Chng Hee Kok
Singapore
“Sir, I would like to ask the DPM whether the new Securities and Futures Act will be made retroactive in the Links case. In other words, will the civil penalties be made retroactive in the Links case? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the answer is somewhere in the new Bill [indicating].”
“Sir, one cannot appreciate the enormity of the problem of a poison pen letter unless he is a victim. Imagine the power of a poison pen e-mail done in the midst of a general election. By the time the truth is established, if it can be established at all, the harm is already done.”
“And this is because the transmission is now almost direct, that when orders are placed, they are placed not only with those who supply the items, the same orders are sent to the supplier's supplier's suppliers.”
“Sir, the Minister is aware that in the case of SingTel it is quite different because it is part of our asset enhancement exercise and a fairly large number of Singaporeans own shares in SingTel. Since the announcement of the Optus deal, share prices have dropped by some 30%.”
“This is a follow up of my earlier question. If the market sentiments are favourable, will the IPOs take place this year? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, PSA and Singapore Power would not have appointed investment bankers and proceeded with due diligence unless they have very serious intentions.”
“And in many cases, over a period of time, we would be happy to reduce our shareholdings down below where they are now and, maybe even divest completely. Because the original rationale for building up and maintaining these companies has to be reviewed and may or may not continue to exist.”
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“The value-added tax or the sales tax, can only be redeemed for a certain minimum level or amount you spend. So, I think, the very fact that we have a sales tax or value added tax may deter people from coming into Singapore. The Committee also recommended that it be started now. I say, please be extremely careful. The shortfall, or what I mentioned earlier of $750 million, could be made up for by a bigger economic pie, and that is exactly what we are trying to do now. We are trying to make the pie bigger, with more new businesses. With more businesses there must be a bigger pie to be taxed. Other sources for tax or transfer of funds have already been mentioned by the Member for Alexandra. Funds from statutory boards should be taxed or at least be transferred back to the Government. I think having given back to the people, to industry, to business, by way of tax concessions, our country must not go back and get the money back by some other means. If possible, we should leave it alone and ultimately if we have to, I think, the Government may have to trim itself. Let me now touch on the securities market. This deserves some comment. A healthy securities market is necessary and economically important in helping to channel private savings into investing in industry. However, in the Report, there is hardly any mention of the direction of our stock market. Of course, it makes the point that the unlisted securities market must be established as quickly as possible can. I think maybe the Committee is being overtaken by events in the stock market.”
“This revenue shortfall comprises $600 million from the reduction of corporate tax to 30%, $400 million from a 30% investment allowance and $200 million from a lowering of personal income tax. Actually, as I understand from reading the Report, I think Government revenue will not be reduced by this much. There should be a tax gain by the Treasury of some $450 million from the employer's 15% reduction in CPF. When the employers reduce their CPF contribution to employees, this must end up as a surplus in company accounts. And if you take 30% corporate tax, of $1.5 billion, which is the new tax rate, there should actually be a $450 million in-flow back into the Treasury, maybe in the following tax year. Why do I bring this up? Although we must not have a chronic budget deficit, this lesser amount is important if you study the recommendation of the Economic Report that we must make-up the shortfall in revenue by some form of sales tax or consumption tax. In this, I share the views of the Member for Alexandra. Although this has worked well in some countries, I am not sure that the administrative machinery, both in Government as well as the private sector that is required, will help because the benefits may be diminished greatly. As for the argument that this discriminates against the lower income group, of course, the opposite stand will be that we can always make it discriminatory items like education and essential commodities will not be subject to tax. Of course, more of the machinery. To protect our tourist industry, we again have to make further exceptions. My experience in travelling to countries with sales tax or value added tax is that the cost of a stay goes up, no matter what you do.”
