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Hsien Loong positive about economic growth

Singapore News

The Independent

August 9, 2014

Hsien Loong positive about economic growth

Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, said in his National Day Message that the country’s economy expanded 3.5% in the first half of the year, bringing the rest of the year’s growth forecast to between 2.5% and 3.5% and that the chances of technical recession are very low this year. Interesting, right?

Singapore: More details about the economic growth numbers of Singapore’s first half and second quarter will be released in the upcoming week, however, a headline number was provided by Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Message stating that the first half GDP growth is 3.5%. If 3.5% growth is sustained in the first half, then the growth of the quarter to quarter will need to be paced up. Jeff Ng, Standard Chartered Bank economist, said that this why the growth target has been narrowed.

Francis Tan, United Overseas Bank economist said that for the second quarter, Singapore might experience negative growth concerning the quarter on quarter growth. However, a possibility of negative growth cannot be seen in the third quarter which is why Francis Tan has shared his idea that the risk of technical recession will not be seen in Singapore at all this year.

The Prime Minister of Singapore, pointed out the world has many opportunities for enterprising, but also makes individuals feels uncertain about future events like maritime disputes in South China Sea, armed disputes in Palestine and Gaza, etc, which is why a nation’s economy should be improved.

Lee said that education was a major part of accomplishing this task. For this, a team tasked with reviewing Institute of Technical Education and Polytechnic studies was expected to share its recommendations on how to assist Singaporean students to obtain the required skills to be successful in a changing economic environment.

Lee assured them that they would help them to acquire the appropriate skills, so they can progress in their careers. He emphasized the need for social values and how important it is to not judge people only by their academic qualifications.

For citizens who had retired from work, the Prime Minister shared his idea to improve retirement adequacy and make it simpler for retirees to obtain cash out of their state built apartments in a sustainable manner.

Even with such improvements this year, analysts believe that the next half year will be quite a challenge with increasing geopolitical tensions and health issues like the Ebola issue. On top of that, Singapore has to face its restructuring issues as well as it attempt to accomplish better productivity for its nation and economy.

We are one year old. Phew!

Singapore News

The Independent

August 9, 2014

One year ago today, we started on a journey to occupy a vacuum in the Singapore media space that has been given on a platter to two players.

Despite many manoeuvres to stop us in our tracks, The Independent Singapore has survived. We hope those who put up the road blocks now realize how foolhardy their actions have been.

The team has tried to keep faith with its editorial ideology underpinned by three words – responsible, intelligent and robust. No other media outlet, we dare say, has tried to adopt this ideology.

It is much easier to agree or disagree with everything the government does. It is tough, damn tough, to walk the independent middle path with reports, commentaries and analyses that can sometimes anger the establishment and sometimes upset those who oppose for the sake of opposing.

You must be activists, a civil society advocate told us recently. We see our role differently; we want to bring about a new form of journalism that will put Singapore and Singaporeans first.

We’ve published articles critical of the Workers’ Party and others based on their pronouncements. Occasionally, we have also brought to light stories that would otherwise have been ignored by mainstream media, in particular the heart-wrenching suicide story of 22-year-old national serviceman Ganesh Pillay Magindren who, despite being diagnosed as schizophrenic, was not accorded any special treatment by his superiors because his illness was not seen as a problem.

There are clearly lessons to be learnt from this case but we’ll never know because Mindef has been silent, whatever elected Ministers say in Parliament about National Service.

Our Roy Ngerng articles, like those on the hijab controversy, fuelled a great deal of social media debate but got no real response from a stone-walling government.

In the meantime, the government has set out policies to improve its popularity in time for the next general election. More payouts can be expected before the next elections.

What can the Workers’ Party promise? To be a check so as to draw more goodies from the ruling party? Its reticence, especially in Parliament, is causing some segments of society to question its strategy.

The public will remember that Roy Ngerng managed to get the government to reveal more information about the CPF with his public pronouncements than any WP MP in or out of Parliament!.

The mess over children’s books promoting “wrong” values in the National Library’s selection process has revealed the earlier ban on Archie and X-Men comics that the MDA felt promoted gay relations. PAP leaders talk about promoting family values forgetting that such traits are equally important and relevant as non-standard structures involving single and foster parents are increasing.

