Ang Mong Seng
Singapore
“Lihua is also my alma mater. I am very proud that Chen Zhixiang became the top student in Singapore in the "A" level examinations. Use more. Parents should speak Chinese more with their children at home. I also hope Members of Parliament would speak more Chinese in Parliament. When *Cols. 4059-4060.”
“After the cooling-off period, flat sellers can make a final decision. Some unscrupulous housing agents would use various means to persuade people to sell their flats in order to earn commission. They would tell the owners that should they have any problems, just see the MPs.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, the construction industry requires a lot of foreign workers, including both skilled and unskilled workers. However, the MOM has decided to reduce the number of unskilled workers.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] As our population ages, we see more and more retirees selling tissues at hawker centres, coffee shops and malls to help with their expenses. They do not have CPF, yet they do not want to live by Government welfare – they want be independent.”
“Mr Chairman, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the main concern for the Ministry in not issuing licence to the elderly to sell tissue papers in the hawker centre. We are asked to refer all these people to the Community Development Council (CDC).”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Madam, at the moment, 10% of our population is above 65 years old. Twenty years later, by 2030, about 25% of our population will be above 65 years old. If at that time, our population is five million, this will mean that we will have one million people who are over the age of 65.”
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“Sir, in order to look after the handicapped people, the Ministry of Transport has announced that all buses will be fitted with wheelchair ramps to enable wheelchair-bound commuters to board and alight from the buses. When this news was first released, these people were very happy and appreciative. However, when the details were announced, they had the following worries: Firstly, at present, there are 3,500 buses and the bus company needs 17 years before they could complete the fitting of wheelchair ramps to all the buses, and they are going to be manually, and not mechanically, operated. So, whenever they board or alight from the buses, the bus drivers will have to get down from the bus to help them, and the whole process will take three minutes. During the peak period, this would cause delay to other commuters and traffic jam. I hope that the Ministry of Transport will consider asking the bus company to fit the buses with automatic or mechanically-operated ramps so as to improve efficiency. Secondly, during the long period of 17 years, some buses may be fitted with this facility and others may not. On some routes, there will be buses with this facility, while some will not. This would cause confusion and inconvenience to the handicapped people. Since the Government is allocating $21 million to help the bus companies make the buses wheelchair accessible, may I suggest that, during the interim period, some 10% or $2 million be set aside to enable voluntary welfare organisations for the handicapped to purchase a number of mini-buses to transport the handicapped people, and taxi drivers who transport handicapped people be granted some form of concessions, until such time when all the buses are fitted with wheelchair ramps.”
“So I suggest that the Government consider allowing these Singaporeans, who had paid more taxes in the past, a 5% rebate. Those who have paid more than $0.5 million throughout their working life, they should be given a 5% rebate. This rebate is not in the form of cash. 5% of $0.5 million would be $25,000. We could credit this into their Medisave account. If they are sick and they go to hospital and if the bill is $10,000, with the Government's normal subsidy, they would have to pay about $9,000. Maybe the Government could consider giving them a further 10% discount on the $9,000 bill, or another discount of $900. In other words, from the $25,000 in the Special Medisave account, they can deduct this amount until it is exhausted. All these people, although they do not have direct cash benefits, will benefit from some help under their Medisave scheme. It is very important to save for a rainy day. I believe these three suggestions will benefit our older citizens. I hope that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister would consider them. 12.32 pm”
“The neighbourhood shops are serving residents in the housing estates. And because the scale of operation cannot be compared to the large shopping centres, naturally, their rentals should not be compared to that of large shopping centres too, we should consider lowering their rentals. In this time of difficulties, I suggest that the Finance Minister consider extending the 20% rental rebate for another one year. So long as they have the shops in operation, they would be able to have a better future. I think this would be a good policy so that they can continue to serve our residents. Thirdly, for those people who are better paid and are paying more income tax and some older residents in private properties, their feedback to me is that they hope the Government would also give them some benefits under this package. These people had paid quite a lot of income tax, much higher than others in the past, and they have contributed to Singapore's economy. But in this year's Budget, they did not have any benefit in terms of utilities rebate and they have only about $200 in the Growth Dividend. For those senior citizens who used to have higher incomes, this is not quite equitable. Although they are not asking for some rebates and because the $200 plus $100 have no great impact on them, they are worried that after their retirement, who will be looking after their medical needs. For example, now they are having a high income but when they retire after the age of 62, and with the high cost of medicine and should they live a long life, they would have a lot of problems paying their medical expenses, because as they get older, they would have to pay more medical fees and look after their own medical expenses.”
“They have contributed in the past to our nation building and economic development. Even if they do not have credit, they have merit. I think we should distribute more of this bonus to the old folks. We should not use the annual value of the house they live in as the criterion, because sometimes the houses they live in do not belong to them. To the older folks, we should treat them equally. We should not classify them into a lower category. I hope that the Government would give all the old folks above the age of 60 a bonus of $800, and those between 50 and 59 a bonus of $600 each, so that all these senior citizens would be able to enjoy equally the fruits of our economic success. Secondly, something that is close to my heart, ie, the neighbourhood shops in the HDB estates. Our neighbourhood shops face a lot of challenges and problems due to the recent economic restructuring. We must thoroughly study the problems that they face. Apart from reviewing the existing policy, we should have multi-pronged measures to help solve their problems. Due to high rentals, our economy not yet fully recovered, and the termination of their rental rebates since December last year, many of the shops are facing problems surviving, and may even have to close down eventually. Generally, our economy has recovered somewhat, but the recovery is not even across the board and some of these neighbourhood shops have not really enjoyed the benefits brought about by the economic recovery. So, if we do not give them a helping hand, I think they will face the risk of having to close down which would cause our residents to suffer a lot of inconvenience. I hope that we could better empathise with their problems and give them a helping hand to tide them over the difficult times.”
