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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“My second focus is on developing nursing and para-nursing services. I feel we have not sufficiently utilised the skills and capabilities of the Nursing Association network and retired nurses as well as homemakers, who may be like part-time paid jobs, be trained as para-nurses to care for the frail elderly. Their paid service will be a positive relief for carers who can then leave the homes and do their own thing for a few hours. We can use CDC or a neighbourhood polyclinic as a base. We then identify the medical skills level in the constituency through the Nursing Association. Trained nurses and consultants can serve as leaders to train a network of para-nurses to respond to home calls. It is like the insurance business which has a lead agent with a network of understudying trainees. The Ministry will then set guidelines on payment schemes. Sir, it is becoming increasingly problematic to rely on family care as the only and best solution for caring for an aged person. We have to complement this initiative by strengthening home care and nursing service as a para-professional service which can be offered by paid agents who are not family members. While this is already happening in a small segment of the community which can afford such service from private-run operations, I am calling for a community-based initiative at each constituency to make healthcare a localised and affordable community service, with appropriate level of regulation and quality control from the Ministry. Dr Wang Kai Yuen: Sir, several Members have indicated their interest in what I have to say on this amendment. I hope they are not disappointed.”
“15 pm The third challenge is home-care is evidently the cheapest way of solving the problems of long term care, but this may mean depriving carers, in particular daughters, the chance to re-enter the labour force or take over extra-familial roles in the community. Some longitudinal research has shown that "family centred" women deteriorate earlier and actually experience a lower degree of quality of life in old age. We lose out both at the labour front and the home front. The fourth challenge is what if the elderly has no children to do the caring? Or what if the elderly prefer to live alone? Or live in a home for the aged? The trend towards independent living is increasingly apparent in a more educated greying population. The last challenge is that there are real problems when old parents are often angry, bad-tempered, grumbling and difficult to manage. Given these challenges, what services, skills package and information are available now to provide support networks to help these carers cope? Are they adequate in offering a differentiated support system for the elderly? I propose that instead of looking for more buildings and day care centres, we may want to creatively look deeper into the community and tap its embedded resources to help. Here is where I think CDCs, Women's Wing, Women's Executive Committees and NTUC cooperative movement, Family Service Centres, hospitals and medical consultants, volunteer medical teams and neighbourhood clinics could work out a Nursing Focus Plan to identify the needs of each neighbourhood and develop small scale, efficient and effective programmes at the local level to promote collaborative, self-organising networks. I think the spirit and orientation of such a service is very similar to what Dr Tan Cheng Bock earlier mentioned.”
“Sir, the Report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Healthcare for the Elderly is comprehensive and promising. Acute help is offered by our hospitals and I am glad to learn that the Ministry is incrementally creating more beds to cope with rising numbers of our aging population. By the early years of the new millennium, our forecast needs will be met. We already have a number of homes for the aged. The Home Nursing Foundation alone operates 12 centres to offer a range of services to the community. I am more concerned, however, by what follows after the patients are discharged from institutional care. In fact, hospitals are facing resistance in discharging elderly patients who are not too ambulant but not sick enough to stay in hospital, as the families do not know how to take care of them at home. In view of the growing demographic trends, this deserves serious consideration. I would like to focus on two aspects: first, in training home-carers on how to care for the frail elderly more effectively and, second, developing nursing and para-nursing services that can be sold to private homes on principles of affordability. First, focus on homecare. What are the critical challenges? First, we may ask by asking: who takes care? Primarily the wife, daughter and mother, with lower and declining participation, from the husband, daughter-in-law and the son, according to a Singapore Survey in 1995. Conversely, daughters, as carers, have increased. Second, care-giving role is adversely affecting care-givers who feel the physical and psychological strain caused by the necessity of constant engagement, thus restricting personal life and increasing financial burdens. The situation is obviously worse if care-givers also have to work to support the rest of the household needs. 3.”
“I propose that we start by identifying dental graduates who are interested in this area of treatment to run a Government-sponsored programme in NUH or SGH. Since we are merely reinforcing one additional aspect of care within the existing medical infrastructure, very little capital and operating costs are needed. I feel that this is the most cost-effective measure. As it is only a small number of people who will need the service, it will not be an excessive burden over the current case load of dental personnel. What we may have to reinforce is a group of paramedics or trained dental assistants who can prepare patients beforehand, and administer sedation, if necessary, before the doctor attends to the patient. What we need more is to promote a positive attitude towards the medical needs of the disabled.”
“Sir, I am specifically requesting for help in providing dental care and treatment for children with cerebral palsy. The main concerns are that most public and private dentists and oral surgeons are not equipped to handle difficult cerebral palsy clients who are unable to control their involuntary movements, or drooling. And getting them to sit still is the greatest challenge. There is also no awareness among graduates about the needs of dental care for the cerebral palsy, because their courses do not include this area of treatment. There is a need for a designated dental service in the community which the cerebral palsy can visit as part of our healthcare benefit for all Singaporeans. And there is a need to expose dental students to handling, in practice, more difficult cases of treatment for the disabled in a designated hospital facility, so that eventually when they set up their own clinics, they will accept and treat such clients. There is a greater need to provide free or subsidised dental treatment to clients who are severely disabled, like the cerebral palsy. Currently, only clients from MINDS benefit from free dental treatment. The Spastic Children's Association of Singapore is the primary advocate for more help to be extended to the disabled. It has 240 schoolers, 60 adult trainees and workshops, and 55 adult members. If the Association sets up a dental clinic of its own, it needs resources and a pool of volunteers like dental personnel. The critical factor here, however, is where can they even get to start a programme with volunteer dental personnel who know how to treat the spastics. The hospital is still the most practical venue to cater to the needs of the disabled.”
