Choo Wee Khiang
Singapore
“Sir, bearing in mind the problem we have with Malaysia pertaining to the CIQ matter, would the Minister envisage any problem with our negotiations with Malaysia and will the Minister tell us whether there is going to be a deadline in terms of finalising the negotiations?”
“Sir, in today's Straits Times, it is reported that, "Singapore should not decide unilaterally on the relocation of CIQ facilities from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands." It was mentioned by UMNO Vice-President, Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak. I take it that Dato Sri Najib had said that we should not move to Woodlands.”
“That is most important and let us not take the emotional aspect of it in dealing with this particular Bill. Let us be really focused. Let us take into consideration the well-being of the great majority of Singaporeans and the progress and prosperity of Singapore into consideration.”
“I thank the Minister for his reply. If we recognise the importance of sports, I think he should consider re-naming his Ministry to "MCDS", Ministry of Community Development and Sports. Dr Vasoo: Sir, as usual, Members have stretched their viewpoints. The Minister has given very elaborate replies.”
“Sir, I will be equally brief. The Singapore Sports Council has done a very good job and it has been transformed. But I understand from many National Sports Associations that they are all running into financial difficulties. They have a lot of good and great plans, but they need funds.”
“If they are working in the city, and you want them to buy a flat in the suburban area, they will have to spend a lot of time travelling to-and-fro. It is too troublesome and inconvenient. I have also come across a case where a resident wanted to sell back the 3-room flat to HDB in order to buy a bigger flat.”
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“I do not know whether the Minister of State is aware that the existing overhead bridge is one of the tallest, if not the tallest, overhead bridges in Singapore. There are so many aged people commuting between the two estates. Would it not be better if his Ministry were to consider installing escalators which would be more convenient to all, including the LTA?”
“May I know what other alternatives have the Minister of State got in mind?”
“Sir, I am more interested in Whampora. May I know why is Whampoa not included?”
“Will the Minister of State enlighten the House as to which six services under Scheme B that he was talking about?”
“The Senior Minister of State might not have got me completely right. I said that actually it is a two-pronged approach. One should be a long-term one, that is, to make Singapore clean as one's responsibility and duty. Therefore, public education is one very important way to do it. Secondly, I did not advocate that heavier penalties would be necessary to penalise the litterbugs. I was asking whether there are other more appropriate forms to penalise litterbugs. For example, those who urinate in the lifts. Will you want them to clean up the lift which they have urinated, or clean the toilet, or some other form of punishment, not necessarily a fine. Fines may not resolve the matter.”
“I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“However, compulsory qualification as the requirement is not ruled out in the long term. Some of the problems raised by the Member are well known within my Ministry and we will tackle them accordingly. Review of the Auctioneers' Licences Act - I am not sure it is under the Ministry of Law. But we will look at it. In fact, the examinations are set by IRAS, not by us. The advantage of being on the LHAS is that if a buyer buys a resale flat from a LHAS agent, then the application will receive three weeks of faster processing time. So that is quite a lot. We will make sure the HDB tightens the penalty and makes it an incentive for agents to come on board the LHAS. I think the Member suggested that it is no big deal and some agents do not consider the LHAS scheme that beneficial. In fact, some agents have devised various schemes to by-pass it. He asked whether we can close the loophole of a particular company, for example, de-listing some of their agents who have not passed the Common Examinations for Housing Agents into another company, decanting these unqualified agents, so to speak, into another company, so that this company will have all the agents who have passed the examinations. This is a legal matter. We have to look into that. I want to assure the Member that the LHAS scheme is something the HDB thinks very seriously. We encourage all potential HDB resale buyers to select an agent who is listed under the LHAS.”