“Two or more families in one home will provide a better cushion against a job loss or a temporary income reduction, and these on top of many other advantages. It is in this area that I am calling on the HDB to be more flexible and responsive. They should react well to requests by those who may wish to move back to their parents; but the flat may be too small and they may want to have a bigger flat. It is no point telling them that they have to wait three years or two years. Perhaps the HDB can make exceptions for such cases in order to effect this two-family home as quickly as possible. I do not intend to go into all the various ideas in which this can be done. I will leave it to the HDB. But after more than a decade of single family homes, perhaps this recession may be the most significant event which will help us to reverse this trend of single family homes. We must make an attempt to go back to our core values, values of close family ties, values like thrift, hardwork and diligence, group interest over individual interest. Underlying the vision of a vibrant society by the 1990's as stated in the President's speech, there must be core values which will hold our people together. This recession will test whether our people has the gumption and the values of our forefathers which have today enabled us to be in this very fortunate position of debating in this House as to who gets a share of the fruits of our past economic success. We are saying, "Who should get what from the savings?" Of course, no one in his right state of mind will call this economic mismanagement. The budget deficit has been mentioned by the Member for Alexandra. Let me comment on the projected $1.2 billion deficit when tax concessions are implemented.”
“In fact, a foreign investor or an impassioned observer will not take us seriously. What the people must understand is that the recommendations are made to benefit and create new businesses. It is not a zero-sum game. A zero-sum game is a game in which one person wins and the other loses. No. It is a non-zero-sum game. When we come out successful, businesses benefit, employees benefit, the whole country benefits; and that is the way we must look at the Economic Report. The other CPF reduction from the employers. Let me take up the point on how this will likely affect the house owners. Much has already been discussed about loan re-scheduling and moratorium of debt which I do not intend to bring up. But, of course, house buyers have been buying flats, buying their homes based on expectations of rising incomes. Hence this sudden cut of 15% or up to nearly 12% of a cut in salary will, of course, have a disruptive impact. People, I believe, are beginning to be realistic and are beginning to accept that this is necessary or inevitable. Perhaps it is about time that we encourage house owners to move back to their parents. In the last decade of fast economic development and encouragement of home ownership, many have moved out from their parents. There are several consequences which are now fairly well known - single family homes, child-care problems, senior citizens being left in the older estates, and an increase or high demand for public housing. The HDB tried to reverse this trend with the 3-tier family scheme. Perhaps with this recession many will see the advantages of having two or more families living under the same roof.”
“7 billion, rent, furniture, and so on. This is our total expenditure for 1984 - $17.8 billion. So are we actually saying that, of the total private consumption expenditure of $17.8 billion, if we put in another $200 million we will stimulate a lot of local demand? This is slightly more than 1%. With slightly more than 1%, I cannot see how the retailers will benefit from an injection of $200 million. I think the argument that this will stimulate local demand must be put to rest. The other point is the contention, that we must make the recommendations of the Economic Committee more palatable and acceptable to the public. This should not be supported. In my opinion, this issue arose because of loose and careless use of language. Some people call the Report of the Economic Committee an employers' package. It came out during the Chinese New Year. They even say that it is a "hong bao" for the bosses. Calling this an employers' report goes to reinforce the perception in people's mind that the Economic Committee is made up of bosses and employers. They wear a tie. What do they know about the common people? What do they know about the employees? Actually this is not true. Most members of the Committee, even those who are directors, are employees. They are employee directors. In my opinion, this name calling, of course, has damaged the Report by creating the perception that employers stand to gain and employees will lose out. I think this has digressed to an emotional issue. How do you justify that the Report be accepted? "We have to sweeten the Report," they say. But surely this will not help to solve our economic problems. The problem is not domestic demand. The problem is not releasing more money to the employees.”
