Eugene Yap Giau Cheng
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to know from the Minister whether he would like to put up a fence to prevent trespassing. Mr Lim Hng Kiang: We also do not want to put up a fence because when the land is being built, we have got to tear down the fence. That would be a waste of public resources. We control our expenditure very tightly.”
“Sir, I am making this amendment to stress to the Minister that the ethnic integration policy introduced in 1989 has in some way affected the quality of life of my constituents. I believe this probably has also an effect in old estates such as Queenstown and Bukit Ho Swee.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head S be reduced by $10 in respect of Code SA 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, not so long ago, in the New Paper, there was a report on a man who was supposed to be the executor of the estate of the deceased brother and he was trying very hard to withdraw the CPF money of his deceased…”
“It means "We are poor people. We do not have CPF. How can we buy our own homes?" Sir, I think we ought to do something for them. When they first moved into these homes, they had no trouble because they were young, the children were young, no space constraints, but today the children have grown up, they become adults - four, five or six of…”
“Sir, I would like the Minister to reconsider the policy of not allowing Singaporeans to rent 3-room flats. This policy is already 10 years old, introduced in 1982, and I recall that when it was introduced it was meant to encourage Singaporeans to own their own homes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, can I ask the Minister to clarify a point which he made in his long speech? If indeed the purpose is to subject motorists to some inconvenience by not expanding or building more roads in the city area, then why was there an announcement in the press recently to expand the PIE?”
The complete record
Every one of 386 lines we hold for Eugene Yap Giau Cheng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 8.
“Language teaching has in a way, a close affinity to cultural development. Have we really exhausted our local talents? I would think not. With the amount of money that the Ministry is willing to pay, our local graduates may reconsider moving into the teaching profession. Many of these graduates have moved into commercial firms. I should think local graduates are more suitable. In the development of the child into a useful and educated citizen, I wonder why no mention has been made in the Goh Report on the development of the child right from the very word, "go". When a child is born, he is without culture or knowledge. Gradually, as he interacts with his environment, he begins to develop both mentally and culturally. There are many things taught at this age that will have a long-lasting effect on the child. The role of parents in the education of the child is of paramount importance. It is my belief that parental influence during the child's tender years can assist the child to raise his 10. I submit that the lack of parental support is a more relevant explanation of school dropouts than just environment of the home. If this is accepted, then RTS, especially in a small unique island like ours, can play a very important role in propagating this idea to the less educated parents in child-upbringing. The idea is that we will then be able to tap the best brains from our reservoir of human resource. What I am thinking of is a short programme, even if it has to be repeated, on how parents can positively promote IQ levels and speech skills through active parental support of the child's learning process. You do not, for example, "goo-goo" to your child when he "goo-goos" at you. So says the Hon. Minister of Defence, Say, "how are you" or some other intelligible words.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, so long as the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education does not accuse me of being out of context later on, I reserve my submission that the Goh Report would be more appropriately titled "Report on the Education System in Singapore" and not the "Report on the Ministry of Education 1978". Sir, if we accept that education is an enculteration process designed to help a child to acquire a desirable culture and make him become a useful and loyal citizen in society, then the Goh Report, together with the Hon. Prime Minister's response, forms just that pragmatic base to work upon. The introduction of the Goh Report to Parliament is indeed timely with the increasing trend of parents sending their children to English stream schools, and the increasingly strong influence of western norms by way of the TV and cinema and, without a balanced cultural norm of Asian origin, we may run the risk of perpetuating a depoliticised, self-centred and deculturalised set of citizenry for the future. This must never ever happen because if it does, then all the good work that has been done to build Singapore into what it is today will slowly be eroded away. In order to prevent this from happening, we must instil into our school children a set of values in life that will help them to become loyal and useful people. This can be done partly by giving the child a key that he can use to unlock his cultural heritage, i.e., bilingualism. The English Language will in future become more or less the common language between racial groups. Ironically, from a cultural development point of view, the question to ask is, is it necessary to go through such expense recruiting English Language teachers from overseas?”
