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 44 of 85.
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Code JF 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I shall be talking on the library services. When I was a student reading Law in London, I noticed that there were public libraries situated all over that city. Most of the libraries were within walking distances of most of the homes. I hope one day that we too could have public libraries established all over Singapore within walking distance of one's residence. Sir, our economy has now advanced to a stage where Singaporeans are described as an affluent society. We may be affluent in regard to the number of fairly new cars that we have on the roads and to the great number of new buildings we have. But I would say certainly we are not affluent in terms of library services. We have something like one library per 200,000 population. This is a low figure. Sir, when I went to Australia and New Zealand for a holiday last December, I noted that in those countries, even in little townships of 5,000 population, there was a prominent public library situated in a prominent spot in the town. Libraries are educational tools. Books not only help us to increase the intellectual level of our population but they can also give our citizens countless hours of reading pleasure. What I would like to see is that the MCD gives clearance to town councils to set up libraries in their HDB estates. Libraries are glaringly absent in most HDB estates. More specifically, Sir, the Potong Pasir Town Council, as its initial community service programme, plans to establish a library and a creche. In this respect, we wrote to the HDB for void deck space. The HDB said that, as a matter of policy, we need to get the clearance of the Ministry of Community Development.”
“Sir, the last sentence was what the Minister has just said. It proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the grassroots organisations are in fact PAP front organisations because they go out and support whatever the Government policy is, is it not? Whether good or bad, it is their duty to go out and support it. We, in the Potong Pasir Town Council, of which I am the Chairman, also do community work. We will be organising one of the Government sponsored Health Week. That is a good thing. We go all out and support such a campaign for the health of the people of Potong Pasir. Similarly, if you have "Keep the Constituency Clean and Free of Litter" and "No Spitting" campaigns, we will support the Government on all these campaigns, which are good. But if you do not want to have libraries in Potong Pasir constituency, that is another matter which we cannot agree.”
“Sir, I think the Minister has looked upon the Opposition in the wrong light. We are here also to assist the Government in nation building. We are not here just to oppose the Government. We oppose only if the policies are bad. That is the purpose of a constructive Opposition. So if the Government has got an Opposition in one of its so-called grassroots organisations and if the Opposition Member sees that the policy is good for the nation, of course, we will go all out and support the Government. But if we see that the policy is not conducive to nation building, how can we support it? Of course, we have to oppose it. That is our duty. That is why we are in the Opposition. We cannot blindly, like the other Backbenchers, follow obediently the instruction of the Whip in regard to their voting. That is the distinction. We have the discretion to oppose if we think that the policy is not right. On that condition, I am willing now to be accepted as an adviser to the grassroots organisations. Mr Wong Kan Seng: Then the forum for Mr Chiam to make all these points that he does not agree with is this House. Outside this House where there are community organisations, like the RCs and CCCs, if he says, "I do not support this. Now let us go out and campaign against the Government", then he will be making use of these organisations for his own political objective. That will not be acceptable.”
“The Minister for Community Development should give the Minister of State a chance to answer. Where is the cut and thrust?”
“Sir, I want to ask the Minister of State two questions. If they are not Government front organisations, why are the Opposition not made advisers to the RCs, to the CCCs, and in the CCs when all other MPs are made advisers to these organisations? That is one question. Second, is the Minister saying that money spent on Residents' Committees and on the CCCs is money spent on welfare?”
“May I remind the Minister of State that out of the $228 million allocated to the MCD, much of it is spent not on welfare, but on residents' committees, on the community centres, CCCs and the People's Association, and we know very well that these are all PAP front organisations. I am not allowed in there.”
“Sir, fair enough. But my point is that $14 million out of an expenditure of $14 billion is only one-thousandth of the budget programme. If you should spend only $1,000 of the budget in subsidies, can it be said that we have a welfare service? That is the clarification I want from the Minister of State?”
“$14,000 has been recorded as the amount that is estimated that would be in the child care centre. How can it be?”