“The guidelines and protocols must be made simple. (5) Furnish residents in the neighbourhood with the relevant key telephone numbers for assistance and information on what actions to adopt. The language in the brochures must be made simple. (6) Establish a recognition scheme of "Friend of the Police" for residents who have done something that is effective in combating crime in the neighbourhood. If we highlight this publicity event, as suggested by Dr Teo Ho Pin, it will help to reap awareness and participation. (7) Carry out neighbourhood focus groups from youth to elderly ones to make "alive" this spirit of CFP. Working with National Youth Council or forming local volunteer youth "vigilante groups" can be one possible initiative. This will absorb the excessive restless energy of teenagers and direct them away from crime and self-indulgent activities that were highlighted earlier by Mr Peh Chin Hua and Mr Chng Hee Kok. Sir, one may think that all these are simple enough suggestions to propose, the difficulty we all know is in implementing even such a simple plan of inter-agency cooperation and action. A significant amount of time and energy and resources have to be spent on collaborative formation. It is in my view a worthwhile investment for the police to commit to a training process in a continuous annual cycle with other agencies. People do not become self-organising networks without spending time together to learn and do things together. I hope my preliminary reflections are helpful to the Police Force to seriously look into ways of linking people to carry out policing responsibility. Otherwise, cooperation will only be conceptual on paper.”
“Sir, Lianhe Zaobao earlier this month reported that the first two months of 1999, compared to the similar period in 1998, showed an overall decline in crimes, such as theft, car theft, robbery and housebreaking. The police must be commended for making Singapore a safe place to live despite this difficult period. However, the police can do more if grassroots leaders, residents in housing estates as well as social service centres cooperate with the police and find new ways to combat neighbourhood crimes. This capability in maintaining "law and order" in the neighbourhood by different community agencies working together to support the police is what I mean by "community policing". I believe the Community Focus Plan (CFP) is set up with this objective in mind. I would like to suggest a few working ideas to add to this Police effort in enhancing community policing. (1) Mindsetting frontline junior police officers the significance of their role as a lead collaborative agent. (2) Offer joint training programmes with other community leaders to enhance cross-boundary learning capability and cross pollination of ideas and reflections. We need to remove institutional turfs and promote on-our-feet solutions to community problems. This way it will address the lower awareness in the community about CFP that was mentioned earlier by Mr Kenneth Chen. (3) Set clear ethos of cooperation between groups to avoid this "passing the buck" when a crisis situation arises. (4) Establish clear guidelines and protocols for all concerned on how to go about tackling a crime in combined effort. Let us say a neighbour spotted a burglar breaking in a house, what action must follow? Or an alcoholic neighbour is heard beating up the wife, what can the witness do?”
“Sir, we need appropriate skills, forecast and stronger resource allocation in planning the social work curriculum and student intake at our tertiary institutions to strengthen the manpower needs of various Ministries.”
“The Family Court has counselled and mediated many divorce, custody, maintenance and family violence cases. I would like to add to the effort of the Subordinate Courts in enhancing its mission to administer justice by making a few suggestions on mediation principles. The first is to adopt a very cautious policy on pre-mediation screening of all clients by trained officers in family disputes before a decision is taken to proceed with mediation. The second is to adopt a careful balance in engaging parallel counselling and mediation procedures in managing a complex relationship by giving priority to client protection, child protection and mediator safety. A protocol of best practices must be drawn up and followed. The third is to be ready to terminate mediation in an apparent marital dispute over property and children, once domestic violence emerges as an issue. Sir, I raise these concerns because mediation is effective and just only when contending parties could negotiate on equal terms. If any one contending party perceives threat or violence, and domestic violence is still a "live" issue, this observation must be taken into account in any arrangement made by the mediator. Otherwise, we may subject the weaker party to continued violence at home, away from the eyes of the public. The intake Counselling Unit set up by the Family Court is a positive initiative. I was told that six more vacancies are available but there are no takers. Do we lack the skills in the area of administering restorative and therapeutic justice? Or is there a shortage of social workers? Would the Courts then consider foreign recruitment, if we cannot find local skills?”
“I propose the setting up of FAMILY 21 and call for more resources for strengthening the community, including the family, and the Singapore Spirit. EXEMPTED BUSINESS (Motion) Resolved, That the debate on the Budget Statement be proceeded with beyond 4.30 pm and the proceedings thereon be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 1. - [Dr Lee Boon Yang]. ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Debate resumed. 3.42 pm”
“I also propose that we consider easing the financial burden of VWOs by increasing Government funding from 50% to 80% of total operating costs so that social workers can concentrate on delivering quality service. If money is scarce, and we do not think it is prudent to dip into our reserves, then I propose we seriously adopt cost-cutting measures at the operation level at all Ministries and donate the "savings" to worthy and needy community causes. Just like in the private sector, some companies did not send greeting cards for Christmas and New Year in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and instead donated money to needy community causes. We should look for innovative ways of saving money and giving it back to the community. I simply wish to reiterate here that while Singaporeans at all levels are mustering their mettle to uphold the "Singapore Spirit" to help our country ride through these difficult times, those in the job of governance must also make sure that we do not bend, distort and stretch this Spirit already malnourished without extending timely and appropriate help. Our long-term competitiveness, Sir, apart from the focus on the manufacturing and service sectors, which we all support, must include the nurturing of this positive Singapore Spirit, through concrete help, not only by persuasion or in words. Sir, allow me to recap. This is a prudent Budget. I applaud the Singapore Spirit among Singaporeans who have adjusted to the crisis by scaling down their expectations. We need to nevertheless identify the potentially poor, adopt a policy perspective beyond welfarism, by focusing the family as the primary unit for policy formulation.”
“If we compare with the various Ministries, MCD's total expenditure estimates for 1999 show a decrease by 10.5%, representing the second lowest after MTI in estimated total expenditure over 1998. MTI's decrease was due to the acceleration of development expenditure in 1998 to boost the economy. In the same year, a number of projects, like the Girls' Home and the extension of Kwong Wai Shiu Old Age Home, had to be shelved due to shortage of funds. During current difficult times one would expect an increase in overall allocation for MCD, in particular development expenditure, due to increasing demand for services to cope with needy families and rising social problems. Not only had MCD's revised FY98 development expenditure showed 2.9% lower than the actual FY97 sum, the development expenditure for 1999 is budgeted with a further decrease by 15.4%. Has the development budget been axed to this low level by the Minister for Finance or is it because the Ministry of Community Development did not ask for more? And if MCD did not ask for more, why not? I seek clarification, Sir. For whatever reasons, this is sending the message that either community development needs are not a high priority, or that we have already arrived at such a near Utopian state that we do not actually need to spend more on community services. Yet, we can allocate for development expenditure 318% more than last year for MOM, 28% more for education - all of which I agree with, incidentally. Surely the Ministry of Community Development has many community projects in the pipeline which should be financed. I propose that the Minister take a longer view and build the institutions that the community will in time need.”