“This point has been well elucidated by the Member for Kebun Baru. Although the rather weighty Report of the Economic Committee contains some rather perceptive observations and recommendations, I am afraid that the debate on the speech which the President delivered on bebalf of the Government has digressed. An attempt was made to apportion blame for the recession. From the business viewpoint, how this will help, I cannot fathom. I am even more disturbed by the contention that there is a case to be made for a reduction in employee CPF. What are the main arguments for a reduction in employee CPF? There are two points that have been widely mentioned. (1) This will help to stimulate domestic demand and (2) employees should get something. After all, it is an employers' package. Stimulate domestic demand. Let us be practical and examine the figures. Let us take the 5% reduction that has been widely mentioned. A 5% reduction will result in the release of nearly $500 million into the economy. There is, of course, a marginal income tax. I take it that if there is a 20% marginal income tax, the net effect is that this will be reduced to about $400 million, not $500 million. This may appear to be a very large sum, but in view of our present situation, how would the individual react? Most likely, like everybody else, he will try to conserve and he will probably have a higher marginal propensity to save or a high inclination to save. Let us assume he saves half the amount of money. So at the macro level we have something like $200 million. Is this a lot of money? I looked at the 1984 Consumption Expenditure in Singapore, and I find that in 1984 we spent a total of $17.8 billion. What did we spend on? Mainly on food, about $5 billion, clothing $1.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion moved by the Member for Changkat. Success and good government is not the norm of politics worldwide. The Report of the Economic Committee makes our Government an even greater exception. Faced with problems similar to ours, many governments will try, to borrow an American slang, to pass the buck. It is unthinkable that governments in such a position will call for a self-examination and a reappraisal as this Government has done. In fact, the setting up of the Economic Committee one year ago shows the implicit understanding on the part of the Government that the economy needs a closer look. In a recession, we have to study the various business options to get industry going again. Of course, we must try to minimize hardship on the population. But there is surely no painless way to get over the recession. If we are able to pull through just by providing tax conces- sions and the CPF reductions, in fact, this will be the closest to a painless way if there ever is one. In times like this, it is the private sector which will be most effective in pulling us through. There are two reasons basically. The private sector is always more flexible and it has a greater capacity for risk-taking. What does this mean? Pulling us through means further wealth creation. A robust business environment, well supported by a responsive public sector, must surely mean rising incomes and a higher standard of living. Whilst employees have to grapple with wage restraint, employers must use the opportunities which are being thrown up when the recommendations of the Economic Committee are implemented. They must respond responsibly by re-investing any surpluses in productive assets and manpower development.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, would the Minister explain whether the present laws are adequate in protecting shareholders by limiting the authority of directors who enter into such contracts which can be so large as to be damaging to the well-being of the company?”
“The point really is this. Shares which you purchase with CPF funds can be used as shares to be pledged to the banks and from there you can get your money out, indirectly. In other words, you use the CPF money to buy shares and the shares are pledged to the bank, and you get the money out from the bank. So in that way, you are indirectly taking money out from the CPF. So I think some safeguards may be necessary because the amount involved may be quite large.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, regarding investment of funds in such shares which can be pledged to the banks and money may be used, will the Minister look into some safeguards? In other words, this money which comes from CPF to buy shares which can also be pledged to the banks means this money can still be used. So perhaps some safeguards may have to be looked into.”
“If we assume that income increases year by year, they can always pay less now but more as they go along. Repayment schemes can also be designed in such a way that members do not have to pay in any one single month of the year, ie, the Chinese New Year month, Hari Raya month, and so on. In other words, they can skip payment for a festive month. This is probably better than letting this group of people fall into rental arrears. With computers, this is now not difficult. But these are really details and I bring this up to urge our policy makers to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to design a package to make sure that most, if not all, of these people, can take up the scheme. The second point I wish to touch on is the speed of implementation of this scheme. This matter is a long standing one. It was brought into the limelight late last year when the 20% downpayment was discussed. This was further highlighted in the President's Address this year. Since then it has been in the air, revived time and again. I realize that a major policy decision of this nature takes time, but there is much apprehension and anticipation. Each time it is revived, expectations rise. I hope that a decision will be taken soon and that the scheme will not come attached with so many riders and conditions that, at best, it becomes a scheme that is not significant, or at its worst, it will be unpalatable to the population. 5.23 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion moved by the Members for Chong Boon and Paya Lebar. Despite the attempts made by two Members in this House to belittle the efforts and the achievements of the HDB, the valuable contributions made by the HDB cannot be overstated. Many Singaporeans, including Members of this House, join me in expressing admiration and gratitude to what the HDB has done. This motion is of special interest to me. In my first speech in this august Chamber, I highlighted the plight and difficulties of those who were living in 1- and 2-room flats. I do not intend to go into a description of the living conditions. This has been covered by previous Members. My contention then was, and it still is, that helping these people to upgrade to better homes is only a necessary condition to a longer term overall improvement. Better homes will help their children to improve educationally and in this way enable the family to break out of the cycle which they are trapped in. The essence then is an overall improvement through their children's education. When there is hope, a man will live with short term difficulties, and no sacrifice is too large for a man to see that his child has a better future than himself. There is a link between a better home and a child's education. Ownership of a better home is a necessary beginning. I shall cover two points very briefly. The first relates to the scheme which has been mentioned several times before. There are many ways of trying to make this scheme interesting, but it must be flexible and innovative. No downpayment or a little downpayment, and a longer term repayment scheme has already been covered, but there are many others, such as increasing annuities.”
