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Mar 16, 2010
10-MP team to work on Parents Bill
<!-- by line -->By Cai Haoxiang
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RISING to the challenge, Mr Seah Kian Peng, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, has assembled a team with nine other Members of Parliament, including three Nominated MPs, to work on a Bill to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act (MPA).
Mr Seah was thrown the challenge in Parliament last Wednesday when he called for the Act to be given more teeth.
In response, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, noting that the Act was the work of then-NMP Walter Woon back in 1994, asked Mr Seah to similarly come up with a private member's Bill to revise the Act.
His ministry will even provide administrative support, he added.
Yesterday, Mr Seah named his team members and added that he hoped to get the Bill passed by Parliament within the next 12 months.
His move would be the first time in 36 years that a Bill is being proposed by an MP from the ruling People's Action Party. And it would be only the fourth instance of a backbench-initiated Bill since Singapore's independence in 1965.
Mr Seah, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said his team is a diverse mix of people with experience in family issues.
For example, Madam Halimah Yacob is a former MPA tribunal member while Ms Ellen Lee is a family law specialist.
Others on the team are: Ms Denise Phua, Mr Sin Boon Ann, Mr Wee Siew Kim, Mr Sam Tan, and NMPs Mildred Tan, Viswa Sadasivan and Laurence Wee.
Mr Seah also hopes to consult Mr Woon, the outgoing Attorney-General, who is returning to academia.
He plans to hold focus group discussions to get ideas from people, including tribunal members.
He wants to be as inclusive and thorough as possible to convince MPs to support the amendments, he said.
The 1995 Act allows elderly parents to seek a legal tribunal's help if their children refuse to support them financially.
The number of parents filing such applications has soared, from 109 in 2007 to almost 200 last year.
The uptrend led Mr Seah to suggest in Parliament last week that the tribunal be given more powers to obtain information on the whereabouts and financial status of the children, from agencies like the HDB.
10-MP team to work on Parents Bill
<!-- by line -->By Cai Haoxiang
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
RISING to the challenge, Mr Seah Kian Peng, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, has assembled a team with nine other Members of Parliament, including three Nominated MPs, to work on a Bill to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act (MPA).
Mr Seah was thrown the challenge in Parliament last Wednesday when he called for the Act to be given more teeth.
In response, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, noting that the Act was the work of then-NMP Walter Woon back in 1994, asked Mr Seah to similarly come up with a private member's Bill to revise the Act.
His ministry will even provide administrative support, he added.
Yesterday, Mr Seah named his team members and added that he hoped to get the Bill passed by Parliament within the next 12 months.
His move would be the first time in 36 years that a Bill is being proposed by an MP from the ruling People's Action Party. And it would be only the fourth instance of a backbench-initiated Bill since Singapore's independence in 1965.
Mr Seah, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said his team is a diverse mix of people with experience in family issues.
For example, Madam Halimah Yacob is a former MPA tribunal member while Ms Ellen Lee is a family law specialist.
Others on the team are: Ms Denise Phua, Mr Sin Boon Ann, Mr Wee Siew Kim, Mr Sam Tan, and NMPs Mildred Tan, Viswa Sadasivan and Laurence Wee.
Mr Seah also hopes to consult Mr Woon, the outgoing Attorney-General, who is returning to academia.
He plans to hold focus group discussions to get ideas from people, including tribunal members.
He wants to be as inclusive and thorough as possible to convince MPs to support the amendments, he said.
The 1995 Act allows elderly parents to seek a legal tribunal's help if their children refuse to support them financially.
The number of parents filing such applications has soared, from 109 in 2007 to almost 200 last year.
The uptrend led Mr Seah to suggest in Parliament last week that the tribunal be given more powers to obtain information on the whereabouts and financial status of the children, from agencies like the HDB.