Meanwhile, our erstwhile “open” forms of entertainment expose us all to the lesbian gay and transgender lifestyles on television and in the cinemas. That environment is here with us to stay. Our broadcasters will have a nightmare if the government were to impose the restrictions of the ’70s (ban on Cosmopolitan, no publicity on extravagant and unconventional lifestyles…) today.

The question to ask is, for all the “bad influence” that TV and movies have exerted on us over the past 20 years, has our society gone down the toilet? And since when does an unaccountable lone voice objecting to the children’s book, And Three Makes Tango, succeed in getting the publication banned?

The Independent Singapore has been around for a year. We will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of those who believe media can be bent to its authoritarian will.

Singaporeans showed that they cannot be dismissed as dumb economic digits during the 2011 general election and the next polls will show whether lessons have been learnt.

An important sign will be the changes that the government will introduce to the Singapore Broadcasting Act. We await with great anxiety and some trepidation which way the government will go on this piece of legislation.

That will say whether this government has changed.

Chan Chun Sing suggests “future proofing” Singapore

Featured News

The Independent

August 9, 2014

Chan Chun Sing suggests “future proofing” Singapore

The minister of Social and Family Development believes implementing the appropriate social values in Singapore would allow the country to compete on an international level.

Minister Chan Chun Sing suggests that the future of Singapore can be shaped by combining economic, social, and geopolitical values. However, it is not clear how such factors can aid in developing the nation which is why the country has to look at various methods that will allow it to future proof its environment for unpredictable challenges in the future like how to leverage on the strong brand of Singapore or how to establish the right social values.

Mr. Chan spoke at the yearly Economic Society of Singapore on August 7^th which was attended by economists, academicians, bankers, and policy makers. The main thrust of his speech was not to guess the future, but to suggest what Singapore should put in place. He believes that the relationship between US and China will prove to be one of the biggest geopolitical problems facing Singapore and Asia. If the competition between the two countries heats up in the future, this could have an impact on the future of different countries in the area as well. This is why Mr. Chan believes that if Singapore is not able to establish values and get rid of its strategic weight, then it could be marginalized easily.

Some domestic challenges that Mr. Chan discussed were balancing integration and immigration and provided a number of methods to take care of these problems. He said it is very important for the Singaporeans to remain connected with the world, but they should remain loyal to their nation and contribute to their society. He believes that success can be accomplished with the help of the right social values. It is said that only the fittest country will survive, but being fit is not only limited to the power of the country but it is concerned with the ability to adapt. Mr. Chan believes in future proofing and encourages resilience in both the systems and individuals of Singapore to help the nation navigate itself during the times of an uncertain future.

However, even though Mr. Chan suggests that future proofing should be implemented in the nation, critics do not believe in such a thing. Critics have shared the idea that Singapore has lost its competitiveness in the market because it has become one of the most expensive cities in the world. Some of the manufacturing concerns have started moving out of the country and rise in Singapore Dollar has made our goods and services abroad sorely uncompetitive.

Let’s Be Honest About Religion and Gaza

Featured News

The Independent

August 9, 2014

By Simon Vincent

Transnational Religiosity

It is often said that it is impolite to discuss religion with others.

Well, colour me rude then when I say that religion cannot be divorced from our discussions of the current Israel-Gaza conflict.

Attesting to this, Dr. Yacoob Ibrahim said the Muslim community in Singapore is especially affected by the conflict, since it had occurred during the month of Ramadan.

Of course, the crisis in Gaza is not a matter pertaining to Muslims alone. The conflict is a humanitarian one that has shocked the consciences of people of various races and religions all across the world.

When commenting on the humanitarian assistance given to MUIS for the Gaza crisis, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, “Singaporeans have donated generously, and not only Muslims.”

Implicit in the clause that mentions people other than Muslims, though, is an acknowledgement that Muslims are perceived to be more invested in the Gaza crisis than non-Muslims.

There is probably some truth to this. If you were to visit the Facebook page for From Singapore to Palestine, which organised a rally at the Speaker’s Corner for solidarity with Gaza, you will notice that quite a lot of the comments are framed in starkly religious terms.

Common Islam informs a significant part of the solidarity for Gaza.

This is not in any way unprecedented, since transnational religious ties often make up our identities. Local Christians are just as attuned to what happens to Christians in other parts of the world as local Muslims are to their international brethren.

