Chiam See Tong
Singapore
“Sir, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund companies, Temasek Holdings and GIC, returned 17% and 9.5% yearly respectively, using largely Singaporeans' CPF money. Why is CPF returning 2.5% on the Ordinary Account and 4% on the Special Account only?”
“Thank you, Sir, for allowing me to take part in this debate. Under Singapore law, single parents are treated as singles who are not eligible to purchase a Housing Board flat unless they are 35 years old and they are also given reduced children benefits like lesser maternity leave and no Baby Bonus.”
“Sir, the collection of revenue from ERP gantries is way above the total amount of revenue lost by the Government from the exemption of household TV and radio licences. I would urge the Government to review and reduce the charges at ERP gantries for vehicles entering the ERP zones.”
“Although the Government is pumping $120 million a year to support needy students in all levels through a slew of enhanced financial aid schemes, schools funds and bursaries, we should not forget to look into the plight of students who have been cheated by unscrupulous education centres by helping affected students to pay or re-finance the…”
“Thank you, Mr Chairman, for allowing me to join in the debate. I would like to touch on fairer distribution of treating scholars amongst schools. MOE should ensure fairer distribution of teaching scholarship holders after graduation from NIE to the various schools.”
“Children and adults with special needs deserve better protection. It will reduce the anxiety of both caregivers and patients with special needs, like the mentally-ill and autistic children. I urge the Government to issue special I-cards to these patients.”
The complete record
Every one of 4,205 lines we hold for Chiam See Tong, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 11 of 85.
“Sir, I have a few questions about e-voting. On the road-show that the Minister is talking about, when will it come on? The second question is how many constituencies will have e-voting?”
“Since some speakers have mentioned about the use of electronic voting, I should just like to ask the Minister to clarify one point. Overseas voting and electronic voting are two new elements that were brought in recently through the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill. Would the Minister confirm that the Elections Department would still carry on with the electronic voting pilot scheme in Singapore? Sir, I support the Bill.”
“They would feel that they are more Singaporean, and they also want to reassure themselves that they are citizens of Singapore. I think the Government should lift the suspension for overseas voting and allow our citizens living abroad to vote at the next General Election, at the same time, of course, making sure that all security measures are taken. If the Government thinks that to open all five overseas centres is not very safe, then, at least, it should allow the other four centres to go on. There are substantial numbers of Singapore citizens abroad, other than those residing in America. Overseas voters who are not living in America should be given a chance to vote, and I would even suggest that, perhaps, more overseas voting centres be opened. For example, in Australia, other than just having it only in Canberra, we may have one, say, in Perth. I understand that there are many, many Singapore students aged over 21 who are studying in Perth. They should be given a chance to vote. Also, there are many people who go over to China to do business. They should be given a chance to vote. Maybe one other centre can be opened, other than Beijing. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, Sir, as I listened to the speakers before me, it is important that they be aware of the security issue, and that they have not given sufficient attention to that aspect. I agree entirely with the Minister that the security of our citizens, especially in overseas stations, is paramount. Citizens probably would prefer to exercise their rights in reasonably secure situations, and it would be best if their lives not be put at risk due to the enhanced security problems now in the West.”
“Thank you, Sir, for allowing me to join in the debate. Most overseas voters, as indicated by letters sent to the press, are disappointed that they are not allowed to vote at the next General Election. The reason given by the Government for scrapping overseas voting is that the overseas Missions are not able to maintain sufficient security in the light of the 11th September terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC, USA. However, most overseas voters appear to be sceptical of the reason given by the Government. One overseas voter asked, "If Washington is dangerous, then why not continue with the voting at the other four designated centres in London, Beijing, Hong Kong and Canberra?" Indeed, why not? Many are also surprised that our overseas Missions lack confidence in their security systems. The fact that the Government is quick to cancel all overseas voting shows the attitude of the Government towards the constitutional rights of its citizens. For a long time now, the Opposition suspects that the Government has never been enthusiastic about the elections. At each General Election, it wants to get it over as fast as possible. Many General Elections had been held at the most awkward times, either during festive-end or rainy seasons. And the minimum time under the Constitution, nine days, is given for canvassing. The scrapping of overseas voting in double-quick time is evidence that the Government is not too keen on giving Singaporeans their constitutional right to vote. Most overseas voters who wrote to the press recently indicated that they want to vote at the next General Election, despite the terrorist attacks. They feel that when they have voted, they would have a stronger bond to their homeland.”
