Claire Chiang See Ngoh
Singapore
“I am anxious to move this motion on the Chinese challenge in this House because I feel that we cannot dismiss China any longer. If we can hurry up and ride on this economic train to China, we are closer to taking that small little bite in the huge economic pie and find the new pathways of livelihood and business route for Singaporeans.”
“This Bill has kick-started a central focus on safeguarding the welfare of children and responsibility of the family, which in a resource-scarce Singapore state and in view of our declining fertility rate matched against a rapidly ageing population, are significant social pillars in shaping our sustainability.”
“Sir, can I clarify three questions? I am still not convinced why this Bill cannot cover all women and all births. I am not satisfied with the answer. The Minister also said that this Bill precisely is not just about numbers. I wish he would clarify a little more on this statement.”
“I hope this is only the beginning of a process in shaping a child development and family policy in a gradual and comprehensive manner. In that defining process, I hope the governing principles are based on upholding the worth of the child and valuing the contribution of the mother, and that it is not a numbers exercise, whether in expecti…”
“Sir, I am sure those mothers who have more than four children want their children because they are loved and because they want the children. Who is to decide then whether those children are loved and wanted? And if the mothers say they are willing to have the fourth child, would the state not support her?”
“Streaming at an early age has been controversial for many years, but it has always been a sacred cow of the Education Ministry. If we are to start from first principles now and examine every aspect of our education system, I urge that we re-examine streaming and, at the very least, modify it substantially.”
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“Point of clarification. My son was not involved in the signing petition. He is an ex-student. The signing petition is only done by the student council of Chinese High School and all that the students did was to express their affection. My son and the Ex-student Alumni signed another letter of gratitude and appreciation for the teachers. So it is a separate matter. As a mother, and maybe a different mother, I will not approach the subject with fear of constantly reminding my children about what will happen to them. If we act and conduct our lives in fear, how can we ever teach our children the determination, courage, and creativity that we are also hoping for? I think there are different mothering styles and we should respect their differences too.”
“I agree with the Senior Minister of State, Dr Wong, with what she said that board matters should not be the concern of students. If I had sounded emphatic (here I am trying to lower my tone just now) it is because I spoke with passion when dealing with teenagers. I must declare my interest here. My son who is 17 years old is from Hwa Chong. He is therefore an ex-student of Chinese High School. Therefore, I am in contact with the Chinese High School students who shared this with me, for which reason I therefore brought this up as a case for discussion, not to illustrate the extent of civil society per se, but to look at the permissions that can be given to 14-16 years old to act. That was the spirit with which I brought this case illustration to this House. I would agree that they do need strong guidance. But, as I said, I belong to a school of thought that also believes that people should be left alone to learn on their own. If you are holding their hands all the time, they will never learn independently. This is a judgment call. We are all trained differently and think differently. That is where maybe the constructive disagreement that Mr Davinder Singh said comes about. From constructive disagreement, we have not reached a point of consensus which should be weighed to help us in this constructive engagement to discuss this further and perhaps look for some constructive resolution. This is an evolving process and I hope that the Ministry does not take this as a blaming session but to take this as an opportunity for us to think it through one way or the other and debate in the true sense of the word.”
“The newspapers have said that they intend to support this by covering not just ministerial functions, but all kinds of people functions, even if no Minister is officiating. This is a good start of powering people to be on the front-line to lead and influence. May I even propose that one of the two newspapers that SPH is going to publish be called the "The Unofficial News" and contain no pronouncements from officialdom. Sir, we need to power the imagination, the idealism and the hopes of all Singaporeans. If the Government delivers a leadership style with the same measure of creativity and innovation which it expects of Singaporeans, we are closer to building the people power for a better millennium for Singapore.”
“The last is the need to look at family values and increasing gender conflicts, and restore a sense of family equilibrium that we have lost in the last few decades in our incessant search for material wealth, at both the personal and national level. In the larger perspective, families are still strong, but it serves us well to find out why the bonds are weakening, how women and men can be helped in coping with their changing roles and where the fault lines are and why 1,000 women left Singapore and married foreigners. This is a serious problem for the sons of the MPs in this House today! Within the discussion of the impact of a knowledge-based economy on society, what new policies can be designed to enable families, not just workers, to become "knowledge families", able to transmit the kind of information and values to the children to make them learn well and willing to serve the community with pride. I support Dr Jennifer Lee's call for identifying more pro-family work policies and job redesigns to help working couples in balancing work and family responsibilities. Sir, I would like to end with an endorsement of the view that we need more centres of prestige to be created within our society. More functions should feature guests-of-honour who are not Ministers and MPs, but other leaders of our community in their chosen fields. I feel this effort in creating horizontal connections of influence to include not just politicians and civil servants, but credible champions in the people sector, be it in the industry, the arts, education, social services, and so forth, will add healthy diversity and new leadership to public events.”
“I believe that such a programme helps to restore in our young a certain degree of realism about work, and the importance of teamwork and mutual support, all the values which are extremely important in cross-cultural relationship building. I am confident that this programme would reap positive benefits in the case of teenage boys "at the edge", whose restlessness could steer them towards deviant activities if unharnessed, but could yield productive outcome if captured and properly channelled. Sir, these are just a few examples for me to illustrate the need for new ways of motivating our teenagers and enhancing cross-cultural understanding. We cannot talk about racial harmony. We must actively work at it with good programmes. Third, the need to create a separate, distinct Youth 21 programme similar to the S21 programme, so that we can specifically tackle the hopes and fears of our young generation. The under-25 generation today will dominate the new millennium. If they feel bored, irrelevant and trapped in their own homeland, Singapore will be the poorer for it. If they migrate, we are in a worse shape. As PM said earlier, we are not replacing ourselves, therefore keeping every Singaporean is a priority concern. I propose more resources to be given to the National Youth Council and community agencies to create "youth centres", as Dr Tan Boon Wan talked about yesterday, to let them meet regularly and identify clearly what teenagers want, what we can do to meet these expectations and how we can shape their community responsibilities.”
