COS 2010
MCYS: Maintenance of Parents Act & Others - A Kiasu Approach
Seah Kian Peng
Sir, I beg to move that the total sum allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100.
The landscape is changing as business cycles get shorter and shocks from externalities become more common. As we transform our economy and workforce to face these challenges, we can expect some groups of citizens who will not be able to manage these changes. So, I urge MCYS to look out for these danger signs on their radar screens. And with the opening of the two IRs, the associated social ills is a foregone consequence - let's take a kiasu approach and be over prepared to deal with them.
The principles which our social safety net are based on - personal responsibility, family responsibility and the Many Helping Hands approach - are all sound. The goal must always be to reduce social inequality, to strengthen social equity.
Sir, even as I say these words, and mean them from the bottom of my heart, I know that they are mere platitudes. In our ageing society, the demands and stresses on every family keep increasing. We have always strived to build stronger, more resilient families. This is probably the best and most important form of investment from both an individual and country perspective. Weak, broken families will eventually lead to more resources and support required from community, state and VWOs.
It starts with filial piety - a concept and value that we all hold dear and yet something which needs reinforcement, more so now than before.
Many members here can identify with me as we encounter cases of elderly citizens coming to our MPS seeking help or advice because they have been 'abandoned' by their children and left largely to fend for themselves.
I remember a Madam K – she is 69 years old now; I would have seen her at least six times at my MPS. She had wanted to sell her 3 room flat she co-owned with one of her daughters and to get a rental flat claiming that her children no more cared for her and she needed the monies from the sale proceeds for living expenses.
I told her the existing policies would preclude her from being able to get a rental flat. I probed deeper into her case. To cut a long story short, after quite a few attempts, I finally managed to meet up with her eldest daughter and after meeting with both mother and daughter on a few occasions, eventually managed to get both to come together and work out a solution. This case had a satisfactory ending.
Yes, circumstances are different for each case and the blame is not always with the children themselves. While some elderly parents seek help, they shy away from taking the legal route and file for maintenance under the Maintenance of Parents Act [“Act”]. This behaviour is natural and to be expected.
Sir, the Act was introduced in 1996 to deter unfilial adult children from abdicating their responsibility of maintaining their parents. Between January 2002 and Dec 2008, a total of 710 maintenance applications were filed by elderly parents against children. In 2009, I understand that there was more than a 50% increase in applications received compared to 2008. Sir, I am dismayed by this increase but also somewhat comforted. This increase shows one of two things – if it shows that there are more children who are not caring for their parents, then I am dismayed. If it shows that there are more parents who are willing to bring their children to court to force payments, then I am comforted. I think that there would be a mixture of the two.
Sir, the effectiveness of the Act and the workflow processes should be strengthened to assist elderly parents while deterring adult children from neglecting their duty to care for their parents. I know the Ministry is reviewing the Act to see how it can be improved.
I have the following suggestions:
I would like to propose enhancing the role of Commissioner for Maintenance of Parents (“Commissioner”] to assist elderly parents by introducing a pre-filing registration stage. Today, the process begins more formally when parents approach the Tribunal and file their claims, which many elderly find it too drastic a step as it begins the legal and necessarily adversarial court proceedings. By bringing forward the intervention to the pre-filing stage, the Commissioner can better facilitate a settlement between parents and their children without first having to resort to the Tribunal.
I suggest that elderly parents who approach the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents (“Tribunal”] Secretariat be registered. Upon registration, the case will be passed to the Commissioner who could assist them in the following ways: (a) Referral to a Family Service Centre; (b) Alternate Dispute Resolution at the Commissioner's Office where the Commissioner would work with the parent and the children to bring about an agreement on the issue of maintenance, and (c) Representation by the Commissioner on behalf of the elderly in filing of the case, where assessed to be appropriate. The Commissioner will monitor closely and escalate these cases when required. In short, I am pushing for workflow improvements and simplicity.