“In December 1995, HDB implemented the Listed Housing Agents Scheme (LHAS) to raise the professionalism of housing agencies involved in the transactions of HDB resale flats. In the past, agents were not so interested in HDB resale flats. But over the last few years, the volume and the dollar value of HDB resale flats have jumped manifold. So HDB has put in place a certain system. Housing agencies which commit infringements, for malpractices like under-declaration of the resale price, will be dropped from the scheme and the respective agent and the agency will be debarred from handling resale transactions. So they will be debarred from handling resale transactions. This is a fairly severe penalty knowing today's high volume and high value HDB resale market. With effect from 1st July 1997, a housing agency which wishes to be admitted into the LHAS must meet HDB's admission criteria that its agents, that means everybody in the agency, must possess the relevant qualifications recognised by the IRAS. It is called the Common Examinations for Housing Agents, which is administered by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. For existing housing agencies in the LHAS, those who have made an effort to upgrade the professionalism of their agents such that at least 50% of their agents have achieved the relevant qualifications, will be provisionally retained in the scheme for one more year. HDB is also looking into more measures to help upgrade the professionalism of housing agencies and their agents operating in the resale market. HDB has no immediate plans for now to restrict resale transactions to only qualified housing agents. HDB prefers to work with the housing agencies to upgrade their services voluntarily.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head U of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code UA 1500. Sir, I have come across cases during my meet-the-people sessions where residents were accompanied by housing agents, and they asked me to appeal on their behalf pertaining to their property transactions. Subsequently, I realised that such appeals were not very meaningful because they were either not lawful or not within the rules and procedures laid down by HDB. In the interest of all our HDB residents and in order to protect them, I just want to ask the Minister whether he has any plans to review the existing laws governing the housing agents. For example, the Auctioneers' Licences Act, which is a legislation governing estate agents, dated 1906. So it is obviously inadequate to deal with the demands of modern real estate transactions. Secondly, I wonder whether the Ministry will look into the Listed Housing Agents Scheme (LHAS) operated by HDB. I have received some complaints that it is not very tight in terms of controlling the unscrupulous and unprofessional estate agents and there is very little to discriminate a listed housing agent from a non-listed one. For example, a de-listed housing agent is also entitled to subscribe to HDB's Resale Net to facilitate resale transactions. I also wonder whether HDB will plug the loophole of spinning off a separate company to keep on the list an agency firm that does not meet the HDB's criteria. Mr Koo Tsai Kee: Sir, I want to thank the Member for Jalan Besar for raising this issue of the real estate agents handling resale HDB flats. It gives me the opportunity to clarify certain matters.”
“I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answers. Although he has not answered all my questions completely, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Some people have complained that because they are late in their payment or have forgetten to pay the fee, they are penalised. I would like to ask the Minister whether the payment of licence fees can be incorporated into some other payments so that MITA will not have to go through the trouble of tracking down those who are late in payment or who have failed to pay and give them a lot of trouble by penalising them. Can the Minister consider whether TV licence fees can be collected through HDB, PUB, or other Government agents, using their existing systems?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head R of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code RA 1500. (In Mandarin): On TV licence fees, Sir, I have three points to raise with the Minister. First, when I visit my residents, especially the 1-room dwellers, many families told me they were grateful to the Government for the rebates on S&C and rental charges. However, they asked whether the Government could also consider giving them some kind of reduction or rebate in TV licence fees. I support their plea to the Minister. Let us be more generous with these old folks, these low income people who are living in the 1-room and 2-room flats by exempting them from payment of TV licence fees. Sir, in the 1960s, TV was a luxury for the rich, and the poor just could not afford to buy a television set for their own home. But in the 90s, TV is such a common item that almost every family has at least one television set at home. Some may not afford to buy a new television set, but second-hand ones are very affordable. Some people even give away their old but servicable TV sets, free of charge. Therefore, those who have a cheap or free television set at home may not be able to bear the cost of the TV licence fees. So I hope the Minister can give these poor people his sympathetic consideration. On the subject of TV licence fees, there are also some people who have referred me to the fees charged by the Singapore Cable Vision. I would like to know from the Minister whether any survey has been conducted on feedback regarding the fees charged by Singapore Cable Vision, and the quality of its programmes. The next point, Sir, also involves TV licence fees.”
“Much obliged, Sir. When I mentioned about the programme on handover of Hong Kong, basically I agree with the Minister. We are Singapore. It is good that we look at the handover from the Singapore perspective. Indeed, it is even better if you look at it from the South East Asian perspective. However, if that being the case and if our perspective of looking at the handover is by showing us what took place at Chijmes, I think it is rather shallow. Sir, what I was trying to drive home was that actually there is room for improvement, in terms of TV production. I am just urging the Minister to encourage TCS to produce better programmes of this sort. There is no other colony in the world which is going to be returned to Britain, fortunately or unfortunately. But in any case, if there were to be some other big event taking place elsewhere in the world and from our Singapore perspective, it is a good thing, let us do it in a not so shallow manner. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Sir, I take Mr Choo Wee Khiang's point that for such important occasions, there should be a sense of occasion, and the mixing of the solemn with the light-hearted should be properly balanced. I will pass his comments back to TCS for their information.”
