Cedric Foo Chee Keng
Singapore
“Chairman, indeed digital technology will be a key enabler for a brighter future for Singapore. Listening to Senior Minister of State, Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State, Dr Janil and Minister Iswaran, I am sure my colleagues share my view that we are in good hands.”
“Chairman, some months ago, we had a healthy discussion between Mr Pritam Singh and myself about POFMA; whether the Judiciary is best party to act, or whether the Executive branch is better placed to act on the issuance of Correction Notices. I think the recent COVID-19 outbreak is a good example of when to use POFMA.”
“Mr Chairman, my cut is to ask about the tangible benefits to citizens and local businesses arising from our Smart Nation initiatives. Digitalisation has opened up new possibilities for businesses and for our society.”
“I am also particularly concerned with school children from lower income families who may not be able to afford a computer or broadband access at home. In today’s learning environment, a computer and broadband access are like "paper and pen" of the past and, therefore, no child should be denied that.”
“Chairman, this question is for Minister Chan. Historically, many Government agencies and Ministries design systems and processes from their points of view. I think the public will be well served if Government agencies can think "the other way around" and try to design processes from the citizens' or businesses' points of view.”
“Yes, probably the last engagement to give others a chance to speak. POHA is for private matters, and if somebody felt that they had been harassed, as a private individual, they will go to the Courts.”
The complete record
Every one of 423 lines we hold for Cedric Foo Chee Keng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“Sir, I do not think that the hon. Member has only one place to do his electioneering. Nevertheless, as I said earlier,there are no development plans for the next three years and beyond, and since the CCC at Potong Pasir has applied for it for the benefit of the residents, we have therefore approved it.”
“Sir, the vacant State Land in front of Block 142 Potong Pasir Avenue 1 is reserved for future development. As there are no plans to develop the land at the present moment, HDB has issued a Temporary Occupation Licenceto the Potong Pasir CCC to use the land for community events and related uses. If the police deem the site suitable for election rally uses, HDB, as the Government's managing agent for the site, will have no objection. In this case, permission from the CCC would not be required.”
“Sir, there are two programmes as regards rivet replacement for aluminium casement windows of HDB flats. The first programme involves HDB-installed windows. Under this programme, HDB will conduct a goodwill rivet-replacement programme whereby residents will be informed beforehand that a particular contractor has been assigned by HDB to conduct the replacement and the cost will be shared between the resident and HDB. Our estimated cost foreach resident is in the range of $35 to $82, depending on the size of the flat and how many windows in the flat require rivetreplacement. For privately-installed windows, ie, windows that are installed privately by the lessees themselves, HDB has worked with various Town Councils to negotiate bulk rates with nine bulk contractors, and these contractors are offering between $106 and $250 for each housing unit. However, residents are free to choose any BCA approved contractors in the market, if they feel that they can get a better deal. OPEN FIELD AT POTONG PASIR AVENUE (Granting of Temporary Occupation Licence) 14. Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the reasons for the HDB giving a three-year Temporary Occupation Licence in respect of the open field in front of Block 142 Potong Pasir Avenue 1 to the Potong Pasir Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC); (b) whether the HDB will allow the police to designate the field as a rally site in the next General Election; and if so, (c) whether permission for use of the rally site at the next election will also have to be obtained from the Potong Pasir CCC.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Dr Ong for his comments and questions. I share Dr Ong's view that we ought to look after the servicemen and officers of the SAF. I assure him that there will be no changes to the benefits that will accrue to servicemen or officers as a result of this amendment. The main reason for the change, ie, the transfer of the Defined Benefits component to the State Pension Fund is for efficiency of management, since the Defined Benefits component shares the same investment objective as the State Pension Fund. So, rather than leaving it to be invested by MINDEF, we have transferred this component to the State Pension Fund. The Defined Contributions component, which are contributions made by MINDEF for individual servicemen's account under the SAVER-Premium Scheme, will continue to be managed and invested by MINDEF. So, there will be no change and no effect whatsoever from the servicemen's point of view in terms of the benefits that they will receive or the performance of the Defined Contributions component. I take the point from Dr Ong, and it is our intention to explain fully to our officers and servicemen, so that they understand the purpose of this amendment. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. BUILDING MAINTENANCE AND STRATA MANAGEMENT BILL (As reported from Select Committee) Order for Third Reading read.”
“This change has no impact on the individual servicemen, as it does not affect their individual Defined Contribution accounts and the Government's undertaking to provide post-retirement medical benefits and START benefits will be undertaken by the State Pension Fund in full. Parliament is requested to approve the amendments. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“The adequacy of the Defined Benefits component depends on actuarial outcomes, like how many officers and servicemen will require medical benefits post-retirement. On the other hand, beneficiaries of the Defined Contributions component participate fully in the risks and returns of the investments. In other words, they take the ups and downs of such investments. MINDEF therefore intends to transfer the Defined Benefits component for central management within the Government Pension Fund. The transfer will allow the Defined Benefits component to be co-invested with the Pension Fund, which shares the same investment objective and has a larger risk pool. Furthermore, since both Funds - the State Pension Fund and the Defined Benefits Funds - are defined benefits in nature, the transfer can also result in better economy of scale in their management. Transfer of the DB component MINDEF will ensure that the assets transferred would be equal to the liabilities at the point of transfer. Thereafter, MINDEF will make monthly contributions to the Pension Fund to fund new members' Defined Benefits, just as other Ministries do for their pensionable staff. One very small portion of the Defined Benefits would, however, not be transferred. This is the amount set aside for 'compensation' arising from death or injuries of servicemen whilst in service. This is because the Ministry of Finance has decided that such payments should be made from the respective Ministries' operating budgets with effect from FY 04. To enable the transfer to be made, MINDEF needs amendments to sections 205B(2) and 206(1) of the SAF Act, and the consequential amendments to the Pension Fund Act.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Bill before this House seeks to put in place amendments to the Singapore Armed Forces Act and consequential amendments to the Pension Fund Act. These amendments would allow for the transfer of the Defined Benefits component of the SAVER-Premium Fund to the Government Pension Fund. Subsequently, these Defined Benefits would be paid out from the Pension Fund when eligible members make a claim. Background Sir, I will start by introducing the background behind these changes. The SAVER-Premium Fund was introduced to provide financial security for the SAF servicemen after their military careers. The SAVER-Premium Fund has two components: a Defined Benefits component, and a Defined Contributions component. The Defined Benefits component is the amount set aside primarily to service MINDEF's obligations to pay for the post-retirement medical benefits, also START benefits (which are lump-sum payments to Warrant Officers and Specialists on completion of 10 years of service) and compensations (arising from death or injury whilst in service) to all eligible members. The other component, ie, the Defined Contributions component, is the amount MINDEF pays into the individual accounts of the servicemen in recognition of the adjustments that they would have to make as they transit to and take on a second career on retirement. This Defined Contributions component is not affected by this Bill. It will continue to be managed and invested by MINDEF. Rationale for transferring the DB component As such, the investment objectives of the Defined Benefits and Defined Contributions are different.”
