Parliament to cover Megan Khung report, caning for scammers; WP proposes changes to online harms Bill

The findings and recommendations from the review panel on the Megan Khung case will be discussed during the upcoming Parliament sitting that will begin on Nov 4.

The sitting will also cover the debates on new Bills that propose caning as punishment for scammers and scam mules, as well as a new government agency meant to provide victims of online harms quick redress, according to the order paper released by Parliament on Nov 3.

Meanwhile, the opposition Workers’ Party has proposed a raft of amendments to the Bill on online harms. It suggests including promoting suicide and sexual grooming of those under age 18 in the list of what constitutes online harms, as well as more transparency for the new agency in reporting the complaints it receives and the action taken.

While MPs from both sides of the aisle have said online that they filed questions for this sitting on the Megan Khung report by the review panel, they were not included in the latest order paper. They will likely be addressed later in the week.

Four-year-old Megan died on Feb 22, 2020, after more than a year of physical and emotional abuse by her mother and her mother’s then boyfriend. The findings released on Oct 23 detailed several lapses at various agencies, including the Child Protective Service and the police.

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong Central), who chairs the PAP’s government parliamentary committee (GPC) for social and family development, said the GPC will ask about the Government’s response to the recommendations and its implementation plans.

Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC), chairman of the GPC for Home Affairs and Law, had said earlier that he would file questions on the matter. Protocols must be put in place for those on the front line to spot where intervention is needed, and to do so in a timely way, he added.

WP said in a Facebook post that it has filed questions on whether steps will be taken to proactively review past and current child protection cases to identify other children potentially overlooked due to the systemic gaps identified.

Its MPs will also ask about the measures the Ministry of Social and Family Development will introduce to foster the safe reporting culture recommended for social service professionals as recommended in the report. It will ask whether the Singapore Police Force’s internal reviews found if the lapses were isolated or indicative of broader systemic issues.

On the agenda for the coming sitting are also the debates on three major government Bills introduced in October.

The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill proposes to cane scammers and scam mules, following the loss of billions of dollars to scams in Singapore in recent years. Scammers, and members and recruiters of scam syndicates, are set to face mandatory caning of at least six strokes if the changes are passed. This can go up to 24 strokes, depending on the severity of the offence.

There are also changes relating to legislation covering sexual offences, AI-generated pornography and sexual grooming, among others.

The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill aims to ensure that workers facing discrimination have a clear process to seek redress, while the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill details the setting up of the Online Safety Commission and the obligations of content communicators, administrators and platforms in tackling reported harms such as online harassment and stalking.

WP’s proposed amendments also cover provisions to safeguard legitimate public discourse and the appeals process for decisions made by the commission.

The last time the WP filed a raft of amendments to a Bill was in 2021, ahead of the debate on the law to counter foreign interference in Singapore – the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act.

MPs have filed 105 questions for the relevant ministries to answer in Parliament during the 90 minutes set aside each session for question time for the November sitting.

Among them are four questions on the recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) 2024 study released on Oct 7. It showed that Singapore’s teachers are working an average of 47.3 hours a week, higher than the OECD average of 41 hours.

Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah (Jalan Besar GRC) asked about additional measures to address the high stress levels reported by teachers in the study, particularly regarding support for their mental health and well-being.

Mr Shawn Loh (Jalan Besar GRC) noted that according to the study, only 12 per cent of teachers are aged under 30, with 40 per cent of this group intending to leave within the next five years. He asked whether the low proportion of younger teachers is an intended policy outcome, and how new teachers are being supported to manage the increasing demands of their profession.

Some MPs also raised questions on retrenchment. This comes after online travel booking platform Agoda axed about 50 Agoda employees here in September.

WP MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) asked how many companies have failed to inform the Manpower Ministry (MOM) before retrenching their employees since the start of 2025, and if any actions were taken against them.

Non-Constituency MP Andre Low asked how many complaints MOM had received regarding severance agreements with clauses discouraging staff from approaching the authorities or unions in the last three years. He also asked if MOM would consider legislation to prohibit such clauses to better protect workers’ rights.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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