“We worked very hard for more than 20 years and in the 1970s when the Government was developing Jurong Town, we were asked to resettle and we accepted the Government's arrangement to move into HDB flats. With urbanisation, nation-building and economic prosperity, we moved from the kampong to the HDB flats and we began to have water and electricity supply, and our standard of living improved. Our pioneers have become older and older with the years. The economic restructuring over the years had a great impact on many of our senior citizens. It gave rise to a lot of stress and they were unable to adapt to the new situation. For those who are older, they are unable to get suitable jobs, and when they attend training courses, they find that they are unable to cope with the lessons. Yet, now we cannot go back to planting vegetables or fruits for food or digging wells for water like in the kampong days. For the lower-income workers, particularly the older folks, they are facing all sorts of difficulties. We can understand. Moreover, nowadays, most families are small. They do not have the type of mutual support and help provided by larger families in the days gone by. Nowadays, Singaporeans living in flats may have neighbours on every side, but they are very lonely and have difficulties that they could confide in no one. All these years, when we receive members of the public who come to apply for ComCare grants, we feel very sorry for the predicament they face. I think the package comes at the right time. Although my parents have passed away years ago and are unable to enjoy this package, I treat all the old folks in my constituency as my parents. I hope that the Government would treat them equally so that all the old folks will benefit from this package.”
“Many people from the neighbouring countries decided to leave their hometown to migrate to this small island of Singapore. They were farsighted people. They realised that with the able leadership of the Government, Singapore would develop very quickly. In 1957, when I was only seven years old, my father decided to move from Muar in the State of Johor to Singapore. At that time, our family lived in Jurong, 18 milestone, in a small kampong two kilometres from the main road, with no electricity supply. On the first night, even with the kerosene lamp on, the whole place was pitch dark. We heard a lot of insects and had swarms of mosquitoes around us. Our whole family could not adapt to such a living environment because we were living in urban Muar before we came here to live in such a rural area. We were very unaccustomed to the environment. We, brothers and sisters, just hugged our mother and cried the whole night, unable to sleep. But when my father saw this, he told us, "The environment here may not be good, but it is still better than losing your lives." This was because my father had personally witnessed the type of bloody communal conflicts in Malaya during the 1950s and he knew that although coming to Singapore life would be difficult initially, it was still better than losing our lives. He said, since we were already in Singapore, we had to work hard in order to earn a better living and to have some achievements. We accepted our lot, hung on and managed to get used to kampong life. We did farming, planted a lot of durian trees and rambutan trees. I know quite a lot about durians. So, if you want to learn how to choose a durian, you can consult me.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore enjoyed a good economic growth of 6.4% last year, and the prospects for 2006 are also quite optimistic. This year, the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Lee Hsien Loong is giving us a $2.6 billion Progress Package which could be said to be pro-senior citizens, pro-low-income workers and pro-National Servicemen. I could say that this is the most generous Budget since our economic crisis in 1988. We are all very happy that we could have a share in the fruits of our economic success. I am sure most people would concur with the principle of giving more grants to the lower-income workers and the lower-income families, and to the elderly. This incentive bonus is to reward them for their contributions in the past. However, on the distribution of this bonus I have three suggestions to make: First of all, on the topping-up of CPF ElderShield and Medifund, I think we should be reminded of the Chinese maxim: "Whenever we drink water, think of its source." Topping up of Medisave accounts for the senior citizens is something that we should do. In the early days of our nation building, this group of Singaporeans, who were then in the prime of their youth, perhaps 20 to 30 years of age, put in a lot of hard work and effort to lift Singapore from a remote Third World country to the developed country it is today, in a rather short span of time. Our nation building and economic progress is a result of their hard work. Their contributions to our nation building, development and prosperity are evident for all to see, and we must give credit where it is due. More than 40 years ago, Singapore and the Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, were all Third World countries which were economically backward.”
“May I ask the DPM whether there is any plan to allow the operators to have a one-day open house of the casino before it goes into official operation? This would allow Singaporeans to have a look-see of the casino.”
“In NTU, if we have such courses for the senior citizens, I am sure it would attract a lot of former Nantah graduates and some of its supporters who had contributed significantly to the founding of Nantah during their younger days, and provide them with the chance to realise their dreams. It would also build up the sense of belonging to the university. This will be helpful for the university’s future fund-raising activities. At the same time, the university will be able to repay the alumni and the supporters for their past support. I support the Bill.”
“With the Chinese language becoming more and more important today, I think NTU should leverage on its forte and competitive edge, and promote the learning of Chinese. With China's rapid economic development, Chinese is getting more and more important and economically significant. People from all over the world are learning Chinese. Since Chinese is NTU's speciality, it should go on to develop disciplines related to Chinese, so as to satisfy the needs of the international market for the learning of Chinese, thereby making Singapore a regional hub for the teaching and learning of Chinese. Another thing that worries me is the increase in university fees. After corporatisation, the university can increase its fees by up to 10% every year. Even if the increase is less than 10%, it will be a heavy burden to the students and their parents. Some of them may have difficulty affording it. So I would urge the Ministry of Education to increase the fees only once in three years rather than once every year. Our inflation rate is about 3% per year, so 10% in three years is a reasonable adjustment. Most families should be able to afford it. Finally, with the aging of our population, I hope that the Government will provide the university with some incentives to encourage the university to provide some courses suitable for the senior citizens to realise the ideal of "lifelong learning". Some relevant subjects like law, social sciences, health, etc, should be offered to our senior citizens. In Taiwan, there is a so-called "university-in-the-air". This will provide people from all walks of life with the opportunity to experienceuniversity education. Recently, when I was in Australia, I observed that they had this so-called "University of Third Age".”
“With 20% of NTU's students being foreign students, it means about 5,000 foreign students are being subsidised by the Government to the tune of $65 million per year, and that is certainly a lot of money! I hope that some adjustment could be made to reduce our subsidies for foreign students, and give better subsidies to our local students. This way, our local students would be paying lower fees. Let us compare the fees charged by other universities around the world for their foreign students. From the table I circulated earlier, we can see that in the United States, foreign students pay very much more than their local students. In Oxford and Cambridge Universities, foreign students pay £12,000and local students pay only £3,000. It is four times more. In Melbourne University, Australia, local students pay about $9,000 while foreign students pay as much as S$30,000. The difference is more than three times. I suggest that the Ministry of Education review the fee structures for foreign students. After corporatisation, NTU will have more space to develop its strong points and specialities. However, the university should also be looking after its interest, not just the financial interest, but also its curriculum anddisciplines that it offers. In order to increase its revenue, the university may increase more places for the money-making or popular subjects, at the expense of less popular subjects such as Chinese, sociology, psychology and the other humanities. Take Chinese Studies, for example, Nantah was well-known for its teaching of Chinese and it has a very strong historical background in the teaching of Chinese.”