However, because of the contemporaneous threat of Islamic terrorism, local Muslims tend to get a greater share of the spotlight.

The Radicalisation Narrative and Islamophobia

During his Aidilfitri sermon, Mufti Mohamed Fatris Bakram told Muslims to be “extremely careful and discerning” when reading reports calling for Muslims to kill people.

It seems a call for murder requires scrutiny before being outrightly condemned!

Bakram’s statement echoes the previous warning of Masagos Zulkiflii, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs. He had asked Muslims not to be irrational and go to Gaza to help out, citing the case of Syria where “most of those who initially wanted to help eventually became radical and they came back home bringing terrorism to their soil”

If it is indeed impolite to discuss religion with others, surely a greater breach of decorum would be to presume that discussing religion would incite manic behaviour in the other party.

More pertinent than matters of decorum, though, is the troubling notion that people can simply become radicalised by following the Gaza crisis, be it on the news or social media.

The alarmism expressed by Zulkifli is probably due to the recent reports of Singaporean Muslims joining the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, we should be wary of using the rhetoric of radicalisation to explain away Islamic terrorism.

As Julian Baggini shows, radicalisation is not some brainwashing feat that renders people insipid and susceptible to religious extremism. The truth is more disquieting: Some people, out of their own free wills, decide to be murderers.

Let us not pass over this fact: Going to Gaza, Iraq or Syria to aid the resistance requires premeditation.

The radicalisation narrative averts placing due responsibility for extremism on the extremist’s part. At the same time, it unwittingly confirms Islamophobia by presenting Islamic extremism as something that could suddenly pervert Muslims.

A New Etiquette

In an incisive post on Facebook, Alfian Sa’at mentions the benefit of Muslims providing a “corrective to pro-Israeli media reports” that defend the callous aggression of Israel. Nevertheless, he is also aware of how convenient it is for Muslims to sympathise with the Palestinian victims and see Gaza as a microcosm of a global agenda against Islam, ignoring the atrocities committed by Muslims from other parts of the world.

The radicalisation narrative, I believe, makes it too easy for extremists to justify their atrocities through such a skewed lens.

We need to be honest about religion, religious affiliations and religious extremism, without turning alarmist.

We need to establish a new etiquette of religion.

I say: Discussing religion should only ever be impolite when it is done badly.

Pink, pulp and principle

Lifestyle

The Independent

August 8, 2014

By PN Balji

That was the fortnight that was — breathless and breathtaking for officialdom in Singapore — as a controversy over which books should, and should not, remain on library shelves took on a life of its own, throwing up issues of censorship, citizen power, weak leadership and the role of libraries.

More significantly, it was another sign of a changing and maturing society whose citizens are prepared to stand and be counted, even on issues that don’t affect their pocket books or daily lives. For the first time in many, many years, Singaporeans protested over a principle — in this case, the freedom to read the books they want and to decide for themselves what is right and wrong.

It all began innocuously when a member of a fringe anti-gay group complained about two children’s books that depicted stories about penguins and swans of the same sex bringing up children as a household. The assistant chief executive of the National Library Board, perhaps in all innocence and ignorance, wrote back to say the two books were being removed.The decision was taken in a matter of just two days.

The complainant posted the email conversation on the Internet for everyone to see. The issue could have been put to rest quickly and smartly if the board had not insisted that it had the right to be the moral policeman of what kids should read. Instead, its management hid behind the skirt of a junior officer who was sent into the lion’s den to face the media at a press conference.

Not surprisingly, the officer fumbled, giving non-answers and, worse, saying that the two books would be pulped, raising howls of protests because of images of book burning by fascists and Nazis like Adolf Hitler during their terror of reign.

The minister in charge of the National Library Board, Yaacob Ibrahim, floated into the debate, insisting on the library’s role to safeguard social norms, which kicked off another round of debate over who should play moral policeman, the library or the police.

But what the library and Yaacob did not expect was a blowback from respected literary icons such as Ovidia Yu, T Sasitharan and many others pulling out from high-profile literary events like the annual Singapore Writers Festival. Some even returned the honorariums they had received from the library for the work they had done. Two mothers got a police permit to hold a peaceful sit-in at the national library’s premises to show their unhappiness with the ban.

Finally, the minister gave in by saying the two books wouldn’t be pulped, but would be put in the adult section of the library.