“Sir, can I get a clarification from the Minister of State? Sir, I did say that in the strictest sense of the word, Singapore has not got a welfare service. What I meant was a welfare service akin to that of the western industrialised countries. As she probably knows, America allocates about 42% of its budget on welfare, and England, Australia and New Zealand spend large chunks of their budget on welfare. I am not advocating that we should also spend that amount of money. But the Minister of State seems to think that spending $14 million on subsidies on child care is evidence that we have welfare service. Our total spending on the budget is probably about $14 billion. $14 million is only one-thousandth of our spending. One swallow does not make a summer, less still, one-thousandth of a swallow. Can she say that we have a welfare service based on our subsidies on child care centres?”
“The MCD hopes to increase this number to 14,467 in FY 90. That number is only about 10-12% of the children who need to be enroled in child care centres. 85% of Singapore's population reside in HDB flats and most of the parents are working parents. I estimate there must be at least 120,000 children in HDB estates who need places in child care centres. Therefore, I would urge the MCD to look more seriously into the building of more child care centres at HDB housing estates. The task is most urgent if the Government wants to get mothers to go into the labour market. I note that the Government is to build six more child care centres in new HDB estates. I say that this is definitely not enough. Even if the Government builds 60 more new centres they would not be enough. The task ahead in regard to providing child care centres is not only urgently needed but a gigantic one. The $14 million allocated for subsidy to child care centres is a paltry one. I think this figure needs to be increased drastically, especially there will be a shortage of good teachers to teach in these child care centres.”
“Sir, I am much obliged to you. I would like to speak on grants to child care services. There is no denying that there is a great demand for child care centres. A newspaper report in November last year had this as the headline: "Child care centres report full house and long queues". Owners of all private child care centres interviewed by the reporter who wrote the article said that they all had enrolment of maximum capacity. At some centres parents would have to wait up to six months to enrol their children. One centre reported that they had 143 people on their waiting list and it was getting longer and longer. Another centre reported it had a capacity of 28 and it had a waiting list of about 100 since eight months earlier. Almost every private child care centre had the same story to tell. Why do parents want to send their infant children to child care centres? Some said that it was due to the subsidy given by the Government, others said that they do not want the child to be too attached to the maid, and there are others who said that they want their children to interact with other children and gain good social habits. But, Sir, above all, most parents do now realise that the child's learning capacity is at its greatest between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that a child of that age group be placed in the correct educational and social environment to reap the maximum benefit for the intellectual and social growth of the child. Despite the dire need for more child care centres, the MCD appears to be in no hurry to do something to meet the demand for more child care centres. I note that in the budget report that there are currently 11,666 children who are in child care centres.”
“Sir, I have an cut under this amendment.”
“Sir, this levy collected will be a massive amount. The Government should think of a way of channelling this benefit that arises from this levy somehow to the workers. I know it is not possible to give direct subsidy to companies, but maybe in terms of social benefits, in terms of health, or in some way in which it could benefit our local workers. Perhaps that would be a better way.”
“I think it is common knowledge now that Singapore is suffering an acute labour shortage. I wonder how much of this is attributed to the early PAP policy of "Stopping at Two". Perhaps the Minister can give us more details on this. Sir, business people have been saying that they are paying heavy levies for the foreign workers. Very soon it will be up to $300 levy per foreign worker. So they are asking: what is the Government doing with all this massive amount of money? Can this money in fact not be paid and give higher wages to local workers, thus encouraging more people into the workforce? Perhaps the Minister could tell us on this point.”
“Sir, Mr Lim Boon Heng hopes that permanent dependency on foreign workers will not be allowed. Probably when he said this it was more for his NTUC members. I do not think that this happy situation will come about. The policy of the Government at one time was to phase out foreign workers by 1992. I do not think that this can come about and the Government, I believe, is also of the same mind and has now jettisoned this policy. At the moment, we have about 150,000 foreign workers here and I believe this number will grow and not diminish. Probably in time we will have something like 250,000 foreign workers in Singapore coming not only from the traditional sources but also from the non-traditional sources like Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. If our economy is to grow, the number of foreign workers will increase. Sir, what I want to say is not the control of foreign workers into Singapore, but the control of foreign workers who are already in Singapore. They come from diverse types of culture and from different places and they will certainly cause social problems here. Dr Ow Chin Hock has spoken of the social cost of having foreign workers here. My concern is that perhaps the Government should now look into this problem before it gets out of hand. The control of foreign workers in Singapore is important, because we have seen that the last time we had a law enacted in this House to catch overstayers and cane them. Because of that stiff law, the Government was able to ferret out about 12,000 Thai workers who were not accounted for. This only goes to show that there is going to be a problem controlling foreign workers in Singapore. I hope the Government will take early steps to do so.”