“I believe that learning challenges at the secondary, primary and pre-school levels are very important. (2) The need to address the social divide between those who possess the competencies and connections to make it in the knowledge-based economy and those who cannot, by increasing the awareness of the "haves" regarding the needs of the "have nots". I attended a seminar organised by the AMP last weekend. They highlighted rising social problems, divorce rates, increasing family violence, increasing teenage crimes, high drug recidivism, low morale and motivation among the disadvantaged families. These are not the issues of a Malay community alone. These concern all of us as Singaporeans. I agree with Mr Zainul Abidin who said in his speech that we cannot take multi-culturalism for granted, and it is no longer sufficient for different ethnic groups to just co-exist. We need to enhance their mutual understanding and trust for one another, not by institutionalising one Multi-Cultural Day, but more by getting different groups to do projects and programmes together. And here, I am responding to the call to act. I propose a buddy programme in schools to encourage cross-cultural interaction by pairing up different ethnic groups to study together, even stay with one another for a few days. At another level, we can also think about "shadowing" programmes for schools to encourage different ethnic groups to pair up and shadow a CEO or manager at work in the public and private sectors for one week, three days, or even one day. I had volunteered our company for this programme initiated by Raffles Girls' Secondary School.”
“Demoralisation, indifference, escapism, low voluntarism, low motivation - all the attributes which kill creativity. Thick-skinnedness is a necessary trait. I agree with Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, but let us not forget that the skin gets thicker only with age and experience, not everyone gets there yet. It is up to those in authority to step back sometimes and let it be. Without the space to express and create, we slowly kill people's imagination. Let me quote what Albert Einstein said: "In moments of crisis, only imagination is more valuable than knowledge." Has the Government provided the people with an environment to imagine and create, to better face up to any crisis in the unpredictable times ahead, which PM just a few minutes ago warned us? Sir, permit me to switch gear and look at broader issues. The Government has said that developing heartware in our society is top priority. Arising from this commitment, I propose greater attention to four areas. (1) The need for a broader definition of success beyond just material criteria so that we can tap the diversity of talents within our people. To begin with, I would like all schools and all learning institutions to develop a wider range of curriculum components to cater to students with different intelligence and talents. The future demands a multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving, the more flexibility there is in subject mix as well as teaching and learning methodologies, the more prepared Singapore is in producing the kind of adults who are dynamic and adaptable. I am glad to hear from the Minister for Education yesterday that his Ministry is reviewing the teaching methods and teachers' quality at the pre-school level and I am so glad to hear PM's call earlier for compulsory education up to Primary 4 level.”
“If the Government only consults those people who can help it formulate policy, ie, the highly educated individuals, then it will fail to reach and feel the community. Civil servants, MPs and community leaders must do their part. And I hope all Members of Parliament will take this seriously. "The road map with clear pointers and markers" asked by Mr Davinder Singh cannot be established overnight. I agree with Prof. Toh See Kiat that disagreement is not division. But when there are disagreements, it is important that we keep an open mind to review the issues and reach a middle ground. Too many disagreements will lead to division. With sufficient time and opportunity given to relationship building between the Government and society, we are closer to knowing how "to take the heat" as Mr Davinder said, and identify what Singaporeans truly want which cannot be assumed to be homogenous, as Mr Sin Boon Ann cautioned. The process of engagement does help, I believe, to restore the emotional bonding that Mr Inderjit Singh hopes for, the loyalty and patriotism that Mr Kenneth Chen wishes for in Singaporeans, and the trust that Mr Zainul Abidin finds essential in a pluralistic society. Sir, the people have to act, not just pontificate or ponder like what Mr Iswaran said. I would quickly add that the Government too has to roll up its sleeves and act with the people. It is evidently in the interest of the Government to say "Trust me". But it has to meet the demand of the voters who yell "Show me." Between this tension, it is a whole lot of effort and sincerity that must be poured in from the State and the people sector. It is easy to shut people up with robust sanctions, but what do we get in return?”
“On a separate encouraging note, in my own experiences as an advocate in the community, I have been given the opportunity to persuade policy makers and be persuaded to give feedback to certain Ministries and be corrected and educated in return. I have to register my gratitude here to the Ministries of Community Development and Home Affairs for opening their doors to me and the groups which I represented in these 10 years. In our constructive engagement process, we have collaborated on many projects together. I hope all the Ministries will continue to open up more, to a broader range of people in small group meetings to gather diverse viewpoints, or even radically different ones. This process of engaging the people sector is clearly what I am focusing on, because in the process, we are constructing the norms and values on how to do things together and how to negotiate differences. Mr Ravindran has eloquently talked about what civil society is not, how elusive it is and the dangers ahead. It is an evolving process of definition. I do not think Mr Simon Tay or Mr Zulkifli Baharudin will find the definition. It is a collective process that we all here in this House must reach. I simply ask at this point for an engagement. In this engagement, we learn to give and take. We learn what can be negotiated and attempted. If no resolution can be reached, we learn how to put the matter at hand aside for further review and wait for another round of discussion, always with an open mind and willingness to give the issue a fresh look. Never mind in the end whose proposals got accepted, rejected or amended - the time spent in constructive engagement is the humanising dimension of participatory democracy.”
“Is it not wiser then to consider a leadership style of stepping back a little and "letting it be" (remember the song "Let it be" in the words of a famous baby-boomer rock singer) - a strategy of diffusing conflict and gaining some headway in a difficult situation? In Chinese, we say "yi tui wei jin" ( ). Is it not better that a separate session be spent with the entire Chinese High School to commend the students for what they have done, then explain clearly but gently that this is an administrative matter which is best settled officially? I think the students will totally agree with you because most of them did not see their act as intervening in staff matters, even less a "wish to join the picket line of employment disputes" as feared by Mr Loh Meng See. The Ministry may be right to chastise the Board members who should know better, but it must handle the students' emotions separately by attempting to earn their understanding through facilitative communication and persuasion. Such openness from the Ministry including a little risk taking initiative on its part will go a long way in nurturing teenagers to becoming self-empowered adults. We do not learn lateral thinking by doing De Bono classes; it is by doing activities with people and learning from all. Sir, I agree that active citizenship encapsulates a bargain, but in any bargain, it involves two way risk-taking and resolution process being adopted by the parties in negotiation. If only one party dictates the terms, it is not a bargain; it is an authoritarian imposition. I hope Mr Simon Tay and Mr Zulkifli Baharudin will use the case of Chinese High School as their study on civil society.”
