Chay Wai Chuen
Singapore
“As a result, some enterprising businesses and grassroots people have even come up with better ideas on equipment and machines designed to suit our HDB estates, HDB rubbish chutes and our older workers, to make the equipment easier for them to handle. 3.00 pm I give this as an example.”
“Since there are so many anomalies administered by the two agencies up to now, and because so many retailers will be affected, I urge the Ministry to freeze this scheme and review the procedures and policies entirely and put up the designated land for tender to be administered by one agency.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to give more choices, in terms of compensation or alternatives and flat type allocation for those people who are affected by the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme. Children should be, as best as possible, allowed to help pay for their parents in some of these choices that they have to choose.”
“Sir, the MUP Programme has been in place for some time and it applies to units which are 17 years and above. I would like to ask the Minister why are 40-year old flats still not upgraded.”
“Mr Chairman, there is an increase in the operating expenditure of $648 million this year for the Ministry of Defence. I would like to know what is the rationale for this increase.”
“Sir, the SAF has been involved in peacekeeping missions on several occasions, in East Timor and the Middle East, typically in the area of logistics and medical services. I wonder whether the Minister can enlighten me on what kind of role the SAF can play in this area of peacekeeping missions.”
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“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister and his Senior Minister of State for their comprehensive answers, and beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, in the latest Budget, the Government has reduced the duties and registration fees on buying cars and re-peg the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) to the ARF component instead of to the OMV component. The rationale was to shift the ownership cost to usage cost. In adjusting this rate to peg ARF a bit lower, from 140% to 130% of the OMV and reduce the excise duty by 11%, the total upfront savings on taxes on new cars is about 21% of the OMV. This benefits new buyers, although I hasten to add I am not sure how it will be negated by the bidding on COE prices. The shift to more usage cost, as proposed, will mean that previous car owners are unduly penalised by having to suffer a lower resale value of their cars because new cars now cost lower, because of the reduced cost, and have to bear the likely increased usage cost as well. In our legacy structure, the cost of owning a car has to be shared between ownership and usage cost. With the lowering of the excise duty and the ARF, I am afraid the Government is signalling another round of increase in ERP and usage cost, including increased recovery rate for car parking. I hope that the Minister can assure the House that even as he is now relying more on usage, he should be wary of letting more cars on the roads in order to tax them more as they crowd the roads. There is a trade-off between the pain on one-time high price of purchase of a car versus the daily grind and pain of high ERP and parking charges as more cars clog the roads with lower ownership cost. I urge him to be more cautious in dismantling the current parity, even as the carrot of lower upfront cost is dangled.”
“Sir, has the Ministry considered the setting up of a trucking exchange by siting a depot, for example, in the centre of the island to provide a trucking exchange, so that containers can be switched to other trucks which ply in that sector? I believe productivity can be improved in this way. Often, in a journey, a truck carrying cargo on a container might ply empty on the return journey. I am talking about Singapore. The journey is twice as long as necessary and productivity on the return trip is nearly zero. The trucking exchange, through B2B IT infrastructure, can exchange information and plan schedules so that participants in this exchange can minimise costs and plan schedules. Naturally, to anchor this, big players are needed. But once it is up, it is the small players who can distinctly benefit by lower time cost and equipment driver cost. Roads also will be less heavily used with less charges to pay. In Europe, such depots exist for trucking to exchange containers running in different sectors. Essentially, it is an informational exchange with B2B business transaction, and the rest is a matter of schedule planning and organisational arrangements. IT costs are not so prohibitive these days and the space required, I believe, may not be so big. The value added to the economy can be very great, opening a new area of business. Trucks with container loads from other inland parts of Asia - Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos - can perhaps one day even switch loads in such a logistics hub, and grow to be a land port to complement the port of Singapore.”
“With the advancement of technology, airplanes can now fly longer distances without having to make midway stops. Many airlines are cutting down stops in between destinations in long-haul flights. I believe this must have a certain effect on us. The growth of the airline business depends not only on the efficiency and facilities of the airports, but also on the economic development of the country, its tourism industry and the convention business. All these businesses will generate tourist arrivals in Singapore, especially if we can attract more conventions to be held in Singapore. We should spruce up our attractions in Sentosa so that we can attract more tourists. We should also step up our efforts to sell Singapore as an international convention venue. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry of Transport has any comprehensive plan to match these challenges, by strengthening our airport services to cater for heavier air traffic.”
“Airline tickets originating from these centres are much cheaper, as much as 50% or more than SQ. I assume the airport facilities are equally cheaper than Singapore airport. This underlies my concern about the competitiveness of our airport as a hub. Our port and our airport have been important pillars in our economy. How does the Minister ensure that they get the measure of the competitive environment, just like the policies on market competition and deregulation that the Government proposed in the telecommunications sector a few years ago, which have driven costs down and value for the consumer up? It is not just the bottom line of Singapore Airlines that matters, but also many of the related services in the air freight businesses that will be of concern. Mr Ang Mong Seng(In Mandarin): Sir, although Singapore is just a little red little dot on the world map, it is well known throughout the world for its excellent airport. Changi Airport has, over the years, won accolades and awards from various international agencies, and has been consistently rated as the best in the world. With very intense competition ahead, are we able to maintain our enviable position and supremacy for the next decade? First of all, the new Bangkok International Airport will be opened in 2004 and, recently, the Malaysian International Airport has been offering very attractive discounts to attract more carriers to land there. The other airports in the neighouring countries are also seeking to improve their facilities and services. I would like to ask the Minister whether these competitions will affect Singapore's position as an aviation hub. What measures are being taken to face these competitions?”
“Sir, a well-known economist coined this phrase "the death of distances" a few years ago, because of this advance in technology and communications which makes relatively unimportant or, worse, irrelevant many facets of businesses and services, and also open up new vistas or business opportunities. From the point of view of airplane technologies, if planes can fly longer distances without refuelling because of greater efficiency, potentially dominant air routes can be altered, and airports and airline businesses can be very seriously affected. We pride ourselves as an important air hub when our airline - Singapore Airlines - by its superior brand name, has been anchoring many of our hub services. In this process, Singapore, as an air hub, in competition with the many regional air hubs, such as KL, Bangkok or Hong Kong, has emerged creditably. With the emergence of China as a power economy and Northeast Asia as a significant growth region, and the relative slower growth of the Southeast Asian economies, Singapore's air hub location is slightly tangent. Coupled with this background, one must seriously ask what is the cost competitiveness of our air hub. One of the most powerful key macro economic variables that has changed as a result of the last Asian financial crisis was the dramatic realignment of exchange rates of many of our competing countries. The merger and acquisition and the rescue buy-out faced in this restructuring is over. Today, what we are seeing is the realigned competitiveness at work. Perhaps the Minister can reassure us. Today, if one were to ask many average businessmen chasing sales, it is not surprising that they will switch planes at many of our regional airports, eg, KL, Bangkok, even Perth.”