“Sir, what about Potong Pasir? Can the Minister give some idea of what kind of civil defence is going on at Potong Pasir? I have no connections with the CCC or RC. I know that in other constituencies the MPs are automatically made advisers but I am not made an adviser to all these grassroots organisations. At least I think the Minister should let the MP for Potong Pasir know what is happening in regard to civil defence in that constituency.”
“Sir, can I get a clarification from the Minister? I would like to ask the Minister who takes the lead in civil defence at the constituency level. And what kind of civil defence work is at the moment going on at Potong Pasir? As far as I know, I am not aware of any.”
“Sir, I want to get a clarification from the Minister because he says ---”
“Sir, it is reported in the budget that the number of people deployed as security screening personnel has risen from 200 to 359, a substantial increase of 60% for FY 1990. The Opposition is naturally curious: why this sudden increase in security manpower? Is this greater number of security men employed to check on Singaporeans or on foreigners? I certainly hope that they are not used against Singaporeans. I would like to ask the Minister certain clarifications. Why this increase in number? What is the nature of their work? Who do they screen? Do they also screen Singaporeans who are outside Singapore? Sir, as regards the second amendment, it is also noted in the budget that the number of seizable offences is expected to increase from 1,820 to 2,340 per 100,000 population. The crime rate of serious offences is on the rise. Sir, I think the question is not to quickly increase the size of the Police Force but, more importantly whether or not the police personnel in the Force could be better trained and be more effective in curbing crimes. And also, Sir, I would ask the Minister, since serious crime rate is on the rise, will he consider diverting police officers from the security services programme to the crime control programme?”
“Sir, basically I have got a query for the Minister. The Minister has told us that there are about 93,000 cars that are over 10 years old on our roads. These cars at the moment are not subject to payment of quota premium or certificates of entitlement. When the quota system is implemented, owners of these old vehicles will be subject to pay additional taxes. It would appear therefore that the pool of vehicles which are required to pay taxes will increase. My query to the Minister is this: will the Minister provide us with an estimate of how much tax revenue will be collected from the motor vehicle quota system over the next three years, assuming that the quota premium averages $5,000 per vehicle?”
“Will there therefore be any price control? Will the rates and returns and profits of Telecom be regulated? The prices chargeable by Telecom, I say, must be regulated and controlled in the interest of the public who are the consumers.”
“Sir, I would like to speak on the privatisation of Telecom. The purpose of the privatisation of Telecom must be the further improvement of its service and the cutting of its costs. What the public does not want to see is a situation where, once Telecom is privatised, rates will be increased to raise the revenue. This will result in windfall profits for Telecom. I would like to ask the Minis- ter whether the privatisation of Telecom will result in increase in profits for Telecom. Will Singaporeans have to pay more for services? I am not saying that once privatised Telecom should not be growth or profit-orientated. I think what everybody really wants is the assurance of the Minister that profits will only rise because of cost-cutting and rise in its sales volume. Shareholders want a good return on their investments. On the other hand, consumers want their telephone rates to be as low as possible. This conflict could be ameliorated if as many consumers as possible could own Telecom shares, where the pay-out of services could be returned to them in the form of dividends. Will the Minister be ready to limit the number of shares which could be owned by each individual or each company, so as to spread out the ownership of Telecom shares? Another concern is foreign ownership. Telecom, like any other statutory body, is a monopoly of the services it provides. It is of course not wise to have foreigners holding majority shares to have control of a major service in Singapore. Will the Minister say whether his Ministry has a guideline to limit foreign ownership of Telecom shares once it is privatised? Any private company will seek to maximise its profits. Telecom will also do the same once it is privatised. But in the case of Telecom, it has a monopoly of its business.”