“Sir, can I raise a couple of points for clarification? It is true that it is difficult to get Singaporeans to do menial jobs, but I would just like to bring up the case of my constituent who has come to see me about three times now. She has been literally begging to do cleaning work in HDB estates but to no avail at all. Maybe I might take this opportunity to ask the Minister to explain why this is so. Secondly, the Hon. Minister has also pointed out that we could bring up this complaint of HDB staff ill-treating the constituents and that action will be taken against them if we can prove the case. May I point out that it is very difficult to prove such cases. I know of a case myself, involving a resettlement case. That constituent came running to me and said, "Look. That man is banging my door and threatened to burn my flat down if I do not move." This is one experience which I have already had. Thirdly, can I also take this opportunity to remind the Hon. Minister that he has not answered my question about "swimming pools" for mosquitoes.”
“He said that they were looking into a method to improve the mechanical part and quality of the electrical contact and control parts of the lifts. I hope a solution has been found by now. 3.00 p.m. Another problem, Sir, is the chicken and egg situation. I do not know which comes first. My reasoning is that if there was no HDB, this problem would not arise, and therefore I am bringing this up under this amendment. It is this question which the Hon. Minister was talking about in terms of "swimming pools", not for human beings but for mosquitoes. I find that quite a lot of "swimming pools" have been "constructed" for mosquito breeding at construction sites. The mosquitoes there are not little ones but the big giant ones. They are obviously intelligent little insects because they know their weaknesses. They do not work in the daytime, not so often anyway, but at night when the little kids go to bed. They then attack very furiously only to give their victims a very rude shock the next day when they get up to find that their faces blemished with red spots. I hope, Sir, that this problem can also be eradicated as soon as possible. The Chairman: Your 10 minutes are up, Mr Yap.”
“In a number of instances repairs were delayed because no one was in the flat when the workmen called.' This is the reply which I found in the Hansard as an answer to my predecessor's question in 1976. Sir, it is 1979 now and I believe nothing much has been done, because the people who complained in 1976, I believe, are also the people who are complaining today. This is the result of my discussion with them during my house-to-house visits. It is my sincere hope that the HDB will consider precipitating some action as soon as possible. Another matter is lift breakdowns. Lift breakdown is giving my constituents problems because they live in flats with only one lift. When the lift breaks down, the older folks have to climb up seven floors, or more. I believe the Minister has given an answer yesterday and this problem has also been brought up in the Chamber many, many times. All I want to add here is that I trust quick action will be taken to solve the problem. I am glad, as a first timer standing in this Chamber, complaining of HDB lifts, to note that there is such a thing as a central control team, so says the 1977/78 HDB Annual report, at which the head office receiving a call, round the clock, directs requests for emergency repairs to Service Teams at the Area Office. In this way, says the report, residents can receive prompt response to breakdowns in essential services. This appears to me like the SWAT Squad which was a television feature some years ago and which many try to emulate. I wish the HDB, Sir, good luck in emulating the SWAT Squad But if we go back to the Hansard again, the then Hon. Senior Minister of State for National Development did reply to Mr Ivan Baptist when he brought this up.”
“I do not know whether the HDB rotates their staff, but if they do not as yet rotate their staff, may I humbly suggest to the Hon. Minister to consider rotating their staff so that those who are on PR work will not all the time be subjected to this humdrum of meeting difficult people. Take them away for a while and bring them again to the front line. It would be prudent for me to stress that the complaints I have received are only on a very small number of HDB staff, but it is worth a thought as it does add a blemish to the good name of the HDB. Closely related to this problem of my constituents is the delay my constituents face when they complain of problems concerning their homes. Again, the Member for Alexandra has brought this up, but I feel out of conscience that I must bring it up again. They complain of weather-beaten doors, leaky pipes and roofs, etc. But the problem is not with the complaint but the time taken to attend to the complaint. What I think the HDB staff can do is, again as I mentioned sometime ago, to actually put themselves in the position of the complainants. Then they will realise the difficult conditions that the residents have to bear. This I call "empathy". I do appreciate that problems take time to solve, but surely it does not need to take more than a year or two. Here, I beg your permission, Sir, to quote from Volume 35, col. 1079 of the Hansard [24.11.76] and this reply was given by the then Minister in 1976. 'There are certain types of repairs which necessarily take a longer time to complete, e.g., defective doors and windows in the older buildings have to be individually measured and hand-made as the standard-sized mass-produced windows and doors cannot be used.”
