Goh Keng Swee
Singapore
“Sir, since that was not a supplementary question, may I be allowed to comment briefly on that. When we form a Committee of the House to inquire into an activity of the Government, the assumption must be that there has been something improper. In this instance, where is the impropriety?”
“The career of Brig-Gen Lee is well-known to the public. It has been published in the newspapers. Why then does he come out with all this drivel, other than to impute improper motives? Mr Jeyaretnam: Sir, I object to the term "drivel" as spelt out by the First Deputy Prime Minister. He should know better as a Member of this House.”
“Sir, this is getting most tiresome. So I will just say this - that Brig-Gen Lee Hsien Loong has proved himself in so many ways, both inside the Army and outside the Army, to be a person of outstanding quality. When the Member for Anson says the public are worried, he is again talking nonsense.”
“Sir, I rise to clarify. Actually, the limits are not set by me. I do not have a heavy hand. I regard the MAS as the implementing agency of Government, and in this respect I have to listen to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Trade and Industry.”
“How you set them, how restrictive or how liberal, would determine two things: (1) the degree of imported inflation from abroad via goods and services from abroad, and (2), the degree of capital inflow from abroad which will affect our money supply in Singapore.”
“Sir, if the land could be more profitably used, say, for commercial or residential purposes and if the Minister for National Development requires such land, then, of course, the land will be acquired and the generous terms will apply.”
The complete record
Every one of 833 lines we hold for Goh Keng Swee, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 17.
“One is that of the Member for Sembawang, and the other is that of the soldiers who listened to these songs. And as he would bear testimony, the songs he complained of received the loudest applause. The Member for Anson claims that there is a waste of food. I am not going to deny that there is waste of food in any of the battalion camps. But I do ask him to supply me with details of what wastes there are, and when and where, because we are fairly stringent about this. We have inspectors to go round from camp to camp, and we are keeping this subject under very close supervision. Any information he gives about waste of food in any particular camp will be studied and action will be taken. As regards inadequate recreational facilities that the Member complains of, I am afraid he has grounds for this. I am not going to say that we have adequate recreational facilities in all our camps. In fact, the standard of recreational facilities in all battalion camps is inadequate. But that is the way it is. How are we going to have a swimming pool for each battalion camp? How are we going to have football fields? All these cost money. The Member for Potong Pasir is complaining that we are spending too much on defence. But I will deal with that point later. On the question of helicopters to fight crimes, I think the Member for Anson is an ardent reader of detective comic strips. I do not see how helicopters can be used to fight crime. Helicopters are very expensive and a dangerous form of transportation. It is not to be recommended other than in real cases of dire necessity. The Member for Potong Pasir asks: why not decrease the defence expenditure? Why are we spending so much? No one wants to spend money on defence, neither I myself nor Members here.”
“If it is a genuine case, the applicant not only gets time-off but MINDEF subsidises his fees and provides him with books. That is the present system. If it is a genuine case, he gets it. If it is not, as in the case of those national servicemen who had gone to see the Member for Sembawang, they are rejected, and quite rightly so. Now, he also wants brothers to be treated kindly, i.e, if there are several brothers in the family, then they should not be conscripted together. I do not see the logic of it. The principle is this. Whether or not he has brothers serving in the Army, is not a relevant point. The point is, if by taking a young man out from whatever he is doing and putting him in uniform to do his national service, this results in hardship for the family, such cases are considered by an Appeals Committee. And if facts are established that genuine hardship arises, the Appeals Committee invariably allows the appeal. Indeed, each year we have about 300 to 500 appeals approved by the Appeals Committee. So there is machinery for considering this kind of situation. As regards the posting of servicemen to vocations, there are vocations which nobody likes to do. Cooking is one of them. Driving is another. The life of an army driver is a very hard one. He is among the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to sleep, because he has got to clean the trucks before he is finished for the day. Here again, I urge the Member for Sembawang to bear this in mind: by all means listen to their grouses with great sympathy, but do not always be taken in. 4.15 p.m. As regards the music and drama show which he attended, he complains that certain songs sung by foreign song-stresses should not have been allowed. There are two points of view on this.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I will deal with the various points which have been raised by Members. First, the Member for Sembawang. He has recommended that soldiers be put to productive work, such as the rearing of poultry and pigs and the growing of vegetables. He is under the assumption that soldiers have nothing to do. Actually they have a very heavy training programme. When they finish their basic training, they go on to training at platoon level, so much so that their working hours are much more than the normal working hours of civilians. For instance, they have to do night training three times a week. So how are they to get time off to rear pigs and poultry? Now, as for night classes, he said he has received representations from national servicemen who want to improve themselves by attending night classes so that they can upgrade their technological skills. He is under the impression that when these requests are made, they are often turned down. Actually he is right there. At one time we used to give the battalion commander the authority to decide whether or not to release soldiers for night classes. Of course, it is very admirable of young men to want to improve themselves by attending night classes. However, the number grew bigger and bigger, and we decided to make a check on what was happening. We found that most of them were having a glorious time. Most of those who attended these classes did not pass their examinations. Of course, there were many who never attended any classes at all! The system now is that any soldier who wants to take time-off at night to attend technical education courses will have to apply formally. Their applications will be examined and scrutinised by the Technical Department of Logistics Division.”
“From there, they are sent to Changi Air Base as maintenance and repair personnel, where the skills they have learned can be put to good use. The Air Force Engineers' tell me that they are doing a good job there. So that is a good thing. The Member for Kampung Kembangan put to me a poser as to how I can test the loyalty of people who are outside military age and who are too old to become soldiers. Well, I really do not know. I do not think it is for me to test their loyalty. I think this is something for the Minister for Health and Home Affairs to deal with these matters. It is his problem, not mine.”
