Aline K. Wong
Singapore
“The ENABLE (Encouraging Achievement and Better Learning) programme gives additional support to those who are not achieving their potential. Our curriculum has given more emphasis to critical and creative thinking skills.”
“Can I just take one more second on the waiting list because Mr Ahmad Magad mentioned that the waiting list is long? There are 18 SPED schools now which cater to about 4,000 children. Of the 18 SPED schools, eight have waiting lists.”
“Sir, I am sure the Member in his meet-the-people sessions has also encountered cases where some families pleaded for priority to be admitted on grounds of, say, the child's sickness, or that the mother is working and is unable to bring the child to school, or that the grandparent cannot manage to take care of so many grandchildren.”
“I think he did not hear what I say. For both of these families, someone who lives within one kilometre or next door and someone who lives right on the border of this one kilometre, or of any delineation you choose to draw, my point is that for both of them, this is their nearest school.”
“Principals, as part of their duties, are always alert to what is happening in the school. They have also been given guidelines, in the Principals' Handbook, on discipline and the code of conduct which is expected of the teachers and staff members. But having said that, all these things are not foolproof.”
“It will continue to stagger the rental increase to market levels for assignment of tenancies, subletting cases and for tenants who are renewing their tenancies for the third time. Shop lessees can also apply to convert to shorter leases to reduce the cost of servicing their mortgage loans.”
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“I am not saying that we should adopt, say, any Western democratic model without questioning it, without trying out our own variations, whether it is the Westminster model or the US model or the French model. The point I want to make is that in other countries, democracy has taken a long time to set root and that perhaps in our country we have got to give it a chance to work out its own peculiar characteristics. I am for the fundamental principles of democracy and in this, I do not think there is any basic difference between Eastern or Western principles of democracy. There is no such thing as Eastern and Western elements in the basic fundamental principles of democracy. I think it is not correct to attribute the economic and social failures of western democracies or countries which have Western democratic models to the form of the liberal democracies or the principles of liberal democracies. I do not think that we should confuse the two issues. The point I want to make is that if the Opposition in Singapore believes itself to be true alternative, believes in having a true positive role to play in Parliament, then it must grow up on its own feet and must prove itself on its own strength. Some hon. Members: Hear, hear!”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to make three observations and join in the debate on the role of the Opposition in parliamentary democracy. First of all, I think an Opposition has a very important role to play in parliamentary democracy. This is exactly why the Prime Minister has come up with the scheme of the three non-constituency MP seats. Of course, not everybody may agree with the merits or demerits of this scheme. But whether an Opposition comes in through an election by the majority of the voters in a certain Constituency or by taking up these non-constituency seats, the most important thing that will make a difference to this House is the quality of the Opposition that comes into the House that matters. We have heard lots of comments from Members of this House, but so far we have not heard any good constructive opinions coming from the Opposition side. So the issue is very obvious. If the quality of the Opposition is such that it cannot offer constructive comments and alternatives, then it does not really do very much to improve the quality of parliamentary democracy. The second point I want to make is that democracy takes time to mature. Let us not kid ourselves. Democracy in our country has had only a relatively short history. The democratic institutions in the advanced countries have taken centuries to crystallize, to be workable, to be accepted as a way of life, and even sink into the mentality and sub-conscious of their people.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, a question for the Minister. Can the Minister assure the House that every child who is eligible for a Primary 1 registration will have a place eventually?”
