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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“Also, there may be other considerations if the Government is not willing to install lifts for 4-storey blocks. There could also be redevelopment plans for the block of flats. If this were so, we should announce well in advance so that the residents can decide whether to move out or to stay on. Sir, I hope the Government will look into this matter.”
“Sir, with the launch of the Interim Upgrading Programme, the Government is also considering upgrading lifts and installation of lifts to blocks of flats which have no lifts. This has received very popular response from the residents, particularly the aged residents. During my visit to the residents, many of them said to me in Teochew that our Government and Ministers are very good. They said, "They understand our problem and they have installed lifts for us. This is very good. I will vote for them." This response shows that installation of lifts is very important to them, particularly to the elderly. The HDB has also installed lifts to three blocks of 4-storey apartments. These blocks are among the first to be installed with lifts, and the residents are very happy with the lifts. They were very happy when I visited them, particularly the old folks. However, under the new Lift Upgrading Programme, the 4-storey blocks are not included. Two of my parliamentary colleagues have raised concerns about this matter. I think this is a very important issue where the residents are concerned. On the installation of lifts, why is the cost so high? In Bukit Gombak, there is a practical example. When I appealed for the installation of lifts, they said that there must be at least 60 units in the block before they could be considered under this scheme. Under the prevailing policy, ie, linkways have to be built to link the three blocks together and this costs a lot. However, if there are common corridors, these linkways need not be built, and we could save two-thirds of the cost. For high-rise flats, so long as there are 20 units, they qualify for lifts to be installed. Why is the standard different for 4-storey blocks?”
“Sir, because of the economic downturn, the number of purchases of resale flats in the open market has reduced significantly. During my meet-the-people sessions, some residents told me that they had applied for new 4-room or 5-room flats, to upgrade themselves. Now that they were allotted the flats they had applied for, they were unable to get buyers for their existing flats. They are now having difficulty raising the cash required to meet the 20% downpayment. Many of them had to cancel their applications for the new flats which they had been waiting anxiously for the last few years. In 1994, HDB introduced a buy-back scheme for 3-room flats. This was extremely helpful to the upgraders. The HDB can also sell these 3-room flats to the other people who want to downgrade, particularly to those affected by the SERS scheme. This was a good policy, but it was unfortunately terminated in the year 2000. I would like to ask the Minister whether HDB would reconsider the flat buy-back scheme in view of the present situation. The Chairman: Mr Mah, you have got less than 20 minutes before "guillotine" time.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, in order to understand the single persons' need for housing, I have carried out a survey among the ordinary citizens, professionals, and even Members of Parliament. The result of the survey is as follows: 20.6% of those surveyed knew their girlfriends or boyfriends while they were schooling, 17.6% at the place of work, and 28% through introduction by friends and relatives. As to the ages at which they knew their partners, from ages 16 to 20: 16.5%, 20 to 30: 80.2%. It would appear that between the ages of 16 and 30 is the best time for young people to get to know their future spouses. As for those who are still unattached after the age of 31, the vast majority of those surveyed remarked that they were too preoccupied with their work that they had no time to court or be courted. In the process, they missed the boat - the love-boat, and hence have to remain single. Sir, in order to create more opportunities for the single persons to socialize, to fall in love and to set up families, I suggest that HDB work out a scheme whereby each single person would be allowed to apply for a flat, say, a 3-room or 4-room flat, and subsequently when two single flat-owners get married, they would sell back one of the flats to HDB. The single residents can also set up some social clubs on the void deck, like the Residents' Committee Centre, so that the young people could inter-mingle among themselves, with the prospect of leading to future development, thereby reducing the number of singles in our society. I hope the Minister would consider my suggestion. 4.45 pm”
“After two years of withdrawal of this feeder service, I am happy to note that the Ministry has eventually decided that they have to look after the interest and convenience of the people and reinstated bus service 307 just last weekend. The lesson learned from the social impact of the first LRT system in my Constituency will be a very valuable lesson for the next LRT in Sengkang. Will the Minister ensure that in any future LRT development, there is a good coordination between the road network design, LRT route and the bus service, before any intention of building a new LRT? The interest of the commuters must be ---”
“As far as reliability is concerned, the unmanned system is not based on well-tested and proven technology as otherwise it should not fail so often. I would like to ask the Minister, what are the actions his Ministry will take to ensure that the LRT would be free from breakdowns in the future. As we are building a new LRT in Sengkang, is the new one going to be more reliable? We know that the LRT is a rapid link from the place of population catchment to the MRT stations. In no way should the LRT play the role of internal feeder service because of its rigid route. From my understanding, after the reshuffling of the existing bus services and the introduction of the LRT, I realise that the LRT built for Chua Chua Kang and Bukit Panjang has many shortcomings. One, there is no coordination between the road design system, the LRT route and the bus services, right from the beginning of the design stage. Two, the LRT tries to take in as many commuters as possible, even though the LRT route is not ideal for a certain particular population catchment. Three, the decision makers are not hesitant in sacrificing the commuters' interest for the sake of increasing ridership of the LRT. 4.00 pm The popular reason given is LRT's viability and the avoidance of duplication. A typical example is bus service 307 in Chua Chu Kang. Ever since it was withdrawn, it has caused a lot of problems for the people - shopping centres lack business, people's style of travel has been changed, people go less often to the park where they normally do their morning exercises, and they do not patronise our six coffeeshops in Teck Whye Shopping Centre anymore. As a result, it has caused a lot of discontent and unhappiness among the people.”
“Sir, MRT is providing an excellent service, making it very convenient for Singaporeans to travel rapidly from one part of the island to another. However, it generates some problem of noise pollution too. Residents always complain about this, especially those who live by the side of the tracks. In Bukit Gombak, near the Guilin View, residents are frequently complaining to me about the noise generated by the train when it goes past the track. I have referred the matter to the Ministry of Transport. May I ask the Ministry whether it has any plan to reduce the noise level and improve on the situation. Is there any regular monitoring and review to ensure that the noise level is within the permitted level, especially when the trains travel within the housing estates? May I also ask whether there will be an overall plan for our nation-wide public transportation system, upon completion of the North-East line. Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay (Chua Chu Kang): The Bukit Panjang LRT is designed to provide people from Bukit Panjang and Chua Chua Kang a rapid and reliable means to access to the MRT service in Chua Chua Kang. After the LRT has operated for almost three years, one would wonder whether the LRT is reliable. Based on a newspaper report that the LRT services had been interrupted 50 times in its less than three years of operation, it worked out to be one failure in every three weeks. This is highly unacceptable and could not be considered as a reliable service. It has caused inconvenience to the residents as they could not rely on the LRT to get them to work and to school on time. The frequent breakdowns imply that the LRT system selected does not meet the objective of providing a reliable service at a high commuter volume.”