“Sir, I would like, first of all, to thank the Hon. Minister for allowing me the opportunity to speak now, instead of keeping me waiting. Sir, the Housing and Development Board has beyond a shadow of doubt done exceedingly well in providing cheap and quality homes, and the meticulous way in which the HDB's 1977/78 Annual Report is being presented (and this is my first experience of it), appears to be very beautiful. This stands witness to the beautiful and organised way in which things are being done by the Housing and Development Board. But, Sir, there are still a few ugly spots which need to be put right. If these ugly spots are eradicated, it will make the whole HDB machinery move nearer towards perfection. If the Hon. Minister would like an analogy, I can think of a beautiful face but requiring a little bit of surgery to straighten a crooked nose. A few examples, Sir, will probably help to explain what I mean. In my house-to-house visits, in my meet-the-people sessions, and in my campaigns during the recent by-elections, I received complaints about HDB staff not treating my constituents the way they ought to. Actually this point has just been brought up by the hon. Member for Alexandra. I do agree that there are people who are very difficult to deal with, people who would not even listen to any explanation, etc., but surely in this particular case, the saying that the customer is always right does hold true too. I believe that a little bit of diplomacy and tact on the part of HDB staff will help the situation very much. My sympathies go with them but I feel that in this particular case we can still achieve zero-defect even in public relations.”
“Sir, may I also rise in support of CASE? CASE has for the first time been called a paper tiger, as far as I know. May I also take this opportunity to suggest to the Minister that CASE has all the time been thinking of the formation of what we call the small claims court. Maybe I can take this opportunity now to ask the Minister to seriously consider our proposal again for the setting up of a small claims court to take care of price increases.”
“Sir, it is easier said than done, but I can assure the Minister that we have tried very hard. But with his kind consideration for our pleas each year, I think I had better beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn.”
“However, CASE is represented in bodies such as:- (1) Singapore Metrication Board (2) Consumer Products Industry Standards Committee (SISIR) (3) Ministry of the Environment (4) Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) (5) Technical Committee on Standards (SISIR) (6) Tourist Complaints Committee (STPB) (7) Utility Services Consultative Committee (PUB) (8) Board of Directors (SBS). In future we hope to organise a national exhibition to promote consumer awareness in Singapore. We also want to persist with the idea of setting up a Consumer Counselling Booth. CASE has set up a small unit to carry out simple product tests on essential commodities and liaising with international, regional and more local bodies in relation to product testing of more complicated items and will expand this activity. CASE also plans to further promote consumer education. Sir, unlike the Consumers' Council of Hong Kong which is a government organisation, CASE is far from it. I do not think we should run along the lines of the Consumers' Council of Hong Kong because we believe that every consumer in Singapore should learn to take care of himself. However, because consumers are also taxpayers, we believe that Government has a little duty to perform towards these consumers. One thing which Government has done to help the consumers as taxpayers is to provide a grant to CASE, but I submit that the grant is insufficient.”
“We tried to improve the quality of our bulletins by including consumer comparative test results, etc., but I am afraid the Singapore consumer is not a very voracious reader like his counterpart in the United Kingdom. In fact, I know that the only reading consumer society is in the U.K. and nowhere else in the world, and it happens to be selling very well. If I may just quote the income and expenditure account of CASE for the period April 1978 to February 1979. The income for CASE was then $16,916.82 and expenditure at $74,120.43. That leaves us with a deficit of $57,203.61. With the grant from Government, the net deficit was $32,203.61. CASE hopes to clear the other deficit by finding a neutral patron. But, Sir, I am sure the Hon. Minister will agree with me that it is not going to be very easy to keep finding neutral patrons all the time because they are hard to come by. 3.30 p.m. CASE has in its activities provided guidance and counsel to many disenchanted consumers. In fact, these ordinary members who join us throughout the year do not join us voluntarily but only because they have been in trouble. They have been taken for a ride by some unethical seller in one way or another. These people number about 559 last year. Of course, there are some people who do not bother to complain to us. So we do not know what the actual figure is. The activities of CASE are many and varied. But I do not want to bore hon. Members with a long list of activities. Some of them, I think, are popular enough not to warrant mention.”