“May I clarify a point here? Actually our labour force participation rate among women is quite high. It is comparable to other advanced countries like Japan, West Germany, France, UK. But what is low is, in fact, among those women who are already married and have children. So this is where the critical point is, especially for women who will be bearing their second child. This is where the rate really drops off drastically. This is where we have to work on. That is why child-care centres are so important to provide an opportunity for married women with young children to work. BG Lee Hsien Loong: I agree with the Member for Changkat. That is why I said "aged 35-39", they are mostly married, and mostly have two children.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be allowed to speak for a few minutes. In spite of the economic slowdown, I believe some industries are still facing a labour shortage problem. Last year, in fact, in October, there was a report drawn up by the National Task Force on women in the labour force, and the report was presented to the National Productivity Board and subsequently to the National Productivity Council. One of the major recommendations of the Task Force was to establish child-care centres in order to draw women out to join the labour force. The report also contained other kinds of recommendations, including training and re-training of women, and also more flexible kinds of work schedule, better working conditions, part-time work, and so on. Now, we are seeing the establishment of child-care centres particularly under the charge of the Ministry of Community Development. The other day, I raised a point about the new fee structure, and I questioned its effectiveness in encouraging women to come out in large numbers to ease our labour shortage problem. I believe some industries, such as the electronics industry, employ quite a large number of women, in fact, about 80% of their workforce are women, and they depend quite heavily on foreign workers. In view of the fact that some industries are still suffering from this problem, does the Ministry of Trade and Industry or the Ministry of Labour have any plans to tackle this problem? I can raise this question again this afternoon, because this question actually straddles the three Ministries. Does the Minister or the Minister of State for Trade and Industry have any further plans to draw women out into the labour force, apart from depending on the childcare programme?”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister of State for his very full replies to the questions raised by Members of this House. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $473,087,930 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $86,409,300 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. 3.40 pm [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] Head M -”
“There is little doubt that the pilot project will succeed unless it is grossly mismanaged, and I wish it every success. There is also little doubt that Singaporeans will have to pay more for better services or pay more simply because the costs of running hospitals are on the rise. I can only say that the philosophy behind privatization of Government hospitals is hardly understood by the public and that the announcement is sufficient to cause deep anxiety in the minds of the public. Sir, the public awaits some re-assurance from the Minister. For supplementary information, may I also ask the Minister for some figures on the size of the remission of hospital charges in the past one or two years as well as the criterion involved.”
“When Government hospitals become private, would it mean that the Government would no longer subsidize the recurrent costs and only give subventions for capital expenditure? Or if the Government is going to reduce the rate of subsidy over a number of years, would this reduction be made at such a pace that the majority of our citizens would still be able to pay for the hospitalization costs at each stage of the reduction in subsidies? Would the present scheme for remission of hospital charges still remain for the poor and those in financial need? What about the charges for outpatient treatment? And what would privatization of hospitals mean for the present polyclinics and also the community hospitals which have not yet got off the planning board? No doubt the Medisave Scheme is providing for hospitalization expenses and this Scheme is, on the surface, painless since it is tapping on CPF funds. The question is: when hospitals become private, would the majority of people still have enough balance in their Medisave Accounts to pay for not one, but maybe several hospitalizations? While the Medisave Scheme is flexible enough to allow an account holder to pay for the hospitalization costs of a family member, the fact is someone in the family, ie, the family itself, must come up with the funds. In future, some form of compulsory health insurance scheme may have to be implemented to supplement the present Medisave Scheme so that the "risks" can be pooled in a more equitable manner. I hope the Minister would not say that, since much depends on the success of the pilot project, it is still too early for us to worry about the rising costs for medical services when the Government hospitals go private.”