“In other cases, due to working adults not being able to find or pay for home help, they left their elderly parents alone in their homes, all locked up because they suffered from dementia. Such unintentional or cannot-be-helped neglect could be dangerous if the flat caught fire and the elderly was trapped inside. If family members are working, who supplies the food for the elderly? Sir, "family care" or filial piety is not simply a matter of the heart or culture, it is a function of how much children can shoulder the real burden of caring. When there is no job, carers have no money to care. The rich should help the poor, we heard many MPs said today. But they, too, facing business downturn, feel "less rich" to be generous. It takes months to organise fund-raising events and needy families cannot wait. Sir, we do not have adequate information on the families. I propose the setting up of a multi-disciplinary FAMILY 21 Working Committee to identify new policy changes for strengthening the families. I would also propose that the CDCs carry out a comprehensive crisis monitoring survey to find out the impact of the crisis on families. And together, they will explore what has to be done to ease the misery in the community. If the finding shows that I have exaggerated the misery picture, then it is good news. If the finding shows that problems are mounting, then we can plan on what we must do as a community to set things right. At this point, may I add that I am curious why, after so many calls from this House during last year's debate for more allocation of funds for MCD, the development expenditure for the MCD in 1999 is even less than last year, from 0.38% to 0.34% of the GDP?”
“Sir, these are just some examples which I hope to illustrate my call for the Government to allocate our resources using a multi-tiered and multi-faceted approach to flexibly benefit needy families, instead of applying one policy for all which may err on the side of being over restrictive and rigid. While guarding carefully against irresponsible welfarism, we should also not neglect principles of reasonable distribution of social security benefits for the vulnerable. We need a fresh perspective to focus the family as a primary unit for policy formulation. This perspective may require a critical review of defining who are the vulnerable and the potentially vulnerable. We can easily spot the destitute and the disabled and the Government has been prompt to assist them. But we may need to define the less obviously needy, what I call the marginalised segment of our society. And these are people, I would call, the dis-enabled, the dis-advantaged and the dis-empowered. They are like what MP Sin Boon Ann described yesterday - not poor and not paying tax, and now unemployed. I was heartened by PM's call for "family care" during the weekend when he opened the 3-in-1 FSC in Tampines. Indeed family members should do their utmost to care for their families, but I also hope that the spirit of giving, as exemplified by PAP Members handing out $200 "ang-pows" to residents in Potong Pasir will be adopted as a broad principle of "family care" by the Government. Sir, there are many women-run single parent families who are facing difficulties in meeting basic necessities, like food, transport, rent and utilities.”
“Whether the assistance is sufficient and how we can better meet the needs of the less fortunate - as we make this difficult transition to a knowledge based economy in the midst of a recession - I hope will be a policy focus following the debate and suggestions proposed by MPs during the last two days and in the following days. This policy must adopt a policy perspective beyond welfarism. Beyond the economic fundamentals, what resources we allocate for strengthening the social service components within our society to nourish the hearts and souls of Singaporeans are critical in securing our cohesion. Could we in extraordinary times adopt more flexible and responsive policies to meet the needs of families in distress? Have we done enough? Could we, instead of cynically viewing such moves as falling prey to the "lure of welfarism", see enhanced assistance schemes as strategic investments in reinforcing the social contract between our people and Government? For example, in concrete terms, could we allow Singaporeans in the older age groups after 40 to draw upon their Medisave account for medical needs such as annual screening tests which do not classify as "treatment"? This is consistent with our call for a healthy lifestyle through early detection of diseases. Could we allow family members to draw on their Medisave account to pay for their parents' medical bills? Could we increase medical and living subsidies for the needy elderly after 60 according to age categories? Could we consider allowing single mothers with a stable job and children to buy first-hand two-room HDB flats in designated residential zones, since we allow single mothers to do so under joint ownership scheme? This is consistent with our policy of family protection.”
“In other cases, children have stopped taking tuition classes, and foreign maids have been dismissed. Singaporeans are scaling down their expectations and re-adjusting their lifestyles in order to cut costs at a personal and household level. They are willing to do this because they know they have in previous years enjoyed the prosperity and had reserves to fall back on. They also know that we are not a welfare state and personal financial prudence is the key to survival. Sir, if or when the crunch comes and their personal reserves become depleted, they will hold the Government to the promise that no Singaporean will be out on the streets without a shelter and no Singaporean will be uncared for if he or she falls sick and is unable to pay the medical bills, and no child will be forced to leave school because of the inability to pay school fees. But if this recession persists, and even if we are to achieve only stagnant and very slow and low rates of growth for the next few years, the number of Singaporeans who can be considered the marginal poor will increase. They may not be the totally destitute and homeless, or denied hospital care, but many heads of households, particularly the older, lower-skilled workers, may be unemployed for a long time, and the household may be in dire need of some financial assistance. I know we have a number of assistance schemes already available in different Ministries and at grassroots levels that respond to those in need.”