“Let us compare it to, say, Oxford and Cambridge University of the UK. Each of theirenrolment is only 17,000. Harvard University has an enrolment of 19,000, and MIT has only 10,000. Apparently, the top-ranking universities in the world normally do not have enrolments of more than 20,000. So if NTU wants to be one of the top universities in Asia and maintains its standard of excellence, I think it should be very careful if it wants to enlarge its enrolment, and ensure that it will not lower its academic standard. After corporatisation, if the university has to enlarge its enrolment to ensure that it has the financial resources to sustain its operation, I suggest that NTU reserve more places for local students. As I know, many students in Singapore are unable to get into the local universities and they have to go overseas to study. This will result in a loss of talents and, more importantly, it will make the financial burden of their parents even heavier. We must ensure that there are enough places for our local students. This should be one of the top priorities of the NTU. One other point is that if the NTU is able to attract more foreign students who come here and pay unsubsidised fees, they will generate a lot of revenue for the university. At the moment, university fees paid by foreign students are only about 10% more than what our local students are paying. Local students pay $5,650 and foreign students are paying only $6,220. The difference is only 10%. This means thatSingapore is subsidisingthe foreign students very generously. According to statistics given by the university, the average subsidy per student, local or foreign, is about $13,000 per year.”
“The Government should also continue to support the university financially to ensure that the university would maintain a certain standard. After corporatisation, the NTU willhave more autonomy and flexibility to determine its policies, direction of development, style of operation and methods of fund-raising. Of course, autonomy comesat a price. My main concern iswith the fund raising aspect. Although the Government will continue to support the NTU financially even after corporatisation, it has also stated categorically that the university should look for other sources of revenue to fund its operations. I am worried that NTU may not be able to attract enough donations to maintain its operations. Normally, institutions of learningaresupported by their alumni and private enterprises. The question is: will the earlier batches of Nantah Alumni and NTU alumni enthusiastically support the NTU after its corporatisation? Therefore, I hope that the Government should continue to give more generousfinancial support to the NTU for at least the next five years so that it will be able to maintain its high level of academic excellence, in order that it will continue to enjoy its prestigious position internationally. I hope that the ranking of the university will be even better, after its corporatisation. In future, will the university increase its enrolment to get more revenue? Although the university will be a non-profit organisation, even after corporatisation, I am sure it will be subjected to much more pressure to balance its income and expenditure. Many people are concerned that with an enlarged enrolment, whetherits standard would be affected. At the moment, the enrolment of NTU is 26,000, which is rather high.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, since its founding in 1955, the Nanyang University has gone through many changes. It has undergone three phases of development. The first phase started when the Nanyang University was founded in 1955. It was a university which was fully funded by the people. People from all walks of life were very supportive in raising funds for the university. Hawkers, trishaw riders, coolies and businessmen alike, contributed generously their hard-earned money to fund the Nanyang University. It was a truly people's university. The people then had one common aspiration,ie, their children would be given the opportunity to be educated in a university with Chinese Language, culture and history background, so that when they graduated, they would be able to contribute to Singapore's development. The second phase of the university started in 1981 with the inauguration of Nanyang Technological Institute. Ten years later, it merged with the National Institute of Education to become Nanyang Technological University, thus commencing its third phase of development. With the proposed corporatisation, it enters its fourth phase of development. Many people are worried that, after corporatisation, the university would be listed on the Stock Exchange. I believe that even with corporatisation, the emphasis should be on education and not on profit-making. I hope that the Government will give the assurance that the university will not be listed on the Stock Exchange after its corporatisation. As a matter of fact, no university from any part of the world is listed. So we should not be an exception. After all, education is a long-term project. We should not put our focus on short-term interests alone. On the standard of the university, it is something that we are concerned with.”
“Sir, the IOC initially announced that there would be a 3-minute video show costing $450,000 but, finally, it was reduced to a 2-minute show. Is there any good reason why the 3-minute video show was cut down to 2 minutes and whetherthe cost had been reduced too?”
“By doing this, we can provide a good opportunity to let the Board of Directors and the former CEO, Mr Durai, to explain their position, and I am confident that the new Board appointed by the Minister will be more effective and transparent in carrying out the work and make NKF more effective and visible, in order to serve the patients and protect the international brand name and image of NKF.”
“At present, there are still about 2,000 kidney patients who are waiting for their turn to receive dialysis. In order to increase the opportunities for dialysis, I suggest that the new Board of Directors consider using part of the reserves to set up new centres to provide early treatment for these 2,000 who are as yet unattended to. I would like to suggest that 50% of all donations should be used on the patients in order to reduce their financial burden. For those who are poor, they should receive greater subsidies. Some donors to NKF told me that the NKF Directors have recently deleted the Chinese name of NKF. I have read the Chinese newspapers, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min, but I do not see a Chinese name for NKF. They just use NKF. What is the reason for this? Why delete the Chinese name? Every year, during the Hungry Ghost or "Seventh Moon" festival, the participants would donate generously to NKF. During these Seventh Moon dinners, they use Mandarin or even Hokkien to raise funds for NKF, and they have received the generous support and response from the residents. This recent episode has made many donors unhappy and they remarked, "When you wanted money, you talked in Hokkien. Now that you have money, you speak in English." In other words, they speak our language only when they need our money. Since much of their support comes from the Chinese community, why do they abandon the use of the Chinese name for NKF? I would like to know whether the new Board of Directors will explain the reason for this decision so that the public at large will understand why the NKF's name in Chinese has been abandoned. Finally, I support the suggestion to look at the whole cause and effect of all these donations raised by PM Lee.”