“Sir, I used to be quite critical of TCS programmes and I must confess that I share the sentiments of Mr Chew Heng Ching that over the last few years, we have seen improvements. However, I think there is still room for improvement. Sir, I would just like to quote you one example. Like many others in Singapore, I watch the TCS live coverage of the handover of Hong Kong from the British to China on the night of 30th June this year. I must say that I was quite disappointed with the way TCS treated the event. In my opinion, and also the opinion of many whom I have spoken to, TCS' coverage did not really reflect the solemnity and historic importance of the event in a way that one would have expected. Just to quote one example, Sir. In one instance, we were brought over to Chijmes where we saw TCS stars and all the actors and actresses having a good time there. And the commentator was describing and showing us what food they were eating that night. Some of those came to me and commented that they did not really care what a bunch of TCS actors and actresses were eating on a night like that. What is the significance really of showing them partying away when the real event was happening in Hong Kong and Beijing? Where is TCS' sense of occasion? There were also people who were unhappy with the commentary and I share their opinion. Sir, at times, if you really cannot beat them, you join them. In this instance, I think TCS would have done better by simply hooking on with one of the Hong Kong's stations rather than making our own presentation.”
“The continued rise in smoking amongst Singaporeans, especially the Singapore youths, has caused much concern among parents, school principals, teachers and members of the public too. Many people have called for stringent policing of the retailers of cigarettes. They call for shopkeepers who flout the ban on the sale of cigarettes to minors to be identified and penalised. For more effective control of smoking among youths, the Ministry of Health should really license tobacco retailers. The Ministry should also consider restricting the number of licences issued. There should be strict monitoring of compliance by retailers to ensure that they do not sell cigarettes to minors. If tobacco retailers are caught selling cigarettes to minors, their licence should be revoked.”
“Sir, many people are unhappy about our A&E service. Some people came to me and complained about the A&E service in Singapore, and many thought that it is in a state of deterioration. Many people told me that they had to wait for many, many hours, as long as four hours, as reported in the press. And there are problems of overcrowding, and it appears to be getting worse. I wonder whether these problems arise as a result of shortage of doctors, shortage of nurses and, worse still, shortage of senior doctors or consultants. Because I do not think we should treat A&E departments as half-way houses. Recently, there have been newspaper reports indicating that our A&E departments are not providing appropriate, efficient and correct service. I hope this is just an anomaly and not typical of our A&E service. There were also reports of the misuse of the A&E service by people who should really go to the Government polyclinics or to the GPs for treatment for their minor or non-emergency illnesses. In addition, I was also told that the ambulances, when responding to calls and when they realise or they thought that it was not an acute case, they would rather return empty handed. I would like to ask the Minister to respond to my queries, my concerns, what is being done to address the issue of overcrowding, complaints about the inefficiency of our A&E service, about the ambulance service and the long waiting time, and how can we really ensure that A&E departments will be run in the most appropriate manner. Sir, let me move on to my next topic on tobacco licensing. Despite the law prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors, cigarettes are still readily available to our people.”
“Sir, there is still a group of poor Singaporeans who despite our health subsidies still cannot afford their hospital bills. Yet others worry that the increasing health care costs will make basic medical care out of their reach. The concern is specially true among the elderly people. Sir, Medifund is said to be the help of last resort so that no Singaporean will be denied access to basic health care because of inability to pay. As Medifund is still relatively new to Singaporeans, I would like to ask the Minister for Health to enlighten us on how Medifund is helping needy patients, how much we have spent and how many Singaporeans have benefited from the scheme. How do we ensure that genuine hardship cases are not denied help and that the fund will not be abused by those families who could actually afford to pay the hospital bills.”
“Sir, recently there was a spate of fatal traffic accidents occurring in Singapore and we are all very concerned about it. Because these serious road accidents normally involve buses, heavy vehicles and motor cycles, I would like to ask the Minister what the traffic police proposes to do to ensure that there is greater safety on our roads. I have four recommendations for the Minister to consider. Firstly, we must restrict motor cycles, heavy vehicles and buses. A speed limit should be imposed and enforced strictly. There should be a special device on their vehicles to indicate their travelling speed. Secondly, require buses and heavy vehicles to turn on the head lights at all times. Thirdly, appoint voluntary traffic wardens to help enhance safety awareness and road safety. Fourthly, require motor cyclists to go on the slow lane and ban them from the fast lane when travelling along the expressways. These measures would perhaps help to ensure road safety.”
