Ahmad Mattar
Singapore
“Sir, I would like to urge the Minister, the newly appointed panel chaired by Mr Hsuan Owyang, and certainly the people in charge of Channel 12 Pte Ltd, to look into the quality of Malay programmes on Channel 12. There is not much point in increasing the number of hours of Malay programmes on Channel 12 if quality is not there.”
“Because if SBC conducts those surveys or SBC administers the people meter, what other conclusions can we get? Finally, Sir, I would like to urge the Minister, and certainly the General Manager of SBC, to re-look into SBC's programmes.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, Encik Ibrahim Othman has asked a number of questions on Muslim divorces. On the actual number of Muslim divorces registered in 1992, the answer is 1,002.”
“45 pm Sir, on wakaf properties, the House may want to know that the first development project comprising four units of terrace houses at Duku Road has been completed. This year, two more projects at Lorong L and Lorong G, Telok Kurau, will be launched.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am aware of that circular. Unfortunately, my Public Health Officers have reported that despite the circular there has not been any improvement to the littering problem. Even till this morning, Sir, when we inspected Potong Pasir, littering was still evident.”
“Sir, the question has been answered and the photographs have also been labelled with the time they were taken. My point is that if the Member claims that his constituency does not have a littering problem, then there should not be any litter at any time of the day, 5.30 am regardless.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, I did not say that leaded petrol will no longer be available. For as long as there are cars which need to run on leaded petrol, leaded petrol will be available.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Dr Koh is right in the sense that a car is designed to operate at a minimum octane number. Therefore, using a lower octane fuel, leaded or unleaded, will damage the engine. So if a car can use unleaded petrol, there will be no danger provided the correct octane fuel as specified by the car manufacturer is used. The oil companies will provide premium grade unleaded petrol (octane Number above 95)and also intermediate grade unleaded petrol (octane Number 91 to 95). So these are available and it should not pose any problems to the 300,000 cars which will switch over to unleaded petrol.”
“The answer is no, Sir. The converters will come into the picture only when we introduce stricter Vehicular Emission Standards, which we intend to do in 1993, when we further reduce the limit of emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. That is the time when we have to use converters and converters can only be used if unleaded petrol is made available because lead attacks converters and renders them ineffective. So this is Stage 2 of our plan.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I better make it clear that it costs more to produce unleaded petrol. In any case, in case Mr Yap does not know, the majority of these 32,000 cars which cannot switch to unleaded petrol belong to the category of the BMWs, Mercedes, and so on. So, I think, they should have no problem in paying.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think Mr Yap is not asking a question, he is just making a statement.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, that question is best addressed to my colleague, the Minister for Finance.”
“As I have mentioned just now, Sir, financial measures are necessary to create this price advantage over unleaded petrol and hence to encourage motorists to switch to its use. The measures which we will be taking, as announced in my statement just now, will approximately keep the tax revenue neutral for the range of petrol prices which we have experienced in the last year. In order to encourage people to use unleaded petrol, what Mr Choo is suggesting is that we should keep it lower than what it is available now. Apart from revenue considerations, the tax on petrol is also meant to achieve the other two objectives, namely, to discourage vehicle usage as a means to control our traffic congestion, and to encourage conservation of energy.”
“It has also been known to cause still-birth and affect the intelligence level of developing children who are exposed to lead. With regard to his question whether we need to keep the price down, Mr Speaker, Sir, financial measures are necessary to create a kind of price advantage for unleaded petrol and hence to encourage motorists to switch to its use. We have looked into several measures and options and we have come to the conclusion that the measures, which I have announced in my statement, will approximately keep the tax revenue neutral. With regard to the question by Mr Choo Wee Khiang, I did not quite get his last question.”
“The other question raised by Mr Chin Harn Tong is on whether motorcyclists can use unleaded petrol. Mr Speaker, Sir, all the major motorcycle makes in Singapore can switch to unleaded petrol. But before doing that, I would advise the owners of these motorcycles to check with the dealers to find out whether they can really switch to unleaded petrol. But the majority of them, as far as I know, can. As to whether unleaded petrol is used in other countries, the answer is yes. Over 60% of petrol sold globally is unleaded. In fact, unleaded petrol is available in countries like Australia, USA, Japan, Canada and the EC countries. Unleaded petrol in what was then known as West Germany was introduced about six years ago and in the case of West Germany, unleaded petrol is cheaper by about 10 cents per litre compared to leaded petrol. In West Germany today, about 65% of petrol sold is unleaded. The United Kingdom introduced unleaded petrol initially with very little price incentive. Consequently the use of unleaded petrol initially remained very small. But when tax incentives were brought in to make unleaded petrol cheaper, the use of unleaded petrol grew from almost nothing to more than 25% within less than six months. Whereas in some Southern European countries, such as Spain and Portugal, very little incentive was provided and therefore the use of unleaded petrol in these two countries amounts to only less than 1%. Mr Ibrahim Othman has asked whether there is an increase in diseases or something to that effect which makes us decide to switch to unleaded petrol. Mr Speaker, Sir, this is more preventive because exposure to lead has been known to cause mental retardation.”
“First of all, I will answer the questions raised by Mr Chin Harn Tong. The first question he asked is whether leaded petrol will continue to be made available in Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, we will not be stopping the sale and use of leaded petrol in Singapore because, as I mentioned in my statement just now, about 32,000 cars, which cannot use unleaded petrol, will still have to rely on leaded petrol. So the sale of leaded petrol will still be continued in Singapore. The other question he asked is about the Malaysian cars. First of all, I will have to inform this House that, on average, about 3,500 Malaysian diesel vehicles ply the Causeway every month. And of this figure, about 20% of them do not comply with our stringent 50 HSU Vehicular Emission Standard, which, incidentally, is also the standard used in Malaysia. At my meeting with my counterpart, the Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, in Kuala Lumpur last week, I did raise this issue with him. I am happy to say that I am pleased with the outcome of my talks with him. Malaysia is now considering restricting vehicles which do not comply with the 50 standard HSU from entering Singapore. Indications are that the Malaysians are equally interested in protecting their air quality. We have agreed with the Malaysians, Sir, on harmonising Vehicular Emission Standards eventually, including petrol quality. Hon. Members must have read from the papers that a Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on the Environment will be formed comprising Environment officials from both countries. And this Committee which will start work from January next year will, amongst other things, look into similar Vehicular Emission Standards that can be adopted and enforced in both countries.”
