Chua Sian Chin
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak on this Bill as a person who had been in Government for many years and before that in legal practice for more than eight years and now back in legal practice. While I was in Government, I had cognizance of the shortcomings of the legal profession.”
“It is 62 members out of a total of 1,335 practising lawyers. This has brought about a situation which no responsible government can let it pass in the public interest. The Government has good reasons to deal with this situation firmly. In fact, the present amendments have only made a small inroad in self-regulation.”
“At the same time, a minority group of activists has also chosen to take on the Government by calling an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Law Society to pass fierce resolutions against the Government. This group comprised only 62 members.”
“Though he has only limited Constitutional powers and acts on the advice of the Cabinet, he is the symbol of the unity, loyalty and aspirations of the people of Singapore.”
“- to hold classes for children of his constituents. What right has he got? The PAP MPs equally have no such rights. It is the right of the Government, if they think so, to have such classes. In fact, through the People's Association, they have been holding kindergarten classes in the community centres.”
“It is the Government who says that, and the Government has the right to say it because they are responsible for the Government of Singapore. And it is not what I say or what you say. Let me turn to the Member for Potong Pasir. He also produced some exhibits which are equally bogus.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,639 lines we hold for Chua Sian Chin, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 25 of 33.
“It is inconvenient and can be expensive, and further, other contraceptive methods are not 100 per cent effective and there is the ever-present fear of an unwanted pregnancy. After looking into this matter very carefully, it is considered that there is justification in liberalising the law in this regard. Accordingly, the present requirement of three children has been reduced to two and the Bill gives effect to this. Further, it is also provided that where there are exceptional circumstances, the Board may approve sterilization in the case of an applicant with one living child. The "exceptional circumstances" may be on medical, therapeutic or environmental grounds. The last mentioned ground includes the financial and social circumstances of the applicant. Any application under this head will naturally be scrutinized by the Board with the utmost care, and approval would be given only if the Board is satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances, that there is real justification. Each case will depend on its own merits. The present law allows the Board to approve sterilization in the case of a person under 21 years of age if he is suffering from hereditary illness that is recurrent, mental illness or epilepsy, and if his parent or guardian consents to it. This precludes unmarried persons over 21 years of age and married persons of any age from applying for sterilization if they are suffering from these illnesses. The Bill seeks to remedy this. deficiency. At present, the Eugenics Board has no powers to appoint committees for any general or specific purpose or to authorise them to do any specific act or carry out any specific function. Such powers have been provided for the Termination of Pregnancy Authorization Board under the Abortion Act.”
“In this connection, I would like to mention that the staff of the various hospitals and maternity and child health clinics, where most applicants go t& get application forms, will continue to give an explanation of the meaning and, consequences of sterilization to the applicants as they have been doing hitherto. Under the Act, at least 30 days are required to elapse between the date of the application and the date sterilization is to be carried out. This is intended as a safeguard in case the applicant changes his mind, when it would have acted against the basic purpose of the law. The need for such a long waiting period has been criticised. Many are. unable to understand the need for the delay. Indeed, many applicants have indicated a desire to be sterilized immediately after the Board's interview. It is known that some women became pregnant during the waiting period. An amendment to shorten the waiting period from 30 days to 7 days has, therefore, been made. The safeguard is retained, only the period between the approval and when the sterilization operation can be carried out has been shortened. There can be no undue haste in taking this important decision, yet it should not be unduly long. At present one of the conditions that every applicant must satisfy before the Board will authorise treatment for sterilization is that he or she must have at least three children. In other words, the present position is that parents who have decided that their family is complete with two children cannot benefit from sterilization and would have to adhere to other contraceptive methods for the rest of their lives. It is an undesirable hardship on the marriage partners.”
“There are other reasons too, which make the rigid requirement for the interview undesirable, one of which is that hardship is caused to those applicants in the lower income group (the large majority of applicants are in this group) who live away from the City, particularly in the rural areas, in that they have to take time off from work, perhaps losing a day's wages and spend money on transport to attend the Board's interview at the Kandang Kerbau Hospital. As a result of this compulsory interview, the Board has, to meet regularly to deal with all applicants. In view of the large number of applicants received - about 150 a month - the Board at present meets weekly. It is, therefore, considered desirable that the question whether an applicant is to be interviewed by the Board or otherwise be left to the Board's discretion and provision to this effect has accordingly been made in the Amendment Bill. In other words, the Board will decide on the basis of the information contained in the application whether a person should be called for interview or not. Every applicant whose application for sterilization has been approved and who is not required by the Board to appear for an interview will be notified by post. As a safeguard and to enable the applicant to have a full medical explanation, he or she will be provided with a leaflet, in the appropriate language, explaining the meaning and consequences of sterilization so that he or she will be fully aware of the step intended to be taken. This leaflet has, been prepared in four languages and has been in use since December 1970.”