“I will encourage our people to have an entrepreneurial spirit. The nine-year tenancy period is too short. I hope the Minister will review the nine-year period.”
“In order to make food readily available for workers at the worksite, JTC provides canteens and invites contractors to operate canteens to provide food for the workers. The food provided in factories in the industrial area used to be cheap and good, much to the delight of the workers. However, for all these canteens, the benefit of low rental is normally granted for nine years only. Once the nine-year period is up, the operators will have to re-tender for the right to operate, and the tender is inevitably awarded to the highest bidder. At present, more than 10 canteens are affected. The new rental is more than double that of the previous one. I understand that in Jurong, the rental ranges from $13,000 to $70,000, whereas in Chai Chee, it is between $23,000 and $63,000. With high rental, the operation cost is naturally high. Consequently, the food prices must go up, and the customers stay away. Most of the operators find it difficult to sustain their business after six months of operation. Soon, the canteens close down, and the workers have no food to eat. Something must be done to prevent this unhappy situation from happening. As the bulk of customers of the canteens in the factories are the workers themselves, cheap and good food must be provided for the workers. I would suggest that JTC learn from the Nanyang Technological University or the Ngee Ann Polytechnic. They have a fixed rental system and only experienced operators are invited to operate their canteens. The rental is clearly stated in the contract, so are the menu prices of the food served therein. This is to ensure that the food provided there is good and cheap. With this kind of operation, the stallholders, the workers as well as the canteen operators will benefit. This is an ideal system.”
“I would like to ask the Minister what is the percentage being imported from China. As China seems to be a huge market, can we consider importing more from China?”
“Channel I and Channel U celebrated their first anniversary recently, and the journalists and broadcasters felt very proud of it, with a strong sense of satisfaction. Through competition, they have achieved the status of satisfaction and they have created a good image for their company and for their staff. They have also generated the challenge that brings out the best in them. I would like to congratulate all the staff involved in Channel U and Channel I over the past year for their strong commitment and good work done under fair competition. I hope they will continue to work hard and produce more good programmes for the audience. I was glad to hear the DPM saying that all companies must compete under fair conditions on a level playing field, so as to create the standard for fair competition. Private enterprises do not have a 5-year protection or privileges. I would like to ask the Minister whether they would review and consider withdrawing the 5-year protection and privileges for Government companies. 3.30 pm”
“Sir, over the past few years, the Government Ministries have set up a number of private companies to provide opportunities for civil servants to have hands-on experience in the business world, to create the entrepreneurship in them, and to create more jobs for the people. This is something to be encouraged. It is a kind of business model. But, when these companies are set up, some kind of protection is provided for them. For example, when the PWD company was set up, most of the Government projects and contracts were given to this company, without having to go through the tendering process. To the other private sector construction companies, this is unfair competition. I support the view of Mr Inderjit Singh that this kind of protection should not be given to the Government-linked companies. Private companies do not have this privilege. For example, when Singapore Press Holdings set up its subsidiary companies to operate Channel I and Channel U, to give its journalists the new challenge of working in a new broadcasting medium, they were given no special privileges. They have to compete with the well-established Channel News Asia, Channel 5 and Channel 8. This is fair competition. In order to get more audience and viewership, all journalists and broadcasters have to do their best to squeeze and cudgel their brain, to improve the quality of their programmes and raise their standard. Under fair competition, all the channels, be it Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel News Asia, Channel I or Channel U, every station strives to put up their best performances, and achieved remarkable results. This is a win-win situation policy.”
“Sir, I have now one last suggestion and how to curb the cynicism of Singaporeans about our decision-making process. On important issues, I feel that we should let Ministers state their individual views. I have often heard the remark, again from cynical Singaporeans, that on practically all issues, all Ministers share the same view. It was as if one person had singled-handedly orchestrated their response to anything. Now we all know that great minds do not necessarily think alike, at least not on everything and not all the time. Can we not allow Ministers to state their own views freely before the final decision is taken? And I think, Sir, we must find a workable formula for this, without compromising on the principle of collective responsibility and confidentiality in Cabinet because if we have good men in Cabinet, like Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Mr Raymond Lim, both of whom have up till now been respected by the public for their individualistic sound arguments, sometimes views which are against the establishment, they are men who, as the latest cliche goes, can think out of the box - but may I add that I hope the box will not be crushed - if we allow them to freely expound their views before decisions are taken, Singaporeans can only stand to benefit greatly by the diversity of views that they can bring and can then better understand how decisions are finally arrived at. [Applause.]”
“When I first came to this House in 1976, it was already a one-party Parliament. So Backbenchers were told that we had to play the role of the Opposition and to reflect the coffee-shop talk. One MP told me that the call was similar to the words of Mao Zedong: "Let a thousand flowers bloom". But the MP also advised me that when flowers bloom, they get chopped. Sir, towards the end of the 80s and the early 90s when we moved towards a more open and consultative Government, OB markers, as they are called, were then put in place, undefined as they were, to limit the discussion space. So I ask now, if we really mean it this time, if we want to ease up, why do we need to impose the Whip at all? After all, we have such an overwhelming majority in this House that it is inconceivable that the Government would ever be defeated in a vote. There is another reason why this suggestion, radical as it may sound to some, is "safe" for the Government. By and large, Sir, I have found that its arguments have been sound. It will take a lot for an MP to take a decision to vote against his own party very lightly. An MP who chalks up a record of consistently voting against his own party cannot in all conscience bring himself to face the electorate on his party platform, of which he has been so critical, the next time round. And if the Government should ever smell that there are just too many MPs disagreeing with whatever it intends to do, then there has to be something fundamentally wrong with the policy and it should go back to the drawing-board. We need only impose the Whip on crucial matters - money matters, motion of no-confidence, constitutional changes - and not lift it only when the Government Whip decides to do so.”
“But my grouse is that in such instances, and there are also other instances in the past, not a squeak of acknowledgement was given to the MPs who first raised the matter. And I think if we acknowledge that the suggestions did originate from the Backbenchers, it will go a long way to enhance their credibility as elected representatives. This leads me to the subject of how we can encourage more active debate in the House. The People's Alternative Forum or so-called "Shadow Cabinet" was, in my opinion, a non-starter. Nobody really gave any credibility to the notion that the Government would want to structure its own Opposition. Anyway, what is a "Shadow Cabinet"? A shadow is something that does what I do. If I stand, it stands; if I sit, it sits; if I run, it runs. So now much buzz is given to the lifting of the Whip. MPs of the ruling party may ask for permission to vote freely on a case-by-case basis, except for some crucial areas. And the Whip will be lifted for all matters of conscience and selected issues. So what is new, Sir? I still have to get permission to disagree. Matters of conscience? It is a term which has never been clearly defined. As if to show how generous we have been in lifting the Whip, we always take a kind of skewed pride in parading as an example, our lifting of the Whip during the debate on the Abortion Bill. But, Sir, that was 33 years ago! Since then, we have lifted the Whip only on two other occasions: in 1979 when we debated the revised structure of education; and in 1992 when there was a motion whether to accept NMPs or not. Even then, when Parliament debated whether to have NMPs again in 1997, the Whip was not lifted. So it is three times in 37 years! Sir, this is not the first time we have asked MPs to speak up.”
