Dixie Tan
Singapore
“Although I did not enjoy it, it was good for me."? I think if you ask old soldiers, you will find many of them saying yes. And thirdly, from the point of view of the nation, is the nation better defended and more secure for having had those soldiers doing the training which they were required to do?”
“Indeed, the Minister for Homes Affairs has just today announced that he will be bringing in a Bill to provide for a strict divide between religion and politics.”
“In relation to the admission of husbands into Singapore, did the Minister not mention the question of work in regard to employment pass? Is there going to be this requirement?”
“If we perceive that there is a need, we should just carry on and start these departments in the university, however small the starting numbers of students. Then again, Sir, I have made this point before - I feel that each of our universities should be broad-based and should offer essential disciplines to be included in the subjects.”
“The reason is that I am worried that if we protect our population, our people, from all kinds of possible dangers and never expose them to any real dangers, they will not have the stimulus to grow and develop into political maturity. That, I think, will be a danger to us in the future.”
“Sir, is the Acting Minister aware that in cases where the stated reason for a nurse leaving the Government service is set down as poor working conditions, or poor self-image and such other non-monetary reasons, these reasons are blocked at the supervisor level and that the nurses are more or less impelled to state the reason as being mone…”
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“Although I did not enjoy it, it was good for me."? I think if you ask old soldiers, you will find many of them saying yes. And thirdly, from the point of view of the nation, is the nation better defended and more secure for having had those soldiers doing the training which they were required to do? There is a hill in SAFTI called Peng Kang Hill. Every national serviceman knows it. It has been captured the most times of any hill in the world. Are all the subsequent captures after the first one futile? No. New soldiers have to learn, and even the same soldiers may have to do it many times in order to learn different ways in order to get it perfect. We will try to improve. I do not think we are all the way there yet. There is an old saying that in the Army what soldiers are supposed to do is to hurry up and wait. We try our best to make that not our motto.”
“BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Chairman, Sir, I shall be treading on dangerous ground if I answer Dr Dixie Tan's last question. I shall refer it to the Committee to consider. I do not totally rule out the possibility of women being called up for national service. We are very reluctant to do it, we will put it off as long as possible, but one never can tell, the circumstances may arise. As for time of national servicemen not always being used profitably, at least as perceived by the National Servicemen, it is possible. I think there are at least two possible explanations. Firstly, perhaps they are not being perfectly administered or well looked after, and there has been a foul-up. They had to wait for transport or rations, or training to begin. It happens from time to time. We try to keep it down as much as possible. If the Member will let me have specific instances, I promise her I will look into it without compromising the source of the information. The second reason, which is a serious one, is that what Mindef considers a useful employment of the soldier's time. The soldier may not think it is a useful employment of his time. The SAF may want him to perfect a drill or a skill or an exercise. He does it once, we are not satisfied, we make him do it again, he gets more tired. And we then do a third time to get it perfect. To him, the second and the third runs may have been futile. To us, that is what enables the whole unit to gel together and the whole exercise to work properly. I think we have to see this matter in perspective. The question in the end is: firstly, does a soldier think that he has learned something at that point? If possible, he should. Secondly, will he, many years later, in retrospect, look back and say, "Ah, yes, I am the better for it.”
“Then, Sir, I also have come across families that are in dire economic status and these families would have been much better off if their children have not had to serve national service and thereby have been able to earn more to contribute to the family. But there has not been a single case where they have complained about it. Let me make this clear. I think that our population and all the young people con- cerned are very willing to serve. What I am saying is that they and their families must perceive, must actually know, and be shown that their time is being spent usefully, economically and efficiently. As for women in national service, I am not against and I am not for it. I think we may need women in national service not to do non-defence jobs but to do defence jobs. If the birth rate does not pick up and there may come a time in the future when there are not enough young men to supply the minimum crop that we require, in that case, we will need the women to go into national service. But I think women contribute to the nation all the time in other ways. If we talk about national service, I have said before, and I say again, that women do national service when they have children, when they bear and nurture the next generation. Like the national servicemen, women who have children sacrifice much in terms of time, in terms of lost income, and also lost opportunities for studies and career development. Therefore, I would suggest that if you really want procreation incentive, one that is better than tax rebates, I think equating having, let us say, two babies to having served national service and giving them the same benefits that we wish to give all the reservists would be quite helpful.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. I am much encouraged by the Minister's remarks that national servicemen's time is valuable time and not cheap or nearly free labour. I was going to make this point but he has already made it. But how, Sir, is it possible then that so many national servicemen and reservists that I have spoken to express the sentiment that a lot of the time that they spent in service is not time that is used very profitably, ie, not time that they can perceive as being related to defence activities and training for defence? Sir, there may be some gap here perhaps in what the policy is at the top and what actually operates on the ground. I think this often happens in big organisations and Mindef is a very big organisation. Sir, I appreciate the sentiments of the Minister and I totally agree with him, but I would ask him whether there is actually a discrepancy in what goes on the ground and the policies that are given out so that all those who go into national service and into reservists, at very high cost to themselves, will not feel that a good proportion of their time spent is time that is not profitably used. Sir, time is money and this is young people's money which is in terms of not only in lost income but also in lost opportunities for studies. Sir, opportunities for studies are not the same if you take them at 18 or 20 years, or later on at 30 or 40 years. Two years lost between 18 and 20 years may actually reflect on what this person's potential will be for many, many years more.”
“This Bill could be challenged by many as unnecessary and uncalled for because we have religious harmony for years. But I do not believe in chance. One can never tell what will happen in the future. Do not liken our religious bodies with those in China and Soviet Russia if this legislation is passed, as pointed out by a Straits Times reader. I appeal to the religious bodies to view this as a preventive measure, as pointed out by our Deputy Speaker earlier on. I understand their fears of the powers of the Minister and this is shared by many of my parliamentary colleagues and the heads of many religious bodies. This main point of contention must be solved. How the religious council has to work with the Minister must be worked out at the Select Committee to let our main stream religious bodies feel comfortable that the intention of this Bill is not to curb their practice but to ensure their survival and continuance. For example, if the Council is to have weight, it must be given quasi judicial powers such as conducting inquiry with powers to summon witnesses and to hear evidence under oath. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I used to appeal to Singaporeans to be tolerant of each other's religious belief. But now I think tolerance, to me, is a weak foundation for religious harmony. It implies blind acceptance and blind acceptance can break down easily. What if one day I decide not to be tolerant? We must go beyond that and this is where moral education in schools is important and where a chapter must be devoted to an appreciation and understanding of the main stream religions. This together with this legislation on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill will put this very important pillar of society on a more sound footing. I support this Bill.”
