flyover in Jurong East’s Teban Gardens, where he lives.

He had just eaten lunch and made tea as he told Wanbao how he earns $1,000 monthly for ferrying goods, which he said is more than he gets in Malaysia.

Mr Lu had previously lived in a flat he rented nearby but moved out after the block was slated for redevelopment.

He then began living under the flyover and accumulated “furniture” such as old refrigerators that he uses as cupboards.

“When I was young, I also grew up in a vegetable garden, I’m used to this lifestyle,” he told Wanbao.

“I don’t like the feeling of being surrounded by four walls. Here, I’m free and unrestricted, it suits me.”

Mr Lu boils water from a small well that he dug himself, and uses rainwater from a small pond for bathing and washing utensils.

He is single and does not intend to get married but does not feel lonely. He reads newspapers and magazines now and then, and occasionally heads to an orchard nearby to help his “neighbour”.

At night, he gets around by torchlight but he often sleeps early – on a deckchair.

Mr Lu does not intend to live in Singapore for the long term. “My dream home is to buy a plot of land in Malaysia and build a house with cement, and plant vegetables,” he said.

He added that staff from the Singapore Land Authority had visited him twice and issued a notice to clear out by April 18.

He plans to hire a lorry to move his things and is likely to take his “furniture” back to Malaysia.

Although he has yet to find a place to stay, Mr Lu said: “I’ll probably hide in a forest in Johor and build a shelter for myself.

“But I will continue to come to Singapore for work.”

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