Harun bin A. Ghani
Singapore
“Sir, I was surprised when the Acting Minister for the Environment mentioned that the Chinatown area is low-lying. I have found out that many hawker centres, for example, the Adam Road hawker centre and some markets are flooded during a heavy downpour. Could ENV do something about it?”
“A month earlier, a New Paper journalist, Melvin Singh, also raised the same issue regarding the smell in the New Paper of 15th January 2001. He wrote about two of his wife's nephews who are of Chinese descent and aged 3 and 5 years. He said, "Both had hugged me in the same way they have done to their other uncles.”
“The Muslim residents in the Jurong area are grateful to the Government because, for many years, the Government has allowed Muslims to use the land in Jurong to build a mosque, which is the Jalan Majapahit Mosque. Unfortunately, at the end of 1999, the Mosque could not function any more because the site has been acquired.”
“Sir, point of clarification for the Minister. The Assyakirin Mosque is meant for the people who are residing or living in Taman Jurong and the Al-Mukminin Mosque is for those who are living in Toh Guan and Jurong East. So there is no mosque around Jurong West, and the number of dwelling units there is more than 20,000.”
“I hope the Ministry of Finance would consider my proposal so that alcohol consumption could be reduced and our youths will find it a pinch when buying and consuming alcohol. On the other hand, this will increase the revenue of the Government from $343.1 million to possibly $500 million a year.”
“I believe that this amendment is necessary if we were to see stability in our country. Evidently, it is vital that the amendment to the Drug Trafficking (Confiscation of Benefits) Act be amended to include corrupt practices and other serious crimes for the interest of our country.”
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“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Mr Cheo Chai Chen( In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head U of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code UG 2100. Sir, since the 1960s, the Government has been acquiring land belonging to the people for development purposes. In the process of acquisition, naturally there would be the problem of resettlement. For national development and the total benefit of the people in general, land acquisition is necessary. But we all know that in acquiring the properties and land, and resettling the people, there are a lot of stories of tears and blood, pains and sufferings. Because of the sacrifices of these people, our country now prospers. Singapore has taken a new appearance. But let me tell the House that even up till today many people are still feeling very bitter because of the resettlement. Their unhappiness is due to the following reasons: (1) the compensation was unfair and unreasonable; (2) the acquisition was carried out not in accordance with the right and proper procedure, for example, some houses were demolished even before the owners were compensated or given alternative accommodation; (3) the officials in charge bamboozled the people into signing the acceptance of compensation; (4) the officials in charge did not carry out the land measurement and evaluation seriously; (5) at the time of acquisition, the Government said it was for one purpose, and later it was found out that the land was acquired for another purpose. 2.30 pm My next point is that when the Government wanted the people to move out, no alternative site was provided.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head U of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code UC 1500. As we know, the Causeway was built during the colonial time. The colonialists could not imagine that the population of Singapore will grow and the people will live a comfortable life and keep on progressing and excelling. Sir, the Causeway prevented the sea water from flowing into the Strait of Johor. This has somehow caused pollution and destroyed marine life in the area. We do not want our water to be polluted. What is the Ministry of National Development's plan to overcome this problem? Is it possible for the Ministry to replace the Causeway with a bridge? If the Ministry builds a bridge, it will not only tackle the environmental problem, but it will also overcome the traffic congestion along the linkage between Singapore and Malaysia. Lastly, Sir, could the Minister update the progress of the construction of the second bridge in Tuas?”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head P of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code PA 1200. We heard the Minister for Health's reply pertaining to the campaigns organised by the Ministry of Health. The Health Ministry should be commended for its awareness programmes on serious illness such as diabetes, cancer, AIDS, hypertension, and campaigns on Healthy Lifestyle, Anti-Smoking, and so on. No one will argue that prevention is better than cure. I would like to ask the Ministry what is the main objective of introducing MediShield for children. How many children have enrolled for the campaign and what has been done? Has the Ministry planned to increase the parents' awareness of the importance of MediShield for their children?”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head I of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code ID 1500. Sir, we already have many container terminals in our country, such as Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Pasir Panjang, Sembawang and Brani. We have been made to understand that the Ministry of Communications will further expand the Pasir Panjang Container Terminal. The question is why is there a need to further expand the container terminal at Pasir Panjang. Is it because our terminals are not able to cope with the many ship arrivals? What is the cost of this expansion project at the Pasir Panjang Container Terminal? When can this expansion project be completed? And when it is ready, can Singapore surpass the bustle of Hong Kong port? In short, can we be number one in terms of shipping traffic and tonnage?”
“First, light category for motorcycles of 200 cc and below, second, medium category for those motorcycles between 201 and 400 cc, and third, heavy category for motorcycles of 400 cc and above. Sir, at present, the COE for motorcycles has gone up from $1 to $1,840. We do not know what will be the COE price for motorcycles in future when the price of a car is far beyond our reach and $1,800 means a lot to the lower income group.”
“Sir, I think I am on a different level with my GPC Chairman. At the end of 1994, the total number of cars registered was 324,026 and for motorcycles it was 125,000. Of this total number of motorcycles, 99,696 are light motorcycles, that is, 200 cc and below. 20,279 are medium-sized motorcycles, that is, 200 cc to 400 cc, and only 5,025 are heavy machines, that is, 400 cc and above. It is, therefore, clear that many in the lower income group can only afford to buy these motorcycles of 200 cc and below. To help the lower income group to own motorcycle, I hope the Ministry would introduce COEs for three categories of motorcycles. My reason for saying this is that those who can afford to own cars are given the opportunity to buy cars of their choice according to their means as there are five categories of COEs for motorcars. In fact, we should encourage as many people to buy motorcycles as this will help prevent traffic congestion and overcome the shortage of parking space. In actual fact, riding a motorcycle is not as dangerous as one may think, if every motorcyclist complies with the traffic rules. What causes an accident is when the motorcyclist is inattentive and careless when riding his motor bike or when he speeds. Sir, I believe not many people in the lower income group can afford to buy the heavy-sized motorcycles. This is clear from the figures, as mentioned by me earlier, that the light motorcycles of 200 cc and below are most popular among the lower income group and they form 79.7% of the motorcycle population. For this reason, I would like to suggest that the COEs for motorcycles be grouped into three categories.”