“If this is not so, this freedom will lead to chaos and havoc. We have witnessed these daily on our television screen and read in the newspapers. In other words, we cannot practise our faith in isolation. We cannot ignore the fact that as a practising Taoist or Buddhist, there are amongst us Singaporeans, many practising Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. To ignore this is to court trouble. Thus, while it is the right of Christians, for example, to distribute leaflets to Hindus coming out of a Hindu temple. after their prayers, it may not be wise to spread their faith in such a manner. Thus, some constraints, some sacrifice may have to be asked of the many religious bodies to ensure that the devastating effects of religion and racial conflicts do not come to our shores. In Singapore, race and religion are synonymous because if you are a Muslim very likely you are a Malay. So also, if you are an Indian it is very likely that you belong to the Hindu faith. And if you are a Chinese, very likely you are a Taoist or a Buddhist. Thus, a religious conflict in Singapore will lead to a racial conflict and we must take the trouble to see that this will not happen. Look at this Bill as one of the ways to ensure this peace. Do not be prejudiced by recent past events like the Marxist arrests. Look at Singapore in the context of this mix of people with this mix of religions and think of what has happened in other parts of the world where governments are afraid to make such a move in case of being voted out of Parliament. On the contrary, they use religion to serve their ends and probably end up worse off. It takes a lot of courage and planning to introduce this legislation.”
“By following the signs, we will be able to enjoy the growth and the greening of this lovely garden, which has long been blessed with the flowers of religions hailing from all points of the compass. Before I take my seat, I would like to bring to the attention of the Minister paragraph 9 of the Annex to the White Paper, on page 14. Let me read out the first sentence: 'Muslims and Ahmadis: There is a long-standing dispute between orthodox local Muslim organisations and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission.' Mr Deputy Speaker, some of my constituents have brought my attention to the use of the term "Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission" here. They felt that the use of this term in the White Paper can be construed to mean that the Government recognizes the Ahmadis as a Muslim movement. To Muslims, the Ahmadis are out of the fold of Islam. So, I would like to urge that the Minister seek the advice of MUIS as to whether the use of the term "Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission" is correct in the Singapore context. On that note, I support the Bill. Dr Tan Cheng Bock (Ayer Rajah): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to join in this debate. I rise to support the Bill standing in the name of the Minister for Home Affairs. I support this Bill for the simple reason that as there are many religious practices taking place in this country, some form of guidance and control must be in place to ensure that anyone practising his or her faith knows the limitations of his practice. This is because practising religion in a multi-religious country requires not just understanding, tact and tolerance but more than that. While it is clear that our Constitution allows that religious freedom is guaranteed, one cannot assume that religious freedom can be practised without some degree of responsibility.”
“In this connection, I would like to appeal to the Minister to consider issuing a warning letter to the person, if the contravention is not so serious as to warrant a prohibition order. This is considering (1) that the person might not be aware of having committed any of the four offences; (2) that the person or other concerned parties might not be in full agreement with the Minister's interpretation of what happened; (3) that a warning letter might be sufficiently effective to alert and caution the person of his/her mistake; (4) that the person would thereby have the opportunity to rectify his/her mistake; (5) that the objective of this exercise is not to punish but to rectify an error; and (6) that the effect of a warning letter on the person would not be as serious or harsh as a prohibition order. I now move on to the two-year period of the prohibition order. Some have expressed the view that it is too long. I would like a clarification as to the rationale behind this length. Could the Minister not shorten it to one year? In my view, receiving the prohibition order alone would be enough to alert the person of the dangers of his/her actions or speech, if he/she truly appreciates the multi-religious, multi-racial nature and social climate of Singapore. Thus, a short period of prohibition order should be adequate. Mr Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, the introduction of this Bill can be likened to thatching our roof before rain comes. We can also look at it as a set of directional signs in a Singapore garden of religions. By observing these signs, we can prevent ourselves from being hurt by the thorns in the garden.”
“They are going to be dependant on whether the Minister is satisfied that they have committed an offence under Clause 8 (1) (a) to (d). Some have said the Minister's judgement in this respect is going to be very subjective. In response, let me say that it is no simple task for the Minister to make a decision. He must be fully satisfied that the person concerned has, without doubt, committed one of the offences. In my opinion, the current Minister for Law is not someone known for making arbitrary decisions. I have confidence in his integrity, honesty and sense of justice. Nevertheless, to allay the fears of the public about the powers in his hands, the Minister should, I think, give further hypothetical examples, besides those instances already cited in the White Paper, to show the kind of situations that tend to lead to religious friction. In my view, there are many factors to be considered before a prohibition order is issued. Among these, it would be necessary to consider the background of the person concerned, to examine whether his/her speeches reflect a negative trend or line, and to identify his/her style, techniques, tone, language and terms used, as well as conduct when making the speeches. And, of course, consideration must also be given to the kind of audience he/she is speaking to, and the place where it is made, whether it is a mosque, a public rally or an academic forum. The important question the Minister has to ask is whether the actions of the person constitute any of the offences under Clause 8 (1) (a) to (d). If this factor stands out clear above all others, then, but only then, for the sake of religious harmony, should the prohibition order be imposed.”
“In this connection, I would like to appeal to the Muslim Religious Council to play a role by explaining further the true perspective of this Bill to the other Muslim bodies. This will help to allay any negative perceptions about it. Other Muslim organisations can do the same too. Concerning the Presidential Council for Religious Harmony, I welcome its establishment. One of its functions, as set out in Part II Clause 4 (1) (a), is, and I quote: 'to consider and report to the Minister on matters affecting the maintenance of religious harmony in Singapore which are referred to the Council by the Minister or by Parliament;' Since the maintenance of religious harmony is a matter of concern to both sides, the people and the Government, I wonder if the Minister could consider the possibility of allowing the Council to consider the same matters but which are referred to it by other than the Minister and Parliament. In other words, matters concerning the maintenance of religious harmony that may be referred to the Council by religious organisations and the public. I refer now to Clause 5 on the proceedings and recommendations of the Council. No details have been given as to how the Council is to arrive at its decisions. Should it be by consensus, or should it be simply by majority vote? What about minority views? Should it also be conveyed to the Minister? I hope the Minister could clarify these points. Concerning the powers of the Minister, one of the concerns expressed by the public is on the wide powers vested in the Minister in the enforcement of this law. It would appear that the fortunes and future of any pastor, priest or imam or other missionary are going to be left in his hands.”