“Will the Minister explain to the House whether there is a deficit in revenue and how will the shortfall be financed?”
“Notwithstanding those long term contracts, the published figures show that the imported raw sugar has dropped by over 30 cents per kilogram. Will the Minister please encourage SIS to pass its savings on to the consumers? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Indeed, SIS's practice has been to pass these savings on to consumers but, as things stand, anybody who wishes to import raw sugar or refined sugar at world prices is free to do so provided he pays the import duty. And, as I have said, the import duty will in due course be removed.”
“Mr Eric Cheong Yuen Chee (Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has, amongst many things, suggested that, in order to stimulate the economy, there should be a reduction in the contributions to the CPF, including the employer's contribution. May I ask why he has not declared his pecuniary interest on the matter? Sir, this is not the first time that the Member has not declared his pecuniary interest on the matter, and I believe he is an employer in his own right. I would like to know how much he would benefit arising out of a reduction of CPF contributions on the employer's part. Dr Aline K. Wong rose -”
“Assuming we maintain our wages as they are, an effective method which the Japanese corporations practise in reducing production cost is sub-contracting. Sub-contracting enables the multi-nationals or large corporations to purchase component parts at lower cost due to the sub-contractor's lower overheads. It gives the large corporation flexibility and it lowers their equipment and investments. These are interesting features to attract MNCs. To make up for our high wage cost and to do this we must enhance the environment for our managers, who have managed or worked in MNC plants, to go into sub-contracting. To a potential investor, if such downstream services are available, they can then discount part of our present high wage cost, Unfortunately, whilst a Japanese sub-contractor can manufacture in his backyard, the local entrepreneur will have to fork out sums of money in rental. He has to worry about the anti-pollution unit or the Factory Inspectorate and others. I am not advocating backyard manufacturing but we should create a more conducive environment to encourage those who wish to sub-contract manufacture for multi-national companies. Special concessions and also tax breaks may be necessary. For until we have the building blocks, it is very hard to reach the apex of high-tech. On this note, I wish to echo the opening remarks of the Member for Leng Kee about the need for confidence. A community cannot remain strong unless its business community and its people have confidence, and this is a much needed commodity at this time.”
“Using the basis of a high-tech/lbw-tech strategy, which is what we, in fact, have today, the SDF will have outlived its usefulness. It discriminates against low-tech industries, which tends to employ lower paid staff and favour larger enterprises. Worse, the latter benefit more in their ability to send employees for SDF approved courses. In any event, the present additional 2% level on wage bills is unnecessary as there are other ways to promote staff training. A double tax deduction for training in approved courses is one such measure and companies which can afford will do so. In view of this, I am proposing that the present SDF levy be abolished and replaced by a discretionary system. Planning, so far in Singapore, has been done mainly by the Government, and although the track record is generally good, somehow I feel that it lacks the business viewpoint. As we are plugged into the fast changing world of international and global economics, seeking high technology ventures and at the same time trying to keep an eye on our local industrialists and businesses, it is useful to consider the setting up of 'think tanks' to be sponsored by private enterprises. Such think tanks, if sponsored by the various Chambers of Commerce and trade associations will be able to generate alternative scenarios and strategies to complement those of the Government's. Bearing in mind that all economic outcomes are based on assumptions, we cannot underestimate the potential of such an arrangement between Government planners and a think tank sponsored by private industry. Finally, much has been talked about lowering of our cost structure. I would like to make a proposal on how I see we can help to bring down the cost to attract multi-nationals in Singapore.”