“It is truly an enviable spirit that Hong Kong should learn to emulate and nurture." I could not fail to note the strains of envy, frustration and helpless anxiety among my Hong Kong friends. I felt proud as a Singaporean. I remember in my four years stay in Hong Kong in the late 70s, the perception of Singaporeans was "they talk, eat, walk, think and act far too slowly and too cautiously." I used to be rather defensive about these comments but now, on hindsight, maybe these attributes which have characterised Singaporean over-prudence and excessive cautiousness have stood us in good stead in the past two decades. They reflect our underlying anxiety about survival and a tested conviction that things can always get worse but as long as we steadily chip our way through the odds to make the best of the situation, in measured prudence, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have observed similar prudent financial and lifestyle management in many Singaporean households today. Parents, with growing children whose needs are never ending, are careful about how they spend their dollar. Instead of buying three sets of new clothes for the children for Chinese New Year, they bought two sets, maybe only one; and one pair of good shoes to last two years instead of several fashionable ones which last less than a year and in total cost more. Some families I know have adjusted their meals to include less meat - which is healthy anyway - and have cut back on eating in restaurants. Some have sold their flats and moved to a smaller home in order to save the profits as contingency reserves. Others have sold their cars and travel only by bus and MRT. In some cases, I have been offered cats and special breed dogs, even goldfish!”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion. Against the backdrop of worsening economic and political conditions in the region with Singapore showing in 1998 its first spending shortfall in 10 years and a forecast deficit of S$5.1 billion in 1999, a no-frills Budget containing no radical moves is a prudent and measured approach. Indeed, we have to appraise the Budget within the context of having had two other off-Budget measures in June and November 1998, which had benefitted the business community in more ways than one. This time more individual relief is given. As a citizen, I am grateful that we have accumulated funds to fall back on to cushion our spending shortfalls. We are still able to fork out large sums of money to enhance the competitiveness and employability of our workforce through retraining programmes and IT in education. And now, we all stand behind this country to ensure its continued competitiveness and viability, in preparation for making that quantum leap when the economy recovers in the millennium. This steadfast, resilient and committed "Singapore Spirit", Sir, is what I would like to highlight and give credit to. The Government has done a good job, so have the people of Singapore. In the recent parliamentary visit to Hong Kong led by MP Dr Wang Kai Yuen, I had the opportunity to meet up with some of my old professors in Hong Kong University as well as some old friends. One common reflection from them was: "You Singaporeans are `One heart in cohesion' (yak tiu sam). No way can we push through a cost cutting package in Hong Kong the way your Government has done. And without violent protests from the people too! And you are making all the critical investments now to prepare for the future.”
“In such offences when the victims voluntarily met with the offender, does this consent jeopardise the defendant's suit against the offender? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Ultimately, it is the act that is in question. If initially, there is consent to the meeting, a rape takes place or outrage of modesty takes place, that will still constitute an offence if the elements of the offence are present.”
“Could the Minister of State put in writing as to the nature of these accidents so that I could study them?”
“Would the Minister of State tell the House in the past three years what was the record of bus stop accidents? Were there records?”
“I therefore propose that the Singapore 21 Committee's recommendations be used as Part Two addition to the Report of the Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness, bringing into sharp focus the significance of social capital underlying economic constructs that will make Singapore a city of excellence and a society of distinction. I do support the motion standing in the name of the Minister for Trade and Industry.”
“There are many more family-friendly policies to consider, such as childcare infrastructure, flexible compensation structure, home-working opportunities, etc, that we need to explore that will enhance productivity levels of men and women in general, without sacrificing the needs of the family. We need a new mindset to organise people resources in both the public and private sectors that is less discrete, more fuzzy and blurred, but no less ineffective and inefficient, a perspective that is multi-disciplinary, multi-functional and cross-boundary. Economics, politics, sociology, history, moral and civic studies have to be cross-fertilised to guide the way we think and plan agendas for Singapore's competitiveness. For me, the competitive Singaporean for the millennium is someone who is clear in thinking, able to amass and process the information around him, fast on his or her feet to respond to crisis and adapt to change, quick and hands-on with his hands, so that he or she is not just a talker but a doer, and feels the compassion for the needy and the vulnerable and for Singapore, which he or she calls "Home". It requires more than what this Report had blue-printed to produce the Millennium Singaporean that will be the competitive agent to bring Singapore to the next higher level. Engines, machines and electronic disc drives are only part of the competition. The other part, and a major one, is people resource and their mindsets, values and spirit. Perhaps the CSC is not the forum for presenting these laudable ideas.”
“The effort includes more financial and employment support to groups with special needs, for example, the disabled and mentally challenged; and more support across the board for voluntary organisations which repair the broken pieces of people's lives. I hope the Government truly regards its role just as important as businesses, and if the latter are going to enjoy lower rentals in State-owned enterprises, can it not also grant free rent for one year, or perhaps considerable rent deductions to all VWOs operating on void decks? I agree with Mr Koo Tsai Kee that the 50-50 shared operating costs between State and the VWOs is a generous formula and in the total operating costs, rentals are not a major component. However, every dollar saved from rentals, averaging at about $5,000 a year is a whole lot of money for VWO, and what a relief it is to save some money to run a service programme for the community. No doubt, we can raise funds by organising fund-raising activities, but we all know how hard it is to raise that extra dollar. I hope the Government will give this request a serious thought. Another noticeable omission in this Report was the neglect of the family as one of the drivers in the millennium competitiveness, requiring a strategic blueprint in mapping the synergy between the public and private sectors in their efforts of incorporating the agenda of family needs as part of workplace reorganisation. The Report registered, in two paragraphs, the value of pro-family work policies, such as flexi-wage and flexi-time work schedules.”
“Maybe our bureaucracies could consider engaging a corps of paid part-time residents or retrenched persons to do the tiresome liaison work of attending to applications, giving appropriate information, filling up forms and completing the follow-up detail actions. The devil is in the detail, as we say. An economic crisis requires crisis intervention skills which are fast, efficient and effective to ensure that those affected have the information and access to critical services. In conclusion, I have been travelling around in the region in the last six months and most foreigners I met had conveyed such excellent remarks about how Singaporeans and our Government have tackled the economic crisis with remarkable discipline and caution. My deep disappointment with this Report is its lack of long-term strategic thinking on the value of the social fundamentals as social capital, which is crucial for human development and critical for honing a competitive society. By social capital, I mean the network of institutions and relationships that are important for the productive functioning of a society. The network includes the families, community bodies, social service agencies, civic bodies which are connected by shared ethos and collective memories of a place. Intangible as they are in their contribution in terms of dollars and cents to business productivity, social capital provides the sealant in community bonding and the social stability upon which economic competitiveness thrives. Resources spent on people services help to moderate the phenomenon of marginalisation and alienation among pockets of a population that can undermine social stability.”