“From the educational point of view, there is no doubt that there are a lot of benefits of having a small class size so that the teachers could pay more individual attention to the poorer pupils. This principle has been accepted in the independent schools. The independent schools, I would say, will accept pupils of above average intelligence and they get the benefit of educational facilities which other schools are deprived of. Why prejudice against other schools? Why favour only the independent schools? I would like the Minister to commit and to admit that he will look into this area and perhaps try to implement this policy of really reducing the class size. If the class is too big, it is just impossible for the teacher to teach effectively. Perhaps we will see less and less of our school students dropping out from schools prematurely.”
“What sort of vocational training, what sort of skill, what sort of vocation can they be trained in? But, of course, there is still more room even to train our school leavers because if we are to be an industrialized country, vocational training is very important. The Minister has said that he has looked at the German and Swiss experience and he would know that in Germany, 65% of the children between the ages of 15-18 years have some kind of vocational training. It is no wonder their nation is industrially so advanced. Perhaps we should try and emulate that kind of standard. As regards the status of our students who are trained in the polytechnic, I hear that they are not given the status which they deserve. I hear that NTC2 graduates are still treated like 'O' level students. I think the Minister should also look into the possibility of in-house training for some of our school leavers. Perhaps they could encourage firms to give more in-house training. The other question is the recruitment of foreign workers. Are we to recruit more and more skilled workers to compete with our skilled workers here? Is that fair? Because we have spent massive amounts of money training our Singaporeans and they may be deprived of jobs to compete with other skilled workers from foreign countries who may be paid less. My third amendment refers to reducing the school class size. This is a very important area which I have brought up many times in this House and I have not yet, up till now, got a satisfactory reply. I think it is unreasonable to ask the Minister to implement this very important policy straightaway. Perhaps he could stretch it out over five to 10 years but the aim must be there.”
“We need people who are versed in the Chinese language, not only as teachers but also in the newspapers, as TV producers and as journalists. But I am more concerned with our Chinese school teachers. The Prime Minister said the problem is big. Maybe we will solve it by recruiting from Hong Kong and Taiwan to supplement the few that we can find. This may well be good for the newspapers and for the TV station, but certainly not for our schools. We do not want to have foreigners in massive numbers coming to interact with our local Singaporeans. They may pass on the wrong values to our Singaporeans and, in that process, we will have problems building up a Singapore identity. There is in fact urgent need to look into the enlargement of the Chinese Studies Department if the Government is really serious about wanting to keep Mandarin alive in Singapore. If the number of school children becomes so great, there might even be a necessity to revive or set up a Chinese university, just to produce the number of graduates to keep up with the massive demands for the people who are versed in Mandarin. Sir, I think the Government should really address itself on this problem. They must go for the jugular and not just superficial statements and campaigns made to promote the language. But in fact there is no real substance in those campaigns. Sir, my second cut is in regard to the expansion of vocational education in Singapore. I welcome the setting up of the third polytechnic. It is a good move. But I am more concerned with the younger children who have left school prematurely, those drop-outs in Primary 6, Secondary 1 or Secondary 2. Where do they go? Where do they get their training? Perhaps the Minister could give his thought to those who have left school earlier.”
“Yes, NUS Chinese Studies Department. (2) the total student enrolment of that Department at NUS; (3) its staff strength; and (4) the number of staff who are Singaporeans. I tried to get this information yesterday from the Chinese Studies Department of NUS, but I was unsuccessful. I made at least six telephone calls but everybody appeared to be very reluctant and treated the information I wanted as absolutely secret. But I cannot see why it should be kept away from a Member of Parliament if he wanted to have those information. The Government has a massive programme to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin and we have heard speakers in this House talking of the concern for the promotion of the second language. We have just heard a talk about the bilingual policy and its problems. If the Government is really serious about promoting Mandarin amongst the Chinese population, then I think, first of all, it should tackle the problem of whether there are enough teachers to teach our students in this particular language. Sir, in the past, Chinese teachers were obtained from our local Nanyang University. But that university was closed in 1980, I believe, with about 600 graduates. Since then, many of these graduates have found other jobs, and even those that are in the teaching job would soon be reaching their retirement age. Therefore, I think it is important to augment the Chinese Studies Department of the NUS. Sir, I have not got any statistics but I was informed that a few years back, the number of graduates per year produced by that department was only a paltry 15 in number. If that were really true, then the programme to promote Mandarin has a very serious problem indeed. The Prime Minister has spoken on this subject.”
