Goh Choon Kang
Singapore
“Sir, can I ask the Minister of State, in view of the prolonged recession in the construction industry, whether the Ministry will consider regularising the operation of these workers' quarters, so that they will continue to provide low-cost accommodation for foreign workers?”
“Then, when they come here, instead of being brought to see cultural sites, they are brought to shop and they are made to pay high prices because these are the only shops they are brought to. We have been collecting statistics. They are high spenders, especially in jewellery items.”
“Sir, I hope the Minister can respond to the point on relaxing the requirement to study Higher Chinese. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, in fact, we have really relaxed the requirements for Higher Chinese quite considerably over the last few years. Originally, Higher Chinese could only be studied by those in the top 10%.”
“Faced with the withering number of Chinese talents, including Chinese teachers, and coupled with the picking up of the economy of our Asian neighbour, China, we should promptly change this practice, and actively nurture a batch of new Chinese talents as successors to satisfy the needs of the international situation in the future.”
“The low plot ratio allowed for this area is such that the two existing blocks of 10-storey private apartments have to actually go down to four storeys, if they were to be redeveloped. 5.30 pm This sounds contradictory and inconsistent.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether the Home Team could look into how police presence can be improved in new estates, where residents have a natural tendency to feel insecure in their new environment.”
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“In the case of private property owners, some of them who are retirees are not even allowed to purchase a flat direct from HDB. Sir, I feel that there could be a more equitable way of compensation. Currently, the compensation is based on the assessed market value of the properties at the date of acquisition or 1st January 1995, whichever is lower. In this particular case, instead of taking the lowest point, is it more equitable to take the average from the year 1995 when the compensation rate was last revised to the time of acquisition?”
“Sir, the freehold apartments of two groups of my constituents were acquired towards the end of 1998 for road widening purpose. One of them was the Elling Court at the junction of Bartley Road and Paya Lebar Road, and the other was along Upper Paya Lebar Road. The property market was in a slump due to the financial crisis at that time. The owners were paid compensation at market rate at that point of time as assessed by the Chief Assessor of the Land Office. For a freehold apartment, they were given statutory awards, ranging from $240,000 to $300,000 which was not even enough for some of them to purchase an alternative 4-room resale HDB flat in the open market. Some appealed for direct purchase of HDB flats from HDB but their appeals were turned down. In 1999, the property market rebounded and property prices recovered much of their lost ground. Some affected owner occupiers were subsequently given ex-gratia payment to top up the statutory awards to make the total compensation marginally better. Those who had a second property were not qualified for ex-gratia. Affected owners compared their fate with those affected by the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme. They felt strongly that they were unfairly treated. Some who bought their properties at the height of the market had seen their CPF savings diminished and have difficulties repaying their bank loans. I feel that the Government could have been more generous in making ex-gratia payments for the affected residents, considering the fact that those citizens affected by SERS are so well-treated, where they are not only given a brand new flat of equivalent size, but also a good sum of disturbance allowance.”
“Can we start with more private projects, instead of just two, because I remember we started off with four MUP projects? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: MUP is quite different. HDB has been in the public housing business for 40 years. So they know what they are doing. In this case, we are entering into a new business and we will tread very carefully. So we will start with one or two projects by the end of this year. We will learn from these two projects and we can speed up the number of projects next year, if necessary.”
“Mr Speaker, can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether private estates also include private condominiums? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: We are looking into this suggestion. We are thinking of providing this improvement project item to the area outside the condominium. In other words, we will only put in improvement works on state land, not inside the condominium. Mr R. Sinnakaruppan (Kreta Ayer-Tanglin): May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, like the HDB Interim Upgrading programme where $4,000 per unit is allocated, would private residents have a similar budget? And can it go beyond the MND budget where they have got National Parks Board and other statutory boards, like ENV, drains, and so on, and where they can pool together the budget for this upgrading to reach $4,000 per unit figure? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, yes, that is indeed the idea. I said in my answer that the funding will be provided over and above the on-going maintenance works provided by the various Government agencies, like LTA, National Parks, Environment.”
“The final launch on 3rd February 2000 under this new system took place without incident. Organizers of promotional events that are likely to attract large crowds should act responsibly by putting in place arrangements and procedures to ensure that their event does not lead to law and order problems. They should also be adequately prepared for the various contingencies that may arise and be ready to handle them properly. They should hire security guards to maintain public order. Police would consider charging the organizers for the cost of deployment should the private event lead to severe law and order problems due to a lack of careful planning and despite Police advice that they should hire adequate security guards for the event. The general public participating in such events also have an important role to play. They should queue in a patient and orderly manner, and not breach the peace. The mass media can also play their part by not creating a sense of panic among interested participants. The Police takes a serious view of any breaches committed by individuals and will not hesitate to take action to arrest and prosecute persons who by their behaviour incite public disorder or break the law.”
“Sir, I am surprised to hear from the Minister that his Ministry does not regulate this matter but I read in the newspapers that the Ministry's spokesman was quoted as saying that it was all right for McDonald's to sell dolls at the same time. Can I take it to mean that other shops, for example, a shop selling dolls can also at the same time sell McDonald's food? Mr Lee Yock Suan: My point is that we are basically concerned only with the hygiene and littering. In fact, when the question was directed to me, I was wondering which Ministry really decides what to be sold and where. If it is in HDB shops, I suppose HDB will have a say and Building Control Division will say where you can have retail sale and so forth. But really it is not under my purview. SALE OF HELLO KITTY DOLLS IN FAST FOOD OUTLETS 3. Mr Goh Choon Kang asked the Minister for Home Affairs what steps the Police will take to prevent ugly scenes from happening again in respect of people queueing for Hello Kitty dolls. Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, after huge crowds and long queues formed on the first 2 launches on 1st and 6th January 2000, McDonald's, on Police advice, employed CISCO and private security guards to regulate queues for subsequent launches. However, these proved to be inadequate. McDonald's was particularly ill-prepared for the large crowds which turned up overnight for the 27th January 2000 launch. Some radio stations regularly reported the size of the queues, leading to even more Singaporeans rushing to join the queues. Following the 27th January 2000 launch, on Police advice, McDonald's came up with a system that extends the period of sale, and which ensures that all demands for the last pair of Hello Kitty dolls would be met.”