“I think Mr Lim's analogy is very interesting. However, gangsterism and shoes are two different things. While you can change your shoes if they do not fit you, when children turn bad, you cannot change to new children. That is a different issue. Although the new measures may not go to the root of the matter, they are, to a certain degree quite effective in the prevention of juvenile delinquents. So I think Mr Lim should allow our police and the Ministry of Home Affairs to try out these measures and see how effective they are. As suggested by Mr Peh, let them try out for six months and see how these fare. I think that is more reasonable. The other point is that I read from the newspapers that many young people are spotting tattoos on their body. On tattoos, what kind of attitude should we adopt? How do we control tattoos? Do we need to legislate? If those children with tattoos regret later and want to remove them, what can they do? An hon. Member: Scrape them. Mr Choo Wee Khiang(In Mandarin): The Opposition Member says he can scrape them out. How do we help these tattooed youths to restore their original skin colour? It is not possible to restore to the original skin. Maybe bring them to the Skin Centre to remove the tattoo or do something else. Or should we go through legislation to control tattoos?”
“We should not leave it to them to join on their own free will. 1.15 pm”
“We should reconsider the definition for juvenile delinquents. Is it young people below 16 or below 18? I think we should have a consensus on the definition of juvenile delinquents so that it would be easier for us to enforce the ban more effectively on young people going into such undesirable places. Dancing by itself is not a problem. It is the lighting, the sound system, the whole atmosphere of the dance hall that is exciting the young people. Our community centres should also have similar activities to provide places for young people to expend their energy, in the right environment The other point here is the appointment of discipline masters in the schools. Some teachers have asked me whether their safety may be endangered. How could they be protected when they are threatened? The next point is to strengthen crime prevention education in schools. The Minister said that we could have more talks and seminars to teach our young people how to prevent crimes. They can also be shown some educational video tapes. I think these are very good things. I would even suggest that they should have pamphlets and posters printed on prevention of juvenile crimes, and even handbooks or small little pamphlets for the parents, social organisations and other members of the public for them to read and understand the problem. This will help to prevent our young people from falling into crime. Sir, I feel that the street wise programme, on the face of it, is good for the young people. We want them to voluntarily join such programmes. To a certain extent it is a bit difficult to implement because these young people are not mature enough in many cases. If it is possible, I feel that we may make it compulsory for certain young people to join this programme.”
“Sir, over the past five years, I have been speaking on juvenile delinquency and every year I heard that new measures were taken to prevent juvenile delinquency. This is very encouraging. But I still feel that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police should not be the only agencies dealing with juvenile delinquency. I think this is a matter that involves the whole society - parents, schools and other social components. It is the common responsibility of all the people. So it is not right that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police should be asked to take the whole responsibility. It is not right for people to perceive this as such. I agree with my colleagues that prevention of juvenile delinquency should be handled by an Inter-Ministry Committee. It can be better solved through such a Committee. Every year we have new measures. It does not mean that the question of juvenile delinquency is getting worse. It also means that our juvenile delinquents are becoming more sophisticated. The moment you have new measures they know how to circumvent them. When the number of delinquents arrested is declining, could it be because our juvenile delinquents have learned how to avoid being arrested? In any case, I appreciate Prof. Ho Peng Kee's announcement of the four measures earlier to curb juvenile delinquency. Here, I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. The Minister announced that from 1st October, young people below the age of 16 will be banned from attending tea dances? Why 16? Why cannot you include those below 18? Those below 18 should also be banned from going to discos and tea dances. In December last year, we imposed a ban on youngsters below 16 from going to the billiard saloons. We can increase the age restriction to 18.”
“And I hope the Government will not give the impression that it is only interested in ensuring, in a mechanical manner, that its macro planning parameters are met and is unwilling to make some minor adjustments to accommodate difficulties faced by companies at the micro level. I also hope that the Government will not give the impression that its only aim is to maximise its collection from the companies and is not concerned whether this will result in companies losing their overall competitiveness. Sir, I hope the Minister for Trade and Industry will be able to enlighten the House on this.”