“Some of these restrictions are connected with the procedure in applying for sterilizations; others with the conditions that have to be satisfied before sterilization can be approved under the Act. It is, therefore, considered desirable to amend the Act suitably so that it will serve its purpose well, namely, to make sterilization, as a method of family planning, easily available to as many men and women who come within its ambit. Hence, the present Bill before the House. Under the Voluntary Sterilization Act, every applicant has to appear before the Eugenics Board for an interview. This is a mandatory provision of the law as it stands, and the Board has no discretion in the matter. The purpose of the interview is to explain to the applicant the meaning and consequences of sterilization. The reason underlying this provision is that every applicant should be clearly aware of the steps being taken so that he or she will not enter into it unknowingly, or under false ideas nor frivolously - to be regretted when it is too late at a later date. Sometimes good intentions have a way of achieving unexpected results. But one of them might have been foreseen. This is that many of the applicants find it an embarrassment to present themselves before the Board for the interview. Many have refused to attend the interviews after they had made their applications. How many more have not made applications for sterilization because of this requirement will never be known. Because of this one reason, this important method of contraception for family planning is not as popular as it should be.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." In 1969, when I moved the Second Reading of the Voluntary Sterilization Bill in this House, I say, inter alia, that the Bill together with the Abortion Bill and the Singapore Family Planning and Population Act of 1965 would be a "charter to liberate women from unwanted pregnancies". I have also stated that during the operations of the Act a critical assessment would be made of its effectiveness. Both the Abortion Act and the Voluntary Sterilization Act have been in operation in the last two years. Experience gained has shown that the Abortion Act has been operating smoothly and fulfilling its purpose. Since its coming into operation till the end of December 1971, about 5,300 abortions have been carried out. The vast majority of the abortions were done on women with unwanted pregnancies who have a large number of children and belong to the low income group. The Abortion Act can be said to have more than fulfilled the objectives for which the Act had been passed. The same, however, cannot be said of the Voluntary Sterilization Act. During the same period, only 1,639 sterilizations were carried out. This is a pity since sterilization is the best method of family planning for those who completed the number of children they want. From the figures I gave a moment ago, it can be said that the number of abortions performed was more than three times the number of sterilizations over the same period. This is because the demand for sterilization has been hampered by a number of restrictions in the Voluntary Sterilization Act.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April, 1972, to 31st March, 1973, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as far as the Ministry of Health is concerned, after receiving the complaint of noise caused by the generator, we have advised the factory operator to resite the generator to another place. We have also advised the factory management to confine their operations to daylight hours, and not to operate it during the night. Court action has also been taken against the management for dumping refuse into the drain on two occasions. But as I have said, we can only issue a nuisance notice if there is any nuisance. In this particular case, when our inspectors went on their rounds they did not find any evidence of dust nuisance and as a result, no, nuisance notice could be served. Of course, as I have said, the quickest way to deal with this matter is to get a demolition order to pull the factory down. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $37,644,400 for Head 1203 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Pursuant to a resolution of the House, Mr Speaker thereupon left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.”
“It may be a different factory, but the circumstances are the same, in which case, I think the fastest way to deal with this problem is to have the factory demolished. This is a matter for the Building Control Division. As far as the Ministry of Health is concerned, where there is a complaint of noise or dust nuisance, we can only serve a nuisance notice, if it is not complied with, action will he taken in court. If the Member wants rapid action then, of course, it is the Building Control Division which can move in to demolish the factory, which I believe is an unauthorised building. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, since this factory was illegally constructed, I believe the P.W.D, will take action to demolish it. But meanwhile what steps are being taken by the Public Health Division of the Ministry to protect the residents in this area from diseases which might be caused by dust?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, what the Member for Kampong Kembangan has said proves my point. Do we change the name of the constituency from Kampong Ubi to Geylang Serai just because Jalan Geylang Serai is in Kampong Ubi and not in Geylang Serai? After all, what is in a name? Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, what I meant was that Jalan Geylang Serai should be re-named Jalan Kampong Ubi.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, what is in a name? In fact, although the market may not fall within Geylang Serai constituency, it is situated along Jalan Geylang Serai. The reason why the name has not been changed to Kampong Ubi market is that it involves the changing of the regulations. If you change the name of the market, then you have to change the regulations. This is provided for in the regulations itself. We have considered this matter, and have decided that there is no necessity to change the name. After all what is in a name? Do we have to change the name of a market just because it falls within a particular constituency? This market has been historically known as Geylang Serai Market because it lies along Jalan Geylang Serai. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, for the information of the Minister, Jalan Geylang Serai itself is in Kampong Ubi constituency. The people have suggested to the Member for Kampong Ubi that it would be better if the name is changed to Kampong Ubi market. The people would then know that the market is in Kampong Ubi constituency.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to correct the Member for Anson. I have never announced at any time that all hawkers will be centralised. Our announcement is that it is the policy to resite all bona fide hawkers into clean, hygienic centres which will be built in various parts of the city. This will be done after consultation with Members of Parliament of the various constituencies and members of the Citizens' Consultative Committees. We do not want to centralise because we might get a huge concentration of hawkers in the City. What we announced was the policy of resiting hawkers. The Member has also mentioned about vacant pitches in hawker centres. May I say that these vacant pitches are only meant for bona fide hawkers who were registered in the 1968-69 census. Of course, some of the bona tide hawkers who were left out in the census can still be considered if the Member of Parliament for that area would recommend that he is, in fact, a bona fide hawker. In other words, all these vacant pitches will be filled up. The only point is that there is always a time lag between a vacancy arising and balloting.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, when I mentioned mosquito breeding in private premises, I meant building sites as well. The prevention of mosquito breeding at building sites is not the responsibility of the Government. That is the responsibility of the site contractor. In Windsor Park, as a result of the survey, an instance of mosquito breeding was discovered at a construction site. The contractor was served with a notice and summoned accordingly.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, what the Member for Anson has advocated about going thoroughly into the matter of reducing the mosquito menace in Singapore is being done by the Anti-Mosquito Branch of the Ministry of Health. In fact, for the last six months Public Health Inspectors have been visiting an average of over a thousand homes a week, and weekly statements of incidents of mosquito breeding have been issued to the press in order to exhort members of the public to take preventive measures within their own premises. Also, we make mention in the weekly statements of the number of notices and summonses issued against householders who have not been civic enough to take precautionary measures. Now, may I inform the Member [or Anson that, although he mentioned the mosquito menace in general, it has been found that the major source of breeding is within private premises in built-up areas such as residential estates, like Windsor Park. Perhaps this will be of interest to the Member, who is also the President of the Residents' Association in Windsor Park. To take the case of Windsor Park, there has been only one complaint received from a resident concerning mosquitoes in the area. 7.15 p.m. This was in January 1972. A survey on the incidence of mosquitoes was conducted, and it shows that with the exception of a septic tank, all the seven breeding sites were within private premises. Of course, the responsibility for the prevention of mosquito breeding in septic tank lies with the Government. In this case it is the P.W.D., and the matter has been referred to the relevant department for action. I hope the Member is satisfied with my answer.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe I have already answered the questions raised by the Member for Kampong Kembangan. As far as the Ministry of Health is concerned, in conjunction with the P.W.D., they are doing whatever they can to maintain the environment. However, we must realise that this is a very difficult job because of the prevailing conditions there. We are oiling the place regularly, but, as I have said, if it rains in the afternoon after it has been oiled in the morning, then it is oil down the drain. The other work of desilting is being carried out regularly, and unless we get the co-operation of these residents by refraining from throwing litter into the drains, then of course whatever has been done to alleviate the position will be to no avail. Whatever it is, action is being taken as best as the circumstances permit.”