“But I have seen on occasions how sometimes a Minister can, if I may put it in a gentle way, bristle at some of the criticisms levied against his policies. But parliamentary debate is all about cutting and thrusting at one another. Our Backbenchers have often been reminded to be responsible for what they say, and they must be prepared to face the rebuttals because Ministers will defend their policies robustly. That is correct. But Ministers too must accept that where criticisms are valid and where suggestions are good, they must be receptive enough to accept them and to give credit where credit is due. Let me just give two examples. Sir, for many years, MPs have been arguing for compulsory education. In recent years, Mr Chiam See Tong, Mdm Claire Chiang, Dr Wang Kai Yuen, among others, made the plea. I have always found that their arguments were sound. But it was always difficult to convince the Minister and even his predecessors. Finally, we had a Committee on Compulsory Education to study the matter and we got the Act passed two years ago. In my mind, it was an issue, based on the merits that were expounded in the House, that should have been settled sooner rather than later. Sir, last year, the Member for Kreta Ayer-Tanglin GRC (Kim Seng) asked for subsidised breast cancer screening for women. The now famous, or is it infamous, reply from the Minister was, "What's all the big fuss about? After all, the test costs less than the price of a hairdo." Well, some months passed and now his Ministry has announced that such subsidised tests will now be given. Sir, there is nothing wrong with a turn-around of policy. MPs are merely reflecting the ground sentiment and the merits of their arguments may have belatedly dawned on the Ministers.”
“It is indeed a rare occasion in this House where a Minister accepts changes to be made to his Bill, except as one Minister once put it, "I guess I can live with the changes if they are just commas and full-stops." Or we may want to consider sending more Bills to Select Committees so that we can engage participation from the public. I think we may have overlooked this point in the last Parliament. Sir, in the Seventh Parliament, we committed seven Bills, and in the Eighth Parliament, we committed nine Bills to Select Committees. But in the Ninth Parliament, only three Bills were sent to Select Committees. And I find myself asking further, having seen how GPCs have worked in this House: Has the GPC system proven so effective for the Government in that it allows the Backbenchers to thrash out issues with Ministers behind closed-doors? Has it been so effective to the extent that by the time the issues reach the floor of the House, much has been conveniently resolved, or as they say, the sting has been taken out, so much that the public perceives our Backbenchers to be either too understanding or amenable of the Government's position? After all, Sir, no matter how much we disagree, we always start off or end off our speeches by saying, "We support the Bill", even if we do not mean it. Is this just a case of misperception on the part of the public? Is it the way the Government handles MPs' criticisms and proposals that leads the public to think that MPs are less effective than they would want them to be? Sir, there are MPs and MPs. Likewise, there are also Ministers and Ministers. Like MPs, Ministers too come in all shades. Some are more receptive than others.”
“Yet, I was heartened yesterday to hear Mr Khaw Boon Wan tell the House that there was no lack of young Singaporeans, particularly those abroad, responding positively with feedback to the Economic Review Committee. And when I heard the President telling us last week that we need to open up more space for them to participate in the national debate, I know we have made some progress in the right direction. But I still ask myself why do most Singaporeans still feel this way about us, the Government and Parliament. Why do they feel left out of the political and decision making process? So I ask myself, are we missing something here? Maybe it is their failure to understand how we arrive at our decisions, whether in Parliament or in the Executive branch. Perhaps part of this failure to understand us lies in the way we do things. I also find myself grappling further with questions like these: why are Singaporeans, particularly younger ones, cynical of our political process? How can we be more open with the way we arrive at our decisions, so that they can understand that policies are not made and rammed down their throats, but that every conceivable alternative and option would have been weighed and pondered over before the final decision is taken? Perhaps we are sometimes too efficient, or some may say, too business-like in the way we do things. After all, we dispose of our parliamentary work very expediently. We pass Bills very efficiently, sometimes hardly without any debate. There is nothing wrong with that, but maybe we should pause at times and fine-tune some of the things by incorporating many of the good suggestions made by MPs during debates.”
“And these are the pressing issues that we have now before us, the deepest recession since independence, unemployment, finding jobs for our people, high business cost, our economic competitiveness, the tudung issue, relations with our neighbours and terrorism. Sir, it somewhat baffled me that while we went out to seek a new mandate from the people very quickly, it took almost five months for Parliament to be convened in order that the representatives of the people could meet to discuss the issues that are so crucial to Singaporeans and to our future. While Singaporeans know well that they have a Government that is efficient and dependable and can deal with the problems, they too want to see their elected representatives in action, airing their grievances, probing the Government and offering suggestions that can improve their lives, especially at a time like this when so many critical events are unfolding before them and are affecting their lives. Sir, I am in no way suggesting that the Government is not seeking to engage Parliament, far from it. Having been a Member of this House for a long time, I can attest that the Government has not shirked in its accountability to Parliament, and it can handle convincingly most of the criticisms levelled against it. But this time, now, more than ever, there are so many urgent issues that should have been discussed, and sooner, rather than later. I can therefore well understand the scepticism of many Singaporeans of our political process. Some Singaporeans tell me that the Government makes all the decisions. It is all done behind closed doors. They ask for feedback. We know they hear us, but do they listen enough? Sir, questions like these are perplexing to me.”
“Sir, on this note, I support the motion. Mr Tan Soo Khoon (East Coast): Sir, between the Opening of the Ninth Parliament and this one, so much has changed in the world. Five years ago, we were brimming with confidence. The then President spoke of prospects for Singapore that seldom looked better and of seizing opportunities that were coming our way. Nobody then foresaw that within a few months, the Asian financial crisis would engulf us, Suharto would fall from power in Indonesia and Singapore would go through two major economic crises. The dream of more good years for Singaporeans would be put on hold, as they would find themselves losing their jobs. Asset enhancement would become asset disenchantment, as Singaporeans saw the value of their properties and other investments fall. With falling incomes, many would find themselves faced with the difficulties of paying the mortgage on their homes. Certainly, nobody at that time would have imagined an economic downturn and the sight of Singaporeans now queuing up to collect money from their MPs to give them relief. And most certainly, none of us ever thought it possible that we will ever see the sight of two airplanes plunging into the World Trade Centre in New York. It was something that could have come out of a movie, but when we saw it happen on TV, it was for real, and it was an event that would eventually lead to the possibility of terrorism rearing itself on our very doorsteps. Amidst these dramatic events, the Government called an election before it was due in order that it could clearly get down to tackling the problems that suddenly seem to be raining like a thunderstorm on us. We wanted to be able to quickly provide hope for our people. It was, in my opinion, a right move.”