“To reduce these pollutants, we have imposed regulations since 1984 to require petrol-driven cars in Singapore to comply with certain emission standards that are equivalent to the standards used in Europe. These standards were made stricter in 1986. With the introduction of unleaded petrol, Singapore can further improve her present high standard of air quality. This is achievable through the use of catalytic converters on our cars. Catalytic converters convert unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in vehicular exhaust emissions to safe gases, namely, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water. But because catalytic converters will be damaged by lead present in leaded petrol, they cannot be introduced until after unleaded petrol becomes widely available and is used in Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, with the eventual widespread use of unleaded petrol in mind, my Ministry, together with the Registry of Vehicles, will, with effect from 1st January 1993, introduce new and stricter emission standards which, given today's state of automotive technology, can only be complied with through the use of catalytic converters.”
“The remaining 32,000 cars, which are mainly cars older than seven years, cannot use unleaded petrol. Mr Speaker, Sir, it will cost the oil companies more to produce unleaded petrol. Countries that have introduced unleaded petrol have found that motorists are not likely to switch to the use of unleaded petrol if the latter costs more at the pump. This is true even in countries such as Germany where the "Green Movement" is active and public environmental awareness is strong. To encourage greater use of unleaded petrol, a price differential in favour of unleaded petrol is normally introduced at the pump through fiscal measures. To promote the use of unleaded petrol in Singapore, the Government will also create a price differential in favour of unleaded petrol. With effect from 1st February 1991, the ad valorem duty on unleaded petrol will be reduced from 50% to 48%, subject to a floor price of 60 cents per litre. At the same time, an additional tax will be levied on leaded petrol to make it about 10 cents per litre more expensive than unleaded petrol. As a further measure to phase out leaded petrol in the long run, the Registry of Vehicles will, with effect from 1st July 1991, require all petrol-driven cars imported for use in Singapore to be able to run on unleaded petrol. In the meantime, Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry will work with the oil companies and motor traders to provide advice to motorists on whether their cars can switch to the use of unleaded petrol. Sir, apart from lead, vehicular emissions also contain other harmful pollutants like unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, at the last Budget debate on 19th March 1990, I informed this House that my Ministry was conducting a feasibility study on the introduction of unleaded petrol in Singapore. I have the pleasure to report, Sir, the completion of that study. Sir, epidemiological studies have proven that exposure to high concentrations of lead can damage the central nervous system and can cause degenerative diseases of the brain. Everyone of us is vulnerable to these damaging effects caused by exposure to lead, especially our children. In Singapore, Sir, the main source of lead in the air is vehicular emissions. Over the years, my Ministry has progressively reduced the lead content in petrol in Singapore. Since 1987, the lead content of our petrol has been 0.15 g/litre, down from the 1980 level of 0.84 g/litre. As a result of this change in our petrol quality, the level of lead in the air measured at our roadsides has decreased from 1.85 ug/Nm3 in 1980 to the current level of 0.30 ug/Nm3. This is well below the 1.50 ug/Nm3 guideline level recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Sir, while we may have been successful in reducing the level of lead in the air, our efforts will be negated by our growing car population. Mr Speaker, Sir, the study conducted by my Ministry has concluded that if the lead content in our petrol is maintained at the current level, the growth in car population will result in rising lead levels in the ambient air. To prevent this from happening, the solution is to promote the use of unleaded petrol by our cars. Based on my Ministry's findings, out of the total of 332,000 petrol-driven cars registered in Singapore, about 90% or 300,000 cars are able to switch over to unleaded petrol.”
“In order to have a balanced assessment of various actions and policies taken by the Ministry regarding food hygiene, dialogue sessions with the consumers will also have to be held to obtain their comments. I believe, Sir, the Consumers' Association of Singapore (CASE) has requested the Feedback Unit to conduct one such session. As for education, I would like to point out that public health education for hawkers is ongoing for many years. Numerous food hygiene campaigns have been organised at hawker centres and many information and educational brochures and materials have been distributed to the hawkers. Nevertheless, we will see if more can be done. I also wish to inform this House that on the other side of the coin, the PHIs are being trained on communicative skills and how to be tactful when dealing with members of the public, including hawkers. Mr Speaker, Sir, I know that the majority of our hawkers fully appreciate my Ministry's role in protecting the health of the population at large. I have no doubt whatsoever that they know what their responsibilities are towards the consumers who are their customers. They also know that the way to ensure clean and safe food for the public is to raise their level of hygiene standards and professionalism. Question put, and agreed to. Resolved, That Parliament do now adjourn. Adjourned accordingly at Twenty-One minutes to Four o'clock pm to a date to be fixed.”
“Cockroaches, yes. Mr Speaker, Sir, on the preparation of cooked food, I am afraid the request to allow hawkers to prepare food at home cannot be acceded to. In fact, there are only 48 hawkers who are still preparing their food at home. The other 7,345 hawkers are preparing food at their respective stalls. However, these 48 hawkers have been given adequate time to make the necessary adjustment. On the use of gloves, I would like to reiterate that the use of gloves is advocated only if the hawkers cannot use other appliances such as tongs or scoops to handle ready-to-eat food. Nobody is forcing the hawkers to use gloves if they can use tongs, scoops or other suitable implements to handle ready-to-eat food. Let me now turn to the subject of management of hawker centres. The roles and functions of the various agencies such as the HDB, Town Councils and the Ministry of the Environment are clear and distinct. Hawker centres in HDB and Town Council estates are managed and maintained by the HDB and the Town Councils respectively. The Ministry of the Environment is the authority responsible to ensure that the public health regulations are complied with. On the need for more regular dialogue sessions between my Ministry and the hawker associations and market committees, hon. Members may be pleased to know that plans are already under way to organise them on a formal basis. In fact, a programme is being drawn up at present. However, hon. Members must also recognise that we also have a responsibility to the consumers to maintain a high standard of food hygiene in our food centres.”