“Now, the relevant department has also been desilting the drains as far as possible, and any overgrown weeds on both sides of the drain are being cleared once in two months. If the Member for Geylang Serai would exhort the residents in his area to be more civic-conscious and not to throw rubbish into the drains but into proper dustbins, then of course the situation will improve. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, if what the Minister for Health has said is true, that is, there is no other alternative except to redevelop the whole area, then I believe the residents will welcome it. May I then know when will the development take place? However, in the meantime, the Public Health Division must carry out their daily work conscientiously until redevelopment takes place. Sir, as far as I know the Public Health Inspectors only check houses to see whether there is mosquito breeding, but neglect places like drains and vacant land. So whilst waiting for redevelopment as mentioned by the Minister, I hope the Ministry can discharge its duties to eradicate mosquito breeding in the residential areas as well as in vacant places.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a perennial problem. It has been brought up again and again since last year. The Member for Geylang Serai has given us his version of the problem. But as far as the Ministry of Health is concerned, we have our own version of the problem which I shall explain. This problem has arisen fundamentally because the whole area is a low-lying area. The drainage of the area consists of a vast network of earth drains and the gradient is so slight that the water becomes sluggish and, in many cases, stagnant. In some places the matter is aggravated because of silting of these drains when it rains. The result of stagnant water, of course, is mosquito breeding. May I inform the Member for Geylang Serai that unfortunately some of the residents also contribute to the problem by throwing refuse into the drains. There are some civic-conscious residents who help to clean the drains, and at the same time there are those who are not so civic-conscious. They throw rubbish into the drains and worsen the problem. May I say that we can only solve this fundamental problem by redeveloping the whole area, because it is not possible to make water flow upwards, as water flows from a higher level to a lower level. If the outlets are at a higher level than that of the drain, then you cannot solve the problem unless you raise the level of the whole area and reconstruct the whole drainage system. Meanwhile, whatever can be done to alleviate the situation has been done. The Ministry of Health and the P.W.D. are responsible for the maintenance of these drains, and the following action has been taken. There has been regular oiling of the drains, but the drawback is that if you oil it in the morning and it rains in the afternoon, the oil will literally go down the drain.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me say that the Ministry of Health does not breed rats! But if we do breed them, they are white mice used for experiments. Regarding the other point about insufficiency of bins at the bin centres, as far as we are concerned there are sufficient bins at these centres. The problem is that at peak periods like the Chinese New Year, or just before the season, everybody does spring cleaning, and they discard just about every old stuff so that they can buy new items, like furniture and so on. That is the reason why rubbish during those periods has piled up. These are periodic instances of rubbish accumulating in excess of the normal volume because of certain habits of our people. So if the Member for Anson comes across rubbish overflowing and spilling on to the road, may I say that it can be just one of those seasons. Further, of course, there may be cases where a vehicle has broken down and rubbish is not removed for that day. But in such cases it is usually removed on that evening or the next day. So the problem is not the insufficient supply of bins, because if that is so, then it is very easy for us to solve it by providing more bins.”
“As far as the first question is concerned, the post of Inspector of Factories in the Industrial Health Unit is actually for an officer correctly designated as an Industrial Hygienist. Industrial hygiene is concerned with the measurement, assessment and control of the working environment relating to factors that could lead to industrial disease and illnesses. In the establishment there is no such title as "Industrial Hygienist", and so the closest nomenclature is "Inspector of Factories", which has been used as the basic qualification. The salary scale for an Industrial Hygienist and an Inspector of Factories is the same. On the other hand, Inspectors of Factories in the Factory Inspectorate are concerned largely with industrial accidents and safety measures and not with industrial diseases. Their responsibility is to see that safety requirements relating to factory machinery and conditions in the factory premises are observed. With regard to liaison between the Industrial Health Unit of the Health Ministry and the Factory Inspectorate of the Labour Ministry, the answer is quite simple. The Industrial Health Unit has been administratively shifted to the Labour Ministry and are operating under the Labour Ministry. Mr Conceicao: I beg leave to withdraw, Sir. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. 7.00 p.m. The following amendment stood in the names of Messrs J. F. Conceicao and P. Govindaswamy - That the sum to be allocated for Head 1203 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 1101.”
“The point is that general allegations are not helpful at all unless specifically spelt out so that investigations can be made. There is always a black sheep in any flock. As I have always stated, it is our duty to see who is the black sheep and appropriate action will be taken. I think it is rather unfair to just tar the others because of the misdeeds of one. Besides, the Ministry of Health makes it a point that all nurses, doctors and amahs have name tags on them. So it is not an impersonal service; it is a personal service. You can personalise those who have done good and those who have been at fault. The other point is about metal doors. I do not know why the Member for Anson should bring up a tiny point like this in this Chamber when he could easily have put it in to my Ministry, and I can assure him that it will be attended to.”
“Sir, may I first take the allegation that there has been discrimination by nurses and amahs against C-class patients in Kandang Kerbau Hospital? I say again that it is rather unfair on the part of the Member to make such a general allegation. There may have been such cases, but I have always stated that Members of the House or even members of the public can bring them up to me. The point is that I think it is rather unfair to make a general allegation and thereby tar the good name of the amahs and nurses in particular hospitals.”