“I would like to make the following suggestions. Firstly, appropriate use of the funds raised. Each year, NKF receives huge sums of donations. Town Councils put aside 30% to 35% of the service and conservancy charges collected from the residents for redevelopment and reconstruction of facilities in the towns they manage. Similarly, NKF can consider setting aside about 30% of the funds raised as its reserves. Part of the reserves could be deposited in the banks to earn interest and part of them could be used to build new dialysis centres, purchase new equipment, and make cyclical improvements to the facilities of these centres. Secondly, in terms of administration, Town Councils generally spend about 20% of the service and conservancy charges on administrative expenses, such as staff salaries and daily operational expenses. So I would like to suggest that NKF also spends about 20% of the donations on administrative expenses. According to NKF's Annual Report 2003, the income was $100 million. For a staff of 996, the total salary was $27 million, accounting for 27% of the total income. This is rather high. Perhaps, the new Board of Directors can review these administrative expenses. In addition, besides this 20%, the balance of 50% of the funds should be spent on the kidney patients. According to the report, of all the donations received by NKF, only 12% is spent on the patients. This is rather low. Public donations must be used to help the patients, especially those from lower income families because they are sick and unemployed and do not have any income. According to statistics, there are 4,000 patients in Singapore, and only 2,000 patients are receiving treatment at either NKF or KDF.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, since it started in 1969, the National Kidney Foundation has expanded significantly and contributed substantially to help kidney patients in Singapore. It was first established by a group of individuals who cared deeply about kidney patients at the Singapore General Hospital and they had built up this renowned organisation from nothing over 30 years. It has achieved a brand name which is known internationally. At the moment, NKF has 21 dialysis centres and served about 1,800 kidney patients, providing high quality medical attention. It has become one of the top dialysis centres in the world. Visitors to Singapore, including some leaders from China, were deeply impressed by the good work done by NKF and were full of admiration for it, after visiting the dialysis centres run by NKF. Recently, the series of revelations has sparked off much controversy in Singapore. Minister Khaw has come out quickly to pacify the public outrage, acted swiftly to set up a new Board of Directors and appointed an interim Chairman. This is a wise and correct decision. We must continue to support NKF and should not allow this organisation, which has been built up through many years of hard work by many people, to be destroyed overnight. In order to continue to serve our kidney patients, we must look at the big picture and together continue to support NKF and restore public confidence in NKF. At the same time, we must strengthen the corporate governance and transparency of NKF, which continues to serve the unfortunate patients and save lives. I would like to suggest that NKF consider the model that has been established by the Town Councils. NKF is a charitable organisation and the Town Council is a non-profit organisation. Both manage funds contributed by the public.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister said that HDB flat buyers will be allowed to take a loan of up to 90%. But under HDB's current policy, when a buyer wants to take a loan from HDB, he has to use up his CPF money first before he can get a loan from HDB. I would like to ask the Minister why HDB has this policy to use up the CPF money first before allowing him to take a loan. Otherwise, the buyer has no way of taking a 90% loan. Also, the CPF money may not be used solely for housing matters. It can be used for investment or other purpose.”
“After deducting CPF contribution, their take-home pay is really very little. Can they be exempted from contributing to CPF, both on the employer and employee sides, so that both parties will benefit?”
“Mr Chairman, at the moment, our economy has yet to be fully recovered and the job market remains very competitive. I would like to urge the Ministry to reserve some jobs for our Singapore citizens, particularly the older citizens, in areas like food and beverage, cleaning and service industries. The Government should make some regulations requiring that at least 70% of the jobs be reserved for Singaporeans and the remaining 30% could be taken up by foreign workers. This is to reduce our reliance on foreign workers. I support Minister Lim Boon Heng's suggestion to reserve some jobs for our local senior citizens. This should be an inter-ministry project. There are many jobs in the various sectors, including the public sector, which are suitable for senior citizens. The Government must take the lead in this initiative. There are quite a variety of jobs that could be considered. For example, the MCYS childcare centres could employ senior citizens to be baby-sitters and the People's Association may employ senior citizens to be administrators in the Residents Committees and Senior Citizens Clubs. The schools could also employ retirees to be traffic wardens. I remember when I was in primary school I used to see some old people carrying a "Stop" sign to direct traffic, but nowadays, some young parents, in order that the children have priority in enrolment to the school, would volunteer to become traffic wardens. I think MOE could employ some retirees for this job. The Ministry of National Development could employ some senior citizens to be gardeners and environment inspectors in HDB estates. When these retirees return to the workforce, most of them work on a part-time basis and the monthly salary is not much.”
“Sir, the Minister has not answered my question. How many primary and secondary schools are conducting the Higher Chinese classes? Some people complained to me that when their children went to ordinary schools, they were not given the opportunity to take Higher Chinese. I have already conveyed this concern to the Minister.”
“May I ask the Minister, currently, how many schools conduct Higher Chinese classes and if the Ministry would consider opening specialised Higher Chinese learning centres, for the convenience of students who wish to pursue Higher Chinese. Mother Tongue”
“MM Lee has said that we must develop a pool of 150 to 200 Chinese elites each year to strengthen our competitiveness. China is playing an increasingly important role in the world's economy and politics. If we do not have bilingual Chinese elites, the role we play in East Asia and the world in trade and economy will soon be weakened. However, the university admission criteria have been changed. The mother tongue scores will no longer be counted. This has become an obstacle to our goal of developing a pool of Chinese elites. Students who have done Higher Chinese in secondary school may choose not to continue with Higher Chinese at "A" level and JC, since their scores will not be counted for their university admission in the future. If the number of JC students taking Higher Chinese was reduced, enrolment in the Department of Chinese Studies will also drop. This is detrimental to our plan to nurture a pool of Chinese elites. I would suggest that in order to encourage potential students to continue taking Higher Chinese, we should give them some incentives. May I suggest that the students who score "A" or "B" in Higher Chinese and intend to take Chinese in the university be classified as "linguistic talents". The bonus points for mother tongue should be increased from two points to four points. This would attract more students to take Higher Chinese. In addition, the Minister announced yesterday that the Ministry does not impose restrictions on schools which wish to open primary level Chinese elite classes. This has been welcomed by the parents.”
“The Senior Parliamentary Secretary has mentioned that the Government has stopped building hawker centres and food centres since 1985. Twenty years have passed, and many things have changed. The hawker centres and food markets can provide very good job opportunities for Singaporeans. Can the Ministry review and reconsider this policy again? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Sir, the Ministry reviews policies on a regular basis. We will certainly review this policy. But the older markets exist in the older estates. The present wet markets mostly exist in the older estates. The new estates have a different lifestyle. They have got all the airconditioned supermarkets and departmental stores in one complex. They provide food, entertainment, shopping and everything. The lifestyle can be quite different. But, certainly, we will review policies on a regular basis, and his suggestion will be reviewed.”