“Can I have the opportunity to clarify with Mr Ong Kian Min? Sir, I certainly did not say that I want Mr Goh to stop the residents at Potong Pasir from accepting the shares. In fact, I did say that if shares, or anything free is given to a resident, it will be most welcomed. But I also did say that the receiver will certainly be obliged to the giver.”
“Then you can have one-quarter less of our school size. At the moment, we have got about 40. I think 30 should be a manageable size. And I wish some of this money will go to activate the economy, pass the money around a bit to go into building more schools - 25% more schools than what we have today. I see the Minister for Education is not here today. I welcome, of course, lowering of rentals in HDB flats. HDB shopkeepers are for many months now in a bit of a fix with very, very poor business, mainly because young people have changed their style of living and they do not believe in shopping in their own neighbourhood shops anymore. They prefer to go to the supermarket and nice air-conditioned shops to do their shopping. So I think anything that they can do to help the HDB shops are welcome by me. I also welcome the rebates given to HDB flat dwellers. In the first place, why should water and electricity bills be so high? If you keep them low, you do not have to give them all these rebates. So I hope that after all these rebates have been given, like what Mr Low Thia Khiang said, all these utilities bills should remain permanently low. It shows that with the need to give rebates, all these bills and charges are definitely too high.”
“All these tens of dollars that he can save from all these off-Budget measures will be used up when he buys a new flat which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I do not know. It seems that this policy counter-cancels each other. Again, I hear training for the retrenched. I have heard this many times. Whenever there is a problem, it is always retraining. We have so many retraining programmes. What is happening to all these retraining programmes? Are they doing any good at all to the workers? I personally think that there is something wrong with our education system. I think we should start in our schools. We should teach them to read, write and converse properly in English, and let them understand the language. Without an understanding of the language, you can learn nothing. So we should go back to the basics - teach them the 3R's, teach them the right attitude towards work and the willingness to change their work when it needs be. I think that will save a lot of these retraining programmes that we have been speaking of many times in this House. The other thing is I do agree that we should have pump priming. But in your pump priming measures I see that there is no pump priming in building more schools. I have objected many times in this House and said that our classes of 40 are too large. You cannot teach a class of 40. No wonder so many of our students leave school without even knowing how to read and write proper English. I think there is no opportunity to teach them properly. So we must have smaller classes. If we have more smaller classes, you just have to build more schools. I do not see any of this money going into building more schools. I wish they did. I think we need at least another 25% more schools built.”
“This budget is basically, from what I have heard from many speakers here, to tide over this very difficult period. I have never heard this will improve our economy. I suppose even with the people in the PAP think tank, we cannot improve the economic situation at this point. We just have to sit and wait. It is just like a flu. There is no cure apparently for flu. You just have to let it take its course. So I hope the Government will admit that this is a kind of flu, an economic flu, where they cannot do anything. They just have to sit tight, give some financial help to the unemployed, people who are sick, old age and those in the HDB flats who are given lower rentals. Just sit and hang on until the whole thing is over, until good weather comes again. My point is that even how smart the PAP is, they cannot do anything about it. I think Mr Inderjit Singh has mentioned about taking away the anti-speculative measures in land. I agree with him. The Government believes that land value just cannot escalate sky high all of a sudden. That will cause a bubble effect, people become multi-millionaires overnight. It shows that the Government wants land prices to be high. And then the suspension of land sales makes land become more rare, thus the prices will go higher. The point is this: if land prices go higher, and with all these off-Budget measures given to, say, an HDB dweller, and he saves a bit of money, and when the time comes to upgrade himself, when times are better, all the prices of land will shoot sky high and all that the savings that he has been given by the Government will go into the purchase of a new flat. So where does he stand? He is still not much better, despite the $11.3 billion off-Budget measures that are supposedly given to him.”