“Sir, is there any private company which has offered its service to operate a TV station?”
“Sir, I would like to know how many of the CL2, ML2 and TL2 teachers were promoted to SEO I and II, as well as to Principals. As she mentioned just now, only three were promoted to Principals. Why were so few of them promoted to SEO I and II, as well as to Vice-Principal and Principal, compared to L1 teachers?”
“Sir, how many Malay students are there in the top 10% bracket?”
“Sir, I am happy with the Minister's answer. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Besides requiring a large amount of investment, the services of skilled labour would also play an important role in determining the excellent services provided by Telecom. In view of this, will the employees be given skills training or have they been trained and are ready to excel in providing such services in future? What about those who are not able to adjust themselves to the rapid expansion of Telecom, especially long service employees? Either their services are no longer required or they would be transferred to do tasks which are different from their usual jobs. And if their services are no longer required, what sort of compensation would Telecom provide them? Sir, Telecom's intention is to sell its shares to the public, and I think the Deputy Prime Minister has already mentioned that he would not float TAS. It is indeed a prudent move and should be commended. My sincere hope is that its employees should be given priority in purchasing the shares through CPF savings so as to boost the morale of the employees. I am saying this not because my wife is working with Telecom. It is just coincidental. For those who do not have CPF savings, this is the time for them to start saving and learn to be thrifty for their future and old age. 4.15 pm Sir, my hope is that if Telecom wants to reap large profits through privatisation and increase capital expenditure on high technology and sophisticated equipment, the burden of bearing the high cost should not be shifted to the consumers.”
“Sir, when Telecom introduced the new pricing system for charging usage of telephone, all levels of society felt that the action caused inconvenience to the public. Sir, the Ministry of Communications became a target for this unhappiness. However, through a survey conducted in December 1991 and feedback received, 73% of the users would pay lesser than before. This relieved the public and less unhappiness heard. Sir, indirectly, Telecom has succeeded in educating the public to be thrifty. My compliments to the Minister for Communications. Further to this, I would like to know the information pertaining to the public usage of telephone in the months of January and February this year. If it is invariable with the findings in December and feedback received, then the public would be more relieved. Sir, the time-based charging system may indirectly reduce the profit or may not be profitable to Telecom. Therefore, how would Telecom reconcile the reduction in revenue earned with its expansion plan of employing high technology? Sir, it seems that there is one more point which causes unhappiness to factory employees who want to use the office telephone. Those who work in the factory will not be able to use the office telephone. It would be better if Telecom provides card telephones in factory offices so that they can be used by the employees. I raise this point because there are factories which want to install card telephones but their applications were rejected by Telecom. This year, Telecom is entering the privatisation era and definitely it has big programmes which require high technology equipment and services.”
“Two awards were presented -- The Best Asian Feature Film and the Best Singapore Short Film. For this year's film festival, the two award categories have been enhanced to include under each category an award for Best Director and a Special Jury Prize. Our TV and film industry is still developing. Awards help, but awards are prestigious, not when we proclaim them to be, but when our industry has reached a high level of achievement. That will take time.”
“My question is: would MITA please look into the programme for the minorities? BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Sir, in Part II of SBC's privatisation study, we have to look very carefully into how we will regulate the free to air broadcast of Channels 5, 8 and 12, and make sure that the standards are maintained, to make sure that enough time is set aside for information, for education and for minority programming. Here, I would like to assure Mr Harun Ghani that minority language broadcasting will not be neglected. I am not, however, convinced right now that Malay programming is necessarily uneconomic. I think we should work harder towards developing a regional market for our Malay programmes. It is not easy, but we should try. As for cable television, it will start in April this year with the first news channel. This will be a completely separate company. SBC will only have a minority stake in it. It will be a separate company under a holding company owned by Temasek. We will not regulate pay television as tightly because we do not quite know how the market will pan out. So I say we regulate as we go along. I am giving them as much commercial flexibility as possible because we must make sure that there is a market for it in the first place. Mr Peh Chin Hua's proposal that we organise annual awards ceremonies for television and film productions, I think the idea is very sound. We have started. Last year, SBC gave awards for outstanding achievement in television as well as radio production. The first ceremony was in-house but we hope to televise this year's ceremony on television. There are various other awards that they give out from time to time. For films, the Silver Screen Awards were launched last year during the Fourth Singapore Inter- national Film Festival.”
“Privatisation means working towards expansion and moving ahead without forgetting to maximise profit. Definitely, SBC has good programmes for multi-racial radio listeners and television viewers. Deputy Prime Minister BG Lee, in his wrap-up speech on the debate on his Ministry of Trade and Industry, has assured that programmes for the minority groups would not be neglected and would also be given equal weightage with others. I think it is not wrong for me to voice out again the issue so that the management will not forget and will always be sensitive in dealing with this issue. Good programmes would attract many viewers. Thus, it would be profitable to SBC because many sponsors would like to sponsor such programmes. Indirectly, sponsorship in English and Mandarin would monopolise most of the SBC programmes. What worries me is that even if most of the minorities view the programmes for the minority, it would not be profitable in terms of sponsorship because the number is relatively small.”
“Will the Minister re-consider it if I pursue the matter?”