“Sir, I beg to move. That the sum to be allocated for Head R be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 3110 of Subhead Code RE-03 of the Main Estimates. Sir, in moving this amendment, I hold the same opinion as the hon. Member for Moulmein in expressing my great concern for the over-cautious attitude of the Hon. Minister for Finance, because it is getting harder and harder to extract money from the Ministry of Finance and therefore the Consumers' Association of Singapore (CASE) is getting poorer and poorer each year. Sir, the Consumers' Association of Singapore was officially registered on 11th August, 1971, and at that time, there were 182 ordinary members, three life members and one founder member, i.e. the NTUC. The aim of this Association is to promote consumer awareness and guidance and to encourage the formation of consumer co-operatives in strategic areas of the country, the first being formed in Toa Payoh. Today, through its very active work, CASE has 1,171 paying ordinary members, 22 life members, one founder member, 18 institutional members (all unions) and five corresponding members. CASE did not receive Government grant until 1974, during which year a $25,000 grant was given. From thence on, the grant was as follows: Year Grant 1975 $30,000 1976 $35,000 1977 $30,000 1978 $25,000 1979 $25,000 I agree, Sir, that we have to be self-supporting and the Ministry of Finance did tell us to be self-supporting. But, regrettably, it is not easy to be self-supporting for the following reasons: 1. CASE, being an organisation with objectives of what it has, finds it difficult to carry out a fund-raising campaign because that would be frowned upon by many people. 2. The subscriptions from individual members only amount to 0.2% of the total annual expenditure of CASE. 3.”
“Sir, as the Political Secretary to the Minister for Science and Technology has quite capably explained the expenditure, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $26,875,070 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $8,385,190 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY REPORTING PROGRESS (Suspension of Standing Orders)”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head P be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 2210 of Subhead Code PB-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I notice on page 198 of the Budget that the provision for equipment for the year 1979 makes up about 14% of the total expenditure of $3,163,470, whereas last year the provision was only 1.2% of the total expenditure. Of the $442,020 provided for equipment for FY 79, $300,000 is to be sanctioned by the Treasury. Can I ask the Hon. Minister, Sir, where there is a mistake in this or, if not, what is the large amount for?”
“I understand his English, Sir. But if we could just get a written explanation we can at least show it to our supporters, Sir. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. The following amendments stood on the Order Paper Supplement -”
“Sir, on a point of clarification. It is a circular to explain to us why these stalls are left vacant for two years or more. I know the Minister has explained it, but I think a written circular would help us a lot in explaining to our supporters.”
“Sir, on the understanding that we will probably get a circular from the Hon. Minister for the Environment explaining the problem, I beg leave to withdraw.”
“Mr Chor Yeok Eng( In Mandarin): Sir, the market and the hawker stalls mentioned by the Member for Khe Bong do not belong to the Ministry of the Environment, but the HDB. In other words, they are not under our care. They are not directly under our jurisdiction. So, there is no such question of our approving or not approving the allocation of stalls. That is why I could not give a direct answer. But in any case I have said that I will call a meeting of the Hawkers Coordinating and licensing Committee to resolve this matter. So. unless I know more about the actual case which comes under the HDB, I cannot tell him what we can or cannot do. According to practice, after stalls in a new market or hawker centre are allotted to licensed hawkers in the vicinity, application is open to members of the public during the first half of every month. But sometimes stalls have to be reserved by the Resettlement Department or by the HDB for people affected by Government clearance schemes, and this is the reason for some stalls being left vacant. So, before I know more about the vacant stall, such as whether it is in a market under our charge, I cannot make a direct detailed answer on such a matter. Mr Hwang Soo Jin( In Mandarin): Sir, I would like the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to clarify further. He mentioned the case of social welfare recipients being used by unscrupulous people to get the stalls and sublet the stalls Out to them so that they could enjoy lower rentals. I do not know whether this is really true of all applicants but is there any record of any investigation by the department concerned into the number of such cases? Will he kindly clarify this further, otherwise he will be generalizing the situation out of a few isolated cases.”