“" They told Mr Chua, "We learnt this from Singapore." We do have "one-stop" service, but it simply means "one department one stop". If we have three permits to apply, we have to go to three departments. But in China, they learnt from us and improved on it. They call it the "one dragon" system (a coordinated process). All the services of the various ministries and departments are coordinated and linked up and aligned - like one dragon. You just go to the dragon and all the necessary procedures are dealt with at one go. So, because of this "one dragon" system, Mr Chua, was able to get things done expeditiously, and start work on the paint plant almost immediately. The way things are being done with such efficiency and speed is indeed frightening. They are even prepared to work late into the night. Before long, the plant was ready for production, and the market was captured. Of course, Mr Chua and his company have profited through this project and even the shareholders back in Singapore also made a lot of money when the share prices go up. This shows that in times of difficulties in our economy, changes should be made to the way we do business. Venture overseas and search for opportunities. Make a profit, even the people back home will benefit. There is this famous saying, "Poverty gives rise to a desire for change. Changes will lead to a breakthrough." This is one way of doing business. We have a lot of good entrepreneurs in Singapore and we could learn from them. Mr Speaker, Sir, primarily, I believe that Singapore has done well over the past few decades. If we continue to work hard, and with a strong spirit of entrepreneurship, I am sure that Singapore will do well in the future and enjoy good economic growth. Our prosperity will be sustained.”
“Mr Chua Kim Hua is the Chairman of King Wan Corporation Ltd, a listed company which has invested in a number of projects in many provinces and municipalities in China. Recently, the Chinese government passed a regulation that all buildings six-storeys and above must be white-washed regularly. With his sharp business acumen, Mr Chua immediately decided to seize the opportunity to set up a paint factory in China to produce the materials necessary for all these white-washing works. Mr Chua went to the province of Hubei to make a feasibility study and decided to set up his plant there. Right from the beginning of the negotiation, the officials of the industrial park, like the Jurong Town Corporation in Singapore, took the proposal seriously and personally accompanied us to visit the proposed site. Upon visiting the site and speaking to the officials, Mr Chua decided to take the piece of land offered to him and to build his plant there. On the same day, he went to the officials' office to negotiate the price and eventually signed the contract. Mr Chua told them that he was returning to Singapore in two days' time as he had some urgent matters to attend to. The officials told him to go back the following day, and that they would prepare all the documentation for him to sign, and construction work could commence straightaway. Mr Chua went back to office the following day, sceptical that the documentation could be completed by then. To his surprise, he found officials from all the relevant authorities, such as the officers in charge of utilities, land use, sewerage, etc. A truly "one-stop" service. Mr Chua was very impressed with the kind of services provided. He asked the officials, "How did you manage to organise all these in so short a time?”
“At the same time, we must also encourage our SMEs in Singapore to pool their resources together to build consortiums with enough capital and financial resources to compete with other countries. To invest in China, from my personal experience, the following points must be observed: firstly, we must find a reliable and sincere trading partner. You must explore the investment atmosphere and then seize the opportunity to do what you should do. Secondly, you must build up good inter-personal relationship with the Chinese partners. Learn from Mr Chan Soo Sen. When deciding on the size of your investment there, you must cut your dress according to your cloth. Start from small, and gradually build up your scale at the appropriate time, and then you have a better chance of success. Mr Speaker, Sir, the business world is like a battle field. You may win, you may lose. But, as it is said, "Failure is the mother of success." We should not be too depressed and distraught when your venture fails. Buck up your courage to learn from your mistakes and then start all over again. One day, success will come your way. In order to help our entrepreneurs invest overseas and be successful, I suggest that the Ministry of Trade and Industry join up with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to set up an Overseas Investment Consultative Committee, and invite all members and potential entrepreneurs to join this committee. They can then share their success stories and lessons in failure so that we can prepare our potential investors overseas psychologically to take on the challenges. They must have the entrepreneurship spirit in them so that they can invest in overseas countries with success. When investing overseas, some succeed, some fail. Let me give you some examples.”
“When we go to China for business, we should not rush back to our hotel rooms to write reports immediately after the meetings. The idea is to go and have dinner together with your host. At the meeting room, they will inevitably quote you the official prices. But, after a few rounds of drinks, you will be offered the preferential prices. I can see Mr Chan Soo Sen nodding his head. I think he agrees with what I am saying. When doing business in China, it is very important that you build up good inter-personal relationship with the relevant people in China. I believe that in the next few years, China will be able to achieve very high economic growth. They forecast a growth rate of between 7% and 8% and this is a very realistic objective based on the factors that they have a big market, low cost and an attractive incentive pack- age. Our Government should thoroughly explore the terms and conditions and encourage our investors to go there. Our costs are high, our incentives are not good enough and hence we are losing out to China in the attraction of foreign investments. I would suggest that the Economic Review Committee be bold enough to thoroughly review and recommend effective measures to deal with the high cost of business, like high rentals, high utilities charges, high cost of transport, etc., which are contributing to the high cost of doing business here. We know that in the next few years, the growth prospect in China is like the rising sun. We must think of ways and means to set up a partnership with China to make use of their favourable conditions and advantages in line with our advantages. We hope that MTI will introduce potential investors to go and set up joint ventures in China.”
“With the view of taking their development to a higher level, they built a highway linking Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province. This highway will certainly expedite its development plan. Now, if you travel by car from Guangzhou to Gangzhou, it will take you some eight hours. By 2004, with the completion of the super highway, the same journey would take just over two hours to complete. With this kind of construction, you will be able to expedite the development of the industrial parks. At the moment, Japanese investors have already moved in to capture the opportunities offered by Gangzhou. In order to attract more foreign investments into the new investment areas, a lot of incentives are being offered. Take the land price, for example, one mu (= 0.0667 hectares) of land, with electricity, water, gas, telecommunications and access. The government charges RMB$20,000, i.e. only S$5,000 per mu (668 sqm2) and is tax free for five years. The monthly wage for a worker is between RMB$800-1000, that is, between S$200 and S$250. The government gives them five years of tax holidays. In terms of public relations, senior government officials from the mayors down to the heads of the various departments would personally come down to explain the various development projects to the potential investors. During our visit there, we were warmly received and well treated. All these officials are very young, very capable and full of energy. After the meeting, we were invited to join them for dinner. In ancient times, you drank wine and recited poetry at the banquets. But now, the new way of doing business is to drink and talk business. The idea is to close their business deals as fast as possible.”