“Building their own global supply chain, therefore, is an important strategic objective of these companies, and I believe PSA should collaborate with them. Many of these big shipping lines and big corporations have their own advance schedule planning in supply chain network for these global players and they can maximise upstream and downstream planning schedules and connection. These, I believe, can overcome connectivity advantages of PSA. Global players also have their own IT and infrastructural strengths, we must remember. I have been arguing for a private operation of berths for the last three years. I hope the Minister's answer this time would be different. But I believe we can anchor important customers and shipping lines by tendering out facilities over a lease period, and also a possibility could be through schemes of joint share of revenue. In this way, we can establish partnership with the major players. We must never under-estimate the downstream losses of the linkage effects in the economy arising from this loss of customers, whether it is in the service sector, freight sector, logistics or ship-chandling. Will the Minister assure the House that policies will be applied to prevent further loss of customers and prevent the erosion of primacy of our port?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head W of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the Minister has recently announced that PSA is currently reviewing its charges, and this is after the pullout and loss of two major customers - Maersk and Evergreen. I believe they constitute about probably 15-20% of its turnover. Recently, the Minister has also announced that $80 million will be spent to develop more infrastructural facilities for the maritime cluster. The loss of top customers should not be taken lightly. Already, we hear that Tanjung Pelepas is expanding the number of berths for more shipping lines. In this area, I believe customer relationship management is an important area of focus for any business. Whether Tanjung Pelepas went backwards to entice the top two customers that is quite immaterial to me. The fact is that two top customers went. We should not under-estimate what two top shipping lines can do there. The Minister has argued that there is more than just cost in the equation. There is also value in our port facilities, infrastructure, IT connection, connectivity, reliability, efficiency, and so on. What I would like to ask the Minister is that we should be aware of industry-wide changes in order to estimate this kind of demands in the market. It is definitely not cost alone. Shipping lines want to operate their own berths or terminal for maximising their own value, and also because they want to build their own global supply chain integration. Supply chain linkages in extracting value from the competitive environment is a very important part of modern business. Many managements in these shipping lines are answerable to their boards.”
“The Ministry of Defence also keeps the media informed on our participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations.”
“However, recently, the lack of consensus in the Council resulted in its inability to respond to situation on the ground. Our approach at the Council has been guided by our consistent support for principles of international law, observance of the UN Charter and compliance with the resolutions of the Security Council. Because we have always taken a consistent and principled approach, our friends have been able to understand and appreciate our position, even if it means that we are unable to fully support them. We have always endeavoured to conduct ourselves in a credible and responsible manner in the Council. 5.00 pm In responding to Mr Chay, I agree with him that more can be done to publicise what we do in international organisations. We will see what more can be done. As a small country, Singapore has been selective in applying for membership in international organisations. Besides being an elected member of the UN Security Council, we are also elected members of the UN Commission on International Trade Law and the Governing Council of the International Maritime Organisation. Being a small country, it is also in our interest to work with other small states. In 1992, in New York, Singapore established an informal grouping of small states known as Forum of Small States. It now comprises 85 countries and meets a few times a year under Singapore's chairmanship to discuss issues of concern to small states. Various Singaporeans have contributed to the work of the UN. For example, Ambassador Tommy Koh comes to mind for his outstanding work concerning the Law of the Sea. We prefer to go about our work without fanfare. It is our style to work through quiet diplomacy and focus on results. However, we do publicise our major contributions, especially in the UN.”
“Sir, continuing along this line, I would like to ask the Minister whether there seems to be a low level of perception of the importance of this multi-lateral diplomacy that we are doing, and the international organisations as fora that we embark on to protect our own interest and to further our interest as a small nation state, in pursuit of this international public route of an open economy, of international commons such as freedom of the sea, anti-piracy, anti-terrorism. I wonder this low level of perception is due to a lack of our media coverage of our action. What kind of initiatives does the Minister think we could do to improve on these? The Second Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Sir, our experience as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council has been educational and instructive. We now have a better sense of the internal workings and procedures of the Council. We have tried, as part of our work on the Council, to try to make the Council more transparent and accountable to the larger UN membership. It remains clear that the influence of P5 countries weighs heavily in the consideration of the issues in the Council. It is not only due to their power to veto resolutions, but their global reach and access to information around the world, particularly in conflict areas. On difficult issues of the Council, where there are differences of opinion and positions among the P5 countries, the elected members can play a bridging role to help bring about a compromise. Another lesson is the importance of Council's unity for it to be effective. For example, on the difficult issue of the Middle East, the Council was able to adopt four resolutions in two months - March and April this year - unanimously.”
“The view is that at the current stage, what they can do in presenting their views is usually done only in committees that are called from time to time, feedback and so on. But in actual business environment context, many of their views and capabilities, perhaps even their weaknesses, could be improved upon. So I hope the Government could take a new look at these whole measures and assist the economy, not just this present package but also in the coming one or two years to come.”
“I also hope that the Government could work out measures within this assistance package to the SMEs to help them refinance their lendings. One of the complaints that SMEs have been bringing up is that although interest rates right now are low, they are stuck with rates that they have fixed sometime ago and that this difference in spread really is now made by the banks. So they are thinking and asking of ways and means by which the authority and we, as the Government, can help them by refinancing such schemes and whether such refinancing packages that are announced today can be packaged into this difficulty that is specifically faced by them. I also agree with what one of my colleagues, Mr Inderjit Singh, talked about just now on some of the investment criteria and requirements for industrial properties from the JTC authority. I believe that investment criteria by JTC should be relaxed so that you do not need to put in such high investments in order to secure leases. Perhaps even such lower investment criteria might generate more employment for our people. Finally, I would like to raise the point that I agree with the Deputy Prime Minister that this present situation needs a complete re-look at how our domestic economy would have to perform in the future. One of the suggestions that SMEs have been bringing up is that they hope that they could also be part of this effort in re-looking at how to revitalise over a long term our domestic economy and how they can actually also make their views heard at higher levels, whether at statutory boards or at GLCs, where they can provide downstream facilities as well as business opportunities and contracts, so that the economy as a whole downstream can also benefit from the leading sectors in our economy.”