“Here you are, $200."? Or, "Here is a coupon ($40) for you to buy your rice and your bread." [Interruptions.] No, these are Government funds he is giving away. CDC is Government fund. So when I read about this targeted help for certain people, I begin to wonder how does it affect us and the Opposition. And then giving away New Singapore Shares free of charge! I think Prof. Low Seow Chay again has made it very clear, in fact, about a small family in an HDB flat who is very poor, and here you have somebody coming along to give them $1,000 or $2,000, and in the end, they ended up with $5,000 shares. How do you think this family will feel? You give him the money, of course he accepts. What do you think? He is not going to say "no". Surely, he will definitely accept the money. But the point is this: we are not supposed to give away things free. You have to earn your money and if somebody comes to give you something free, obviously you are obligated to him. So, to put it more frankly, I think this is buying votes. No doubt, these schemes are all supposed to be quite altruistic to help people tide over this very difficult economic situation in Singapore, which, I believe, the Government wants to do. But the way they do it is a very great disadvantage to the Opposition. So, obviously, politics has a part to play in this $11.3 billion off-Budget measures. At first, it was only $2.2 billion - that was not many months ago - and suddenly this amount has increased five times. I was wondering why suddenly it has increased to five times. So they must add in all these things, like giving away shares free of charge, giving away money to targeted people who are in need of money. So probably you add them all up, it comes to $11.3 billion.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. I see that Mr Sin Boon Ann has given a Churchillian speech here, but I am afraid that the Opposition do not agree with him. It is true that this round, the downturn of the economy is unlike the others. In 1963/64, we had the oil crises. In 1985/86, we had the economic downturn, and then recently in 1997/98 we had the financial crisis. So this time it is apparently quite different and it is quite serious because it is not purely on costs alone. It is a cyclical effect. From what I know of cyclical effect, world economy rises like waves. Now we are apparently in the trough. So we have to wait for things to turn around and get into the crest again. I suppose the $11.3 billion off-Budget measures can help Singaporeans and Singapore businesses to tide over this period. Hopefully, it would not be too long. I believe Prof. Low Seow Chay has given four reasons for these particular off-Budget measures. But I can think of the fifth reason. I think the fifth reason is also political. Election is just around the corner. It has a bearing on the off-Budget measures. We have a targeted approach to those who are unemployed. What does it mean by "targeted"? It is quite surgical actually. Of course, Government's main policy is it does not believe in giving away handouts. But when it comes to the Government's purpose, the PAP's purpose, their own rules are all not taken account of. I mention this because I am in the Opposition and we feel it. The Government MPs, of course, do not feel it. How do you like, if you are in a constituency like Potong Pasir working very hard, trying to do a lot of things for the people, when your prospective candidate comes along, knocks at the door and asks, "Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“Sir, when I read the Bill, my concern was the loss of confidentiality of the CPF member in regard to his CPF account. I have just heard the Minister say that there are good preventive measures against insurance companies abusing their ability to have access to CPF accounts. But from what I read here, the insurance companies do not only have access to the main account of the CPF member but also including information relating to the amount standing to his credit in his Medisave account. In other words, they not only have access to the Medisave account, but also to the other accounts. So maybe the Minister could clarify on that point. I wonder whether the Minister has thought of any other schemes whereby CPF members could approach the insurance company and it could tell them whether or not they qualify, rather than for the insurance company to be given a blanket right to look into CPF accounts. Sir, I know the CPF Board is very strict on this point. Even we, as lawyers, have no access to our clients' CPF accounts. If we want to know what is in our CPF accounts, sometimes when we need to know that, we have to get the member's written consent or authority before we can have a look at his account. So perhaps the Minister could assure the House that this access to CPF accounts is definitely not likely to be abused. I have also heard the Minister saying that insurance companies wanting to participate in this scheme are subject to tenders. I hope that the Government shall be fair in approving insurance companies which wish to run this scheme, and not only to give a few select preferred insurance companies to have the monopoly of the business.”
“Sir, I attended many rallies but I think there should be a distinction between election rallies where the fever runs very high and non-election rallies. These days, it is difficult even to get interest in such rallies. So how can there be law and order problems? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Mr Chiam should not complain that it is difficult in getting people to be interested. I think it all depends on the party that is holding the rally. If they have interesting speakers and they are able to hold the participants' interest, there could be a high interest. It is the intrinsic nature of political rallies. Like I have said, it is the nature of the speeches being made and the fact that the audience can be a mixed audience - some are supporting you, some are not. So I think it is better to be safe than sorry.”
