Hawazi Daipi
Singapore
“Madam, between 2001 and 2014, of the international students at secondary and junior college levels who were granted permanent residence (PR) on their own merit, around one-quarter were on scholarships, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) scholarship, for their studies.”
“Madam, we are aware that these are secondary and pre-university students who are not likely to start working immediately after they have completed their "A" levels. So, we do not require them to work in Singapore. It is separate from the university-level scholarships. Page: 34”
“Madam, as I have said in my reply, we leave it to the schools to decide on whether a student or a staff member is fit or good enough for certain types of overseas trips. Some overseas trips can be very physically challenging, but some may not be.”
“Madam, the Member may be aware that MOE has worked with the Temasek Cares for a programme to assist families to manage the cost of treatment after the insurance coverage cap has been reached.”
“I think, generally, yes, Madam. The travel insurance coverage includes accidents and treatment of injuries as a result of accidents, as well as repatriation.”
“At the ground-breaking event, a number of non-Muslim grassroots leaders asked me how they can also support the construction of this community institution in Woodlands. I am heartened by such a supportive spirit and inter-racial and inter-religious cooperation.”
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“He saw me after four months of being unemployed and seemed concerned. He said that half of his compensation of $16,000 which he received would be gone within a matter of months if he did not find an alternative job. The money was compensation of half a month's salary for every year of service as a production supervisor in the company. Fortunately, he found an alternative job as a maintenance supervisor, but I was concerned that such an alternative job would also not remain for long if his new employer restructures his operations and practises outsourcing. The irony was that the constituent had an NTC-3 qualification 16 years ago. The qualification is no longer relevant in other factories, especially in view of the competition from younger workers. In short, while we should help the workers who need to find alternative jobs, what is more important is how we can widen this assistance to ensure that our workers who are vulnerable to retrenchment can have their employability enhanced through retraining and skills upgrading. Based on a number of visits to the Skills Development Centre in Bukit Merah, I find that our workers who have lost their jobs and who have undergone skills training there generally have a positive attitude towards skills upgrading. They realise the need for technical skills. Government and employers should encourage and open more opportunities for workers such as my constituent, to enhance their skills through the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) for workers in service, so that they can remain employable. But no less important is the need for the Government to open many more opportunities for workers who have lost their jobs to gain skills training through the facilitated programme under the SRP. The type of courses offered must also be widened.”
“Mr Speaker, I speak in support of the motion by Mr Davinder Singh to express a motion of thanks to the President for the Address he has given. With the election of President S R Nathan in which he himself has expressed that he is in his twilight years, he is an example to our workers that they are never too old to take on new tasks or to learn new skills. In connection with our manpower in Singapore, two changes that will certainly affect our workers more concretely are the faster pace of globalisation of human resources at one time and the ageing of our workforce. Both processes will influence the contact between employers and workers and thus affect the credibility of our aged workers to continue working. We have seen the trend from various sectors affecting our workers regardless of age. Unfortunately, this trend will affect more the older workers aged 40 years and above. Mr Speaker, we are not concerned with the young workers or future workers who are now studying who will gain the skills because the opportunity for them to be employable for life is being nurtured now. The problem is with older workers aged 40 years and above who are without the basic skills even though they may have the experience. This issue has been raised by many parties, including Members of Parliament, in these three days of debate. But I believe this has to be emphasised. I do not have dramatic stories to tell but I hope that our workers will grab all opportunities that they have to enhance their skills so that they will remain employable for their own interest. In the midst of the economic downturn early this year, I met a worker who was retrenched after 16 years because his company transferred its manufacturing operations to Batam.”
“What is the total number of retrenchment expected this year and which sectors would contribute mostly to this retrenchment?”
“Women are sidelined in their careers once they demand flexible working arrangements, as if these are intolerable conditions to be imposed on the company. This goes to the roots of the way our society is structured. I think probably it is time for us to look into how we look at this issue. When we look at our older workers, we have extended the retirement age to 62, as our people live longer and in better health. We also need to find ways and means to allow our older workers to continue working with dignity and self-respect. The Government should look at other ways of persuading companies to keep their senior employees beyond the mandatory retirement age of 62. One way is perhaps to look at reducing company tax with every such worker whom the company continues to employ. Sir, overall, when we look at the achievements of Singapore, we have developed most in the economic realm. Though the Government has done everything possible to ensure that these achievements profit every citizen, it remains a fact that some have succeeded better than others, and that there is a marginalised sector of Singapore society which has not integrated. What we have achieved in economic terms must now be supported by social integration and cohesiveness, especially when we are faced with the homogenizing effect of globalisation. It is from the values of our society that we define ourselves as a nation, rather than an economy.”