The controversy shows that Singaporeans are beginning to fight for a cause, not just their cause.

In another case, a former adjunct professor at Nanyang Technological University rejected a part-time teaching offer because noted writer and researcher Cherian George was not granted tenure at the university, despite glowing tributes from faculty, students and peers, some of them from overseas.

“I was asked to teach a course that Cherian used to teach. I said no, not just to protest against the university’s unfair action, but on a point of principle, as I wanted the university to feel the pain of its decision. I wanted them to sweat, because the university must be made to realise its folly,” he said.

Then there is former top Citi banker, Deepak Sharma, fighting the authorities tooth and nail over the accusation that his surgeon wife, Susan Lim, had overcharged a member of the Brunei royal family and also a lawyer for the ruling party who fought the case for the Singapore Medical Council.

Sharma was slapped with legal costs for the council’s lawyer, but he contends that the S$1million figure is tantamount to overcharging. The figure was eventually reduced to S$370,000, but Sharma is going for the jugular. He wants a judicial review, calling the lawyer’s action “dishonourable” and saying “it constitutes grossly improper conduct.”

Sharma crossed an invisible line in a country where people fear taking on the establishment, preferring instead to complain and mope in private.

The library saga and these two incidents show Singapore is changing, with one big message for the government: Buck up or face further erosion of support in the next election.

Yesterday it was anger at the way the government has managed the compulsory pension scheme called the Central Provident Fund(CPF), and today it is about books. What tomorrow’s furore will be is anybody’s guess.

This article appeared first in The Edge Review

CONVERSATION WITH A SENIOR CITIZEN: Uncle Ronnie, a changed man

Featured News

The Independent

August 8, 2014

CONVERSATION WITH A SENIOR CITIZEN: Uncle Ronnie, a changed man

He is 56; like more and more senior citizens, Ronnie is on the streets. But this unmarried uncle has a different story to tell.

Ronnie is seated on a stool outside the washroom at the Buona Vista MRT Station, with a distant gaze at nothing in particular.

He cleans the washrooms for 8 hours a day, but he claims that that it is not a difficult job. Taking home less than a $1000 a month after his CPF contributions, he says the only way to survive is to keep working.

“As long as I have the energy, I will continue to work. Work is good.”

We talk about his earlier days.

“When I was in my teenage years, I sold electronics at Queensway Shopping Centre. But I stopped a while later.”

“I went to prison,” he said with remorse.

“After I was released, I became a sales coordinator at Bukit Merah for 3 years. I sold lighting, electronics and I went door to door to sell circuit breakers. I sold almost everything.“Then I started stealing. And I was still addicted to heroin at the same time.

“I was in and out of prison. In and out, in and out,” he repeated, gesturing with his hand to emphasize that he had been a seasoned man at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre.

He said it was during his army days that he got acquainted with drugs.

“I was a lance corporal in the 3 SIR and everyone there was doing heroin–it was cheap, $5 for a little packet,” he said, positioning his fingers as if he was holding an imaginary matchbox.

“A good friend pushed a pack in my hand and asked me to try it.”

“He’s dead now. Jumped off a block and killed himself,” he added, with a voice that was eerily dispassionate.

As soon as the topic of death surfaced, an air of negativity seeped in. I thought it would be appropriate to discuss a less morbid topic. I got him to talk about the turning point in his life instead.

“I stopped taking drugs after I was locked up for the longest time in my life – three and a half years. I knew I’ve had enough.

“I was getting old.”

He is now a religious man.

“I have been a Christian for about 5 years now.”

“One day, God appeared and asked me to follow him. Everything that happened was part of his plan. He knows what we are doing.”

He paused as if he had words to add, but silence ensued. I took the cue – it was time for me to go.

As I shook his hand and wished him well, he said, “When you are young, you must get married. If not, you will regret it.”

“I knew many girls back then.”

“But I lost every one of them to drugs.”

Something’s wrong with S’pore education

Featured News

The Independent

August 7, 2014

By Michael Y.P. Ang

Four days before Germany became the first European country to win the World Cup in the Americas, the Straits Times Communities posted a blog called ‘German football team is like Singapore’s education system’.

The blog says that “Singapore’s rigorous education system is increasingly being derided for the very same reasons the German football squad is now being celebrated – it drills its kids in the basics and beyond to maximise their potential.”