“They feel that they are being rejected out of the mainstream of society. This is a question which we must seriously look into in our attempt to create a more cohesive society. This group of people may not be able to speak English or may not be able to speak English well. But they have set up, as I have pointed out earlier, good examples as active citizens in our society. We must continue to give them the due respect, listen to their views, listen to what they have in their hearts. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in short, we want to create a common heartware of Singaporeans. Then we must change the present social make-up. Now we still have different kinds of heartware in our different communities. For example, we have different heartware of different ethnic groups, different educational streams, and so on and so forth. We want to create a common Singapore heartware. If we want to break through the old model and create a new one here, we must put in more efforts. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the motion.”
“But in order to strengthen our social cohesion, the newspapers of different languages should go one step further to play a positive role. For example, the various newspapers of different languages should set up a separate column to report on other communities so as to exchange information throughout all the various communities to promote better understanding of one another and for better dissemination of information. Finally, I would like to deal with the Government and the public sector. The unification of the language streams of schools is important for the creation of a common identity. But this development has also created a sense of alienation among some communities, especially in the Chinese community. The older members of the Chinese community have all along been active in the grassroots organisations. In fact, they are the backbone of the grassroots organisations. They have not only taken part in charitable work, in the clan activities, community activities, but they have also taken part in the grassroots organisations like the CCC, RC and the CCMC. They donate money. They put in efforts. I think this is very closely linked with their educational background because most of these people are businessmen. So they practise the idea of deriving from society and repaying society. They have this belief and philosophy. They are different from our younger generation who are basically wage-earners. So financially, the younger generation may not be able to contribute so much by donating money and spending time and efforts at the same time. However, because of the dominance of the English language in our society, this group of active Chinese community leaders begin to feel cut off from the mainstream in our society. They have a sense of loss.”
“What I am trying to point out is that the reports of the various language newspapers reflect different views and different understanding of issues. So if you read only the Chinese newspapers or only the English newspapers, then on the same event, for example, the Chinese High School incident, you may have different impressions, and come to different conclusions. The last example or illustration I would like to mention is on the statement of SM Lee which generated some reactions among the Malay community. This is about the position of Malays in our armed forces. This is not a new issue. But every time it is mentioned, it creates a strong reaction. Just now, Mr Hawazi also mentioned about this in his speech. Some members of the Malay community have requested for a dialogue with SM Lee. On this issue, if you have read the Berita Harian, you will know that the Malay community's reaction on the matter is very strong. There are also comments and opinions expressed. But in the case of the newspapers of other languages, the report is less prominent. So we would not be able to learn from the other language newspapers that kind of strong reaction as reflected in the Malay language newspaper. So for those people who do not read the Malay newspaper or those who read only the Chinese or English newspaper, they may even get the wrong impression that this is not an important issue. They may not even be interested in this issue at all. But actually, this is an issue that all Singaporeans should be concerned with. There is nothing wrong with newspapers of different languages giving prominence to news or events concerning their own respective communities.”
“From the Chinese newspapers you can hear the views on the subject from the Chinese educated. They represent the voice of the Chinese community, but we do not see or hear the views or reactions from the Malay community or the Indian community. This is one example. Next, the Chinese High School incident. I am not here to comment on this matter, but the Chinese High School incident is a matter of concern to various people. The same incident as reported in the different language newspapers can create different impressions. For instance, on the issue of whether the students should be involved in this affair, the English-educated readers reacted very strongly. They wrote to the Forum page and advocated that students have their rights, but there is no such view reflected in the Chinese newspaper. The Chinese educated parents feel that it is very important that the problem be resolved quickly, but the students should not be involved. A presumably English-educated columnist in an English language newspaper mistakenly took the singing of Yue Fei's Man Jiang Hong ( ) to mean a bloodshed that forms a blood-red river, and even extended her imagination to visualize a Bukit Timah canal becoming a blood-red river. You do not find such a thing in the Chinese newspaper. The three characters man jiang hong ( ) may literally mean the whole river is red. But actually, this is merely the name of the tune to which ci ( ) poems were composed, predominantly in the Song dynasty. Examples of other such tunes are: man ting fang ( ), shui long yin ( ), shui diao getou ( ) etc. Man Jiang Hong is just one of these names of set tunes. It does not signify that the whole river is red, full of blood. There is no such meaning.”
“At the social level, the mass media have not been given enough attention in this regard. Take the newspapers, for example. As of now, our newspapers basically go along language lines. The newspapers of the different languages have different emphasis in their coverage of events and they also reflect mainly the views of communities speaking the respective languages. This appears to be a commonly accepted model but, objectively speaking, this kind of situation will create barriers and imbalance in information dissemination. For example, the Lianhe Zaobao has a lot of stories about the Chinese community every day, some of which are hardly carried in the other language newspapers. On the other hand, Berita Harian, the Malay language newspaper, concentrates on reports on the Malay community and carries the views of Malay MPs and activities in the Malay community. In my view, to have a more cohesive society, this kind of arrangement should be adjusted. Let me cite three examples to illustrate this point: the SAP school, the Chinese High School incident and the Malay community's request for dialogue with SM Lee. Not long ago, the question of SAP schools was debated quite intensively both inside and outside this House. This highlights a very important point that people from different communities with different educational backgrounds have different understanding. There is a barrier in their understanding. So from the English newspaper's point of view or reaction, you can observe that many of the English educated do not quite understand the meaning of a SAP school. The Chinese and English newspaper readers have different reactions. The English educated are more critical on the issue, whereas the Chinese newspaper readers are more defensive about the SAP schools.”