“And, viewed from this specific angle, it would be more accurate to say that the Bill requires the separation of religion and politics as a means to prevent the misuse of religion or politics for undesirable ends. This is what "separation of religion and politics" really means here. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, since the publication of the White Paper and the introduction of this Bill, various comments and concerns have been expressed by the general public. Some are concerned as to how this legislation, once passed, is to be implemented. Some have expressed the fear that this law will stifle religious freedom. They wondered whether what they have been doing all this time is going to be subjected to some new limitations. Such concern and uneasiness are understandable, because this is the first time a Bill of such nature is introduced. In my view, it is not the aim of the Bill to inhibit the practices and work of the various religious groups here, which so far have been carried out in an orderly manner. In other words, the status quo will be maintained. No `ustaz' or Muslim missionary should be so psychologically or emotionally distressed by this Bill that the work they have been doing peacefully all this time is affected. If, thus far, they have not done anything to put themselves in the categories of people or activities cited in the White Paper, then they should have no fears. It is my hope that Muslim preachers and the various Muslim bodies would keep up and, indeed, better the good work they have long been doing, and they can do so as long as they have regard to the sort of activities referred to in the White Paper.”
“The Introduction to the White Paper stated that it is proposing a law to maintain religious tolerance and harmony in Singapore and to establish a Presidential Council for Religious Harmony. To achieve these objectives, the White Paper continued, two conditions must be observed. First, the adherents of all religions must practise moderation and tolerance and should not do anything that might lead to hatred and enmity between religious groups. Secondly, politics and religion must be rigorously kept separate. I think the first condition is acceptable to all. As for the second condition - the separation of politics and religion - viewed in the wider sense, there exists no absolute dividing line between religion and politics in the eyes of Islam. This is because Muslims regard Islam as the only way of life for them. Islam encompasses all aspects of a Muslim's life - from birth to death. Politics is therefore an integral part of the Islamic way of life and, hence, there can be no separation between religion and politics. Nevertheless, Mr Deputy Speaker, in my understanding, politics as intended in the White Paper has a more specific meaning, ie in the sense of the authority or mandate to govern and administer a country. Since the mandate to rule has been entrusted, for a specific term of office, by the people upon the Government, it is incumbent upon the Government to discharge this responsibility with wisdom and justice. If the Government senses any potential threat to the prevailing climate of religious harmony, the Government has the power to act in order to prevent disorder.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish, first of all, to commend the Minister on the careful and painstaking manner in which this Bill has been introduced with prior groundwork in the form of the White Paper and very wide participation by members of the public in the discussions on the White Paper. Many pertinent points have been made and I shall not repeat them. There is no doubt that religious harmony is imperative for peace and progress in Singapore. I would like to comment on the Presidential Council. This is in Part II, clause 7, and it enjoins secrecy on the proceedings of the Council. I think that the proceedings themselves should be secret, but that the results of the proceedings, such as the opinions of the Council and its recommendations to the Minister, should be made public. Only in this way can the public know where the Council stands on any particular issue. If the decisions of the Council are shrouded in secrecy, there is no way for the public to know whether the Council agrees or disagrees with the Minister on any particular issue, or whether the Council is in fact playing a useful role. Some may even surmise that it is a "rubber-stamp" Council. The point, Sir, is that the Council should have credibility, and it should be seen to have it. And the only way I can see that we can show this to be so is for its decisions and its recommendations to be publicly announced. With this reservation, Sir, I support the Bill. Encik Wan Hussin bin Haji Zoohri (Aljunied GRC)( In Malay): Mr Deputy Speaker, in debating this Bill, we have to refer to the Government White Paper on Maintenance of Religious Harmony.”
“Indeed, the Minister for Homes Affairs has just today announced that he will be bringing in a Bill to provide for a strict divide between religion and politics. We also remember that not long ago certain members of the Law Society ran foul of the Internal Security Act because they indulged in activities which were designated as political. Why then are we asking whatever organisations to elect or select or nominate people into Parliament? Parliament is a place for politics. But my basic assumption, I repeat, Sir, is that this Bill will bring about a situation where, to paraphrase George Orwell in his book "Animal Farm" - all citizens are equal, but some citizens are more equal than others.”
“As for representation of minority races in the House, one has but to look around to see all shades of yellow, brown and black representing the races of Singapore. The Government party can justly take pride in this achievement. Furthermore, the GRC system ensures that our minority races will always be adequately represented in Parliament. Sir, I cannot think what oppressed and unfranchised sector of Singaporeans need to be represented by nominated MPs. Surely, Sir, not the women of Singapore. If there are such sectors of population hidden amongst us, I wish the First Deputy Prime Minister would spell them out and tell us how the people of eminence, special expertise, and experience whom he has in mind for nominated MPs will be able to speak for these people in Parliament. There is also a second problem that troubles me. Who will finally select or elect the nominated MPs? This House being predominantly PAP, any nominated MP who is elected by the present House with or without the Party Whip in place, will naturally be seen to be PAP stooges. The same will happen if they are selected by the President as long as the President has been nominated by a PAP Cabinet and elected and voted in by a PAP dominated House. There is no way around these perceptions. If these nominated MPs are elected by certain designated organisations - I am not sure what they are - it means that members of these organisations, or more likely office holders of these organisations, will in effect have two votes, one vote at the polls and one additional special vote. We must remind ourselves that organisations other than political parties are not gathered for political purposes.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, basic to the spirit of our Constitution is that each and every citizen of 21 years and above has a vote. The votes of citizens collectively decide the persons that will sit in the Parliament Chamber. This basic principle will be violated if we let nominated MPs into the House. This is not the case with Non-Constituency MPs because they have submitted themselves to the election process and have proven that they have the support of a substantial number of voters. In this regard then, I support the proposal for an increase in the number of Non-Constituency MPs to a maximum of six persons. All Members in this House, I believe, are always conscious of the responsibility of having been elected. Although one speaks one's own mind, the implication of having been elected is that we are trusted by our constituents to do the right thing by them. Sir, nomination not followed by election is definitely not worthy of this House. The First Deputy Prime Minister has mentioned precedents in other countries, largely very underdeveloped, where MPs are nominated to correct deficiency of representation in certain sectors of the population and he cited women and small minorities. Sir, women in Singapore have the vote. Women in Singapore have equal opportunities for education and the women of Singapore, I am very sure, know what they are about when they go to the polls. Members also remember that this same male dominated House endorsed the Women's Charter in 1963. Also, the PAP commanded a very big majority during the 14 years that this House had no women MPs. Obviously, not all men MPs are male chauvinists. I wish to remind Members too that women MPs represent constituents and they include men and women.”
“The Minister of State has not stated why Government is not giving a fourth child the same priority.”
“Sir, would the Minister tell us what was the 'C' class expenditure in SGH and NUH? And if there was no 'C' class there, how was the absence of 'C' class ascertained in regard to demand?”
“In relation to the admission of husbands into Singapore, did the Minister not mention the question of work in regard to employment pass? Is there going to be this requirement? Would it not be fairer to say that whatever requirements are made applicable to the men citizens of Singapore would be equally applicable to the women citizens of Singapore?”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister whether he could assure the House that whatever rules and guidelines that might be applied to the granting of permanent residence or citizenship would be equally applied to relatives of men or women Singapore citizens.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $1,648,365,000 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $200,528,900 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.”
