A/HRC/32/17 111. Singapore invited the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons to visit. 112. Singapore improved welfare provisions to vulnerable groups and timely protection, while ensuring they felt safe in their environment. The poor received additional cash assistance above subsidies available to all citizens. Timely and flexible assistance avoided the “cliff effect”. Singapore established 24 Social Service Offices, and there were more than 400 civil society organizations where people could get early help. This also enabled the Government to receive regular feedback to adjust policies to evolving needs. 113. The enabling master plan (2012—2016) made Singapore a friendlier and more accessible place for persons with disabilities. Transport and infrastructure were more wheelchair-accessible, and spending in special education schools increased by 50 per cent in the previous five years. 114. Singapore was strongly committed to its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. To promote shared parental responsibilities, fathers received up to two weeks’ paternity leave, and working mothers could share a week’s maternity leave with husbands. Singapore also took a gender-sensitive perspective on issues such as health. 115. Singapore planned to enact the Vulnerable Adults Act in 2016 to protect adults who suffered from or were at risk of abuse, neglect or self-neglect. Singapore also planned to amend the Mental Capacity Act to protect the dignity and interest of individuals who lacked the mental capacity to make informed decisions on their own. 116. Responding to questions, Singapore stressed that corporal punishment of young persons was the last resort. It was subject to stringent safeguards, after counselling and alternative disciplinary methods had repeatedly failed. 117. Singapore planned to consider extending the care and protection provisions under the Children and Young Persons Act from 16 to 18 years of age. 118. Singapore underscored that its racial and religious harmony was the result of continuing efforts by the Government, community organizations and citizens. Its Constitution affirmed that all citizens were equal before the law regardless of race, language or religion. The Presidential Council for Minority Rights scrutinized bills to ensure that they did not unfairly discriminate against any race or religion. Singapore implemented an Ethnic Integration Policy to ensure a balanced mix of ethnic communities in public housing, and made English the working language so as not to favour any particular ethnic group. Group Representation Constituencies also ensured that minorities would always be represented in Parliament. 119. The Government regularly engaged ethnic and religious community leaders through the National Steering Committee on Racial and Religious Harmony. The Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles in every constituency brought together different ethnic and religious leaders to organize common activities and nurture trust. Singapore intended to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2017. 120. Its Constitution enjoined the Government of Singapore to care for the interests of the Malays, the indigenous people of Singapore who were overwhelmingly of the Muslim faith. The Administration of the Muslim Law Act in 1968 established the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, Syariah Court and Registry of Muslim Marriages, which worked closely together to ensure that the practice of Muslim law in Singapore was progressive and responsive to evolving social contexts, while adhering to the principles of Islam. The madrasas provided an academic education within an Islamic environment. 11