“So they encourage recipients of Social Welfare assistance and other poor cases to go through the Social Welfare Department to apply for the Government stalls and to rent out to them so that they could pay a lower monthly rental, ranging about $200, $300 or $400 per month as the licensee has to pay to Government a fee of less than $100 a month because Government hawker stalls are subsidised. If Members should inquire further into this, they will find out that this is often the case. We have to consider carefully in dealing with cases like this. The other point is a matter of coordination or liaison between our department and the HDB. At the moment we have a Hawkers Coordinating and Licensing Committee which used to meet once a month, but recently there have not been frequent meetings. After this session, I shall call for a meeting of this committee to decide on any necessary measures. I hope in future we will be able to have better liaison among the various departments so that our work on such matters can be carried out more smoothly. Mr Ho See Beng( In Mandarin): Sir, what I have asked is something different from what he has answered. The answer given is entirely different. He was not answering my question. I asked why is it that while there are so many vacant stalls in the market begging for occupants, on the other hand he turns down these applicants who are jobless and who only wish to fill such vacant stalls. This also constitutes a revenue loss to the Government. The Parliamentary Secretary has not answered my point. Whether or not they are successful in their applications is another matter. At the moment there are so many vacant hawker stalls there, but on the other hand he is not giving such stalls to those needy applicants. What a great pity!”
“Sir, I rise to support the Member for Khe Bong. I would just like to add that in future the Hawkers' Department ought to apply what I would recommend "empathy" so that they would be more reasonable in granting hawker licences. Mr Chor Yeok Eng( In Mandarin): Sir, questions were raised by three Members of the House, but I can sum it up in two points. First, the question of application for hawker licences. The Member for Khe Bong has pointed out that in his meet-the-people session a large number of people asked him for assistance in obtaining hawker licences, On this point, I can say this. I myself have this meet-the-people session once a week, and my experience is that only those whose request is not met will keep on coming back. Once their problems are solved they will not come back any more. So, there is a repetition of this kind of request. Although it may appear that all those who have come for assistance were not given help, this is not so. The Member has also pointed out that people would go to the Social Welfare Department for financial assistance if they could not obtain a hawker licence. I would like to point out that those who are on financial aid from the Social Welfare Department would also come to apply for a hawker licence. But some of them are being used by unscrupulous people who keep behind the scene. Take, for example, a stall in a privately owned coffee shop. It is rented out at the rate of $600 to $1,000 per month and the stallholder has to pay a certain sum for PUB charges, where the contract is on a year to year basis. People who are not eligible for Government stalls because they are under 40 years old, therefore, have to rent private stalls and have to pay such high rentals.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head N be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 1210 of Subhead Code NB-05 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I will go straight to the point. I have in my constituency a rather large and, if one may say, an ultra modern hawker centre with a very large emporium at the top. It is located along the Old Kallang Airport Road. This hawker centre and emporium has been attracting thousands of tourists per month, and I believe it has been the envy of many MPs around my constituency who have also tried to steal some tourists away from my area. But the problem is with the couple of staircases that lead upstairs. I believe that in the construction of these staircases no attention was paid to the sanitary specifications because the staircases were not walled up along the sides so that when the cleaner sweeps the staircase with ardent enthusiasm the dust would fall over the side and merrily find its way onto the food being served. Can I, therefore, ask the Ministry of the Environment and the HDB to pay more attention to the sanitary specifications in their construction programme in the future? Can I also ask the Ministry of the Environment whether it can convince the HDB to do something about this problem with this hawker centre?”
“Sir, in view of the Hon. Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Dr Lau Teik Soon - (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head N be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead Code NA-01 of the Main Estimates.”
“The irony of it all is that the toilet is given 86% of the space allotted to the library. I feel that library space is in great demand these days rather than toilets. The problem is that we Singaporeans are rather spoilt. We want everything to be brought to our door-step. We want the market to be brought to our doorstep. We want the shops and everything else to be brought to our door-step, and now we want the toilets at our door-step. Sir, I submit that consideration be given to allowing flexibility in the implementation of certain regulations. In this particular case, may I ask the Ministry of the Environment whether or not flexibility of this sort can be given so that we can use space more productively and not have them waiting around for people to use them. 3.15 p.m.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head N be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 1210 of Subhead Code NA-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, fortunately for us, there are only a very small number of people in the civil service whom I feel do not apply enough commonsense in the implementation of regulations and/or Government policies. Though this number is small, Sir, I believe it can lead to frustration of the people. It can also lead to frustration of work. In my opinion, there are two reasons why this could happen. Firstly, I feel that Government officers are not giving enough recognition to junior officers for their work. Secondly, I feel that junior officers themselves may be frustrated when they go about their work because they may be made scapegoats to problems that may arise in the implementation of regulations or any decisions. This idea of passing the buck should cease, otherwise we will find that this small group of people may reflect a bad name to our civil service. To quote an example, Sir, I would just like to recall a meeting I had a few days ago to discuss plans for a new community centre to be built in my constituency, I was told that the Housing and Development Board and the Ministry of the Environment could not agree on whether there should be a toilet on ground floors only because, according to the Ministry of the Environment, every floor has to have a toilet as long as there are people working on that floor. I had no choice, Sir, but to end up with a plan allowing for toilets galore! I think this is bad because all of us know that toilets are giving enough headache as far as maintenance is concerned. If centralising the toilets means reducing the workforce to the minimum, thereby reducing maintenance costs, then we should do so.”