“If we perceive that there is a need, we should just carry on and start these departments in the university, however small the starting numbers of students. Then again, Sir, I have made this point before - I feel that each of our universities should be broad-based and should offer essential disciplines to be included in the subjects. If we do not do this, and if we start a third university for, let's say, only education and the performing arts, I fear that, with the Singapore mentality, a third university may end up being regarded as a third rate university. Also, Sir, please do not forget to include a school for therapists because, as the Minister would know, there is a crying need for graduates in these disciplines. Finally, the location of the campus, I hear, has been mooted to be the present Institute of Education campus. If we think on these lines, I feel that this campus may be too small to have a university that is broad-based and offering the essential disciplines.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LG 3200 of the Main Estimates. Sir, the subject of a third university has been in the air for some time. I submit that there is an urgent need for a third university for Singapore because the GPC Chairman for Education has previously discovered that there are 11,000 students who are overseas studying in other universities. So this is the size of the actual need that has already been perceived. Secondly, our universities are providing education for only 4% of the student cohort. This, I believe, is too small a number, too low a percentage, if we are to be a nation that is 100% literate and a nation that is functioning at a high technological level. Thirdly, Sir, there is a hiatus in tertiary education for a number of subjects such as education, performing arts, and therapies of various kinds such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. I refer to MOE's addendum to the President's Address on 9th January, part of which says: 'If the numbers justify it, we will also establish another tertiary institution to teach subjects such as music, speech, drama, dance and art. If not, we will link the institution to NUS or NTI and award their degrees and diplomas.' Sir, the number of students seeking admission for a newly-offered subject will always be small, in particular this will be true for performing arts, because the number of students in school who are offering these subjects at '0' and 'A' levels are at this moment very small. They are very small because the number of teachers available for these subjects are very small. So it is a situation of the chicken and the egg. Therefore, Sir, I would suggest that we should not wait for sufficient numbers to justify it.”
“Because the economy is still doing quite well, business is still up, although Manufacturing has slowed down somewhat. I would expect some private sector adjustment this year, especially as they are going to have CPF rates revised in the middle of the year which, in itself, would already mean an increase in take-home pay for the employees. This will have some demonstration effect on them. I hope the union leaders will understand that if they take this and use it as a flag in their collective bargaining with employers, it is not going to do the economy any good. The private employers do not have a catch-up problem the same way as the public sector does. Therefore, I depend on Members, and particularly the union Members, to try and explain this to the public and at the same time to get a fair deal for the unions. The performance bonus depends on the appraisal system. Indeed it does. We are quite confident that we can do it for Administrative Service Superscale Officers. There are only 65-70 officers there. If we add in the other pensionable services, you may double that number. If you include the Professional Services, then we are not so confident, because there are about 400 Superscale officers there altogether. It is not so easy to establish the system. Let us take our time. Members will remember that some years ago we had a brush with performance bonuses, with the second tier of NWC. It did not go down very well. Partly the assessment system was not in place. Partly the assessors were so uncomfortable that they decided to scrap it, more for their convenience than for the morale of the officers concerned. We must proceed carefully in order not to repeat the same mistake. I did not fully understand Dr Tan's point that bonding is useless.”
“Sir, I wish to ask a quick question of the Minister. Do Permanent Secretaries earn from their directorships outside their jobs? And, if so, how much do they make? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, on Dr Arthur Beng's point, legal officers who are recruited at a lower starting grade will now have their salaries restored as if they had been recruited at the higher starting grade at that point. In other words, they get their two increments back from wherever they stand. Uniformed services I do not know whether we need a separate committee, but we will look into it. Certainly when we examine this matter we will get expert professional advice, including from the GPC concerned. CEPs, when are they assessed, and are they reviewed? They are assessed and reviewed annually. We never make a final judgment about a person, but there is a considerable degree of stability in our judgments of people even though the reviewing panel changes year to year. After you get to know the person, individuals do not suddenly blossom forth. Once in a while they do, but the older you are the more rarely does this happen. There is a tendency, when an officer is young to be a bit conservative in the CEP assessment. As he is tried out in more jobs, and we learn what he is capable of doing, we grow more confident of assessing a higher potential of him. Because if he has only been an AA and you say that this man can be a PS one day, what is your basis? But if he has been a PAS, or been a director of some department, then you know he has that administrative and leadership ability, and if you say he can be a PS, it is credible. That does happen. Mr Lim Boon Heng's point - private sector to revise salaries. I imagine that the private sector salary adjustment this year will not be zero.”
“At the same time, there will be no overloading on the students taking the Primary 3 streaming as well as the PSLE because the overall word list would remain unchanged. (2) Planning of teaching materials - Great care must be taken when incorporating the learning materials to make them interesting. Catchy phrases that rhyme could be repeated so as to enable the students to remember what they have learnt. (3) Emphasis on reading and writing - We could reinforce the most commonly used phrases out of the 1800 word list, with emphasis on vocabulary building. This would definitely enable our students to read and write better. (4) Instil intrinsic values - In the mastery of the mother tongue, we should not concentrate solely on language structure and overlook the intrinsic values of moral education. This is to ensure that our students will have a strong cultural foundation and not lose their Asian identity values. (5) Allowing mother tongue as a first language for more good students - We could consider allowing those students with a good command of their mother tongue to take this subject as a first language in their studies. (6) Mother tongue as the medium for moral education - Without overloading our students or decreasing the hours allotted to the subjects of English, Science and Mathematics, we should try to use the mother tongue as the medium for other appropriate lessons such as moral education, etc. Sir, I support the motion. Thank you.”
“We may consider including the oral Chinese vocabulary of our pre-schoolers in the lower primary textbooks. According to a survey by the Institute of Education in 1988, the pre-schoolers have an oral vocabulary of Chinese of about 1,231. If this known vocabulary were to be included in the primary school textbook, it will help a lot in raising the effectiveness of our children's learning of the mother tongue. Other than this, we can also review the primary word list including word selection. If we can divide the list of words into two main categories for lower primary and higher primary without increasing it or affecting Primary 3 streaming and PSLE, we can make the use of these teaching materials more flexible, without increasing or enhancing the burden of the children in learning mother tongue. As regards selection of words for the common list, we can include some words relating to national service " " and take away some seldom used words like " " (bat), " " (hoe), etc, in order to relate to our present society and environment. Sir, the Ministry of Education intends to strengthen the use of mother tongue in five years. I would just like to make some suggestions to strengthen what the Member for Ayer Rajah, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, suggested yesterday. (1) Less constraint on the number of new words - The primary education level could be classified into two, namely, lower and upper primary, with the number of word list from Primary 1 to Primary 3 set at 830 and the cumulative total for Primary 6 set at 1,800. There will be less constraint in the usage and words formation of our teaching materials, in which case the passages would become more interesting to our students and therefore the standard of our mother tongue could be raised.”