“Another example is Hong Kong. Under 99 years of British colonial rule, Hong Kong became a trading centre and regional financial hub. But it took China only 15 years to turn the neighbouring Shenzhen from a swampy slump into a prosperous special economic zone that gives Hong Kong a run for their money. This shows that China has a lot of financial resources and experience that they can draw upon to develop other cities, and to have better economic development. Prime Minister Zhu Rongji has already said that the development of China should not be concentrated in just a handful of big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. This is because by doing so, it will cause a lot of Chinese nationals to go into these cities and cause a lot of social problems. He encouraged all cities and provinces to develop themselves so that there is a balanced development throughout China. There are 36 provinces in China, and each province has a number of major cities which possess the conditions for economic development. For foreign investors, if you have big capital, then you should go to the big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen to invest. As it is said, the big ocean-liners should sail in the big ocean. But if they do not have big capital to invest, you should go to the smaller cities to try your luck. Because if you are a small little sampan, you would better ply it in the streams and rivers, but not the big seas or oceans. Recently, I represented EM Services Pte Ltd Company and two other local public-listed companies, we took a trip to the Gangzhou City, Jiangxi Province, to do an on-location survey and to explore the possibilities of investments there. Gangzhou may be a small city with only eight million people, but it is rich in resources.”
“Manufacturing, finance and insurance industries are developing at tremendous speed, and enterprises are springing up in the various cities in China. The prospects are very good. Ten years ago, when you go to Pudong, Shanghai, you could probably still see a lot of chicken farms and pig farms everywhere. That place was somewhat like Singapore in the 1960s. At that time, Mr Chan Soo Sen told me that there was a saying in Shanghai that, "You would rather have a bed in Puxi, than to have a house in Pudong." That goes to show how backward Pudong was compared to Puxi. Nobody wanted to stay in Pudong, everybody wanted to enjoy the prosperity of Puxi. But now, if you go to Pudong, you will find Pudong a beautifully developed place with very attractive skyscrapers and many five-star international hotels. It is a very prosperous city, even more prosperous and infrastructurally more advanced than our Orchard Road in Singapore. There were a few engineering students from our local university who wanted to go for vocational attachment as part of their studies overseas. I suggested to them that they should go to Shanghai, China. But they said "No" without a moment of hesitation. I tried again to persuade them to give Shanghai a try, but they were quite adamant against the idea. Subsequently, for some reasons, they changed their mind and went to Shanghai. Upon their return, they told me that their perception of China was entirely wrong. Now that they have seen the development of Shanghai, they suddenly woke up and became aware of the rapid development of Shanghai. The visit there was indeed an eye-opener for them. The image of China in their mind has changed, especially the massive buildings and the clean urban environment left a very deep impression in their minds.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in the debate on the motion to thank the President for his Address at the opening of this Parliament. The President mentioned in his Speech that the opening up of the Chinese market will pose a great challenge to countries in the region, including Singapore. China is a huge country with rich natural sources and low labour cost. It has all the conducive conditions to attract a lot of foreign investments to China. With the entry of WTO and Olympic Games in 2008, China's economy is poised for a great leap forward. We must prepare ourselves in anticipation of the further opening up of the China market and the challenges that come with it. China's domestic market is gigantic and its low business costs are already attracting and will continue to attract substantial foreign investments to China. These investments, with advanced technology and scientific management know-how that come with them, will improve the quality of their products which are flooding the market at low prices. Five years ago, when you see a product with the "Made in China" label, you would think twice before you decide to buy it. Nowadays, the "Made in China" label is already widespread throughout Europe, America and Asia. These products are welcomed by the consumers everywhere because they are cheap and good. This is particularly so in this time of recession. Low cost products become a very useful competitive edge over others. This capability to produce goods at lower production cost and reasonably good quality has boosted the confidence of foreign investors to go to China. The development of China is very rapid, whether in urban or rural areas.”
“But I do not agree with Mr Chiam See Tong's proposal to use electronic voting and the traditional paper voting simultaneously. This will only cause confusion. Secondly, this new concept of electronic voting will be strongly supported by the young people and those who have knowledge of computers. But to the older people or for those who have absolutely no knowledge of computer usage, they would have some psychological barrier and fear for this electronic voting. So, before we implement electronic voting, the Government should educate the voters, particularly the senior citizens, so that everyone would be familiar and know how to use this electronic voting system. This will alleviate or remove their fear for such a system, and will reduce the number of blank votes. In order that the electronic voting system can be implemented smoothly during the general election, I think the Government should make some early announcement on which constituencies would adopt this electronic voting system, so that the voters there can be psychologically prepared. However, I hope that the Government will not pick Potong Pasir as one of these constituencies so that Mr Chiam would not be so unduly worried. A few days ago, I participated in the simulated electronic voting exercise, and I found that it was very simple and easy to use. We should help the voters, especially the senior citizens. Let them have a hands-on experience before the actual voting. This will build up their confidence and ensure that this electronic voting system will be more effective and convenient to our voters.”
“They may not be familiar with the background and the curriculum vitae of the candidates, particularly when the new candidates are normally introduced only shortly before the election. In this way, can the Government facilitate these candidates with some means to communicate with their voters? I suggest that the Government let the candidates have access to the correspondence addresses of these voters so that the candidates can introduce themselves and their plans they have for their constituencies, to these voters. This would also help the overseas voters make some considered decision to elect the best person to represent them in Parliament. With regard to electronic voting, I would say that this system is a product of high technology. It will save time, save manpower and provide accurate calculations. However, on its operation, I have two points to ask of the Minister. It is often said that we have to be ever ready for any eventuality. On election day, in the event of a breakdown or failure of the electronic voting system in any particular constituency, does the Returning Officer have the discretion to switch back to the traditional voting method so that voting can be completed in the same day? According to the Bill, under the circumstances, the voting in that particular constituency can be postponed until a few days later. I think this is not fair because the results of the other constituencies may affect the original decisions of the voters in this constituency. Therefore, I suggest that in the event of a failure in the electronic voting system on that day and it could not be rectified in time, we should allow the voters to use the traditional voting method, so that they can complete all the voting within that day.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, because of the regional economic development, there are now more than 100,000 Singaporeans who are staying overseas on a long-term basis to work or to do business. At the general election which is held once every five years, they still have the right to exercise their voting rights and to elect the Member of Parliament who they think could represent them. I think it is a good suggestion that these Singapore citizens be allowed to vote overseas, and I support this Bill. However, I have a few suggestions to make. First of all, Singapore is a small country. The polling stations are normally set up not too far away from home, and transportation is very convenient in Singapore. However, if you stay overseas, it is not so easy. For example, in China, there are 36 provinces. If we have only one polling station in Beijing, those Singapore citizens who are staying in the other provinces may have to spend a few days' time to take a plane, a train or even to drive a long distance to go to Beijing to cast their votes. They will have to spend a lot of time and money just to cast their votes. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 5.17 pm Sir, under this new Bill, overseas voting is not mandatory. Because of the inconvenience, some overseas Singapore citizens who are eligible to vote may simply give up their rights to do so. Therefore, I suggest that the Government consider making it easier for them to vote, for example, voting through the mail. The voters can then save a lot of time and money. In this way, many Singaporeans who are staying overseas would be able to vote at the general election. Secondly, some overseas Singapore citizens could have been staying away from Singapore for many years.”