“Sir, may I just make a few comments. First, I must thank my hon. colleague, the Member for Kampong Kembangan, for those very kind words. The now Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry, at one time when he was on this side of the House, used four words - superior counter fire power. He realised full well when he was standing here talking about income tax that he would be fired upon. I realise, of course, the superior counter fire power of the hon. Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Labour and the very fact that I am standing here and taking him on shows that I am not actually blaming any worker but that I am, in fact, merely concerned. For the sake of workers, I would stand here to receive his superior counter fire power. Sir, I suggest that since there are culprits both on the management side and on the workers side, but the number is very small, and the very fact that the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Labour also said that the improvement over safety was very slight, then I think, like many other things, because management and labour find it difficult to handle those very few difficult ones, we should appeal to the Government (the Ministry of Labour in this case) to step in and start some action to carry out, as I suggested just now, a campaign to really bring home the point of safety to workers and perhaps also to management.”
“There should be frequent surprise visits to the factories by labour inspectors to ensure that safety measures are adequate and adhered to, and those employers who breach such regulations should be dealt with severely according to the law.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think I can speak with the least bias being a friend of labour and, at the same time, associating myself with the Singapore Manufacturers Association to speak on industrial health and safety. Whilst I do agree with the hon. Members for Kim Seng and Kampong Kembangan, I feel that this simple statement of penny-wise-pound-foolish, an accusation against the manufacturers, is a little unfair. Workers, I feel, are human beings and although we try to educate them to use safety devices, some do find it rather uncomfortable to use these devices. The hon. Member for Kampong Kembangan has also brought up a very glaring mistake by workers who use benzene to wash their hands. I am sure that many other things do happen which we do not happen to notice, but when we ask workers to take care of themselves, they do not bother so much until something serious happens. So I suggest that the Ministry of Labour together with the manufacturers and the unions carry out a campaign to educate workers to respect their own selves, their health and also to use safety devices. Mr Tan Cheng San( In Mandarin): Sir, with regard to industrial safety, although the Ministry has often urged management and employees to always pay attention to industrial safety in order to avoid unnecessary loss of life and limb, we still find workers continuing to fall victim to tragedies and disasters. In many factories, there are safety committees jointly set up by employers and employees. However, some safety committees exist in name only. They only meet a few times in a year. If a safety committee is to be successful and effective in its work, the employers have to be enlightened and encouraged to take initiative. The Ministry and trade unions can play a supervisory role in this respect.”
“Sir, on a point of clarification. I am quite aware that there is an ultra-modern zoo known as the Singapore Zoological Garden in Mandai. But my suggestion was more than that, Sir. In fact, I have pre-empted the Hon. Minister's reply. That is why I drew a specific parallel with the American experiment of using whales and dolphins to exhibit their skills. My suggestion was actually to train our orang utans to exhibit their skills, Sir.”
“CASE has also been working very closely with the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research to raise the quality of locally-made products. We must promote the sales of locally-made products side-by-side with the imported ones. This is very important and must be further encouraged. To create a greater demand for locally-made products, our indigenous research and development programmes must be bolder and more far-reaching and directed towards the Hon. Minister's idea of industrial products that are "small, high value-added, readily transportable, non-pollutive, and which use relatively less natural resources such as land, water and energy." 4.23 p.m.”