“These 64 stalls were very poorly maintained. In the case of rodent infestation, 10 out of 57 hawker centres surveyed were found to be infested. These centres were found to be unkempt with food remnants in the perimeter drains and in articles haphazardly stored in the common areas. In such cases, the management of the hawker centres will be asked to spruce up the place. For the information of Members, no individual stallholder has been fined for rodent infestation. An hon. Member: What about cockroaches?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me to thank Mr Goh Chee Wee and Mr Chandra Das for their comments and suggestions and indeed all the other Members of this House who have on several occasions outside this Chamber discussed the subject with me, usually during lunch time at Parliament Annexe. I certainly find the feedback useful and, wherever possible, have taken them into consideration in the implementation of our policies. Let me now turn to the points brought up by them. First, let me deal with enforcement actions taken by my Ministry's Public Health Inspectors (PHIs). Hawkers are unhappy with the enforcement actions by the PHIs and they complain that the inspectors are high-handed. Sir, I can understand their unhappiness with the enforcement officers whose duties are to check on them. I do not intend to repeat what I have said in my reply to Mr Chiam See Tong earlier today during Question Time. But what I would like to stress is that my Ministry does not and will not tolerate any high-handedness, rudeness or display of arrogance by any officer. So to hon. Members of this House and to members of the public, hawkers included, I say this: if there is a specific complaint on any officer behaving rudely or in a high-handed manner, please let us know. The complaint will be thoroughly looked into. As regards rats and cockroaches, Mr Speaker, Sir, as we all know, cockroaches and rodents are attracted to and manifest in places that are poorly maintained with lots of food scraps around. Periodic surveys on cockroach and rodent infestations in hawker centres are carried out by my Ministry. For instance, in May this year, out of 4,716 stalls in 53 hawker centres checked for cockroach infestation, only 64 stalls or 1.4% were found to be infested with cockroaches.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a total of 120 incidents of food poisoning were reported during the first seven months of this year and 475 persons were affected. Most of the food poisoning incidents were traced to restaurants (39 incidents), eating houses (26 incidents), hawker centres (20 incidents) and school canteens (10 incidents). Other types of food establishments, such as snack bars, confectionery, food catering premises and residential homes, accounted for the remaining incidents. Of the 39 restaurants implicated, 18 were located in the city area. In the case of eating houses, eight out of 26 were in HDB estates. As for the implicated hawker centres, the majority, 13 out of 20, were located in HDB estates. The following Question stood in the name of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon - VEHICLE QUOTA SYSTEM (Profiteering by successful bidders) 7. To ask the Minister for Communications and Information whether he is aware that the policy of allowing successful bidders to transfer their Certificates of Entitlement has resulted in some profiteering; and whether his Ministry is monitoring the situation. VEHICLE QUOTA SYSTEM (Progress report) 8. Dr Wang Kai Yuen asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the implementation of the vehicle quota system has met with his expectations; (b) what is the sum total of the excess the public has paid for Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) transferred to date over and above the successful bid prices; and (c) whether he will consider taking steps to remove the investment value of COEs.”
“For the information of the House, Sir, all rank and file of the public health inspectorate have been trained on communication skills and how to be tactful when dealing with members of the public, including hawkers and coffee shop operators. The following Question stood in the name of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon - FOOD POISONING CASES 6. To ask the Minister for the Environment which areas in Singapore have the highest number of food poisoning cases reported.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure the Member for Potong Pasir, through his proxy, and indeed this House that we will always try to do our best in whatever we do, especially when serving members of the public. But sometimes we fall short of our ideals, Sir. As we all know, in any organisation, there will always be a few black sheep and it will not, therefore, be fair to generalise and white-wash the entire inspectorate force of my Ministry because of these few black sheep. Sir, public health inspectors are performing a very demanding yet unpleasant job. Being enforcement officers, they can easily become targets of complaints by those whom they have to bring the law to bear. I must say that the public health inspectors have, in general, projected themselves rather well when dealing with hawkers, operators of food establishments and members of the public. However, having said this, I want to assure the House that my Ministry takes a very serious view against any officer found to be rude or arrogant. Every complaint received is thoroughly investigated by the Staff Inspectorate Unit of my Ministry. For the past 12 months, Sir, my Ministry received complaints of alleged rudeness against six public health inspectors, who comprise less than 1% of the total public health inspectorate force. The six complaints were thoroughly investigated and found to be unsubstantiated. During the same period, Sir, my Ministry took disciplinary action against two public health inspectors and four public health overseers for various acts of misconduct. Another eight cases of misconduct are pending investigations.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Ibrahim Othman for his support on the amendments. With regard to the development of wakaf properties, it is a little bit premature for me to disclose the details of the development. All I can say is that when the amendments of AMLA are brought into operation, MUIS will examine carefully those properties which have potential for development. MUIS will certainly seek the advice from those in the business on how best to develop these properties to maximise their returns. I will certainly refer Mr Ibrahim Othman's suggestions to MUIS it they develop these properties. Sir, Mr Ibrahim Othman also suggested that perhaps MUIS should take over the control of pilgrimage affairs arising from the incident where 242 pilgrims were stranded this year. In my reply to Mr Chiam a short while ago, the pilgrims who were stranded this year were those who went against MUIS' advice and paid money to a travel agent who was not selected by MUIS as one of its General Sales Agents (GSAs). Our existing legislations are adequate to take care of those who break the law. At this point of time, there is no necessity for MUIS to take over control of pilgrimage affairs. What we will do is to urge would-be pilgrims to take heed of the advice given by MUIS and register only with those pilgrim brokers and GSAs who are approved by MUIS. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Ahmad Mattar]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. MAINTENANCE OF RELIGIOUS HARMONY BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.30 pm”
“I would like to suggest that, besides developing residential premises for rent, MUIS should also develop commercial properties to be let out to local businessmen. The rental earnings could be used to assist poor Muslims. MUIS could also consider building hostels meant for Muslim students in need of such facilities. Such hostels can help meet our Muslim students' need for conducive study facilities. Mr Speaker, the second point I would like to make concerns the administration of pilgrimage affairs. I note there is no amendment under the Bill in this regard. In view of the trouble that arose this year in pilgrimage affairs, I wonder whether MUIS has any plans to assume control of haj pilgrimage in order to ensure its smooth running. Under the Amendment Bill, MUIS will be having a Vice-President. Can we not give the new office bearer this important task, ie, the administration of pilgrimage affairs, in addition to his other duties of assisting the President of MUIS? Mr Speaker, many believe that it is time MUIS took over completely the running of pilgrimage affairs in the interests of our pilgrims. If MUIS has such plans in mind, it must ensure that pilgrim agents and brokers will not be left out. I think their services are still required by MUIS. What we need now is close cooperation between them and MUIS to ensure the efficient management of the haj pilgrimage. If this cooperation can be maintained, perhaps the parties could consider the possibility of setting up a cooperative to administer pilgrimage affairs. Mr Speaker, I support the Bill.”