“First of all, may I ask the Minister for the following information? (1) the number of graduates of the Chinese Studies Department each year for the last five years.”
“Sir, I have three amendments. Can I take them together?”
“Therefore, I would like the Minister to revise the rates upwards for grants towards the maintenance cyclical work. I believe other town councils have also made similar requests. Mr Dhanabalan: Sir, can I please request that my Senior Minister of State be allowed to reply right now because we are coming close to guillotine time, and would like to take the opportunity to reply to as many questions as possible.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would first like to declare my interest on this matter. I am the Chairman of the Potong Pasir Town Council. The Potong Pasir Town Council takes care of 5,840 units comprising flats, shops and stalls. The HDB flats are situated at Lorong 8 Toa Payoh and at Potong Pasir Estate. At Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, we have 13 residential blocks and one market block. And at Potong Pasir Estate, we have 45 residential blocks. The flats at Potong Pasir Estate are now due for their cyclical maintenance work. Due to a constraint of manpower, the Potong Pasir Town Council shall be carrying out these cyclical works in stages. It is proposed that maintenance work be done on 10 blocks first. Tenders will be called in April this year. Preliminary inquiries have shown that the cost of the cyclical works for these 10 blocks is much higher than the grant given by the Government. In the budget debate last year, the Senior Minister of State for National Development said that the Government grant to the town councils should be enough for their cyclical maintenance works, and that the town councils need not dip into their own sinking funds for such works. I am afraid the situation has changed. The calculations of the Senior Minister were based on 1986 prices. It will be remembered that in 1986 the construction industry was at its doldrums. The industry was in fact not progressing well. Prices of materials, labour and other ancillary costs at that time were low. But now the situation has changed. Business in the construction industry has considerably picked up and costs have sharply risen. I have been told that prices of cement, steel and other building materials have increased sharply.”
“Sir, if we make a search from the Land Office they will never tell whether the land will be acquired or not. I think the Minister knows that.”
“Sir, the Minister has not touched on the point of security for businessmen who would want to invest in land in Singapore. Where is the security if their land could at any time be acquired by the Government?”
“Sir, in Hong Kong, the business life is about five years. In other words, it is equivalent to three business cycles in Hong Kong. That is a long time. The issue now is not that there is imminent or urgent use of this land but to get rid of sub-tenants. Surely if an owner owns the building and if it has deteriorated to such an extent, the Government has laws to ask the owners to renovate and to keep the building in good shape. I do not think it will deteriorate to such an extent that it will become slums. So the issue now is that the Government acquires it so that they can get rid of the sub-tenants. This would appear to be the rationale in acquiring the land, rather than its use.”
“You do not need the land now, but you acquire it first. And only in 15 years' time then you will be using the land. Is this not abusing the Land Acquisition Act? If there are lands which are acquired one or two years ahead of time for clearance and for preparation and building the structure, that is fair enough. But in this particular case, we hear the Minister say that the Government is not going to make use of the land until 15 years later. You acquire it first. This is definitely abuse of the Land Acquisition Act.”
“I am really astounded to hear that the Government acquires land 15 years ahead of its use.”
“Yes, Sir, I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $3,213,017,330 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $255,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head T -”
“If they can do with such a short period of national service, I can't see why we cannot cope with a shorter period. Sir, as I can see, there is really no compelling reason to have such a long national service period. We are in peacetime. We are not at a time of war where we have really to spend much time training our national service boys. We already have national service for many years and we have got the pool of reservists that we want. Really, in this region, there are no danger signs on the horizon. I would advocate that if there are danger signs, then we should extend our national service. As I see it, Vietnam is now going on a path of peace. They are joining other countries in wanting to increase their economy. So where are the countries that are endangering us? I cannot see any. As regards whether or not a shorter period would train a better soldier, I would say that if our schools can play their part in equipping our young boys with more motor skills and physical fitness, then during the national service period they need not concentrate on those areas. Of course, other Members have touched on the cost of national service to the country, whether or not the sum spent on our armed forces is more than 6% of our GDP. Therefore, I think there are good reasons for shortening the national service period of our boys. I hope that the Minister will really look into this question and give it serious thought. I think there are more and more voices who will be calling for a shorter period of national service.”