“On top of all this, we also have to ensure that the trucks are better maintained, with proper brakes, clutches, and so on. This meant improving the maintenance of Army trucks, getting more spare parts and recruiting experienced mechanics. All that has been done, and the result is that the accident rate has been reduced substantially. From one accident in every 10,000 miles travelled in 1970, it has improved to one in every 23,000 miles in 1971, then to one in every 27,000 miles in 1972. This rate includes accidents where the fault lies not only with the Army driver but also with the other party. So if you say that half the cases is the fault .of, the Army driver and the other half the fault of the civilian, you will get an, accident rate of one in every 50,000 miles, which means that we have at least reached the standard of driving of the British Army in Singapore. As regards speeding, here again the reports of the Traffic Police are taken seriously and are reported to the Commanding Officer of the Unit in which the driver is attached, and the driver is dealt with by his Commander. I do not quite agree with the Member for Anson that there are more speeding cases. In fact, my statistics show that the number of speeding cases has gone down slightly. In 1971, there was a monthly average of 34 complaint of speeding. In 1972 it has gone down to 26 per month. This is still a lot of cases of speeding, and I intend to make sure that Commanding Officers punish speeding drivers more severely. Regarding Polytechnic students at Changi Air Base, we did not `kidnap' any students from the Polytechnic. These are people who have completed their studies, done their national service, and have completed their basic military training.”
“This is a rather shocking rate because in the British Army in Singapore the accident rate was one in every 40,000 miles travelled. So I enquired very closely into why our accident rate was so high, and it appeared to me that there were certain faults in the system. The first was that when an Army driver got involved in an accident, he was not dealt with by the Army but by the Police. So he was charged before a Traffic Court and usually he would appear in the Traffic court only after he had left the Army because of delays in the civil courts. So Army drivers who committed one offence after another virtually got away scot free. They were not punished. I therefore decided that the moment Army drivers are involved in any accident, they are to be placed under open arrest immediately. The Commanding Officer will then investigate the circumstances of the accident, and if it is found that the driver is the guilty party, he will be sentenced to detention. That measure had an immediate effect in making Army drivers drive more carefully. Hon. Members must remember that these drivers are, not old people. They are teenagers, 18 to 19 years old. A 19-year old boy, driving a three-tonner, will generally feel quite grand about it and will try to push smaller vehicles off the road. But when they get punished immediately for any driving offence, they will say, "Look, we had better be more careful." The other defect in the system was that national service drivers also act as driving instructors to the new recruits. Hon. Members can imagine a 19-year old boy teaching an 18-year old boy how to drive a three-ton truck! This is not the ideal system. So we have to recruit a lot of regulars to make sure that the system of driving instruction is more satisfactory.”
“As a result, most of the children studying abroad, even in secondary schools, are now not under bond. The Minister for Home Affairs and I are re-examining the whole subject, and we may want to re-establish the amount of bond and override the decision of the Appeals Committee. The trouble is this: the Member says that those who have done a University first degree should be allowed deferment to do their Ph.D. It starts actually from secondary school, not at the university. We allow them to finish their secondary schooling abroad. When they finish the Cambridge School Certificate or its equivalent, they say they want to do the Higher School Certificate. So we allow that. And when we do that, they say, "Look, I have got a place in the university." If we still allow that, they say, "You know, I am doing the Master's Degree." After that, then they will say, "Now I am going to do my Ph.D." When we have done all that, then the parents come round and say, "Look, my son is very brilliant. He now wants to do a doctorate of Science." This goes on, and by the time we get him, he probably is a grandfather. This has got to stop, and we shall have no more nonsense. 3.30 p.m. So I am not in sympathy with what the Member has said. If you can maintain your son abroad in England, Australia, or America, or whatever place it is, you are not a poor man, and we cannot allow such families to form a privileged group to evade national service. Now, as regards drivers, the Member for Anson said that Army drivers are becoming dangerous again. Actually I can give some details of what has happened since I last reported to Parliament. Sometime in 1970, Army trucks were involved in accidents at the rate of about one accident per 10,000 miles of travel.”
“Sir, the Member for Sembawang, makes a plea on behalf of various categories of young men for deferment of national service. He quoted one instance where a son of an ice-water hawker was not allowed deferment. May I explain to him the way in which such applications for deferment of national service are handled in the Ministry of Defence? These requests go before an Appeals Committee, which consists of ordinary citizens, teachers and workers and so on, and they will examine the circumstances of the applications in some detail. Where it has been established that the family income will be adversely affected, deferment is invariably granted. In fact, more than 300 young men have had their national service deferred, and in cases where they have not been called up for full-time national service; they have been asked to do part-time national service. So it is not true that we are being very harsh and pay no heed to the economic circumstances of applicants. Now, regarding people who study abroad. The Member wants us to be more generous. Actually, I think we have been over-generous to the extent that we are now in some trouble. May I explain the circumstances? I think I made a statement in Parliament some months ago about requiring parents of children who are studying abroad to furnish the Government with a bond. And we then decided that this bond will be forfeited if the young man does not come back when he is asked to do national service. As a safeguard, we appointed a committee to hear appeals in the event that people say that they cannot furnish this bond. This bond does not come up to an awful lot of money - $30,000 or $50,000. For some strange reason which I cannot understand, the Appeals Committee allow all appeals.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as at 5th March this year, 3,338 non-citizens have been registered. None have been called up for full-time National Service as registration is not completed. This is expected to be completed by 20th March. After that date, there will be call-up in three intakes commencing July this year. HAWKERS CENTRE IN SEMBAWANG (Building of) 2. Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for the Environment when his Ministry proposes to build a hawkers centre in the Sembawang Constituency.”