“Through the grassroots network, we are able to communicate a very important message to our people and, that is, the citizens can actively take part. There are many channels for them to take part in public affairs. The question is whether you want to take part or not. It is not a question of whether you can or cannot take part. The question is whether or not you want. So the various activities organised by the grassroots organisations encourage the various residents of different ethnic groups to take part to interact and to break through the barrier. Although the mid-Autumn Festival or the Lantern Festival is basically a Chinese festival, I noticed that there was a breakthrough in the Festival this year. The grassroots organisations encouraged children from the various ethnic groups to take part in the traditionally Chinese festival. It helped to promote some kind of interaction among the children of the various ethnic groups, and gave them some good time together. This is very important in strengthening our Singaporean identity. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, all our ethnic communities have their own wealth of cultural traditions. It is important to preserve one's own cultural traditions. But if you want to create a stronger Singaporean consciousness and identity, we must break through these traditions. In this regard, I think the activities organised by the grassroots organisations are good examples. Leaders of the various ethnic groups should change their mindset and must put in efforts to ensure that while maintaining their own fine cultural traditions, they must also actively try to remove the barriers among the various ethnic groups. I think there is no contradiction between the two. One is to maintain the differences and the other is to try and create common ground.”
“The people must have their own initiative to take part actively. I think this is the true meaning of active citizenship. As of now, as the President has pointed out in his Speech, we have enjoyed one whole generation of racial harmony. But we cannot presume that the various social fault lines have already disappeared. There still exist in our society some clear and obvious barriers, including racial barriers, religious barriers, language barriers, cultural barriers, and even barriers in education streams. To create a more cohesive society and to forge a stronger sense of Singaporean identity, we must try our best to remove all these barriers. We must encourage our people to become active citizens. We must create a more participatory society. In terms of removing the barriers, we must adopt a more positive attitude and active approach. So I feel that the initiative should not always come from the Government. More initiatives should now come from our people. The school is a place where we inculcate in our young the right values and national identity. So the unification of the language streams in our schools has removed the language barrier. But this is only applicable to the case of the new generation. Those who have come from the past language stream schools, I think the barriers still exist. We can approach the problem from the following areas: Firstly, through the grassroots and the community. Secondly, through the mass media. Thirdly, through the Government. Let me first talk about the grassroots and the community. The grassroots organisations (GROs) and the community centres play a very important role. The GRO members, such as RC members, CCC members, CCMC members, etc, have set a very good example.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President stressed in his Speech that we must strengthen our social cohesion, that we must strengthen our common Singaporean identity and, at the same time, we must encourage all our people to become active citizens, thus showing the major focus of our Government's policy. People form the foundation of a nation. When the foundation is strong, the nation will prosper. All along, the Government's policy has been benefiting the people and the country. To our people, we stress the importance of education and training as the way to develop the intellect of the people, to increase their knowledge and to enhance their skills. Therefore, it is ridiculous for Buruma, a foreign columnist, to say that Singapore is a country practising the obscurantist policy under which people become stupid and cannot think. This is far from the truth. If we say that the Singapore Government is an autocratic government, then all the policies practised by the Government will all be wrong. Because an autocratic government will implement obscurantist policy like the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty to burn all books and to bury the scholars. But the Singapore Government did no such thing. On the contrary, its policy is aimed at helping our people to march towards the high technology and knowledge-based IT society. As a matter of fact, I can say that the Government has been taking very good care of the people. Over time, this has caused the people to be over-dependent on the Government. In other words, our people expect the Government to do everything for them, and they seem to be losing their initiative. I think this is an anomaly that we must correct. The society cannot always depend on the Government to drive them around.”
“Some autistic persons need to be looked after in the homes. At the moment, there is no such home. If they are sent to the homes for the disabled and handicapped, will such homes have adequate facilities and expertise to look after the needs of such autistic patients?”
“I am not sure whether the amount quoted by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary is a reasonable one because I did check with Prof. Low Seow Chay just now. And he told me it costs only about $100.”
“Sir, just a point of clarification. Can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary tell us how much does it cost to replace a wooden set into a stainless steel set? Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee: The cost to replace the wooden frame with stainless steel brackets is very small. It is about $200 to $250. That includes labour and parts. It will only take a few hours. Back to Mr Low's problem. He said that many flat owners do not use the wooden window frame. If they do not use the wooden frame, that means there is no air-conditioning unit there and the air-conditioner cannot fall off. So there is no problem. But if they do use the window frame to put an air-conditioning unit there, then they have used up the goodwill, in which case if the wooden frame were to rot, then the owner must replace the wooden frame with steel brackets.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I highlighted this issue during the Budget debate last year, and asked the Ministry to do something about it. The then Parliamentary Secretary, in his response, had indicated that the Building Control Authority would look into the possibility of legislating the requirements for window air-conditioning units installed in high-rise buildings. Sir, it was sheer luck that in all the eight cases of falling air-conditioning units, no one was injured or killed. I therefore welcome this Bill as it will help to enhance the safety of living in a highrise environment. However, I have some clarifications to seek from the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. Section 21B requires a trained worker to fix the work. A "trained worker" means a person who holds a certificate issued by BCA. My question is: will experienced service providers who are without formal education or training be also considered for the certificate? Secondly, the Bill also requires that only approved materials can be used. Are there any other approved materials, apart from stainless steel, mentioned by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary just now? Thirdly, there are about 60,000 such units with wooden frames. If we spread over a period of 12 months, each month an average of about 5,000 units need to be retrofitted. Can the Ministry assure that owners would not have difficulty meeting the deadline?”
“Sir, this is a follow up question on the functions of the CPA. Can the Prime Minister say to what extent the views or opinions expressed by the President at his press conference were those of his own or they actually reflected the collective view of the CPA?”
