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Ministry of Health
Speeches

SPEECH BY MDM RAHAYU MAHZAM, MINISTER OF STATE, MDDI & MOH, IN RESPONSE TO ADJOURNMENT MOTION ON “SCREEN FREE CHILDREN: RECLAIMING CHILDHOOD IN THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ERA”

10 September 2026

1.            Mr. Speaker, I thank the member Mr Ng Shi Xuan for his speech, and in particular for sharing his personal experience and reflection. I think his story about the broken television and the story about little Jingyi gives us some things to think about.

2.            I understand that many parents especially, are very concerned about the impact of social media, of digital technology, of AI, and screen time on their children. And this is also something that we, as a Government, are concerned about. I know they think about this, they talk about this, and they feel that more should be done. And Mr Ng Shi Xuan earlier gave four recommendations for us to look at.

3.            Actually, all of them are things that we are in agreement with. We are in alignment with. In fact, they are actually very aligned to the efforts that the Government has already been working on. And in fact, Mr Ng also made references to some of this in his speech.

4.            First, he made a recommendation in relation to strengthening of community programs and to provide alternatives to screen time for the children, we are in agreement with this. We do feel that it is important to have a lot more community programs so that parents have alternatives that they can bring their children to. In this regard, we've actually been building on our efforts with PA. PA has piloted the PA Family PLAYGround programme, the National Family Festival is also quite alive and translating into a lot of activities in the community, all intended to bring meaningful family bonding activities for families. And so, this is something we can definitely scale and look into.

5.            We also have the Screen Smart from the Start campaign, and in this we have the “bescreensmart.gov.sg (opens in new tab)” portal, where we actually have resources for parents, their digital parenting programs, and also a lot of activities in the community that you can look out for in the libraries, HPB programmes. So, these are things that we can build on. So, I'm happy to hear that Mr Ng himself has programs in Naval Base – the Sembawang Budding Rangers, LumiPals, and the “Stop the Scrolls, Start the Talks” conversation cards. I think these are good things that we can definitely build into some of the existing efforts and scale them and have more presence in the community.

6.            The second recommendation he makes is about playgrounds, improving the playgrounds. We agree that physical environment is very important; it matters, and this is the feedback we'll take back. But we are actually already working with different agencies and Ministries to improve access, have easier access – families have easier access to playgrounds and also other family-friendly spaces like parks and sports facilities. So, this is something that's already in the works.

7.            Third, Mr Ng suggests that we strengthen the screen time guidelines as well as our social media regulations. He's already aware that MOH and MDDI are already working together in looking at the impact of social media on the mental health of young people, and we're already in the works with the social media platforms, the designated social media platforms, to strengthen some of these safeguards.

8.            We've been answering a few PQs this sitting on how we're doing it, and we have already indicated our broad framework and how we will be approaching this matter. When we have more information and it's better cooked we will inform you and we will keep the public updated about the developments in this matter.

9.            The fourth proposal that he makes is about the national childhood framework, and we note his proposal to study some of the frameworks that's already been done in other countries. Actually, Grow Well SG is something that we look at as a holistic approach. It is something that we look at holistically. We do learn from lessons from other jurisdictions and contextualise it to Singapore's needs. But we are working with different Ministries, and these are some things that we will continue to build on and enhance.

10.         I think we'll take his feedback, take it back and see how we can continue to improve on these efforts. But indeed, the whole intent of Grow Well SG is to have it be holistic, child-centric, and have multi-Ministry, the whole-of-Government approach towards looking at a child's development holistically.

11.         I just want to assure the member that this is an effort that the Government will continue to be committed to look at. We're committed to helping children grow to be healthy, confident, and resilient, especially in this digital and increasingly AI-driven world. And we will take a multi-Ministry, whole-of-Government, and whole-of-society approach.

12.         So, everybody has a role to play in this, and we certainly look forward to continue working with the community and advisers and members like Mr Ng to continue to enhance the work that we're already doing. Thank you.