“Sir, let me first take the point about beds being put in the verandah on the C-class ward. The answer is quite simple. If we find that there are no beds available but the patient must be admitted, of course, we have to put him on the verandah. It is because of the shortage of beds. However, as a result of the taking over of the Alexandra Hospital, this situation has not occurred so often. The other point is about the plates in the C-class ward. There is an allegation that some of the plates are broken. May I say that the plates for the C-class patients are not made of porcelain. In fact, they are steel plates. So it is not possible for them to break. Yet another matter raised by the Member concerns the treatment of children. I agree with the Member for Anson that it is best you allow the parents to come along to stay with their children in the hospitals. In this way they can also look after their children, and the children will not have a traumatic experience of being taken away from their parents. As far as it is feasible, this has been the practice. In fact, this has been done in the Mistri Wing of the Outram Road General Hospital. But because of physical impossibility that has not been the general practice. First of all, we have not got a sleeping room for parents in the Mistri Wing of Outram Road General Hospital. Of course, there are no facilities for them to sleep in, but there is a common room there which can be used for this purpose. But now that we have plans for rebuilding the hospital, this matter will certainly be taken into account. As far as the Alexandra Hospital is concerned, the children's ward has such facilities. The parents can also stay in. In fact, we do allow parents in certain cases to remain with the children in the various wards.”
“The point I can admit here is that some of our equipment is quite old, and that is the reason why we have requested the Ministry of Finance to up-date all the equipment. 6.45 p.m. This request for finance has been approved, and the amount of over $l� million has been provided for the up-dating and replacement of existing equipment, over and above that provided in the Ordinary Estimates. So the Member for Anson will in the future see that more up to-date equipment are in use in hospitals.”
“I do not know why he has brought up this complaint about lack of co-ordination. This again is the first complaint of its kind that I have heard. Of course, there might be cases where there could he some misunderstanding between the two services. But I can assure him that there is close co-ordination. If he has any particular complaint, he should not hesitate to bring it to my attention. The Member for Anson also raised a question on post-mortem. May I tell him that it is quite essential for the advancement of medical knowledge that there should be post-mortem, because diagnosis is not always a certainty and knowledge is gained through post-mortem. However, let me say that no one can be forced to consent to a post-mortem against his wishes. The other point that the Member for Anson raised is about the collection of dead bodies from roadsides and other public places. May I tell him that the responsibility for the collection and transport of a dead body from a road accident is generally undertaken by the Fire Brigade ambulance or the Police and not the ambulance from the hospitals. Regarding the case of the old lady, here again this is the first time I hear of this case. If only the Member has written to me on this, of course, it would have been looked into. May I point out that a single case cannot possibly mean that the doctors or the medical superintendents are unsympathetic. The point is that we must have specific facts so that an investigation can be undertaken and the matter put right. The Member also complained about insufficiency of instruments in the general hospitals. As far as our officers are concerned - and they are handling equipment everyday - the instruments and equipment used are considered adequate for day-to-day needs.”
“It is important to bear in mind that one cannot tar all Matrons just because of a particular case; I think it is unfair. With regard to this particular case of a nurse who was not given sympathetic consideration when she applied for leave, I must say this is the first time that such a case has come to my attention. If the Member for Anson had only been more conscientious and brought this matter to my attention, it would have been thoroughly investigated and any injustice would have been put right. The point is that it is very easy to make these allegations. We should have the specific facts of the complaint and there might well be a very good explanation to it. So I do not think it is fair to jump to conclusions. Another question is: why are nurses put on night shifts seven nights at one stretch? This matter is debatable. There have been instances, particularly in the United Kingdom and other European countries, where nurses prefer a continuous seven-day night shift. Of course, there are others who disagree with this. But this has been the practice for many years without any complaints. Now there is one school of thought which says that a continuous night shift causes hardship and is rather strenuous. The Ministry has looked into this matter, and as a result we are proposing a new type of night duty roster, i.e, the nurses will perform night duty for three consecutive nights and then get a break. May I say that this is still in an experimental stage and, if it is found satisfactory, we might make this a general rule. The other point concerns school health doctors and their co-ordination with the hospitals. May I say to the Member for Anson that there is close co-ordination between the two services.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has enumerated about 10 queries. I shall answer them one by one. The first query is about Assistant Nurses. The question is: why should we continue to recruit Assistant Nurses? The answer is that Assistant Nurses are of a grade different to that of Trained Nurses because they do different types of jobs, the difference being that the Assistant Nurses have lesser responsibilities and they work under the supervision of the Trained Nurses. The Trained Nurses are not required to work under supervision. The point raised by the Member is: why have Assistant Nurses been recruited with the same qualifications as Trained Nurses? The reason is that although an Assistant Nurse is required to have a minimum education at Form III level, preference is given to those with a higher qualification. Trained Nurses, however, must pass the School Certificate. What happened was that in 1967 in a recruitment for Assistant Nurses, the number of applicants with School Certificate qualifications exceeded the number of vacancies available. As a result most of the Assistant Nurses recruited were holders of the School Certificate, and this has continued since 1967. But we have found that because these Assistant Nurses are School Certificate holders there have been a large number of drop-outs. It is because of their better qualifications, they have taken up jobs elsewhere which offer better opportunities. As a result of this, the Ministry of Health has recommended to the Public Service Commission that the recruitment of Pupil Nurses should now be confined to non-School Certificate holders. I hope that will suffice. The second question that has been raised is: why are Matrons not sympathetic people?”
“Mr Ho See Beng asked the Minister for Home Affairs why the parking of vehicles for the loading and unloading of goods in Holloway Lane and Rochore Road is not allowed and drivers who so park their vehicles are served with notices of offence for obstruction, when there has been no promulgation of such prohibition.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, except for an occasional vehicle breakdown which is inevitable, regular direct collection of refuse has been provided to Malabar Street, portion of Bugis Street between Victoria Street and Malabar Street, Malay Street and Purvis Street every morning. In the event of a vehicle breakdown, the refuse is usually cleared in the afternoon or, at the latest, the next morning. For Hylam Street and the portion of Bugis Street between Malabar Street and North Bridge Road, refuse is collected by handcart as these streets are impassable to the refuse collection wagon, owing to the location of the overhead pedestrian bridge, hawkers and lock-up stalls near the junction of Bugis Street and North Bridge Road. Cleaning of drains in this area is also being carried out regularly. However, the streets in this area are lined on both sides by street hawkers with heavy congestion at Bugis and Malabar Streets, making the cleaning of drains infinitely more difficult. This is because the hawkers cause obstruction to these drains by placing planks over them to serve as additional preparation area. They are also in the habit of discharging their washings directly into these drains. As a result, besides being swept, the drains have also to be flushed. However, the flushing of drains has been restricted to about twice a week to conserve water. It would be a great help in keeping the drains clean if the Member for Bras Basah would advise the hawkers to cooperate by refraining from dumping left-over food and sullage waste from their washings into the drains. HOLLOWAY LANE AND ROCHORE ROAD (Offences for obstruction by loading and unloading of goods) 15.”