“Sir, the Ministry does not intend to reduce it because the right way to look at it is that loans do not exist solely for that purpose alone. It exists for the purchase of a house or a flat. So, if we consider the entire Home Ownership Scheme, the Ministry has been incurring, for the last five years, as I said, deficit to the tune of $530 million a year. So, there is really no need for us to adjust this loan administration fee of 0.1% at this point. Additionally, lessees are not obliged to take a loan from HDB, although many of them do. HDB does so as a public service to help lessees own their homes. Lessees are, nonetheless, free to go to the banks for loans. STUDENTS' PARLIAMENT 14. Mr Chandra Mohan K Nair asked the Minister for Education (a) whether he will consider creating an avenue for a "students' Parliament" or equivalent where students from secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics and tertiary institutions can be motivated and actively involved in politics and current affairs, participate actively in local, regional and international issues and create in our young citizens a keen interest in wanting to get into politics; and (b) if so, will the Government encourage an annual presentation of their views for debate and even allow their representatives to address Parliament so that the views of our young citizens are given serious thought and their positive suggestions taken up by the Government on a formal basis.”
“Neither the Ministry nor the town council disapprove of child's play. The only question is where is the appropriate place for child's play. We rather leave it to the town councils on the ground to make those decisions. So there is no approval process needed. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Administrative fee charged for loans) 13. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for National Development (a) if the 0.1% administrative charge the Housing and Development Board (HDB) levies on its loans yielded a levy revenue of around S$64 million; (b) what is the breakdown of costs incurred in managing its mortgage loan accounts for HDB loans; (c) after deducting its cost, how much actual profit did HDB make from this 0.1% administrative fee. Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, HDB imposes an administrative fee of 0.1% to cover the costs it incurs in managing 500,000 mortgage loan accounts. This fee is lower than what banks normally charge to service and administer mortgage loans. In FY03, the revenue collected by HDB from its mortgage loan administration was $64 million. The allocated costs incurred by HDB to service its mortgage loans were $29 million. These comprised mainly the costs of manpower, computer systems and office overheads. Therefore, the surplus in HDB's mortgage financing activity for FY03 was $35 million, and this was used to defray HDB's losses in its other activities, particularly the home ownership activity. Over the past five years, HDB's overall deficit for the home ownership activity has averaged $530 million a year.”
“In answer to Ms Braema's question, town councils manage the void decks and common areas in HDB estates for residents' use and enjoyment. In doing so, safety is of paramount concern. The void deck is not an appropriate place for sporting activities like competitive football. Such activities can cause injury to passers-by. They can also cause damage to common facilities like light fittings and walls, and can be a source of noise nuisance for residents living in the block. Residents too, parents particularly, have a role to play in ensuring that the common areas in their estates are well-maintained and their kids are well behaved. The town councils have constantly reminded their residents not to play football in the void deck through notices, signages and newsletters, and even through counselling. Unfortunately, some town councils have found that these measures have not worked and have resorted to other measures following many complaints from residents. The more sustainable solution is to provide suitable sites for youths to play football and other sports, so that they will not need to play at the void decks. The Singapore Land Authority has already opened up some of the vacant State land for such purposes. I understand that the town councils are also looking for other alternative sites. These include converting some of the vacant land at neighbouring HDB blocks to small football fields or approaching the neighbourhood schools to open up their football fields for youth in the neighbourhood, and additionally, to identify more sites for street soccer courts.”
“Sir, with your forbearance, before I take Mr Braema's question, let me quickly answer Mr Chiam's last supplementary question which I think is very important to address. MND's ruling, which disallows the use of sinking funds for LUP, applies consistently to all town councils, including PAP town councils. Mr Chiam See Tong rose ---”
“Sir, even for point blocks, HDB's experience, after conducting over 600 blocks of LUP, shows that it costs something like $600,000. Therefore, for the benefiting units there, it would cost about $8,000 per benefiting unit. So let me repeat again. If it is $8,000, it would take 40 years to collect S&CC charges. Moreover, if the Member proceeds to do so just for the six point blocks, even if it costs $600,000 per block and multiply it by 6, that is $3.6 million. That would be almost half the $8 million that the Member would have. The Member would have to justify to the rest of the residents why half of the sinking funds is committed to benefit only six blocks out of the 61 blocks that he has at Potong Pasir. Mr Chiam See Tong rose ---”
“Sir, Mr Chiam maintains that the Potong Pasir Town Council has enough money. It is granted that they have enough money to do the normal cyclical works which may even include replacement of the lifts. But what he is suggesting now is to allow the lift to stop at every floor. What that means is that you will have to do major structural works, creating lift landings where there are none today, knocking off part of the walls to create the lift landing. And for the six segmented blocks that Mr Chiam has in Toa Payoh Lorong 8, of which I have visited, he will need to create extra lift shafts on top of just creating the access to every floor. And our estimation - and we have much experience in doing lift upgrading works - for a single segmented block is that the lift shafts would cost $1.8 million or so. And upgrading of the lift landing to serve every floor is about $400,000. So the total cost is $2.2 million. So that is $24,000 per unit, considering the number of benefiting units there. So as I have just calculated, if he wants to use S&CC for this purpose, then he will need to collect 120 years worth of S&CC funds from his residents just to do this major lift upgrading work, which is clearly inappropriate because the town council would still need to commit the sinking fund for all other kinds of works that it needs to do in its cyclical repairs.”