“So I hope that the Government could really think about this and perhaps consider this once more. The second point that I would like to raise is for the support of small and medium-sized enterprises. There has been this policy suggested of a new look to assist local enterprises. One of the items listed here is the micro loan scheme. I really applaud this new out-of-the-box type of thinking by the Government in trying to look at these micro loan features. Of course, it will take time before micro loan features and micro loan lending can work out. But there are many countries where such schemes have worked successfully. So I would like to support this and urge the Government to work full steam ahead on such assistance schemes for small and medium enterprises. In reducing rental property and property taxes, one of the problems that tenants always face is that the owners of property do not pass down these rebates to the tenants or the lessees. So I wonder whether there can be some measures or instruction or some conditionality placed such that tenants do get the benefits of this. Because right now it is really the tenants, not just the owners but also downstream across the economy, that people are faced with difficulties. In trying to assist SMEs, I note in this Executive Summary that the Government talks about "improved access to funds for local enterprises", and this "improved access to funds" is really clearly underlined. This has been one of the complaints by SMEs that many of them do not seem to get the benefit of these funding schemes by Government. So by improving access, I really believe that the Government must work out features and processes for them to avoid the bureaucracy network and bureaucracy difficulties that they face.”
“Sir, before I came to this Chamber this morning, I listed down a list of what I thought Government could do in so far as these off-Budget measures to resuscitate the economy to achieve growth and employment opportunities in our economy are concerned. I must say that the Deputy Prime Minister's list far exceeded my expectations. My list also included cuts in Ministers' and Members of Parliament's salaries and allowances. So it is a sincere and genuine list. But one policy that I really could not understand, and perhaps the Deputy Prime Minister could explain, is the GST. I believe that one of the most powerful instruments that we can do in this present circumstance actually is to reduce the rate of our GST without dismantling the structure of the GST operation. Why do I say that it is important? It is not a question of just 3% makes no difference to price cuts and whatever. It is really a question of a reduction of perhaps 2% and with that, a very sizeable flow of liquidity in the economy. It might not make much difference to price as to affect spending. But, nonetheless, it gives opportunities for small businesses and other businesses to survive and to improve their present situation. If you estimate the GST collection at about $1.5 billion a year, a reduction of 2% could well mean $1 billion immediate and sustained injection in the economy throughout. One of the problems in resuscitating measures in off-Budget measures or fiscal spending measures is the time lag. Although we have here $11.3 billion, you can see that it takes probably two or three years before this whole package can be fully worked out. What we need now is actually a very strong dose for resuscitating the economy.”
“Why can there not be a simpler mechanism, say, a number for all drivers to call to find out whether the car has been towed away by the authority legally and, if so, where has it been towed to or whether it has been stolen? Finally, there is a special provision barring the towing of vehicles from any, and I quote, "tunnel forming part of an expressway" other than by the authority or its agent. First of all, how does one know whether a tunnel is part of an expressway or not? And secondly, why should a car owner not be allowed to arrange for the towing away of his vehicle if that can be done in safe circumstances? Sir, I hope some of these issues would be thoroughly addressed as the implementation of this provision may be the source of confusion and frustration to the motoring public if the operational issues are not sorted out. The motoring public should be properly informed.”
“First, why is there a need to provide additionally for removal of vehicles from expressways when the original provision in section 123 already provides for removal of vehicles generally in circumstances such as where the vehicles cause unnecessary or unreasonable obstruction to traffic or otherwise causing a hazard? It is quite easy in my view to include LTA officers within this main section. Second, the new section 123A, subsection (2), imposes the duty on the authority or its agent to take the vehicle to a parking place, that is, near to that part of the expressway from which the vehicle is removed. Why impose such a duty on the authority? It can be inconvenient both to the authority and to the driver. In any case, the provision seems to be imprecise. What does it mean to be "near"? How would the driver know which parking place his car has been towed to? To avoid doubt and confusion, would it be better to designate car parks where the LTA or its agent would tow vehicles to? Third, there is a requirement that the owner would be given notice in writing of the removal and location of the car. If a car owner of a stalled vehicle on the expressway were to leave the vehicle unattended while he sought assistance, he might well return to find his car no longer there. What does he do? Does he wait at home for a notice in writing to arrive at his doorstep? How long would that take? Would this not cause unnecessary anxiety? The first sensible response of any driver would be to report to the Police that the car is missing, presumed stolen. Would this not create additional work unnecessarily for everyone, for the authority, for the Police, for the owner of the vehicle?”
“I am not a lawyer here. The professors of law in this House may clarify, but I plead for moderation in applying fines. The third point is on clause 11 which repeals section 72 of the Road Traffic Act. This matter is now being dealt with under the Environmental Pollution Control Act. I am not sure. Perhaps the Minister could clarify who is now going after all the excessive smoky vehicles that we see running on the roads. In the days when it was not an offence making a phone call while driving on the road, I could tell the Minister that I had been one ever eager to make phone calls to the Police on these smoky vehicles when I saw them. Nowadays, I just see them passing by. And I must say that the Police has been very efficient in the handling of such reports, at least at the receptionist end. They always give me the impression that the culprits will be caught. I wonder, with this shift to ENV, how would the patrolling of these vehicles be handled. Does the ENV maintain a group of patrol vehicles on the look out for these smoky vehicles on the roads? I would like to support this Bill. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung (Sembawang): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak in support of the Bill and not to answer the tough legal questions raised by the Chairman of the GPC on Communications. Sir, I only have a couple of points to make regarding clause 14 which inserts a new section 123A into the existing legislation, so as to give the authority or an agent the power to tow vehicles away from expressways. I am sure that everyone agrees with the policy to remove stationary vehicles from expressways. Such vehicles pose serious hazards, especially where the road shoulders are not too wide. However, I seek clarification from the Minister about the new provision as set out in clause 14.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, clause 4 of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill removes the 14-day grace period prior to the composition of the late penalty fee for the renewal of road tax. The 14-day grace period has been given for a long time for owners to renew the road tax licence from the date of expiry. There are all kinds of reasons why an owner may not be able to renew the licence on time. Why can the Minister not continue with the existing policy? As the grace period has been granted for so long and not to make things more difficult for the owners, why can it not be continued? When a vehicle with an expired road tax is driven without insurance cover, it is a different matter. The Government should not make it less flexible than it is at present. How many of such cases were there last year when cars with expired road tax without insurance were involved in accidents without insurance recourse? How does the granting of a 14-day grace period affect public safety on the roads? Is a car without a current road tax inherently less safe? Or, by stretching the logic, does a car with a one year road tax safer than a car with a six months road tax? The second point is on clause 8 which empowers the court to order payment for road tax arrears in addition to court fines. Under the present regulations, if a person is charged in court for using a vehicle without the required road tax, the court has only powers to impose a fine for the offence. It is not empowered to order for payment of road tax. I should point out that the road tax due should not be taken as arrears. Or, if it were, it should only be considered for that part that was due up to the time when the person was caught driving without the road tax. Technically, the road tax licence runs over a certain currency period.”