“Due to a change of policy and direction, this particular company had to go overseas and they also allowed subcontractors to take up the main bulk of their business activities. As a result, they no longer needed a huge factory space and they asked JTC to help out. However, JTC was not very sympathetic and turned down their request. JTC in turn asked the company to complete the project by next year, 1998. As I said, the company no longer needed that huge space. As a result, the company acceded to the request by JTC and promised to complete the project by next year at a cost of $20 million. But the company requested JTC to allow it to sublet some of the unused land to sub-tenants. But stringent conditions were laid down by JTC. It was not helpful. The land, the open space and the space available within the building were made useless. The third problem came about when JTC finally agreed upon some subletting exercise. JTC, in turn, asked for a subletting fee. The problem is that, regardless of the space sublet, the subletting fee is a fixed quantum and is not actually related to the space that is sublet. In this case, the company sublets a smaller space but yet has to pay a fixed sum of subletting fee to JTC. This shows that JTC has been rather inflexible. 4.15 pm I am not trying to single out JTC, but I am using it as an example to illustrate some of our Government agencies, when implementing their policies, are not flexible and are too rigid. I hope that the Government would be sympathetic to the change of space requirement experienced by companies as a result of their business restructuring to go high tech and move upstream.”
“Sir, I share the sentiments expressed by other MPs and colleagues in this House over the high business costs in Singapore. As mentioned by the Minister for Finance, a major component of the business costs in Singapore is indeed wages. My concern is that the high salary cost without the equally high level of productivity and quality of work has made some Singapore companies less competitive internationally. Worse still, I have been told by some of my businessman friends that many companies are increasingly losing their market shares even in our home ground. Although it is difficult and not wise for the Government to introduce any protectionist measures to stop competition, I think in the broader front, the Government should really look into ways and means to enhance the capability and skill levels of our workers in each industry to match the high wage level, as mentioned by many of us here. Sir, my second concern pertaining to high business costs in Singapore is indeed the land cost or cost relating to the use of land. In my view, the Government should adopt a more pragmatic approach and a more sympathetic and flexible attitude when implementing its policies. I am of the view that Government policies have always been very carefully thought out and are usually very sound from the macro viewpoint. However, in implementing the policies, there should be more sympathy and compassion shown towards companies that are facing difficulties in meeting some of the policy requirements. I have a case in my constituency where a company leased 100,000 square feet of land from JTC. The plot ratio was given as 2:1 and they were given five years to complete the whole building project.”
“I thank the Minister and beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $528,997,670 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $692,963,200 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head W -”
“May I have a clarification please? May I know, out of the few thousand companies investing abroad, how many are now enjoying the scheme, as mentioned by the Minister?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head N of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the Government has been encouraging people to go overseas and invest. However, the general feeling is that the Government has done very little to promote regionalisation to accelerate the tax reliefs and other related incentives. Currently, there are a number of double tax reliefs available to dampen the impact of one's overall tax liabilities. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many businessmen such double tax reliefs are not good enough. Firstly, the double tax reliefs are there to offset and to avoid income or profit generated overseas and remitted back to Singapore being taxed twice. As far as businessmen are concerned, this is certainly not a form of encouragement nor promotion. Secondly, there are still many countries not covered by double tax treaties. Thirdly, going regional is often very risky, as in the case of Cambodia, and can be very tough. It may not be a rewarding exercise after all. Yes, I believe some businessmen in Singapore are fortunate enough to make big bucks overseas, but many do not. It would take many years for them to recover the capital invested and make a positive return. In short, those Singaporeans going overseas, in particular in this region, either to venture or work there, are subject to very high risks and sacrifices. I should therefore be very grateful if the Minister for Finance will review the existing fiscal policies and to take a more proactive view and role in encouraging Singaporeans to venture overseas.”
“As a matter of convenience, would the Ministry be able to get the officials to study such a project on an island-wide basis, rather than on an ad hoc basis?”
“Sir, I wonder whether the Minister of State can tell the House whether such a project will be implemented island-wide, where applicable.”
“Yes, what fear are you talking about? I am saying that your fear is self-inflicted. There is no fear. If you have fear there will be no opportunity for you to make noise in this House. I think we should not turn the House into a House of grievances really. You have enough opportunities and there is no fear. We can guarantee you.”