“Mr Ho See Beng asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that the removal of refuse and the cleaning of drains by cleansing workers of his Ministry in Malabar Street, Hylam Street, Malay Street and Purvis Street in the Bras Basah Constituency have been rather irregular, and if he will cause instructions to be given to the Cleansing Department for the regular removal of refuse and cleaning of drains in those streets”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, two hospitals were taken over from the British Forces and they are: (a) The Sembawang Hospital (formerly known as the Naval Base Hospital) has a total of 62 available beds for in-patient care. All beds have been commissioned for use, and report 50 per cent occupancy, at the present moment. For this hospital, staff have been approved under Head A/C Code 1202 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 1971-72. The full complement is presently not deployed into the hospital as renovations to various departments have not been completed, and the hospital is not running at full strength as yet. (b) As for the Alexandra Hospital (formerly the British Military Hospital) which was handed over in early September, it admitted its first patient on the 15th September, 1971. More than 50 per cent of the staff of all grades, as approved under the Estimates, are already working within the hospital. Employment against vacant posts is being programmed to meet the needs of the hospital as it continues to expand its activities. There is at the present moment available, medical beds, surgical beds paediatric beds and obstetrical and gynaecological wards. In addition, there is a radiological service, pathological service, anaesthetic service and a day-operated Casualty Unit. A little over 200 beds have been commissioned for use with an average daily bed occupancy of 50 to 60 per cent. Further beds will be commissioned as renovation programmes are completed. Thus, on the basis of the present activity of these two hospitals there is an adequate number of staff to run them. MALABAR STREET, HYLAM STREET, MALAY STREET AND PURVIS STREET (Removal of refuse and cleaning of drains) 14.”
“The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Chua Sian Chin]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.46 p.m.”
“Accordingly it is proposed in the amendments to follow the same device as that for the Medical Registration Act, which is to adopt a local list of dental qualifications which can be recognised. The amendments also provide, as in the case of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill, that this list can be varied by additions or deletions made from time to time by order of the Minister after he has consulted the Dental Board. Initially this list of registrable dental qualifications will be the same list as has been adopted by the General Dental Council of the United Kingdom. It will be noted that this is a comparatively shorter list than the list of recognised medical qualifications. There are also no controversial issues here by way of additions or deletions which have to be explained, as was in the case of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill. Again as in the case of the amendments to the Medical Registration Act, it is essential that provision be made to deal with those cases where a person may be holding dental qualifications which are not on the list of approved dental qualifications. In such cases it is provided for the Minister to make an order for the person's registration after he has consulted the Dental Board. Before advising the Minister, should the Dental Board be unable to decide on the standard of the applicant, the Dental Board may require the applicant to undergo and to pass an examination. As explained in the debate on the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill, this would be a more objective way of assessing the applicant's standard and competence than from the papers submitted. Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.”
“In this way the balance of members between those nominated by the Minister and those by the Association is preserved. It will be noted that the Dental Board consists entirely of appointed or nominated persons. Unlike the Medical Council there are no elected members to the Board. If the composition of the Dental Board is approved by acceptance of the proposed amendments, it will then consist of the following: (i) the Director of Medical Services; (ii) the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry; (iii) the Assistant Director of Medical Services (Dental); (iv) two dental officers in the public service appointed by the Minister; (v) a dental surgeon nominated by the Faculty of Dentistry; (vi) two dental surgeons nominated by the Singapore Dental Association; (vii) a registered dentist nominated by the Registered Dental Association. On registrable degrees: As has been similarly proposed for medical registration, it is proposed to adopt a list of recognised dental degrees whereby persons in possession of such degrees may be entitled to be registered as practising dental surgeons. Under the existing provisions of the Dentists Registration Act (Chapter 215 of the 1970 Revised Edition), the recognised degrees are those who hold a degree, diploma or licence in dental surgery of the King Edward VII College of Medicine or the University of Singapore, as well as those dental qualifications which are recognised by the General Dental Council of the United Kingdom. As explained in the debate on the amendments to the Medical Registration Act, the adoption of somebody else's list of recognised qualifications not only has its inherent defects but is also not in keeping with our independent status and national needs.”
“Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." This Bill to amend the Dentists Registration Act (Chapter 215 of the 1970 Revised Edition) has been deliberately brought up at the same time as the amendments to the Medical Registration Act which the House has already considered. The principles underlying the proposed amendments are similar to those which were made in the amendments to the Medical Registration Act. Accordingly, it will not be necessary for me to describe the amendments in such great detail nor to advance again the reasons which were argued in the debate on the corresponding amendments in the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill. The principal amendments to the Dentists Registration Act fall into two parts: (i) on membership of the Dental Board; and (ii) on registrable dental degrees and the method of registration of those who do not possess registrable dental degrees. On membership of the Dental Board: As in the case of the Medical Council, the Dental Board suffered a reduction in the number of its members when Singapore separated from Malaysia. From a membership totalling 11, this was reduced to only seven in 1965 when the four Malaysian members ceased membership on Singapore's separation. It has been found in practice that the membership of seven is rather too small a group. In order to make it more workable, the amendments proposed will increase the membership to nine. It is proposed to bring about this increase by increasing the nomination from the Dental Association from one to two dental surgeons practising in Singapore, and for the Minister to appoint another dental officer in the public service of Singapore.”