“Sir, the speech that the Member for Katong was ref erring to was made by me at the Istana commissioning ceremony last November. Perhaps I might say a few words on the progress that has been achieved to give officers better perks, such as a decent car, house, and so on. The Manpower Division, M.I.D., has been applying their minds to this subject of staff cars, and the thinking now is that officers in command of brigades or higher formations should be getting a Mercedes, and battalion commanders should get a Ford Cortina, or a slightly bigger car, but I am told that none of that is being assembled here. As regards houses for them to live in and to buy on instalments, my Permanent Secretary has been hunting for a suitable tract of land. After three or four trials, I think he has found the right tract. There is quite a good piece of land off Ayer Rajah Road, where the British Navy used to have some oil tanks which we now think we can afford to demolish. It is in a very nice area, very central, and we are now negotiating with the Housing Board to see whether or not we can take part of the land to build high-rise apartment blocks for sale to our officers on instalment basis. Regarding the other matter of the way an officer and a gentleman should conduct himself, I am impressed by what the Member has said. If he will let me have a copy of his speech, or perhaps with your permission, Mr Speaker, Sir, if we could extract it from the Hansard, we might publish it in the next issue of the Pioneer. Mr Conceicao: Sir, I am flattered by the Minister's request, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $442,831,720 for Head 0401 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Head 0501 -”
“Actually, the Research Officer coded under item (1036), the one who is paid higher, not only belongs to a different grade but also to another Ministry, that of my colleague, the Minister for Home Affairs. This post has been entered in error in the Estimates of the M.I.D., owing to an administrative slip which took place when the Ministry split. The other Research Officer is in my Ministry, Defence. We find that we do not need a very highly qualified Research Officer, and so we pay him less.”
“Regarding the personnel employed in this work, they were previously listed in the military establishment. There were actually some 83 military posts concerned with producing the data. Unfortunately, a good number of these military personnel were national servicemen who, by the time they knew something about their work, were due to leave the army. The work was, therefore, not done very satisfactorily. We have decided that we had better engage full-time and permanent civilian staff to take over the work, so that they can accumulate the experience and expertise and get better year by year. In fact, this is what we have done and we will replace these 83 military posts with 34 civilian posts, including four office boys. With regard to the cost of the system, as I have said, we are not buying computers of our own. We are using Government computers. The pay of staff comes to $232,980 - it is in the budget- as compared with more than $671,000 previously. The maintenance of computers is estimated at $132,000 as against $296,710 previously. I think this gives the Member all the information he has asked for.”
“Sir, actually the Ministry of Defence has been using computers since 1968, when we leased a computer from the Central Provident Fund at an annual rent of $100,000. Since the middle of last year we have stopped using the C.P.F, computer, and are now using computers belonging to the Electronic Data Processing Unit in the Ministry of Finance. They have two computers and they can spare some of their time for us. As regards the sort of work that is being computerised, the following subjects are being computerised. First, the payrolls of officers but not those of other ranks. I am not quite sure of the reason why. Officers are paid by cheques and the other ranks are paid by cash; we have not got down to computerising the latter, and I am not quite sure of the reason. Next, we need various data regarding manpower. We want to know, for instance, who should be registered in any one year. We get that information from the identity cards, and therefore nobody can escape because his name is in when he applies for an identity card at the age of 12. So we know that 4X years later he should register for the first time. Then, we computerise other data on manpower, for instance, how many soldiers are in each unit and against which establishment. This is being reviewed monthly and quarterly at various levels of detail and completeness. Then, of course, the Member is aware that the computer is an ideal system for keeping checks on inventories. Our Logistics Division makes considerable use of the computer in working out catalogues, that is, giving all the components and code numbers, in maintaining stock level of the hundreds and thousands of items which they have in their bases. This work is done by the computer.”
“However, once he passes his 19th birthday and has not yet been called up for full-time national service, he is not liable for a full- time national service. In such circumstances, the Manpower Base will give him a certificate to say that he is not liable for full-time national service. Therefore, there is no difficulty about his getting a job.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I agree very much with what the Member has said, particularly the need to have soldiers who are loyal, patriotic and conscious of their national identity. However, this business of inculcating national consciousness is not something that can be done only in the Singapore Armed Forces during the period of national service. If a boy of 18 goes into the army without knowing what country he belongs to, and has no loyalty to Singapore, then I say that our educational system has failed badly and that his parents do not know how to look after him. However, within the army we do try to give our youths further education on this line. But this is something you cannot overdo, because after all in the army they are to be trained as soldiers and not as patriots, and certainly not in political matters. As regards educational and cultural services in the Armed Forces, the Member has got a point there. In fact, I am looking for a person with sufficient knowledge and experience to direct or promote cultural shows. I have asked Radio and T.V. Singapore whether they can send such a person to my Ministry, but they have said that they need all the producers they can lay their hands on. They have lost a good number of producers to the private sector. If anybody, either within or outside the House, knows of a good producer, please recommend him to me. We do want to run cultural and educational shows in the battalion camps at night, because this is a good way of putting across the proper message by subtle means. Now, the waiting period after medical examination. A boy is put through a medical examination when he is l7-X years old. Therefore, he will not be called into the army for another six to 18 months. This period of waiting is unavoidable.”
“Sir, a total of 189 applications for deferment of full-time national service were received from 1st January, 1971, to 16th July, 1971. Applications for deferment generally fall under three main categories: namely, (1) social or financial hardship; (2) business disintegration; and (3) in the case of Government employees or employees of statutory boards, the exigencies of the service. Fifty-four applications were approved on grounds of social or financial hardship, and 17 were rejected. Thirty-two applications were approved on grounds of business disintegration, and 22 were rejected. Forty-three applications received on grounds of the exigencies of the service were approved, while 21 were rejected. PUBLIC BUS SERVICE REORGANISATION (Complaints of dissatisfaction and steps to improve situation) 5. Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for Communications, (a) since the reorganisation of the public bus service, how many complaints of dissatisfaction over bus services have been received by his Ministry from members of the public, and whether the complaints have been dealt with immediately; and (h) whether he is aware that there are irregular departures of buses from bus termini with the result that it takes half an hour before the next bus arrives at a bus-stop or that several buses bearing the same service number arrive at the same time, and what steps he has taken to improve the situation.”
“Sir, this money will be spent not only in buying land, but also on weapons, equipment, vehicles and that kind of thing. Will it help to offset the expenditure on the British military run-down? The answer is no. This money is meant to equip our army and not to help the economy. As regards donations to the Defence Fund, I do not have the exact figure, but it is very close to $10 million now. We are not getting many donations these days.”