“Sir, I beg to move. That the sum to be allocated for Head K be reduced by $10 in respect of Code KA 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, before I start, I would make it clear that I support national service and the SAF. I am heartened to hear that other Members have also spoken up on whether or not there are grounds to shorten the period of national service. Dr Wang Kai Yuen has spoken on this subject and also Dr Dixie Tan has touched on whether or not time has been profitably used by those in national service. Sir, I have brought up this topic before. It is not new. I have called for the shortening of full-time national service. Basically, the reason is that we do not want to disrupt our young people in their jobs and careers and also in their pursuit of higher studies. We have heard that the 2-year loss by our boys could in fact be more harmful to their studies than just the time taken up. Because they will be leaving their secondary schools and the continuity of their studies is broken. In some cases, there may even be irreparable damage. Sir, probably the Minister will be bringing up the same reasons - confidence in our SAF and the question of security. If there is no confidence in the country, we do not have investors coming. I have got to remind the Minister that what I am advocating is nothing new. In Switzerland, they have got only 19 weeks in the first instance of their full-time national service. In the case of Germany, they have increased it slightly, from 9 months to 15 months, but still it is very much shorter than our 2 1/2 years. These two countries that I have cited are situated in places where there are more dangers than us. These countries have seen two world wars being fought over there.”
“These are the minimum educational requirements for making it to section leaders or to OCS. For Malay national servicemen, up from 6% in 1984 to 22% in 1988. I am speaking only of Malay national servicemen, so it does not include the girls, and may not be exactly the same as the Ministry of Education's figures. It was 6% in 1984; 22% in 1988 - three-and-a-half fold increase. In comparison, the figure for the other races increased over the same period from 30% to 51%. Seven Malay or Muslim officers are now studying in the university on Local Training Awards, compared to four in 1987 when last I spoke. Malay national servicemen are now deployed in guards battalions. Several have passed the stringent selection criteria to become commandos in the commando battalion.”
“Racial integration is a process which takes many years of delicate nurturing and very careful nudging before gradually bonds are built and fissures are cemented over, and many races become one nation. We do not take for granted that we have arrived, although we continually strive to reach a stronger state of nationhood. It is such a delicate matter that a mis-step may set us back many years. Therefore, we proceed cautiously. Integration in the SAF must follow, and not lead, integration in Singapore society. The question is not what progress the SAF has made, but what progress the nation has made, and how far the SAF can follow. However, the situation is not static, because as Singapore society becomes more integrated, the SAF will bring Malays into more areas of service. Year to year the changes appear gradual because attitudes do not change overnight, populations do not get changed overnight, and relationships take many years to cement and to confirm. But if you look at it over the longer term, over the last five years, there have been some positive trends. Each year, more Malays are qualifying to go to the SAFINCOs and to OCS - SAFINCOs to become infantry section leaders; OCS to become Officer Cadets and Officers. For SAFINCOs in 1984, we had 87 Malay national servicemen. In 1988, which is the most recent year I have figures for, there were 169, nearly doubled. And for OCS, in 1984 there were 13; in 1988 there were 50, nearly quadrupled. And last year, for the first time, in June 1989, I attended a commissioning parade of OCS, where the sword of honour was a Malay cadet. All these Malay national servicemen have made it on their own merit. Their numbers have gone up because more Malays are passing '0' level and are reaching 'A' level or the polytechnics.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, the issue of the minorities holding higher or officer posts in the SAF was raised a few years ago. After the issue received publicity, there was much unhappiness when the Muslims in Singapore were told that they were not preferred as SAF officers. The rationale given by the Minister was that should a Muslim be made a Commanding Officer in the SAF, his loyalty would be divided should Singapore go to war with a Muslim country. Under such a situation, would this officer be loyal to his religion or to his country? Sir, obviously this kind of thinking on the part of the Government is definitely flawed. History has shown that Muslims have gone to war against other Muslims. The recent example is Iran against Iraq. Both are Muslim countries, yet they fought a life and death no-holds-barred war for about eight years. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. Soldiers on both sides were either killed or injured. Therefore, to say that Muslims are reluctant to go to war against other Muslims is not true. I suppose now, after a few years, the SAF has given this issue much thought since it was last raised. I would like the Minister to enlighten the House as to what progress has been made to recruit more Muslim officers in the SAF, how many more officers of the Muslim faith have been recruited since 1986, and whether the bias against recruiting Muslims in higher positions in the SAF has been removed. BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Chairman, Sir, this subject was fully debated in 1987 during the Budget debate. I stated Mindef's position then. The position is still valid, and the Member should look it up in the Hansard. The Member blithely says that since Muslims fight Muslims, therefore there is no problem. But he knows it is not true.”