“I thank the NCMP for giving me such a compliment by saying that I am a rather energetic person. Yes, I am indeed. An hon. Member: Enthusiastic. Mr Choo Wee Khiang: Enthusiastic, sorry. I think the NCMP has got me wrong, Sir. I did not mention about the rule of law. It was him. I did not bring it up. I said fear. You were mentioning about fear.”
“They should look at the whole system and look at the long-term benefit that this system will bring to Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me finish first. (In Mandarin): At the same time, Mr Low has also said that the PAP is a "political bully". What does he mean by a "political bully"? Are we corrupted? Or have we received money from outside sources? As Prof. Woon had said, this GRC system cuts both ways. If the opposition party, particularly the Workers' Party, one day wants to be the ruling party, then I think it should study from what Mr Ling How Doong said in Hokkien just now. "If you want to win, you must win handsomely." You must show by your action. Do not adopt this by-election tactic to fight this general election. The opposition parties should have a tacit agreement to cooperate and to field their best candidates. They can also participate in the GRCs as well as the single-member constituencies so that they can let the people of Singapore give them a clear answer as to whether or not they want the opposition to represent them. If they concentrate only on the single-member constituencies and if they feel that the single-member constituency is the only way to reflect the choice of the people, I think they have been very narrow in their view. Every vote counts. It decides the government for the next five years. It decides the Member of Parliament for that constituency for the next five years. It does not imply that every vote that is cast is not directly linked to who should rule Singapore. I think the voters are very clear in their minds. They know what they want. So when they vote, they know what they are looking for. Just now, what Mr Low said gives me the impression that he was very arbitrary in his speech. It is like a very unreasonable man making such unreasonable comments. So I hope that the opposition parties should not look at the whole thing narrow-mindedly.”
“Sir, I cannot agree more with Mr Goh Choon Kang about feeder bus services. If we look at Whampoa Estate, it is quite an isolated estate, almost cut off from the outside world. There are only two small roads leading into Whampoa Estate. Most of my residents are lower-income people. Increasingly, we see more people moving in because of more HDB blocks being built. I think the feeder bus services within Whampoa and also the feeder bus service from Whampoa to the nearby MRT stations, eg, to Toa Payoh, are grossly inadequate. In 1995, I mentioned it to the Minister and he promised to look into it. I hope this time he will give me a very positive answer, and whether he will ask SBS or the LTA to look into the needs of my residents in Whampoa and give us good, efficient and safe bus services.”
“Sir, there is a slight improvement in the answer on the part of the Senior Minister of State. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $3,034,515,800 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $960,832,100 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head I -”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LI 3200. Sir, in the 1994 Budget debate, I spoke on a special admission scheme for outstanding athletes and coaches. This year, I would like to mention the same. My points remain the same and I suppose the Minister will give the same answer. However, I would like to reiterate that since we have a scheme worked out with the Singapore Sports Council, known as the Joint Polytechnic-SSC Admission Scheme for Sports Persons, I cannot see why we cannot have one Joint University-SSC Admission Scheme for Outstanding Sports Persons. Here, I mean outstanding sports person like Josceline Yeo. I think we really need to reward this group of people with such a benefit. They are training very hard day in and day out and they may miss out a lot of school work, and as a result they may not be able to attain the same high entrance requirements as other students. My point is that if they were able to meet the minimum entry requirements, please admit these outstanding sports people, like Josceline Yeo. If the Minister is prepared to accede to my request, it will go a long way to encourage Singaporeans to do well for the country, to make sure that we are a country of sports excellence and in return they can pursue their further studies.”
“May I bring this to the attention of the Senior Minister of State: on 17th February 1996, I mentioned it yesterday, the Straits Times reported that there was a huge jump in the juvenile crime rate since 1990. There were 2,589 youngsters being arrested, of which 87% were students, ie, 2,248 students. You can form two schools out of 2,248 students. It is unfair to say that juvenile and disciplinary problems should be tackled solely by the schools, but I think the social agencies, police, parents, the society at large are responsible for the whole thing. Since we have such a large number of youngsters committing crimes, in my view, the schools must take that into consideration. If it is a serious problem, let us sit down and see how we can solve the disciplinary problem and bring the crime rate down.”
“May I seek a clarification, please? Sir, am I right to say that the Senior Minister of State mentioned that schools have no serious disciplinary problems?”