“Sir, as I said earlier, the town councils are free to do lift upgrading, including providing for lift access to every floor. What it cannot do is to use the sinking fund for such major structural works which include lift stops at every floor. And this is quite plain. Sinking fund is provided for all sorts of cyclical works, not just lift upgrading works. It could be replacement of lifts, water systems, and so forth. So if a particular town council were to use its sinking fund purely to do major structural upgrading works, like allowing lifts to stop at every floor, then it would be an inappropriate use of the sinking fund. Just a back-of-the-envelope calculation, for a 4-room flat, the Member would know that we collect about $50 per month for S&CC. So multiply that by 12, it is about $600 a year. And if one-third of $600 is set aside for sinking fund, that is $200. To do a lift upgrading programme which allows a lift to stop at every floor would cost per benefiting unit something like $4,000 at the lowest, that is, for common corridor type of flats. You take $4,000 and divide by 200, it will take you 20 years. You will have to collect 20 years of sinking fund from the residents. Mr Chiam also has six segmented blocks and those cost a lot more, six times more or $24,000 to do lift upgrading works per benefiting unit. This means 20 x 6, or 120 years of collection of sinking fund from the residents before such works can be completed. So I think my numbers are clear. We have done our research. It will be very difficult and inappropriate for the town council to use its sinking fund for such purposes.”
“Sir, as I said earlier, town councils are free to do major upgrading programme for the lifts, including providing for lifts to stop at every floor. However, the town councils cannot use town council's funds to substantially finance such upgrading works. If I may refer the Member to the Potong Pasir Town Council's accounts, just as an example. Potong Pasir has a balance of $8 million in its sinking fund. If he does the cyclical repairs for the 12 blocks that he is right now doing, it will cost him $4 million. So he would have $4 million left. But if he were to do upgrading in a manner which allows lifts to stop at every floor, that would cost another $12 million for this LUP, which means he will be short of $8 million. So the Potong Pasir Town Council really does not have sufficient balance in its sinking fund to do major lift upgrading works. Sir, the Member's second question is whether or not Potong Pasir Town Council will get the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme. To-date, the Government has done about 600 blocks of LUP and there are about 3,000 eligible blocks remaining. So we have completed roughly 17%. Lift upgrading is selected based on several criteria, ie, the block configuration, the needs of the residents, the geographical spread, and also the degree of support from the residents. We need to bear in mind that it is the whole range of Government policies and programmes that bring about budget surpluses that allow us to do such improvement programmes. Hence, all things being equal, residents who support and vote for the Government policies would be given higher priority in upgrading.”
“The policy was introduced in 1989. Prior to that, about 28% of HDB neighbourhoods breached this EIP limit. Today, we have made some small progress, about 25% of HDB neighbourhoods breached the neighbourhood limit. I think now, more than ever, whenterrorists and so forth are threatening to tearat our well intervowen social fabric, we must not give up this policy.We must not allow this vulnerability to be exploited. With Members' help, support and commitment, we can sell this policy. 3.00 pm”
“Sir, we have to be clear about the long-term policy objective of our public housing and EIP is one of them. It is not a small stone which we can just turn over. In fact, it is a bedrock. It is a bedrock upon which the racial harmony of Singapore rests. So, yes, although there are some vacant flats available, we must adhere to this policy. In fact, we must adhere to it very strictly and we should not compromise the long-term policy intent just because there are some holding costs of vacant flatsinvolved.”
“Sir, the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) was implemented in 1989 to promote racial harmony in public housing estates by preventing the formation of racial enclaves. The EIP ensures that each neighbourhood and block in an HDB estate has a good mix of residents of different races. A large number of resale flats are transacted in the open market every year. Hence, most flat buyers should not have difficulty finding a flat of their choice. Similarly, most flat sellers should not have difficulty finding a buyer for their flat. Last year, HDB received about 400 appeals for waiver of EIP from flat buyers and sellers. As the EIP is a very important policyin maintaining racial harmony in Singapore, we have to apply it consistently.The EIP has worked well in forging ethnic integration in Singapore. We should not tinker with it.”
“There are many housing options that are available to them. If they can afford, of course, there is rentalhousing in the open market. HDB subsidies, as Members know, are very heavy for rental flats, and we would like to reserve them primarily for the benefit of Singaporeans. However, if there are very extreme cases of hardship, certainly HDB would considerthem. HDB would not leave people living in the streets, so to speak. HDB'S ETHNIC INTEGRATION POLICY (Grounds for waiver or variation) 16. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked the Minister for National Development (a) under what grounds will the Government allow a waiver or variation of the current Housing and Development Board"s Ethnic Integration Policy; and (b) how many such applications have been received and how many were granted since this policy was implemented.”
“Sir, to qualify for a HDB rental flat the applicant must be a Singapore citizen and must have another family member who is at least a Singapore citizen or PR. So, households comprising a Singaporean citizen with a foreigner, who is a non-PR spouse, does not meet the minimum citizenship requirements to rent a flat from HDB. However, as soon as the spouse has obtained permanent residency status, or if the couple has a Singapore citizen or PR child, HDB would consider the application.”
“Sir, just like the civilian justice system, the general court martial is an open court and a court of record. And if a single judge presiding over a judge courts martial is objected to by an accused, he is required to record why he sees himself fit to continue to preside over the case. And if indeed the accused feels that the trial has not been fair, the accused has the right of appeal to the military court of appeal which is then presided by a person qualified to be a Supreme Court Judge with two other legally qualified persons, or he has recourse to the Armed Forces Council for review and, finally, he has the right of petition to the President for final remission. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.50 pm. Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.27 pm until 4.50 pm. Sitting resumed at 4.50 pm [Mr Speaker in the Chair] SAFETY AT WORKPLACES (Motion)”
“Sir, the SAF, as I said before and the Minister has said in this House many times before, 'trains as it would fight'. So even in the administration of military justice, we would have to have a system which would apply both in peace time as well as in operations.”
“Sir, there is another aspect to the SAF Act which deals with field general courts martial and general courts martial during operations. Punishment has to be meted out swiftly in order for the SAF to function in operations. Under such circumstances, one may not find the Chief of Defence Force available to be the convening authority.”