“For example, I have suggested some years ago in this House for MND to consider allowing shopkeepers to spruce up old housing estate shops, like the two-storey shops in Tanglin Halt, for their unique 1960's HDB conservation flavour on a 30-year old lease. Of course, at that time when I made the proposal, it was rejected. This policy can now allow for more flexibility of use. We have to be a bit wary. There are externality effects of retail activity. If some shops are permanently closed and kept vacant, then it would affect the business activity of the nearby shops. Those who want to carry on the business will be affected. There will also be no potential for redevelopment and better use of land, unless all the shops are vacated. Meanwhile, the life for everyone is made worse for the remaining shopkeepers and residents.”
“Sir, I will be even shorter. I would like the Minister, in reviewing his policies for HDB shops, consider the fact that just cutting away the excess capacity, doing away with the shops or relocating them, might not necessarily be the best way, in my view. One of the better ways would be to reduce rentals, as mentioned by my colleague, Dr Teo. That could be lowered so that tenants could still continue to do their business and be profitable. These neighbourhood shops, the mom and pop shops - the hairdresser, the food centre, the stationery shop, and whatever - can help to keep our cost of living down. Perhaps more flexible use of shops will allow the business activity to go on. Taking back the shops and compensating them $40,000, or whatever, may appeal to some aged tenants but not to many others who may have to depend on their business to survive, as mentioned by another colleague just now. So, what are they to do after that? They move to another location and they pay higher cost of operation with higher rentals for more popular areas, where they have to move or give up their shops. Can these people be suitably retrained after that? What happens to those aged residents or low-income residents who stay in HDB flats who need easy access to shops, instead of travelling by buses and trains to the retail centre? Where the shops can form a complex so that among them they can organise themselves and together with HDB, form some kind of differentiation or mix of trade, then they can attract customers which will keep the neighbourhood busy.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Dr Lee Boon Yang rose ---”
“With the visible presence of these SRP centres, we can reinforce this life-long learning culture in the community, serving its purpose of life-long skills redevelopment and retraining. 2.00 pm”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code TM 1000. Sir, the Minister for Finance has announced that we will be spending $30 million on the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme this year to help everyone in the workforce upgrade their skills and knowledge. Essentially, this is a co-funding scheme for skills redevelopment training, life-long learning and strategic conversion. I will stick to skills redevelopment. To redevelop our workers' skills, they have to undergo some course or programme at some stage, at our ITE, presently at Bukit Merah. They will also have to make an application, then they will have to go and look for some surrogate employers to get funding from CDC or NTUC for approval. These programmes will be modular and recognised towards the skills set for skills recognition. As this is something that is going to be life-long, can we not get the Skills Redevelopment Programme Centre to be a one-stop centre that is visibly present in all the heartlands, bearing in mind that the larger workforce that we are targeting at would have to apply, and we need time to process and also we need to minimise the inconvenience to them? These application centres could be widely permeated at the community level so that members of the community would know of its ready availability and its ease of application. It should be as easy as signing up for a course at the CC. Apart from these skills redevelopment application centres that I have mentioned, the training centres can, of course, be differently located because they need specialised equipment.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code TG 1000. Sir, I have spoken on this topic on several occasions before, and this matter has also been a topic of concern raised by the Auditor-General in his earlier report. I have come across many instances when workmen involved in workplace accidents have had to wait for more than a year in order for them to get the insurance company to pay the money due to them. Currently, I have two such meet-the-people session cases. These workers have had to be hospitalised and be away from work. Their family income is affected and they incur all kinds of penalties by the Town Council and HDB for arrears. These are not cases where there is any dispute that compensation is due, or over the amount. The workman suffers injury and he is waiting and waiting to be paid. Can the Minister cut short any bureaucratic logjams that have happened so often? I also notice that usually the cases get settled quite fast after I raised them in the Committee of Supply, but it happens again and again.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to provide an update to the House on the state of development of the Pasir Panjang Terminal. I understand the Terminal is built for 30 million TEU capacity. Please correct me if I am wrong. And with this capacity, including the current Keppel Terminal capacity, there will be considerable excess capacity. Will the Minister enlighten the House on how they intend to fully utilise this planned capacity in the two terminals? One is a newly built one and the other has been in existence for many years. Obviously, the armotisation and depreciation charges are different, but given the state of port competition internationally and regionally, what are the plans in respect of Pasir Panjang Terminal vis-a-vis Keppel Terminal? Assoc. Prof. Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, Pasir Panjang Terminal first started operations in October 1997. Today, it has six berths with 15-metre draft which can handle the world's largest container ships. In 2000, Pasir Panjang Terminal handled 2 million TEUs, or about 12% of PSA's total container throughput. The terminal uses cutting-edge technology such as remote Bridge Crane System which allows operators to control up to four Bridge Cranes via remote control at any one time, greatly boosting flexibility and productivity. The Pasir Panjang Terminal will be further developed as the need arises. The total capacity of the terminal when fully developed is not 30 million, but 35 million TEUs. We will look at the demand for port services and see whether there is a need for further development.”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for his comprehensive answers and beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Thank you, Sir. On port competition, I wish the Minister can update the House on the state of competition faced by PSA around this region. We have read of the recent developments of Tanjung Pelapas and Westport in Malaysia. It must be fair to say that Tanjung Pelapas has made quite some progress since they had their first major customer drawn away from the PSA. Would the Minister inform the House what is the percentage size of this revenue loss from the Maersk pull-out? What about the significant downstream cost and impact of this loss of business? Could PSA have averted the loss of the world's No. 1 shipping line as customer, if it had accommodated the customer's need? For example, we hear of privatised berth operation as a reason, correct me if I am wrong. Many shipping MNCs have a need for integrated supply chain logistics operations, and these require some degree of control of costs and schedules for their supply chain rationalisation. Such a need may indeed be a justifiable one for shipping lines. Are we answering to this need? PSA did $2.4 billion of turnover in the year 2000, with $1.4 billion of pre-tax profits. That is a lot of room for competition.”