“Sir, these are the staff of various logistics and maintenance bases. We have bases to repair army trucks and vehicles, army signal equipment and that kind of thing. When you get national servicemen who have been trained for a few months, you get the type of manpower - what people call first echelon maintenance - that can do very simple types of maintenance. But the more complex maintenance and repair work will have to be done by artisans, mechanics and fitters with many years of experience. We find it easier to recruit these people in as civilians than to require them to join as army personnel and go through various army training courses and work under military discipline. Most of them will he fitters, mechanics, turners and workers in the vehicle repair base, electronic repair base, weapons repair base, that sort of thing.”
“The setting up of a unit of the defence force, particularly those connected with modern weapons systems, is a highly complex undertaking. It requires expertise of many varieties. It requires very intricate co-ordinating programmes from departments of the Ministry -- Logistics, Manpower and General Staff. They have to be closely intermeshed to ensure that this particular unit is formed in various stages in time and with the minimum waste of money, manpower and stocks of equipment. Take, for instance, the Bloodhound Squadron which we are now raising. It will cost us close on $100 million when the Squadron becomes operational and we require a wide variety of skills at artisan, technician, engineer and scientific levels. It will be the main responsibility of the Science and Management Group to monitor and co-ordinate the progress in the introduction of the various types of weapons systems into the Singapore Armed Forces, such as the Bloodhound and several others. The personnel of this group consist of the ablest engineers that we have sent abroad. They all have very distinguished academic achievements in universities in Britain, Australia, America, Canada and elsewhere. Their disciplines include chemical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, civil engineering and others. In other words, we may say they are the "whiz kids" of the Ministry of the interior and Defence, and this is the work they do.”
“When the army was first formed five or six years ago, we had to rely on police officers to do a great deal of the staff and training work. Most of the police officers have been returned to the police force. There are still a few left. Some are in miscellaneous staff positions. These will be returned as soon as we can find replacements from regular officers, but the great bulk of policemen remaining in the Ministry of Defence are those that were transferred from the Special Branch and they are required to continue work in the Security Department of the Ministry of the Interior and Defence.”
“We train them to very rigorous standards and, in recognition of their services, we give them this opportunity of preferential employment. To say that there are others who are just as patriotic and just as civic conscious and that sort of thing, that may well be so; but you tell me, how can you identify such people? Everyone will say that he is most patriotic when it comes to getting preferences, but how do you know that this person is patriotic and not that person? So the proposal of the Member is quite impractical. The limit of $1,920 a month is a purely arbitrary limit. You have to fix a limit somewhere, without fixing it on the high side. Members must remember that national servicemen will be 20 to 21 years or thereabouts when they leave the army. It is unlikely that they will be eligible for jobs anywhere near this salary limit.”
“Actually the reasons for the policy of why the Director should have the right to issue, or refuse to issue, employment cards to those looking for new jobs are quite simple. You have to make sure that these national servicemen, who have this special privilege of preferential employment, are people of good character, that they have not committed crimes and generally have not been slack in their work. We do not want this pool of national service registrants to deteriorate in quality and thereby affect the employability of national service reservists. As regards the Appeals Board, may I explain that this is an appeal from employers against the decision of the Director to disallow them to employ any other source of recruitment than national servicemen, in other words, the Director will say that a certain employer can recruit only national servicemen for a particular job unless he gets exemption, and if he does not get exemption, the employer appeals to the Appeals Board. As of now, this is purely an academic issue because all requests by employers for exemption have been granted by the Director. In fact, in two months of operation, the Director has granted exemptions to no less than 14,000 cases. I do not see on what grounds individual unions have the right to request that exemption should or should not be granted in any occupation. There is no such thing as "closed shop" legislation in Singapore, and I hope there never will be. The purpose of this legislation is simple. These are your citizens who have given two and a half to three years of their lives serving as full-time soldiers in the army. It is not a very easy job to be a soldier in the army.”
“Only for those in technical vocations, like fitters, mechanics, radar electricians and that kind. For the infantry men, no.”
“No, we do not test national service boys for sanity. We assume that they are all sane. The odd case does crop up and no doubt he will be discharged. Actually the medical examination is quite thorough. They go through eye, urine, and blood tests. They are x-rayed. Height, weight, and bodily measurements are taken. They are given a dental check-up and a general medical test. But they are not tested for sanity or mental capacity. As for pilots, they have to go through certain psycho-technical and aptitude tests.”
“Will the Member please repeat his question?”
“Sir, the explanation will surely delight the Member for Whampoa. The reason is not that the Prime Minister is reading more books. The reason is that certain heads of departments who used to have their printing done free by the Government Printer, now have to pay for them. So we are applying principles of market mechanism to ensure that due economy is exercised in all Government departments.”
“The Member was kind enough to let me know what he intends to raise under this subhead, and I am therefore able to give him some details of the extent to which Members of Parliament are making use of this vote for language training. In 1968 there were 14 M.P.s. In 1969-70, the number increased to 16. This year there are 17 M.P.s studying the various languages. I regret to say that most of them are Ministers. Backbenchers do not seem to be very anxious to equip themselves with a knowledge of languages. As regards the difficulty of getting Hokkien teachers, I do not see why this should be so. My colleague, the Minister for Science and Technology, is studying Hokkien. So are my colleagues, the Minister for Education and the Minister of State for Finance, as well as the present Minister for Finance. There are plenty of Hokkien teachers around. Mr Ramaswamy: I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“The matter is still at a very preliminary stage of study and in the years to come we shall no doubt see action developing in this field.”