“Sir, indeed, the Bill seeks to improve this particular aspect of a convening authority. As it stands, ad hoc courts martial are convened to try each case, and they are convened throughout the year by different convening authorities. Therefore, to allow for such flexibility, a minimum rank of a major has been stipulated, and this has been carried forward to the Bill. However, under the Bill, only a single convening authority is required to appoint a standing (rather than an ad hoc) general court martial panel. Therefore, such a standing general court martial panel would likely hear cases of servicemen of many different ranks and from many different services, be it the airforce, the army or the navy. That is why, in practice, the Armed Forces Council expects to appoint the Chief of Defence Force, who is a two or three star General, to be the convening authority.”
“Sir, if the Auditor-General has reservations on being consulted by the Minister for Defence, I am certain that the Minister would take these reservations into account. And in drafting the Bill, the Auditor-General's Office has been consulted and they have so far not raised any objection. In addition to the global reach of commercial auditors, they have also acquired best practices in the sense that they have relevant experiences in auditing pension funds around the world. And this is opposed to the Auditor-General's Office which may not have as wide an experience in this particular regard. Therefore, it is more efficient and effective to propose a commercial auditor which is likely to be one of the big four accounting firms to carry out this particular function for the SAF SAVER-Premium Fund.”
“In summary, the introduction of the standing general courts martial and judge courts martial would enhance the efficient use of manpower in the SAF without compromising the high standards of quality, justice and accountability that the servicemen and the public have come to expect from the SAF military justice system. Sir, I will now move on to talk about the second set of amendments to the SAF Act, namely, the amendments to allow for the audit of the SAVER-Premium Fund to be conducted by an external auditor. The SAVER and Premium Plans hold the retirement benefits of military servicemen. Currently section 205C(5) of the SAF Act provides that the accounts and annual financial statements of the SAVER-Premium Fund be audited by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General only audits the fund on a cash basis for the purpose of parliamentary reporting. For the purpose of the Fund's annual investment performance and dividend declaration, MINDEF engages a commercial auditor to separately audit the fund on an accrued basis. This results in significant overlap and duplication in the audit coverage by the Auditor-General's Office and the commercial auditor. MINDEF therefore proposes to amend section 205C(5) to allow the audit of the SAVER-Premium Fund to be conducted by an external auditor. This auditor may be appointed by the Minister for Defence, in consultation with the Auditor-General. Parliament is requested to approve the amendments. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Such three-member general courts martial hear a variety of cases, both military and civil cases, and are ideal for cases which concern SAF values and practices. For such cases, the policy and operational perspectives of the SAF lay members complement the legal perspective of the president and enables a balanced collective decision to be reached. However, a significant number of cases that are tried in the general courts martial do not involve such considerations. In particular, cases involving solely civil offences usually call for a pure judicial analysis of the facts and legal issues and an application of established judicial sentencing principles and guidelines by the judge. Such cases will be more efficiently and effectively dealt with by a single legally qualified judge. Accordingly, the Bill seeks to establish an additional system of general courts martial known as judge courts martial, to exist alongside the present system of general courts martial. Each judge court martial will consist of a single legally qualified national serviceman judge. In line with current practice, he is likely to be a current or former judicial officer. As a result, the judge courts martial will closely resemble the Subordinate Courts in the civilian justice system in that the accused serviceman, like his civilian counterpart, will similarly be tried by a single legally qualified judge. However, the default option is for offences to be tried by the panel courts martial unless the SAF Director of Legal Services directs that it be tried by a judge courts martial. Operationally, the Armed Forces Council will set guidelines for the Director of Legal Services on the types of offences that should be tried by the judge courts martial or by the panel courts martial.”
“However, this system is not efficient for the SAF as effort has to be expended to convene ad hoc courts martial to try even the simplest of cases. Currently, the SAF Court Martial Centre hears about 450 cases a year. This Bill therefore seeks to replace the system of ad hoc general courts martial with a system of standing general courts martial. The standing general courts martial will remain in operation for a predetermined period of time. The standing general courts martial will be convened by a single convening authority, who will appoint the members of the general courts martial panel. The panel will consist of legally-qualified SAF servicemen and SAF lay members. The standing general courts martial will be competent to hear all charges that are referred to it. The selection of the president and members of the individual courts martial can be delegated to the Registrar of the subordinate military courts, or to some other person, and will be made from amongst the pre-appointed general court martial panel. This allows the selection process to be efficiently carried out. Sir, I will now talk about the second major refinement to the SAF court martial system, namely, the establishment of single-judge courts. Under the existing SAF court martial system, each court martial must consist of at least three persons: one president and two members. Although it is not a legal requirement, the policy in the SAF today is that such a president is a legally-qualified, operationally-ready national serviceman, who is either a serving magistrate or district judge in the Subordinate Courts or an ex-judicial officer. The remaining members are SAF servicemen.”
“Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Bill before this House seeks to put in place two separate sets of amendments to the Singapore Armed Forces Act. The first set of amendments involves making refinements to the existing court martial system. The second set of amendments would allow for an external auditor to conduct an audit of the SAVER-Premium Fund. Sir, I would like to highlight the major aspects of the Bill. I will begin with the proposed refinements to the SAF court martial system. The Bill seeks to refine the SAF court martial system as follows: (a) to replace the existing system of ad hoc general courts martial with a system of standing general courts martial constituted from a panel that consists of both legally-qualified servicemen and lay servicemen; and (b) to establish a system of single-judge courts martial, to be called the "judge courts martial", to complement the existing system of general courts martial comprising three or more members. The existing system will be renamed as "panel courts martial". Let me elaborate on the two proposed changes to the existing system. Currently, whenever a case is to be tried by a court martial, a three-member court martial has to be convened specifically to hear the case. This general court martial is automatically dissolved once the case is over. Thus, whenever a new case arises, a new general court martial has to be convened. This practice of ad hoc courts martial was adopted from the British system that needed to dispense justice to its soldiers who were scattered throughout the reaches of the British Empire. Such a system allowed commanders to convene general courts martial on an ad hoc basis to punish errant soldiers wherever they were.”
“Sir, I would like to assure Members that MINDEF has in place a basically sound financial control system with proper segregation of duties, a staff rotation policy and an EDP cum audit checks. MINDEF has and will continue to learn from these lapses and to improve upon our internal controls to minimise systemic weaknesses. We will continue to simplify and clarify financial guidelines, and take various measures to further enhance our system. Our adoption of the Risk and Internal Controls Evaluation (RICE) which is also a Control Self Assessment system is a step in this direction. It is an approach which is increasingly considered an Internal Audit Best Practice. It requires staff to assess for themselves the risks and adequacy of financial controls of the business processes they are responsible for. And such self assessments are conducted with the assistance of the Internal Audit Department. Such a system transforms the traditional role of the Auditor from that of an unwelcomed inspector to one in which the Auditor is a partner to help correct weaknesses before lapses even occur. Sir, I believe I have addressed all the Members' questions.”