“Clause 11 repeals and re-enacts sections 143 and 144, which deal with inspection and search of the Register of Marriages, Register of Divorces and Register of Revocation of Divorces by any person. These consequential amendments are necessary to bring them in line with amendments made to sections 100 and 101 of the Act. Finally, Sir, clause 14 seeks to validate payments made to a company incorporated under the Companies Act under the name of Yayasan MENDAKI which has taken over the functions of the society known by the same name since 13th August 1989. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. Encik Ibrahim Othman (Bedok GRC)( In Malay): Mr Speaker, I support the Administration of Muslim Law (Amendment) Bill. Since the establishment of MUIS, the Muslim community has seen and experienced many changes in the administration of Muslim Law in Singa- pore. MUIS has engaged itself in many activities: missionary work, social and welfare activities, religious education, collection of zakat and fitrah and the construction of new-generation mosques. The Muslim community in Singapore is grateful for having benefitted from all these activities. Mr Speaker, with this Amendment Bill, I believe the administration of MUIS, the Syariah Court and the Registry of Muslim Marriages will be further strengthened. This I feel is a very sound move. I would like to deal with two matters here. First, concerning MUIS. Under clause 5 (2), MUIS will have powers to develop buildings on wakaf properties vested in it, and as the Minister-in-charge has just stated, three properties are involved. I fully support this plan. I would like to ask the Minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs what MUIS' development plans are for these wakaf properties. What types of buildings are to be constructed?”
“Therefore, if the person appointed as President of MUIS is able to carry out his duties only on a part-time basis, a full-time Vice-President will be appointed to help him. When MUIS has a full-time President, the Vice-President's position will not be filled. Sir, at present, Naib Kadis are not appointed on a fixed term. Clause 8 amends section 91(3) to specify a fixed period for the appointment of a Naib Kadi. This will allow the Registrar of Muslim Marriages to periodically review his performance. Under the Act, the Registrar of Muslim Marriages keeps the General Register of Marriages, the General Register of Divorces and the General Register of Revocation of Divorces. I believe the reason was when the Act was passed in July 1968, the Syariah Court and the Registry of Muslim Marriages were housed in the same building at Fort Canning. Sir, now that the Syariah Court and the Registry of Muslim Marriages are operating from different premises, there is no reason for the Registrar of Muslim Marriages to continue to keep the General Register of Divorces. Certificates of divorce are issued by the Syariah Court and should rightly be kept by the President of the Syariah Court. Clauses 2(a), 2(b) and 10 amend sections 2, 100 and 101 to give effect to these changes. Sir, one other minor amendment is to allow the Registrar of Muslim Marriages to correct any error of a clerical nature in any entry in any certificate of marriage or certificate of revocation of divorce. Clause 10 amends section 101 to empower him to make these corrections which under the present Act, can only be done with the approval of the President of the Syariah Court.”
“Clause 2(c) of the Bill redefines the term Yayasan MENDAKI to take into account the fact that the body known as Yayasan MENDAKI, the society, has been dissolved and its functions taken over by a body corporate of the same name incorporated under the Companies Act. Mr Speaker, Sir, since the Administration of Muslim Act has to be amended, the opportunity has been taken to amend several other sections of the Act. Clause 3 amends section 5 to empower the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) to erect any building on any property belonging to it. MUIS has been served notice on three of its wakaf properties to clear all temporary structures and spruce up the areas or redevelop them. If it fails to comply with the notice, the sites are liable to be acquired. Sir, MUIS intends to comply with the notice and redevelop the wakaf properties to avoid acquisition by the authorities. Clause 3 is therefore to give MUIS the power to erect any building on any property vested in, belonging to or acquired by it. Another amendment deals with the membership of MUIS. Clause 4 amends section 7 to include a Vice-President to be appointed by the President of Singapore. Sir, I wish to explain that there is a proviso with regard to the inclusion of a Vice-President in the membership of MUIS. A Vice-President will only be appointed if the person appointed as the President of MUIS is also holding other appointments. The rising expectations of the Muslim community on the services to be provided by MUIS make it difficult for the President of MUIS, who is discharging his duties on a part-time basis, to do so effectively without any assistance.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, in May 1984, the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) was amended to extend the purpose and application of the Mosque Building Fund to the payment of contributions to Yayasan MENDAKI, or Council on Education of Muslim children. The amendment which came into force on 1st October 1984 enabled Muslims in Singapore to voluntarily contribute 50 cents each month to Yayasan MENDAKI through the CPF Board. Yayasan MENDAKI was registered as a society under the Societies Act on 10th October 1982. In May 1989, Sir, MENDAKI organised the Singapore Malay-Muslim Development Congress to look into various issues facing the Malay-Muslim community. The Congress endorsed, among other proposals, the expansion of the scope of activities of Yayasan MENDAKI from promoting secular and religious education for Muslim children to promoting the economic, social and cultural conditions of the Muslim community. To pave the way for its enlarged role, the Congress approved the dissolution of the original Yayasan MENDAKI, the society, and the incorporation of a new Yayasan MENDAKI or Council for the development of the Muslim community as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. Sir, the first Yayasan MENDAKI was dissolved on 13th August last year and all its assets, liabilities and activities were transferred to the new Yayasan MENDAKI, the company, which had been incorporated on 28th June 1989. Sir, Yayasan MENDAKI, as defined in section 2 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act, refers to Yayasan MENDAKI, the society.”