“Sir, the Member for Mountbatten has voiced what seems to me to be a popular misconception of the sources of pollution. He links it with industrialisation. I assume he is referring to air pollution. Possibly more than three-quarters of air pollution is caused by motorcars and motor vehicles, and even by those without smoke. We cannot eliminate this kind of pollution until motorcar manufacturers come out with an engine that does not emit so much poisonous substances into the air. As for industrial pollution, possibly the most serious would be the power stations. We use fuel oil with a very high sulphur content. It is quite an easy method to reduce air pollution in this respect, but it does mean that it will cost much more to generate electricity and we will have to charge the consumers more for their light and power. The Member for Telok Blangah wants to know whether the Anti-Pollution Unit does exist and, if so, where it is. The unit does exist. Its office, I believe, is in the Public Works Department. Their present team of scientists of very high calibre -, all three of them - have gone abroad to study air pollution problems; one to Australia, the second to America, and the third to Europe. Their functions are not those of enforcement agencies. They have to study the problem and establish monitoring stations of which quite a number have been set up in Singapore. They will then make recommendations to the Prime Minister and advise him on measures, including legislation, and the policy best suited to our situation. Enforcement authorities will depend on the legislation. For instance, the P.W.D, will probably be called in to enforce measures connected with drains, sewers, etc. The Ministry of Health will certainly be called upon to enforce standards of hygiene and so on.”
“I am sorry. He is the Member for Jalan Kayu. Sir, Parliament meets so infrequently that it is quite a task to remember which constituency belongs to which Member. The Auditor-General will take into account waste incurred, for instance, in disposal of stores and whether the disposal of surplus stores has been done properly. He observes. He takes note whether waste is incurred in this sense. The responsibility of the Organisation and Methods Branch is rather different. They will consider whether the staff is adequate or surplus to the requirements of a department or a Ministry. They will see whether responsibilities and duties are fairly shared among officers in the department. They look into questions like the most suitable type of equipment, typewriters, adding machines or whatever is requested by a department or Ministry. By and large, they are not concerned with waste incurred in the day-to-day accounting or day-to-day running of departments and Ministries.”
“The Member for Katong wants to know whether the powers of the Auditor-General should not be extended to all statutory authorities and all enterprises wholly owned by the Government. In regard to statutory authorities, it may or may not be appropriate for the Auditor-General to audit the accounts. This is usually provided for in the Ordinance establishing the particular authority. As regards enterprises wholly owned by the Government such as the Neptune Orient Lines and Chartered Industries, they are run purely on commercial lines and I do not think that the Auditor-General can do a better job than a professional firm of auditors. The Auditor-General does not employ qualified accountants, and his job is not to see whether departments or the authority is run on proper commercial lines. His main function is to ensure that public funds are spent with proper covering approval and in accordance with procedures laid down. For instance, if a particular department spends $5 million on flowers and flower pots, it is not the business of the Auditor-General to observe that this is a waste of public funds if that particular expenditure appears in the estimates and has been approved by Members. All he has to see is that the expenditure has the covering approval in the estimates passed by Parliament and the method of purchase is in accordance with financial procedures. In the case of a company auditor doing the accounts of Neptune Orient Lines or Chartered Industries, he has to make sure as well that expenditures are properly incurred which will increase the profitability or efficiency of the business. There are two separate concepts of auditing. As regards the inquiry by the Member for Ulu Pandan - An hon. Member: The Member for Jalan Kayu!”
“If they give wrong information, it is open to the aggrieved party to correct it. As far as I know, they have always been quite reasonable in printing another person's version. So on newspaper criticisms, may I recommend a "thick epidermis"? Of course, there are legal restrictions on what newspapers can write on military affairs. First, they cannot be party to soldiers breaking the Queens regulations. 1 have forgotten the number of the regulation, but it forbids soldiers bringing their grievances into the open and we have had to introduce subsidiary legislation to tell the newspapers they cannot do it, nor can they print sensitive information on military affairs. Subject to these two restrictions, the newspapers are free to say what they like, and good luck to them. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. ---[Dr Goh Keng Swee]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment: read a Third time and passed.”
“I do not think we need any special arrangements about this. This is the responsibility of the platoon commander or the company commander. As regards newspaper criticisms, I have been 11 years in the political game and my epidermis is quite thick. Nothing any newspaper says about me or the Government or the P.A.P, bothers me in the least. I think the Member for Punggol need not be so sensitive to newspaper criticisms about S.A.F.T.I, chickens or, for that matter, about any other aspects. Newspapers are free to say what they like. This is a democracy.”
“I think it is bad to have two classes of officers, one service and one combat, with the service officer being at a disadvantage in the sense that he is rather an inferior sort of individual. I intend to discontinue the practice of training service officers. In future all officers in the army will do full combat training, and if they are required to do staff duties, there will be special courses for them to attend in order to acquire the necessary skills. As regards grievances, all soldiers in all armies have grievances, whether in Singapore, in Britain, in America or any other places. I suspect even the Chinese Communist Army soldiers have grievances. This is rather odd because it is unlike the navy and the air force. Soldiers belly-ache, soldiers gripe. When we meet them we must always bear in mind that this is in the nature of things, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. You give them a hearing and that helps and makes them feel better for it. Occasionally troubles come out in the open and if they could be remedied, of course, one remedies them. Now, the water pressure in the - Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute is low. I suspect this is because the P.U.B, has installed a rather small diameter pipe. Until larger pipes go to that part of Singapore, the soldiers will always be short of water. Too bad for them! But that is the way it is. The Member for Punggol has suggested that we appoint welfare officers in the units to listen to grievances. Actually, listening to the grievances of soldiers is the job for the commanding officer, of a platoon, company or battalion. A good commander will always listen to his soldiers' troubles and tales of woe and tries to help them out as best he can.”
