Taxi subsidies for elderly?
An elderly resident asked whether, in light of higher cab fares, the Government would provide taxi subsidies for the elderly who visit hospitals.
Dr Ng said: 'I can understand (Transport Minister Raymond Lim's) difficulty. Singapore has 850,000 vehicles on the road. He is worried that if the ministry doesn't do anything, the whole of Singapore will be one giant carpark.
'If you're really sick, the right people to call are those providing ambulance services. Our taxi drivers are trained to deal with tourists, but they're not trained to deal with sick people.'
But he said he will raise the matter with ambulance providers and see if they can make it cheaper for such people to use their services.
National service
A middle-aged woman asked if the Defence Ministry had a policy forbidding full-time national servicemen from voicing training and other grievances to non-Singapore Armed Forces personnel, such as Members of Parliament.
Dr Ng, who is Second Minister for Defence, said Mindef does not punish soldiers for seeing their MP and raising military-related matters: 'We want feedback. We don't want our soldiers to bottle up their problems.'
He added that military personnel can also make use of SAF hotlines to voice their concerns, even on an anonymous basis.
Foreign worker training
One forum participant asked if more Government funds can be provided for companies to train their foreign workers - especially companies operating in sectors that are heavily dependent on foreign manpower.
Dr Ng said he is willing to consider the suggestion and added that 'my priority will always be Singaporeans'.
He also said that companies that hire foreign workers should be prepared to pay for such training expenses.