“Mr Chairman, food centres and markets were the creation of our first generation leaders. They have become our social trademark and a symbol of Singapore. Because they are frequented by all Singaporeans, they help to build up cohesiveness among our people. The food centres and markets have also provided many job opportunities for the middle and lower classes, contributing to our economic growth and social stability. Although we have become a thriving and highly developed country, we must continue to provide our people with shops and markets offering affordable and good quality items. This is also one of our social responsibilities. Therefore, the Government has the responsibility to continue to build more food centres and markets in our public housing estates to serve our residents. I would like to ask the Minister: how many food centres and markets have we upgraded and how much was the upgrading expenditure? After the upgrading, what have the financial benefits for the stallholders been and how does it benefit the consumers? Wet Markets”
“Maybe the banks could consider extending their repayment periods from 10 years to 15 years or even 20 years. Fifth, upgrade the HDB neighbourhood centres. In places like Chong Pang, Jurong West, Bukit Batok Neighbourhood II, Toa Payoh, Tampines and Marine Parade, the shops are getting a new lease of life after the upgrading exercises. I hope that HDB will consider upgrading all neighbourhood centres so as to attract the crowds to help the shops do better. I hope the Minister will consider my suggestions.”
“Mr Chairman, the problems faced by our HDB neighbourhood shops is a complex issue. Each faces different problems due to their different localities, different types of businesses and different management systems. If we want to thoroughly resolve the problems they face, I think we would need to have a comprehensive review on our policies and use multi-pronged measures to resolve their problems once and for all. I have five suggestions and I hope that they would help to solve the problems. First, I think HDB should consider reviving the sale of 30-year lease shops to the tenants. I understand that those owners of 30-year lease shops are very happy and satisfied because their monthly instalments payable to the bank are even lower than the rent payable to the HDB. I hope that the HDB could conduct a survey and if more than 75% of the existing tenants are willing to buy the shops, then HDB should consider selling the shops to them. Second, for those shops whose businesses are no good because of unfavourable localities, HDB should buy back the shops for other developments. Third, reduce the rent. I hope the HDB would reduce the rentals for those shops which are continuing to serve the residents. I hope that HDB would reduce their rent by 20%. As long as they can keep their businesses going, they would have a chance to turn around. We should help them tide over the present problems so that they could make a come-back later on. Fourth, we should reduce the property tax of the shops. Some owners of 90-year lease shops are going through severe ordeals as their businesses decline. Reducing their property tax would be one way to alleviate their burden. Some of them have to pay very high instalments to the bank every month resulting in increases in their cost of operation.”
“Sir, first of all, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for shortening the cycle of lift upgrading from 15 years to 10 years. All the residents of HDB estates appreciate this kind gesture. Among all the HDB upgrading programmes, the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) is most welcomed by the residents. According to a survey by HDB, some 97% of the residents support this scheme. Recently, in officiating the launch of the Lift Upgrading Programme in Tanjong Pagar GRC, Minister Mentor Lee urged the residents to give full support to the programme. He said the LUP not only improves the environment of the estates but also enhances the value of the flats. Since 1997, I have been appealing on behalf of the HDB residents, especially those who live in 4-storey blocks, for lifts to be installed. This had been reported in the Straits Times. Finally, in 2001, the first set of lifts for 4-storey blocks was installed in Bukit Gombak. The Chinese press Lianhe Zaobao reported on this news. As a result, whenever the residents who live in 4-storey blocks meet me, they would ask, "Mr Ang, when can you help us to get the authorities to install lifts for us?" I would like to take this opportunity to ask the Minister when the lifts could be installed for the 4-storey blocks. In Europe, fibre glass is used as the material for the lift walls, and they mount the lift motor on top of the lift-cars, thereby reducing the installation cost by 30-40%. Could the Minister consider studying their method? This will help to speed up our LUP process. At present, it takes about two years from the time of the announcement of the decision to install the lifts to the commencement of the installation works. I think the time is too long. Can it be shortened to one year?”
“I would suggest that HDB start a new plan to convert one or two blocks of these vacant flats into rental apartments for the elderly; for those 3- or 4-room flats, maybe they can be converted to 1- or 2-room flats for the old people to rent. At the same time, in order to look after the welfare of the residents in the studio apartments for the elderly, VWOs and grassroots organisations can set up some special care groups to organise some welfare and recreational activities for the old folks. The concept of "Senior Citizens looking after Senior Citizens" launched by the Redhill Residents' Committee is a good one. Perhaps we should extend it to other areas as well. Neighbour Problems”
“Sir, at the moment, the imminent problems faced by our senior citizens are cash flow and housing, and these two problems are inter-related. During their younger days, in order to realise the dream of owning their own flats, they used up a lot of cash and CPF money to buy their flats. After retirement, when their children grow up, they move out. The old folks have a property but no cash. If they were to sell their flats, under the present policy, they are barred from applying for a HDB flat. But if they do not sell the flat, they would not have enough money for their daily expenses. So I suggest that HDB consider allowing them to rent a flat without having to wait for 30 months after selling their flats. Although the HDB has studio apartments for the elderly, they are all for sale, on a 30-year lease. During this period, if anything happens to them, who is to inherit the apartment? And that would be a problem. On the other hand, should they outlive their lease, then it would be yet another problem. Therefore, I would suggest that the best thing is for them to rent the flats. Then they do not have to buy their flats and, at the same time, they can sell the present flats so that they have the capital to provide returns for their investment. If they were to sell a 4-room flat, they would have more than $200,000 in hand, and they could get the fund managers to invest for them, and get back some $2,000-$3,000 a year, enough to pay the rent. Their housing problem is solved and they can have cash for their daily expenses. It is a win-win situation. At the moment, there are quite a lot of vacant flats in Jurong West.”