“So because of these reasons I hope the good text materials used in the 50's could also be adopted to improve our present textbook contents while new terms relating to our environment such as our housing estates, MRT and Total Defence, and so on, could be included in our textbooks. Besides these, strengthening the student's ability to read, write and actually use the common vocabulary is also important. The ability to express in the language is directly proportional to the volume of vocabulary acquired. Couplings and phrases can be formed out of individual words to give new meanings, such as the single word " " (root) and the single word " " (origin) when combined together would form a coupling " " meaning "fundamental". Another example, when single words " " (person), " " (hill) and " " (sea) are combined together they form a quadruple phrase " " meaning "a huge crowd". We have adequate vocabulary for primary pupils, what is lacking for them is constant practice and usage of this common vocabulary which should be encouraged and incorporated in the teaching materials for the primary textbooks. It is only through constant practice and repeated use that the student will be able to increase his ability to master the Chinese mother tongue, particularly in reading and writing aspects. Otherwise, traditional Asian value concepts would gradually be lost. Westernization in values such as individualism and self-centred life philosophy would then replace them. This would be regrettable. At present, there are many subjects that students have to learn. Besides, there are extra-curricular activities. The Mandarin teachers have been working hard for the mother tongue within the constraints of teaching periods. Their efforts merit our praise.”
“Here we have a lesson clapping one's hands and playing with a ball which not only teaches sentence structure but also inculcate values in the students. The text is like this: ( ). Most of us may have the wrong impression that the word list of yesterday's is more difficult. Allow me, Mr Speaker, Sir, to refer to this chapter ( ) of my generation. It only consists of 11 new words which are also found in our existing word list for Primary 1. However, it comprises invaluable lessons which could be inculcated in our young citizens at this tender age. This lesson teaches ethical values: The younger brother does not compete with the elder brother for the bigger ball and the younger sister does not compete with the two brothers for any ball but clapping her hands smilingly. There is another lesson; the text relates to stars twinkling brightly in the sky and the people on the earth desiring for peace ( ) and so on. The reading is rhythmic and catchy, facili- tating memory. It teaches the children to love peace and live harmoniously together. There are many such rhythmic, recitable and easily memorable lessons which are also educational, such as "Receiving Guests", "Little Lamb" and so on. ( ). These wordings could rhyme and are easy to catch on. Such rhythmic and catchy phrases of this type of formulation can also be easily memorized. So all these would facilitate the children to learn the mother tongue well. Also at the same time, they inculcate good human relationships and correct value concept in them. Therefore, they are much better than our present texts which are lacking in appeal due to lack of these qualities.”
“Hence, if we increase the present word list, it would only lead to an additional workload for Chinese students taking English and Chinese as their first and second language respectively, thereby leading to negative results in the long run. Since our word list is sufficient and yet we experience a loss in our core values, then, where does the problem lie? At this juncture, I personally feel that there is a weak link between the course structure for our primary schools and the requirements of our present society which I would like to elaborate. Sir, at present our Chinese textbook for primary schools emphasises the learning of sentence structure and knowledge, neglecting the inculcation of values. The text wording is not written in such a way as to help primary students to read and memorize with ease for being pithy, rhythmic and catchy. Chinese is not like other languages. It is ideographic and has four tones and other characteristics. Some people think that Chinese is more difficult to learn. Therefore, if the text cannot rouse the interest of the students, then it would be very difficult for them to remember what they have learnt. If one cannot learn one's mother tongue with facility, how can you expect him to learn his culture and values? Let us make a comparison of the Chinese textbooks used in the primary school, the present textbook is different from what we had in the past. Today, the first lesson is: "This is a person. This is the head, etc." ( ). Another lesson for the primary one student is about the younger brother playing with a ball, the younger sister drawing the moon, etc. ( ). Almost the whole primary one textbook consists of this kind of text. Let us look at the primary one lessons during my time in 1954.”
“I also agree to the Minister of Education's addendum which says that the Ministry wants to improve the course structure and teaching materials for the mother tongue without overloading the children or lowering the standards of English, Mathematics and Science. This exactly hits the nail on the head. Before I commence, let me first declare that I am a textbook and educational publisher, but I would like to clarify that the following text is not based on pecuniary interest. Some people think that in order to preserve Chinese cultural heritage and value concept, it is necessary to increase the list of common words to raise the standard of Chinese to achieve our aim. In fact, it is wrong and not necessary. Let me quote some surveys to illustrate this point. According to the Beijing Chinese Language Research Centre, in its 1985 survey of 1,000 most commonly used words which formed 78.57% of their total textbook materials used in the primary and secondary schools, 99% or 990 out of those 1,000 words are found in our present word list for primary schools. I quote this example just to illustrate the point of view that language-wise the list of 1,800 words adopted for our primary schools is sufficient. According to another survey by the Lianhe Zaobao of its list of 1,000 most commonly used words, 92.8% are found in the word list of 1,800 words for our primary schools. The above, therefore, proves that the word list of the Ministry of Education is correct and, simultaneously, that the number of commonly used words in the Chinese Language listed for our students is sufficient.”
“We need to provide these facilities in a broad way. However, let us not be too rigid in the implementation. Let us allow choice, particularly in subjects like Languages and Arts. There is a lot of individual difference in aptitude and ability. I think we want excellence for those who have the aptitude. But for those who have average ability, I think average acquisition is quite adequate. Let me conclude, Sir, by going back to the Arts. I feel strongly that in today's world, we need people who have versatile brains and skills, people with more than one specialty, people who can cooperate with others in different fields. Only in this way can we produce imaginative and high level ideas which can be sold to the rest of the world. This is what excellence is all about. This is what quality of life is all about. Therefore, in conclusion, Sir, may I leave a parting thought, which is that the arts are not only for the artistically gifted, nor are they the prerogative of the rich. Art is for everybody. Sir, I support the Motion. Mr Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar GRC)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion by the Member for Siglap thanking the President for his Address. In the President's Address he stressed the importance of cultivating value concept to perpetuate the cultural heritages of our various races and to safeguard our common values through the learning of the mother tongue and the teaching of moral education in the schools in case we lose our direction. I feel that it is important to learn one's mother tongue, whatever race one belongs to. In the primary curricula the use of the mother tongue should be strengthened.”