“I would like to know if any emergency fund has been set up for Ministries to have access to when they are called to respond to difficult cases and whether the criteria for application for these funds have been broadened in recent months to meet the needs of vulnerable families. DPM Lee yesterday urged us to build our "national resilience" and "social cohesion" to stand together and maintain a sense of common purpose. Let us note that people under crisis and struggling to survive, burning candles at both ends, are too spiritually and physically exhausted to be able to put their mettle to test. It is the rest of us who are better off, who must, in partnership, stretch our "helping hands" to pick up those who are falling and slipping - this is truly for me the ethos of strengthening our shared experience of adversity and struggle. In the scheme of things, whose helping hand is the firmest and the most able to be generous - the Government, of course. The fourth focus is more of what NTUC Fairprice has done by cutting down the cost of living by price reductions. It was a generous move. And as a direct beneficiary, I look forward to more cuts in even more items in January 1999. I applaud the adoption of NTUC Income for helping insurance policy holders and borrowers pay their premiums and housing loans, and a whole lot of other measures to alleviate their financial pains. To me, NTUC sets the exemplary standards in proactively moderating the impact of the economic crisis on daily costs of living of ordinary people. My fifth focus is more stress on fast response time in all Ministries by providing efficient and shorter processing time required for some of the assistance schemes offered by the Government.”
“The second strategy is to bring the bureaucracy to the man-in-the-street like what the CDCs did by setting up an employment hotline, employment information and exhibitions in shopping malls and working closely with MOM to help residents fill up employment forms. I hope more of these will continue which would clearly break up the tyranny of the "bureaucratic leadership" which Mr Chiam See Tong cautioned us against yesterday. My third focus is more of what the Government can do in the area of rents, fees, taxes on utilities and assistance schemes to help the cashflow situation of ordinary folks. The cost reduction package announced yesterday had gone beyond what the CSC has recommended, for which we should be thankful. However, Sir, another 5,000 more people will be losing their jobs, bringing our total unemployed to 25,000, according to recent MOM estimates. More and more bankruptcies were recorded in the first eight months of this year. What shall these households do? I am glad to hear that the Government will consider releasing CPF monies to family members to pool their resources together to pay for their house mortgages. The presenting problems, however, of clients seeking help in Family Service Centres in the past six months were essentially difficulties in securing employment, in meeting basic needs, children's school related expenses and lifestyle adjustment. The hardest hit are single parents from low income families whose situations worsen when the search for permanent employment gets harder because of the poor job market. I hope the special assistance schemes set up by NTUC, MCD and MOM will respond to the critical needs of these vulnerable groups fast and generous enough.”
“And I also urge employers to pay back to workers, in the form of bonuses, in December 1999 if their companies did well next year. My second focus is more community-based initiatives like what CDCs and voluntary agencies have developed. I will highlight two strategies. The first is reaching out to the poor. Here, I would like to applaud grassroots leaders and volunteers in Tanjong Pagar and Marine Parade and recently Ang Mo Kio/Cheng San CDCs for their mission to brief the poor in one- and two-room flats on help schemes available to them. I observed that even among the social service agencies, the knowledge of available resources for coping with the economic crisis is fragmented and poorly understood. The next obstacle for a needy person, after she or he knows where to get help, is the overwhelming procedures involved in getting the help, especially for older persons and those who feel threatened by an English-speaking institution and are illiterate. It is unfortunate that the myriad schemes offered by Government, including CDCs, CCCs, Women's Executive Committees and all the Family Service Centres and other civic bodies are not sufficiently publicised and disseminated to the needy families. This is the reason why I applaud the volunteers in the CDCs for taking the pain to go to the needy homes, listen to their problems, help to fill up the forms by detailing the sort of problems to be tackled and then fax over to CDC staff for them to follow up their support function by contacting the relevant authorities. This painstaking exercise, for me, is "grassroots democracy" at its best. I hope this effort will repeat in every constituency. By mobilising all these volunteer groups, residents in the community and CDC staff, we are revitalising the "gotong royong" spirit.”
“Can we think of setting up a dedicated database to identify the kind of part-time work in demand in the marketplace, so that a part-time job clearing house can be set up and a mechanism for job identification, recruitment and placement can start to operate? The 900 queries for part-time jobs which Minister Lee Boon Yang reported two days ago provide a baseline for us to identify what workers are looking for and what special job designs can be customised to absorb them. This is a good start to systematically examine part-time job clusters for the Back-to-Work programme. The third strategy is more of the excellent initiatives like SRP and CREST which are targeted at 800,000 workers for the next five years, but to be extended to other beneficiaries like housewives, older persons, schools, voluntary groups, etc, so that we truly can become a learning people and thinking nation at all levels. I would like to make a call to all employers in the private sector at this juncture to reinforce the efforts of the Government by creatively aligning their work and people resources in such a way that workers, old and young, men and women, can still have a job, even if need be, on a part-time basis. For example, we can adopt a policy of wage cut by reducing two or four work days in a month for each staff. Administered on a rotational basis, the company carries on business as usual with fewer staff having to double up and perform cross-functionally. Freed from office time, many staff can now attend to family matters and go for some inexpensive training courses. Life will be more balanced, although in some cases, the salary cut can be inadequate. However, it is better that everyone in the company has a little less, than a few to lose their jobs completely.”
“We have read in the papers how hard it is for the 40-year olds to find jobs. The most recent one reported was Mr Shaik Alauddin who could not find a job for 11 months. Some of the reasons given in that article were valid - skills level, unmatchable capabilities, low work adaptability, etc. But we have to look closely at our million over 40-year olds and do a skills audit. In view of the current employers' attitude and market demand for fewer workers, who are cheaper but higher qualified ones, it may mean more "older persons" will have difficulty finding jobs. (And that represents probably three-quarters of the Members of the House here in the `50s who may become potential job seekers!). We may need to identify the kind of industry clusters which we can match and train them for. This category of people still have 20 more good years to contribute to society; it is our economic loss not to employ them. I am glad to note that DPM's response yesterday registered the same concern. May I then ask if we can consider special incentive schemes for employers who employ older persons? The second strategy is to identify more part-time work for working mothers. The Government has removed some of the disincentives for part-time work in public service by allowing part-time workers to claim the same CPF contributions and leave schemes as full-time workers on a pro-rata basis. Dr Aline Wong, in a recent statement, reported that private sector companies, however, have not been flexible in making part-time and flexi-time work more readily available to their workers. I support Dr Aline Wong's call for employer groups to study how part-time schemes are practised in some countries such as Britain and Sweden, and learn from them.”