“Of course, there is always room for improvement and we should always strive to upgrade and never let up. In the past, our dual system of having public and private hospitals side by side, catering to the average citizen and the better-off in two different sectors, has worked very well. It has allowed for good medical services to be accessible to both the rich and the poor, and in the process, also allowed for mobility of the professional staff between the two sectors. The bonding of medical graduates to Government hospitals is a socially just scheme. I fully supported it even when it was announced and we understand that after salary revisions, the attrition rate of doctors at Government hospitals has gone down. By now, I would say most Singaporeans have accepted the fact that no social service can be free, that someone must ultimately pay for such services. By now, Singaporeans have also accepted the philosophy that it is only through hard work and savings that we can ensure a secure future for ourselves. However, many are still of the opinion that health is a social responsibility of any government. Health, like education and basic housing, is one of the fundamental social services expected of any government. Of course, this social responsibility need not be discharged through a 100% subsidy. The user can be asked to bear part of the costs. This is an effective way to curb unwarranted demand or demand abuse and this, in fact, has been the way health care has been provided for in our country in the past. So people do not understand why the present situation should be changed and so soon after the Medisave Scheme has been instituted. The Ministry's announcement therefore came as a great surprise to our average citizens.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head P be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead PA-01 Object Group 1100 of the Main Estimates. In May last year, the Ministry of Health announced a plan to change the present administration of Government hospitals to allow greater autonomy in managing their own affairs. The objective is to bring improvement to services by encouraging efficiency, higher standards and competition among the autonomous hospitals. Autonomy in management will also allow the hospitals greater flexibility to work out better terms and conditions of service to recruit and reward the better staff. In January this year, a pilot project in the new hospital at Kent Ridge, renamed the University Hospital, was announced. The Hospital will be owned and run by Temasek Holdings (pte) Ltd. It was also said that if the project was successful, the new system of administration would be extended to the Singapore General Hospital and then later to other Government hospitals. Sir, the public can perhaps understand the administrative rationale behind the privatization of hospitals. If the standard of medical care can be raised, and if the costs can be kept at the lowest possible, there may be a case for privatization. But since hospital care is a highly personalized and labour-intensive industry, the costs of providing such services are high and will continue to rise. The public is understandably concerned with the question of costs to themselves and less concerned with the standard of services. In fact, the standard of care at our Government hospitals has been high and, when compared to that of government hospitals in many countries in the developing world, our standard at present is very high indeed.”
“But if a woman who wants to work but is prevented from doing so because of the charges at child care centres, then you are also depriving the child of the very opportunity of receiving proper care at a well-supervised setting with trained staff. I would urge the Minister to reconsider the fee structure not only with regard to its effect of encouraging women to come out to work but also with regard to the social benefits to be derived when children are taken care of in well-run settings. I would urge him to think of child care subsidies as being a form of social investment in the children for the country.”
“So the question is not how much her husband earns, not how much the combined income of husband and wife is, but whether it is worth her while to come out and work and forgo all the time she could have spent with the child and go into all kinds of hassle with arrangements of work and child care services. 2.45 pm If you will take a look at the average earnings of a woman and see whether the new fee structure, in fact, would be effective in encouraging a woman who wants to seek employment to really come out to work. Take $500 to be the average earnings of a woman. In 1983, according to the labour force survey, the median income of a woman was only $465 as compared to $624 for a man. Given a 10% rise in wages, her median income now would probably be around $500. This is only gross income. Take away CPF 25%, she is actually bringing home only $375. Out of the $375, if the combined income is less than $1,450, she has to pay $150 for child care in the child care centre. Then you have to allow $50-$60 for lunch and $40 for transport, after which she is really left with only $125, not to speak of the fact that she has to spend more on clothing and other incidental expenses when she comes out to work. Would this charge of $150 not actually be a deterrent to the woman coming out to work? Would this policy be effective in inducing women to come out to work? We may very well argue that it does not make economic sense to subsidize women to come out to work who cannot earn very much. But the question is that there are also social benefits involved in having children to be taken care of in well-run, well-supervised child care centres with trained staff. This is what we are aiming for and this is what the Government is providing for.”
“At the moment we have policies on family planning, on education, on women and their workforce, on childcare services and the aged. I am not saying that these policies are altogether entirely inconsistent among themselves, but all the more so, because we need an overall family policy to link these together. There is a need to bring all these together and against the background of providing the necessary support for the family as a unit in a rapidly changing society. So my plea is for the strengthening of the Family and Counselling Services with a view also to working with the voluntary agencies in coming up with some kind of coordinated view or policy on the family as a whole. Sir, I would like to move to this specific point about the Child Care services which will be greatly expanded under the new Ministry. We are very happy to hear that the Government has announced in January a series of subsidies to child care centres, plus the expansion of child care services to working women. At the same time a new fee structure was also announced, which pegged the cost of providing for a child at the child care centre at $250. If one of the major purposes of providing a child care centre is to encourage women to come out to work in the labour force, then I must question the rationale behind the pegging of the fees charged to the combined income of husband and wife instead of, as in the past, pegging it only to the income earned by the wife on her own. Most women work in order to bring in an income to supplement the family expenses, We are not talking about the minority of women who work for intrinsic reasons, for self-fulfilment, for self-development, but the majority of women who work to bring in an income to supplement the family expenses.”