“I withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $14,674,720 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $1,519,900 for Head U ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head K -”
“Therefore, there is justification for the call of a referendum even at this time. We did call for a referendum at the last general election. The PAP did not respond to this very important demand. If the Government is sincere about wanting a style of consensus, I think there is no better way of a consensual agreement than a referendum. Then they would be certain that such an important issue is decided by the people. And also as Dr Lee Siew-Choh has pointed out, although the PAP has got 80 out of the 81 elected seats, in fact, in absolute number of votes, they do not command a two-thirds majority. I think that is a very important point to put across to the people. This is a very important issue and we should look at the votes rather than the number of PAP Members in this House.”
“Sir, please allow me to make certain clarifications. I believe we have up to 1.20 pm. Sir, the PAP did say that the Bill would be in place by December 1988 and not the installation of the elected President by 1988. This is clearly implanted in my mind. Yes, the Bill would be ready by December 1988, and now already about 1 1/2 years have passed and we have not heard of it yet. There is a possibility that the Bill will be ready by the end of this year. There is still no certainty. This issue is of such great importance and yet the people are left with an uncertainty. The First Deputy Prime Minister said that it was not an election ploy. But I think the more important point is the manner in which the PAP canvassed this issue. They canvassed it as if it was a very urgent and imminent issue. I think that is the crux of the matter. The matter was of the greatest urgency and not a question of whether we have an elected President or not. The feeling of the people at that time was that it was going to happen very soon. So I think that was a ploy in that sense. We cannot say that at that election the PAP had the mandate of the people to have an elected President because, if the First Deputy Prime Minister will remember correctly, in fact this issue was canvassed, in particular by the SDP, because we felt that it was such an important issue but, to the people I think the town council issue overrode this issue. In fact, the bread and butter issues as regards the town council, the falling prices of their flats, the fear of not getting their proper services and such like which overtook this very important issue. If there was any main issue at all, it was the town council issue, and not the elected President issue.”
“What does the dictionary say of the meaning of the word "possible"? It says, "That can exist, happen or be done, or that may or may not happen". Whatever meaning is taken, the word "possible" connotes that there is an uncertainty. Therefore, Presidential election may or may not take place in the financial year 1990-91. The question of the elected President is of paramount importance to the people of Singapore. Our Constitution will have to be materially changed. The supremacy of our Parliament, as we know it today, will be eroded and yet the Government, if it is serious about the elected President, should tell the people of Singapore exactly when the election of the elected President will be. I would like to ask the First Deputy Prime Minister whether a Bill will be introduced in Parliament this year in regard to an elected President. If the answer is in the positive, then the Opposition would demand that there be a referendum. In this referendum, the question must be squarely put to the adult citizens of Singapore whether they want or do not want an elected President. The Government's style is said to be one of consensus. There is no better way to get a consensual response from the public than a national referendum on this very important issue. There can be no other better way.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head U of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the elected President issue was an election issue in the 1988 general election. At that time, the Government said that legislation would be in place by December that year for an elected President. Now almost 1 1/2 years have passed and there is still no news of this very important issue. In the last general election, the Government made the question of the elected President to appear to be an urgent one and the installation of an elected President was imminent. As it turned out, it was nothing but hot air. The Opposition and the people of Singapore have been misled. It was a clever election ploy on the part of the Government. There was really no urgency at all in having an elected President. Our reserves are still safe and intact and I would say that they would remain to be safe and intact as long as there are elections where the people of Singapore are free to elect candidates of their own choice. I will concede that the Opposition had been had at the last election as far as the issue of the elected President was concerned. We have been led up the garden path. We shall of course learn from that lesson and never to believe everything the PAP Government says. We have to remind the people of Singapore at the next election to beware of the PAP's election tricks. Now, we see in the budget that there is an allocation of $1.65 million to be allocated to the Elections Department to meet expenses for a possible Presidential elections. The situation has become more perplexing. We note now that the sum of $1.65 million to be set aside is not for a certain Presidential election but a possible Presidential election.”