“It is worthwhile for us to pursue a low-tech strategy at the same time. We have spent time and money on retraining, but this is of course a protracted process. As long as we accept that certain segments of our workforce will be paid lower salaries, and jobs are better than no jobs, this is a good intermediate strategy for the next few years. Low-tech high-value-added areas are suitable for the majority of our local industrialists, Of course, they must upgrade. They must go for low-cost automation. They must improve through office automation, but it is not likely that they can go into high-tech at this point of time. Most Singaporean firms can at best acquire technology through licensing arrangements to undertake projects in manufacturing products using applica- tions technology rather than fundamental component and product technology. In the low-tech area, there is a broad class of products which Singapore firms can manufacture, and these are high value-added items. It is a fallacy to equate high-tech with high value-added. High value-added does not necessarily mean high-tech. Swiss jewellery watches is one such example. Other examples of high value-added items but low technology are high fashions, exquisite jewellery and even the famous Walkman cassette player is actually a high value-added but low-tech product. In other words, we need not shun the low,tech products area as long as it is high value-added. Singaporean firms can still identify narrow market segments which they can have a competitive edge. The result of such a strategy is that there will be different wage and cost structures and possibly different training needs. The market mechanism will play to set the different wage levels. This brings me to the Skills Development Fund.”
“If productivity increase is to be achieved by the loss of some jobs due to job enlargement or low cost automation, this must have the understanding and cooperation of the unions. As I expect more measures to correct our economy to come up, I would now like to suggest some areas which I want the policy makers to look into. On development strategy, studies in the United States of America suggest that high growth in the coming years will come from the high technology or high-tech sector. However, the low technology but high-value-added sector cannot be ignored. In the Singapore context, it is appropriate at this time to consider that we should perhaps pursue a high-tech/low-tech but high-value-added strategy. Where we are today, it is unlikely that we need to pursue one strategy exclusively at the expense of the other. In fact, a high tech/low tech strategy will fit in well with our development as long as the stress is on high-value-added. Our push into high tech or advanced technology must come from attracting multi-nationals to locate in Singapore. This is one area in which, I think, the Government-owned companies, or Government-related companies, can play a more effective role. High tech usually means high investments, high returns, high risks, and this can only be made by such Government-owned enterprises. If I take the comment on high-tech made by the Member for Potong Pasir. He said that high-tech implies that we must have more graduates and more specialists and therefore more universities. I do not believe that this is the cause of our problems at this time. In fact, it is likely that high-tech will result in rather limited employment and even then, only among the highly skilled and the younger workforce.”
“As Singapore is too small a place for business and as we become increasingly more dependent on world trade and trade outside Singapore, our managerial and executive workforce must be prepared to relocate themselves and their families overseas. One common complaint I have received from employers about local executives is their reluctance to be assigned overseas, although many see the importance and long term benefits of doing so. Still on the subject of manpower, one can only hope that our people will come through this recession with a better perspective on the value of a stable job and the value of a stable system. Up till now, one cannot help but feel that some Singaporeans tend to take our success for granted. When we are doing well, they take chances and they experiment. Today, as employees cling on to their jobs, we hear very little of poor work attitude or job-hopping, which was quite prevalent about two years ago. As we seek long term solutions to our economic problems, we must continue to inculcate work excellence and value of job stability, whether it is good times or bad times. This permanency of attitude and work ethic is important. It will insulate us against carelessness to calls by various people to go for soft or easy options when the going is good. On CPF, I am in support of the Member for Leng Kee that we should not give in to calls to make adjustments to the CPF contribution rate now. If we do so, we will be actually pushing the panic button. We have not reached the position where we are painted into a corner, and I will urge the Government to resist resolutely any calls for such changes. At the moment, employers and employees must work smarter and improve productivity.”