“Sir, can the Minister of State cite one example of a rally where there was law and order problem? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, the purpose of having CISCO guards is to prevent law and order problems. The presence of CISCO guards, for example, will deter trouble-makers from coming to the stadium and, indeed if they are there, from creating trouble. I am sure Mr Chiam must know that political rallies do elicit emotional responses. You get all kinds of people who are attending. You get speakers making speeches which are probably critical and attacking policies and so forth. I think we should be on the safe side. Mr Chiam is a veteran of many political campaigns and of many general elections. I am sure he has seen political rallies where there have been such high emotions. Indeed in past elections, there have been rallies, particularly of Opposition parties, that attracted thousands of people, and some people have been unruly. So I think we should be on the safe side.”
“They no longer need to consult MAS in either case. STEM CELLS FROM HUMAN EMBRYOS (Research) 12. Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Health whether research on stem cells from human embryos has proceeded in Singapore and, if so, whether there has been due consideration of the moral and religious dimensions.”
“Can the Minister tell us whether or not they have paid consultants up to $1.5 million at a time? BG Lee Hsien Loong: I do not have an off-hand answer, but I would not be surprised if we have had consultancy projects which are worth more than that. For example, when we first designed the MRT system, we engaged several sets of consultants and I imagine we must have paid them several million dollars. ; BANKS' NAMES AND CORPORATE SIGNAGES ON BUILDINGS (Use for advertisement purposes) 11. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua asked the Deputy Prime Minister, in view of recent changes to the Banking Act and of consolidation within the banking sector, whether there are any restrictions on the use of banks' names and corporate signages on buildings for advertisement purposes. BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, up to now, MAS has not allowed banks to exercise naming rights to buildings, or display their corporate signages on buildings, unless they own at least 50% of the building. This is to minimise the risk of depositors misunderstanding that these buildings are assets of the bank, and will be available to meet claims should the bank encounter problems. MAS has reviewed this policy and decided that it is no longer necessary. The public should not associate the ownership of a building with a bank's financial strength. A bank's strength lies in the size and quality of its overall operations. Buildings are likely to constitute only a small percentage of a bank's total assets, especially in the case of foreign banks. Bank supervisors in most other countries also do not impose any such restriction. Banks are henceforth free to negotiate with owners of buildings for naming rights, and to seek approval from URA for displaying signages on buildings, just like any other business.”
“Does the Government have the same problem as the recent problem in Thailand where the Ministers over there objected to the high fees to be paid to a foreign consultant there? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not sure whether in Thailand the Minister or the MP complained. In Singapore, when we engage consultants or when we spend any Government money, it is a very careful decision. There are tender procedures which have to be followed. We must satisfy ourselves that this is money spent on a good purpose which is worthwhile doing and furthermore, that the price is reasonable. There are procedures for approving all these Government expenditures. If it is going to be very large or likely to be contentious, the Cabinet is aware of it, and there have not been cases where the Cabinet has argued over whether it is worth spending the money.”
“Can I clarify with the Minister that, in fact, seven months' imports is only a guideline, and there is no limit to collections for our reserves?”
“Sir, assuming that we exceed seven months' imports, do we still continue to collect money to increase the reserves?”
“Sir, if I am not mistaken, our reserve is in S$139 billion now. Is this not in excess of six months' imports?”
“Therefore, the surpluses and reserves are tied. They are the same, are they not? If you have got less surpluses, that means you have got less to put into the reserves?”
“Are reserves not actually from the surpluses that we have?”
“Sir, we have heard that the reserves have been used for upgrading of HDB flats and because of the downturn, there were not enough reserves, the upgrading of HDB flats was held back. Are these some of the reasons?”
“Sir, are there other reasons than defending our currency against speculative attacks? Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: I do not know specifically what he is asking. I think it is good to have large reserves anyway.”
“Sir, can the Minister tell us whether, other than the three to six months of imports, there are any other reasons for having such high surpluses?”
“Sir, I would like to put on record that the Opposition is very happy that an agreement has been reached between Singapore and Malaysia on the outstanding issues. This is a great progress in the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia. I hope that before we finally sign the agreement, that there is an assurance from Malaysia that Malaysia shall continue to supply raw water to Singapore. I am not asking a question. I am putting on record what the Opposition is going to say.”
“Sir, the Minister has not answered one of my queries in my speech and that is whether articles in local newspapers are covered by clause 2, the definition of election advertising.”
“Thank you, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to ask the hon. Member for Ang Mo Kio to clarify. For a moment, I thought he was debating an amendment to the Women's Charter rather than the Parliamentary Elections Act. Sir, I would like to put on record that I do believe in monogamy. I do not believe in polygamy. Can I clarify with Mr Seng Han Thong that he is not insinuating in any way that I am a polygamist?”