“In my adult life, my husband and I took lessons in Malay. So we are now trilingual. But that does not mean we are very good in two languages. I think for education in languages, we want to promote the mother tongue and we want to promote as many languages for as many people as possible. I think we can even promote a third language. However, Sir, not everyone is proficient at many languages. There are some who are very proficient. And here I would like to support the concept that we need to have people in Singapore who will be very good at languages, who will excel, so that these people can be our future teachers of children, can be our faculty at university level. I think if we are all mediocre, we are going to lose out in people who have excellent standards in languages, particularly our own language. Therefore, I would support the suggestion that we need to promote more languages. We need to encourage more children who have the aptitude to take more than one language at first level, ie, CL1 plus EL1 or ML1 plus EL1 and so forth. I think the availability must be much more scattered. Because it is no point just having a few of our best schools offering this. All the rest of the children out in the new housing estates and so forth will not be able to come in to our few SAP schools and others to take languages at this higher level. And I think this higher level needs also to be promoted at all levels, 'A' level and tertiary level at university. I think our university departments can benefit from being beefed up for Malay studies, Chinese studies and Tamil studies at the least, if not other languages. Therefore, I wish to call on the Government to think of both Arts and Language with this concept, that we need to start the children young.”
“And if you are talking about a National Ideology where we must respect each other's cultures and religions, where we want to promote our heritages, what better place to promote than using the Arts as a vehicle. The Arts is a place where people can cross cultural, international, barriers. The Arts is a place that borrows quite freely from each other. So even Mr Chiam's idea of a melting pot would be well served with promotion of the Arts at its basic level, from early childhood, not just performances here and there. The way I see language is the same. I feel that all of us are richer for having more than one language. And all of us are richer if we know something of our heritage. Therefore, I am a strong supporter of the second language, in particular one's mother tongue. In my day, our schools were not so obliging as to offer second languages. In my day, my friends and I went to English schools in the morning to learn English and we went to Chinese schools in the afternoon to learn Chinese. It took up a lot of our time. We went to school in the morning. We rushed home and went to school again in the afternoon. But we learnt rather more than just the language. We learnt also Chinese history, Chinese geography and even Chinese style hygiene. There was a subject called Hygiene, and I can recall this teacher who told us very seriously that after dinner we should lie on our right side because the stomach flow the right. I carried this all the way until I went to medical school when I found that whether you lie on your left or right or even if you stood on your head, your stomach would still empty from the left to the right. However, that is besides the point. The point is that we learn a lot about culture and we learn a lot about peoples from learning languages.”
“Similarly, I would propose that we should think about having departments in our tertiary institutions at university level for Music, Art, Culture and even Dance. At this time when we are thinking of a third university, I would urge the Minister to really consider it very seriously. However, I would urge him not to consider having these departments all in one university. That is not on. What we need is to have these departments as part of universities that offer a whole range of departments. I think design and engineering are related. Design and architecture are definitely related. No one can become a good architect if they do not have good design. Design and movement are integrated. All these things overlap each with the other. Therefore, Sir, I would propose that we do need three universities. But let us have three well-rounded, balanced, universities. I feel there is no better exposure for students and faculties in, let us say, sciences and humanities than to have within their midst faculty and students from the Arts department. Having said all this, I must put in my pitch for the second language in support of the Chairman of the GPC for Education. Some Members still remember that I made a similar speech in February 1985, for which I was rewarded by a very prolonged and acrimonious response in the Chinese press, to the extent that I had to make my next speech in Mandarin. My thinking is very simple. I feel that we need to open the windows of our minds. What I have said of the Arts actually opens more windows to our minds, and that is all that I am asking for. Languages and Arts are actually quite similar. Arts are actually languages.”
“In the secondary schools, I am aware that there are a number of schools that run Art and Music elective programmes. And perhaps one JC runs a dance elective programme. But you know these are very very few. It does not touch the vast majority of our students who go to school. And there is no conception that this is part and parcel of education, that this will benefit a person all round in their adult life and that this can translate into useful skills which can earn money. Therefore, I think we would like the Government to look into providing facilities for the training of specialist teachers in the Arts. There are actually colleges that are providing some training at college level. But the number of people that they are able to train is very small. There is the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), there is the La Salle, and the third one escapes me. I am sorry. The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is the oldest. La Salle is very well accredited with international colleges. But, Sir, the number of students that these colleges can take care of is very small. They cannot make an impact on the general education of all our children. Therefore, I think the Institute of Education needs to be given the wherewithal to establish specialist departments in all these subjects in order that they can teach more students to become teachers in primary and secondary schools for these subjects. If we pursue this line, we also need tertiary education in these subjects. Because the people in the tertiary level will be the people who will teach the teachers. You cannot have secondary school teachers without a university department producing people who will teach these teachers.”
“But it is a well-known fact that people who actively take part in physical activities, be it running, dancing, swimming or what have you, are the same people who avoid harmful lifestyles. Therefore, if we want to avoid harmful lifestyles and preserve our people in good health, to be able to work better, longer, we must start them young and inculcate in them the good things which will, as they grow up, displace the bad influences in their lives. Therefore, although you cannot say that 2 plus 2 equals 4 in this kind of argument, it is very clear that the arts do play a large part in the development of one's personality. We know the value of languages. We know the value of mathematics in school. But the value of the arts is not so easy to evaluate. You cannot give a lot of marks to indicate 90-100 equals so many per cent and so on. But it helps the brain, a brain that is fit because the body is fit. A brain that is exposed to influences other than just book learning is also a brain which will be more innovative and imaginative. What I am trying to say is that if we want excellence and if we want quality of life, we owe our children the kind of education which will develop every child to the maximum of his or her potential in the maximum number of directions. But, Sir, when I look around I do not see the means of doing this. We need to do this from an early age; in fact, from pre-school through primary and secondary schools. In fact, it should be part and parcel of the general education curriculum. To do this, we need specialist teachers to be able to teach these subjects as specialist subjects and this is quite lacking in Singapore. In the Institute of Education, there are teachers who are trained to teach Arts but not as a specialist subject for primary schools.”