“Together with other grassroots organisations, I think, in the long run, we should be able to contain the rising juvenile crimes and rising school disciplinary problems.”
“The mother subsequently did not turn up at all. That is one simple case. Mother was uncooperative; the child got out of hand, beyond control, and there is nothing that we can do about it. In the second case, the father made a report, and the child was found suitable to be sent to a boys' home. The child learned all the bad habits and negative values, and after undergoing a period of rehabilitation, he was sent back to school, and there he started to teach all his friends quietly about what he learned from the boys' home. The effect is quite natural. More students learn the bad habits and acquire negative values. Sir, it is a very serious matter which I think the Ministry will have to tackle in a very proactive manner. I have the following three points which I hope the Minister will consider. Firstly, I suggest we should send the recalcitrant students to various homes, VWOs, hospice care centres, old-age homes, homes for the handicapped, homes for the disabled and others, to make sure that they learn the hard facts of life. Secondly, I would like the Minister to consider whether we can make counselling course a compulsory exercise for the students and parents. Thirdly, which is more appropriate to neighbourhood schools, we should get the People's Association (PA) to start a counselling committee or counselling centre in every constituency. This particular committee will be headed by the CCC Chairman, together with the school discipline masters, representatives from the School Advisory Councils, parents and the professional social workers. This committee, hopefully, will be able to coordinate with the neighbourhood schools and come up with a series of measures to tackle the school disciplinary problems and offer counselling service to problem kids.”
“Sir, like many colleagues in the House, I am indeed very concerned and very worried about the rising juvenile crime and the school disciplinary problems. Sir, on 17th February, the Straits Times published an article showing that juvenile crimes had led to a sharp rise in arrests since 1990. It was mentioned, in particular, that 722 girls were arrested and the number of juveniles arrested had gone up from 1,205 to 2,589 last year. And according to a Chinese newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, out of these 2,589 juveniles, 87% or 2,248 were students. I am very concerned about it and I think the House should discuss how preventive actions can be taken right from the school. Last year, during the Budget debate, the Senior Minister of State, Encik Sidek, told the House, and I quote: `Sir, in my opening remarks, I have mentioned that discipline is an important aspect of education. Without discipline, there is no school, there is no society, there is no nation, and we take it seriously.' Yes, we all take it seriously and, therefore, subsequently the post of Discipline Master was formalised. I would like to ask the Minister to give an account on school disciplinary problems for 1995 and whether the Ministry has managed to contain the problem of discipline. Sir, I think prevention is always better than cure. We must look for all possible ways to tackle school disciplinary problems and juvenile crimes. I would like to cite the following two real cases for the Minister's attention. One case was about a 14-year old child. The mother was uncooperative. The child was absent from school very regularly and the school was trying to counsel her and it also tried to persuade the mother to cooperate. Together they would like to do something for the child but to no avail.”
“Nowadays, teachers assume multi-roles, with extremely heavy workload and responsibilities. We must therefore remunerate this group of dedicated people well. We all know that engineers outside are generally better remunerated. There is thus no reason why teachers, the human engineers, are not properly remunerated. Of course, remuneration is not the only factor to take into consideration. We must make sure that the teaching profession is highly respected; the teaching environment is most conducive and teachers are given ample opportunities to progress and have excellent career prospects. Sir, I hope the Minister will inform the House what measures will be taken to make the teaching profession a truly rewarding one.”
“Sir, the Ministry of Education provides schemes for those who want to become relief teachers and for the retired teachers to extend their services. However, I believe there are many professionals and housewives who are willing to render their services to education but find it difficult to find the time to teach one whole session in school. As a result, we are unable to tap the services of such people to join the teaching profession and help ease the problem of shortage of teachers. I would thus urge the Minister to consider opening up its relief teaching scheme to accommodate part-time teachers. Part-time teachers can opt for shorter teaching hours, for example, a couple of hours a day or a few hours a week. We should make it flexible. So those who are able to find a couple of hours a day or a few hours a week will be able to teach. Of course, it will give rise to more administrative work and it will become more complicated for the Ministry and the principals to administer such a scheme. But at the end of the day, it will help solve the shortage of teachers and allow housewives and professionals to realise their dreams of becoming teachers. Undoubtedly, we must not compromise the standard of teaching and, therefore, the Ministry of Education will have to continue its efforts to train relief teachers and part-time teachers to ensure that they are up-to-date. The Ministry must come up with a comprehensive scheme to cater for such a group of willing teachers and make sure that they are properly remunerated. Otherwise, they may become private tutors or remain dormant at home. Touching on the topic of remuneration, I believe it is crucial for the Ministry to look after the full-time teachers. Full-time teachers are important to our nation building.”