“We have had amongst other civil services, civil servants from Bhutan, Botswana, China, Macau, Thailand and Vietnam, to come to the College, and they use the services which are often specially tailored to the needs of the respective civil services. I think with the increased operational flexibility of a statutory board, the College will be better placed to assemble teams of trainers and consultants quickly in response to these requests. Finally, Mr Loh Meng See asked whether the courses cover all levels of the civil service. The answer is yes. Because training is relevant and important to all levels and so the programmes cater to all levels according to their learning needs, ranging from management development programmes for senior civil servants to office skills programmes for support level civil servants. It does not mean the College does every single course. For example, it does not offer unique vocational training like nursing or civil defence which the professional organisations will provide. But the College provides the broad training programmes for the whole range of the civil service, from the bottom to the top. 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. - [BG Lee Hsien Loong]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. 4.38 pm LAND TITLES (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read.”
“The College also does assist officers who are moved from one department or Ministry to another, as Mr Hawazi has asked. It offers skills programmes to help officers to be trained for new work requirements if this is necessary. Apart from the skills specific programmes, it also has developed mental programmes to help officers prepare for and cope with different transitions in life, including changes in the work environment. Mr Loh Meng See asked about benchmarking against MNCs and the private sector. Most of our programmes are focused on the needs of the public service. That is the main mission of the Civil Service College. But we do recognise that some of these programmes offer a platform for interaction among participants from the public and private sectors which enriches the learning environment and exposes participants to more valid initiatives and perspectives. So although the College's courses are geared towards the public sector, some of these courses are open to private sector participants, except for a few in-house courses which are especially sensitive. Training for foreign civil services - indeed we do provide training as well as consultancy. In fact, the College frequently serves as a one-stop contact point for foreign civil services on matters relating to public service reforms and initiatives because many foreign civil services are interested in finding out more about Singapore's corporate governance. These interactions are valued by the College. They provide opportunities for the learning and sharing of best practices in public administration and they strengthen the understanding between Singapore and the foreign civil services.”
“Because, as Mr Loh Meng See says, the Civil Service College also has to have links with what is happening in the outside world, to be benchmarked against best practices amongst the MNCs. So the two are totally separate, and politics is not in charge, neither are politicians in charge. These are professional educational courses which need to be run for civil servants at all levels, from the top Permanent Secretary potential, all the way down to the clerical officer or to the EO. So it is a completely neutral outfit. It has nothing to do with the travails or the vicissitudes which the Opposition gets into from time to time. I have no doubt that we will inform all civil servants that the Opposition does not consist of animals with horns and sharp teeth, and that they should defuse their fear and suspicion of the Opposition. I will make a point of informing them this. Mr Hawazi asked about e-services. E-services are indeed an important public sector initiative because it is a way for us to improve our service, a way for us to get across to the public to provide our services, to get responses to service them better. Therefore, the College provides a comprehensive range of IT programmes to help the officers to become comfortable and adept at IT in order to support electronic delivery of services. In the management programmes, there are also modules to prompt participants to consider how e-government could be adopted to help respective organisations improve their internal processes and service delivery. The College itself is also adopting infocomm technologies to better service its customers and has started offering e-learning services through its open academy. So this is one significant area for the College to focus on.”
“With the formal establishment of the Civil Service College, I hope that the right things can be taught in this College, to defuse the fear and suspicion of the Opposition, and not treat us as if we are like animals with horns and sharp teeth. I would like to remind the civil servants that we are also Singaporeans who treat Singapore as our home. Our true intention is also to make Singapore a better place to live in. I hope this message somehow can get into the teachings of the Civil Service College. BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, perhaps I will take Mr Chiam's points first since they are fresh and vivid in our minds. Mr Chiam is mistaken. The Civil Service College has nothing to do with the Political Study Centre. The Political Study Centre is what the PAP Government set up in 1959 when it first came into power in order to educate the civil servants in the realities of Singapore's politics and what the communist threat was and what the nation-building priorities were. That was in 1959. The Civil Service College is the successor of what used to be called CSSDI (Civil Service Staff and Development Institute) which was at Heng Mui Keng Terrace at Pasir Panjang. It runs staff courses, courses for middle management, courses for senior management, courses on governance, courses on good English writing, courses on how to be a good civil servant, including how to deal expeditiously with difficult hot potatoes! CSSDI had been there for many years. It was converted into a Civil Service College about a decade ago and now we are going to convert this into a statutory board, so that it can operate more flexibly and have more leeway in hiring people and taking people on contract, in doing activities beyond the strict traditional mandate.”