Lousy comparison

The blog overlooks the fact that the two systems produce graduates who go on to live in vastly different worlds. One group’s expertise is very much in demand worldwide, while the other group is, simply put, not.

Even if Germany had lost the World Cup final to Argentina, it must be said that the German team is among the world’s elite, whereas Singaporeans appear to lose out to foreigners in the competition for corporate leadership.

The July 10 blog proudly highlights “our students’ top performances in worldwide tests and Olympiads”. Singapore’s education may provide a rock-solid system in helping students excel in exams. But so what? Singaporean students outperform their foreign peers in global tests. Once again, so what?

Much more importantly, we need to ask: How relevant is Singapore’s educational system in preparing Singaporeans to take on the challenges of the working world? How good are our universities in grooming future corporate leaders?

Foreigners running Singaporean corporations

It is understandable if the odd corporation is unable to find a suitable Singaporean to be its CEO. However, there must be something amiss when foreigners working as CEOs are commonplace in Singapore, or when a foreign CEO steps down and is succeeded by another foreigner.

If the government’s claims of meritocracy in Singapore are not hollow claims, it means there is no reverse discrimination in Singaporean corporations and that Singaporeans just don’t cut it for certain CEO positions.

Let’s see some examples.

Philippe Paillart became CEO of DBS Group Holdings in 2001 and was replaced by American Jackson Tai the following year. Tai stepped down in 2007, and Richard Stanley took over in 2008. Following Stanley’s death in 2009, Indian national Piyush Gupta assumed the CEO position.

At OCBC Bank, David Conner served as CEO for 10 years until 2012, when China-born and Hong Kong-raised Samuel Tsien was appointed to run the financial giant.

The lack of Singaporean leadership is not restricted to the financial industry. Darrell Metzger was CEO of Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) from 2002 to 2007. The CEO position was left vacant for 16 months, with no Singaporean within SDC deemed good enough to succeed Metzger, before Mike Barclay came on board in August 2008.

When Singapore Airlines (SIA) set up Scoot in 2011, the national carrier chose Campbell Wilson to be the CEO. SIA has existed for decades, yet apparently no Singaporean within its senior management team has gained enough experience to run a budget airline.

Isn’t something wrong with Singapore’s education when foreign-trained personnel, instead of Singaporeans, are continually being selected for leadership positions?

English football

England’s football system is more similar than the German one to Singapore’s education. English football academies are rigorous enough to produce professional players who make their living in the world’s most powerful league. But despite the strength of the English Premier League (EPL), the England team is not exactly among the world’s elite.

This is not surprising because many young, talented English footballers are being sidelined due to the presence of foreign players in EPL clubs, whose proportion of first-team local players is lower than that of German clubs. If young English players are continually not given enough opportunities to prove themselves, how can the England team improve?

The Three Lions’ seemingly unending World Cup failures suggest that English football desperately needs drastic changes. Perhaps the same could be said of Singapore’s education.

Is MDA’s censorship practice outmoded and archaic?

Singapore News

The Independent

August 7, 2014

Is MDA’s censorship practice outmoded and archaic?

Officers of Media Development Authority (MDA) do not expect the public to agree with their decision, said Minister of communication and information Dr.Yaacob Ibrahim. He also added that public disagreement on a decision on classifying content is a good indication of MDA striking a judicious balance.

The minister continued, if the decision attracts disagreement from the public at either end of a spectrum of views, it is a good indication that MDA has managed to strike a judicious balance between competing interests . He added that the current approach, which ensures that content regulatory standards and policies are in line with social norms and keep pace with their evolution, has worked well.

But the fallout that occurred in the arts and the writers’ community does not seem to reflect the position taken by the MDA. The very fact that they wanted to pulp the books and later retracted that by putting the controversial titles back in the adult section is an indication of how NLB had caved in to public pressure.

Dr Yacob went on to say that MDA conducts regular surveys of the population to gain important outlook into community views. Dr Yaacob stressed that by end of 2014, Media Development Authority (MDA) will be launching a Content Standards Study to evaluate whether its current content standards and policies remain in line with community expectations.

The minister needs to understand that in some cases, the results of such studies can be skewed to serve the wants of a certain community.

It is clear that MDA no longer has its finger on the pulse and the conservatives have caved in to public pressure. The majority seem to take a more liberal view on this issue.