“Will the Minister update the House on the performance of Changi Airport? It used to be a yearly ritual that we will listen once again to the accolades it has won, or survey results showing how well it is received by business travellers. How does Changi Airport stand, in competition with the regional airports in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur? Does the Alliance grouping of airlines affect in any way our airport's standing? Given also the prospect of longer-range and faster planes, will the dying of distances have a likely impact on Changi Airport? I would also request the Minister to give an update to the House on Terminal 3 and how he sees the traffic build-up on the demand side for airport services.”
“Sir, the North-East line which is currently being built is going to be a driver-less system. Considering the several mishaps that have occurred in the driver-less LRT, I would like to ask the Minister what safeguards or preventive measures are undertaken so that the driver-less North-East line which travels at a much faster speed and with heavier loads will be assuredly safe. Although the trains are driver-less, I assume that the control centre is hopefully not controlled by robots. Will the Ministry ensure that people who run the control room have actually done stints on the ground so that they are experienced and know the limitations on the ground when they make decisions on the screen? The second issue I would like to cover is whether there will be fare linking and seamless transfers between the North- East line and the MRT in order to minimise inconvenience to travellers even though this would be operated by different companies. This implies that there will have to be a mechanism for fare staging electronically between the different operators.”
“Sir, the Ministry has announced that the open bidding for COE will start sometime in the second quarter of this year. Will the Minister inform the House why there was this delay and what is the situation for the trials and launch of this open bidding for COE? Given that this is quite a big system, there should be sufficient trials before the launch. Singaporeans are quite intolerant of these glitches, especially in the area of COE, where everyone is an expert and has something to contribute. I also understand that there will be both closed and open bidding on alternate fortnight running parallel. Given that there will be disparity in the outcome of the two processes, how does the LTA intend to manage the disparity in outcomes, or merge the processes in phases? Can the Minister also update the House on the new quota for the new year and whether there will be any review mechanism to be considered?”
“Sir, the Government came out with a World Class Land Transport document some years back when it set forth its vision for a deliverable World Class Land Transport system for Singapore. In the process of implementing this plan over the years, it has achieved several important milestones, like ERP, inter-modal seamless transfer, North-East line, and LRT. Will the Minister update the House on the programmes and his Ministry's vision of a World Class Transport system? Can he also comment on the quality of service, for example, quality of ride, time to destination, accidents, schedules, apart from the infrastructures?”
“Sir, on the programmes to bridge the digital divide, the Government has committed to spend about $25 million over three years to help our community outside the schools to bridge this so-called digital divide, and various languages, as media, are also used in order to facilitate this access to the world of Internet. The 2-roomers and 3-roomers in the HDB estates should be given access to this use of Internet readily. Access to the world of Internet may mean many things. Definitely, we can start by having a PC and get connected. Poorer families may have no such access in having a PC, and paying for the subscription can be quite costly. Access can also mean proximity to community centres or such programmes as currently run by IDA or funded by IDA, CDCs, CCMCs and so on. Will the Minister consider extending this project to Residents' Committees and PAP Community Foundation Centres, with co-funding of such projects? I feel that extending to the RCs and the PCF centres is a good way of reaching out at the grassroots level and provides a useful medium for grassroots to keep close to the people. Also, RCs and PAP Community Foundation Centres, being in the heart of the HDB estates, are nearer and give convenience to the children in the nearby flats.”
“In fact, we have already in place a programme known as the International Contents Hosting Scheme whereby we provide very strong incentives for all these broadband contents owners to bring their contents to Singapore for the Asia-Pacific markets. Our third priority is in the area of content delivery. We are going to continue to facilitate and encourage the telecommunications operators and building owners to bring broadband infrastructure to more buildings, hotels and commercial buildings, so that, in time to come, all businesses would have easy access to broadband contents from their workplaces. Sir, in conclusion, we are committed to continue to build on our broadband foundation which we have developed over the last three to four years and will continue to embrace new broadband technology, such as the 3G and so on. At the end of the day, it is our objective and priority to make sure that Singapore will remain a leading nation in broadband development as we pursue the vision of the new economy and an information society.”
“Our dream is very much like the dream that he has described, but maybe with one difference. That is, it will not necessarily be centred around computers alone. We believe that in the world of the future, computers would be one device, but there will be many other broadband appliances. In fact, with broadband Internet, 3G, and Internet appliances, the day will come when Singaporeans will be able to have access to broadband Internet, multimedia content any time, any place, using almost any device, to access almost any form of media. In that regard, we fully agree with Mr Chay Wai Chuen and Mr Chng Hee Kok that broadband development will have a positive impact on the long-term competitiveness of Singapore. This is why we do look at the future development of broadband Internet with a lot of priority and emphasis. I would just like to highlight three areas where we will continue to intervene, facilitate and develop. The first area of priority is in content development. We intend to continue to speed up the development of innovative contents and pioneering broadband applications in areas such as e-Learning, edutainment and e-Home. Under the incentives programme that we provide, we have, for example, programmes for new media and contents enrichment. We will continue to incentivise the industry and the user organisations to move in this area. The second area of priority is in content hosting and application development. We will continue to attract more regional as well as the global players to come to Singapore to host their broadband contents out of Singapore, not just for the Singapore market, but also for the regional and the Asia Pacific market.”