“Many drivers told me that the Ministry officials only booked local vehicles, but no enforcement action is taken against heavy vehicles coming from other countries. Is it true that foreign vehicles are not dealt with for such similar offences? If so, why?”
“Sir, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is tasked with the checking of vehicles which emit black exhaust smoke, and the offenders will be detected by some special gadget used by the LTA and booked for the offence. To stop an offender and fine him on the spot is the most convincing way of establishing the fact that an offence has been committed. However, this would cause a delay in the transporting of goods by the vehicle involved, and may possibly cause a traffic jam. This rule against emission of black smoke by vehicles is enforced by the Environment Ministry officials. A new method is now being used. A latest high-tech camera is now used to detect the smoke emitted from the moving vehicles on the road. If the smoke emitted is in excess of what is permitted under the law, the vehicle owner will be booked. How accurate can the camera be in determining whether an offence has been committed? Can the photographs taken by this camera be admissible as evidence in court? Some drivers told me that the Environment Ministry officials would normally hide themselves near a slope, and take photographs of these vehicles when they are ascending the slope. When a heavy vehicle, such as a fully-loaded lorry, goes up the slope, it is natural for the driver to step harder on the accelerator, resulting in more black smoke being emitted from the exhaust pipe. Will the Ministry allow these drivers who have been booked to go to the office of the Environment Ministry to view these photographs, free of charge (I emphasise: free of charge), to satisfy themselves that they had indeed committed the offence? What about those foreign vehicles?”
“Sir, water is precious. We should educate and inculcate in our people the message of saving every drop of water and not wasting water. This is because the bulk of water we use in our daily lives is dependent on the supply from our neighbouring country. In 2060, when our water agreement with Malaysia expires, we may face some problems. Although there are still some 60 years to go, we cannot wait until then before we take any action. We must be fully prepared. Our Government has started the ball rolling. We embarked on an experimental project on desalination and we also commenced to recycle our waste water. I am very glad the Ministry of the Environment has finally announced that our Newater project is a success. The birth of Newater is exciting and this technological breakthrough is indeed an honour to Singapore. This may well be the solution and new hope to our water supply problem, and may reduce our dependence on our neighbouring countries for the supply. I would like to ask the Minister what is the difference between the Newater and the desalinated water in terms of the cost of processing. Secondly, the Ministry of the Environment said that there is a possibility that Newater could be potable. Has there been any evidence, so far, that this Newater could be used for drinking and whether any experiment has been conducted in, say, the zoo or the bird park? With the advance in technology, will the Ministry of the Environment consider Prof. Low Seow Chay's suggestion that this Newater be bottled and sold to enhance the confidence of the people?”
“They just could not be bothered with it anymore. Finally, MND decided to band them into bands "A", "B" and "C". As a result, this year when we conducted a survey among our residents, we found that all the town councils had improved in their performance over the year. This shows that this banding system for the ranking of our schools can be feasible and would encourage all the schools to participate actively in this competition by improving themselves.”
“We can rank them as distinction, merit, pass, etc. Those schools which attain distinction grades in all the various aspects will be classified as band "A". Those with merit grades, will be classified as band "B", while those which score only a pass, will be classified as band "C" . For those schools which are in band "C" we should give them more resources and other facilities to help them improve their performances. If the teachers and students can cooperate and uplift the school from band "C" to band "B", I think we should give some commendation to the teachers and principals. This will stimulate the teachers in the band "C" schools to improve the overall standard of the school. I hope that all the primary and secondary schools can eventually reach an equally high standard. I feel such banding system is better than the present ranking system. This is like the "Cleanest Hawker Centre in Singapore" competition. Last year, we only picked the top three "Cleanest Hawker Centres in Singapore". As a result, many stallholders told me that they did not stand a chance at all, and they simply dropped out of the race. Last year, I picked the top 10 "Cleanest Hawker Centres in Singapore" and many of these hawkers were very positive in participating in this competition. When the team of judges went to inspect these hawker centres, they found that the general standard had gone up. Another example is our town council. In the earlier days, the Ministry of National Development ranked all the town councils from 1 to 16. But we found that the top ones were always at the top and there was only a difference of 0.1 or 0.2 marks separating them. Those who were ranked lower down were demoralised and they felt that they had done their best but they were still ranked at the bottom.”
“Sir, in order to attend the graduation ceremony of my daughter, I visited London last year, and I took the opportunity to study how they rank their schools in England. Over there, the ranking of primary and secondary schools is only used for internal reference by the Ministry of Education to find ways and means to encourage the schools to raise their standards. They do not announce the ranking openly to the parents. Only the university rankings are made public. But in Singapore, ever since we implemented ranking of schools, it has caused some very intense competition among the schools. All the schools wish to be ranked in the higher echelon and, therefore, many of these schools engage good principals and teachers and take in only good students. So, the good schools are always good and those teachers who were sent to the top 50 schools are very happy and excited. However, those who were sent to those schools which are not listed among the top 50 will be disappointed and demoralised. Therefore, I feel that the Ministry of Education should review this ranking of schools, and let the schools be treated equally as institutions which impart knowledge to the students and nurture their moral, intellectual, physical, social and aesthetic qualities. But, most importantly, the school ranking should be used only for the internal reference in the Ministry of Education as an assessment of the performances of the various schools. If this ranking system should be retained, I think MOE should consider the method of banding. Perhaps, we could rank all the schools into three bands. First of all, set up standard criteria for the banding, taking into consideration the academic results, co-curricular activities, general moral standard of the students in the various schools.”
“Our HDB flats have been upgraded and many Government buildings have been upgraded. Our Parliament House has also been rebuilt. I would like to ask the Minister whether there is a plan to build a new Registry of Marriages, to provide more space, more romantic surroundings, so that our young couples can invite their friends and relatives there to share the most memorable moment in their lives with them.”