With the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and availability of such materials there, the question to ask is whether the methods that MDA uses are still relevant in this day and age.

CLOUD MESSENGER 8 & 9 August 2014 | Drama Centre Black Box

Lifestyle

The Independent

August 6, 2014

CLOUD MESSENGER 8 & 9 August 2014 | Drama Centre Black Box

Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) invites you to celebrate this National Day with an original, devised-in-Singapore play, Cloud Messenger. Helmed by guest director Alvin Tan and playwright Haresh Sharma from The Necessary Stage. Cloud Messenger is a multilingual, inter-disciplinary collaboration with some of Singapore’s leading artists such as Bani Haykal, Brian Gothong Tan, Jaclyn Tan, Steve Kwek and design collective Neon Tights.

Cloud Messenger is inspired by Megha Duta, a Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa and is devised with ITI’s 2014 graduating cohort, featuring students from countries as diverse as India, Italy, Bolivia, The Philippines and Singapore. The original lyric poem tells the tale of a yaksha [nature-spirit], who after being exiled for a year, convinces a cloud to take a message to his wife, that will carry with it descriptive scenes of the beauty and scenery which the cloud passes and encounters.

In our version, our multicultural cast share stories of their living experiences in Singapore – their struggles, joys and challenges, as well as the messages they wish to convey to their loved ones. Cloud Messenger distils their experiences and feelings into an intimate and evocative performance.

Final year (third year) students at ITI present three plays in their graduating year as part of their curriculum. Cloud Messenger is the second graduation show for 2014.

Alvin Tan, director, shares his thoughts on working with ITI’s students for Cloud Messenger, “For practitioners like ourselves who are in intercultural practice, it has been especially rewarding to work with the trained bodies of ITI’s actor-students. All their years of training together has given them an ensemble spirit that is evident from the very first day of rehearsal. The cast are open to one another’s ideas and build on them – and this inclusiveness has been a pleasure to facilitate … I look forward to encountering more of these qualities as we move towards the show’s opening.”

Show And Ticketing Details

Play: Cloud Messenger

Date: 8 – 9 August 2014 (Fri – Sat)

Show Timings: 8 August (Fri) 8pm

9 August (Sat) 3pm & 8pm

Venue: Drama Centre Black Box

100 Victoria Street

#05-01, National Library Building

Singapore 188064

Cast: Denise Mordeno Aguilar, Giorgia Tsolaki Ciampi, Kalaiselvi Grace, Jyothirmayi Kurup, Lina Yu, Pedro Simoni Talavera, Shakeel Ahmmad

Tickets:S$25 (Standard), S$20 (Concession)

Tickets available at http://www.ticketmash.sg/cloudm

Divorce will be not easy: K.Shanmugam

Featured News

The Independent

August 6, 2014

Divorce will be not easy for couples who are want to end their marriage. A bill was passed in parliament on Monday. According to the new Family Justice bill, support for divorce may not be easy in the newly formed Family Justice Courts.

Law Minister Shanmugam Pointed out that, “Famiies must be protected and disputes between husband and wife should be brought before court only as the final point.”

Committee for Family Justice has given recommendations for this new family bill and creation of Family Justice system in Singapore by resolving family disputes effectively and less acrimoniously.

Law Minister stated, the families who are facing disputes can be resolved with as little emotional trauma as possible. Families will be given emotional and psychological advices from counselors.Costs associated with such counseling will be reduced.

During the debate on the new family Bill, Many MPs spoke on the need for greater awareness of family law and increased effort to prevent the breakdown of marriages.

MP. Sylvia Lim of Ajunied GRC, said a clause in the Bill states that hearings in the Family Justice Courts will be closed to the public, argued that opening certain cases for media coverage will be educational for the public since many still rely on the mass media for information.

In response, Mr. Shanmugam said the committee’s decision to keep family disputes private was mainly intended to protect the interests of the children involved.

Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Lily Neo suggested that pre-filing consultation sessions include marriage counsellors who can help couples resolve their differences

Aljunied GRC MP Faisal said, parents also need support post-divorce, suggested counselling sessions for the adults to help them better cope with life after divorce.

East Coast GRC MP Jessica Tan noting that family law is not the most attractive area of specialization for lawyers was concern about whether the new family justice system could attract the right kind of lawyers.

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