“For example, we are now working with the Ministry of Education on a programme called FastTrack@School, where we are experimenting with broadband Internet and multimedia content in the schools. Sir, about 27 schools are now on this programme. And we will continue to provide subsidies and incentives to these users under this programme. For the mass market on the whole, we expect the charges for broadband Internet in time to come to become even more attractive and, at the same time, the quality of service to improve for at least two reasons. Firstly, the liberalisation of the telecommunications market has led to, and will continue to lead to, further reductions in the cost of International Leased Circuit. This means that with the lower cost of ILC, the cost of broadband access should come down. Secondly, we have put in place an open access framework to ensure that the broadband infrastructure will not be monopolised by any particular broadband access service provider. For example, since October last year, we have enforced open access on ADSL, the telephone line owned by SingTel. So there are now four broadband access service providers providing ADSL services, and they are: SingNet, Pacific Century Cyberworks and Pacific Internet, in addition to SingTel Magix. In time to come, we believe that, with open access, there will be more broadband access service providers in the marketplace. Through this more intense competition among them, cost will come down and the quality of service will go up. We think this is a more sustainable way of growing the broadband market in Singapore, instead of relying on Government subsidies all the time. Sir, looking ahead, where do we go from here? I share the point by Prof. Toh See Kiat that we do have a dream.”
“So there was no reason for subscribers to go on broadband Internet. But, if we are not able to grow the user base, the application and service providers are not going to develop their applications. In order to break this cycle, we decided to jumpstart the user base in Singapore. The Government, therefore, decided to subsidise, firstly, the cost of the modem. We subsidised 70% of the cost of broadband modem to the users. Secondly, we provided subsidies on the cost of International Leased Circuits (ILC) because, in the case of Singapore, many users access contents that are hosted in the USA. ILC is therefore a high-cost item. Before we liberalised the telecommunications market, ILC cost in Singapore indeed was higher, compared to Hong Kong and other countries. So we decided to break the chain by subsidising cable and ADSL modems, as well as the cost of ILC. Because of the subsidies, we were able to expand the base of the broadband users to where we are today - 270,000. Having achieved this 270,000 base, our assessment is that we have done enough in terms of creating a critical mass of users and, therefore, we decided that it is now time for the market forces to take full effect. That is why, effective from December last year, we removed the subsidy on broadband modem and, on 1st October this year, we will remove the subsidies for ILC so that competition can take over. Does this mean that the cost of broadband Internet will now increase to beyond the affordability of the users? Again, Sir, we do not think so. Firstly, for the early adopters, we will continue to subsidise the cost of access to broadband Internet.”
“These are multimedia, rich content and rich media newspapers. If we look at e-learning applications, again, these are broadband-based multimedia. For lifestyle entertainment, we can look at e-magazines. Again, they come in all kinds of content - video, music and so on. Cyber shopping, it can now be conducted in 3D; video and KTV - Chinese, English, Malay and so on - they are now available. Lately, companies are using S-One to do product marketing through the use of streaming video. On the whole, I would say that S-One is certainly not a road to nowhere. Can it be better? Of course, it can be better. On the comments that subscription to S-One broadband costs an arm and a leg, I do not think this is the case. Sir, in the last one year alone, we have seen the cost of broadband access coming down very rapidly. As an illustration, the cost of unlimited broadband access on cable TV, through SCV, has now fallen to $66 for those who are cable TV subscribers, and $76 for those who are non-subscribers. If we go to SingNet, for example, we can now get 25 hours of broadband access for about $45 - cheaper than Hong Kong and comparable to the price in Taiwan. So, on the whole, the cost of broadband access in Singapore is as cost-competitive as any other country we can find. Of course, I note that some Members are concerned that the cost of broadband access may go up on 1st April 2001, with the reduction in Government subsidies. Sir, let me just take a few minutes to explain why the subsidy was there in the first instance. In 1998/1999, when we wanted to promote the use of Singapore ONE and broadband in Singapore, the take-up rate was slow because, exactly as Prof. Toh See Kiat mentioned, it was a road to nowhere. There was no content, no application.”
“Firstly, where are we today, and secondly, where do we go from here. Firstly, where are we today? Are we in the nightmare scenario, as painted by Prof. Toh See Kiat? Sir, I do not think so. As pointed out by Mr Chay Wai Chuen and Mr Chng Hee Kok, we are among the first countries in the world to embark on broadband development way back in 1997/1998. Today, our efforts in promoting the use of broadband are bearing fruits. For example, the number of broadband users in Singapore has more than doubled from 100,000 in December 1999 to over 270,000 by the end of last year. Mr Chng Hee Kok mentioned the fast growth in South Korea. He is right. South Korea is making tremendous progress in the adoption of broadband. But if you look at Singapore's statistics, we have not performed any worse either. In fact, 270,000 broadband users work out to about one in six Internet users, meaning that out of six Internet users in Singapore today, one is a broadband Internet adopter. This penetration rate places Singapore among one of the highest in the world. Prof. Toh See Kiat commented that S-One today is a road to nowhere. Sir, I am happy to report that this is indeed not the case. Initially, the main attraction of broadband Internet was to provide a fast access to narrowband Internet. This was how broadband Internet was positioned in 1999 and 2000. 6.00 pm But, today, the situation has changed tremendously. Take, for example, the case of Singapore. We now have more than 300 applications developed in Singapore on broadband Internet. This is an increase of 50% from a year ago. If we were to go to Singapore ONE today, we can see very interesting applications and contents relating to, for example, online newspapers. And these are not just the narrowband newspapers.”
“He has argued that, just only a month ago, it was going to be $150 million. In other words, this technology moves so fast and prices have moved just as fast. But having said that, Sir, even if we reduced the reserve price to $100 million, industry sources say the minimum bid price, if based on $100 million, works out to some US$60 for each Singaporean. This compares to Switzerland, where the bids tumbled to US$17 per citizen, a point which I raised at Question Time few weeks ago. The Minister was arguing why that is economically correct. I think by the time the tender comes out and maybe give another month, hopefully, we will see something like $50 million if we agree to adopt the road building model. In other words, we have to create the broadband, both wireless and non-wireless. And if the development of broadband is really necessary for the long-term viability and success, then I think we have to adopt a different business model. In this case, the road building model is really best suited for our needs because the country does not really need the money. What we need is a system in place and worry about getting the money later on, not getting the money upfront. The Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology (Mr Lim Swee Say): Sir, I thank the Members for their interest and comments on the broadband development in Singapore. Basically, Mr Chay Wai Chuen, Prof. Toh See Kiat and Mr Chng Hee Kok asked about where are we today, in terms of take-up rate, content, application development, cost of access, subsidy, quality of service, and so on. They would also like to know what are we doing to sustain the future development of broadband in Singapore. Sir, if I may respond broadly from two aspects.”