“All the money in the world will not persuade Singapore and that each and every one of them matters in the blueprint of Singaporean achievement. What is crucially needed is acceptance, acceptance of Singaporeans that are different. We recognise only those who have made it in terms of financial gains or reputation and all the recognition that we give to those who excel also gives rise to a sense of failure in the rest. What makes a musician successful to Singapore society - only when he is recognised as a great musician internationally. Are the other Singaporean musicians failures? Have they not succeeded in their own terms? We cannot be afraid that if we stop the continual praising of those who have become the best internationally, that the rest of Singapore will stop striving to be the best! On the other level, the self worth of any individual can be strengthened by his family. To have strong family bonds can ensure an individual's success in any field and his confidence to take different paths in his life. Failure can only be felt within when your family designates you a failure, but this will never happen in strong families that recognise the worth of each family member. The lynchpin of any strong family normally revolves around the woman, perhaps contrary to the belief of society. In the roles of wife, mother and daughter which sometimes occur at the same time or in different phases, women determine whether family holds together through each period of stress. Much more has to be done to assist women in the workplace. It is not only the setting up of flexible working arrangements for women. There has also got to be a change in the way our society looks at women who work.”
“One of the crucial areas where social change can occur is in our schools because it is there that we prepare our children to become the citizens of tomorrow. Our education system has been geared towards examinations and paper qualifications and, therefore, society sees paper qualifications as the ultimate measurement of success. How are we going to change this? This is a very important question. We are going in the right direction when we start to look into making project work one of the requirements of university admission. We can go further by looking at introducing project work and open book examinations at the different levels of streaming. These encourage more thinking, analysis and creativity than the kind of examinations we have today which only encourage rote learning and a blinkered vision. We have to look into the best teaching methods in the world and work this into the training of our teachers. We could also look into giving our teachers wider exposure in different styles of teaching by exchange programmes with schools in different countries. At the same time, it provides our teachers with an international outlook that they pass on to the students they teach. We can also look into increasing the number of and improving the standards of specialty schools that we have. Singapore has the potential to become the regional hub for fine arts because of our centrality in the region and because we have the resources to ensure quality education, facilities and facilitators. We can talk about Government financial support to set up facilities, to pay world-class lecturers and to subsidise genius but this kind of aid will never be able to achieve what it has set out to do.”
“Then take the case of Tampines Town Council's decision to charge $300 per session to a group of women who exercise weekly at a public park in Tampines. If the town council needs to charge a fee to cover some maintenance costs, it should consider a reasonable fee. And if it is true that the town council had wanted to charge as much as $300 per session to the group of 40, then I think it is much too much. I believe there is no racial undertone here. And there should not be any such thing. But we are talking about people in the age group and racial background who are most vulnerable to the heart and related illnesses, who need to exercise, and should be encouraged to do so. The Residents' Committee of the area can help them organise better, and these such groups need to be told of their responsibility and obligations in using public places like the park in Tampines. But whether the Straits Times has sensationalised the matter or not, it is something that must be ironed out. What we need to do is therefore to include, and not to exclude people. It will help make our people feel that they do matter, and we are serious about strengthening family and social cohesion. I can only read out the reaction of a 16-year old youth on this matter to remind ourselves of the need of not losing sight of the big picture. Mr Safarudin Abdul Rahman was quoted by the Straits Times to have said, "Relax-lah, this is an open space for public use. What's this talk about one people, one nation, one Singapore?". Sir, as recommended by the report, we have to widen our definition of success but how we are going to do that has yet to be looked at.”
“I suppose we need to do a little bit more work to convince Singaporeans that we do need to welcome foreign talents. Sir, what our labour movement is doing, together with the Government and the employers federation, is to help create skills among Singapore workers, especially the older workers with low skills, so that they remain relevant and able to function in the knowledge-based economy. To me, this is how our society tries to meet the needs and protect the basic interests of the older Singaporean workers, for the best welfare we can extend to our fellow Singaporeans is to create jobs for them and enhance their employability. In this respect, I applaud the Government's decision, announced by the Prime Minister on Labour Day, to give more funds to NTUC's Education and Training Funds (ETF) and Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) so that more Singaporean workers can benefit from skills training opportunities. Sir, it shows that we do care for our people. If Singaporeans are to believe that each and every one of them matters, then the voice of each sector of society must be heard and taken seriously by society and by the Government. We must be respectful of each other and each sector of the society, respect for them as being a group of intelligent fellow citizens. If we mean to tell people that they matter, they must be informed first before certain actions that can affect them are taken. Take SingNet's scanning of the vulnerability of the computers of its 200,000 Internet subscribers without first telling them about it. I appreciate SingNet's explanation, but somehow, there is this feeling that customers should be the last to know. Sir, this must change.”