“Sir, currently, the retirement age for our army regulars is 45. Our soldiers have gone through intensive physical training. At 45, they are still strong and fit and could continue to serve the SAF. It is such a great pity to let them retire at this age. In the United States, Germany, Japan and Thailand, the retirement age of their army personnel is 60, and in UK and Canada, it is 55. Therefore, I suggest that the Defence Minister consider extending the retirement age of our army regulars to 55 or even 60. Upon retirement at the age of 45, many ex-regulars find it difficult to find suitable jobs under the current competitive employment condition and some use their pensions to set up businesses, such as interior decoration services, sale of CDs, luohan fish or even bubble tea. Although some operated successfully, many of them lost all their pension money. Moreover, due to our declining birth rate, the number of male citizens eligible for National Service is falling. Hence, I hope that the Defence Minister would consider allowing army regulars to serve until the age of 55 or even 60 before retiring. The Ministry can retrain those above 45 and then employ them in other positions in the Ministry. Total Defence”
“Sir, at present, the speed limit for the small and medium-size commercial vehicles is 60 kph on all roads. However, the general speed limit on our highways is 90 kph. May I suggest that the speed limit for such commercial vehicles be raised from the present 60 kph to 70 kph because, to the businessmen, time is money. May I also suggest that the right lane on our highways be confined to vehicles whose speed limit is not less than 90 kph. In other words, vehicles whose speed limit is less than 90 kph should be banned from travelling on the fast lane as they would either hog the road or exceed their speed limit. I believe this is being practised in Japan. In the United States, the speed limits on freeways are categorised into peak hours and non-peak hours. May I therefore suggest that the speed limit on our highways be raised to 110 kph during non-peak hours. Scrapping of Vehicles”
“Sir, I am happy to hear that the Ministry will review the speed limits on our roads. Will the Minister inform the House probably when we can hear some good news? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Certainly by the end of this year, but probably over the next two or three months. With a quicker cycle of review, for some roads, the speed limits have already been raised. But I think to do a good job, it is better to take a holistic and comprehensive approach, and not do it piecemeal. Actually, the speed limits on roads have been raised for many years now. In 1996, some roads were raised. In 1999, there was another big exercise and, last year, in fact, some of the roads have had their speed limits raised. I think we have to give credit when it is due because over all these years, Traffic Police has been mindful of feedback from Singaporeans on the need for higher speed limits. So they work with LTA. But, recently, what is good is that the public pays greater attention to speed limits which have caused the agencies to give greater attention to this topic, and this will supplement what has been done before. For example, last year, the Traffic Police and LTA together raised the speed limits at Upper Serangoon Road, Sengkang East Drive, Punggol East, Bartley Viaduct, Tampines Avenue 10, Telok Blangah Viaduct and Woodlands Avenue 12. Indeed, the speed limits of expressways have also been raised. I do not know whether Members will remember it was 80 kph for a long time and then we raised it to 90 kph about three years ago.”
“Currently, the speed limit for our main roads is 50 km/h. This regulation was laid down in 1948, when Singapore was a third world country with poor road conditions and there were more older cars. Thus, it was reasonable. After 50 years, with our rapid development, we are a developed nation, our roads are wider, the COE system has resulted in more newer cars on the road, with more advanced technology and are hence more responsive and capable of higher speeds. Therefore, I suggest that the Ministry of Home Affairs consider allowing an increase in the speed limits on our main roads. Let us take our neighbouring countries for example. Malaysia's speed limit is 60 km/h, China's and Indonesia's are 70 km/h, Thailand's is 60 km/h within the city and 80 km/h outside the city, Japan's is 85 km/h and the Philippines has no speed limit. In comparison, our speed limit is lower. Time is money. To help our citizens maximise their time, I hope that the Minister will consider to increase the car speed limit for our main roads from the current 50 km/h to 70 km/h. As for accident-prone areas and roads within residential estates, it should be maintained at 50 km/h. Recently, the newspapers have reported that the Traffic Police have been recording speedsters using cameras on overhead bridges. Some taxi drivers have given me feedback that this situation has caused them much distress when they approached overhead bridges. They had to keep looking up while driving to see if there were traffic police officers standing there, taping them. Such distraction is dangerous for drivers. Hence, I hope that the Traffic Police will change their location and tape from other places, not from overhead bridges.”
“I think this is a very important matter that we should look into to strengthen the competitiveness of our local enterprises, and to provide our SMEs more opportunities for development and create more jobs for our people. This is something that we have to really look into. Finally, I would like to thank the Deputy Speaker for giving me a chance to take part in this debate. I support the Budget policy of the Government.”
“Secondly, JTC fixes the plot ratio at 0.8, which is much too high, and the factories to be built have to be two storeys high. I think these terms are not favourable to the SMEs when they want to rent the industrial land from JTC. I hope the JTC could be more flexible so that in this competitive environment, SMEs can rent the land through open application instead of tender. I feel that JTC should consider lowering their rentals by 20% for a period of three years, and reduce the plot ratio to 0.4, so that the building cost of the factories could be lowered to enable our business environment to be more competitive. In addition, I hope that the JTC will consider selling the factories to existing tenants on 20-year or 30-year lease at concessionary prices. This will help them to avoid the rental fluctuations which impact business costs. The third point is that JTC is valuing their own properties much too high, and there is a lack of transparency. Valuation is being done by their in-house valuers. I visited a restaurant in Woodlands. JTC valued it at $490,000. Someone offered to purchase it at $350,000, but JTC thought that the offer was too low, and decided to call for an open tender. At the open tender, it fetched only $290,000 and the deal was sealed at this lower price. Apparently, the JTC's valuation is 40% above the market price. So, I suggest that JTC engage independent valuers to form an independent valuation committee to perform valuation of their properties. It should be more transparent. It would be able to fix more reasonable market prices. This independent valuation committee should also take into account the rentals and the valuations of our neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and China so that our businesses would gain a more competitive edge.”
“With only one year in their contracts, they will start looking for alternative jobs just a few months on the job, as the contract is due to expire soon and there is no sense of security. How could we expect them to give of their best to the job? For those who are on one to three years' contracts, they will not attempt any project that is likely to jeopardise their contract. They can only look at the short-term perspective and shy away from making long-term plans. They just do not have the motivation. Their defensive attitude results in the lack of initiative and creativity in the civil service. I think we should review and change this kind of contract. Of course, we cannot continue with the "iron rice bowl" concept. I feel that the three to five years' contracts are better for the civil service and the people. The longer contracts will provide the civil servants with more opportunities to prove their worth, and contribute more to the departments they belong. Next, let me deal with the problem faced by the SMEs. In the past few years, because of the economic downturn, our SMEs faced a lot of problems, especially those who are renting JTC properties. They faced a lot of challenges. I have visited the JTC industrial estates and I found that some 800 to 1,000 hectares of land are left vacant. These pieces of vacant land can be used to build some 2,000 factories, providing jobs for some 200,000 people. I have some friends working in the SMEs and they told me the reasons why the SMEs were afraid to tender for these pieces of land. Firstly, the market rental rates fixed by JTC are too high, at an average of $8 per square metre. In Jiangsu Province, China, the industrial land is being rented out at only $1.50-$2.00. The difference is more than four times.”