“When I visited Seoul in November last year for a trade show, scores of Korean companies were on display developing software for Internet. Look right and left and one cannot help but see the URLs instead of company names on most commercial buildings. We do not see that in Singapore. Today, in Singapore, we have no more than 300,000 subscribers. We read of slow service complaints in the Forum pages of our dailies. I understand that the speed of the SCV service drops to as low as 26 kbps. A dial-up modem now can get you something like 56 kbps. Is it due to the fact that SCV is buying insufficient bandwidth from SingTel, a point which was made earlier by Prof. Toh See Kiat? Sir, besides slow service, there are also complaints that it is expensive. Effective from next month, we all know, it is going to be even more expensive when the subsidy from the IDA is removed. This will be a bigger impediment to the growth of broadband. Is the Government not concerned about this? Is it not the Government's duty to fund its further development? If broadband is so crucial to our long-term well-being, the question that comes to mind is whether the Government is doing enough. Maybe not. Broadband infrastructure is akin to the building of roads and rolling stock of our MRT. One can imagine where we will be today if we charge the full cost of the roads and rolling stock to the consumers. Sir, since 3G is also a piece of the broadband jigsaw, we have to develop this with the concept of road building in mind. Instead, we can readily see where the Government is heading. The Government is trying to squeeze as much out of the consumers on the front end by setting a high reserve price for the coming auction, despite what the Minister said that the price has now dropped to $100 million.”
“Perhaps, the winners of the 3G licences could be given a 30% discount if they can devote resources to building up a credible industry association, or watchdog body, to assist the IDA in its regulatory activities. Finally, Sir, would it be possible to give tax breaks to companies which come up with innovative uses of broadband in their business? It should not matter in this case for the tax break whether they have devised new content or a new way to provide value-added services or simply to do their own work and business better. We need every hand at the helm as we steer our ship into the murky waters of the broadband future. I hope the Minister agrees with me. Mr Chng Hee Kok: Sir, the successful development and implementation of broadband network is a must if the country is to compete with the rest of the world. A broadband network used by the greatest number of Singaporeans will not only improve our lives, but necessary for business and the running of e-Government. I can safely say that this will determine and sharpen our long-term competitiveness as a nation. In the business environment of tomorrow, a good communication system is no more than just a telephone system that works. It is the ability to transmit and receive high volume of digital information that defines the competitive edge of nations. Therefore, when other countries in the developing world are floundering, we must take every opportunity to move ahead. But, Sir, not all countries are floundering though. South Korea, not a country strong in the English Language, has taken to broadband and the Internet like fish to water, despite not quite coming out of the Asian financial crisis. Today, there are no less than 3.4 million subscribers of broadband service.”
“(3) EDB-type incentive programmes and tax breaks should be given to content providers to provide content on our broadband network. The IDA should go on a roadshow round the world to attract talents and investors here to develop the content industry. Venture capital and seed funding should be freely and liberally available to start-ups to enable them to try out risky innovations and experimental ventures. Tax deductions and exemptions should be available to those who risk their capital this way. Not every cent we have should go willy-nilly into the still-nebulous one basket called "life sciences". (4) The Government should seriously consider pumping in more resources to develop the movie industry, the graphics and animation industry, the music industry and the software industry. We should not only devote monetary resources to build up our local giants but also liberalise immigration policies to attract talents to come to Singapore to dig for gold in these here streets of Singapore. Our schools and institutes of higher learning should initiate courses to train such of our youths who are inclined that way. We should put the stars in their eyes and take away all the barriers in our educational system (or in their parents' expectations) so that they will venture out to work in such unconventional, untraditional jobs and industries. Perhaps, MediaCorp or MediaWorks can give out scholarships and guaranteed jobs - the way our GLCs did when they developed our fledgling airline and shipping line so many years ago. (5) There should be a tougher stance on anti-competitive practices. The regulator is too congenial. Hence, there is inadequate incentive for self-regulation. Without some painful elbowing in the sides of the industry players, nothing will move.”
“While this is largely true, I would like to remind Members that what the EDB has done is to make Singapore a thriving manufacturing centre by giving grants, tax breaks and various other incentives to bring investors to Singapore, and not just building industrial estates and science parks. We formed the EDB to help them also to smooth over the rough passages so that they will not trip over the carpet in some bureaucrat's office. The Government has given itself a target of 400,000 users of broadband by end 2001. The thinking of course is that a critical mass of this size is important so that broadband providers would find a sufficiently large market base to roll out pilot projects. Again, this is a commendable move. But with broadband charges going up, how is the Government going to achieve that target? Sir, may I take the liberty to suggest some possibilities for the Minister to consider? (1) We should, if we cannot reduce charges, continue to give subsidies to people who sign up for broadband access. The current subsidies end on 1st April. The scheme should be extended, and better still, the subsidy rates increased. (2) Free broadband access should be given to all Community Children's Libraries (CCLs), Residents Committees (RCs), community centres (CCs) and clubs in Singapore. And when the access is easy and the presence of the broadband services ubiquitous, people will grow familiar with broadband. Familiarity drives out fear and the biggest barrier to growth will be gone. Soon everybody will be using broadband as comfortably as they do with the ATM or the fax machine today. The Government can pay the full costs of, say, two accounts per RC or CCL and, perhaps, up to five accounts per CC.”
“Yet when it comes to the critical age of the Internet, we have farmed out infrastructure development to the private sector, to the highest bidder there is. And the winner invariably has to pass the final cost to the consumer, on top of his margin of profit (which will of course be high also if he has few real competitors). Sir, it is commendable that the Government has broken SingTel's monopoly on broadband infrastructure, and we are fortunate that the technology itself has improved sufficiently for there to be more than one non-telco competitor. You see, Sir, duopolies and cartels can be as harmful as monopolies. And yet in our first days on the Superhighway, we had two monopolies in SingTel and SCV. It was one or the other: ADSL or cable. Mutually exclusive. And until we have alternative copper wire networks owned not by SingTel, there is still a chokehold on the supply. Whether it is Pacific Internet or Superpromises Internet - they all have to buy space from SingTel, whose access costs can kill off the budding competitor, or whose business practices will ensure that the budding competitor cannot survive one day beyond the deadline for paying up his phone bill, or whose control of the lines and the technology could ensure that subscribers of cable, for example, would not be able to interface with certain services and content hosted on SingTel servers. Result: you have to get both ADSL and cable. As for content, Sir, it would seem very much a private sector problem. After all, when the roads are built, it is the private sector which puts up the cinemas, shopping malls, petrol stations, bowling alleys and whatnot.”