“Although the Ministry did say it was understandable for students to express their feelings in a press release issued by Mrs Lim Soon Tze afterwards, the students nevertheless felt let down. Sir, we are talking about future leaders of Singapore. We expect them to think and make mistakes. Even if they had been influenced by the Board members whose involvement in the management of the school was inappropriate, we have to respect the students for reaching a decision to do what they did. Then it is our job to persuade them otherwise. Sir, I bring this up as a concerned mother because apart from academic achievement, I would like my children to get leadership experiences from their schools on civic responsibilities. But I would also be disturbed if I feel that they were being used. In this particular case, I ask what rights were the students asking for? Nothing for themselves, it was simply an expression of affection and hope that the Ministry will help them to retain their Principal. What was the responsibility which they must reciprocate to get this right of expression, if we agree with Mr Davinder Singh that there cannot be greater rights without greater responsibilities? I assume in this case is to conduct the act in a peaceful manner, without disruption to school routine and order. That they had done too. So what did the students do wrong? If students do not care about anything, they are accused of being apathetic. If they express strong feelings about a subject which, one has to admit, they certainly have first hand feelings about, and act, as PM encourages people should do so, they are accused of being gullible and naive and manipulated by others. Is this not the classic catch-22 situation?”
“Sir, I would like to cite for discussion the case of Chinese High students who organised a spontaneous signing petition to request their Principal to consider his retirement, which, to me, was a seemingly peaceful and heartfelt gesture that was absent of any ill intention. The Ministry made a public statement that students must stay off staff matters. I share the Ministry's concern that well-meaning and idealistic students may be made use of for purposes which students only vaguely understood. But, Sir, for future references, who, how and by what standards shall we judge when to put a curb on student's civic involvement? Should we, as adults, let them take their own responsibilities as thinking individuals, by adopting a greater latitude of tolerance, even for acts which they did not always understand completely? Sir, children learn by making mistakes in doing things. While this may be frowned upon in our society, in our strive to create a zero defect and zero mistake society, we have to accept that it is a natural human limitation to make mistakes. That being so, is it not then the responsibility of the adults and the authorities to create that climate of tolerance for learning purposes? Like one student alumni from Chinese High said to me, "if we do not first learn to bond with the school and our Principal, how can we learn to bond with the nation?" The Chinese High students appreciated what the Principal had done for the school and wanted him to stay, an emotion that seemed natural enough. They would have liked to hear from the Ministry that this was a good thing to do too. The Ministry made them feel as though they could not act on their own without being easily manipulated.”
“Sir, I rise in full-hearted support of this motion and thank the President for his timely pronouncement that people will be the focus of the Government's policy in the new millennium. Sir, there has been so much debate, just a few minutes ago with PM's discourse and in the last two years on Singapore 21, in particular on how the State must create more opportunities for every citizen to contribute ideas and actions to be active citizens. The Government has implicitly accepted, I presume, that the relationship between the State and society need not be a "flight or fight" choice for Singaporeans. In other words, Singaporeans who are critical of certain policies need not either totally disengage - take "flight" so to speak, physically through migration or psychologically through "tuning out" - from public discourse, or "fight" by taking part in partisan politics. If they do not want to take "flight" or "fight", is there a third way? I would like to think so because I clearly do not believe that the options before us are dichotomous: that active citizenship is about whether you join the Government or against it. The Government, in the last two years, has been far more respectful of different viewpoints and took them seriously. A process of engagement between the State and the people sector, however unclear it is still in terms of rights and responsibilities, has begun. Nevertheless, we are still struggling and will continue to do so with regard to the amount of space the Government is prepared to give its citizens.”
“There is no need to set up an Upper House comprising non-elected Members to oversee the work of the elected Representatives. PULAU UBIN (Hideout for illegal immigrants) The following Question stood in the name of Mr Goh Choon Kang - 14. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether Pulau Ubin has become a temporary hideout for illegal immigrants intending to smuggle into the main island of Singapore.”
“Could the Minister consider, instead of adopting an ad-hoc approach, broadening and relaxing the two years overage limit if VWOs and schools are willing to help and admit these students to mainstream schools; and if the Ministry is willing to relax this as a policy, could we try to implement this in the year 2000 to arrest the attrition rate? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, two years is actually quite reasonable and, as I explained earlier and also at the last sitting, we do make exceptions for such cases. In fact, because of our streaming system, we do actually have quite a variety of ages at particular levels. For example, those students who need four years to take their 'O' levels take it in four years; those who need five years take five years. Those who need two years to do their 'A' levels do it in two years; those who need three years do it in three years. In fact, within the school system already, there is a differentiation possible within each course of study that the student takes for different ages to be there. And on top of that, there is also the possibility for students who are two years above that age to be admitted into the system and we do make exceptions as well if there are good reasons for those students to be back in school. So there is a considerable amount of flexibility already built into the system. UPPER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT (Setting up) 13. Mr Shriniwas Rai asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider setting up an Upper House of Parliament comprising non-elected members. The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng) (for the Prime Minister): Our unicameral Parliament has worked well. There are already nine nominated non-elected MPs in this House.”
“Are the parents of Patricia Chay receiving counselling?”
“I would like to know from the Minister how many overaged students we have now who are not in schools. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: I do not have the number of overaged students who are not in schools. For the overaged students who are in schools, there are about 500 who are overaged by more than two years at the primary level and about 300 at the secondary level. They are just the total number in the system which we have. I do not have the numbers who are not in school. MILITARY REGIME IN MYANMAR (Assistance) 7. Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Government has provided or given any assistance to the military regime in Myanmar, apart from encouraging trade between Singapore and Myanmar.”
“Sir, if you say that the children are different, could we not remove the word "EM3", because EM1, EM2, EM3 by labels do suggest a status difference? So instead of calling it EM3, why not call it something else?”
“Thank you, Minister, for the thorough reply. Could I ask two supplementary questions? First, could the Senior Minister of State tell me what are the critical familial and school factors that affect the learning abilities of these EM3 students? What can community agencies, like FSCs, do to reinforce the effort of MOE? And, second, does the Minister worry that the EM3 students may become a source of youth crimes and can we do more to keep them in schools longer?”