“Sir, in answer to the Member's second question, indeed, I agree with him that continued vigilance is important on both sides of the Causeway and I hope that the measures that he has mentioned would be considered by the Malaysian authorities. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung: Given that the illegal immigrants are on the rise and illegal immigrant trafficking seems to be on the rise, is there any intention to review the penalties, especially for the traffickers? I say this in the light of the recent case mentioned by the Minister of State that some illegal immigrants actually died on the way across in that particular incident. Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, the focus now is to plug this flow where in the past they came through the checkpoints. That is the focus of our efforts. In terms of the overall number of illegal immigrants caught, in fact, the number has come down. It has come down by about 30% for the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. But the number is still nevertheless high. I think there is no need at the moment to enhance the penalties. Looking at the situation of each case, for example, the case mentioned by the Member, if the driver is caught, one possibility is to charge him as a trafficker, and he would get up to five years' jail. But again it is up to the Attorney-General's Chambers. If indeed he is caught, the AG may look at the facts and the facts may warrant the AG to consider charging him under a more serious offence, perhaps causing death by a rash act. So there is a range of penalties which can be considered currently.”
“Sir, can the Minister of State say whether there have been instances where Singapore Immigration has apprehended illegal immigrants trying to leave Singapore by the Causeway? Second, would the Minister of State agree that if the Malaysian authorities also took tough measures to prevent such smuggling from taking place and by crippling the ground operations of these syndicates, it will be a win-win situation for both sides? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, I take it that the Member is referring to illegal immigrants leaving Singapore. SIR also takes a tough stand against illegal immigrants leaving Singapore. Perhaps he has in mind a recent incident at the Causeway where 35 or so illegal immigrants tried to come into Singapore from Malaysia, and some of whom, because they were in a lorry, were killed. I think Members know and have read in the papers that SIR also takes a tough stand against illegal immigrants trying to leave Singapore. I think it stands to reason, because this would add to the deterrence that if you come into Singapore, even if you come in successfully, it would be difficult for you to leave. In any case, these people who successfully leave may return in future. And that is why SIR is vigilant. Indeed, just two days ago, it is in the Straits Times today, a small column, page 3, Members can read about it, a Malaysian registered vehicle was trying to leave Singapore with five Thai illegal immigrants. In 1999, for example, SIR has apprehended 23 such immigration offenders at the Woodlands Checkpoint. In 1998, 138 such immigration offenders tried to leave Singapore illegally, mainly in Malaysian registered cars driven by Malaysians. In the first six months of this year, 53 such offenders were arrested.”
“I believe the Singapore 21 Committee led by RAdm Teo held various discussion panels and dialogue sessions and in the process, the consensus has been forged. This is definitely of great help to the enhancement of the Singapore heartware and definitely beneficial to our development in the next century. Sir, I support the motion.”
“However, we cannot deny that, as I said just now, every race and every nationality would have its own identity, and there is a certain conflict between the existing "tribal soul" and the "national soul" that we want to establish. As we cannot use a pressure cooker or a big melting pot to melt all the races into one, the conflict between the tribal soul and the national soul would take a long time to be amalgamated. What we need to do is to maintain the present situation of harmonious living among our races. We have to enhance the communication, mutual understanding and unity among the various races. That is to say, our present policy must be maintained and sustained. In this respect, I feel that we need to have a very strong Government to maintain such a pluralistic policy. In our present situation of harmonious living among the races, to a large extent, credit must be given to our strong Government in giving equal treatment to all the various races, and to protect the interests of the minority groups. In the past few decades, the Government has been hitting hard at the racists and tried its best to eliminate the conflicts among the races to reduce the centrifugal force and to enhance the centripetal force to promote unity among the various races. We have emphasised participation of all citizens. In such a complicated social structure like ours, we need to have nothing short of a strong Government. Whether it is in the family or in a company, we need to have very fair and strong parents and management to avoid confusion. I think it is the same for a country. Sir, while we are moving into the 21st century, we need to have a consensus.”
“In some of the activities or gatherings organised by the Residents' Committees and at the new citizens' oath-taking ceremony organised by the Immigration Department, I would normally take the opportunity to ask these new citizens why they have decided to migrate to Singapore. Generally, they will tell me that they perceive that in Singapore they would receive equal treatment and equal opportunity. Most of them are bilingual in their mother tongue as well as English. In our multi-cultural environment, they feel at home and very comfortable. It is very easy for them to merge into our society here. On the other hand, in other countries, they may be able to earn a living, but they could not help having this feeling of being second-class citizens. This type of personal experience was mentioned by Dr Lee Tsao Yuan yesterday. On 3rd May 1999, there was a report by the Straits Times entitled "Racial Tone to US Handling of Spy Story". In this article, it mentioned that just because of one isolated incident where a Chinese scientist was alleged to have stolen their secret and passed it to China, now everyone in the United States is saying that all the Asian migrants, particularly the Chinese in the US and those who have obtained US citizenship, are spies from China and their loyalty for the United States is in doubt. I believe that many foreign talents would come to Singapore from the United States or the European countries not without a reason. Mr Speaker, Sir, on our present policy of forging an identity while maintaining diversity, I must reiterate that this is a correct policy. When we are moving towards the 21st century, what we need to do is to strengthen this policy.”
“What I want to say is that the policy which is implemented by our Government, that is, obtaining consensus while maintaining diversity, is a correct policy. When we are moving towards the 21st century, we should try and strengthen this policy and not to weaken it. It is not feasible to try and have a homogenous society because each race and community will treasure and defend its existing culture, habits, traditions, customs, language and religious beliefs. To the Chinese community, which is the majority here, or the minorities such as the Malays or Indians, it is the same. For example, our Malay brothers have this saying, biar mati anak, jangan mati adat. Cultural tradition is actually the soul of the tribes, or we could call it the tribal soul. They value this tribal soul more than their children. Multi-culturalism is actually an important component part of the Singapore heartware. I feel that in our multi-cultural social environment, this is also a very important factor to attract foreign talents. Because I discover that many permanent residents or new citizens from other countries who come and settle down in Singapore actually do not come directly from their native countries. Many of them have actually gone to countries which they believed to be ideal societies such as the United States of America or Europe. After staying there for some time, they came to Singapore and eventually decided to settle down permanently in Singapore. Why? It is because of this multi-cultural environment which makes them feel very comfortable and at home.”