“With the call for foreign talent echoing through the past few years, especially in the past few months, at a time of economic crisis, some of our people have been afraid that Singaporeans would be marginalised in the Government's bid to attract foreign talent. We should not take lightly the recent emotions raised by this spectre which came bubbling up to the surface when Singaporeans were losing jobs. I appreciate their concerns. Somewhere, if our people do not understand, then the message put out has gone astray, so we have to give our vision greater clarity and transparency, and areas of friction have to be addressed. We have to answer difficult questions; what do we mean by foreign talent, should remunerations of foreigners and Singaporeans of equal talent differ, are the goodies provided to attract foreign talent also available for Singaporean talent, what kinds of foreign talent do we need, are controls in place to ensure that "riff-raff" of the world are sifted out and what are these controls. These are just a few of the questions which need to be clarified. In the end, the phrase "Every Singaporean Matters" must be believed by the people because we can only rely on ourselves to make sure that we matter. But it is quite easy to ask questions and raise concern but it is not easy to find the solutions. On the issue of foreign talent, we have to help Singaporeans see the big picture too. To start with, the number of foreign workers is controlled by the quota system. So, the majority of workers in Singapore will always be Singaporeans. Foreign talents are brought in not at the expense of Singaporeans. Instead, we need foreign talents to help enhance our competitiveness and competitive edge and create even more jobs for Singaporeans.”
“Sir, let me speak on the topic "Every Singaporean Matters". In an age of globalisation, where nations face tremendous pressures from outside, there is also a tremendous transference of values that we, as a young nation, have to contend with. The debate that we face today on the recommendations of the Singapore 21 Committee is crucial because we need to prepare now for the future. I commend the Singapore 21 Committee and all participants of the discussions organised by the Committee for coming up with this document. What we have before us is not just a collection of views of the Committee, but the collective wisdom of many, many more people, about 6,000 in all, who care about the development and future of our society. I rise therefore to support this motion. The recommendations put forth raise further questions on how we can obtain the best future for Singaporeans, transcending all levels and across all boundaries that separate us as individuals. The preparations we make today are our legacy to the next generation, and with the steps we take now, we must ensure that future generations applaud our actions in ensuring not only their survival but also their prosperity. The range and complexity of issues arising from a world without borders impose challenges that require us to form new attitudes as we are forced to address issues - issues brought about through the transference of outside values, that we never had to face before. This is the cost of progression to a knowledge-based industry, a progression that is necessary to ensure us a place in the international economy and community.”
“Sir, in the Ministry's efforts to improve the teaching of mother tongues, the quality of teachers should be given emphasis. This is relevant to all mother tongues. On the issue of Malay language teaching in schools, the younger Malay teachers, like most other young teachers in Singapore, are likely to have had an English-based education and most would have taken Malay as a second language. With regard to this, how competent are they in teaching ML1 or higher level Malay? The Minister for Education has stated that the percentage of students taking ML1 will be increased from 20% to 30%. Are there currently enough Malay Language teachers to be able to cope with an increase of students from 350 at present levels to 500 in the next year? If we are short of Malay language teachers, how will the Ministry increase the number? Like other professions that are based on vernacular languages, for example, journalism in Mandarin, Tamil and Malay in Singapore, we are likely to see continued shortage of capable people to teach the mother tongues, particularly at the higher language level. We can always look at the possibility of recruiting suitable teachers from overseas to fill the need for such teachers. But we can actually still tap the local talent pool for language teaching if we provide the proper incentives. The Ministry should consider offering scholarship to `A' level holders who are deemed capable to teach the mother tongues at a higher level. At the same time, the Ministry should also state clearly that second language teachers who have the leadership potential stand a chance to be promoted not just up to the level of senior subject teacher, but also to the level of Principal or Vice-Principal.”
“Sir, early childhood education has been left primarily to the private sector with a significant input from the PAP Community Foundation's kindergarten centres. Almost all children entering primary school have had at least two years in kindergarten where there is some degree of preparation for primary education. However, this preparation for primary education is done at different phase and different intensity with different centres focusing on different things. Do these kindergartens meet the Ministry of Education's expectations of what they should do to prepare the children for primary education? To start with, does the Ministry expect the kindergartens to prepare children for primary education? If so, what are expected of the children who enter primary one? Considering the importance of pre-primary education as a foundation for primary education, it is very important therefore, to me, for the Ministry to issue clear guidelines in the areas of curriculum to all providers and operators of nurseries and kindergartens. If our pre-primary educators and parents know exactly what the children are expected to know when the latter enter primary one, our children's learning journey can be smoother.”