“Yes, I would try and get MUIS to announce the list of approved pilgrim brokers and GSAs as soon as possible. HANDPHONES IN VEHICLES 6. Dr Lee Siew-Choh asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether he will consider making it an offence for drivers of vehicles to speak on handphones and drive at the same time.”
“Sir, pilgrim brokers with unfavourable reports will not be appointed as pilgrim brokers.”
“Sir, the practice is that after each batch of pilgrims returns to Singapore MUIS will conduct a kind of feedback session. So any pilgrim who has been over-charged by a pilgrim broker can make a complaint to MUIS and we will deal with that pilgrim broker individually.”
“Sir, when the matter came to MUIS' attention, MUIS sought the cooperation of the approved GSAs to assist the 242 pilgrims to proceed on their haj. Except for 18 pilgrims, Sir, the remaining 224 accepted the offers of the GSAs at specially reduced price. I would like to assure this House, Sir, that MUIS would do its utmost to ensure that the welfare of Singapore pilgrims is properly taken care of during haj. However, Sir, those pilgrims who choose to ignore MUIS' advice and make their own arrangements with unauthorized pilgrim brokers or unauthorized GSAs must surely bear the consequences of their action. I would therefore urge would-be pilgrims for next year's haj not to register with any pilgrim broker or any GSA yet until MUIS has officially announced the list of approved pilgrim brokers and GSAs.”
“Sir, it is not quite true that in Singapore the pilgrims are charged at $6,000. There are several haj packages available to the pilgrims depending on where they want to be accommodated, that is, either in hotels or flats, and the kind of facilities they are going to get. As for the Malaysian charge, I do not know what kind of accommodation they would get for $3,000.”
“Dr Ho Tat Kin suggested that we should perhaps make it mandatory for all cars to be fitted with catalytic convertors, Sir, catalytic convertors are devices which reduce the high concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in vehicular exhausts to low levels by converting them to carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water. But they have got to be used in conjunction with unleaded petrol. This is because the presence of lead in vehicular exhausts damages the converters and renders them ineffective. When this happens, the pollutants in the exhaust would enter the air without being removed. For this reason, we cannot implement catalytic converters in Singapore for as long as we do not have unleaded petrol. The current lead concentration in our petrol is 0.15 grammes per litre, and my Ministry is carrying out a study on the feasibility of switching to unleaded petrol and the study is expected to be completed in about six months' time. Dr Ho Tat Kin may be pleased to know that emission standards to control smoke from diesel-driven vehicles have already been announced and will be implemented from January 1991 onwards for new vehicles and from January 1992 onwards for used vehicles.”
“In addition, Sir, industries with odorous emissions are also required to install control equipment to remove the odorous pollutants before releasing the cleaned gases into the air. Notwithstanding all these measures, Sir, low level fugitive emissions from industries sometimes occur, and these have given rise to complaints of smell nuisance in some areas. We have identified a few factories in some industrial estates from which there have been fugitive emissions of odorous chemicals in very low concentrations and we have asked the factories concerned to take some measures to reduce these emissions. I am happy to say that many of these factories have already submitted their proposals to us and we have approved these proposals. However, Sir, some of the larger factories will require a longer time period to implement these improvements. For example, a pharmaceutical factory in Jurong would have to spend something like $3 million to implement the necessary control measures which would be phased in progressively over the next three years or so. But, in the meantime, my Ministry will continue to monitor the air quality in these areas and will take measures to make sure that the air quality continues to be good and within safe limits. With regard to smoky vehicles, Sir, my Ministry always encourages members of the public to report such cases. They can always send them to my Ministry. When complaints of smoky vehicles from members of the public are received and the details of the vehicles are given, my Ministry will refer the complaints to the Registry of Vehicles. Only the Traffic Police and the ROV are authorised under the Road Traffic Act to book offending vehicles or call them up for inspections.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, my Ministry controls toxic wastes at the planning stage at the time when a new factory is proposed to be set up. When consulted, my Ministry, amongst other things, scrutinises the various aspects pertaining to the management, treatment and final disposal of wastes expected to be generated by the factory. The Ministry of the Environment, Sir, encourages the recovery and re-use of wastes by industries as a means of reducing the amount of wastes generated. Wastes which cannot be recycled have to be treated and rendered safe for disposal. Industries are therefore required to install in-house treatment facilities to pre-treat such wastes to standards stipulated in our Trade Effluent Regulations before they are discharged into sewers. The final treatment, of course, will be provided at the Government STWs. Industries which do not have such in-house facilities are required to engage licensed waste disposal contractors to collect their wastes for treatment and eventual disposal. The chemical industry, Sir, is growing and the demand for facilities to treat chemical wastes is expected to increase. Therefore, the industry has been asked to set up a centralised toxic waste treatment plant. But there are no takers so far. My Ministry is now studying the feasibility of setting up such a plant to handle a variety of chemical wastes from local industries. The details of the plant together with its economics will have to be studied very, very carefully before a decision is taken on the matter. Mr Goh Chee Wee also spoke of smell from industries. Sir, industries are required to install pollution-control equipment to clean their effluent gases to comply with the emission standards stipulated in our Clean Air Act, before they are released into the air.”