“It is like an army going to war, and after the war, all the credits go to the general, and his soldiers who risked their lives fighting in the frontline were given no recognition at all. How are we going to cultivate in them a sense of belonging, and I am sure that the morale will be very low too. However, to make a person cultivate his sense of belonging to his country, I think it concerns not only the materialistic aspect. Spiritual and cultural factors are equally important. In this aspect, I must emphasise the importance of a cultural sense of identity. As a multi-racial society, we must pay particular attention to the sense of cultural belonging of the various races, that is, to allow all the communities to feel comfortable in their own cultural environment. Just as what Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said in this House yesterday, Singapore is not a nation yet. Therefore, we have to work harder in forging a national identity to promote better unity among the various races and to establish in them a sense of loyalty towards our nation. However, while we are seeking a common identity, we should also allow diversities to exist. We should allow the various races to preserve their own cultural traditions. This is, in fact, our current policy. Culture is the spiritual pillar of the individuals. That a person has a strong passion for his country, to a large extent, is due to the foundation of his cultural identity. A cultural sense of belonging would enhance his feelings and passion for the land on which he lives. Any differences in the various cultures would undermine our unity and it is something that we could not completely eliminate. What we should do is to try and forge better consensus and to have a better sense of belonging.”
“How do we enhance this feeling of Singaporeans so that they can feel passionately about Singapore, even when they are overseas? Apart from the very naturally nurtured feelings for those who were born and bred in Singapore, I feel that the most important thing is that we have to make everyone feel that he loves his country and the country loves him. Everyone should feel that he has a share in this country. On the national level, we have this Home Ownership Scheme. That is a very good example of how to make everybody feel that he has a share in this nation. National service has also reminded every citizen that he has a share in this nation and that is why we say everyone has a responsibility in the destiny of the country. In order to enhance our people's sense of belonging and ownership, I feel that the Government should enlarge this policy to reach to the people, particularly in the business sector. We should encourage more companies to have this "Employee Shares Ownership" scheme, that is to say, let the employees own shares in the company they work for. Nowadays, some companies are already implementing this system. Every employee, irrespective of the position in that company, would have some shares in the company. So they are both employees and shareholders of the company. This would naturally give them a stronger sense of belonging for the company. If this company has only a small minority of senior officers owning shares in the company while the vast majority of the employees have none, and you want these employees to develop a sense of belonging to the company, I think this would be a very difficult task.”
“We can be said to be at the threshold of the 21st century. As we are stepping into the 21st century, this Singapore 21 report has highlighted two major dilemmas that we will be facing. First, the dilemma inherent in our social structure and the other is the dilemma that will come with our globalisation effort to develop Singapore into a cosmopolitan city. However, both these dilemmas concern one very basic question, that is, how to enhance our social and national cohesion and to reduce the centrifugal force. Yesterday, Prime Minister Goh mentioned the basic conflict in our social structure, that is, the tension or perhaps we could say the pulling force in our multi-racial society. This is an inherent conflict. Secondly, while we are globalising and developing Singapore into a global city, on the one hand, we have to encourage our people to venture overseas and, on the other hand, we spare no efforts to attract foreign talents to come here. This has actually created a conflict between the centrifugal force and centripetal force. To the bona fide Singaporeans, those who were born and bred here, they have a very special passion for Singapore. This was stated in a sentence from the poem entitled Ascending the Tower by the famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, " ", Wang Chan, which translated loosely means, whether a person is doing well or not, he would have a special emotional feeling for the land on which he was born and bred. Therefore, we can see that many of our Singaporeans who were posted overseas would become very homesick during the festive seasons. They would miss the dear ones in Singapore, and also from time to time, they will miss the food we have in our hawker centres in Singapore.”
“Sir, before I go into the subject matter of this debate, let me take this opportunity to give my response on the issue of SAP schools. This issue has been discussed on many occasions. However, I think the more important thing is whether or not we could have a feasible policy. Some people suggested that the SAP schools and the other schools could become sister schools where some common activities can be carried out. However, I feel that even if it is done in this way, some people will still feel that it is not enough. In my view, a more direct method would be like what Senior Minister proposed not long ago, that is, to allow some top students from the minority groups to study in the SAP schools, that is to say, to break through the present situation in which only Chinese students are studying in the SAP schools. I support such a proposal because this would eliminate some of the doubts which people have on the SAP schools. By so doing, we would allow the top students from the various ethnic groups more options to study in a number of top schools other than the handful of traditional "branded" schools such as the Raffles Institution, etc. This would not affect the original mission of the SAP school.s. It is a positive development. It is an enlargement of the roles of the SAP schools. As in the days of the old Nanyang University (Nantah) which also had the Malay Studies Department, it did not affect the characteristics of Nantah at that time. So I feel SAP schools today would be willing to accept this proposal and this is perhaps the time for the minority ethnic groups to indicate their willingness to participate in such a proposal. Now, I would like to speak on the Singapore 21 report and to give my personal views on it.”
“Sir, not long ago, the well-known Chinese calligrapher and poet, Mr Pan Shou, passed away. This is a great loss to the arts community in Singapore. His death has left an irreparable gap in the field of calligraphy in Singapore. We have also lost a "National Treasure" in the arts. The works of a "National Treasure" like Pan Shou should be treasured by the State. Pan Shou cannot be resurrected or born again. Whatever he has left behind, his calligraphy and poems should be treasured by us very dearly. Many of us, especially the lovers of Chinese calligraphy, have expressed the hope that the representative works of Pan Shou should be systematically kept and preserved by the State as our arts assets for posterity. Sir, I am thinking not only of Pan Shou but also other "National Treasure" class artists in Singapore. Their representative works should be collected and carefully kept in a systematic manner. May I suggest that our National Museum or Arts Museum set up a special exhibition room or hall for the display of the representative works of these "National Treasures". Since they are national treasures, their works of art should be regarded as part and parcel of our arts assets of the State. By having this sort of special display or exhibition hall, we can avoid having our artists' treasured works being lost to other countries. It would also provide the opportunity for young Singaporeans and tourists to view the representative works of our masters in arts. By so doing, it will also gradually and eventually enrich the collection of our museum. If we have such a plan in place, I am quite sure will get the support from our local collectors to donate their collections to the museum.”