“I do not think this reflects a lackadaisical, unpatriotic or negative attitude towards national service and towards national leadership. The vast majority of graduates take national service seriously and responsibly, and have responded very well to the challenge of army life. There are a few black sheep in any flock, but that is to be expected. We must remember that in doing national service, graduates, as against non-graduates, are at a disadvantage in two respects. First, they lose more in the army than when compared to what they could have earned outside the army. Secondly, it is only graduates who were born before 1st January, 1949, who have been called up, in this respect, we may say that the graduates have been discriminated against. But it was necessary for us at that time to get a large number of officer material and we had to do this. I think the graduates have a genuine grievance when they are called up for national service, and I think it is best that we face up to it and try to redress the situation and adjust the position as best we can. To make a sweeping condemnation, as the Member for Stamford did, is quite unhelpful, unjust and unfair. I entirely agree with the Member for Whampoa that we must not use national service as a means of punishing people. I am sure the Member for Punggol agrees with me that this was not his intention when he said that we should do away with the distinction between service officers and combat officers. In fact, this category of service officers is rather special. It was created to meet the special needs of a year or two ago when there was a great shortage of staff officers both in the field units, in the Ministry and in the logistics bases. They had to be turned out in large numbers and in a great hurry.”
“Sir, may I reply to the points raised by Members in the reverse order in which they spoke? First of all, the Member for Sembawang. As regards his point whether the only son, who is alleged to be able to earn quite easily between $100 and $200 a month, should not be exempted from full-time national service, much as I would like to oblige him, the answer is no. My advice is for the only son to work harder in the army so that he can raise himself to the rank of corporal, where his pay will be more than $200 a month, and in addition he will get board and lodging worth at least $80 to $90 a month. So he will be better off in the Army if he works hard. As regards graduates born before 1st January, 1949, I have already dealt with the matter in my Second Reading speech. I do not have anything more to say. Regarding jobs for reservists, the majority of them - I do not have the exact number - I think five or six thousand reservists who have left the army, more than 80 per cent of them have already found employment. Those who cannot find jobs after three months are usually those who are quite pernickety. They think they are worth more than what prospective employers value their services. As regards extending the honeymoon period, my advice to national servicemen is to wait until they complete their national service. The Member for Stamford has passed some very scathing remarks about graduates in the army. I am afraid 1 completely disagree with nearly all he `has said about graduates and undergraduates. He may not be aware of the fact that the number of graduates who become officers is much larger than that of non-graduates. In fact, as of now, there are something like 150 graduates who are officers in combat units.”
“We should not do less than what we have to recompense them in the way of material award for themselves and security of livelihood for their wives and children. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. 4.24 p.m.”
“It -may be possible to reduce the term of service of some national service officers and allow them the option of leaving the Army before the full three years. It is not possible to extend this to all officers, but it seems to me that on grounds of equity, those officers who were born before 1-1-49 have the first claim for preferential treatment in this respect. The subject is under study in my Ministry and a decision will be taken shortly. The guiding principle in national service enlistment policy should be absolutely equal and fair treatment for all persons belonging to the same category. Whether a boy is the son of a Prime Minister, or of a banker or a cobbler makes no difference to his service liability. A further ideal would be to observe an unchanging set of selection criteria for all time. Unfortunately, this is not always possible as the rate of our military build-up must change with changing circumstances. This has given rise to unavoidable disparity and unavoidable discontent and, as far as possible, we have tried to meet the legitimate grievances of those who have felt that they have been unfairly treated. The fact that in large measure these people have been victims of chance does not assuage their feelings, but I think it will be generally conceded that we have gone as far as we could The improved terms and conditions of service which are outlined will be promulgated shortly in official orders and Gazette notifications. These will be supplemented by explanatory pamphlets. These improved terms are not ungenerous, but I do not think that we have been over-generous. Members of the Singapore Armed Forces lead a hard and strenuous life while training in peace time. In war time they risk their lives in the defence of our Republic.”
“They will be taken out of their units in July, enter the university and complete their national service after graduation. The rest, those who remain in the Armed Forces, will enter the university in July 1973. The April intake will not have done two and a half years and they will serve out the balance of national service during the university long vacation. The 25 per cent to be deferred will be selected by ballot, except for medical and dental students, who will be included automatically in this 25 per cent. Medical and dental students will complete their -two and a half years' service on graduation as medical and dental officers in the Armed Forces. The practice of balloting differs from the method used this year when preference was given to students with better examination performance as well as students admitted to preferred courses such as engineering. In my statement of 4th November, I referred to the problem of getting sufficient numbers of officers in the support arms units, such as the artillery, signals and engineers. Officers in these units, in addition to doing the basic infantry officers' course, have to undergo several months' specialist training in their particular arms. With the reduction of officers' service from three to two and a half years, these support arms units may be hard pressed if all national service officers leave after two and a half years. I intend to award a bounty to national service officers who volunteer to stay for another six months. The amount of the bounty is under negotiation with the Treasury. The reduction of officers' service from three to two and a half years for next year's intake brings up the problem of equitable treatment for those enlisted before 1971.”
“However, soldiers studying abroad will not be allowed to marry except with official permission, and then only to Singapore citizens. Award of scholarships will normally be made on a competitive basis among eligible candidates. Selection will be done by a Scholarship Selection Board chaired by the Chairman, Public Service Commission. In return for benefits under the scheme, a soldier will be required to enter into a bond and will serve in the Armed Forces on completion of his course of study in the same way as other Government-sponsored scholarships. For soldiers of exceptional promise who do not have the qualifications to enter a university, arrangements will be made to allow them time off to acquire such qualifications. As regards older officers who may not want to do a full university course, special short-term courses will be provided to widen their general knowledge, to improve their level of articulation, and generally to enable them to conduct themselves with the poise and deportment expected of an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces. In addition to these general courses, there will, of course, be specialist and professional training courses both in Singapore and in the Training Schools and Staff Colleges of friendly countries. I now turn to H.S.C, students and their liability for national service. Those who have sat for their examinations last month will be called up in two groups next year - 900 in January and the rest, some 600, in April. Next year the university's term will begin in July and not in May. Of the 1,500 H.S.C, students expected to pass their examination, about 1,200 will probably gain admission to the local universities in 1971. It is proposed that 25 per cent of those accepted for admission to the local universities be granted deferment.”