“MINDEF, having carried out the investigation, is satisfied that there were no systemic problems in this case. Sir, the last case, for the over-crediting of over $600,000 to the retirement accounts of servicemen, I acknowledge the oversight of my officials. However, I assure the Members that the lapses did not result in any loss of public money. For the 475 Premium Members' accounts that were over-credited, none of the cases were due for payment yet. To administer the Premium Scheme for the Warrant Officers, Specialists and Enlistees, the Premium Administration System was developed. As in all other MINDEF systems, a User Acceptance Test was conducted and this was one of the procedures for IT system development before the system was rolled out, so as to ensure that the system is functioning correctly. Unfortunately, one system check was missed out and overlooked. The errors have since been rectified and the system check put in place. Sir, MINDEF recognised that some of the lapses were the result of inadequate training in financial procedures. Since 2002, we have introduced a policy where staff must be trained and certified in the necessary procedures before they can be given financial appointments. They are also provided with the opportunity to undergo refresher courses as and when needed. This process of training and certification enables the vast majority of financial appointment holders to conduct their responsibilities properly and with the full knowledge of the relevant policies and procedures. When human error occurred, these were caught, in large part, by the stringent controls that MINDEF has put in place.”
“This case was discovered in 2002, that an officer at an overseas detachment had omitted to submit his leave records and had over-claimed about $1,500 in subsistence allowances. The investigation established that the over-claim of subsistence allowances was due to the misinterpretation of guidelines by the processing staff. As for the over-consumption of leave, the investigation established that the officer's action of not submitting the leave records was unintentional. It was attributed to the heightened training activities that the officer was involved with as well as the immense stress that he had due to domestic family matters. All over-claimed subsistence allowances and over-consumption of leave have been recovered from the officer. He was also given a Letter of Warning for the lapses. This Letter of Warning has an adverse impact on his next promotion for the next three years. As for the case of the $14,000 of Mess Funds not accounted for as reported by the Auditor-General in 2001, the unaccounted sum was a result of lapses in accounting management by the Manager engaged by the Mess and this Manager is a non-SAF person. The Mess Manager was consequently dismissed and the amount was fully recovered. In 2000, the Auditor-General reported a case of misappropriation of about $100,000 from MINDEF. It had been established that it was due to fraud committed by the account holder and negligence by his Supervisory Officer. The account holder has been court-martialled and convicted on 21 charges. He has made full restitution of the money misappropriated. He was fined $3,000 and sentenced to 15 months' detention. His Supervisory Officer was summarily dealt with and fined $1,500.”
“Many were fined depending on the gravity of the offences. One was fined $500 and sentenced to 10 days' detention. Twenty-one cases of duplicate claims were investigated. It was concluded that there was no intent to cheat. All were isolated instances of claimants being careless in their filing or arose out of unfamiliarity with the procedure of making amendments to the legitimate claims resulting in duplicate entries. For the 83 cases of claims made for visits to Chinese physicians, investigations revealed that the personnel had thought that such claims were allowed since Chinese physicians were registered with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioners Board. MINDEF has recovered all the wrongful claims. Claimants and the Approving Officers have been cautioned to be more vigilant in the filing and processing of claims. Depending on the degree of negligence, the claimants were either given Record of Verbal Warnings or verbally reprimanded. MINDEF has also issued an advisory to all servicemen on the proper submission of claims and has reiterated that it will take severe disciplinary action against any personnel found guilty of cheating. Checklists for Approving Officers as well as a list of common mistakes committed in the Personal Claims System have also been promulgated. In addition, the system has also been enhanced so that claimants may select only from a list of clinics registered with the Ministry of Health. The system has also been upgraded to identify duplicate and split claims and will prompt the Approving Officers to verify the original receipts to detect likely duplicate or split claims. Sir, next, the over-consumption of leave and over-claim of subsistence allowances.”
“I shall take the Members through the irregularities which occurred in MINDEF over the last four years, as raised by Dr Ong and Dr Maliki. Sir, each time an irregularity was noted, its causes were investigated and measures were taken to address any system flaws to prevent the lapses from recurring. Most of these cases reported were due to human lapses and non-systemic problems. To deter and prevent such problems from recurring, MINDEF has sent a strong signal to its personnel that it will not hesitate to take disciplinary actions against any one found guilty of deliberately circumventing controls for personal gains. In cases where personnel were found to be negligent, disciplinary actions commensurate with the gravity of the case, were also meted out against them. In the audit of the claims system, the Auditor-General reported seven cases of intentional splitting of claims, 21 cases of duplicate claims and 83 cases of claims made for visits to Chinese physicians, which should not have been allowed. Like the PAC@Gov used by the rest of the civil service, the Personal Claims System in MINDEF is an honour-based claim system. The system relies on the honesty and integrity of individual servicemen to submit only legitimate claims. Claimants are personally accountable for the claims made. They are subject to severe disciplinary actions if they breach the trust of the system. The seven cases of spilt claims amounted to about $995, which is about 0.1% of the $1 million of claims paid out in that fiscal year. Though the amount involved may not be significant, MINDEF takes a serious view of these cases of breach of faith. Full investigations were conducted. Claimants found to have intentionally split the claims were summarily dealt with or court-martialled.”
“MINDEF has also set up 'Business Centres' complete with PCs, fax and other communication devices. These Centres are set up in SAF camps where our NSmen are trained. They enable our NSmen to communicate with their offices during off duty hours of their In-Camp-Training stints. With these arrangements, MINDEF believes that NS duties should not unduly hinder entrepreneurship. Many of our NS commanders, including Key Appointment Holders, are successful entrepreneurs. They recognise that their contributions as NSmen make for a safe and secure Singapore without which business ventures cannot succeed. Nevertheless, MINDEF welcomes suggestions and will continue to look into ways to further reduce the impact on NSmen starting new business ventures, provided always that the operational readiness of the SAF is not compromised. Sir, I would like now to address the issues of accounting practices and irregular claims, as raised by Dr Maliki and Dr Ong Chit Chung. Sir, let me first thank both Dr Ong and Dr Maliki for their concerns regarding the findings of the Auditor-General's Office and the Public Accounts Committee on MINDEF. Their concerns are understandable and MINDEF will continue to improve upon our financial control systems. Before I address the background of the specific irregularities, I would like to seek Members' understanding that, for a large organisation, like MINDEF, to function efficiently, a certain amount of decentrali sation, delegation and empowerment is essential and in fact desirable. As such, even though MINDEF spares no efforts in strengthening its financial controls to minimise systemic weaknesses, human lapses or non-systemic problems sometimes occur.”