“I am still not convinced by the rationale. We have fines and legislation that have made people respond properly, so why cannot we compel parents to send their children to school? Would that not create a positive response? I would like the Minister to elaborate on that again. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, I circulated the Annex basically to show what we have done. I am not sure which group of these children we intend to compel to come to school because items 1, 2 and 3 are children who are already going to come to school. For items 4, 5 and 6, we cannot trace them. So how do we compel them?”
“I agree with the Minister about balancing the responsibility of the family and the school. But, Sir, in this case, is it not the responsibility of the state to give a strong sanction to families that are obviously irresponsible? We are assuming that parents are responsible to send their children to school. But when parents are irresponsible and do not send their children to school, what is the Minister's position then? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, as I said, by making education compulsory, we do not solve the root cause of the problem. In fact, we are looking at the symptom of the problem. What the Member is asking is whether or not we should be separating children from their parents because we, or somebody else, or perhaps the Member, judge that the parents are not carrying out their responsibility properly. That is a much larger question that goes beyond compulsory education.”
“Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for National Development what are the safe levels of pesticides in vegetables and whether, in setting guidelines for farms and suppliers of vegetables, he will also consider allowing and promoting the alternative of organic farming without artificial and potentially harmful pesticides.”
“Mr Tay Beng Chuan asked the Minister for National Development (a) if his Ministry has plans to improve the dissemination of essential information round the clock to the public in an emergency situation like the sudden ban on imports of all meat and egg products from Europe; and (b) if there are any economic defence strategies in place to ensure adequate supply of food items to the public in the event of a prolonged ban on imported food from major food supply sources. The Minister for National Development (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government is committed to act rapidly to prevent contaminated food from reaching our consumers. We cannot afford to take chances when it comes to the health and safety of our people. Arising from the recent dioxin scare, the Primary Production Department (PPD) will work with the Ministry of the Environment to review our system of disseminating essential information to the public. The experience of the recent incident will be taken into account. To ensure a stable and adequate supply of safe primary foods such as meat and vegetables, PPD has an on-going programme to diversify our external sources of supply of primary food. Imports are encouraged from as many countries as possible, as long as they are able to meet our stringent food safety requirements. This diversification of supply sources provides resilience to our primary food supply. Any shortfall from any one source can be quickly replaced by supply from other approved sources. PESTICIDES IN VEGETABLES AND ORGANIC FARMING 8.”
“Sir, I am not satisfied with the answer that we do not need a Commission of Inquiry. Just by pure chance, we had averted this disaster, it could have been a tragedy. Therefore, in the interest of the public, should we not carry out this commission? Because it has far-reaching implication as well on the building guidelines and public safety. If not, could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary also clarify what level of disaster must we reach to justify a Commission of Inquiry? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, while I said that a Commission of Inquiry was not necessary, there was an internal committee of inquiry within the BCA and within the Ministry. So we will find out what is the problem. We are satisfied at this point that the problem is an isolated one as opposed to the Hotel New World disaster where a Commission of Inquiry was convened. In that incident, of course, deaths were involved, but the nature was different. In that instance, there was a combination of problems - design, maintenance, construction - resulting in a necessity for a Commission of Inquiry. In this case, we have isolated the problem. It is, to our mind, based on our preliminary findings, a clear case of design error. So it is an isolated one-off accident. The fault lies mainly in the designer and probably the checker. So it is not a comprehensive problem that we cannot isolate. SUPPLY OF FOOD ITEMS (Dissemination of essential information) 7.”
“May I then have the assurance that once all the information is in, and the report is done, the names will be released to the public so that private owners of buildings can carry out their private investigations and evaluation of the safety of their buildings?”
“From what I read in the newspapers, it is not an architectural problem but a structural one. Could the Minister consider releasing the name of the structural consultant so that other owners of buildings, and not of school buildings, can also check on the safety of their buildings.”
“When the SIA aircraft landed on home ground, I felt the "warmth and safety" of home. These are precious feelings that this little piece of land gives me and my family; nowhere else do I feel this way. And I realise we must work hard to prevent it from being torn apart. The Prime Minister is so right that we still have a lot to do. Let us go forward, irrespective of race, language, religion, gender and age, in a pathfinding process, through adventure and mutual strengthening, become S21 citizens pulsating in one strong and dynamic heartbeat, and develop from country to nation.”
“I fully support what MP Mrs Lim Hwee Hua said in the recent publication of CONTACT - that "Neighbourhood Committees can be an important link among residents and community leaders . the residents know their own and mutual needs best. The old kampong spirit is a strong underpinning and helps define the larger family beyond our family members.". In conclusion, I would like to use five Chinese words strung up in one meaning to sum up my commitment to the vision of Singapore 21. It is "wo men de guo jia", translated in English to mean "our country". Idiomatically, the Chinese phrase "wo men de guo jia" encapsulates several components, including "wo" the self; "wo men" the collective "We"; "jia" the family; and "guo jia" the country. You have to get all these components in to make sense of the words "our country" - "wo men de guo jia". The link word between people and country is the centre word "de" which means "ownership". Like DPM Tony Tan said not long ago, what you do not defend, you do not own. Therefore, to call Singapore a country of our choice, we need to nurture the individuals and strengthen the families so that as stakeholders of this country, they will bond and band together to safeguard its future. There is no "Me" if there is no family, and if there are no families, there is no country. In Chinese we say, ( ) "mei you jia na hui you wo", "mei you jia na hui you guo jia". It is these linkages from the self to family and extending it to society and the nation that shape the heartbeat and robust health of Singapore. I travel a lot, Sir, and I only travel on SIA, because after a few days in foreign land, as soon as I get into an SIA plane, I immediately feel "at home". I need a "Singapore touch", the batik clothes, and even the "Singapore Smile".”
“But it first takes big hearts and strong minds to accept feedback and suggestions, including criticisms. Third, is the need for sustained commitment to service. I urge the civil bodies not to believe at the onset that the Government is insincere about civic involvement. It is as much our duty to engage attention of policy makers by seeking shared perspectives without assuming that "people are always right". Much too often we exaggerate our differences and fail to work hard at developing our overlapping interests. We need to stop criticising a half glass of water as half empty, instead accept that it is half full and we want to fill it up. We need to identify people processors for creating successful links between networks, whether top-down or lateral ones. Sustained engagement across sectors and within sectors, even in the Singapore context of managed activism, requires strong minds and a positive spirit all round to believe that service to community is about comprehending the problem, deliberating tough decisions, setting realistic goals, following through by learning to work together and adopting a high level of give-and-take attitude. These are human resource matters that require focus and strengthening. Fourth, to create what I would call a "Singapore Connected", or precisely a human website. I urge all Singaporeans to make visits to their neighbourhood voluntary and grassroots organisations to see how they can add value to the community. So much has been done by our MPs in facilitating volunteer involvement and improving the lives of Singaporeans. A lot more can be done with the help of everybody.”