“Minister's suggestion to increasingly develop Singapore as a resort destination point in the Pacific is an excellent idea. It is worth remembering that at the planning stage the proposed resort complex should be developed as a complement to the ASEAN chain of resorts. However, this resort of ours must have unique built-in features and facilities that must reflect a high level of professionalism that is second to none and hard to duplicate. In this area of professionalism, the Government can perhaps encourage our local scientists to participate in what the Hon. Minister calls "indigenous research and development." In this respect I suggest the animal world. Whilst we are developing our human resource to its utmost for our survival, I see no reason why the special features of local fauna should not be developed further and harnessed to promote our tourist trade. After all, the Americans have been very successful with their whales and dolphins; so why not we with our monkeys, apes and orang utans! There are, of course, other more representative animals. Sir, my main point here is to stress the importance of achieving a high level of professionalism coupled with originality rather than just the usual run of beaches and complementary facilities. While we are working towards yet another phase of the tourist industry, we must not forget the already established shopping paradise in Singapore. The Consumers' Association of Singapore (CASE) and the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board have both been very successful in developing the image of Singapore as a reliable and generally trustworthy shopping paradise in this part of the world.”
“Sir, I am confident that with a carefully drawn out plan, together with a team of first-class scientists, the work of research and development can be accelerated. We must not be caught with our pants down. With the world's economic outlook looking very dull and unexciting; with rising unemployment in some major industrialised countries; with the spectre of inflation stalking over the major parts of the world; with the four-stage oil price increase and a possible world oil shortage; with itchy fingers messing around certain third world countries and causing proxy wars; and now the idea of protectionism as a rather easy and unimaginative method of solving a sick economy brought about by over-luxurious living, we must be prepared. Hon. Members will recall we almost lost the advantage of U.S. multinationals operating in Singapore. We also did not foresee Australia's ungentlemanly International Civil Aviation Policy and this behoves us to prepare ourselves always for the worst. Our research and development must therefore be at a level where our products can be made as reliable, as well-designed and, in fact, comparable to those from Japan and the other more industrialised countries of the world. Then only can we compete effectively and survive. We survived the oil-crisis, the British pullout, and if we prepare now we should be able to surmount any further economic frustration that is to come. Sir, we must be prepared, and I mean it seriously. I would therefore urge the Government to come up with a positive and clear plan for technology development in Singapore and to set aside funds as investment to develop this capability. I hope the Hon. Minister can provide an indication as to when such a plan can be expected. Sir, the Hon.”
“Otherwise, those who are good and can contribute tend to gravitate towards more lucrative and prestigious positions. The effect of this is twofold. Firstly, the country loses the very people who are suitably trained for the work of research and development, and secondly, the amount of time, money and effort that have gone into training these people are wasted. Just as the Government has so carefully provided channels to cater for the academically-inclined and the technically-inclined, consideration ought to be given to harness the abilities of those who can execute the functions of research and development effectively. After all, this statement that we must not waste our human resource is fast becoming a cliche. Need I repeat it? Sir, I venture to suggest that those involved in research and development in Singapore have so far been relegated to the backrooms eating humble pie, and perhaps gnashing their teeth in the process. The recent move by the Science Council of Singapore to award gold medals for outstanding achievements in applied research is indeed a move in the right direction. In the Government's desire to promote research and development to accelerate the country's industrialisation drive, it would be worthwhile to ensure that just as it is undesirable to waste manpower, it is similarly undesirable to duplicate equipment. The various institutions involved ought to work on a kind of co-operation programme, especially in the use of extremely expensive equipment. Equipment must be stretched to maximum use for funds to be effectively utilised. Such a programme is bound to encourage a cross-fertilization of ideas in the inevitable intercourse that follows.”