“Sir, I would take this opportunity to tell the civil servants in Singapore that the Opposition in Singapore is a loyal opposition. We are loyal to the Constitution and loyal to Singapore. We are just as responsible as the ruling party or any other Singaporean in regard to nation building, and keeping Singapore a peaceful and prosperous place. I am saying this because in my early days of participating in politics, my experience was that when the Opposition made an application to the HDB or to the Police for a public entertainment licence, we were treated with suspicion by civil servants. Those applications were in relation to a simple thing like holding a public dinner, and yet there was always a long delay. There was always complete silence to our application. And what we had to do was to send constant reminders and make telephone calls to the authorities, but we got no answers. Those applications, mind you, were not earth shattering applications. They were just simple procedural applications to hold a public dinner. My experience was that when I telephoned an officer, he would say, "Oh, your application has gone all the way up." My goodness, can you believe that? It was a simple application, and the application went all the way up, and no answer had come down yet. That was why there was a delay. Sir, I am not exaggerating. A simple application of the Opposition to hold a public dinner, and yet our application had to go all the way up to the top. Any application from the Opposition appeared to be like a hot potato to the civil servants, and no one wanted to make a decision on it.”
“Sir, I would support the establishment of the Civil Service College as an institution of education to improve the quality of our civil servants. This College, I understand, is not new. It was already in existence on or about the time when the PAP took power in 1959 or thereabouts. But I wonder why after nearly 40 years the Government wants to formalise its establishment. Sir, I support the formal establishment of such a College, but I have some reservations. A glaring anomaly is that it is supposed to be an institution of education, but turns out to be more a political institution. It is not formed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education but under the charge of the Prime Minister's Office. Politicians are made to be in charge of this College and not professional educators. I think this is significant. I stand to be corrected, Sir. I believe that it was formed in the early days to educate civil servants on the threat of Communism and dangerous left-wing elements which were present in those early days. But, today, there are hardly such threats any more. Communism in Russia and China has collapsed for good. Both these countries have abandoned Communism as a doctrine and there is no fear of spread of Communism to other countries, including Singapore, anymore. If such is the case, then what is the thrust of the teachings of the College these days? Singapore is well known for its efficiency. I certainly have no objections to the training of our civil servants to be efficient, but I hope that the efficiency of our civil servants is neutral to all parties. The civil servants must serve the whole population without any fear or favour, and not to favour any political parties.”
“Sir, discrimination against older workers seems to be rather widespread. My experience is also similar to the other MPs. I have heard of complaints of people who are 40 years old and above who find it difficult to get a job. Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether he is willing to legislate against discrimination against older workers.”
“Sir, my question is similar to what Mr Yeo just asked, whether skills training is only confined to Singaporeans. I have got feedback that foreign workers have been sent by private companies to courses which are subsidised by the Government. Can the Minister comment, please?”
“Sir, has the Government spent money to train foreign workers or to upgrade their skills in preference to local workers?”
“Sir, the Minister does not seem to know all the three questions I asked. I do not know whether it is worthwhile continuing.”
“Sir, how many members will be in the Committee?”
“When will the Committee be appointed? Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, I do not know. The Prime Minister has not decided.”
“Sir, the Minister says the work has not started yet. When will the Committee start its work?”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister to clarify the terms of purchase? I hear that Singapore wants to exchange shares and also in cash, and is it true that the cash component is in US dollars? If that is so, is that the cause of the rise in value of US dollar against the Singapore dollar?”
“Will the Ministry reconsider legislating some kind of safety belt for maids working in highrise places?”
“Sir, I think the Ministry should not take the lives of maids very lightly. Since this problem is recurring, there must be something done and the best solution is to legislate, to make it compulsory for maids to wear some kind of a safety belt or something, whilst doing highrise dangerous work as I believe ---”
“Sir, maids falling from highrise buildings is not a new issue. We have debated this issue, I believe, in the Budget session of 2000. At that time ---”
“Yes. Is it possible for the CPF Board to allow him to borrow from his CPF account?”