“My last point is about sales of vendor shares in an IPO. The line of demarcation between trading and capital gains remains unclear and tax uncertainty prevails. While venturing overseas, Singapore companies should also be encouraged to raise their profile by seeking listing on overseas stock exchanges. This can be further encouraged by giving tax concession on the gains realised from the IPO.”
“Sir, I have the following few points to make pertaining to tax incentives for companies investing overseas. First of all, liberalisation of tax deduction on borrowing costs incurred in funding overseas investments. At the moment, such costs are only deductible against overseas income but it is unlikely that these investments will generate any immediate return and hence, during this period, the funding costs are not deductible against other income. In addition to that, non-deductibility also applies to expenses incurred overseas for the purpose of exploring business opportunities. I believe currently the practice is such that only related expenses are allowed to set off against local income. So I wonder whether the Minister will consider allowing all such expenses incurred overseas to be set off against local income. Secondly is about section 50A relief - unilateral tax credit. Presently, where dividends are paid by a company resident outside Singapore to a Singapore resident company owning not less than 25% of the shares of the former, the unilateral tax credit available to the Singapore resident company will extend to the underlying tax attributable to the profits out of which the dividends are paid. The 25% threshold may be waived by the Minister on a case-to-case basis. However, the above relief is only available to underlying tax suffered by the first tier companies; it is not extended to underlying tax suffered beyond the first tier companies. Sometimes, in order to accommodate overseas joint venture partners, it may be necessary to interpose the overseas investment by using a holding company in Hong Kong or elsewhere. In such instances, there will be no credit relief available for the foreign tax suffered in the country where the "active" investment is located.”
“Sir, I understand that there are schemes which are intended to help SMEs, eg, the Local Enterprise Finance Scheme and the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme. However, these schemes are not specifically meant for SMEs who are going regional. Although the setting up of international business institute is a very sound idea, it will only provide information on how to conduct business in the region, and I think it is insufficient. What is needed for SMEs venturing abroad certainly goes beyond receiving information. I hope the Minister will consider setting up a Small Enterprise Board or a SME Committee, comprising representatives from the local SMEs, to look into the needs of SMEs and to see how these SMEs can get together through merger, through the exchange of information, through cooperation and, I propose, through introducing an Overseas Financing Scheme for SMEs, similar to that of the local schemes. It is encouraging to learn that some 172 SMEs received venture capital funding last year. But I believe there are still many SMEs who cannot fully take advantage of the changing winds of prosperity and progress and have lagged behind due to changing circumstances. Sir, I believe the SMEs still have the "core experience" and the tenacity to start up business in countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and the like to help the Government realise the vision and policy of spreading "external wings". Though with a wealth of experience applicable now to the growing economies of the region, but struggling to fit into and cope with the high-tech environment of the Singapore economy, it is a waste of precious Singapore resources to allow this group to stagnate and to struggle on to oblivion, if without any Government help forthcoming.”
“Sir, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has given a very good answer on the role of the PBC. I just wonder whether it is possible for the Ministry to consider setting up a Police Girls' Club (PGC). I think it is quite important for us to also look at girls who are potentially exposed to joining the gangs and may turn out to be juvenile delinquents in future. Will the Ministry look into it? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: We will consider this. But let us just look at the dimension of the problem in respect of the boys and the girls. No doubt we do have a trend where increasingly there are teen girl gangs. But the point is, what type of activities would attract both boys and girls? So the Police Boys' Clubs have organised activities that would pull the boys together; boys are more gregarious and in terms of their temperament, they are more open to such activities. But I know that this suggestion is well meaning. We will look into it, and if need be, we will take it up.”
“Sir, can I seek a clarification from the Senior Parliamentary Secretary?”
“Other recommendations of the IMC include better coordination and networking amongst organisations which are providing services to the youths and their families. Sir, I would like to ask the Minister what measures the Ministry is considering in the light of the IMC report. Has the high-level work group been formed and what are its priorities? What is the role of the Police Boys' Clubs in countering juvenile delinquency?”