“Mr Speaker,Sir,I rise in support of the motion moved by the Member for Leng Kee. The moves by our trade unions to place group interest over self interest and the rapid response of the Government to correct some of our economic problems has impressed even our most ardent critic, despite what the Member for Anson has said. This shows that Singaporeans, on the bright side, are standing up as a nation. Despite economic difficulties, Singaporeans are placing nation before self. As a nation, we are coming of age, and I am confident that in a crisis, Singaporeans will march forward as one. These are heart warming signs. The move by our unions to practise wage restraint during this downturn is outstanding, to say the least. But, as what the Member for Kebun Baru has said, wage restraints should not be applied across the board. Employers and industrialists having companies which are doing well should assist by not just applying wage restraints asked for by the unions. On the other hand, unfortunately, in certain industries and enterprises, wage restraints may not suffice, and I would urge the unions and employees to be sympathetic to such companies if the question of survival is involved. I can only urge our policy makers to ensure that such restraints by the workforce are not further eroded by fiscal and monetary policies. There must also be a corresponding restraint or freeze on bus fares, public utilities and related charges, and others. This will ensure that what our workers are sacrificing should not be further eroded. As the general workforce is asked to shift into jobs which were attractive only to foreigners at one time, our managerial and executive staff must also improve their effectiveness and their worth.”
“Sir, will the Acting Minister consider the use of CPF savings for the contributors' own education in approved courses?”
“Such a d raw-down will serve partly to soak up the substantial level of CPF savings and this also opens up new avenues for CPF contributors,”
“Due to the limited market in Singapore, our local manufacturers must export their products. Exports give the local manufacturers (1) geographical diversification, and (2) increased sales volume. This kind of diversification will help the manufacturer to be less prone to cyclical market demands and the increased sales volume will hopefully help to lower the cost of products. However, export sales have long gestation periods and are difficult to organize. Hence, we should have more export incentives to encourage our smaller manufacturers to export. The scheme I have in mind is concessionary tax incentives on marginal increases in annual export sales. This can be an effective scheme and is established in various forms even in developed economies. The Minister may not agree with the form I have suggested, but incentives in these two areas will be a sorely needed shot in the arm for our local manufacturers. Sir, I wish to come to the other subject and I thank the Member for Clementi for bringing up this question of privatization of Government-owned enterprises. I suggest that this privatization process be extended to include statutory boards. Statutory bodies, such as Telecoms and the Public Utilities Board, meet certain criteria which, in my opinion, make privatization attractive. First, these boards require huge development funds and hence a huge capital base. Second, these organizations provide services which are used or consumed by a wide spectrum of our population, in fact, by every Singaporean. Lastly, these boards have successful track records. And privatization will give the public the opportunity to invest in safe and secure enterprises. Perhaps CPF savings will be allowed for investment in these enterprises.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have two matters to raise with the Minister. The first is on economic incentives. Last week the Minister stressed the importance of local manufacturers in Singapore and that his Ministry was looking into other economic incentive schemes for local manufacturers. I have two suggestions for the Minister to consider. The first relates to technology transfer. As we all know, technology is acquired at great cost and through painstaking research and development, As a result, the owner of technology or expertise will not readily give up his rights unless he is well compensated. On the other hand, cheap and ready access to technology is what most of our local manufacturers will need to improve themselves and to diversify their business. Most of our local manufacturers are limited in manpower and other resources to undertake product and process development. The very fact that, since 1978 only 30 projects received grants of $2.7 million under the Product Development Assistance Scheme (PDAS), and this probably went to some 20-odd companies, is evidence of the difficulty of undertaking research and development. The situation can be improved if we extend the use of the PDAS or evolve or establish an entirely new economic incentive scheme to help our manufacturers in acquiring foreign technology through licensing arrangements. Presently, our local manufacturers are hampered as licensing is expensive. Besides the annual royalty based on sales, licensing is prohibitive because of the fee which has to be paid up-front. It is this initial fee which our manufacturers will need assistance. As the advantages of licensing arrangements are obvious and manifold, there is no need for me to elaborate. The other suggestion I have is on incentives for export marketing.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, what I was referring to was the youngest age of someone who has undergone abortion, and whether there is any trend in that age.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, will the Hon. Minister of State inform this House the age range of those who undergo teenage abortions, and whether there is any change in the trend in this lower age range?”
