Parliament all set to debate Budget 2013

The Parliament is all set to debate the Finance Minister's 2013 Budget statement from the coming Tuesday and thereafter the Budget allocations for the various Ministries. 

The work of three newly-formed Ministries will come under scrutiny. 

For example, in the area of Social and Family Development, Government Parliament Committee (GPC) Chair Seah Kian Peng believes more can be done to integrate the work of the many players like the family service centres and the Community Development Councils to provide help to the needy. 

Then, there are the issues which come up regularly during the meet-the people sessions. 

In the area of housing, GPC Chair Lee Bee Wah will talk about returning to the days of dual key HDB flats to promote togetherness within multi generational families. 

Ms Lee notes that some residents have been asking for such multi generation flats as they have parents or parents-in-law living with them and they have also cited flat size as a deterrent factor for having more children. 

The Transport GPC will be touching on the fare formula review, the Vehicle Quota System and rail reliability and connectivity. 

For the GPC for Manpower, its Chair Zainudin Nordin says its main theme is Singaporeans at the core of a growing workforce.

For the GPC for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Chair Dr Lim Wee Kiak says some of the recent high profile accidents in the Singapore Armed Forces are of concern. 

Dr Lim adds that ASEAN's centrality will also be discussed during the Ministry of Foreign Affair's debate, especially the 2015 target of an ASEAN Economic Community.