“m., who dies in these circumstances. Under the new regulations, if he leaves a widow with three children under 18, the family will get a pension of $986.65 p.m., in addition to a gratuity of $27,750. A soldier who i5 disabled as a result of injury received in and attributable to military service, will receive an annual pension for the rest of his life, depending on the degree of disablement, the length of his pensionable service and his pay. For instance, a captain with 10 years' service drawing a pay of $1,000 p.m, who is totally disabled in this way, will receive a pension of $750 p.m, for the rest of his life. Finally children of soldiers whose death or disablement is due to military service, will receive assistance in meeting educational expenses. This will extend to meeting the cost of tuition, board or living allowance of children, the cost of books, materials, equipment and so on to enable them to complete not only their primary and secondary education but also their university education. Scholarships will be made available to commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers serving in the permanent regular service. Those not in the regular service, such as national servicemen, may be awarded such scholarships if they sign on for regular service. These scholarships will be for study in universities in Singapore and, in the case of very talented soldiers, in universities abroad. Where the course of study is in Singapore, the soldier will be paid his normal Army pay; if in an overseas university, an overseas allowance is payable in addition. Allowances vary according to rank, the country where the courses of study are taken, and whether board and lodging are provided. These allowances are in line with Government rates.”
“The full details will shortly be published in the Government Gazette and explained in a pamphlet. I will only give some of the highlights. Soldiers are engaged on two different terms of service, depending on a number of considerations. First, they may be given a limit in the terms of employment for definite periods, say three, five or seven years, or they may be placed on the permanent regular service, in the same way as the civil service. At present, a sergeant on short service engagement as an infantry section leader Class II, with five years' service, receives a paltry gratuity of $250 on his discharge. Under the new scheme, his gratuity will be $2,565. Soldiers on the permanent regular service who retire on reaching the age of retirement will get a larger annual pension than present rates provide. For instance, a major with five or six years in that rank on completion of 22 years' service in the Army will get a pension of $660 p.m, as against $435 p.m, as of now. A Warrant officer I at present gets a pension of only $122.55 p.m, after serving 21 years. Under the new scheme, he will get $214.20 p.m. When a soldier dies in service, even when death is not due to service, such as illness or accident outside working hours, his survivors get an equivalent of one year's pay or a commuted pension or gratuity, whichever is the greater. This gratuity is payable whether the soldier is on permanent regular service or full-time national service, or a reservist called up for the reserve service. Where a soldier in regular service dies as a result of injury received in and attributable to service, a pension is payable to his widow and children, in addition to the gratuity of one year's pay. Take, for instance, the case of a Lt. Colonel with twenty years' service drawing $1,850 p.”
“Vocation pay will not be affected. Examples of vocation pay are as follows. An army tailor gets an additional $5 p.m, to his rank pay; a rifleman Class II, $10 p.m.; a mortarman $35 p.m. A seaman Class I gets an additional $75 p.m, while a jet aircraft fitter Class I receives an additional $200 p.m. Since those rates are inadequate, a new technical pay supplement is to be paid to vocation grades in short supply. For instance, a corporal in his second year, serving as a communication fitter Class I, now gets a total pay of $240 p.m. Under the new scheme, he will get a total pay of $415 p.m., consisting as follows: Rank pay $170 Vocation pay $125 Technical Supplement $120 ---- Total $415 ==== The soldier who hits the jackpot is the communication technician Class I. He is normally of Warrant officer rank, and his total pay, that is, rank, vocation and technical supplement, adds up to between $1,015 and $1,160 p.m. A jet aircraft fitter can look forward .to $920 p.m, if he makes the top grade. These new rates of pay will come into effect as from 1st January next year. The revision in rank pay will cost the Government $10.3 million a year in additional pay if the establishment of the current year is filled. I now come to the retirement and disability benefits scheme as well as the new Army Pension regulations. Hitherto, these were a result of historical legacy of the time when our Army was part of the Malaysian Army during 1963-65. Because we had to cope with so many other pressing matters, revision of the inadequate retirement and pension benefits had to give way to more urgent tasks. This can no longer be delayed if we want to make a service career in the Army attractive enough to draw and retain good quality officers.”
“The object of improving pay and general service conditions is to make a career in the regular force more attractive so that the defence service will receive its fair share of talented and ambitious young men. At the same time, these improved terms of service are an acknowledgement, albeit somewhat belated, of the loyal and devoted service of those regular officers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Singapore Infantry Regiment, who had to bear such a heavy responsibility of leadership in the rapid expansion of our defence forces. To start with, the pay of Other Ranks will be substantially increased. A soldier's pay consists of three components his rank pay, his vocation pay, depending on whether he is a rifleman, a cook, a vehicle mechanic, a machine gunner, or whatever it is, and a third element, a new one, called the technical pay supplement. Because of the great shortage of technical skills, our Armed Forces have been unable to recruit sufficient numbers in the technical vocations at the going rates of pay. Rank pay and vocation pay in these trades are inadequate compared to what the private sector is paying. So technical pay supplements are introduced. These vary between $40 p.m, and $400 p.m. Let me give some examples of the new pay Structure. At present, a private in the army gets a rank pay of $90, with an annual increment of $5 to a maximum of $115 p.m. The new pay scale will be as follows: $90: 95: 140x10-170. A corporal now gets a rank pay of $105x10-175. The new pay scale will be: $115: 170x10-$230. This represents an increase of $55 p.m, at the maximum. Similarly, a sergeant will get an increase of $80 p.m, at the maximum. Warrant officers are reasonably well paid; for instance, Warrant officer I scale is $350x20-450. The new pay scale will be $390x20-470.”