“Naive they may be, but I am convinced that unless they are translated into reality, the ugly face of Singapore will continue to remind us in 1999 that we have failed to give the children of the poor the best possible education today. 3.20 pm”
“Appropriate incentives and disincentives must continue to be applied. But these are consenting adults and their children should not be unduly discriminated against. The last thing I would advocate is charity. What I am advocating is not only the inalienable right of every child to equal opportunities in education, but something which is inherently cost-effective. For unless you educate a total generation, society's failing to capitalize on our most valuable resource, the young people of this country whoever their forbears were. Sir, I do not pretend to have all the solutions to this problem. For that matter, I do not believe I have all the questions. If we want to pay particular attention to the lower income group, I suggest that the Government take a comprehensive look, a total study, at this issue and not only at the problem of home ownership. Of course, this is a very important issue, home ownership. However, I wish to stress that unless 1-2 room residents are able, with help, to own better homes and not just retaining their 1-room flats, we are just maintaining the status quo. The Member for Jalan Besar has also brought up the problem of the 20% down payment and the removal of the 20% down payment for the poor, which I endorse. My hon. Friend and mentor, the Member for Leng Kee, has suggested interest-free loans to help the poor living in 1-2 room flats to own their homes. There are other ways like lengthening the repayment periods, but until 1-room flats no longer exist, the Government's vision of the future will be impaired and the education of children living in these homes seriously hampered. Mr Speaker, Sir, we all have our dreams and today I share part of my dream with this House.”
“Unless we can help these children to break out from this poverty trap, the social cost in future will be high. A better education will lead to a better job; a better job will enable these children to support their parents who probably have little or no Central Provident Fund savings. Let us invest in them. Last Saturday's Straits Times report on the Prime Minister's speech in support of this motion was headlined, "Time to educate a new generation." Yes, it is time to educate a new generation. But let us make sure that we properly educate a total generation. For a start, I am suggesting that needy school children be loaned a complete set of school textbooks. Due to outdated income requirements, I believe that very few children are benefiting from free school textbooks. I have a primary school in Radin Mas, There are about 1,600 students and the principal told me that only eight needy children qualify for free textbooks. That is less than half a percent. The milk for school children programme should also be undertaken, I believe, by the Government. For the children's study needs, I suggest that rooms be created at the void decks of HDB 1- and 2-room flats wherever possible. These rooms should be furnished and perhaps be under the charge of community organizations, such as the Residents' Committee. I also urge community organizations to seek volunteers to provide tuition and guidance to these children at no cost. In today's competitive environment, these children need all the help they can get for, unless you do something positive, this group will be left further behind by society; something which no right-thinking Singaporean will desire. Sir, the Government is right in encouraging those in the lower income group to improve with smaller families.”
“The father is doing overtime work and he is doing overtime work because he has to in order that he can survive, in order that his family can survive. These are not ugly Singaporeans, Mr Speaker. To my mind, this is the ugly face of Singapore. Sir, in all fairness, I must admit that we have come a long way from the unhygienic and insanitary conditions of slum dwellings from which many of these families originate. But these are no grounds for complacency. My vision of the ugly face of Singapore, however inadequate, is merely the introduction to a greater concern of mine, and I hope of this House, and that is, of education of children living in 1- and 2-room flats. Sir, the conditions I have described will have a bearing on the educational performance of this group due to financial hardship. I know of children who are not in possession of a full set of school textbooks. You are also aware of the origins of the milk for school children programme which is aimed at helping undernourished and underprivileged children. And many of these children go to school without an adequate breakfast or without breakfast at all. Financial hardship also precludes these children from receiving remedial help through private tuition. Sir, it is axiomatic that a parent with primary education can at best guide his child through the very rudimentary stages of his child's primary education. Considering that only one in 12 has a secondary education and above, the sources for educational support in these homes are minimal. The physical size of the home must also have a dampening effect. The lack of privacy and the inevitable high noise levels make any attempt at serious study difficult indeed. These children need help and support.”