“By capitalising on our extensive investment in training technology, the new system aims to maintain the operational readiness of our NS units, while at the same time provide more meaningful, focused and effective training by optimising the time commitment of our NSmen during In-Camp Training (ICT). The concept of this new system includes two phases, namely, the first 10 years ICT period and the next 3-year of BIT (Basic Individual Training) period. Under this system, NSmen will serve at least seven high-key ICT, compared to the nine previously, out of a total period of 13 years, which remains unchanged. But in the last three years, they are called up for just two days each for BIT to refresh them on their basic soldiering skills. This, in effect, represents a reduction of operationally-ready NSmen ICT training. MINDEF has also restricted the number of times an NSman can be called up for NS duties to a maximum of three times per work year. Also, we have strived and done our best to ensure that notices are provided at least six months in advance of the training commencement date. 3.45 pm NSmen may request for deferment from NS training if they have established a new business just before their scheduled training. Unit Commanding Officers, who are themselves NSmen, decide on such matters on whether or not the deferment request can be accommodated after considering the unit's operational training schedule. Priority will be given to NSmen who have a good ICT attendance and performance record. In addition, commanders are given the flexibility to grant time-off of up to two days for NSmen to attend to urgent business matters which may crop up from time to time during their NS training stint.”
“This means that so long as a person is committed to Singapore, dedicated to the SAF and is capable of doing the job, his appointment and advancement in the SAF will be based on performance and merit, regardless of his race or his religion. Selection for Officer Cadet Training is a good case in point where meritocracy is applied. Out of the pool of eligible Malay candidates, which comprises those with 'A' levels or Polytechnic diplomas, the percentage selected to attend Officer Cadet School (OCS) is comparable to that of non-Malay candidates. MINDEF is committed to ensuring that our limited manpower resource is optimally deployed to ensure the defence and security of Singapore. Sir, Dr Ahmad Magad asked whether NS hinders entrepreneurship, and he would also like to know if we would exercise more flexibility for those who have just started new businesses. MINDEF and the SAF are mindful that NSmen face competing demands of NS duties, family and work. Hence, NSmen are called up for no longer than the period required to meet the training objectives. While NSmen can be called up for a maximum of 40 days of NS in a work year, in practice, an NSman is generally called up for not more than 14 days for local training, or 21 days for overseas training, in his high-key training year. As part of SAF's continuous effort to enhance training effectiveness and administrative efficiency, the National Service Training System (NSTS) was recently reviewed. What used to be a 13-year system with nine high-key years and four low-key years has been reviewed.”
“MINDEF would not want National Servicemen to spend more time than necessary for NS duties because we are acutely aware of the commitment and sacrifices that they have to make. For this reason, MINDEF has a scheme whereby physically fit enlistees who attain at least a Silver standard in the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) test do not have to undergo the physical training phase before Basic Military Training, and have their National Service duration reduced by two months. Racial Mix and Officer Selection in the SAF Sir, let me now turn to the subject of racial mix in the SAF, a topic raised by Mr Chandra Mohan. Full-time National Servicemen are deployed to the SAF, Singapore Police Force (SPF) or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), which are all part of our Total Defence system. National Servicemen contribute to the security of Singapore, regardless of the uniformed service in which they are serving. The allocation of National Servicemen to these different uniformed services is based on various factors, such as educational qualifications, physical attributes and vocational aptitudes, amongst others. Taking our Total Defence system as a whole, the ethnic composition of National Servicemen corresponds to the ethnic profile of our population. The Defence Minister has explained that the SAF now has an expanded role and has to accomplish these roles with a dwindling pool of available manpower. Therefore, the SAF intends to make the most use of all available manpower. To this end, the SAF, like all sectors in the Singapore society, works on the principle of meritocracy.”
“This has allowed us to maintain a relatively steady stream of combat fit servicemen for deployment in the SAF. With these various measures, I am pleased to inform Members that the SAF is coping well with the reduced NS resources. Our operational readiness has been maintained. Dr Wang mentioned about transformation and 3G SAF. Although we have made much achievement in this regard, transformation does take time. Our operational readiness and standing force effectiveness, however, has been maintained. Sir, Mr Chandra Mohan asked whether 2-2½ years of NS is too long. This is also a question posed by Mr Arthur Fong. Mr Chandra Mohan also questioned about the racial mix in the SAF. Let me address these questions. National Service plays a vital role in safeguarding the security and sovereignty of Singapore. It is important that National Servicemen are well trained, proficient and operationally ready. The length of National Service is determined by the time required to train our National Servicemen to the required level of military proficiency, especially for military commanders, warrant officers and specialists. They are trained not only to handle their own personal equipment, but also to be able to fight effectively as an integrated force. Our National Servicemen have to operate at the battalion, brigade and up to the division levels. As many Members have pointed out, MINDEF has increasingly used technology. While the use of technology and sophisticated weapons systems has given us a decisive capability edge, soldiers still require a significant period of training and familiarisation to operate these advanced weapons systems proficiently.”