“I would call it a "reserve in perpetuity" - there to guarantee generations of Singaporeans, our children and grandchildren the security of having something there for them, as a last resort. Take my own family, for example. We set up a trust for our children so that if anything happens to us or our fortunes, they have the reserve to fall back on. We explained to them that they have to grow it for their children and grandchildren, in perpetuity. And if there is a critical need, it can only be for education need. We believe, if everything else fails, an education guarantees a job, and life. Therefore, I agree, bu yao dong lao ben [ ], bu yao da puo man [ ]. Do not touch the reserves. It is a psychology of security for the country. So what can we do? I will highlight five focus areas which have direct impact which we can still work on. The first is more of the many commendable programmes already started by MOM and NTUC in areas of job search and placement and skills training for workers. I am glad to hear from the Minister this afternoon about the employment facilitating channels and the retrenchment advisory unit. Those are positive initiatives. But I would call for the strengthening of three strategies. The first is the strengthening of job matching channels for older persons. We know how hard it is for the 35 to 40-year olds to get employed, because employers and marketplace prefer younger workers with qualifications. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 5.10 pm MOM has said that if employers are found to have terminated the services of a worker unfairly on account of old age, the Minister can order his reinstatement to his previous job, or require the employer to offer monetary compensation to the affected worker. Sir, that is very reassuring.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, so much has been discussed about Singapore's competitiveness. The cost-cutting packages announced in this House by DPM Lee was a "sunshine" package. However, these discussions on long-term economic policies and short-term cuts in business costs, which will take time to be implemented and felt, are not all understood by the man-in-the-street nor by a large segment of Singaporeans not trained in economic terms. Their immediate concerns are still the threat of unemployment and the impact of wage and CPF cuts. The recommendations evidently will enhance business competitiveness but they are pressing ordinary Singaporeans to shoulder the urgent responsibility of making Singapore more competitive, by accepting a wage cut and lowering of safety net contributions from employer's CPF contribution. This is the reality of global competition when we have to cut wages to stay competitive, because they form the most significant component in our operating costs. Sir, accepting "tough times" and a harsh business reality, however, does not wish away the assault of deprivations and the pains in people's struggles to make ends meet. Many MPs had, in the last few days, called for a compassionate gesture by the Government to try its utmost to alleviate the financial pains of Singaporeans so that, as Dr Michael Lim said, "their spirits will not be broken", and I echo their calls. What more can we all do for the vulnerable in this crisis? I do not agree to using the reserves or, as DPM Lee said yesterday, lao ben [ ]. And he had translated that to guan cai ben [ ]. That is a little bit fatalistic, and it is like the end of a journey, because there is no life in coffins.”
“May I clarify with the Minister: are you saying that single-parent households will also benefit from all these schemes, not just low-income families or vulnerable families?”
“Could I have the assurance of the Minister that the Ministry will step up its efforts in identifying more of these part-time jobs and then publicise the information and job-matching services?”
“Sir, could I ask the Minister for the 900 job seekers, what kind of jobs were they looking for, please?”
“As other ASEAN states are now studying ways to create their social safety nets, is it time for us too to review ours and identify new ways of providing funding and infrastructural support for the families, in view of the fact that this economic downturn may well be the worst that Singapore and the region have experienced in 50 years? A timely and well-considered policy evaluation exercise by the Government, in conjunction with social services agencies, regarding investment in social infrastructure as well as the creation of appropriate safety nets for our most needy, will contribute both to our short-term economic recovery as well as long-term well-being of a society.”
“How bad off are Singaporeans? Who are the casualties in this regional crisis? Mr Chan Soo Sen this afternoon, in response to my question, said that between the years 1996 and 1997, there were only 41 applicants for the Interim Financial Scheme and the Ministry only disbursed $11,000. Are we saying that people are not poor enough? Or are we saying that the forms for applications are too complicated that they have decided not to fill them? Or are we saying the criteria for the application are too stringent, and maybe it is time to broaden the criteria? I do not think we know the answers. In a written response to me from MOM, it was reported that out of 80% of job placements for the retrenched workers, only 10% accepted the referral. This says to me that workers are still choosy and therefore times are not as hard yet. So I have varying impressions. I am proposing that we set up a cross-agency fact-finding task force comprising Government statisticians, academics, social workers, and others, to conduct surveys to identify the distressed in our midst, and to devise a Singapore specific misery index with indices which are socio-economic in nature. I recognise that we need to be cautious, not to travel on the slippery slope of welfarism as practised in some developed countries, and we must not determine social policies based on compassion and generosity alone, but on principles of efficiency and effectiveness. We all appreciate the contingency measures recently set up by the various Ministries and CDCs to offer assistance to people with financial difficulties. A question I would then raise is: when was the last time we thoroughly reviewed our social security schemes? Are these schemes adequate?”
“My answer is no, because a chronically sick, old and disabled person with no relatives, who earns a subsistence income is to me more needy than a young, able-bodied person living with relatives but earns zero income. If income is not the sole yardstick, then what are the others, and how should they be weighted? By the year 2030, we will have two active persons supporting the needs of one elderly person. How are we allocating our funds to meet their needs? Is it time to look into an elderly welfare fund to repay to these older persons who had contributed to the making of this nation? I strongly believe that education and employment are the best welfare policies in the long-run. But for pockets of our population, there may not be available opportunities. School drop-outs, single parents, the illiterate older persons, deserted homemakers, the severely disabled, the very sick. Among these, some individuals can still contribute given some level of support. The questions that follow will be to whom, how much and for how long. In order to develop an appropriate social safety net which avoids resource wastage and programme duplication, we need to define a "misery index" as it has sometimes been called, which takes into account various factors to determine who are the truly needy in our society, for whom a social safety net needs to be constructed. So far, we get scattered data and signals from the community on the extent of the impact of this downturn on family situations. Some hotlines registered a rise in the numbers of calls related to financial difficulties; a few social services registered increasing petitions for financial support. These are early indications of the hardship but we cannot clearly establish if they are due to the current economic slowdown or not.”