“Now, among these subheads, Family and Counselling Services and Community Development Services receive the lowest allocations, between $300,000 and $400,000 only. Since the concept of Community Development goes well beyond the rendering of social welfare services to particular groups, there is a need to reflect a broader approach in the Ministry's work in order to reflect the Government's emphasis on helping, say, communities to develop in the midst of rapid socio-economic transformation in Singapore. I also feel that the Family and Counselling Services should be strengthened as a component of Social Services in order to give more effective support to the family as a social institution. I am not saying that the family unit in Singapore is under dire distress or under the threat of being extinguished. This is simply not true. Our divorce rates are still very low. But it is true that the family is put under a tremendous stress, given the fact that there is now the increasing expectation of an increasing level of standard of living, more women are coming out to work, and so on and so forth. Apart from the point about cultural ballast, there is a need to strengthen the family unit as a social ballast for our economic development. So I feel that the Minister may have to beef up the services under the Family and Counselling Unit. In fact, sometime back, the idea of a Family Council had been broached by voluntary welfare organizations, under which the issues and problems facing a family today and the kind of preventive and remedial services could be provided as well as, and I think this is important, that this Council could help us to come up with some long term goals and policy guidelines in matters relating to the family as a unit.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have an amendment* to move but before I speak on that amendment, can I respond to the Member for Potong Pasir's plea for more culture within the allocation of the Ministry of Community Development? First of all, let me record how happy I am to see the birth of this new Ministry. As we all know, as Singapore is undergoing rapid economic transformation, all the more we have to face the social aspects of economic development to deal with this kind of social issues. I also note that, with a bit of regret, the total budget allocation to the Ministry of Community Development comes up to only about 0.4% of the total budget allocation. If the Minister would like more support from this House for a bigger allocation of the Budget, I think he can be assured of the support of many more Members in this House. Out of this $83.7 million, I note that $20.3 million is for Social Services, while $40 million is for Cultural and related services, and $13.8 million is for Sports. I agree that Culture and Sports are important components of a total approach to community development. And I also realize that the relative allocation to these services within the present budget is very much a reflection of the recent incorporation of some of the existing programmes under the former Ministries of Social Affairs and Culture. But I want to argue that within a much enhanced budget for the Ministry, if possible, more should be allocated to Social Services, because within Social Services are lumped together Services for Children and Youth, Day Care, Welfare for the Aged, Physically and Mentally Disabled, Public Assistance, Family and Counselling Services, and then something called "Community Development", and Probation and Aftercare.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be allowed to speak for five minutes, even if I did not submit an amendment. I hope the Minister will forgive me for bringing his attention back to the SDU. I did not want to speak right after the Member for Anson, because the PAP Backbenchers might then be accused of jumping onto the Opposition's bandwagon, whereas we are capable of independent thinking. I know that the Minister, in reply to a question put by this House as to the total amount of money spent in connection with the SDU activities last year, gave a figure of $294,000. Maybe the Minister could enlighten me as to how to read these figures from this Budget, because I do not really find this kind of money represented in the Budget. Now, please be assured that I do not mean to imply at all that anything is hidden in this method of accounting. Because the SDU is open to public scrutiny and its activities are known, I am not implying that there is any sort of attempt at covering up these activities. But the point I want to raise is that in giving the figure of $294,000, is the Minister aware that, in fact, the cost to the society might be larger than this, in the sense that officers who have been joining these courses, going on holidays, etc, might have been given paid unrecorded leave to join these courses. This is the point I want to raise. Secondly, since the activities connected with this Unit are long-term and in the interest of the society, and I agree with the Minister completely that love should be given time to bloom, even so, is there any plan by the Ministry of Finance or the SDU to review its activities with a view to evaluating its effectiveness in the long-term future, and how long the term, please?”