“If you do something wrong, you will be punished severely. Under these circumstances, a lot of civil servants, in order to protect themselves, would not dare to try anything new, and hence they simply cannot afford to be creative. As a result, no attempt will be made to be creative in the Government policy. Civil servants will stick very closely to the rules. In the face of any new policy or idea, they will become very conservative. In order to avoid making mistakes, they will adopt this kind of conservative attitude, which is unwise in a changing world. The Government should review the present appraisal system to create flexibility and transparency. I think the Government should encourage the civil servants to be creative and take the initiative to make contributions to the people and the country. With creativity and initiative, of course, you may make mistakes but nobody can be free from making mistakes. We are not saints. So we must teach them and give them the chance to learn from their mistakes so that they would not make the same mistake again. In this way, we will be able to bring up a new generation of creative and innovative civil servants and leaders. We cannot expect a horse to run well but refuse to give it any hay to eat. If you want the civil servants to do well, you should treat them well and give them the space to experiment and innovate, without the threat of being censured for any mistakes made in the process. I understand that new civil servants are employed on short contracts of between one and three years. I think this is too short, and not good for our civil service. They are being treated as commodities that can be easily replaced. This is very demoralising, particularly for those who are employed on a one-year contract.”
“Sir, according to my understanding, when Government departments, like PWD and HDB, went through restructuring, PWD formed a subsidiary called CPG and HDB formed a subsidiary called Surbana, and some of their projects have been given a five-year grace period with preferential treatment. Why is it that the companies set up by the people because of economic restructuring cannot enjoy the same concession? Why should the Government policy be discriminatory against them? I am of the view that all Government policies should be equally applicable to one and all. The Government should allow the people themselves to restructure their companies and automatically enjoy the no-tender requirement for five years, so that they will be able to overcome their difficulties. Why do civil servants have this kind of mentality? As it is said, the more you do, the more mistakes you make. You do less, you err less. If you do not do anything, you make no errors at all. So to protect themselves and to avoid trouble, civil servants create rules to restrict all these kinds of activities, and they treat all these rules and regulations as their talismen. So whatever is new, they will say no at the beginning. Because of this, a lot of new Government policies cannot be implemented thoroughly. Finally, they will become mere paper talk. This kind of bureaucratic attitude should be overhauled so that the people will not think that Government policies are mere lip service and do not benefit the people. I feel that the stereotype attitude of the civil servants is related to the present appraisal system. Under the present system, creativity and initiative are not very clear cut, but on the other side of the coin, very severe penalties are meted out for any mistakes made.”
“The neighbourhood shops are under pressure from restructuring, and they face competition from the supermarkets and convenience stores. In my constituency, there is a dry market. Because it is very crowded, the hawkers find it difficult to do business there. The customers also find the place too congested. So the stallholders, with the help of their association, were prepared to upgrade the market. They applied to the HDB for permission to upgrade and after some attempts, they finally obtained the approval of the HDB, but there were three conditions attached. First, the hawkers and stallholders must set up a new company. Second, the rentals will be raised. Although the proposed new rentals were not ideal, they were prepared to accept them. Third, the HDB will compensate the stallholders a sum of $48,000, but they must bear the cost of the upgrading. The stallholders abided by the terms and conditions and engaged a lawyer to set up a new company for them. Everything was ready, and they were just waiting for the green light from the HDB to start the upgrading work. The green light did not come but instead a bomb was thrown at them. The HDB informed the stallholders that they will select the tenants on an open tender basis. The hawkers were afraid that if they were not successful in their tenders, the business which they had been diligently building up bit by bit over the past 20 years would be lost, and they would become unemployed. Eventually, they decided to abandon the upgrading plan, and all the hard work they put in towards this plan went down the drain. They will just continue to operate under the present environment.”
“For example, he cannot sell near the schools, at bus stops and MRT stations, main roads, pedestrian walks, town centres, hospitals, police stations and Government institutions. In other words, wherever there are a lot of people passing by, he cannot sell his ice cream. Just think about it. What is most important for a hawker to do his business? Crowds! Here, you cannot sell, there you cannot sell. How could Mr Ng not end up losing all his capital and incurring piles of debts? Obviously, the civil servants do not know the basic demand and supply conditions in the selling of ice cream. I suggest the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources grant the officer-in-charge of licensing two days' leave to walk around with Mr Ng to appreciate for himself the predicament of an ice-cream seller. What Mr Ng wants is to be self-reliant and self-dependent and to work to maintain his family. Such hardworking and enterprising spirit should be supported and encouraged. I hope the Government will consider changing or relaxing all the unnecessary rules so that it would not stop somebody who wants to become independent and sell ice cream from doing so, to keep his body and soul together. From this example, we feel that any change in policy must be sunk into the minds of civil servants so that they will make the necessary adjustments. The civil servants should do more to understand the problems of affected people so that they will make the changes and make suitable adjustments to help them become self-dependent and self-reliant. It is indeed the objective of our Government to assist the people to become entrepreneurs. A lot of people have been affected by our economic restructuring. There have been changes in the mode of business and increased competition.”
“The editorial of Lianhe Zaobao of 8th February entitled "Do not let bureaucratic red tape kill the Entrepreneurial Ideas" actually hit the nail on the head in describing the mindset of the civil servants. Let me give you two real life examples. A certain Mr Ng Thiam Poh became unemployed due to the economic restructuring. Failing to find any alternative job, he applied to the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources for a licence to sell ice-cream. When he was issued with a licence, he was full of confidence. To his astonishment, things turned out to be even worse for him because the Ministry imposed all sorts of restrictions that made it almost impossible for him to sell his ice cream, and he ended up with piles of debts. Mr Ng felt that these restrictions made it difficult for him to do his business, resulting in the loss of all the money he invested. He had no choice but to write to the Forum page in the newspaper to voice his concerns and suggest that the Ministry relax its rules, allow him to sell ice cream at more localities, and give him more room for survival. But the Ministry immediately replied that the restrictions on itinerant ice-cream hawkers cannot be relaxed, and hoped that Mr Ng would understand. However, understanding does not help to solve the problem. During my childhood days, my next-door neighbour was an ice-cream seller. That is why I know of the many restrictions being an itinerant ice-cream hawker. In the morning and at night, business is poor. During rainy days, ice cream is not saleable. It is only in the hot sunny afternoons that the ice-cream seller can strive to do more business. The relevant authorities also impose many restrictions on where he is allowed to sell his ice cream.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee presented a comprehensive and pro-people Budget which looks after the needs of every family in Singapore. The topping up of the Edusave account, lowering of personal income tax rates, topping up of Medisave accounts of the elderly and rebates on water and electricity bills have brought happiness to all the people of Singapore. Prime Minister Lee also emphasised that in order to make Singapore a land full of opportunities, the Government will adopt measures to instil vitality to our economy and encourage our people to be enterprising, so as to enable Singapore to achieve better competitiveness and healthy economic development in the face of intense global competition. The Government would also adopt new policies and measures in the various sectors to assist the people, and the people will be challenged to work hand in hand with the Government to attain their common target. For the Government and the people to attain this ideal target, the work attitude of the civil servants is an important factor because they are the bridge between the Government and the people. The heavy task of implementing these measures is in the hands of the civil servants. Unfortunately, when these new policies and measures fall on the civil servants who are "afraid of changes, afraid of making mistakes", they will formulate all sorts of bureaucratic red tape and work according to the rules so that all the innovative entrepreneurial ideas would be stuck in a complicated process of examination and inspection, and eventually die a natural death.”