“From this point onwards, we must be talking in terms of better quality of life rather than just quantity of things. I think quality of life is promoted by the arts and probably I will not spend any more time on that. There is no argument about it. But for those of a more pragmatic mind, maybe those who control purse strings, I would like to point out there are other potential advantages. When children participate in arts and all these things like music, dance, doing things with their hands, drawing and so on, they improve their physical coordination. When they are exposed to rhythm, they learn to move, they learn body perceptions. When they do things with their hands, whether it be sand play, water play, modelling, they are appreciating shapes and design. And perception of design can translate into better sales. How? By better design of our products, by better design of our packaging. We have indeed found this to be lacking, and this is where we have lacked a cutting edge in selling the products that we make. I think it is not so easy. You cannot simply take people and say, "OK, we give you a 3-month course in design. Therefore, you can design." It does not work like that. It needs to be learnt from an early age, to be sort of absorbed in. When we learn to dance and move at an early age, it inculcates the love of movement and physical usage of the body, as it were, leading to a better level of physical fitness which is so important, especially when we are thinking of the greying of Singapore. The single most important factor in keeping our older people at work and keeping them healthy is for them to be physically active. Of course, they should also avoid bad life habits.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to join in this debate to thank the President for his speech. Sir, I was in the last term of Parliament in the GPC for Community Developlment. While I was there I came to know a little bit more about the art scene in Singapore. Now that I am in the GPC for Education, there is much which can be done in the area of education for the arts. Let me explain. In recent years it has actually been encouraging to see the great increase in performances of visual arts and the great increase and interest in exhibitions of performing arts too. What I mean are subjects like music and dance, art and sculpture. But what we are seeing at that end which has been very well promoted, in particular by the Cultural Affairs Division of the Ministry of Community Development, and also many, many enthusiastic groups of volunteers and not least, donors and audiences. It is good, it is encouraging. But this is the top end, it is the performance end. What I wish to talk about is the base of all this support and the base starts from early childhood. I shall come to that a little bit later on. But why do we want to do this? I shall try and explain that. It is recognized that the arts gives breadth and richness of life, improving its quality. This ties in with our wanting to give our people a better life. What is better life? Better life is not merely more money to spend, more able to buy a bigger car or a bigger house. I think quality of life is something that we need to consider at this stage of our development. In the earlier years of our nationhood we were struggling just to live; we were struggling just to pay for a decent place to live, but without aspiring to a better life.”
“The President is elected by the people but he is not given the full power to appoint Judges on his own or to appoint his various Secretaries. All these principal officers have to be ratified by the Senate. Remember the case of the two nominees of President Reagan to the Supreme Court, Justices Bork and Ginsbrug. They were not ratified by the Senate. One was not ratified. The other withdrew because he had a past history of consuming marijuana. The third candidate was approved. In our case, we think that certain key positions in certain key bodies should not be left just to the Prime Minister or to a future government alone to appoint. There should be a check. And the check we have in mind is the elected President. I also sense that Members of Parliament do not disagree in principle with the need to safeguard the integrity of the civil service. What some Members appear to be unhappy over is the extended list as contained in the White Paper, and they fear that this list will grow longer and longer. I think the best way to resolve this is for us to go through the list in the White Paper and see which are the ones Members of Parliament would like to take out. This is contained in paragraph 45 (b), page 9 of the White Paper. The Chief Justice and the other Supreme Court Judges - should we just leave it to the Government or do we think it is useful to have an elected President to concur?”
“If a government abuses its position by rewarding its political supporters on the board of MAS, I think our reserves will be lost very quickly. And if the government has the authority to appoint executive staff of the MAS, not based on competence and integrity, but based on what the staff can do for the government in terms of political support, then our external reserves will vanish even more quickly. Here, there seems to be a misunderstanding of what the position is. It is not the intention of our proposal to vest authority in the President over recruitment, transfers and promotions of civil servants belonging to the public service. In other words, the promotion of an Assistant Secretary to Principal Assistant Secretary or the appointment of a Director of a Government department, does not have to go to the President for his concurrence. This is the situation even now where the Government does not have the authority to decide who gets promoted and where. That job belongs to the impartial Public Service Commission. When we talk about key appointments, we are actually talking about the bodies that are responsible for recruiting, promoting and transferring staff on the basis of integrity and ability. These bodies are the Public Service Commission, the Armed Forces Commission when it is set up, the Legal Services Commission plus a few others which I will go through in some detail later on. This proviso to have another body, in our case another person in the institution of the President, to help approve nominees to important positions is not new. The US has it. In their case, the President cannot appoint his executives, the Secretaries of State or Judges, without having them ratified by the Senate.”
“Listening to MPs, I believe all Members of Parliament agree that our reserves represent our natural resources. They have to be protected for the sake of ourselves and our children and that we need to have a two-key mechanism. One key is held by the government and the other key held by somebody else, whether it is the elected President or an Upper House. I do not think there is disagreement on this. Mr Chiam has also agreed that it is necessary for us to safeguard our reserves. The concern of Members of Parliament appears to be over the blocking powers of the President over appointments to key positions in the civil service and statutory boards. Reserves are not a problem as far as I can detect and therefore I do not think we need to spend too much time to discuss how to safeguard that. But there is concern as to whether the President will take on over the years some executive functions because he can block nominees by the Prime Minister in key appointments. It is important for us to discuss this question of integrity of the civil service because we cannot really talk about the protection of reserves without looking at the integrity of the civil service. Both are two sides of the same coin. To illustrate that the integrity of the civil service and the reserves is actually one, let me give the example of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). MAS manages our cash and short-term external assets. The Chairman is the Minister for Finance. He is assisted by six other board members. If the board members are not appointed on the basis of integrity and ability, our external assets will be lost, even if the board of the MAS has the best intentions in the world of safeguarding the external assets.”
“We are therefore talking about a very personal issue, your money, not just some vague large sums of revenue being controlled by the government. We are here to debate the principles of the proposals as contained in the White Paper, not details of a Bill. I would therefore not answer in detail every query that has been raised. There will be plenty of time later on to debate the issues. But for today, let us focus on the principles. The principle is a simple one. Do we want or do we not want to make changes to our Constitution in order to safeguard two key assets - our reserves and the integrity of the government as reflected in the integrity of the civil service? If we want to do so, how do we do so? Is the elected President proposal the best way to safeguard these two key assets? Are there better ways? We have considered other ways like an Upper House, or a Committee to control your reserves. All these are contained in the White Paper, paragraph 18. But we believe that the elected President is the most workable proposal and also the most effective and responsive to changes of events or to meet the urgency of the situation. If Members of Parliament or others outside this House have better ideas of how we can safeguard these two key assets, we will be very delighted to hear from them. If we settle on the proposal of the elected President, how can this proposal be improved upon? What are the pitfalls of the proposal? How do we avoid them? These are issues which we want to have a thorough debate so that when we come to drafting the Bill, we can take all these contributions into account and have a Bill that will be more exact, more specific, with details for a debate in this House.”