“What follows is the need to persuade the public towards its convictions. This belief in public persuasion requires a first principle belief, not to believe that "the Government has all the answers". I hope, Sir, when people do put up their ideas, the Government will not put them down, in the spirit of S21. People do not want to follow - they want to join. Even if Government's decision turned out to be the best option, and this was indeed often the case, the ripple effect caused by giving people more time and space to reach the same conclusion on their own, is just as important as the goals themselves. It makes people feel "they count", even though they do not see eye to eye on some matters. Second, the need for higher level of tolerance for differences. Sir, when two persons get together, there are differences. And in active citizenry, there are going to be strong and different ideas, but we must be prepared to negotiate and balance. I was heart-warmed by the way DPM Tony Tan and PM openly dealt with their differences of opinions regarding the scrapping of scholarships. I hope to see such pluralism of ideas being tolerated at all levels. Pluralism creates and generates creativity. The ability to think out-of-the-boxes during brainstorming stages in policy decisions must know no boundaries and fear. The authorities must let go for people to respond nimbly, with competence, to social problems. Notwithstanding that national cohesion must be guided by an underpinning of common values to serve as our compass to serve and act, it is the pluralism of thoughts and dreams as well as action models that will generate the much sought after creativity in our search for fresh approaches to problem-solving. It takes time for us to find a balance.”
“These attitudes reflect a dependency ethos grafted in kiasu Singaporeans too used to believing that "the Government will do it and control all anyway." Sir, we need a breakthrough. We need to confront this apathy and perceived fears. We need to learn to engage with one another in a constructive mode, which includes sharing information, conducting two-way dialogues, enablement and access to resources. In my own experience as a volunteer advocate for the last 10 years, I will rate the level of "constructive engagement" between the Government and the people sector at an average 5, on a scale of 10 points. I have good stories gathered from grassroots experiences. I also have negative ones. For me, "constructive engagement" is key to active citizenry, because when people feel engaged, they will serve and stay active. Being engaged is not merely fund-raising for welfare organisations or following what is already decided by the Government. Engagement for many young professionals and executives means having meaningful two-way dialogues with policy makers to test new ideas and offering helpful feedback, sometimes criticisms to Government without being ostracised afterwards. Sir, to truly encourage open engagement, it is helpful for the Government, in particular the bureaucracy, to refrain from hurling discouraging remarks at its critics that they "did not have the big picture" or they "did not do their research thoroughly" or they "did not know enough of the legislation" or were simply "ignorant of what went on in the field." Instead, Government officers must check their arrogance and defensiveness and instead adopt the attitude that it is the job of the Government to use State resources and its administrative machinery to gather and share information for policy decisions.”
“On promoting multi-culturalism, I try to include many ethnic groups as I can in my social and business network, to expose my children and staff to different cultures and ways of life. These are small examples and I would like to build on them. I propose that we take this Report further and invite the whole country to contribute their ideas on how to translate these five ideals and share them through the Internet. What we get will be an astounding range of actionable ideas, I am sure. By engaging in this process, we are spreading the S21 energy and let people buy into it. Sir, if some of the specific recommendations made by the 6,000 contributors require partnerships between Government and the people, then I would like to highlight a few needs. First, the need for constructive engagement. To be true to the spirit that every Singaporean counts and we must work together to make the difference, the Government and the people sector must learn to find answers to our problems and work together as co-producers of community. Indeed, not all civil bodies are unconditional blessings to society, but we cannot stop their growth and rising expectations. How does the Government moderate the cacophony of voices and collectivise the diverse views into cooperation without conformity? It is not an easy process, but it is something we have to deal with. The process will always be untidy and a continual struggle, like in all aspects of life. That is not what we need to fear about or avoid. Inevitably, I think we will swing from a fear of hyperdemocracy that paralyses action due to unresolved opinions on major issues to a dread of hypodemocracy where people grow accustomed to the "I don't think, I don't care and I won't help" attitudes.”
“We do not need to wait for the Government to take the lead. We seek consultation and form partnerships with Government where possible, but we can independently serve through appropriate channels and cease to live as consumers expecting our desires to be always made known and to be satisfied by the authorities. I totally agree with Minister Lim Boon Heng just now asking us not to wait to be invited to serve. We must, as professionals, civil servants, corporate personnel, volunteers, advocates and lay citizens, all roll up our sleeves, wet our feet, dirty our hands, and serve at the frontline with other Singaporeans to problem solve and find solutions together. I therefore would make a call to all Singaporeans and corporations, including each of our Ministries, to show their commitment to S21 by putting down the top five to 10 things which they will do in 1999 to translate and operationalise these five ideals. Minister Tarmugi took the lead to do this yesterday, and I thank him for that, and I hope he will seriously consider leading a Family 21, a proposal which I made during the Budget debate and reinforced again yesterday by Mr Sinnakaruppan. For example, on "every Singaporean counts", my company will focus on human resource development and examine where the potential of each of my staff can be enhanced. On "strong families", I have already started flexible time for staff to report any time during 8-10 am for working mothers who need to take their children to school, or have other family schedules to attend to. Personally, I will work harder with my children to translate the five family values created by the Ministry of Community Development, which I believe form the pillars of strong families.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to register my support and commitment as a Singaporean to the vision for Singapore in the 21st century. I congratulate Minister Teo Chee Hean for his leadership and thank the various committees for the numerous hours which they had sacrificed to process this project of people and ideas. I could not disagree with any of the good things already said of this Report. I ask myself when I walk out of this House, do I feel a recharged energy to want to operationalise these five ideals in my personal and corporate life? There are 93 of us in this House, and therefore altogether 93 families. Assuming we have an average of four per household, then whatever each of us has learnt in this House will impact on 372 persons. At the broader level, as leaders in corporations and MPs taking charge of thousands of Singaporeans, how do we, in our various positions, create the environment for these five ideals to be translated into actionable programmes and manifest measures, so that they become real to our company staff and to the man and woman in the street? That is the energy I am raking and I would like to see it being harnessed. The Minister said that there will be no implementation body and he hopes that the people sector will respond and take charge where it seems fit. This seems to indicate a move from a top-down management style to one that is bottom up. This is a significant paradigm shift. Mr Jeyaretnam may not agree with me, but if we, as lay citizens, seize the spirit and act on it, we are shaping the beginning of an open society. It is clear that people are asked to exercise active citizenry, not as "armchair critics" as what Mr David Lim once said, but as "ready to act and willing-to-do Singaporeans".”