“I think it will do us well to start preparing for measures to tackle this problem. The Government should ensure medicine and health care remain affordable to the general public. Can we have an assurance from the Minister? The report from the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Healthcare for the Elderly was released recently. This is a very comprehensive report and a very important document. One of the recommendations is to provide for a long-term health insurance scheme. There is a great advantage in this scheme in that the insurance premium can be deducted from the CPF accounts of the workers. However, the report does not spell out the details of this long-term health insurance. Members of the public may have doubts. For example, what can the authority do to help those who have retired or will be retiring soon, but have not taken up this kind of health insurance? I hope the Minister can give us more details on this proposed health insurance scheme.”
“Sir, there are about 220,000 elderly people who are aged 65 and above now in Singapore. In 30 years' time, the number will be tripled to about 800,000, accounting for about 20% of our population. This figure does not appear out of the blue. It is the result of the baby boom just after World War II. According to my rough estimate, for the period of 20 years from 1950 to 1969, more than 1 million people were born. From 1956 to 1960, the birth rate was more than 60,000 per year, and the total population of Singapore was only 1.4 million around that time. This generation of people are now middle-aged. In 20 or 30 years' time, they will enter old age. Whether it is on a national, social, family or individual point of view, this is a matter of great concern, because an ageing population is a great problem to us, socially and economically. In 20 to 30 years' time, these post-war babies will not only face the problem of an ageing population, but also a problem of less children to support them, because they are the people who have lived through the age of very successful family planning, ie, "boy or girl, two is enough" generation. With an ageing population, the demand on health care will be heavy, and that means medical cost will go up. So if we do not handle this problem carefully, 20 to 30 years later, the working population will have a greater burden on them. To the ordinary folks, the greatest concern is medical cost, especially after their retirement and as they enter old age, more medical and health care will be needed, and hence bigger medical cost. The question is whether or not they could afford it. Will the younger generation be able to support them? This will become an emotional problem in due course.”
“The Chinese community should put in more efforts to promote the use of Mandarin in our society. Chinese should not be treated merely as a subject to be learnt in school. It should be promoted as a useful tool of communication in our society. It is only then that we will be able to effectively preserve our bilingual education policy. It is in the long-term interest of our country that the bilingual education policy be maintained. Sir, I support the policy statement.”
“Even at this present moment when we are having an established bilingual education policy in place, we are finding the grounds more and more difficult to defend. In future, we may even succumb to pressure and go into a monolingual society. I believe we do not like to see such a situation arising. Now we are introducing CL `B' for students who have difficulty in learning Chinese. According to the present estimate, the number of such students is not significant. But, with the transformation of the language background of the younger families, the number of such students is bound to increase in future, that is to say, there may be more and more students opting for CL `B' in future. If this happens, we can foresee that by that time, these students and their parents will be putting pressure on the Ministry of Education to recognise the result of CL `B' at `O' level examination for admission to the junior college, and at `A' level examination for university matriculation. I certainly do not wish to see this situation arising. However, we must be psychologically prepared for such a situation to arise in the future. In the interest of our nation, apart from taking preventive measures, we must also take positive and proactive measures to strengthen the overall environment for the development of bilingualism in our society. In other word, we must continue to insist on making Mandarin work in our society. Some people say we have been very successful in our Speak Mandarin campaign. I do not think so. I think the future challenge is even greater, especially in the Chinese community. The promotion of Mandarin-speaking is still a very big task to accomplish. The Chinese community should recognise the transformation of language background of the ethnic Chinese families in Singapore.”
“From the policy statement of DPM Lee, it is noted that the Government has already paid attention to the fact that a small group of students have difficulty in learning Chinese. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that more and more Chinese families are switching to English as the language spoken at home, unlike in the past when dialects or Mandarin was predominant. In other words, for children born into such families, their mother tongue is English and not Mandarin or any of the Chinese dialects. The emergence of such a situation has a very serious effect on our language policy. It is a great challenge to us. It will possibly give rise to the following situations: (1) Parents of English-speaking families, because of their prejudice against the Chinese language, will resist it. (2) Parents themselves realise the importance of their children learning Chinese. Subjectively, they hope that their children will learn and master the Chinese language. But the students themselves encounter difficulties in the process of learning Chinese in school. There is a sort of psychological pressure on the parents. The parents will then turn the pressure on the Government to lighten their children's burden on the study of Chinese language. I am worried about the second situation because children from the purely English-speaking families tend to find learning Chinese more difficult because they have to start from zero, unlike those who come from Chinese-speaking families who must certainly enjoy a head-start. In these circumstances, does it mean that the bilingual education policy will one day face such great pressure from the anxious English-speaking parents that the Government will be forced to lower the standard of Chinese in school.”