“Dr Lee Siew-Choh complains of mosquito breeding at the construction sites of the Bukit Timah Flood Alleviation Scheme and workers throwing rubbish into the canal, and so on and so forth. To prevent mosquito breeding at construction sites of the Bukit Timah Flood Alleviation Scheme, the Drainage Department of my Ministry has taken the following measures: Each contractor has engaged, in compliance with my Ministry's requirement, a professional pest control company to check the sites weekly and to destroy any mosquito breeding ground found. Inspection reports are submitted to the Drainage Department whenever they make these inspections. Officers from the Drainage Department as well as the Environmental Health Department of my Ministry carry out independent checks at these sites to make sure that there is no mosquito breeding. With regard to workers throwing rubbish into the canal and so on, I will get my Ministry's officers to go after the contractors to make sure that such habits will not happen again.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I will answer some of the issues raised by Mr Chin Harn Tong first before I deal with Dr Lee Siew-Choh. Sir, on telemetric flood monitoring system, my Ministry has installed monitoring probes at three locations along Bukit Timah Canal. This system has enabled the Drainage Department of my Ministry to monitor the instantaneous water level in the canal at the three locations. Data are transmitted continuously to a central computer located in the Drainage Department. When the water level reaches a level which could cause flooding of the public road, the computer would automatically send a telex to the Police to alert them of the impending flood at the location. The system has assisted the Police, Sir, to respond more quickly to their reporting of floods through the SBC. The system is working satisfactorily and the scheme will be extended to other flood-prone areas. With regard to the Flood Alleviation Scheme in Kranji, Sir, I am happy to say that it has been completed and flooding in Kranji catchment has been alleviated substantially. As for the Bukit Timah Flood Alleviation Scheme, more than 90% of work on the main diversion canal has been completed and the rest of the work is expected to be completed by July this year. The work could have been completed much earlier had it not been for difficulties encountered by the contractors due to inclement weather and labour constraints. The main work under the Tanjong Katong Flood Alleviation Scheme comprises the re-construction and upgrading of two drainage pumping stations serving the low-lying catchment of Tanjong Katong. This project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. When completed, flooding in Tanjong Katong catchment will be alleviated substantially.”
“Sir, to minimise the problem of odour, our sewage treatment works (STWs) are sited far away from residential areas. In addition, Sir, new residential developments are not permitted within one kilometre radius of STWs. Having said that, Sir, and conscious of encroaching developments, particularly the residential-type, the Sewerage Department of my Ministry sent a team of engineers to Japan last year to find out how the Japanese deal with odour problem from sewage treatment works in an urbanized area. The team visited several STWs in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, and held talks with officials in municipalities as well as at the sewage treatment works visited. For existing STWs, what the Japanese have done is to cover up the treatment units, extract and treat the odorous air before discharging into the atmosphere. For new treatment works or for works which undergo expansion, what they have done is to house the treatment units in a building, cover up each treatment unit, extract and treat the odorous air before discharging, as before. The Japanese have indicated to our team of engineers that it would cost probably between 50% and 75% more to build sewage treatment works under cover as compared with those without. As a pilot project, Sir, a tender has been called to cover up the primary settling tanks at Ulu Pandan STW. My Ministry will of course assess its cost-effectiveness before we decide to extend the scheme to other tanks and other STWs. We will talk about building new ones and resiting existing ones after we have tried this one out.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I will answer Mr Goh Chee Wee first. I will assure Mr Goh Chee Wee and this House and also the food vendors concerned that if the cause of food poisoning can be traced to the supplier, in this case the licensed food factory, then of course we will take action against the supplier, and not the stallholder. Coming back to the question raised by Dr Lee Siew-Choh, I think he has not heard what I said just now. The business in Hill Street Hawker Centre has declined in recent years because of the springing up of a number of new private eating outlets in the vicinity - Marina South, Liang Court and the refurbished Colombo Court. And again on why business of some hawkers failed, in this particular case Hill Street Hawker Centre, there are many reasons and I do believe that culinary skills would certainly play a part.”
“First and foremost, the building authority would never allow residential premises to be used for commercial purposes. Then there are facilities that would be needed to operate a commercial kitchen that are not available in a family kitchen. It is quite a different thing from preparing a meal for a family and preparing meals on a commercial scale. Sir, as I have mentioned earlier on, the penalties for illegal food manufacturing are severe. I would advise all those involved with illegal food manufacturing, including widows and widowers who supply home made-cakes to hawker stalls, to discontinue with this activity. I would advise those widows and widowers who are in need of assistance to apply to the Ministry of Community Development. If they are in need of jobs, even though they are unskilled, to apply to the Ministry of Labour or even to the Ministry of the Environment. My Ministry currently employs about 3,500 unskilled daily-rated employees and we have vacancies for 300 more. I have also been told that the Ministry of Labour has about 2,400 job vacancies as at February this year and nearly half of these jobs require applicants with no qualifications at all and another 25% with only primary education. There is really no lack of job opportunities for those who are financially in need. Sir, if we want to ensure that clean and safe food is sold to the public, then there must be some form of control on food manufacturing. If we allow food to be prepared in all sorts of places, then it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to administer effective check and control on the standard of food prepared.”
“And I am happy to say that many have paid heed to our advice and the standards of upkeep of their toilets have certainly improved. My Ministry will continue with this approach. Sir, Mr Chin Harn Tong has also spoken of complaints about smell and smoke from Mount Vernon Crematoria. Sir, smoke emissions from the cremators of Mount Vernon Crematoria are closely monitored and have always been well below the acceptable emission standards laid down by our Clean Air Act. The cremators have high temperature furnaces to ensure complete combustion and, as a further precaution, multi-cyclones have been fitted to reduce smoke emission. Sir, these cremators are looked after by the Engineering Services Department of my Ministry. They are checked daily and serviced once in four weeks. The cremators undergo major overhauls once in every four years. The recent fire at the crematoria which Mr Chin quoted has got nothing to do with faulty equipment or poor maintenance. But it was due to the charring of the roof truss of the cremator room caused by heat over the years. The matter has been rectified recently. Encik Wan Hussin Zoohri has appealed for widows and elderly widowers to be allowed to continue supplying home-made cakes to hawker stalls. Sir, the law requires that all food intended to be sold to the public must be prepared in food establishments licensed by my Ministry. This is to ensure that the food is prepared under clean and hygienic conditions. Sir, in our enforcement against illegal food manufacturers, our enforcement officers have come across illegal food manufacturing in private homes under deplorable conditions. Private homes cannot be licensed as food establishments anyway.”