“For example, we have commercialised the SAF cookhouse about six years ago to very good effect. SAF camps now serve food of a higher quality and at competitive prices. Secondly, manpower productivity and technology development. This has been covered in some detail by Minister Teo Chee Hean. To maintain operational readiness with minimum manpower, we have invested in better training techniques, like simulators, to reduce the need for manpower and to increase their effectiveness. The Primus, as mentioned by Minister Teo, is a good example of higher productivity, where what used to be operated by 12 soldiers is now operated by only four, a multi-fold increase in productivity. Thirdly, progressive training. We used to have one form of Basic Military Training (BMT). However, over the years, we have revamped it to minimise the attrition due to training injuries. BMT is the crucial period, since a certain acclimatisation period is required to transform a civilian into a soldier. Most recruits would not have been exposed to the intensity of physical activity prior to NS. We need to build them up progressively so that attrition as a result of physical injuries is minimised. This translates to a higher retention of combat-fit soldiers who can be deployed in combat vocations post-BMT. Fourthly, refining the medical classification system. The PES grading system used by MINDEF is reviewed every three years by HQ Medical Corps and the Medical Classification Centre. The review ensures that the recommendations on fitness for military duties are consistent with latest medical knowledge and practice. It also takes into account improvements in medical treatment that allows servicemen with certain medical conditions to be safely deployed in combat vocations.”
“In recognition of such support, spouses of NSmen are entitled to a tax relief of $500 effective from the year of assessment 1997, which has since been increased to $750 effective from the year of assessment 2003. The Government does recognise the contributions of women to nation building in wide and varied ways. Sir, Dr Wang Kai Yuen spoke about the challenges facing the SAF in view of the declining birth rate. The declining fertility rate and smaller NS resource pool is not a new problem for MINDEF. In the 1970s, the average size of the NS cohort was 22,000. In the mid-90s, the male cohort size shrunk to about 15,000. MINDEF has been tackling the decline in NS resource pool for some time now and if our TFR remains low, we would have to do more. Over the years, through the greater use of technology and the commercialisation of our logistics and support functions, MINDEF has been able to make do with the smaller resource pool without compromising operational readiness. Workflow and procedures are also constantly reviewed and streamlined to ensure that manpower usage is optimised. These measures have helped us to free our scarce manpower resources for combat jobs. The SAF is also reviewing its long-term force structure to meet operational and training requirements with a reduced NS resource. Let me briefly mention some of these measures. Firstly, commercialisation of support services. Wherever possible, we have commercialised non-combat support services. The Minister mentioned about the ST Aerospace crew which has accompanied our C-130 aircraft in its deployment to Iraq. Any activity that is not critical for field operation, we will contract it out to the private sector so as to free our National Servicemen for the more important and critical combat jobs.”
“Most of these objectives and others, such as racial integration, national education and community service, are already largely addressed in our school system in Singapore. The Malaysian NS programme does not encompass military training. It is different from NS in Singapore, due in part to the different social circumstances of our two countries. Therefore, MINDEF currently has no plans to extend compulsory NS to women. However, the Government will revisit this issue from time to time to weigh if there are strong arguments for extending NS to women. The SAF will continue to welcome woman volunteers whenever there is a need. Role of National Service in Nation-Building Nation building is a continuous process, involving every Singaporean in every sector of society, whether it is at the workplace, in school, in the sports field, or at home. National Service is one key institution which contributes to nation building. Singaporean males of all strata of society train shoulder to shoulder to fight as a team. Their common experience in NS helps bond them, and shape the Singaporean identity and character. Some Members have also raised the point about women wanting to contribute to nation building. Let me say that our women are already contributing to nation building and total defence in many ways. As our men, and some SAF regular women as well, participate in military defence, our women contribute to economic defence by their participation in the workforce. Women are also critical pillars in support of civil, psychological and social defence. Many of our woman employers - Dr Jennifer Lee included - support our men employees when they are called up for In-Camp Training.”
“Even if we are to introduce NS for women, the SAF can deploy some women for operational duties, as pointed out by Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, since we have a group of regular servicemen who are women and they perform operational roles. However, at this time, the SAF does not have a need and would not be able to place all our women (about 15,000 of them per cohort) in operational positions. So if we were just to choose some of them, then it will breach the principle of universality of NS. Who do we choose? How do we ensure equitability? These are all relevant questions. Ms Braema and Mr Chandra Mohan have suggested that women volunteer for NS. I am pleased to inform them that many women currently volunteer their services to the SAF. Most of them serve as nurses in Combat Support Hospitals (CSHs). They perform various important duties in the Combat Operating Theatre, High Dependency Care and Treatment Sections. In addition, there are about 6,000 active Civil Defence volunteers, out of whom about 2,000 are women. They play an important role during civil emergencies like CPR, first aid, shelter management and administration of blood donation drives. These are some of the functions mentioned by Dr Jennifer Lee. However, these are volunteer services rather than compulsory service. Mr Chiam alluded to Malaysia's NS system whereby they also enlist women for a short period, and wondered why it is not the case for Singapore. As Members are aware, the 12-week National Service Programme which was introduced recently in Malaysia is different. It is aimed at nation-building and fostering a stronger sense of patriotism, cohesion and unity amongst Malaysian youths.”
“But the Government's decision on compulsory NS for male citizens was taken only after very careful and very serious considerations. It was not taken lightly. It recognised that the purpose to compel a person to serve must be of critical importance. It decided that the defence of Singapore is indeed a purpose of critical importance. There have been suggestions that NS for women can be the solution to the shortage of SAF manpower caused by the falling birth rate. But the dwindling cohort of NS resource is not new to the SAF, as the Minister has pointed out, and it is true that our pool of national servicemen will continue to reduce in the long term. Nevertheless, MINDEF will have the ability to maintain operational readiness effectively by leveraging on technological advancements, commercialisation of support functions and higher productivity. There is, therefore, no need for MINDEF to enlist women for NS compulsorily to meet SAF's operational requirements at this point. Many Members spoke about the value of NS and how it contributes to social cohesion and nation building. This is well-taken and is, indeed, a good and desirable outcome of NS. However, the primary purpose of NS is to defend Singapore, as I have explained earlier. We have to examine whether the objectives of social cohesion and nation building can best be met by means other than compulsory NS for women. Calling up women for NS would take them temporarily out of the workforce and result in significant cost to both the nation and our women. It is a decision that should not be taken lightly as the purpose of building social cohesion is not of the same order of critical importance as the defence of Singapore.”