“Sir, I would like to make the following suggestions in order to encourage young couples to get married. They need not spend a lot of money in planning for their weddings. I hope MCDS will conduct mass weddings for the young couples. This is quite popular in Taiwan and China. We can conduct mass weddings during Valentine's Day, June and August, and also arrange for honeymoon cruise tours for these young couples, with MCDS footing part of the bill. After they are married, and if they have babies during the first two years, the Government should give them a special ang pow of $888. In this way, this will encourage them to have second and third babies. We should also encourage Government departments and the private sector to grant one week's paid leave to the husband in order to keep the wife company during her post-natal confinement. HDB could also hasten the process of allocating the flats they applied for. Newly-wed couples normally do not have much money. Therefore, HDB should reduce the quantum of deposit to 10%, and payable in two equal instalments of 5% each, and the rest can be repayable in 25-30 years. Therefore, encouraging young couples to get married should not be the responsibility of MCDS alone. It should be the joint responsibility of the Ministries of National Development, Manpower, Education and so on. We should have an Inter-Ministerial committee to work on how to encourage young people to get married. Another problem is this. I have not been to the Registry of Marriages (ROM) for the last 20 years. Recently, MCDS arranged for members of the GPC to visit the ROM. I found the building to be very old and very crowded, and there is a lack of romantic atmosphere in the building.”
“Sir, MCDS is currently actively encouraging Singaporeans to have more babies. The Prime Minister also announced the baby bonus to encourage young couples to have second and third babies. In my dialogue with the people, I found out why they did not want to have babies. One of the questions asked was, "Who is going to look after my baby?" Apart from help from the extended family or hiring a maid, the provision of childcare services is the best solution. I would like to ask the Minister three questions. First, what is the projected number of childcare centres which will be needed in the next three years? Is there any plan to build new childcare centres? Second, will the Ministry set up childcare centres in community centres in the constituency? In my constituency, childcare centres are sited in the community centres. This will make it more convenient to the young couples. Third, will the Ministry consider setting up infant centres for babies between the ages of 18 months and two years? If not, why not? 5.15 pm Sir, the traditional style of weddings seems to be out of fashion among the young couples nowadays. Instead, we have various packages to attract the young people. Young people think that getting married entails a lot of trouble and expenses. They have to give dinners in a big ballroom in a hotel. Friends have told me that young people nowadays do not want to get married, because of the high expenses. Recently, there was an English friend who came to Singapore. He told me that there are many single persons and unmarried mothers in England today. I hope this will not happen in Singapore. Therefore, I would urge our young people to get married before they have babies.”
“Our local training has not been able to achieve this purpose because our sportsmen have to go to school at the same time when they go for training. They should be awarded the scholarship for training in foreign countries, for example, PM hopes that by 2008, our football team will be able to go into the World Cup. Promising players should be sent to Brazil and other countries for training. I believe when they come back in two years' time, we will be able to achieve such a purpose. For example, Japan accepts full-time training for volleyball players. I have seen their training in Japan. It is full-time training. If our volleyball players could be given opportunities to train in Japan, they will perform better and win honour for our country. Thirdly, on career prospects of professional sportsmen and women. Most parents would like their children to take up a lucrative profession. Hence, we should change the mindset of parents that sports is not a perishing profession. As a matter of fact, in US, Australia and other countries, the sports profession is a very lucrative one. What a sportsman earns is not inferior to that of any other profession. I would like to urge the Government to assure the parents that the sports profession has a future and that sportsmen's career is taken care of. Therefore, we have to change their mindsets. MCDS can also plan for this to ensure that our sportsmen, especially our national team players, after they have contributed to the nation, could carry on as instructors in schools or in training up our national teams. We will better develop our sport programmes. 4.00 pm”
“Sir, both the press and MCDS reports have highlighted the fact that we are committed to the effort of building up Singapore as a nation of excellence in sports. MCDS has also laid down a goal to build up Singapore as one of the sporting hubs in Singapore. This is a very challenging objective, but with concrete measures, we can achieve this goal. Indeed, there is room for enhancing and developing many sports events in Singapore, be it individual or group event. I myself am the President of the Volleyball Association and the Wushu Association. I would like to touch on three points. Firstly, manpower and finance. Before formulating a national goal in sports, the Government should discuss with the various sports organisations to formulate plans to train our national team. Presently, all the officials in the National Sports Associations are volunteers and they spend a lot of time in fund-raising activities rather than promoting sports. All these sportsmen are voluntary and these organisations have spent a lot of time in raising funds. Therefore, at the same time, the Government should also provide them with financial assistance. The funding could be in the ratio of 1:1 or 1:2. We should give them enough funds if we want them to perform well. With enough funding, they would perform better. Secondly, MCDS intends to set up a sports institute in 2003. This is a good idea but before embarking on this, we should provide a site of software for the training of sportsmen and sportswomen so that their potential could be developed to their fullest. Is the Singapore Sports Council in a position to select people with potential for training and award the scholarships for training in foreign countries?”
“Sir, for ceiling leakage, I support what Dr Ker has said. According to the current HDB regulations, if there is a leakage in the ceiling of a flat, both the residents above and below would have to be responsible for the repair and pay for the costs. Upon receiving complaints about the ceiling leakage, HDB often tells the residents affected that the ceiling is a party structure, separating the unit above from the unit below. Hence, the two families have to share the cost of repair. HDB would not be responsible. The officials would tell the resident below to discuss with the resident above on how to proceed with the repair and share the cost. 2.15 pm As Singapore is a multiracial society, there is sometimes some difficulty in communication. So misunderstanding could arise when they try to communicate with each other and this may lead to a conflict. It is bad for our social cohesiveness. When such a problem is not resolved, the residents staying below will have to carry an umbrella whenever they use the toilet. As both lack the knowledge of flat maintenance, they could have different views when approaching the contractor to repair the leakage, and on the question of cost sharing. I propose that HDB, as the landlord, should come in to help. After ascertaining the cost of the leakage, the HDB could get a qualified contractor to undertake the repair under a standard package, and at a reasonable cost. The work done should be checked by the HDB. To alleviate the hardship of the residents, HDB should bear one-third or more of such repair cost. I hope that HDB would accept my suggestions so as to render a better service for the bulk of the residents in their estates.”
“They should be charged a reasonable rental rate to help lower their business costs, so that they can carry on with their business. 4. Government buy-back package. Some ageing shopkeepers are finding it difficult to continue with their business. They could have been doing the business from a tender age and stuck with it until a ripe old age. They cannot carry on with their business. According to the present HDB regulations, those who want to return the shops to the HDB cannot get any compensation. They would have to fork out some money to refurbish the shops before such premises are returned to the HDB. When the shopkeepers are old, there is no one to take over. Therefore, can HDB change this rule? It should render a helping hand to these shopkeepers. HDB should consider allowing them to return the shops and pay them a sum of, say, $48,000 as compensation, as is the practice under the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). I hope the shopkeepers, trade associations and HDB would consider the above suggestions. I believe retailers in the HDB still have good prospects.”