“The workers who are past 40 and who are retrenched are most suited, in my opinion, to these jobs, because they are married, they have families, they have lived life and they have learnt from the hard knocks of living. This proposal is consistent with what Minister Lee Boon Yang said last Friday that in lieu of setting up a Retrenchment Fund for workers, the more lasting measure is to retrain workers and help them keep their jobs or re-enter the job market eventually. My second proposal is for the Government to set up a task force to develop our own misery index as the first step towards developing our own social security net or social safety net. With full employment and double-digit growth for the past decade, Asia, Singapore included, never really pondered about the social consequences of unemployment. Any able-bodied, willing worker should be able to find some job, though perhaps at a lower pay. Now, we face the prospect of sustained period of relatively moderate unemployment by western terms, but serious by our previous standards. Government has long promised that for the truly destitute, basic services such as primary health care, education and housing will not be denied. This is indeed a promise which many other societies cannot give, and for that I am proud. But beyond the truly destitute, there is a broad range of the poor and near-poor who may be long term unemployed or unemployable. While we as a society do not believe in welfarism and its excesses as practised in the west, we do need to ask the question: should we create a social safety net for the truly needy? This, of course, begs another question. Who are the truly needy? Can we measure this by just one yardstick, such as net income?”
“What I am saying is that a lot more jobs at both the community preventive and remedial levels are necessary to fill the gaps in the continuum of services in this sector. We should stop seeing them as social problem professions. We need to see them as people service professions which we must nurture within a comprehensive social infrastructure. During times of crisis, we all the more need social engineers who are trained to repair and mend people's lives, and by doing so, they strengthen society's competitiveness and resilience as a whole. For the amount of resources spent on economic solutions, significant inputs must equally be spent on developing social service infrastructure to reap investment returns not in dollar terms, but in terms of social cohesion. Social cohesion can be threatened even during economically good times. During bad times, the lack of social cohesion can sabotage all credible economic efforts. I propose that the various skills training or retraining funds be extended to train some of the retrenched or structurally unemployed to seek employment in the social services sector. This is consistent with MP Lim Swee Say's call for maximizing employability of our workforce. Here, I am broadening the call for cross sectoral employability. Government's investment here will be both in the provision of training funds and also in identifying sectoral needs and the provision of social service jobs. Although it will be employment-generating, my proposal is not an ad hoc approach to just mop up the jobless. In the long run, we create new employment, and develop a manpower resource for staffing the social service sector to address our social problems. Such investment in social infrastructure therefore has both short term and long term merits.”
“I also note that DPM BG Lee Hsien Loong recently identified the service sector as an opportunity for a comprehensive infrastructure to be set up including "a regulatory framework, promotion strategies, and an approach to attracting and developing manpower." I urge the Government to also see the social services sector as another opportunity sector for development. The social services community has drawn the bulk of its manpower from volunteers. But while volunteerism remains a bedrock principle in community service, there is a dire need for more professional workers to help us deliver a higher level of service to the community. Recession or not, Singapore has all the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of a developed society, and if we study other developed societies, we can anticipate that demand for social services, and by implication for full time social service workers, will increase in the next two decades. And I see a growing demand for more sophisticated and informed care which the market can respond by developing a range of job types. The need for trained therapists, para-medical and social service workers to cater to the elderly, the chronic sick and the disabled, will grow as our society ages rapidly and medical technologies increase longevity. As a developed society, we will face the pressure to improve services for the small but growing part of our population which is intellectually or physically disabled, or blind or deaf. For the marginalised and criminalised population, such as drug offenders and young criminals, we will face pressures not to just increase deterrence, but improve rehabilitation and aftercare services.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to support the motion. I would like to take the opportunity to add two proposals. First, that the Government should invest in and develop social infrastructure. During economic downturns, governments often adopt expansionary fiscal policies and invest in physical infrastructure such as roads, schools, MRT lines, and so forth. Our Finance Minister during last Friday's sitting listed out in detail the current and planned infrastructure projects to be accelerated to increase public spending. These are hard, tangible projects which directly generate jobs and spur economic demand. The tendency is, however, to cut back on investment in social infrastructure, as these are seen to be not contributing directly to economic growth. I would argue the contrary. Not only can investment in social infrastructure spur employment creation, but it can also achieve two further objectives. It can contribute to Government's efforts to retrain retrenched people in new skills which 21st century Singapore will need. And, as we prepare for a long period of slow growth or even no growth, it can contribute to the social cohesion which we will need to tide us over difficult times. Let me elaborate. For the past few months, MOM has taken the lead to develop numerous re-skilling programmes and to work with MOE to create a culture of life-long learning for workers. This focus on continual learning, training and education to enhance workers' existing skills or train them for new skills is a significant long term strategic measure to develop our competitiveness.”
“With their arrivals, the diversity in our multi-cultural society takes on an additional dimension, making it all the more necessary that we keep developing the heart-linked network to achieve overall social cohesion. If we can objectively adopt a larger perspective on global cultures by recognising that the search for all cultural sources is like digging a well: that as we dig deeper, we will find that all different sources from the well will lead to one undifferentiating source. If so, why do we not adopt a tolerant attitude towards accepting our commonness? If we start digging our multi-cultural wells based on this reckoning, we will finally reach the Big Singapore Culture which will be a mix of tradition and modernity, East and West, people's culture and elite culture.”
“During the 50s to the 70s, the neighbours I contacted were Malays, Indians and Chinese. Because my parents had always related to different ethnic groups, this exposure had made my brothers and I develop a high level of acceptance of other races. This is the reason why till today, I have close friends from different races. I may not clearly understand their cultures, but this ignorance has not prevented our friendship from developing. I raise this example to express a fact that the barriers between races must be removed by interpersonal relationships through communication. Such communication must be sustained over a long period, to allow us to develop from different experiences our respect and friendship for one another. The kind of heart-linked relationship for one another is the best assurance against racial conflict. At this juncture, I make a call for all principals, teachers, parents, Government and community agencies to organise more light entertaining events in order to create the opportunity for different ethnic groups to meet and have the chance to correct their biases for and misunderstanding of one another. We cannot merely "talk" about multi-racial society; we need to give time to organise activities to "act out" our beliefs and encourage more noble bridge makers to take the lead. The Racial Harmony Day is only a symbolic event, what is more representative of our harmony is the creation and continuity of multi-racial relationships at all levels. At the present, we are asked to be open and welcome foreign talents to our country to help our economic development.”