“Sir, from what the Minister has said, there is, in fact, no advantage at all in putting money into one's CPF account. If a self-employed were to put his money in a bank, in times of hardship, he could go to the bank and withdraw his money. In this particular case, the person came to me and said, "I am broke. My wife wants to leave me. My children want to disown me." He is in a real financial hardship, because his business has failed.”
“Sir, during the Budget session, we have been debating on what it is to be a Singaporean. If all these buildings were knocked down, many of us older Singaporeans would have lost something. The old buildings are very familiar to the older generation and that is how they feel that they have a home in Singapore. If the familiar buildings are gone and, in their places, strange looking buildings are put up, Singapore would be a strange place to them. It is no different from any other city in the world. So Singapore becomes another place. It is no longer the home in which they are so familiar with. I would earnestly urge the Government to take steps to prevent the wholesale demolition of the old pre-war buildings. Greed is a great motivating factor, and we know what developers and house owners of old buildings will do when the next rise in property prices comes along, unless of course they are curbed.”
“Even when they have to spend money repainting and repairing their premises, they will lose much money because they have to take money out of their own pocket to pay first, which the meagre rents they have received all those years cannot make up. Sir, I am thinking of the plight of single persons who are not within the scope of help which the Ministry is going to give. In fact, last night, in my meet-the-people session I saw for the first time such hardship cases. A man, on behalf of his friend who is a 80-year old widow, came to see me. The landlord must have known of the abolition of the Control of Rent Act and has already got a lawyer to send this old lady a notice to quit within a week from 1st April if she cannot pay the new rental, which will be increased from $280, which she is presently paying, to $1,800. So you can see landlords of controlled premises are quick to take advantage of the abolition of the old law. The increase is slightly over seven times. The premises where the old lady lives is in my constituency which is an old building. Sir, there must have been other similar cases throughout the island. The Minister mentioned about 1,000-odd of these premises. I know HDB is doing everything they can to help these tenants. But I hope, somehow or rather, HDB rules can be amended to help accommodate single people. The other point I want to bring up has been mentioned by Mr Simon Tay. This concerns the preservation of old buildings. Sir, once the Bill comes into effect, I am sure landlords will immediately get rid of their tenants and sell the buildings to the developers who will probably pull them down. Or the owners themselves will pull the buildings down and redevelop the land. If these old buildings are demolished, Singapore will be a different place.”
“Sir, I welcome this Control of Rent (Abolition) Bill. It is timely now that Singapore has, more or less, solved the problem of housing in Singapore. But the Control of Rent Act, at the time when it was enacted, was a good law. It was a socialist piece of legislation. It protected the poor tenants from the landlords because, at that particular point of time, there was an acute shortage of housing, and if there were no such law to protect them, the rents would have shot sky-high and they would all have been forced out and to live in the streets. Sir, I have got only two issues. One is whether or not that will cause hardship to certain people in Singapore. I know that the Minister had already said that the Ministry is having some kind of a scheme to help people who have to move out from their rent controlled premises. They will have to move out once this abolition of the Act comes into effect on 1st April. I have no doubt that the landlords of rent controlled premises will increase their rents. They will not only increase their rents, but increase them higher than what they should be, because they feel that they are justified to do so to recoup their losses for so many years when the rentals were lost in a certain way in that they could not increase their rentals as early as 1953. Many Members, I am sure, are familiar with the rentals that the landlords are getting for their rent controlled premises. Some tenants are only paying something like $40 or $50 for a two-storey terrace house because for so many years, the landlords have been collecting such low rentals. Most of these houses are quite run down, until of course they receive a notice from the HDB to spruce up their buildings.”
“I think the psychological harm done to those children at an early age can have an adverse effect on their self-worth, self-esteem, self-respect and self-confidence. They shall grow up forever feeling that way. It is important that a child has self-confidence, otherwise, it is going to be difficult for him to succeed when he grows up. I would like to ask the Minister to make our school less stressful by not imposing such a heavy workload on our school children, especially at the primary school level. A committee should be set up to look into how to lessen the heavy curriculum in our schools. It would be a sad day when our children end up as mental patients and who are not able to take charge of their own lives and their own affairs when they grow up. They shall become a liability to the state. Children are our future assets, and we cannot afford to lose any one of them, if we can help it. As it is, our birth rate is already declining.”