“Sir, in view of the fact that the rusty water affects quite a number of constituencies, would the Minister consider publishing in the press the planned schedule of replacement of these pipes, where they have been investigated, for the information of the residents of the affected constituencies other than Ang Mo Kio?”
“Sir, may I also take this opportunity to relay a request from my constituents, although I am not slated to speak or move an amendment. May I ask the Minister to really take a look at the situation in Tampines New Town, of which Changkat is a part. The New Town is still under construction and is still undergoing various phases of a relocation of the population. The town centre is not ready and therefore there is not yet a polyclinic, However, the popula- tion which has already been settled in Tampines is roughly estimated to be about 20,000 or more. So a lot of the constituents have been coming to me (and perhaps I can also speak on behalf of the Member for Tampines) that they do require the services of a polyclinic. In fact, as the population of a new town is quite large, would the HDB not consider that up to a certain proportion of the population after having been relocated, some of these basic facilities could be provided even before the new town centre is ready. Mr Minister, I would appreciate your attention to this.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have dwelt at some length on the perceived inadequacies of the Agenda for Action, in the hope that it will become more fully substantiated when it is put into action. At the same time, I hope I have conveyed the wishes of those young people who are concerned about the new society, their new society. For, as I said earlier, a vision to be realizable must serve as a rallying point for the people's collective efforts. In short, a vision, no matter how well spelt out by the leadership, must also become a shared dream. So let there be fuller discussions and public debates on this vision so that our people can truly participate in building up a new consensus and be truly excited by it. 3.05 pm”
“One last theme in the new vision is that we aim to become a society of compassion. I would imagine that this is with particular reference to the sick, the handicapped, the aged, the widowed and the poor. We read with deep appreciation from the President's Address that among the objectives of the Government for the next five years, steps will be taken to enable the 15-20% of the population in the lower income group to own their homes and to help the aged to have a socially active life. Let us hope that these steps are the beginning of a broadening programme to help other underprivileged groups. The State, and not just the family and community, must come to their aid so that they become self-reliant and dignified individuals. I agree perfectly with the Member for Teck Ghee that the best charity is to give a person a job. But we must not forget that the aged sick, the handicapped, the destitute, are what they are, not because they lack the work ethic. The very stringent criteria for public assistance are necessary. But the paltry sum given out after a recipient has passed all these stringent tests could well make a mockery of our compassion. While the fundamental premises upon which we have built up this society have served us well in the past, there should be nothing to prevent us from rethinking some of these premises from time to time. Otherwise, our pragmatism which gave us so much flexibility in the past could become a form of dogmatism. We need not be so apprehensive of the evils of "welfare-statism" as to deny even a minimum level of "state-welfarism" to the unfortunate members of society.”
“As the President stated in his Address, one of the Government's objectives is to strengthen the driving force of our progress, that is, "the urge each citizen has to develop his potential to the fullest". I think we should also recognize the urge of every parent for his child's potential to be developed to its fullest. Is this urge sufficiently recognized in the present system of streaming in our schools? In the new vision, Singapore will not only be a welleducated society, but also a culturally vibrant society. The word "vibrant" is used in the context of the President's Speech as well as in the Agenda for Action as referring to Culture, and not as the Member for Anson has twisted it to refer to a different context. It is also so refreshing to hear in the President's Address that "a more vibrant, cultural environment can make living in Singapore more fun." How to encourage culture to flourish? Culture is not simply a revitalization of traditions. Cultural development is not the same as cultural preservation. We need to develop new forms of culture which are reflective of our own times. There must be a new spirit of experimentation (and this would be fun), of self-examination and continuous criticism (which may well bring pain). The society itself must also be more tolerant of new ideas, not only as tried out in art schools, in universities or cultural centres, but also in the open arena. Clearly, our present approach to culture must be re-examined and a more open policy adopted. Incidentally, some questions have been raised not only by just one Member of this House but also by people outside as to why the Ministry of Culture has been abolished. Have we relegated "culture" to the realm of "information" and "communication"?”