“We dream that the same computers can keep them informed of what is happening around them, educate them and allow others (such as the Government or their town council) to communicate and interact with them. We dream, too, that these computers will entertain them; pushing them movies, news programmes, talk shows, music - all at their own time, in their own space. The one computer will be work manager, communicator, entertainer, book-newspaper-telephone-fax-TV all rolled into one. And it will come to pass when broadband rules this land. But, Sir, before that dream is realised, we have to go through a nightmare. The modems into computers jam up the massive amounts of data that are being pumped into them. The technology to clear that jam is called "broadband". The Information Superhighway must be a 20-lane road and not the 2-lane road it is today. Building the roads costs money, and after that the users have to pay an arm and a leg (and maybe more) for the private investors to recoup their investments. Worse still, the roads lead to nowhere. There is nothing to do or see, nothing to engage us and nowhere to go when we finally gain access to the valuable Superhighway. In the geek world, we call these the problems of "cost" and "content". 5.45 pm Roads have to be built for a country to be developed. This initial infrastructure is usually provided for by governments. If private sector developers are employed, the cost of use is often subsidised - unless the country has developed to a point where this new road is but one of many other cheaper alternatives. The costs of these roads are high, but no government worth its salt passes the full cost to the user. We built our physical roads in Singapore on that model.”
“Sir, on broadband development, Singapore is the first country in the world to have installed a nationwide interactive broadband multimedia network in 1997. Since then, I have wondered what is the state of affairs of this nationwide network. Has it been put to good and effective use? There is no doubt that broadband network with big capacity and fast speed is good. But everything has a cost, as the Minister for Finance will tell you. Has the Ministry of Finance's allocation for the broadband project been successfully implemented with an equitable social rate of return? Being such a big-scale project, naturally we do not expect immediate returns. But is the Minister satisfied that we are there? How many customers are there using the Singapore One network in business or at home? Does the network suffer from a lack of content or usage? Cost is one important factor in attracting usage as consumers may be quite satisfied with accessing Internet at a slower speed if broadband access costs are high compared to narrow band Internet access. Given the price elasticity of such demand, especially at our population's income level, many of the people may consider this a luxury. How does the Minister intend to extend usage to attain a certain market size which can then lower cost of content? Assoc. Prof. Toh See Kiat (Aljunied): Sir, we have a dream. We dream that one day every household in Singapore will have a computer, or two - just as they have TVs and telephones today. We dream that these computers will help them do their work, exchange ideas with colleagues around the world, and send off the work product to the boss - whether this product is a document, a book, a film or new software, and whether the boss is here in Singapore or on an orbiting space station.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. The Government compensated the telecommunication companies about $2 billion for accelerating the pace of liberalisation of the industry. After almost a year of earlier compensation, can the Minister provide us with a balance sheet of cost benefits of the spending? Can the Minister give us an update of the liberalisation process? Has it been able to attract new entrants in providing service to customers, and at what level of investment? In general, have the consumers seen the benefit of lower cost or more value for the dollar? Sir, my next cut is on 3G auction. The Government has come up with a proposal of setting a reserve price for the auctioning of the four new third generation telecommunication licences. Will the Minister enlighten the House on the state of the preliminary evaluation and the justification for still sticking to the announced reserve price to the participants? Bearing in mind that the level of investment the successful bidder will have to fork out to abide by the rules, which can run into tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars, and the speed at which the technology in this field can get obsolete very fast, will the Minister not consider going for a lower reserve price plus a royalty percentage on turnover to lower the risk for the participants? This can also lower the restrictive development of the industry in the future, because of high capital cost and minimise the risk of any disruptive technological change for the industry players. It can also lead to more participation in the auction with the likely promise of more customer-oriented service and, possibly, more competitive business which it is intended to serve.”
“Today, consumers there are not benefitting from the liberalisation programme. While the Government would like to liberalise or deregulate certain sectors or privatise certain businesses, it must not do so on the sacred cow, forsaking convenience and customer service, and for the small guy and the people at large. The example of DBS and POSBank, and Singapore Power come to mind. At the end of the day, I hope we should remember that good old economic value analysis still applies, whether in the old or new economy. Capital has its price, and business is about serving customers. We are transferring billions of dollars from the revenue stream onto all kinds of Funds - Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, Medical Endowment Fund, ElderCare Fund, etc. I hope the Minister has some mechanism to monitor whether these funds are put to good productive use. These tax offsets and rebates given this year will help make an impact on the overall population. The Government promised last year that significant steps will be taken to uplift our people by financial assistance, by access to education and learning funding for school-based or work-based learning, to level up society in the wake of the income inequality from globalisation challenges. I think it is delivering all this. A tax cut on property from 12% to 10% is quite across the board, impacting many Singaporeans. The reduction in individual income tax by 2-5 percentage points for all bands will significantly impact Singaporeans from all walks of life. The generous service and conservancy charges and rental rebates granted for HDB dwellers are welcome goodies from the Minister. Many low income families and retirees will appreciate this gesture from the Government towards building a caring society. Sir, I support the motion.”
“9% in the economy did not quite reflect its lustrous performance in the monetary aggregates of M1 and M3, narrow money and broad money. M1 only grew by 7%, while broad money, M3, had been declining since 1998, and since August 2000, M2 has actually been shrinking. This is an unusual phenomenon, as strong economic growth usually correlates with growth in the money supply. I hazard a guess that domestic money is seeking refuge in foreign money for better returns, either as deposits or as foreign equity or assets. Last year, in the balance of payments figures, the Net Financial Account Deficit was $19.7 billion, quite sizable, although reduced from the previous year. Since 1996, on the balance of payments Capital and Financial Account Balance, there has been a net private sector financial outflow of funds on the capital accounts. These figures and the general perception of "where is this growth coming from?", coupled with this deflationary pull of a huge budget surplus, underline my concern on the state of the economy. The third area concerns deregulation in this new era economy, especially in telecommunications, utilities and Government statutory boards. Deregulation and liberalisation are important for introducing competition and customer-oriented development for efficiency. But by themselves, they are no panacea. Just like the hype about the new economy where at one time, it was even touted that the more chaotic and fuzzy the thinking, the better the prospect and potential for the new economy valuation, deregulation and liberalisation of the New Zealand economy, for example, one of the world's first pioneer in government sector liberalisation and deregulation, did not quite make for efficiency and customer satisfaction.”