“Would the Minister consider setting up a recourse mechanism and procedures that allow an independent and professional judgement of alleged offences? In relation to this matter, does the Medical Council have a regulatory and disciplinary function in adjudicating the judgement process? My fourth and last concern questions the total protection from any suit or other legal proceedings which the Director, any authorised officer or any member of an Advisory Committee enjoys. What is the rationale, Sir, for this protection? And how can we make sure that they will execute their duties in good faith, consistently and by maintaining a high level of sound judgment if they were not held responsible for wrongful decisions or malicious decisions? If directors in any business corporations come under the scrutiny of the laws, why not the Director in executing this Bill? Is it appropriate or necessary to endow so much power in one Director since the Attorney-General's Chambers are already entrusted with the jurisdiction to try any offence related to health malpractices? Could the Minister elaborate on some of the qualified privileges which the Director has to abide by before he proceeds to search and seize documents from private practices? I hope that the Minister would clarify these points in her response.”
“Alternative health healing practices are now carried out by individuals who are paid to make home visits to attend to the sickly, often without assistance of any nursing staff. Some are trained healers, having studied abroad, where alternative medicine has become institutionalised, many others are not accredited by any training body but have gained their healing experience through work. These same practitioners are invited sometimes by private clinics and hospitals to conduct limited healing programmes for the patients. If any mishap happens during the treatment and a patient suffers or dies, is the institution employing these holistic practitioners held responsible for the problem? Where do these freelance practitioners stand in relation to the Bill? I urge the Minister to develop some broad guidelines of "prescribed standards" in each field of "western", "traditional", alternative or complementary medicine to guide entrepreneurship in this area. I can understand that the Minister may not want to come down "heavy" on these practitioners by killing the industry with a narrow set of "do's" and "don'ts", but neither do we want to leave the matter so open that will lead to explosive contention upon the disagreement of definitions and standards between policy makers and practitioners. That brings me to my third question on safeguards for practitioners. In the event that the Director revokes the licence of a medical establishment, what recourse is there for the licensee to have his case heard independently without prejudice? The Bill provides for appeal to be made to the Minister who will then set up an Advisory Committee to review the petition.”
“My first query is on the notion of "healthcare establishment". The advocates of alternative and complementary medicine will regard their healing modality as more holistic and less invasive than "western" institutional medical practices. Are these healing "clinics" in meditation, aromatherapy, acupuncture, foot reflexology and other holistic and wellness centres classified as "healthcare establishments"? Not only had these new approaches gained popularity among entrepreneurs who wished to develop them within medical institutions in the new millennium, users in the community have argued in favour of their "treatment" potency. A massage, for example, is regarded as having more healing power than the panadol. This marks a shift of medical preference in some pockets of Singaporeans away from western clinical methods of healing. I would like the Minister to articulate at this juncture, other than the institutions earlier named by her, what would she define as "healthcare establishment". In line with my concern with the non-traditional medical institutions, are slimming centres, beauty parlours and hair transplant salons classified as "health establishments"? Do the practitioners like Chinese sinsehs and counsellors with non-credentialised qualifications in the new healing trades come under the scrutiny of this Bill? If they are not, I urge the Minister to consider broadening the scope of the Bill that enables the Ministry to regulate their growth, classify the plethora of healthcare practices, supervise and sanction their service and professional standards. My second concern is on the notion of "prescribed standards" in relation to the issue or refusal to issue a licence by the Director.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I agree, in principle, with the main thrust of the Bill which is to regulate the standards of medical care in the interest of the public. Although this Bill is intended to enforce good medical audit on healthcare institutions that are "western" in medical orientation and treatment, I urge the Minister to expand its scope to regulate non-western and experimental health practices. In the past few years, we observe the growth of a grey spectrum of healthcare practices which some call "alternative medicine" and others call "complementary health systems". Some are more acceptable forms of alternative medicines like Chinese herbal treatment, homeopathy and acupuncture which apply different modalities towards health recovery. There are also the high-tech "clinical" centres offering services in colonic irrigation, live cell therapy, hair transplants and other forms of transformative cosmetic surgery. We have had cases of people dying because of botched up colonic irrigation or scarred by plastic surgery performed by inadequately trained beauticians. Hence, we have to be wary of these medical practices which are of questionable medical benefits. This Bill is therefore timely, some may even argue that it is long overdue. It is an enabling instrument which will give the authorities the legal teeth to classify and regulate all healthcare practices and to vigorously intervene, when necessary, to safeguard the integrity of the medical profession and protect the public. But, Sir, I do have some qualms on certain elements in the Bill which, if not corrected, may not provide sufficient guidelines and checks on the authorities in the pursuit of their duty. I would like the Minister to clarify four points.”
“Indeed, this is very prevalent, and I heard many feedback on this. I would like to relate just one anecdote in this regard. A friend told me recently that his son, who is studying in Primary 5, came back from school one day, feeling very dejected. My friend asked his son what was the problem and his son told him that his teacher was not impressed at all with the homework that he had submitted and the teacher actually praised the boy who was sitting next to him for the excellent submission. My friend's son asked the boy sitting next to him how did he do so well. The boy said, "That's easy. I just ask my father to do it all for me. Sometimes when he is busy, I would ask my tuition teacher to do it for me." That was the response. My friend's son came back home and asked his father, "How come you did not do the homework for me? Next time I want you to do the homework for me so that I can do well." The point in this anecdote is that the children are forming wrong values and the original intention of having homework is lost and because of the difficulty, as what Dr Michael Lim had earlier pointed out, children are being asked to do even computer assignments at home, they find that they are unable to cope and as a result, more and more parents have to actually get involved. The point here is that all these defeat the very objectives of the homework assignments. While on the one hand, obviously there is a need for the Ministry to educate the parents on their role in helping children with their homework, more importantly, the Ministry must take a holistic view to review the various issues relating to homework. I hope the Minister would look into this.”