“The same goes with the human brain. Just like the `electronic brain', the absorption power, retention power and the power to accommodate data and operations differ from person to person. Some people are born 286s or 386s. But some are born 486s, and the exception ones may be born Pentiums. Some of us may be able to say, "I am proficient in one language and have some working knowledge of another language. But nobody can truthfully swear that he or she is perfectly bilingual. No one dares to lay claim to that. This is because we are constrained by our endowed capability, our learning capacity. The maximum capacity of the hardware of a computer is finite and fixed, while its software may have certain operational capacity. These two factors together constrain its application. The same applies to the human brain. If you want to insist on one model of language policy for all students and fix a uniform standard for all, it will not work. After implementing our bilingual policy for some three decades, we have learnt to be flexible and sensitive to the different capacities of the students. This is to reduce the attrition rate in our education system because if the policy is too rigid, certain people will be sacrificed. With this new policy, I believe we will be able to encourage all students to learn their mother tongue according to their aptitude and ability. This is the advantage of this new policy. A good policy is one that is realistic and capable of adapting to the different situations. At the same time, I would like to point out that the Government must adopt a more positive approach to ensure that our society will not suffer in the long run. In other words, our bilingual policy will be able to continue unshaken for a long time to come.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, having listened carefully to the policy statement by DPM Lee, I feel that the proposed policy to change some aspects of the teaching of Chinese in Singapore schools is a very balanced one. On the one hand, it tries to strengthen the nurturing of a Chinese elite, by opening one more SAP school and by providing more opportunities for Chinese students to take on Higher Chinese (HCL). On the other hand, it also tries to look after the very small minority of students who have difficulties in learning Chinese, even as a second language. A new CL `B' course will be offered to them. This is a very realistic approach. The whole series of new measures can be said to be a flexible and comprehensive approach which is in keeping with the principle of teaching according to the student's ability. Sir, we have been implementing the bilingual policy for some 30 years. I have been working as a journalist in the Chinese newspapers for more than 20 years. I have on-hand experience in the implementation of this policy, and also some experience in the use of computers. The human brain is not unlike the computer, which the Chinese described as dian nao (electronic brain). When I was first asked to use the Chinese word-processing software, my computer was a 386, which was basically meant for software in the English language only. At that time the Chinese software was just still in its infancy stage of development. Because the nature of our work in the Chinese newspaper office required us to use Chinese word-processing technology, we were told to install the Chinese software into our English-environment computers. Disaster struck. The 386 did not have enough memory and capability to support the additional Chinese software. The computer "hanged" all the time.”
“This will help to lower the cost of living. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“For example, I understand that the prices of cement, which is one of the very important building materials, have gone down by about 30% in the past couple of years. With such cost savings from cheaper building materials and pay cuts of the workers, it is obvious that the construction costs of HDB flats will be lowered and HDB should pass on these savings to the people, especially the first-time buyers, the young couples. Right now, these young people have to accept a lower starting pay, or to wait longer to get a job. Finally, there is one other matter that we should concern ourselves with, and that is, with the announcement of the Government package, how are we going to ensure that this package will give real benefits to the end consumers. For example, the hawkers, the food courts, and so on, when are they going to lower their prices so as to lighten the burden on the consumers? Mr Ang Mong Seng suggested holding a "National Sales Campaign". Actually, shopkeepers and hawkers who find their business thinning away are already giving special offers and sales in desperate attempts to attract customers. The question is: for those who are doing a roaring business, how are we going to convince them to lower their prices? I think we can use administrative measures and increase competition. For example, the Ministry of Trade and Industry could call up all the business associations, the hawkers' associations, the shopkeepers' associations and remind them that they should pass on at least in part, if not in full, some of their savings from these cost-cutting measures, to the consumers. I think we should also encourage the NTUC to open up more coffeeshops at suitable locations so that there will be more competition in the retail food industry.”
“The proposed pay-cuts to the civil servants will save the Government some $176 million. Of course, this is a very significant amount. In order to ensure that the sacrifices made by the Ministers and senior civil servants are made more significant, I suggest that the Government make use of these savings to set up an emergency fund to help the lower-income families which are presently in financial difficulties to tide over the current predicament. I hope that the Minister for Finance will agree to this proposal of mine. Another way is to allocate sums of money from these savings to the various Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) welfare funds to carry out more welfare work because, with the present difficult situation in our economy, the CCCs are finding it very difficult to raise monies for their welfare funds. So I hope that we can make use of the savings from the pay cuts of the Ministers and top civil servants to the CCCs to help their constituents. By so doing, I hope and I believe it will also help to strengthen the bond between the people and the Government. This will not only give tangible help to those who are in need but also inspire our people. Now, let me talk about the bread-and-butter issues. I hope that the HDB would seriously consider lowering the selling prices of new HDB flats, because over the past few years, the selling prices of HDB flats have gone up quite a lot. Granted that HDB flats are still considerably cheaper than private developments, we cannot fail to take cognizance of the fact that the prices of private properties have already fallen substantially. This will, in turn, affect the prices of HDB flats. Besides, building materials and construction cost have also fallen considerably.”
“In other words, we do have a designated mechanism, an official or formal mechanism, to deal with the sudden emergence of a crisis. So, with the experience gained from this present crisis, perhaps we should seriously look into the feasibility of setting up a permanent mechanism, a think-tank sort of body, to deal with any crisis that may appear from time to time. I think this is something which the Government should consider very seriously. The current crisis has also highlighted one other point and, that is, our forecasts of the overall trends in the economy seem to be quite off the mark. It appears that the authorities responsible for the forecasts, including the Government agencies and the universities, have not been able to accurately forecast the trend of economic development in the region. It looks like accurate economic forecast is even more difficult than weather forecast. Sir, before anybody can come up with a more reliable mode of economic forecasting, I would suggest that the CSC should be kept alive as it is a useful mechanism to have, particularly when its composition is a good mix of representatives from the business world. Having their fingers on the pulse of the business world, these businessmen can detect every movement in the rapidly changing business environment. They are sensitive to changes and know how to respond and react quickly. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, when faced with this serious economic situation, the Ministers and senior civil servants have decided to take the lead in taking a cut in their salaries. This is a very great inspiration to the people, and it has very far-reaching effects. This is a clear indication to our people that our leaders are sharing the pains with the people.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a Chinese saying, "Even a wise man sometimes makes a mistake, while a fool may once in a while come out with a good idea." Having heard some 50 wise men and wise ladies over the last three days, let me also offer my non- wiseman idea on the subject. DPM Lee announced yesterday the cost-cutting package for Singapore. Overall, I feel that this is a pro-business package. Of course, there are also some measures which may be said to be pro-people. But I must say the vast majority of measures introduced are designed mainly for the benefit of the business. In fact, the magnitude of some items of the cost-cutting measures may even exceed the expectations of the business community, for example, the foreign worker levy. As far as the business community is concerned, it is good news. However, DPM Lee cautioned that this package, though designed to reduce business cost in Singapore to enhance our competitiveness, was no assurance of a quick recovery to the economy because the determinants are external and beyond our control. But I have a question, if these external factors, ie, the regional economic situation continues to deteriorate, then what should we do? We need to have quicker measures to react to the new reality. In fact, this package to tackle the current crisis is just some short-term measures. The Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness (CSC) was originally set up to look into how to strengthen the competitiveness of Singapore over the next ten years. It just so happened that a currency crisis broke out very soon after the CSC was formed, and it was suddenly landed with the responsibility of working out some ad hoc measures to help our businesses in Singapore tide over the crisis.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, if a flat owner is willing to downgrade, would the HDB help him?”