“We have to remember that these military forces have a different role from what they performed previously when there was a firm defence treaty, such as that between Britain and Malaysia, supplemented by tacit agreement with Australia and New Zealand. These defence obligations were clearly spelt out. Under the understanding envisaged under the Five-Power arrangements, their only commitment is to hold consultations in the event of a threat to Singapore or Malaysia. Against this background of general uncertainty in the region, and in the absence of any firm defence commitments from our Commonwealth associates, it is a matter of common prudence that we should strive to be as self-reliant as we can in matters of defence. Here, I have to repeat what is often forgotten in popular discussion of the subject. This is that there is a long time lag between a decision taken to build up a military capability and the actual acquisition of that capability. Between two and four years pass by between placing an order for military hardware and actual delivery. Then it takes more time to train men to use these weapons and equipment and an even longer period to achieve a high level of skill and competence. The time lag varies according to the sophistication of the weapons systems and may range from a minimum of three years for simple military weapons to seven to ten years for more advanced weapons systems. This means that you cannot wait until you are in dire trouble before you decide to build up your defence forces. In my statement of 4th November, I promised improved pay and service conditions for our soldiers. I now mention some of the major items. Full details will be published shortly in the Government Gazette and in the Ministry of Defence Orders.”
“In South Vietnam, unlimited American fire-power through the deployment of the most scientific weapons systems on land, sea and air, backed by unstinting logistics and communications support, has failed to crush an army of peasants equipped only with rifles. The fighting has spread to Cambodia, while the position in Laos remains as insecure as ever. As a result of the pressure of public opinion, the American Government has decided to run down its combat operations in the Indo-China peninsula and leave the fighting to the South Vietnamese regime. Insurgency has raised its ugly head in Northern and Northeast Thailand as well as on the Thai/Malaysian border. Our two closest neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia, are faced with acute domestic problems. Malaysia is trying to find a new political equilibrium and a new political style after May 13th last year. Indonesia has made a return to political stability and economic sanity through military government after more than a decade of mis-government by the Sukarno regime. The Indonesians are making welcome progress. But the difficulties they are facing are monumental. We can only hope that the Governments of Malaysia and Indonesia succeed in their endeavours, for if they do not, the troubles that follow may well spill over their borders. The British have reversed their earlier decision of total withdrawal east of Suez. However, the forces that they will station in Malaysia and Singapore are small, and even when these are added to those of Australia and New Zealand, they represent no more than a token acknowledgement that these three Governments have an interest in the peace and stability of the region. They have preferred not to close an important option by pulling back all their troops.”
“The second is the new pay and service conditions for the Armed Forces, details of which I promised in my statement last November to give on this occasion. Third, I want to give details of what is going to happen to H.S.C. students next year. As regards the necessity of our defence build-up, I am afraid it is necessary from time to time to remind our citizens of the hard facts of life. Lately, I notice a tendency among some citizens to be complacent. The reason probably is that things seem to be going reasonably well in the Republic. Some citizens seem to be incorrigible optimists and erroneously believe that the good conditions now prevailing form part of the natural, normal, and immutable state of the universe. The trouble with these optimists is that at the first sign of danger they are liable to lose their nerve and panic. Let me therefore recount some of the harsh facts of life in our part of the world. We were overrun by the Japanese Army less than 30 years ago. Some, 20,000 to 30,000 men were massacred and most of the population lived under near-famine conditions. From 1948 to 1960, the Malayan Communist Party mounted widespread guerilla insurgency in the Malay Peninsula which was suppressed at great cost with much difficulty and with the full support of British arms. Between 1954 and 1963, the Communist United Front Organisations in Singapore literally ran riot. Between 1963 and 1965, while in Malaysia we were the target of what was virtually an undeclared low-level war waged by the Sukarno regime of Indonesia. But for British military protection, we would surely have succumbed. If we look around Southeast Asia today, the view that meets the eye is far from reassuring.”
“Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, on the introduction of this Bill on the 4th November, I was obliged to make a full Ministerial statement under Standing Order No. 10 explaining the new enlistment policy and the reasons for the changes. I do not propose to go over the same ground except to recapitulate some of the main arguments. This change in enlistment policy derives from a decision made by Government more than a year ago that students who proceed from the Higher School Certificate to the university should, in increasing numbers, do their national service before university education and not after it. It was not desirable to introduce this change in one fell swoop. Instead, deferment will be allowed to H.S.C. students, but in decreasing proportions over two or three years. For instance, this year about half of the H.S.C, students had their national service deferred until the completion of their university education. Next year, the proportion would be a quarter, and by 1973 everyone completes his national service before going to the university, except those awarded Colombo Plan and other overseas scholarships whose selection rests with the Public Service Commission. I should stress here that deferment means precisely what the word purports to mean. Those deferred will do their national service after graduation. There is no question of letting them off for good. It is a commentary on the character of the Singaporean that those who had their national service deferred were considered lucky. I wonder whether people would hold the same view three or four years from now. Today I propose to deal with three aspects of the defence policy. The first is why the defence build-up is necessary.”
“SECURITIES INDUSTRY BILL "to make provision with respect to stock exchanges and stock brokers and other persons dealing in securities; to create certain offences relating to trading in securities; and for purposes connected therewith", presented by Mr Hon Sui Sen; read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Companies Act, 1967 (No. 42 of 1967)", presented by Mr Hon Sui Sen; read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. PASSPORTS BILL "to repeal and re-enact the law relating to passports", presented by the Minister for Home Affairs (Prof. Wong Lin Ken); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.40 p.m.”
“23 of 1967)", presented for the Minister for Education by the Minister of State for Education (Dr Lee Chiaw Meng); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. PROHIBITION ON ADVERTISEMENTS RELATING TO SMOKING BILL "to prohibit advertisements relating to smoking", presented by the Minister for Culture (Mr Jek Yeun Thong); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. MUTUAL BENEFIT ORGANISATIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Mutual Benefit Organisations Ordinance, 1960 (No. 42 of 1960)", presented by the Minister for Social Affairs (Inche Othman Bin Wok); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. TREES AND PLANTS (PRESERVATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF AMENITIES) BILL "to provide for the preservation and growing of trees and plants", presented by the Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. PARKING PLACES (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Parking Places Ordinance, 1963 (No. 17 of 1963)", presented by Mr E. W. Barker; read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. CUSTOMS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Customs Ordinance, 1960 (No. 44 of 1960)", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Finance (Mr Hon Sui Sen); read the First time, to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.”