“Some top schools have these classes; others do not. A cluster of top boys and girls learn these through debate sessions. The success is not broad based enough. Could I propose that the Ministry revisit this issue of teaching our youth how to acquire life skills with respect to home economics, home maintenance as well as presentation skills? I hope a higher degree of standardisation could be encouraged at all secondary school levels for girls and boys to learn all these skills. Mr Sinnakaruppan: Sir, I strongly believe that homework is an integral part of our school curriculum and that homework helps in reinforcing the people's understanding of concepts taught in the classroom. I have two points to raise regarding homework. First, the amount of homework. The amount of homework given to our pupils varies from teacher to teacher and class to class, and there is apparently no coordination as to how much is given on a daily basis to a particular class of pupils. This results in a very unbalanced homework load and the pupil has to spend far too much time doing homework for a particular subject, and as a result, does not have sufficient time to concentrate on other subjects which may be just as important. I would like to ask whether there is any Ministry guidelines as to how much homework is assigned to pupils and whether it is possible for principals and the head of departments and form teachers to coordinate with the subject teachers the amount of homework that is given on a daily basis so that the homework load can be balanced throughout the week. The second point that I would like to make is that because of the heavy homework load and the high level of difficulties of some of this homework given, many parents actually end up doing the homework for their children.”
“Sir, I would like to speak on a lighter subject about mandating life skill programmes in all upper primary and secondary schools, including junior colleges. I would like to say this, however, as one of the desired outcomes of education. I observe that some schools offer a limited curriculum on home economics. Most of our girls' schools conduct home economics classes whereas the top boys' schools like Chinese High and Raffles Institution do not in the entire secondary years. ACS and Catholic High School, for example, on the other hand, have home economics at secondary one and two levels. The girls' schools, on the other hand, do not teach them how to change light bulbs, use an electric saw, a screwdriver or other simple technical skills. Some neigbourhood schools have such classes; others do not. I am speaking in my interest as a parent. Evidently, the tasks of teaching our children to cook, sew, change light bulbs, fix and repair household problems can be taught at home. But this can be more effectively achieved if these skills could be woven into the school curriculum to make their activities seem less of a chore and more of a fun moment to break the monotony of studying in school. This emphasis will be welcome to all working parents who can be assured that as a result of school training, their teenagers could cook themselves a decent meal and attend to house-care needs when they are not around. I would also propose that some hours be devoted to teaching students social etiquette, personal grooming and presentation skills. I feel that they form part of the growing up repertoire of skills for the young which, if learnt, give them a greater sense of self-confidence in conducting themselves in public and making their ideas heard.”
“The NKF Champion's award launched in 1997 by Minister Teo Chee Hean is one such initiative. Hopefully, by repeating these initiatives at every school, the ethic of volunteerism, as a way of life and citizenship, will be a powerful catalyst for community enhancement.”
“Sir, it is a powerful emotion of participation and commitment. I would further urge the Minister to consider allocating some start-up resources to tertiary student bodies to develop outreach programmes with respect to community service as well as leadership programmes to train and maintain campus volunteer coordination activities. These volunteers best serve as "peer mentors" to our young students at the secondary level. My third argument is: by increasing the number of hours for service engagement, there is room for mixing student groups from different ethnic backgrounds and academic streams, maybe even from different schools and tertiary institutions to cooperate on a project. This not only promotes multi-cultural understanding, it also creates a mutually learning environment for students to be exposed to differences and new opportunities of finding ways to relate to and learn from one another. We may transform the ugly Singaporean to becoming appreciative Singaporean, if I may borrow the Minister of State Mr Peter Chen's characterisation. I hope the Ministry will strongly encourage school principals to work with various social service organisations in the vicinity to develop a volunteer service network. In this respect, the setting up of COMPASS (Community and Parents in Support of Schools Advisory Council) was a commendable initiative. A consistent, system-wide approach in the planning, scheduling, orientation and training of volunteers in various service engagements has to be in place to sustain students' interest in community service. Perhaps an outstanding service award can be given by schools to students who perform well academically as well as show community spirit through a genuine interest in helping others.”
“Sir, I would like to urge the Minister to consider increasing the emphasis on volunteerism as an additional school activity for achieving the Desired Outcomes of Education. This is in line with our national effort in promoting volunteerism as a way of life for all Singaporeans. Let me elaborate. First, by building community service as part of their course work, students in primary and secondary levels will develop an ethic of service. We have so far committed our students to just six hours of community service per year. I feel that this is not enough. Some public school systems in the United States stipulate that students complete 75 hours of service between the 6th and 12th grades as a requirement for secondary school graduation. Sir, studies have shown that by regularising and intensifying service contacts with the community, students who devoted their time to service learning also do well academically, develop higher order thinking, social and civic responsibility, greater acceptance of cultural diversity and a higher level of self esteem. This is in line with the desired outcome of our education. A second argument for increased community service for students is the enhancement of an ethic of citizenship. By engaging in community service, students become active members in identifying the needs of, and seeking solutions for, the community. Such first-hand experience helps to translate classroom exhortation on being caring to seeking real-world solutions, an exercise of reflection and action that incrementally engage our young as active members, as concerned citizens. This is the best stake-holding experience to foster in our young a sense of belonging, by making them feel that what they are doing for Singapore makes a difference.”