“Twelve hundred participants were there to seek intellectual stimulation and a diversity of views on life from four eminent personalities. I personally was appreciative of the effort the Lianhe Zaobao gave to encourage this high level of cultural dialogue. In my view, such an event represents a form of cultural renaissance and does not represent narrow-minded ethnocentric chauvinism. Moreover, Chinese culture being one of the world's greatest cultures, has been highly regarded by scholars in America and Europe do we then judge their enthusiasm as misplaced? What the English-educated did not realise is the fact that in an increasingly Westernised city-state like Singapore which is dominated by the English language, the Chinese-educated also feel neglected. But the Chinese as a majority group in this country must not disregard the sensitive reactions of the other groups. One specific example was the recent discussion by the Nanyang Technological University on the creation of a Chinese Cultural Institute and cultural elite. A non-Chinese felt strongly enough to write to the press pointing out that this move directly contradicted the early principles of a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-lingual society. Other individuals asked: if we talk about a Chinese cultural elite, what about Malay or Indian elites? Or should each of these cultures in their search for cultural excellence, at some level also promote the larger Singapore culture by encouraging the elites in each group to build bridges of linkages to help our diverse groups achieve an even higher level of consensus? I personally feel that the issue of race cannot be broached by the intellect or conceptual theories. I grew up in Little India.”
“Our education policy created a group of elites such that those who finally entered tertiary education are primarily Chinese. Even among Primary and Secondary schools achievers, Chinese in relative percentage terms still do better than the other ethnic groups. I do not think this is due to any discriminatory policy adopted by the Government. It reflects more the varying attitudes toward education among different ethnic groups and the lack of adequate resources in some families to allow the children to complete their education successfully. As such, I reckon that what Singaporeans have to be concerned with is how to strengthen and elevate the educational attainment levels of all the different ethnic groups. The other concern is on the language issue. Till today, there are still many Chinese Singaporeans who share negative views about Chinese culture and its transmission. Despite the openness which the Government has adopted towards the four official languages, Chinese being one of them, there are many Chinese who will not embrace and accept their own language and heritage. These in particular are the English-educated who regard English as Singapore's main language, a superior language which was passed down to us from the colonial days. Consequently, when the Chinese-educated community organise a talk or study group and invite eminent scholars to come to share their insights on Chinese culture, such an event would be regarded as a chauvinistic activity when it clearly is only a cultural and academic exchange. The recent cultural symposium organised by Lianhe Zaobao was essentially an experience for some Singaporeans to find their lost heritage.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as an English-educated person, I wish to speak in Chinese today to express the gratitude I feel towards the contribution of our founding fathers in establishing a multi-lingual policy. After all Chinese is my mother tongue and a language which I deeply enjoy. The recent economic crisis in all the Asian countries had noticeable ramifications at all levels. The tension between Malaysia and Singapore is one example. It arose due to economic and historical differences, with each country arguing and defending its own ground. The persecution of Chinese in Indonesia was another painful and traumatic event, heightening our awareness and anxiety toward inter-ethnic conflict. Against this background, the recent National Education Exhibition which related the growth of Singapore from a colony to its independence and the resilience with which our pioneers struggled to build this country, truly won my admiration. The National Education Exhibition portrayed our society as multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual. That Singaporeans have for 33 years co-existed in harmony and collectively worked hard to develop this nation - amidst the throes of vast global transformations - is an accomplishment which we must all cherish and feel proud of. But can we sustain this hard-earned harmony through future generations without trouble? The younger Singaporeans today have no understanding of the 1964 racial riots and are rather unaware about ethnic issues. Does this point to the success of our multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual policy that made "race" not an issue at all or does it signal a lack of sensitivity towards ethnic issues? What concerns me are two issues: education and language.”
“Let the Muslim community and its multifarious groups carry out a reality check among themselves and if they cannot reach consensus, and the State has to be the final arbiter, they at least had the opportunity to say they agree to disagree in defining a significant piece of legislation. We must give time, Sir, and respect for such effort.”
“However, I feel that as a Singaporean in a multi-cultural society, I must discharge my responsibility in being part of an "active citizenry" by exercising some degree of empathetic reasoning on matters of tremendous importance to my compatriots. Even if I cannot pass a last judgement, I could contribute to the process of debate by simply surfacing, as I am doing now, the conflicting concerns of a particular community which I have had the opportunity to learn about. In the final analysis, short of a higher level order which allows the State to articulate and enforce clear principles of adjudication over and above ethnic and religious specificities, I feel that the Muslim community has to decide what and how they propose to manage the mounting challenges faced by the Syariah Court and the role of the State is to facilitate, and negotiate for, some degree of consensus in the conflicting viewpoints within the community. On this view, I strongly support the call for this amendment to be put to a Select Committee for further deliberations and closer scrutiny. I would recommend, Sir, that the Ministry get more feedback from as many Muslim groups as possible, as well as from members of the public through the media and written representations. It would be helpful to tell the public the rationale and background factors as to why this amendment was raised and what outcome was intended. I believe this gesture of openness will sit well in the community, in view of our current discourse on developing a people sector, a brilliant concept recently used by Minister Teo Chee Hean, to show that space and process time are provided for citizens to work out their cohesion and the sense of relevance.”
“I am sure the Ministry of Community Development and the Minister must have consulted various grassroots Muslim agencies on what "best legal practices" to adopt to act in the interest of the community. There might have been different starting points and ending points in the consultation process with diverse groups. Leading community agencies may not have explained the issues as well. What was clear was that the process failed to capture the contentious sentiments on this matter. What is certain, it seems to me, is that the Muslim community does not yet agree if concurrent jurisdiction is a good strategy to serve the interest of the petitioners. Even less certain is how they would agree on a broader problem on who defines what changes for whom, for what purposes and how? There are apparent different responses to this broad concern arising from fundamental differences based on gender, nature of interpretation of the Islam faith, sectoral and professional interests. Being a non-Muslim, I cannot pretend to understand the full implication of the AMLA on the followers of Islam. I am far from understanding the disputes relating to divorces known in the Muslim law, as I learn, fasakh, cerai taklik, khuluk and talak. I cannot therefore at this juncture take a stand on a secular platform to make hasty judgement on matters which are evidently delicate and sensitive. Neither can I point out the insufficiencies of the proposed provisions in the amendment or tackle the fine-tuning of some of the clauses which some Muslim legal practitioners have raised and submitted a proposal to the Ministry for review. I suspect on this matter, after hearing so many different opinions from the hon. Members, there will be very different opinions from the professional and lay community.”