“My Ministry has conducted numerous campaigns on public toilets over the years but there is still much to be done to get users and managements to keep public toilets clean. One of the perennial problems, as mentioned by Mr Chin Harn Tong, is the nuisance created by unflushed water closets and urinals. While we will continue to conduct public education programmes, my Ministry will also be promoting technical innovations to overcome the problem of unflushed sanitary fittings and improve the cleanliness of public toilets. In fact, my Ministry is embarking on a programme to promote the use of sensor-operated flush valves. This sensor-operated device can keep sanitary appliances clean even under heavy usage. This programme to promote the use of automatic flushing system in public toilets will be implemented over the next two years and, hopefully, the problem which Mr Chin Harn Tong so colourfully described will not happen again. Sir, as a start, my Ministry has begun installing such device in our public toilets in the Ministry building at Scotts Road. The Ministry will also be installing the device in five ENV hawker centres currently being upgraded and 23 more ENV hawker centres will be added on to the list. The Ministry will also be writing to the other Government departments and statutory boards to request them to draw up programmes to install the device in their busier public toilets. With regard to toilet attendants, Sir, I must say that in the past two years, my officers have encouraged the busier shopping complexes and restaurants to employ either full-time toilet attendants or at least part-time attendants for the peak hours of usage of their public toilets.”
“Most of the vacant hawker stalls in our hawker centres come from stalls vacated by hawkers due to poor business. Hardship cases will find these stalls unattractive and will not tender for them. Therefore, it is not practical to continue to process and maintain a hardship register in order that we could give them a preferential margin to tender. I now turn to Dr Lee Siew-Choh who has blamed the Government for hawkers who failed in their business. On why business of some hawkers failed, there are many reasons, but I do not doubt that culinary skills would certainly be a major factor, unless of course everyone in Singapore thinks like Dr Lee that hawker food is hawker food and tastes the same everywhere and anywhere. Contrary to what Dr Lee has alleged, the Government in resettling street hawkers had built hawker centres as close as possible to where the street hawkers were operating then. They were not, as Dr Lee had claimed, relocated from their previous locations where they had done well. Hill Street Hawker Centre, for example, is right in town and in a building with 160 car parking lots. Most of the hawkers resettled into Hill Street Hawker Centre came from Capital Cinema car park, Stamford Road and Wayang Street. The business in this hawker centre has declined in recent years because of the springing up of many private eating outlets in the vicinity: in Marina South, in Liang Court, in the refurbished Colombo Court. Sir, nowadays, one has to be extremely competitive to stay profitable and this is so in any trade one is in. A hawker who knows how to cook well will have a following of patrons no matter where he is located. Now, public toilets.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I could not agree with Mr Teo Chong Tee more when he suggested that, as part of the tender, operators of privatised hawker centres should be required to run these centres at a higher standard of food and personal hygiene and cleanliness. In fact, our food vendors, wherever they are, must improve on their standards of hygiene. There is no excuse for anyone of them to ignore or flout food and personal hygiene practices. Mr Ibrahim Othman wants to know whether the Ministry of the Environment would consider according a 10% preferential margin to individual hardship cases tendering for hawker stalls. First of all, as hon. Members know, the hardship policy for the allocation of stalls in Government and statutory boards' hawker centres was lifted in February this year. This decision was based on the fact that though the existing vacant food and market produce stalls were offered repeatedly to hardship cases, few have found them attractive enough to accept. They would prefer to wait for a stall in a popular hawker centre to fall vacant and then apply for it. For the information of Members, 62% of these hardship cases have been waiting for 1-2 years for such a thing to happen; 28.5% have been waiting for 2-3 years and 9.5% for three years and more. But notwithstanding this, before vacant stalls are tendered out, they will be offered to the remaining approved hardship cases who will each be given three opportunities to select a stall before the end of the year. Vacant stalls will also be offered to stallholders in existing markets affected by redevelopment. If the vacant stalls are still rejected by the hardship cases and by stallholders affected by redevelopment, only then will they be tendered out to the general public.”
“Members, especially Mr Ibrahim Othman, that if required in future, my Ministry will consider conducting refresher courses for food handlers even if they have passed the current Food Hygiene Course. Let me now turn to the subject of privatisation of hawker centres which was raised by Mr Goh Chee Wee and Mr Teo Chong Tee. The proposal to privatise hawkers centres is in its final stage of study. Initially, privatisation will take the form of leasing out suitable sites to the private sector to build and operate hawker centres to replace existing hawker centres affected by redevelopment. Amongst other things, the new hawker centres will have to be tastefully designed with better layout, larger stalls, more spacious refreshment areas. In other words, they will be more pleasant and comfortable to eat in. When the study is completed and a policy decision taken, a formal announcement giving the details will be made. Both Mr Goh Chee Wee and Mr Teo Chong Tee have emphasised that the person who handles food should not be allowed to handle cash and they have cited overseas food centres where the handling of food and cash is done separately. Food handlers in Singapore are not allowed to handle cooked food with their bare hands nor will the person who handles food be allowed to handle cash. These and other regulations will be strictly enforced. Mr Goh Chee Wee's suggestion that a coupon system be introduced in our hawker centres will be looked into and also his suggestion to centralise or mechanise the washing of crockery and to centralise payment for purchases in hawker centres can be incorporated in the new hawker centres under the privatisation programme.”
