Buang bin Omar Junid
Singapore
Buang bin Omar Junid is indexed in the leadership directory. We are building the record of what they said in Parliament of Singapore from the official verbatim archive, and their words will appear here, each linked to its moment, as the record is ingested.
The complete record
Every one of 8 lines we hold for Buang bin Omar Junid, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.
“To ensure that public assistance recipients will not rely permanently on this assistance, a special team was formed in April 1964 with the object of carrying out investigations from time to time and reviewing the financial position of families receiving assistance. As a result of work carried out by this special team and the improvement in our social conditions and economic position brought about by Government's long-term planning, the number of recipients of public assistance has considerably been reduced from 28,800 in April 1964 to 17,000 only in April 1968. The amount paid for public assistance has also decreased from $962,000 in April 1964 to $492,000 in April 1968. The Member for Thomson also referred to training allowances received by dependants of recipients of public assistance who are serving in the national service. A dependant of a recipient of public assistance is allowed to keep his training allowance, up to an amount of $25. Any amount in excess of this will be considered when public assistance to his head of household is reviewed. Indeed it is appropriate that if a dependant is in receipt of a military training allowance, he will not be eligible for a dependant allowance. 4.16 p.m.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Thomson has asked about public assistance given by the Social Welfare Department and has suggested that the rates of assistance be raised. Hon. Members will surely realise that since the People's Action Party Government came to power in June 1959, the rates of public assistance have been increased twice. The first increase was in September 1959 when the rate paid to the head of a household was increased from $15 to $16 a month and the wife from $8 to $10 a month. The second increase was made in January 1962 when the rate of public assistance was increased further from $16 to $21 a month. The present public assistance rates for families eligible under this plan are as follows: Per month Head of household $21 Wife $10 Every dependant above the age of 16 years $8 Every dependant under the age of 16 years $5 As these rates are the highest in this part of the world, there is no intention to increase these rates any further. By increasing the public assistance rates, which is not in the interest of taxpayers, recipients will be encouraged to rely forever on this assistance. This will defeat the purpose of the assistance which is aimed at giving relief to those who are unemployed, and with dependants, to overcome their difficulties for a limited period only until they secure employment. Last year the Social Welfare Department paid out $7.6 million for public assistance and T.B, relief. This is slightly more than half of the amount allocated, which is $14 million under the estimates for departmental expenditure. Therefore, any increase in the rates of public assistance will bring about an increase in the public assistance votes and this will leave less money to be spent on other responsibilities in welfare services.”
“Sir, I support the National Service (Amendment) Bill which has been introduced by the Minister of State of Defence. As national service is vitally important to an independent and sovereign State like Singapore, I would remind parents and youths, who are required to undergo national service, to be on guard against misleading propaganda from subversive Barisan Sosialis elements and others who owe a divided loyalty to the country in their own interest and in the interest of foreign countries. We must be proud to accept our responsibilities as loyal citizens in the interest of peace, prosperity and well-being of our independent and sovereign Singapore. We should not constantly depend on others. The object of national service is not to invade other countries, but it is solely for our defence against foreign countries and quell internal disorders caused by people who do not owe their loyalty to Singapore. Sir, I strongly support this Bill. As hon. Members and the citizens of Singapore are aware, many things have taken place since we achieved independence - racial disturbances, troubles caused by undesirable elements, and so on. For this reason, I urge all youths to take up national service as loyal and responsible citizens of independent and sovereign Singapore.”
“We must beware of this all the tune and stop the evil intent of the Barisan Sosialis.”
“Their absence from this House shows that they have no belief and no confidence whatever in the system of democracy and they are working very hard to destroy it. The people of Singapore must be well aware of these actions of the Barisan Sosialis, because the Barisan Sosialis are working very hard to destroy this democratic system. We know that they have now been rejected by the people of Singapore and so are all their pro-Communist supporters. They, like U.M.N.O. and the M.C.A., have no political capital that they could show to the people of Singapore. Mr Speaker, the Barisan Sosialis is a Party known for its skill in shouting slogans, but they are barren in political ideas. The slogans are all empty ones. In the Hong Lim by-election five months ago, the people of that constituency rejected those slogans. The Barisan Sosialis people are now rejected both by their former supporters and the people of this State. We know of the split that has taken place within the ranks of the Barisan Sosialis. They have all along been dependent for their inspiration on the Communists of Indonesia. They are now like chickens. They are now in the process of perishing. They are looking for help from outside in order to maintain their stand. They say that Malaysia is a neo-colonialist plot. They had wished earlier that Singapore would not have merged with Malaysia. Now that Singapore is no longer merged with Malaysia, this still does not seem to fulfi1 their desires. They say that the independence that we have achieved is phoney. What then are their true wishes? Merger is phoney and independence is phoney! What they wish is to destroy Singapore so that it will perish. This is their evil intention towards Singapore.”