“I call this process 'intelligence' very nearly similar in meaning to the word used in the Ministry of Defence - to be more exact, the Army. Indeed, Sir, as we journey into the future the outlook of which is sombre as the Hon. Senior Minister of State so aptly puts it, we will be fighting so many economic wars that it is important to adopt from this day a more practical view of the importance of research and development, and to be a bit more generous in considering the allocation of funds for research and development efforts, just as they have done for the defence budget - a budget that is so vital in preserving our peace and security. Sir, I am not for one moment suggesting that funds for research and development must equal defence funds. It would be folly on my part. I am merely stressing that budgets for research and development must be practically sufficient. In case the Hon. Senior Minister of State decides to ask for figures, I must hasten to add that this process will require time, and figures take time to produce and some types of figures take a longer time to produce than others. Sir, in order to fight a good war, we need good soldiers and, in the words of a once-upon-a-time honourable Member, "if you give them peanuts, you get monkeys." By the same token, in preparing ourselves to fight a successful international economic war we must have hardworking, dedicated, bright and intelligent soldiers, for whom we are prepared to pay to do the job. I am afraid we are living in a materialistic world. There is nothing very much we can do about it except, through a wisely-planned cultural and moral education, try to tone down the sins of materialism. To attract people of good calibre, the department of research and development must be glamourised.”
“A national science and technology policy must therefore involve more than just one Ministry, and I would urge the Government to consider the establishment of a high-powered committee at national level to formulate an appropriate blue print for technology development in Singapore. A long-term plan with hardly any returns, except the promise that Singapore will develop indigenous research and technology, will be difficult to accept. Do we have a choice? The experiences of the developed countries tell us that we do not have any choice. The Hon. Senior Minister of State has also announced that, and I quote: 'To further assist product development, we will be prepared to extend to new manufacturing companies the existing provision which currently permits only existing companies to deduct expenditure incurred on research and development for income tax purposes.' I wonder how many manufacturers are really finding this scheme financially attractive. Sir, the Hon. Senior Minister of State might turn around later and rebut that at least it is a start to the whole process. But is this enough? Bearing in mind the Hon. Senior Minister of State's future investment promotion and the various industries that are already in Singapore, do we really know which areas of the industry really require research and development? I suggest we concentrate on directing our efforts on product designs, inclusive of its functionality. However, in order to achieve a successful research and development programme, we must carry out a thorough and reliable study (not of the type of manpower survey carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology) on how and where we should concentrate our research and development efforts and how to extract maximum output from this exercise.”
“While it is true that organised research is being carried out in the Ministry of Defence and in organisations like SISIR, there is a need for greater efforts at national level where the Government, with all its machinery, coordinates and directs activities to create a technological base for Singapore. For indigenous research and development to be meaningful and positive, the incentive and the encouragement together with the recognition accorded to those participating must be sufficiently attractive to get the idea off the ground. Admittedly, the Government has evolved many schemes aimed at encouraging research and development or product development among the manufacturing sector. I am concerned not with the rationale behind the schemes but more with their implementation. As an example, I would like to ask the Hon. Senior Minister of State how many companies have benefited from the Product Development Assistance Scheme which was established some two years ago. I know that local manufacturers have applied but, from what I gather from our manufacturers, the Scheme does not appear to meet with favourable response. Maybe the administrators of the Scheme are expecting too much; maybe the guidelines drawn up do not permit flexibility. Whatever the reasons, if the Scheme should prove to be a non-starter, we must then seriously examine further so that it could be revised accordingly. I believe that our highly efficient Civil Service, which is used to a system of justifying costs and getting quick returns for investment, may find it difficult to implement schemes where returns are intangible and hard to quantify. Science and technology, and for that matter research and development, should involve every Ministry and every department in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Motion standing in the name of the Senior Minister of State for Finance. For Singapore's economy to grow by 8.6% in the face of what the Hon. Senior Minister of State calls a "lackadaisical world economic performance in 1978" is indeed soul-stirring. What is even more impressive is that growth was achieved amidst relative price stability. This remarkable achievement of our country will continue to reflect to the whole world our unique and successful system of tripartism. Whilst others may have tried and have failed, we have been successful. That is something we ought to be proud of. We must therefore continue to pledge to work even harder and improve upon ourselves, for this is the hallmark of progress. The Hon. Senior Minister of State has so adroitly informed the House of his plans to maintain a healthy economic growth for the next financial year, that there is not much one can disagree with except to raise a point of caution here and there to help the process along. Sir, the Senior Minister of State has raised the question of indigenous research and development as further fuel to add to our industrialisation drive. This is a welcome idea and a very vital one too; vital because if we examine the structure of the manufacturing sector, we will find that after deducting the involvement of the multi-national companies we are left with an indigenous manufacturing sector that concentrates mainly on food products, plastics and textiles. In other words, we have no manufacturing base and also no technological base in the private sector.”