“Can the Minister of State consider lowering the percentage of the resale levy? I understand that when the property market is good, HDB increases the resale level for 3-room flats from 15% to 20% and for 4- and 5-room flats from 20% to 25%. In view of the poor property market, can we go back to the resale levy of 15% for 3-room and 20% for 4- and 5-room flats?”
“Some people are commenting that in Singapore, "you can die but you cannot fall sick". I am glad to learn that Mr Khaw Boon Wan, our Minister for Health, is making attempts to revamp our MediShield scheme. I think it is good. It is said that the premium would be increased by $10 per month or $120 a year. For those who are working, this is not so much of a problem. But to the elderly people with no job and no income, it is quite a burden. I hope that the Government will take some concrete action to look after the interest of these old people who have, in the past, contributed to our nation-building. If they are really not working and have financial difficulty, they cannot pay the extra $120 a year, the Government should pay this amount on their behalf. I feel that this kind gesture is good for the Government. After all, in the event that the elderly people are unable to pay for ward charges or medical expenses, what would happen? Ultimately, the Government has to pay for it. So, if they could be covered under the MediShield, we could transfer the responsibility to the insurance companies. It makes sense for the Government to help them stay in the scheme. This is like killing two birds with one stone. I hope the Government will consider my suggestion. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, these are some suggestions that I am making, based on feedback I received from my meet-the-people sessions. I hope that the Ministries concerned would give a positive response to my suggestions.”
“Take Changi Airport, for example. Last year, on one occasion, when I was at the departure lounge waiting to board an airplane to China, I met an old man who was staring at the display board. He took off his spectacles, put them on and took them off again, trying to read the wordings on the board. I asked him, "Where are you going?" He told me in Teochew, "I am going to Swatow. But the wording on the display board is so difficult to read. I just cannot figure out which departure gate I have to use for my flight." He had difficulty reading the display on the board, not uncommon for old folks with failing vision. In fact, I too have difficulty making out the small wordings on the display board. I checked his departure gate for him and took him to the appropriate counter to check in. He held my hands and said, "Thank you very much. I am old and useless." He could not read from the display board. A few days later, when I was at the Capital Airport, Beijing, I noticed that all the display boards for flight details were installed at eye level. Although I am not too old, I feel this eye-level display much more convenient for travellers, young and old. But in Singapore, the display boards are all very high and far, far away. To the old people, it is a bit difficult to see. Even the not-too-old people like me cannot read the wordings clearly. This is just one simple example. I suggest that when providing public amenities, the convenience of the elderly be considered. Lastly, I would refer to the need for more flexibility in medicare. There are frequent adjustments to medical charges, but the adjustment is always upwards and never downwards. The escalating medical fees have become a great burden to the older people.”
“If the lift does not land on his particular floor, an old resident would have considerable difficulty getting out and returning to the floor where he lives. The third area is on appropriate social welfare policy. In the early years of nationhood when Singapore was a young nation, the Government had to pay greater attention to children and young people, especially in HDB estates and public parks, where you could find a lot of playgrounds and facilities for children to play in. But there is no facility or equipment for the elderly people to use. With an ageing population, I hope that the town councils and NParks will consider building or installing some exercise equipment to cater to the needs of the older people. No doubt, the Government has to look after the children and young people, but the older folks should be given a fair share of attention too. I suggest that outdoor exercise facilities and equipment be provided for the elderly people to use, in order to help them have better health. In addition, we should also set up more day-care centres for the elderly. In Japan, where the population is also ageing, a lot of such day-care centres for old people are set up for them to socialise and learn something new while their children are working. I think this is very helpful to the daily life of the elderly people. We should also take special care of the older residents in the one-room flats. In our Residents' Committees, we have the youth group, the women's group and the senior citizens' group. I think they should all join together, hand in hand, to set up a care group for the elderly people, and visit these elderly people in one-room flats so that they will feel that they are not neglected. We have a lot of public amenities which are user-friendly to the old people.”
“If you were to sell a 4-room flat to buy a 3-room flat from the resale market, after deducting all the legal and incidental expenses, you would have very little left. I hope that the Government would review this policy to avoid inconveniencing the elderly citizens. I have two suggestions to make. The HDB has stipulated that within 30 months of the sale of an existing flat, no application is allowed for the registration of a new flat. I feel that times have changed, circumstances have changed, the Housing and Development Board should reconsider this 30-month debarment rule, so that the elderly people who are in dire need of cash to survive would be able to sell their bigger flat and rent or buy a smaller flat, and have some cash for life after retirement, without having to depend on social assistance and maintaining a flat which is too big for them. Next, lift upgrading. This is one of the most important and popular HDB upgrading programmes. HDB has already done a lot in upgrading the older estates. But it will take 10 to 15 years to complete the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) for all the eligible blocks of HDB flats in Singapore. Some old people have been telling me, "You can wait for 10 years, 15 years. I cannot live that long to wait for lift upgrading for my flat." So they may not live to use the new lift that offers them landing on every floor. I hope the Minister for National Development would expedite the LUP, so that the people do not have to wait for 10 to 15 years. Ideally, the programme should be completed within five years, so that our older folks will be able to enjoy better facilities in terms of lift accessibility on every floor. Because they are old, they have difficulty in walking up the stairs.”