“And we are talking not just about the 15-20% of the lower income groups who cannot afford to own their own flats, but also of some 3-roomers and 4-roomers who have little spare cash to tide them over sustained periods of economic depression. Something obviously needs to be done to enable these groups to draw upon their CPF savings in a limited way, should such eventuality arise. Our Prime Minister, with characteristic foresight, has hinted at this measure in his Fullerton Square rally speech. But coming back to the new vision, it should be sufficiently clear that we should not just push for higher rates of economic growth, but also a more broad-based pattern of growth. Singapore's past economic growth and equity performance have been outstanding by Third World standards; but our future reference point should be the advanced countries. We should aim at a greater diffusion of affluence, or a degree of equity performance commensurate with the present affluent societies of the West and Japan. Education is no doubt essential for the evolution of a cultivated society and our emphasis on education must always be there. What is needed, apart from better facilities and better teachers, is the cultivation of a conducive intellectual environment for free, uninhibited inquiries. Is our present educational system sufficiently open to encourage independent thinking and not just cram students with facts to pass exams so as to meet the manpower requirements of the economy? Is our educational system at present sufficiently flexible to allow for the development of individual abilities to their fullest?”
“This is not to say that the young people are not concerned with the future. In fact, some are crying out for greater involvement in charting out the future which affects them and their children. The realization of the new vision is not just the responsibility of the Government alone. The people must form the main driving force. The vision will be realizable if the imagination of the country can be sparked off and the creative energies of the people released, in the same way as the first generation leaders succeeded in mobilizing the whole country by its first vision of economic growth and nation-building. Why, then, are not more of our young people excited by the new vision? It seems to me that the new vision, in its present crude form, does not contain enough of social idealism to fire the imagination of many young Singaporeans. There should be something more which can lead them to envisage the non-material aspects of the new society, such that work is not just highly-productive work that brings higher incomes, leisure is not just a series of sporting events, and lifestyle is not just one based on affluence and modern gadgetry in the home. There must also be something more to substantiate what constitutes a socially just, a culturally vibrant and a compassionate society. If you will give me the time, Mr Speaker, Sir, I shall cover these aspects one by one. To many from the lower income groups, the new affluent society must appear quite remote. A large proportion of our workers are still earning an average income of $600-$700 per month. Although there is no evidence of widespread poverty in Singapore, a sizeable proportion of the population is just earning enough to make ends meet, with little or no savings except in their CPF accounts.”
“Also, the long-awaited programme of child-care centres is not meant to be the only support services for working mothers. There can be and there should be other programmes so that both men and women can combine work with parental responsibilities. Coming back to my point about social change, the issue is clearly: Are we prepared for those changes? Japan, with a homogeneous population, a relatively more insulated society, has tried to contain what she considers to be undesirable social changes in the midst of her economic growth. In spite of her efforts and some measure of success, cracks are now beginning to show in the surface, revealing some deep-seated maladjustments. Obviously, it is much more difficult for Singapore, an open, international city, to match Japan's efforts. Besides, some changes are global, and are perhaps inevitable because they are in the nature of changing civilizations. So the challenge of the future is not whether we have the means to reverse those social trends. Theoretically, we can screen every new idea, every fad and fashion that comes into Singapore, in the same way as Japan is said to be doing. Theoretically, we can legislate that every child must support his parents and live with them. But is this desirable? The challenge of the future is not only whether we can identify the negative aspects of social change and try to correct them, but also whether we can see some positive aspects and turn them to our advantage for social and cultural development. Mr Speaker, Sir, I have taken every opportunity to talk to young people from various social backgrounds on their views of the new society which rightfully belongs to their generation. Many endorse the new vision; but many, I am sorry to say, do not seem to be inspired by it.”