“(2) In page 12, line 9, to leave out "LRCP Lond" and insert "MRCS Eng". These amendments will be made. Clause 13 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Bill reported without amendment, read a Third time and passed. DENTISTS REGISTRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 5.36 p.m.”
“The Member for Tiong Bahru has mentioned that we are now short of doctors, and yet we are restricting the number of doctors who can be registered. We are not restricting. In fact, we have widened the Schedule to include medical schools from outside the Commonwealth. Hitherto, the list was a GMC list which included only medical schools from within the Commonwealth. The Member for Tiong Bahru also wants to know whether graduate doctors who have been in Government service have to go through another examination before they can be allowed to do private practice. In a hospital, if he is a young doctor he is always practising under supervision, whereas if he is practising outside, he is practising on his own. So there are different criteria of allowing a doctor to practise. All along our criterion of allowing a doctor to practise on his own is that he does not endanger the lives of his patients. If a person has a medical qualification which is not on the approved list, as 1 have said, he can make an application under section 9 (1) (c) of the Act whereby the Medical Council can consider his application. If the Council have doubts about his competence, they will set him a registration examination and, if he passes, he will be registered. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Chua Stan Chin]. Bill considered in Committee. [Mr N. Govindasamy in the Chair] 5.32 p.m. Clauses 1 to 12 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 13 - The Chairman: There are two amendments which are typographical corrections set out in the Order Paper Supplement, namely, (1) In page 12, line 8, to leave out "MRCS Eng" and insert "LRCP Lond".”
“Sir, may I, first of all, answer the Member for Anson on the question of medical students who are at present studying in medical schools which are not on the Schedule which we have proposed. May I draw his attention to section 9 (1) (c) of the Act where those graduates who do not possess qualifications on the approved list can apply for registration, and their registration may be approved by order of the Minister after he has consulted the Medical Council. We have now made provision in this Bill whereby the Medical Council, if they are not satisfied with the standard of the applicant, can set a registration examination. If the person passes it, he will be registered. In other words, it all depends on the personal competence of the person who applies for registration. And if, as the Member for Anson says, they come from medical schools of a high calibre, there is no reason why they should not be able to pass a registration examination. The Member for Whampoa wants to know what are the criteria we use to draw up the Schedule. As I have explained in my speech, this is only a first list which we have drawn up,, because, as I have said, it is not possible at this stage to include every medical school in the world which we think is of eminence. We have just chosen a representative few from the various countries from outside the Commonwealth, medical schools whose international reputation and prestige no one can gainsay. As you know, the question of standards and reputation can be subject to a lot of controversy and argument one way or the other. Further, as I have said, we also have provisions whereby the Minister can add to or delete from the list after he has consulted the Medical Council.”
“The annual retention fee has recently been imposed in the United Kingdom - not without controversy - to meet the expenses of the General Medical Council of the U.K., and more and more countries are adopting the same system. (8) Sir, I wish now to turn to penalties for misconduct. Under the present law, the Medical Council has recourse to only two methods of dealing with a practitioner when he is found guilty of misconduct. This is either (i) to let him off, or (ii) to remove him from the register of practitioners, in which case he will not be able to practise. It is felt that there may be certain intermediate misdemeanours where a less severe penalty than striking off the Register could be imposed. As it is, the Medical Council sometimes is not prepared to impose the maximum penalty of removal of the practitioner's name from the Register because the misconduct might not have been serious enough for them to do so. Yet to take no action would also be unjustified. For this reason, the amendments proposed would allow for the Medical Council to impose other penalties such as the issue of warnings or suspensions for a period of not less than three months and not more than one year in those cases where less severe penalties are considered appropriate. All the proposed amendments in the Bill have been referred to the Medical Council for their views and comments. They have agreed to some of the amendments, disagreed with a few and gave their views and comments on others. I have also received a delegation from the Medical Council to hear their views on some of the amendments. The amendments in the Bill before the House have been proposed after taking into account not only the interest of the medical profession but also that of the general public as well as that of our Republic.”
“(7) Annual retention fee: It is proposed in the amendments to introduce an annual retention fee for registration of medical practitioners. The amount will be determined by the Minister. However, it is envisaged that this fee will be a relatively nominal one and will be comparable to the fees paid by other professional persons who are registered in Singapore. Medical practitioners are the only professionals who up to date do not pay an annual retention or practising fee. This differs from every other registered professional persons in Singapore who have to pay an annual practising fee. Thus the architects, lawyers and engineers pay annual fees and so also do the pharmacists, dental surgeons, midwives and nurses, including assistant nurses. Among other things, the major reason for introducing the annual fee is that it will be a method by which an accurate and up-to-date record is kept of all medical practitioners. As it is, it is almost impossible to be sure of the reliability or accuracy of the Register. This is because once a person is registered, he does not feel obliged to inform the Registrar of any changes of his address of practice. Any changes at present may come about by chance or on the occasion when letters are returned undelivered to the Registrar. This is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. The annual retention fee will change all this. It will then be possible to keep an up-to-date record of every practitioner in Singapore. It is expected that there will be some rumblings about the imposition of this annual fee from the medical profession. One criticism is that we are taking away one of the last vestiges of privilege of medical practitioners.”
“This proposed modest increase will make the Council more workable and representative and, at the same time, more balanced. There will be two officials and three nominees, making a total of five appointed members against six elected medical practitioners with the two members appointed by the University Council holding the balance in the Council. (6) Housemanship: Members may be aware that a medical graduate cannot immediately practise medicine on graduation. Under the law, he has to serve for one year in a "resident medical capacity", which, di common parlance, is known as housemanship or internship. In reality, this is an extension of his medical training. It is an apprenticeship where a new graduate works under supervision and in approved hospitals or units. Housemanship became mandatory before a person can be registered to practise independently in 1953 when the Medical Registration Ordinance was amended and re-enacted. Under the present law the new graduate must undertake his practical training in one of two specialities, that is, in medicine and surgery, during the year of housemanship. Training in obstetrics and gynaecology may be counted as either medicine or surgery. Thus, within the one year of housemanship these medical graduates will do six months in a medical or a surgical type of posting. There is now, however, a growing range of specialities in the medical services. It is considered that some housemen could, with benefit, undertake some of the training in some of these special areas. The amendments proposed will allow for the postings of housemen to these other and never specialities which they now cannot undertake under the present law. This will allow for greater flexibility in the training of our housemen.”