“I now turn to the subject of Food Hygiene Course recently introduced by my Ministry and which Mr Chin Harn Tong and Mr Ibrahim Othman spoke on. First of all, I would like to assure this House, particularly Mr Chin, that we will not rush through the course because of the large number of participants. Topics for the course have been carefully selected so that the food vendors attending the course will be taught basic food and personal hygiene practices. Slides will be shown to the participants and explanations and lectures will be conducted in English, Malay, Chinese or even Tamil if there is demand. Dialects will be used as and when necessary. Participants will have to sit for a written or oral test and multiple-choice questions will be asked. To-date, 151 food vendors have completed the course and sat for the test. 147 have passed the test and the four who failed have been informed of their mistakes and they will be sitting for the test again on the 23rd of this month. Another batch of 376 food vendors are currently undergoing the course. Sir, those who passed the test will be issued with certificates and they will be registered with my Ministry as qualified food handlers. Food vendors who have undergone the course and passed the test are expected to put what they have learnt into practice. My Ministry will constantly remind them of their responsibilities through other public health education programmes such as exhibitions, dissemination of public education materials and, of course, through checks and inspections by my Public Health Officers. However, I would like to assure hon.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, let me first respond to Mr Goh Chee Wee, Mr Chin Harn Tong and Mr Teo Chong Tee who have all spoken on the subject of illegal food manufacturing. I would also like to thank them for supporting the Ministry's effort against illegal food manufacturers. Sir, illegal food manufacturers can be imprisoned up to three months and fined up to $6,000 even for the first offence. Property owners are also prosecuted if they knowingly allow their premises to be used for food manufacturing without licence. As for food vendors selling food from illegal food manufacturers, they will stand to lose their licence if they are caught. All licensed food vendors have been told that it is a condition of their licence that they must source their pre-prepared food only from licensed food manufacturers. Sir, the number of illegal food factories closed down by my Ministry last year was 106. And for the first 2 1/2 months of this year, the Ministry has closed down another 43 such factories. The fines imposed by the courts on illegal food manufacturers ranged from $200 to $2,000. Hitherto only one offender has been jailed for four weeks. Sir, hon. Members may be interested to know that nine owners of private properties have been issued with summonses for knowingly allowing their premises to be used by others for illegal manufacturing of food. So far, five cases have been heard in court and the fines ranged from $500 to $1,000. My Ministry will press for the offenders to be jailed in order that we can put an end to this illegal activity. I take note of hon. Members' suggestions and will not hesitate to increase the penalties which may include mandatory jail sentence, as suggested by some hon. Members, if the situation does not improve.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Main and Development Estimates for the financial year 1990/91, and ask leave to sit again on Monday, 19th March, 1990.”
“But just in case, Sir, the voluntary phasing out of CFCs in the aerosol industry comes too slowly, then, of course, my Ministry is planning to impose a ban on the retailing of aerosol products that contain CFCs. We are monitoring both the locally manufactured as well as imported aerosol products containing CFCs to determine a suitable date for the ban to be implemented. Of course, a grace period will be given to those affected to enable them to make the necessary adjustments to comply with the ban. With regard to educating the public, my Ministry will certainly work with consumer organizations and so on to create awareness among the consumers in Singapore on the use of CFC products. Mr Goh also spoke on the need to use biodegradable packaging as one of the measures to protect our environment. Sir, disposable packaging in Singapore today is either recovered for recycling or ends up as refuse which is then disposed of at either our incineration plants or at our sanitary landfills. Since the packaging material is incinerable, so the bulk of it is in fact incinerated. For the small fraction that ends up at our sanitary landfills, it is mixed up with other refuse, compacted and covered with a layer of earth. Even if the packaging is non-biodegradable at that stage, it will not pose any threat to our environment. But, certainly, I will agree with Mr Goh Chee Wee and my Ministry will encourage manufacturers of packaging to continue using material which is biodegradable and, therefore, environment-friendly. Mr Goh Chee Wee: Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply and beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, Mr Goh Chee Wee has raised an issue which is of concern not only to us in Singapore but also the world: protection of the ozone layer. Singapore became a party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in January last year. Introduced in 1987, the Protocol seeks to reduce and eventually phase out global production, emission and consumption of certain types of CFCs and halons that are damaging the ozone layer. Since October last year, measures have been taken to reduce controlled CFCs imported into and used in Singapore to 1986 consumption level. And further reductions will be made commencing July 1993 to bring down the consumption to 80% of the 1986 levels and to 50% of the 1986 level beginning July 1998. The three types of halons controlled under the Protocol will be frozen at the 1986 level commencing January 1992. Sir, CFCs are very widely used in Singapore in four sectors: electronics, air-conditioning and refrigeration, packaging,and the aerosol sector which the Member has touched on. Of the four sectors, CFCs in aerosol is least essential and, as the Member has suggested, could easily be replaced by suitable substitutes. In fact, Sir, countries like the USA, Scandinavia and certain European countries have already banned the use of CFCs in aerosol products in the early 1980s, except for use in pharmaceutical sprays and in the electronics industry. The recent move by a supermarket and a pharmaceutical chain in Singapore to retail only ozone-friendly products is indeed laudable. I hope other supermarkets and pharmaceutical chains in Singapore will follow suit.”
“Under this plan, a member country, faced with an oil pollution incident that is beyond its capability to handle, may approach one or more ASEAN member countries for assistance. Some of the international oil companies in Singapore have established what is known as Tiered Area Response Capability (TARC) for dealing with oil pollution in the region. The objective of TARC is to maintain a supplementary oil spill response equipment stockpile to augment the capability of the area. The primary area of TARC is the Straits of Johor and the Straits of Malacca and the most significant feature of TARC is the mobility, including air transportation of equipment to the pollution site and equipment for aerial spraying of dispersants. Sir, with the measures that we have at hand now, I think it should be sufficient to meet any massive oil pollution of the seas around us.”