“MINDEF will continue to track the inflation rates and will review NS allowances from time to time. Sir, Mr Chiam See Tong thought it a good idea to introduce compulsory National Service for women and he suggested that three months be put aside for basic military training and nine months to train them as nurses. This, he said, will equip them to be better homemakers, more able to cope with emergency situations, with people and with children. But, Sir, nursing is an elaborate course. Nanyang Polytechnic, for example, runs such a nursing course and it takes three years full-time to train a competent nurse. Dr Jennifer Lee also supported National Service for women, but for a different reason, so that they may help out in the healthcare sector, especially in times of emergency. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua believed that NS should be a shared responsibility between males and females, and nation building should be applied to both. She also mentioned nursing or civil defence. Ms Braema suggested that women be offered the option of volunteering for NS. Sir, I am heartened to hear so many Members speaking up in support of National Service, and for women to get involved in NS, should the need arise. This is an acknowledgement of the importance of NS to the security of Singapore. The primary purpose of NS is to ensure that we have the operational capability to defend Singapore. Compulsory NS for male citizens was introduced in 1967 as we could not afford to rely solely on a regular Army to build a credible defence force for Singapore. The reason is obvious. Our population is too small. Today, National Servicemen form the bulk of our defence force. NS continues to be vital to the defence and security of Singapore.”
“MINDEF will review the outcome of the implementation of the recommendations in RECORD III and consider when to convene RECORD IV. Sir, Mr Arthur Fong commented that NS allowance is inadequate in the context of the high cost of living in Singapore. He suggested a market allowance that is commensurate with NSFs' "A" levels and polytechnic diploma qualifications. Sir, National Service (NS) is a duty performed by male Singaporeans and Permanent Residents upon reaching the age of 18 years, to safeguard Singapore's security and sovereignty. It is not a form of employment where remuneration is pegged to market rates. Full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) receive an allowance that is meant to help cover basic upkeep, such as transport and incidentals. Lodging, food, clothing and medical care are provided for by the SAF as most of them stay in camps. MINDEF recognises the sacrifices and contributions of our National Servicemen. We regularly conduct reviews of NS allowances, taking into account inflation in the cost of living and the level of responsibilities shouldered by them. The last revision was made less than two years ago in July 2002, when NS allowances across all ranks were increased significantly by about 50%. A recruit's monthly allowance was raised from $240 to $350. A combat specialist holding the rank of Third Sergeant had his monthly allowance increased from $420 to $660, while a Lieutenant had his monthly allowance increased from $780 to $1,150. Over a two to 2½ years' period, Full-time National Servicemen will receive progressively higher allowances from $350 to $1,150 per month, depending on the rank attained. Since the last increase in NS allowances in 2002, the CPI, last year (2003), was only 0.5%.”
“But I would like to highlight three of these that were completed in 2003: (a) Servicemen who hold leadership positions (ie, officers and specialists) and who have demonstrated outstanding performance during full-time NS are eligible for Co-Curricular Activities points for NS. These count towards the bonus points for admission to NUS and NTU. (b) An e-learning facility was set up for full-time national servicemen who wish to take up on-line courses during service to facilitate their transition to further studies or the workforce. (c) NSmen can now update their personal records online via MIW.com.sg. This is one of the several e-initiatives introduced as part of the RECORD III recommendations. Dr Ong has also raised his concern on the award of NS points for university admission. Under the NUS and NTU admission system, students are awarded points for participation in CCA, in junior colleges, centralised institutes and the polytechnics. These can constitute up to 5% of the total score for admission into these universities. Like CCA, National Service also cultivates qualities such as leadership and teamwork, which contribute to the development of a well-rounded person. One of RECORD III's recommendations was to award additional CCA points for NS to help national servicemen in their application to NUS or NTU. MINDEF has worked with both universities to establish this system. The additional points for NS are awarded based on NS performance, and level of responsibility held. This system was implemented as of the last admission exercise in 2003. For that exercise, out of 1,081 NUS and NTU applicants who were eligible for the scheme, 570 (53%) were awarded additional CCA points.”
“Sir, let me first address the issue raised by Dr Ong Chit Chung on the recommendations made by RECORD III. The Committee to Recognise the Contribution of Operationally Ready National Servicemen to Total Defence, or RECORD for short, was formed to identify ways to recognise the contribution of NSmen to Total Defence. RECORD III was convened in June 2000. The key recommendations were: (1) Relaxation of exit controls to facilitate regionalisation of Singapore businesses. Measures included the extension of passport validity and the waiver of monetary bonds for NS-liable males who accompany their parents on overseas employment. (2) Initiatives to keep up with educational trends such as (i) recognising NS for admission to Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs); (ii) calling NSmen for training during specific periods of the IHL vacation window to minimise disruption to their studies; (iii) providing e-learning courses to facilitate the transition of full-time national servicemen into further studies or the workforce. (3) Enhancing recreational facilities for NSmen, such as the new golf course in Kranji. (4) Harnessing information technology to enhance NS management and administration, such as automating the recall/mobilisation system and allowing online updating of NSmen's personal records. The pay processes have been enhanced to make NS Pay administration more convenient for NSmen. NSmen can now submit their Make Up Pay Claims online. I am pleased to inform this House that most RECORD III recommendations have been implemented with the remaining few slated for completion by the end of this year. I have circulated to Members a table showing the key recommendations and their status.”
“Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. POLICE FORCE (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read.”
“Consequently, the serviceman remains in service and continues to receive remuneration, pending the conclusion of the administrative discharge process. The amendment will streamline the process and remove the requirement for the Proper Authority to additionally discharge a regular serviceman who has been sentenced by a military court to be discharged with ignominy or dismissed. Period of close arrest of servicemen Clause 4 of the Bill seeks to amend section 27 of the Enlistment Act by inserting, immediately after paragraph (c) of subsection (2), a new paragraph (d) and subsection (3), to provide that any period during which a serviceman is placed under close arrest on a charge for which he is subsequently convicted, shall not be considered as service reckoned towards the fulfilment of National Service. A serviceman may be put under close arrest pending investigation and disciplinary proceeding for certain serious offences such as "drug consumption" or "absent without official leave". Presently, the period of close arrest is reckoned towards the fulfilment of National Service under the Enlistment Act. Servicemen under close arrest are remanded at the SAF Detention Barracks. They do not undergo military training or render actual service. Therefore, the period of close arrest should not be deemed as service if they are eventually convicted. This would also bring the Enlistment Act in line with the SAF Act, which states that servicemen shall not be paid during the period of close arrest if they are subsequently convicted. The amendment will exclude periods of close arrest as service reckoned towards the fulfilment of National Service, if the serviceman is subsequently convicted. Parliament is requested to approve the amendments. Sir, I beg to move.”