“According to a recent NTUC survey on workplace child care centres, these centres have helped reduce staff turnover, staff absenteeism, ease recruitment and boost morale in the companies. These findings are confirmed by those in the USA. Therefore, to encourage more workplace child care centres, I would like to ask the Minister to consider giving tax incentives to encourage more companies to provide child care facilities to their employees. Sir, I am sure that with better working arrangements, more fiscal incentives and better alternative child care centres or child care services, more working mothers will consider to have more children earlier and to stay working after having children and to have more children. 12.55 pm”
“However, as the Minister knows, with increasing level of education of women, more and more women are now working. Women now contribute almost equally with their husbands to the family income. The statement that men are the sole breadwinners in families is no longer true. Hence, now that the economy has recovered, I would like to urge the Minister to consider granting medical benefits to dependants of all female employees in the civil service. Besides granting monetary incentives to encourage more child births, the Government should also look into other means, such as flexi-time work, part-time work, home-based work, child care leave, child care centres, etc. The Government has done well in the area of child care leave by giving up to four years of child care leave. However, because the leave is subject to contingency of service, I have received some comments that not many female public employees have been able to make use of this child care leave due to shortage of manpower. Hence, I would like to ask the Minister to ease the procedures to allow more women employees to benefit from this scheme. An alternative to flexi-time, part-time and child care leave is the presence of adequate child care centres or child care services. In recent years, the number of child care centres has increased rapidly. This is in no small way due to the financial support given by the Government in the form of capital grants and operational subsidies. However, the number of workplace child care centres still remains very small. Most of the current 20 workplace child care centres are set up by Government departments or statutory boards. Only five are operated by private employers.”
“Therefore, I would like to suggest that as the tax rebate for the second child is valid for seven years, those women who have given birth to the second child within the last seven years before reaching 31 years old should be given the tax rebate on a pro rata basis. This means that, for example, a woman who gave birth to the second child before she was 29 years old and whose second child is now two years old should be allowed to claim the $20,000 tax rebate for the remaining five years. On the same basis that every child is precious to us, I would like to urge the Minister to increase the general child relief for every child. I would like to propose that the present child relief be increased from $1,500 to $3,000 per child. Here, Sir, I would also like to draw the Minister's attention to the present practice that unmarried mothers are not eligible for tax relief for their children. I am not encouraging more unmarried mothers. However, for whatever reasons, unmarried mothers do exist in our society. As single parents, they are already facing many problems and hardship. I therefore urge the Minister to allow unmarried mothers to be entitled to claim for child relief. Sir, when we try to solve our procreation problems and to encourage women to stay within the workforce, fiscal incentives are attractive. However, employment hours, working conditions, benefits and child care facilities for working mothers are also very crucial. After a few appeals by Backbenchers, we appreciate that the Minister for Finance has made certain progress by adopting a liberal approach in granting medical benefits to dependants of female employees who are sole supporters of their families.”
“Suffice for me to say that culture, in my context, does not simply mean knowledge of the arts, but it is a way of life, a cultured way of life. It is only if we have a cultured society that the society can be really disciplined, as shown by the Germans. As for intellectualism, the aim must be to make the Singapore public, for a start, a reading public. I would like to see libraries established at all housing estates. These libraries should be easily accessible to the residents there. I know it is not easy for a country to get into the league of the Western industrialised nations but I would urge the Minister to consider my two proposals for a start. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua): Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister for the well-balanced and caring budget. Last year, the highlight of our budget was on the problems of procreation. This year, I see a follow-through of the Government's concern to encourage more women to work and have children. I fully support the Government's incentives to encourage women to have their second child before 31 years old with effect from 1st January 1990. I would like to remind the Minister that every child is precious to the parents and the nation. Incentives should also be given to parents who have voluntarily given birth to a second child before 31 years old. This is only fair to those mothers who have taken their own initiative to have their second child before 31 years old. After all, the cost of bringing up a child is the same regardless of which date the child is born.”