“This proposed provision is fairly commonly adopted in other countries and it is to safeguard against the occasional case where a person, who has been struck off the list of registered practitioners in one country, transfers his practice to another country. This, in fact, occurred on at least one occasion in Singapore. In this case, a practitioner was found guilty of misconduct in a state outside of Singapore and was struck off the register there, but was registered in Singapore even though it was known that he had been struck off from the register in that country. Nothing could be done since there were no provisions then to prevent his registration. It is, therefore, essential that this amendment be accepted. (5) Membership of the Medical Council of Singapore: As can be clearly seen, the Medical Council plays an important role in the registration of practitioners and it is the governing body on the conduct of the profession. The Medical Council in Singapore before its separation numbered 17, of which seven were from Malaysia. After separation under the constitutional changes embodied in the Republic of Singapore Independence Act, 1965, the Malaysian members on the Singapore Council ceased membership. Accordingly, the total membership of the Medical Council in Singapore has been reduced to 10. These are made up of the following: two officials, two nominees of the University Council, and six registered medical practitioners elected by the registered medical practitioners. The amendments proposed will make for an increase in the membership of the Medical Council to 13. The proposed increase is to be made up by the appointment of three registered medical practitioners by the Minister.”
“There are, however, other categories of persons besides those engaged in the University who should also qualify for temporary registration. For example, they may be eminent specialists who are brought out not only to train or teach, but also to conduct special work amongst patients. There have been instances where eminent surgeons have been invited to treat special cases which the local surgeons felt could be best done by these eminent surgeons. A further category of persons who may require temporary registration are persons who are in Singapore working in the hospitals and medical institutions to obtain special experience or to fulfil their training requirements for higher qualifications. The proposed amendments will now provide for the temporary registration of these additional categories of persons afore-mentioned. (4) Conditions of registration: As is presently stipulated in the law, certain conditions may be imposed only in cases of persons who are registered by order of the Minister under section 9 (1) (c) of the Act. It is now proposed to allow for conditions to be imposed also when a person is to be registered temporarily. Under the Bill, it is also proposed to provide a general condition to apply to the registration of all persons. This is that the Medical Council must be satisfied that the applicant for registration is of "good fame and character" before he is registered. The interpretation of this phrase "of good fame and character" will, in practice, mean that the person is certified at the time of application to be of good character, and if he is registered in another country, he is still on that register, and that there are no proceedings pending or have been made against him for misconduct.”
“The Medical Council will advise the Minister on each application and the Minister may, on the basis of this advice, determine the order to be made in each case. Under the proposed amendment, this practice will in substance remain unchanged. However, regard has been taken of a deficiency in the existing provision in that the Medical Council, in advising the Minister on such applications, has to depend on the papers submitted to it. The Medical Council, therefore, has to make their recommendations based mainly on paper qualifications and hearsay evidence. This can sometimes make it very difficult for the Medical Council to arrive at a decision, because the Medical Council cannot possibly know the standards of each and every medical school in the world, and more particularly the competence of an individual applicant. To overcome this defect, the amendment proposed is to allow in those cases where the Medical Council is not able to determine on the standards of the qualifications submitted by the applicant and particularly if there are doubts regarding his competence, and, before it advises the Minister, to subject the applicant to a registration examination. The form of examination will be left to the Medical Council. This could be a full-fledged examination consisting of practical, written and oral parts. In some cases, however, it may be limited to an oral interview. This will allow the Medical Council to be more objective in determining the competence of the person applying for registration. (3) Temporary registration: The existing law for temporary registration only provides for persons who are engaged in research and training. In actual practice, it is given only for medical persons engaged by the University for research and teaching.”
“C, list have also been made. This has been done in the face of reports of malpractices regarding admissions of poor candidates, tampering of examination results and deteriorating standards in these schools which gave us little alternative but to drop them from the list of approved qualifications. These deletions were made also after consultation with the Public Service Commission which had made a special study of it. I would, however, like to point out here that by dropping them from the list of approved qualifications we are not in any way casting aspersions on the good name which some of these medical schools have acquired and their proud past records and on their graduates who might be eminent scientists and practitioners who can be found throughout the world. But in view of the reports referred to, we have no alternative but to play safe and make a general deletion of these schools from our list of recognised qualifications in the interest of protecting the present high standards of medical practice in Singapore. However, I wish to make it very clear here that the local list of recognised qualifications which we have proposed to adopt is in no way permanent nor is it exhaustive, since we are in no position at this stage to consider the inclusion of every single medical school in the world. Thus the amendments also provide that the list of recognised qualifications can be varied by additions or deletions made from time to time by the Minister after consulting the Medical Council. (2) On the registration of persons who do not possess recognised qualifications: Under the present law, the registration of persons who do not possess recognised qualifications may be made by order of the Minister after consulting the Medical Council.”
“There may be several methods which might be adopted to meet these drawbacks to our present system of registration. One is not to have a list of recognised qualifications at all. In place of a list of recognised schools, registration may be done by examination. Thus, without exception, any person applying for registration will be required to sit and pass a registration examination. This is a system adopted in the United States of America. Other countries have adopted the other extreme, that is, they would accept any person who has a medical qualification and who could show evidence that he has been registered to practise in the country where he had obtained the qualification. This system is adopted by countries which do not have their own medical school. It would not obviously be acceptable in an independent and developed state with its own medical school such as ours. We have, however, chosen a compromise solution to this problem by proposing the adoption of our own list of recognised qualifications. This list which we propose to adopt is attached as a Schedule to the Bill. It is, in essence, the same list as the G.M.C, list but with certain additions and deletions. Opportunity has been taken to add on the list medical schools from outside the Commonwealth whose international reputation and prestige no one can gainsay. They include the medical schools of Columbia, Ann Arbor, Michigan, to cite .a few, from the United States, a German, a Dutch and a French medical school from Europe. From the Asian region, the schools included are the University of Philippines in Manila and the Medical School of Tokyo University. McGill Medical School in Canada has also been included. In completing our local list, omissions of a number of medical schools from the G.M.”