“Sir, I have two questions. First, can the Minister explain why is the suspension of land sales given such a relatively long period, ie, 1� years? Why cannot a review by made, say, during the next Budget session? Second, how confident is the Government that this off-Budget package can cushion the economy from sliding into a recession, say, in the second half of this year or the first half of next year? Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: The suspension is for a fairly lengthy period because property investments take a long time to mature, and currently there is an over supply of about 20,000-odd residential units already in the market. According to URA statistics, the take-up in the first quarter of this year is probably 1,500 units. So the overhang is huge. Assuming that things do not deteriorate, the present overhang would probably last several years. So the projection is that any change we make must be over a substantial period. Whether we can assure that the present package will help us avoid a recession is something which I cannot guarantee nor can anyone. We will simply have to review the situation. If conditions deteriorate sharply, we will always be prepared to come back with more measures.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, can the Minister of State give an assurance to the House that non-unionised workers and unionised workers who are retrenched will be given the same kind of assistance by the Ministry?”
“Sometimes, the condensed water will drip on to the ground floor, resulting in moss to be gathered and inconvenience to the residents. I think HDB should look at this matter seriously and take more stringent measures against the culprits. There should be regular inspections on the air-conditioners in the HDB estates to ensure that the owners have their air-conditioners serviced regularly. Otherwise, they would be a potential danger to the residents.”
“Sir, I would like to urge the HDB to take some strict measures to prevent old air-conditioning units in high-rise buildings from becoming killers. Recently, it was reported in the newspaper that in Tampines Avenue 5, an old air-conditioner unit, weighing some 10 kg, dropped from the eighth storey of an HDB block to the ground floor. Fortunately, it did not hit any one. The incident happened because the weather-battered metal support for the window unit air-conditioner gave way and could not support the weight of the air-conditioner. According to the report, there were a total of three such incidents last year, two of them were at Nee Soon and one in Clementi. Fortunately, no one was injured by these falling air-conditioners from high-rise buildings. Sir, I understand that there are about 240,000 units of air-conditioners in these HDB estates and many of them are window- unit air-conditioners. So if there is no strict control and regular inspection on them, one day disaster may come from above and some people may be injured or even killed. If such an unfortunate incident is to happen, then I think it is cause for regret. I think this can be avoided and prevented. I believe that in the HDB estates, we are now getting more and more air-conditioners being installed. I think we should do something about it to prevent unfortunate incidents from happening. With all these air-conditioners, there are also a lot of other problems. One of them is the water dripping from the units. In many cases, the outflow pipes of air-conditioners were not connected to the bathrooms, as required by the HDB. In other words, the water will drip direct into the unit downstairs and cause a lot of unhappiness to the people below.”
“It would therefore be appropriate to extend the statutory lifespan of a car in Singapore to 12 years. With the extension of the PARF benefits to 12 years, I think COEs should also be valid for 12 years with the option to extend for another five or 10 years.”
“Sir, I want to urge the Minister to consider extending the statutory lifespan of a car beyond 10 years by revising the PARF scheme and also the validity period of COEs. Sir, currently, there is a graduated PARF benefit scheme calculated on the basis of percentage of the open market value of cars from 80% to 130% for cars registered on or after 1st November 1990. Sir, the PARF is an incentive given to car owners to change their cars before the 10-year period. However, given the improvements in car technology since the PARF scheme was introduced more than 22 years ago and the compulsory annual inspection of older cars, the PARF scheme can be modified to extend the 10-year lifespan of a car. New car models are also more fuel efficient, the engine more robust and they break down less frequently than their counterparts 20 years ago. With regular maintenance and inspection, most of the cars on Singapore roads can be roadworthy beyond the 10-year limit. So I would like to propose that the Government consider extending the PARF incentive for cars from the current 10 years to, say, 12 years. The PARF for a car which is 11 years old can be 10% lower than those of a 10-year old car, ie, 70% of the open market value, and a 12-year old car, 20% less, that is, 60% of the OMV. Sir, it is very wasteful for a well-maintained 10-year old car to be scrapped just because it has become uneconomical for the owner to pay for a new COE and at the same time lose the residual PARF value of the car. Moreover, with the introduction of ERP, motorists are likely to minimise the use of their cars which is what the ERP is meant to achieve. Relatively speaking, these cars are likely to be roadworthy for a longer period of time.”
“Sir, I would like to address the problem of run away foreign workers and foreign maids. I would like to suggest imposing a security bond on all foreign workers and foreign maids, as one way to tackle the problem of run away foreign workers and missing maids. Sir, yesterday, the Minister for Home Affairs announced that such a security bond would be imposed on foreign workers from two foreign countries. I see no reason why this should not apply to foreign workers and maids from other countries. Alternatively, I would suggest that the foreign workers and foreign maids can be asked to contribute 20% of their monthly income to a foreign labour fund to be administered by the Manpower Ministry. This is to make all foreign workers themselves responsible for their good behaviour while in Singapore. Upon completion of their contract in Singapore or upon the cancellation of their work permit, their contribution will then be returned to them when they pack up and go home, perhaps with some interest earned, similar to the CPF fund. The foreign labour fund can be deemed as some kind of a good behaviour bond. By running away or committing serious offences, foreign workers would put their foreign labour fund savings in jeopardy. This could deter many from misbehaving while in Singapore. Secondly, irregardless of whether an employer is at fault when a work permit holder goes missing and cannot be traced, the security bond of the employer is forfeited. I would like to suggest that in cases where it can be established that an employer is not at fault, then the security bond or deposit should not be forfeited. Of course, the burden of proof should be on the employer. 1.00 pm”