SINGAPORE: A slew of new measures kick in on Tuesday. Among them - parents getting better support in raising a child, and employers abiding by a weekly day-off policy for foreign maids. Car buyers and taxi users too will benefit from new regulations.
With the new year, comes new policies.
One of the new
policies is the Child Development Account (CDA) under the Baby Bonus
scheme, which is aimed at helping families with the costs of raising
children.
It is a savings account where parents' deposits are
matched dollar-for-dollar by the government, up to a cap ranging from
S$6,000 to S$18,000, depending on the birth order of the child.
From
January, parents can continue to dip into the savings account until
their children are 12 years old, instead of six. This includes paying
for healthcare and childcare fees.
Associate Professor Paulin
Straughan, a sociologist with the National university of Singapore
(NUS), said the move is pertinent, given the demands of raising a child.
She
added: "A big concern for parents now is childcare. And childcare for
school-going primary kids, primary school kids are not cheap. For
example, after school care. So if they are allowed to dip into the CDA
for this, it will certainly help working dual-income families
significantly."
The new year also marks the start of mandatory
weekly rest-days for foreign domestic workers. This will apply to those
whose work permits are issued or renewed from January 1, 2013. All maids
will be covered by the new legislation by 2015.
Employers and
workers should agree on which day of the week the rest day falls, and if
there's no day-off, employers must give monetary compensation.
Employment agencies are also expected to play a larger role.
President
of the Association of Employment Agencies, K Jayaprema, said: "The
employers are going to need the employment agencies to be part of this,
because we are supposed to negotiate the off-days, we are supposed to
witness the paperwork, when the domestic worker actually agrees not to
take her day off and to be compensated.
"So I will strongly
encourage employers to ensure that when they are going through this
process of off-days with the employees, they should work with the
employment agencies involved."
Separately, those eyeing a new car
can stand to benefit from the new Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle
Scheme. Owners of cars which are more fuel-efficient and emit less
carbon will enjoy rebates of up to S$20,000. This will be given as an
offset against the vehicle's Additional Registration Fee.
To make an informed choice, buyers are advised to look out for the mandatory Fuel Economy Labelling Scheme (FELS) at showrooms.
The Land Transport Authority said only cars that are approved by LTA under FELS can be registered for use from January 1.
Those
who do not own a car may also now find it easier to get a cab. That is
because operators must ensure that 70 per cent of their fleet are on the
road during peak hours and clock an average daily mileage of 250
kilometres. This translates to around eight to nine hours on the road
per day, five days a week.
Observers believe the move may burden smaller operators and cause them to merge, in order to meet the standards.
Associate
Professor Lee Der-Horng of the Department of Civil Engineering at NUS
said: "With this quality of service measurement, this may become a
burden to the smaller operators. Because given their size and given
their corporate resources, it may be even more difficult for them to
satisfy (the requirements).
"Perhaps we may see a merger between
the smaller operators but from the passengers side, this may be good
news as well. After the merger, they may better cooperate resources and
they may be able to provide better service to passengers."
Taxis
will be also allowed to pick up and drop off passengers along roads
within the Central Business District, except for roads with bus lanes
during the operating hours of the lanes.
-CNA/ac
boring leh - people can go back work after holidays, school repoens, people busy like ants again only 1t gear difficlt to pick up after long period of break and celebrations. its voer as sooner as it begans. tomorrow wonder wanna wake up at 1pm or 3pm? hahhaha