“C, of the U.K, is, on the face of it, determined by the standards of training in the medical schools. Thus a new medical school which on inspection by the G.M.C, of U.K, is found in the content of its course, training standards and examinations to be of acceptable standard is put on the list. Thus, for instance, an inspection team from the General Medical Council of the U.K. visited the Faculty of Medicine and teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur before its degrees were recognised. Two drawbacks are inherent in this arrangement, and they are: (a) Medical schools which do not ask to be included in the list would obviously not ever be included in the list of recognised qualifications. Hence, there are very conspicuous omissions from the list. For example, the medical degrees conferred by McGill University, Montreal, Canada, were at one time on the recognised list. Apparently, because the University in Montreal did not agree to accept inspection by a team from the General Medical Council in the U.K., its qualifications were subsequently dropped. Thus, we get an anomalous position where one of the most prestigious of medical schools in the North American continent is no longer on the list of recognised qualifications accepted by the G.M.C. - and thus also accepted by us - whereas smaller and less prestigious medical schools in Canada, such as Saskatchewan, the Dalhousie University of Nova Scotia, are on the list. (b) There are no regular or periodic inspections. Inspections generally are made on invitation by the medical schools. Once a medical school is placed on the list, it is left on the list. It will remain on the list even though there is information that the standards have gone down, for it is usually not removed except after inspection.”
“Since it is the universal practice for each country to adopt its own conditions and methods of registration of its professional persons, it is only appropriate that we must make the necessary changes to our registration law in keeping with our independent status and national needs. Malaysia, which inherited a similar medical registration law as ourselves, has also recently amended its Medical Registration Act to meet its national needs. I shall deal with the proposed amendments under the various sub-headings as follows: (1) On registrable qualifications: As the law stands, persons who are entitled to be registered as medical practitioners fall into three categories, namely: (i) graduates of our local medical school; (ii) persons registrable by the General Medical Council (G.M.C.) of the United Kingdom; and (iii) persons with other medical qualifications registered by order of the Minister after he has consulted the Medical Council. Under the second category persons who are entitled to be registered are those who possess medical qualifications on the list of recognised qualifications adopted by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom. The Bill now proposes to replace this G.M.C, list by our own local list of recognised qualifications which we have authority to vary from time to time. The list of recognised qualifications adopted by the G.M.C, of the United Kingdom are all from medical schools of the Commonwealth. Thus reliance on the G.M.C, list has restricted options of training of our medical students to Commonwealth medical schools. Additions and deletions to the list are not determined by the Medical Council of Singapore but by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom. The basis on which qualifications are accepted and rejected by the G.M.”
“Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The main object of the Bill is to update and amend the present Medical Registration Act (Chapter 218 of the 1970 Revised Edition) which is, in fact, the Medical Registration Ordinance enacted in 1907 and which was amended and re-enacted in 1953. The amendment to the Ordinance that was made in 1953 was primarily to make it mandatory for a medical graduate to obtain experience in a "resident medical capacity" in approved institutions before he could be fully registered. Thus our present law on medical registration can be said to be rather out of date and requires to be urgently up-dated in view of the major historical changes that have since taken place and the very changed circumstances that exist today. However, the amendments as proposed by the Bill do not change the basic structure of the present system of registration which is embodied in our present law. Essentially the system confers on a Medical Council, which is a body of nominated and elected medical practitioners, the function of advising on persons who may be registered as well as the converse of this, which is the power to remove a person's name from the register of medical practitioners. By operation of this latter function, the Medical Council exercises a disciplinary jurisdiction over the medical profession. The major amendments that have been proposed relate to the conditions under which persons may be registered for practice in Singapore and the method of registering such persons.”
“SINGAPORE'S FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVES (Safeguard against loss through international money crisis) 21. Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Finance, in view of the present international monetary crisis, how much of Singapore's foreign currency reserves will be affected adversely, and what steps he is or will be taking as a safeguard against any eventual loss.”
“I must say that this is not a supplementary question arising from the original question. With regard to providing an alternative site, this is a long story. I believe the policy of the Ministry of Health is quite clear, that we are providing alternative sites for hawkers who have been registered in the hawker survey conducted in 1968/69. HAWKERS ALONG NORTH BRIDGE ROAD (Issue of notices of offence during Christmas and Chinese New Year) 20. Mr Ho See Beng asked the Minister for Health if he will instruct the Hawkers Department to refrain from issuing notices of offence to hawkers along North Bridge Road between Rochore Road and Bras Basah Road during the Christmas and Chinese New Year seasons. Mr Chua Sian Chin: Mr Govindasamy, Sir, as stated in my previous answer, the whole length of North Bridge Road between Rochore Road and Bras Basah Road is a cleared area which is prohibited to hawkers. It is further not possible to permit hawkers to sell along this stretch of the road without causing serious obstruction to the free flow of traffic and endangering the safety of pedestrians. This will be particularly so during the forthcoming festive seasons of Christmas and Chinese New Year when the traffic congestion along this main road caused by the shopping public will be at its peak. Both sides of this road are also occupied by car parking lots. It is therefore clearly out of the question to allow hawkers to hawk along North Bridge Road during the Christmas and Chinese New Year seasons. It is suggested, however, that if the hawkers wish to sell during the festive seasons, they could apply for temporary licences to operate at vacant pitches in prescribed hawkers sites at Liang Seah Street, Purvis Street and Seah Street which are side-streets nearby.”
“Mr Govindasamy, Sir, as for the first supplementary question, may I say that the matter does not need to be complained upon. It is just common sense. With regard to the second question whether the hawkers will be allowed to do business on the five-footways if they do not cause obstruction, the answer has already been given. It is "no", for various reasons which have already been given.”