“As a sociologist, I would feel far more uncertain about the consequences of social change than, say, an economist would feel about the outcome of economic growth. In the process of sustained economic growth, there will be concomitant social transformations which may well be beyond our control. As we strive to reach yet higher levels of economic growth, there will be fundamental changes in society. By the 1990s, Sir, Singaporeans are likely to demand a new pattern of government-people relationship, evolve new family structures and new social values. There will also be a greater demand for a form of social freedom which emphasizes the individual's choice of his own lifestyle, be it in the sphere of work, leisure, family life or personal pursuits. The new values that will emerge are likely to be different from those which laid the foundation for our previous phase of economic growth and nation-building. Not all of these new values are "bad" or "undesirable". Indeed, some of the new values and new relationships could well be better alternatives to what we have today. One case in point is the much feared consequences of large numbers of women entering the labour force. As the President said, "there is a danger that their children may not receive enough parental care and guidance to grow up as moral and upright citizens". We have also been reminded by the Member for Ulu Pandan of the possible harm to the nation of a generation of children being brought up in child-care centres. While these concerns are legitimate, Mr Speaker, Sir, I should like to add that the consequences of working mothers are not so catastrophic for society; in fact, there are gains to the economy and to the family, not to mention the sense of fulfilment women find in their work.”
“To achieve this goal, we aim to make Singapore a fully developed economy and a cultivated society. Few would disagree with the high and noble goals as spelt out in the new vision. But how to realize these goals? The question is not simply how to mobilize resources in order to catapult our economy onto a higher plane of development. It is also a question of how to cope with the complex interplay of economic and social changes arising from the realization of the new vision. I see the new vision as having two different aspects or dimensions: the material aspects and the social aspects. Most Singaporeans are confident that the Government can achieve the material base of the new vision. Our economy has developed the basic infrastructure, our people have acquired the basic skills and education. Given continued political and social stability in the region and a reasonably conducive international economic environment, our economy is likely to achieve the targeted 5-7% annual growth rate, and if this is sustained into the 1990s, the new vision of our entering Division One of the developed economies ,would become a physical reality. But the new vision is not just about the criss-crossing of new expressways, the towering buildings of Marina City, or beautifully sculpted cultural centres. These can only form the shell or the superstructure. There must also be a new spirit, a new society. What kind of society can we envisage after the material base for the new vision is achieved, and after the superstructures are completed? Can we simply assume that a cultivated society will by itself evolve? Clearly there are many social imponderables.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to join my colleagues in this House in support of the motion moved by the Member for Ayer Rajah thanking the President for his Address delivered at the opening of the Sixth Parliament on 25th February 1985. In his Address, the President outlined six major objectives of the Government. The very first of these objectives is to reach an accord, a new consensus with the people of Singapore on the character of the society they desire. Since this and the other objectives follow closely the new vision for Singapore in the 1990s, as put forward by the new leadership on the eve of the recent General Election, I would like to offer some observations not only on the President's Address, but also on the new vision itself. In fact, the new vision should serve as the long-term perspective within which the specific objectives of the Government for the next five years are to be pursued. Singapore is what it is today because the founding fathers had a vision. It was a vision of a modern, independent nation, multi-racial, multi-cultural, free and prosperous. The vision was turned into a mission in the hands of the first generation leadership and the achievements of the country are for all to see. The path to development has not been a smooth one; it was beset with problems, growth pains and difficult adjustments. But by and large, the mission has been completed, and the goals of the first vision fulfilled. It is therefore timely that our young generation leaders should take on a second mission, based on a vision of a better society for the 1990S. As stated in the Agenda for Action, the goal of the younger leaders is to build on what we have and make Singapore a City of Excellence, a Society of Distinction by the turn of the century.”