“Compare this national average with those living in 1- and 2-room flats. In the 1- and 2-room flats, about one in 12 or 8.2% have secondary education and above. Again, Sir, you see the disparity. One in five adult Singaporeans have at least a secondary education but only one in 12 living in HDB 1- and 2-room flats have a comparable education. Sir, let me now draw your attention to the physical size of the HDB 1- and 2-room flats. Based on material gleaned from the HDB annual reports and again from further extracts from the 1980 census, I have tried to work out the space available to a resident living in the flats based on the mean or average family size. This has helped me to visualize the physical home environment but a visit to these flats gives a more vivid picture than these somewhat dusty figures can convey, My visits to such flats have opened my eyes and I am sure that many hon. Members here have had a similar experience. Sir, may I have your indulgence to quote this last set of numbers? The average area available to a resident of a 1-room flat is about 8.6 sq metres per person; 2-room flat, 9.8 sq metres; 3-room, about 13 sq metres; 4-room flat, depending on the design, is about 15 sq metres; and a 5-room flat is 26 sq metres. In other words, a 1- and 2-room flat resident living in an average family has less than half of the space of his counterpart living in a 4- or 5-room flat. I have made house-to-house visits to 1 -room flats in the evenings. I could not help sniffing a wide mixture of different aromas coming from the different kitchens due to the close proximity of the units. Very often I have seen mothers eating on the floor with their children. Fathers are not at home.”
“Some characteristics such as household income, educational qualifications and the type of dwellings, will help us to understand the problems this group is facing. I suspect that the majority in this group are living in the 113,000 units of old rental flats mentioned in the President's speech. In these 113,000 units of old rental flats, you will find about 100,000 1- and 2-room HDB rental flats. This is a significant number. That means in Singapore about one family in five live in an HDB 1- or 2-room flat. In a country whose per capita income is the highest in Asia besides Brunei and Japan, I am confident that we can do much better. First, let us take a look at household incomes. Sir, may I have your permission to quote some numbers from the 1980 census of population? At the national level, there are about 127,000 households out of half a million with less than $500 income per month. Of these 127,000, about 35.6% or nearly one in every three are living in 1- or 2-room flats. Sir, I have chosen $500 income per month as a cut-off point. This is arbitrary. But may I with your permission refer to a report in the Sunday Times of 24th February under the heading, "When Coping is a Struggle". This report highlighted the difficulties and plight of three families earning incomes of $545, $605 and $950. Sir, life for this group and those below trying to make ends meet is nothing less than a struggle. As education has a positive influence on income, one can expect the educational level of this group to be low. Sir, let me now draw your attention to the highest educational qualifications of the adults living in these 1- and 2-room flats. At the national level of a non-student population of about 1.65 million, about one in five or 20% have at least secondary education.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion moved by the hon. Member for Ayer Rajah thanking the President for his speech at the Opening of the First Session of this Parliament. Sir, being a new Member, I realize I have much to learn in this House. I intend to listen to the senior Members. Their experience will be an invaluable guide to my progress as I hope to make my contribution to the maintenance of the tradition in this honourable House. I pray, Mr Speaker, that I shall never give you cause for concern but that I shall always be able to catch your eye. Sir, the objectives of the Government as set out in the President's speech are realistic and, by the record of the last 25 years, these are achievable aims. As we progress and achieve higher levels of objectives and goals, it is important that we move the whole population upwards, to the next higher level of achievement. Hence it is significant that the Government is going to pay particular attention to the 15-20% of our population in the lower income group. For various reasons, this group have fallen behind and have not enjoyed the benefits of our economic progress as do the majority. I am grateful to my hon. Friends, the Members for Eunos, Paya Lebar and Kampong Ubi, for raising the problems of the 15-20% of the population in the lower income group. This is a subject close to my heart, having sprung from this sector of the population. But I would not like this to be perceived as a racial problem. Poverty transcends all races and I agree with the Member for Kampong Ubi when he said that no particular section of the society should be rendered any privileged treatment. Sir, who are these people in the 15-20% group? It would be useful to say the least to have a broad picture of this particular group.”