“, the misery index evidently will point to a rising gloom level. Sir, an index can be configured out of any combination of appropriate indicators. I am not clear at this point what our statisticians use as indicators to assess the socio-economic health of our society during this economic downturn. Could the Minister clarify this? Without such information, we will never be certain in ascertaining the citizens' well-being and even less clear about who we should help, how much and for how long. It cannot be left to social institutions like the NCSS to carry out this survey either because it does not have the resources nor the mechanism to process such comprehensive data. Public assistance as a specific instrument to help the destitute may need a fresh perspective to redefine its execution in line with how we determine the misery index during this downturn. Public assistance as a broad policy of assistance to the needy will also require new points about what kind of help is more critical at this point. It does not mean new development projects or social institutions. But, more critically, it would mean direct and duration specific support programmes to distressed families. I hope the energies spent in an exercise will help the Ministry make a stronger and more forceful request for a supplementary budget this year, if necessary, and a bigger budget next year. 1.15 pm”
“There is less money for VWOs to hand out to distressed families due to shrinking funds and priorities are given to developing credible programmes for long term benefit, a strategy which I do agree with. Could the Minister help me understand whether the spending of $91,924 in the last six months of 1998 was constrained by the limited availability of funds? How many applications were rejected and on what reasons? I am glad to learn from Dr Ho Tat Kin earlier that the Public Assistance Scheme is up for review this year. The question I would then put to the Minister is: has the Ministry developed a misery index to redefine and categorise the broad range of the poor and near-poor who may be long term unemployed or unemployable? I have made the call for identifying a misery index in August last year during the motion presented by Mr Lim Swee Say and Mr Seng Han Thong. Please allow me to make that plea again here. Can we set up a cross-agency fact finding task force comprising Government statisticians, academics, social workers and others to identify the distressed and design a Singapore specific misery index with indices which are socio-economic in nature? Some countries consider inflation and unemployment as the significant measures. If one includes other measures like retrenchment and bankruptcies, the misery index in Singapore actually would indicate that Singapore was quite unhappy in 1998, to quote a Business Times report by Anna Teo in January this year. Bankruptcies increased by 44.3% in the first eight months of 1998 over the same period in 1997, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao. If we were to add more indicators like the decline in wages, the number of mortgage sales, companies winding up, CPF default rate, rise in crime rate, etc.”
“According to the economic crisis monitoring report of a number of clients from Family Service Centres, the people most affected by the current economic downturn were female single parents aged between 36-49 years old and living in 2-room flats. Their problems were primarily difficulties in securing employment after retrenchment, in meeting basic household needs and children's school related expenses. Other familial problems were also apparent like marital conflict and mental health problems. I would like to ask the Minister: how does the public assistance scheme help such families? What is the means test being applied and does the Minister think this is an adequate formula to follow? Between June and December 1998, there were 1,504 applications for public assistance compared to 814 applications between January and May earlier. We are seeing an 85% increase in petitions. During the last six months of the past year, there were 136 applications for the Small Families Improvement Scheme and 524 applications for assistance under RUAS. Yet the Interim Financial Scheme only gave out $91,924. This seems to me a small amount and my immediate reason is: is our means test for eligibility for financial assistance too mean? Or is it because there is just that small number of applications in the first place? Or perhaps the procedures are so onerous that ordinary folks give up applying for them? The Minister said yesterday that the safety net was adequate. Yet, at the ground level, hotlines and social service centres have registered a rise in the number of calls related to financial difficulties.”
“My third concern is skills development, an ongoing concern due to the increasing need for a continuum of services to attend to the problems of the young, the youths, the elderly and the disabled. Could the Minister inform the House what is the progress in developing the formalised and specialised training for social workers as well as volunteers? Is there a broadening of post-graduate social work training modules at the polytechnic and university levels? Last, having nine months more to go before the new millennium comes, would the Ministry seriously consider setting up Social Services 21 and identify urgent service gaps whereby grassroots social service professionals could make recommendations and propose an integrated programme for the sector? This could help minimse some of the frustrations felt by VWOs, earlier mentioned by Dr Michael Lim. Sir, I believe that social work development is a critical component in our overall perspective of managing and enhancing social cohesion in Singapore. As we invest huge resources in training and retraining of workers in the manufacturing sector, we must continue to also adopt a development perspective by investing resources on short-term strategies and long-term programmes in professionalising the social services delivery. I hereby support Dr Vasoo's call for more allocation for MCD.”
“Sir, in my maiden speech in November 1997, I called for the need to give greater recognition to professional social workers to enhance their image and standing, and to invest resources at the tertiary level to develop competent professional social workers to meet the long-term need of the social service sector. In the past year, a number of initiatives were undertaken which gave the sector a boost. Inviting social workers to have tea with the President at the Istana was a huge success. The Outstanding Social Worker award was yet another recognition. Giving scholarships to students studying social work was a great incentive to attract more students into the field. Please allow me, Sir, to highlight my continued concerns on skills development and professionalising the service delivery. First, what is the progress in reviewing the status recognition, remuneration and benefits of social workers? Second, the shortage of qualified social workers is still a problem. The Family Court, for example, currently has nine counsellors. There are six more vacancies to be filled, but there are no takers. I was told that it was difficult to find suitable counsellors. This seems to be a common story for most VWOs and the inadequacy became more apparent when specialised care is needed, like speech therapists for the mentally challenged, specialised treatment programme for the autistic, trained placement officers to help integrate the disabled in employment situations, trained social workers for rehabilitating men in jail who are coping with violent behaviour. The list goes on. My question to the Minister is: has the Ministry carried out an in-depth study to address the manpower shortage of the social service industry as a whole?”
“A Mr Tham who runs a hair clinic came to my meet-the-people session several times relating the problems he has encountered in conducting his hair transplant business. His hair transplant process involves re-inserting hair follicles removed elsewhere one at a time. His clinic employs medical doctors and specialists who were trained in the specialty clinics in the United States. I do not know about the effect of his operation, but he has a long list of clients from Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. His business seems like a sun-rise industry with good demand, and good return on investment. It also has a "feel-good" effect on the customers. Not everyone can handle hair loss with the grace and dignity as some notable Members of this House. Because of the risk of infections and complications, hair transplant operation of this nature should be regulated. However, this Mr Tham seems to run into regulatory entanglements with the Ministry of Health, such as the suitability and certification of doctors involved. Furthermore, when he tried to put up an advertisement, he could not use the words "hair transplant" in the advertisement, but the words "hair services" which could mean anything actually. Sir, let me hasten to add that that I am not bringing this matter up on behalf of Mr Tham. But through the interaction, I became interested to find out how the Ministry of Health views hair transplant as an economic activity. Is it a medical operation, cosmetic service or plastic surgery? Furthermore, are the doctors involved subject to the regulation of the Medical Registration Act?”