In the light of an ageing population, the court has been given powers to appoint professionals such as lawyers or social workers to make key personal welfare or financial decisions for people who have lost their mental capacity.

And if those professionals or family members appointed as proxy decision-makers abuse their powers, the court will now be able to step in earlier.

Parliament has passed a Bill to update the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) so as to give more help and protection to the mentally incapacitated.

“The MCA has been in operation for six years now… We have learnt useful lessons. It is timely to amend the MCA to meet emerging needs and strengthen its protection capability,” said Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday when he presented the proposed changes for debate.

One of those needs is the rising numbers of singles and elderly people who live alone or have no children. They therefore have no one to rely on to make decisions on their behalf if, for instance, they slip into dementia.

Estimates are that about one in 10 here aged 60 years and above has dementia.

The other concern is with a small but growing number of elderly people who are exploited by those they have entrusted with making their decisions.

The MCA was passed in 2008 to empower individuals to plan ahead and make their wishes known.

For example, the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) scheme started in 2010 under the Act to allow individuals to make an LPA by appointing someone, known as a donee, to make decisions on their behalf when they lose mental capacity.

For those who lack the mental ability to make decisions, the courts may appoint a person – called a deputy – to make decisions for them.

With the changes made to the MCA, some legal loopholes can be plugged to prevent exploitation by some to gain the assets of vulnerable people.

For instance, the court will soon get powers to revoke an LPA or deputyship order if the donee or deputy is convicted of an offence or is no longer registered as a professional deputy or donee.

The court will also soon be able to suspend a donee’s or deputy’s powers even when there is no court application to do so.

Currently, if a person loses mental capacity but has not yet made an LPA, the court can help to appoint a deputy – usually a family member or a licensed trust company – to make decisions on his behalf.

But if family members are unwilling, unable or unavailable, the changes to the Act now enables the court to appoint professionals instead.

Those with family members and sizeable assets can also choose to pay professionals to be their donees if they have complex instructions regarding the discharge of their care and assets.

jantai@sph.com.sg

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Eleven people were trapped in a lift at Kallang MRT Station on Sunday afternoon for close to 25 minutes.

The passengers were taking the elevator from the train platform on the second level to the first when it suddenly stopped at about 2.35pm, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

One of the trapped commuters, who gave his name as Mr Wang, told Shin Min that he was with 10 other passengers in the lift.

The 53-year-old, who is self-employed, said the lift was about to reach the first floor when it stopped.

“We immediately pressed the emergency button to ask for help, and the staff members who responded told us not to panic and said they would send people to fix it,” he added.

He said the lift started to move upwards soon after, but before it could reach the second floor, it stalled again.

They were then “just 30cm away from the platform” but the lift would not move.

All the lift occupants were “extremely anxious”, he said.

Three staff members rushed to the platform and tried for more than 10 minutes to get the lift doors to open from a control panel under the platform floor next to the lift.

Mr Wang said maintenance crew arrived about 10 minutes later and got the doors open quickly, ending the 25-minute ordeal.

“We were all soaked in perspiration and one of the older folks seemed to be having trouble breathing so she was given water,” he added.

Mr Wang said the issue would have been solved earlier had there been a professional lift repairman stationed there.

He added that it was fortunate there were no children or weak elderly people in the elevator.

Patrick Nathan, vice-president of corporate information and communications at SMRT, said it had immediately dispatched staff members to the scene and successfully rescued the passengers.

He expressed deep apologies for the inconvenience caused.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Friday that he had asked the Building and Construction Authority to intensify its audits of lifts around Singapore, particularly those in Housing Board blocks, The Straits Times reported on Saturday.

This was after a spate of lift mishaps.

myp@sph.com.sg

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The committee in charge of conceptualising a memorial to honour Singapore’s founders has made its recommendations on two possible sites for its location: Fort Canning Park and Bay East Garden at Gardens by the Bay.

The 15-member Founders’ Memorial Committee, formed in June last year, also shared its findings yesterday after four months of public engagement about the concept.

Of the two sites that it identified in consultation with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the committee had a “clear preference” for the Gardens by the Bay site which sits on reclaimed land and is adjacent to the Marina Bay Golf Course.

“The Bay East Garden reflects a forward-looking nature that we feel is important for the memorial,” said committee head and Esplanade chairman Lee Tzu Yang.

“Secondly, it is a practical issue: It is a less mature site, and therefore affords more freedom, more flexibility in terms of design and in terms of integration with the surrounding complex.”

Fort Canning Park is the site preferred by the PAP Seniors’ Group (PAP.SG), an advocacy group under the ruling People’s Action Party. In its proposal to the committee last September, PAP.SG cited Fort Canning’s long and rich history and noted it “once served as the seat of power in Singapore, even pre-dating the colonial period”.

Mr Lee agreed Fort Canning benefits from being both walking distance to museums and monuments in the historic Civic District and is also the start point of the 8km-long Jubilee Walk heritage trail.

But Bay East Garden would better meet the objective of offering both quiet, contemplative space and space to hold civic programmes.

He noted that Fort Canning Park is quite congested and already built up.

With the current end-point of the Jubilee Walk being just “a short hop” away at the Marina Barrage, the trail can be extended to take in Bay East Garden, said Mr Lee.

Ambassador-at-large and committee member Gopinath Pillai agreed. He said concepts such as multiracialism and resilience that the memorial should espouse “need space to be properly reflected”.

Heritage experts contacted by The Straits Times said both sites are equally suitable.

Fort Canning has greater historic significance but Bay East Garden is newer and able to attract greater traffic.

“A memorial will look much more grand and inspiring if you can see it from afar, if in some way, it punctuates the landscape. Both sites allow for that,” said the International Council on Monuments and Sites Singapore president Kevin Tan.

“But you also have to bear in mind other considerations such as accessibility, and whether it can embody the spirit of what you are trying to portray.”

Yesterday, Mr Lee shared key findings the committee gleaned from nearly 2,000 people it engaged with since October last year through public dialogues, online responses and a door-to-door survey.

More than 80 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed were supportive of a memorial that commemorates the values and ideals on which Singapore is built, such as multiracialism, determination and unity.

A majority also felt that the memorial should inspire future generations, and should recognise founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his team – which includes Goh Keng Swee, S. Rajaratnam, Othman Wok, Hon Sui Sen and Lim Kim San.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

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