“Its economy is buoyant and it has promise of further growth. And the proof of all this is in the pudding, and the pudding is that large numbers of people are still wanting badly to emigrate to the USA. The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence (Mr Goh Chok Tong): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to make a couple of general points first before I deal with the major specific questions which Members of Parliament have raised. In 1959 when the PAP took over the Government of Singapore, our external reserves were less than half a billion dollars. Today, nearly 30 years later, our external reserves have gone up to over $30 billion. When we discuss the proposal of elected President, we are discussing the problem of managing success, not failure. Had our reserves been less than half a billion dollars in 1988, then this question of an elected President to safeguard our reserves would not be an issue. Second, Singapore has no natural resources. This point has been touched on by the Minister for Finance earlier this morning. The reserves represent our equivalent of natural resources. They are like forests. If we allow uncontrolled cutting down of the forest and do not reafforest the barren land, then we are depleting our wealth year by year. We therefore cannot allow, as in the case of countries which depend on forestry for their revenue, uncontrolled exploitation and depletion of our reserves. The third point which I want to make is that we are not talking about reserves in an impersonal sense, that these reserves belong to the government, they are revenues of the State, they do not belong to us. These are your CPF funds, your CPF deposits backed by external reserves.”
“The President and the Presidential Committee would have the expertise, the time and the resource help to comb through Bills in a way that Backbenchers like myself do not have. I think most of us wish that we had more resource help and wish that we had more time, but we do not. Therefore, I have this proposal, Sir, to put to the House that the power of refusal of assent of the President be extended to include all Bills which have passed through Parliament, that this blocking function be modelled on similar function of the House of Lords in Britain in that the President would be able to block Bills three times, after which Parliament could still carry these Bills. In other words, we will give him the opportunity to delay the passage of Bills to attract attention to their possible disadvantages. But not having a veto will allow Bills to pass through even though there is dissent without having a referendum or general election to be called for every disagreement. I also propose, in view of the increased workload and responsibilities of the Committee, that it be elevated into something a little grander; it might possibly be called the Presidential Supreme Council. I also propose that this Council should have 12 full-time councillors, that these councillors should be appointed from a broad spectrum of the community, that councillors should serve for a term of six years, that half of these councillors should be appointed every three years. This will give us at any one time a number of councillors who have experience in the Council. Now, I should like to refer to remarks made earlier by the Member for Whampoa on the USA. I think the USA is still a great nation with a very great heart. It is still giving vast amounts of aid to other nations.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support in principle the proposal for the election of a President and a Vice-President. I would urge Members to look at these proposal not in terms of the next 10 years or 20 years, but in terms of the next 100 years and more. In this way, we will avoid the pitfalls of thinking in terms of possible personalities that might be involved and allow us to focus on the advantages or disadvantages of the system that is proposed. If we consider the system of Parliament that we now have, there can be no doubt that our present system could be improved by having an independent body to provide a mechanism for checks and balances. As pointed out in the White Paper, this function is commonly exercised by an Upper House. However, given the small size of our population, I do not propose that we have an Upper House. I propose that the role of the President and of his Committee be extended to include refusal of assent to Bills that have passed through the House. And why is this? Well, I think bad Bills could discourage economic growth, cause economic instability and flight of capital and, perhaps, flight of professionals and people with expertise, and in that way bring our country to bankruptcy. True, the President could refuse assent to use the reserves and force the government to go to the people in a general election. But with empty coffers, the President will have to give assent to the next elected government to dip into the reserves in order to rescue the economy. Would it not be better that the President had the powers in the first place to block the passage of potentially damaging Bills through the House?”
“The reason is that I am worried that if we protect our population, our people, from all kinds of possible dangers and never expose them to any real dangers, they will not have the stimulus to grow and develop into political maturity. That, I think, will be a danger to us in the future.”
“With due respect to the Senior Minister who is not here at the moment, I do not think that a lot of foreigners are paying a lot of attention to the issue of our detainees. What about Singaporeans? Well, I have found Singaporeans on the whole to be a little cagey when it comes to expressing their personal views publicly. No doubt this is born of past experience and I think the exhibition of the powers of the ISA from time to time does not help either. But they express themselves well enough at the polls. We must remember that in countries like the US and Britain, if the President or the party won 45% of the votes, that is a landslide victory. By these standards, the PAP in the 1984 elections won a super landslide victory and that shows us what our people think and how they think. I think it is not necessary and indeed not healthy that 100% of the people agree with us 100% of the time. There will always be those who think differently from the majority. As it were, they follow a different drummer. The question in my mind is that it is not whether we approve of them, whether we agree with their views, whether we like them or the friends that they keep. The question is whether their actions pose a danger to our national security. I think it is timely at this juncture for us to re-evaluate the Internal Security Act. I do not mean that we do not need the Act. I think we still do. But I think from time to time it is good that we re-evaluate what this Act is for, and what latitude may be allowed at this juncture, at this stage of our national development.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am in full support of the principle that we must be in control of our own affairs. There is no doubt that if a foreign country wishes to intervene in our domestic policies we must take appropriate action. It is well-known, of course, that countries, especially super powers have always done and always will, I suppose, try to influence events in other countries. It is up to the country at the receiving end to resist and to do whatever is necessary. However, they sometimes back the wrong horse. I think this has been the case where Mr Francis Seow and the USA is concerned. Therefore, in this instance, I think we do not need to feel unduly threatened. Let us not over-react. Sir, I was in Australia recently for 20 days. While I was there I came across one advertisement calling on Australians not to visit Singapore until detainees under the ISA have been released. I did not come across any editorial comment on the matter. During my visit I had occasion to talk with many Australian and other nationals. Nobody brought up the subject of the detentions. On the contrary, and without my fishing for compliments, they were full of praise for us - about our progress, our efficiency, the cleanliness of our City. A major point that many of them brought up was how safe they felt when they visited us. Another one was so impressed with our CPF and Medisave that he asked me to send him brochures about it. I have obtained a very nice attractive set of brochures from the CPF Board and he will be getting them. So I think people in other countries, including Australia, have a high regard for us. I think we should not equate what we read in news magazines with what people in these countries think of us.”
“We need to counsel families and individuals of all these situations that I have mentioned before, ie, families that are going to break, families that are broken, including the children. Then we need a good constituency-based programme for supervision of children at risk, as I have mentioned, and together with supervision there should be an input of programmes for educational and recreational enrichment. Food supplements also should be considered because many of them will be ill-fed at home. If we uplift these children, the next generation will be much, much better off. The home visitor service should not be forgotten because the home visitor can often spot a lot of problems in the home which, with practical advice, can be put right. In other words, we can help families to help themselves. I believe that this plan will reap large and long-term benefits for our nation. I believe that its impact will be felt and seen in terms of better educational achievement, decreased drug and inhalant abuse, increased female participation in the labour force, because if women are assured that their children are well looked after they will be more willing to go out to work. I believe that work productivity overall in the long-term will be improved. These are all quantifiable and can be proven to be right or wrong. Enhancement of the quality of life, the happiness of individuals, is more important but less quantifiable, as is also emotional health of people. But this is important as it will indirectly reflect on improved productivity and achievement of the population. I know that the question of finance will crop up. The question is not whether we can afford these services. The question really is whether we can afford not to take care of these problems.”