“Neighbourhood retailers can attract shoppers by improving the surroundings of the shopping areas. Chong Pang Town and Hong Kah Plaza are good examples of how retailers got together and worked with the Town Council to improve the shop facades and the general surroundings, thereby making them move spacious and attractive. The Gombak Town project which is underway will be yet another example. 3. Changes in rental. At present, all shops, whether located in the residential blocks, neighbourhood or town centres, are charged market rental rates. How does HDB determine the market rents? These rents are computed according to the 6-month tender price of the shops. However, two things happen when shops are tendered: (a) The "kiasu" tender where the bid is extremely high, for fear of failure to secure the place; and (b) The "kiasi" or "afraid to die" tender where the bid is very low for fear that the capital cannot be recouped and the business will die. Neither of these should be used as a benchmark for determining market rate rental. A more reasonable computation would be the highest tender rental plus the lowest tender rental, divided by two, eg, $3,000 + $1,000 divided by two, giving a rental of $2,000, which is more reasonable. But this market rent should be charged only on shops in the town centres selling consumer and expensive goods, such as watches, jewellery and cosmetics. I am sure Mr Speaker is very familiar with the watch trade. A watch which is sold for $1,000 can bring the shop owner a profit of $100. However, in a sundry shop, a bottle of soya sauce is sold at $1 and the profit is only 10 cents. Therefore, rental for shops in residential blocks or in the neighbourhood should be benchmarked according to the type of residents living in the area.”
“Sir, the Government is very concerned about the competition and challenges faced by the HDB neighbourhood retailers, and has established the Retail 21 Development Plan to help them to upgrade and develop their business. A sum of $16 million has been allocated for this purpose. On the question of how these neighbourhood retailers could upgrade their management and break out of the difficult situation, may I make the following observations: 1. Change in shopping behaviour. In the past, when people went shopping, they would have some specific needs in mind. For example, Minister Mah mentioned that in his younger days, when he went to the provision shop to make his purchase, he would already have in mind certain goods to buy, eg, sugar, oil, etc. However, with the changes in time and lifestyles, people nowadays enjoy going to the shopping centres just to look around, without having anything in particular that they would like to buy. If a certain display at the window attracts the shopper, he would go into the shop and examine it before buying. On the other hand, if the goods are displayed in a haphazard manner, they will not attract the young shoppers. Furthermore, in the old-fashioned provision shops where the goods are stacked up disorderly, some dishonest customers may take away certain goods and walk out of the shops without paying for them. The shopkeeper may not even notice it. Therefore, these neighbourhood retailers can learn a thing or two from the 7-Eleven stores where there are always a good product mix and the goods are displayed in an orderly and attractive manner. 2. Changes in shopping environment. One reason why shopping centres could attract the crowd is the comfortable and spacious environment.”
“Sir, I would like to first of all thank the Minister for Health, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, for accepting my proposal of providing health checks for the elderly people. The comprehensive health check for all the elderly above the age of 55 has gained good support from the people and they really appreciate it. In the long-term, this kind of health-check will help to prepare them for preventive health care. This is a good plan. Unfortunately, there are some snags in the implementation of this health-check exercise. Some of the elderly people who have registered, failed to turn up for the health-check at the appointed time. I have done some house-to-house visits to find out the reason why they failed to turn up for the health-check. Some of them told me that they were afraid that the health check would reveal something wrong with their health and they would have to take drugs for a long time, and taking drugs for a long time is very expensive. So they simply bury their heads in the sand and pretend that there is nothing wrong with them. This is the way they try to run away from reality. We must find some ways to relieve them of this psychological burden. I would suggest that the Ministry of Health seriously consider that some discount of, say, 30% to 50%, be given to the senior citizens, particularly the retirees, when they purchase their medicine from the Government polyclinics. Secondly, the health checks should be extended to those aged 50 and above, instead of the minimum age of 55. This would enable people who are above 50 years old to start the practice of preventive medical care earlier, and ensure that they would live a longer and healthier life after retirement. I hope the Minister will consider these two points. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 2.08 pm”
“In such a situation, first and foremost, the borrower would have committed the offence of not changing his address under the National Registration Act and is liable to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. The question really is to find him. I think this is one situation where we may need suggestions from Members. Indeed maybe some press publicity will be good, so that if you can find him, then you can deal with the situation and stop him from borrowing further and using his former address. Mr Ang Mong Seng wants to raise the time limit for Seventh Month dinners from 10.30 pm to 10.45 pm, so that more money can be raised for charities. Currently, the time is 10.30 pm, which is also the time in place for all other events on the ground, such as wayangs and other events. This is a matter of balance. There are people who want a longer time, particularly the Seventh Month organisers and participants. There are also residents who live nearby who will say 10.30 pm is a good time. So I think it is a matter of maintaining this balance. This time limit has been there for a long time, and we have enforced it, although with some flexibility. I think it should stay at 10.30 pm. As to the question that less money is raised for charities, I would suggest that Seventh Month organisers, and many of them already have done this, use other means to raise funds, both in the Seventh Month setting and out of the Seventh Month setting. Indeed, one good way for Seventh Month organisers to ensure that more funds are raised is to start the event early. Over time, this is happening on the ground. So let us keep it at 10.30 pm.”
“Sir, the Seventh Month Festival is celebrated very extensively in Singapore every year. The highlight of the Festival is the auction of auspicious articles. In most cases, proceeds from such auctions are donated to charity. In previous years, the amount collected from such auctions could be as much as $8 million. However, last year, the Ministry restricted the auction bids to not later than 10.30 pm each night. This has affected the proceeds of the auctions. Some festival organisers have approached me to ask the Minister to allow them to extend the auction time by another quarter of an hour, till 10.45 pm. We could perhaps designate the extra 15 minutes as "charity time" when all auction proceeds collected would be donated to charity. Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, the option of prosecuting borrowers was considered but not taken up when the Moneylenders Act was reviewed in 1993 and again recently. We felt that it would be counter-productive because illegal moneylending would not be eliminated but would merely be driven underground. Currently, Police already faces difficulties from borrowers who are reluctant to cooperate in the investigations and in any subsequent prosecution of lenders. If borrowing is made an offence, no borrowers will come forward to give evidence against lenders. Police will in fact not have an accurate picture of the ground situation. But Mr Yeo highlights a type of borrower - a person who has borrowed and changed his address, but then did not report the change of address, so that the buyer of the premises gets harassed by the loan sharks.”
“Any foreigner who wishes to work in Singapore must present his passport to SIR. The SIR would then issue a special permit with his particulars and photograph on it for him to carry it as his personal identity card throughout his stay in Singapore. The work permit holder would have to present this special permit to the landlord when he applies to rent a room. When his work permit expires, and when his stay in Singapore is not extended, this foreign worker would have to surrender this special permit to SIR to recover his passport so that he could proceed to go home. Sir, we could also use new technology to examine whether these foreign workers have overstayed in Singapore, and to track them down for serious charges to be taken against them. I feel that with such a control system we would be able to reduce the unnecessary social problems to our citizens.”