Where cases have reached an agreement facilitated by the Commissioner, I propose that the parties involved seek a Consent Order from the Tribunal. This Order can be enforced at the Family Court in the event of non-compliance. The Commissioner should also have a role in monitoring cases after Maintenance Orders have been issued, in particular cases where the children repeatedly default against the Orders.
To facilitate its work at the pre-filing stage, the Commissioner should be empowered to investigate the merits of the case. This includes the power to obtain data on the children and their financial status from other agencies. One key piece of information required by the Commissioner is the address to contact the children for reconciliation and counseling. MCYS told me that about 14% of elderly parents approaching the Tribunal in 2008 could not provide adequate details of their children, and therefore could not proceed to file their cases.
For identities and addresses of the children, the key data source agencies are ICA and HDB. These agencies should be allowed to provide the data to the Commissioner once the necessary amendments to the Act are made. The ability to trace children would serve as a deterrent to unfilial children.
Data on financial means is also needed to verify the ability to support parents and the most updated data would be the children's CPF contribution information.
Yes, we need to put in the necessary safeguards to manage data disclosure and also confidentiality of certain information. But for a start, the Commissioner should first request for relevant documents from the children first.
Should they not be forthcoming, the Commissioner may request data directly from CPF Board or to consider filing the case at the Tribunal. Once the case is filed, the Tribunal would be able to seek relevant information from CPF Board, as is provided for under the current Act. The Tribunal can also draw an adverse inference should the children be uncooperative.
Over the past year, I understand that the CDCs and HDB have also been tightening their application processes for ComCare assistance and subsidized rental housing respectively. As a principle which I subscribe to, social assistance to the elderly should be rendered only if children do not have the financial means to support them. So I propose the Act should be amended to empower the Commissioner to investigate the circumstances and take appropriate action pursuant to the Act if an elderly parent seeks social assistance from the government.
Accordingly, the Commissioner should be able to assist the CDCs and HDB in obtaining the addresses of their children. This will help them locate the children for assessment and refer 'maintenance' cases to the Commissioner, so that children with adequate financial means do support their parents.
We should push for closer collaboration between the Commissioner and the social assistance agencies to ensure that only truly deserving cases receive state assistance.
I also suggest the following amendments to make Tribunal processes more efficient:
a. Currently, the President of the Tribunal must be one of the three members to form a quorum for the Tribunal hearings. Perhaps a Deputy President can be appointed and hearings can be presided over by either one of them.
b. Remove the prescribed forms from Maintenance of Parents Rules and streamline the forms and regularly review and update them administratively.
c. Remove the fees and the limit on solicitor's costs.
Finally, I also propose that we review the age limit of 60 years or more – should it be lowered or removed altogether? Something to think through.
Savings account with tax exemptions
Sir, the forgoing speaks to the revision of the Act, which I hope will apply only to extreme cases. But I would like to end my speech with something of a more garden variety. Here is a practical and concrete way to realize filial piety.
Sir, we have already done this with the Act – but this act is a stick, to force people who would otherwise ignore their parents, to provide some minimum sum for them.
Now, can we have a carrot? Can the MCYS help us to set up a ‘filial piety’ savings account with tax incentives? Banks can set up such accounts to encourage children to contribute on a regular basis a certain amount of money. This account is in the name of their parents and which can only be drawn down by parents upon reaching a certain age, perhaps at 62 yrs.
These contributions will receive tax exemption for the contributors.
The contributions and accounts can also be set up for uncles, aunties and other relatives. One major local bank has already made the first move to recognize the importance of planning for our parents’ future as they age. They call it a SmartSenior Account. This is a joint account for children to open with their parents, allowing them to receive their monthly allowance from their children.
Operationally therefore, there is nothing new in this proposal. The principle I am underlining however, is an important one.
We should make it easy for people to give funds to their parents.
We should allow a regular and hassle-free transaction
We should give some government support towards this effort.
Sir, I hope the Ministry will consider my suggestions, especially those relating to the Maintenance of Parents Act.
Thank you.