“I call upon all the citizens of Singapore to unite solidly behind the Government, to work hard and be realistic in their attitude. By the will of God, we will succeed. The Government of Singapore will defend the rights of the people, irrespective of race, language or religion. It will defend the welfare and interests of the various races of Singapore. All these things will be written in the new Constitution of Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Malays in Singapore need not fear that the P.A.P. Government will not look after their interests and welfare. The Government is grateful for the confidence that they have placed in it in the last general elections. The fact that the Malays in Singapore voted for members of the P.A.P. is an indication that they have full confidence in the P.A.P. Government. We will not betray their confidence placed in us. We will defend and protect the interests and welfare of them all. In the multi-racial society of Singapore, the Malays have a part to play. Let us all, irrespective of race, work hard to make Singapore a prosperous and happy country. The P.A.P. Government is working hard in order to bring about a society which is happy and harmonious because it is by this means that our people will be able to live happily and in peace. That is the reason why, while we were in Malaysia, we fought for such a society through the call for a Malaysian Malaysia. But because of that, we were evicted from Malaysia. We must never forget the two years that we were in Malaysia, and we believe that they in Malaysia will not forget that too. The boycott of the Barisan Sosialis of this House clearly shows that they have denied their belief in democracy, and that all their fight in the past has shown that they do not care for the future of the country.”
“But a matter which must be duly considered is that if economic co-operation is to be maintained with Malaysia, we do not wish any Party, particularly the conservative reactionaries of the Right, to imagine that, without co-operation with Malaysia, Singapore will fall. Singapore can survive on its own. Mr Speaker, we have often heard U.M.N.O. leaders in Singapore saying that for Singapore to be an industrialised State, it must depend upon raw materials from Malaya. What they mean to say is, how is Singapore to become an industrialised State without raw materials such as tin, rubber and other raw materials? I wish to say to them that for us to industrialise, raw materials are not important. Take, for instance, Japan. It does not have iron ore or rubber. Nevertheless, it is highly industrialised and produces motor-cars and other manufactured goods for their people, and these goods are exported to the people of Malaysia. Malaysia, on the other hand, which has raw materials such as rubber and tin, is not producing motor-cars and exporting them. It is not industrialising. A Singapore without raw materials need not necessarily mean that it cannot industrialise. On the other hand, although a country has raw materials, it is not necessarily an industrialised country. So all the talk that to he an industrialised State, the State must have raw materials, is not exactly true. Singapore will prosper with its industrialisation. Daily we see industrialists from foreign countries coming here to observe what is going on in Jurong. Our people have been going to Japan and industrialists from Japan have all said that our economy is stable and they are keen to come and build factories here. Our country will prosper.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Address in reply to the speech of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara on the 8th of December. We are now a free and independent State and, therefore, we have to work harder to fight for the bright future of our citizens. All the citizens of Singapore have shown their determination to make Singapore a State that would be successful and prosperous. It is only the members and leaders of the Barisan Sosialis who hope that Singapore would face destruction so that it would be possible for them to make use of the opportunity for their own ends. That is why we see there is not a single one of them present in this House. This is a clear indication that they are truly out for the destruction of the interests of Singapore. Singapore, as a State that believes in democratic socialism, is facing all sorts of enemies. We face threats from the Communists and the pro-Communists, as represented by the Barisan Sosialis. We are also facing intimidation from reactionary elements as represented by conservative forces in U.M.N.O., the M.C.A. and the M.I.C. Apart from that, we are also faced with intimidation from the remnants of the colonialists who carry out their evil machinations which help towards the achievement of the ends of those two forces mentioned earlier. They hope that Singapore would fail in its effort to survive, and they work hard to damage the economy of the State. These are the people who often shout out the slogan that Singapore will not survive without the cooperation of others, particularly Malaysia. Our State has no desire to he an enemy of anyone, particularly of our neighbour, Malaysia. In fact, the desire of the Government of Singapore is to maintain co-operation with them, particularly in the economic and commercial fields.”