“I think giving ECA as much as 25% in weightage is too excessive. For all the knowledge that has to be learnt in two years at 'A' level, as a foundation for university education, giving the 'A' level results only 50% in weightage is, to me, very imbalanced. Part of the SAT study should also look at the wider social picture and determine whether a system that prepares all students equally to sit for SAT can be put in place. Despite some studies which show that SAT coaching really does not help, I am sure we are going to see parents and students scrambling to prepare for SAT examinations and tests. Sir, I do agree that we have to re-evaluate our education system by introducing changes, but short notices should not be a habit of ours. I would therefore agree with my Education GPC colleague, Mr Loh Meng See, that we should delay the implementation of the new university admission system by another year or two.”
“Sir, before the recommendation that SAT should be part of university admission from the year 2002 is accepted, we need to examine a number of issues carefully. This is especially since the SAT has become a controversial issue in the American system, which has been using SAT scores for university or college admission for several years already. There are conflicting research studies and statistics compiled over what SAT actually measures and doubts cast as to whether one can use the test to predict the future performance of high SAT scorers. With a population of 4 million people, we need to maximise our human resources as much as possible. We need to give them the opportunities to get higher education, and we should try to have more students admitted into our universities. Following from this, is there really any need for SAT to be applied across the board? Or perhaps it might be better used as a tool to look at those whose 'A' level results are just below the borderline admission criteria for university. The question is, what are the factors which led to the recommendation of a weightage of 25% for SAT scores as part of university admission? It interests me quite significantly that our colleague, Dr Teo Ho Pin, has suggested that 'A' level results should be given 50% of weightage for university admission; another 25% from SAT and 25% from ECA. Sir, I would like to stress, that there is so much to learn at 'A' level, and ECA should not be used as a major criterion for university admission, no matter how well we want to open the opportunities for our students with varied and different talents to enter into university, and contribute to the multitude of talented Singaporeans who can contribute to our progress in the future.”
“What we do not wish to see is a situation whereby "what is pursued is not obtained, while what we have falls out of our grasp", meaning that while value-added performance does not improve significantly, the stress level experienced by teachers rises. On a related subject, our schools have received much from the Edusave funds to provide special courses for our students. Does the Ministry decide on different criteria or guidelines for different courses? Many schools obtain the services of organisations outside schools to run the courses. How does the Ministry determine that the courses offered to students are good? 2.15 pm”
“We took advantage of available opportunities to compete and improve ourselves in education and career. If students from moderate and low-income families could achieve good performance in education, they will certainly find sweet success. This is among the characteristics of Singaporeans. We should support and motivate the cultivation of values which help in the creation of this value-added performance. I raise this question because I believe that it will help in developing self-confidence, motivation and capability among our young. To encourage children from moderate families and those whose past performance did not achieve good results to take advantage of all available opportunities in schools, I hope their "value-added performance" will be given extra points in school ranking. We wish to see our children whose performance was not good at an earlier level achieve better performance at the next level. I learn that the Ministry of Education now does not rank schools only. It is also implementing ranking among teachers. I am not sure whether this will produce a favourable outcome. But if ranking among teachers can help in improving their performance, this is good enough for me. If it is accepted as good, I would like to suggest that teachers who help their students in achieving "value-added performance" be given more points in the ranking. We should send the correct signal to our educators that no matter how low is the performance of the students who enter their schools, these students should be helped to realise their potentials. Generally, I would like to ask the Education Minister about his assessment of our students' "value-added performance" at various levels. Have we seen a visible improvement in our students' achievement?”
“Sir, one long-term objective of the Education Ministry is to increase the opportunities for young Singaporeans to seek further education. Our education system strives to reduce the drop-out rate among students at all levels of schooling. This is a noble aspiration which will hopefully be pursued further. To raise our students' performance through competition, the Education Ministry has implemented a school ranking system. What we see normally is that schools at the top are those that are already known to be very good. On the other hand, year after year, the majority of neighbourhood schools form the category at the bottom of the ranking list. If Singapore wants to prepare our young citizens in the best way possible for the era of knowledge-based economy, we should help them to maximise their potentials, regardless of whether they study in the outstanding schools or ordinary neighbourhood schools. Hence, while we accord recognition to the leading schools at the top of the ranking every year, I hope we will not neglect to give attention to neighbourhood schools whose academic performance is not on par with the better schools. We should give all encouragement and support in terms of basic facilities, effort and also good teachers to neighbourhood schools so that their students, the majority of whom are children of moderate families, could improve their performance in school. Therefore, I would like to see value-added performance being given due attention and recognition in placing schools on the ranking list every year. Whether we like it or not, socio-economic and income levels of families have an impact on the educational performance of students. Many adult Singaporeans who have succeeded today come from such families.”
“Sir, ASEAN has been an important cornerstone of Singapore's foreign policy. However, bilateral problems in the past year between ASEAN member countries appeared to have affected ASEAN warmth. What measures, if any, have been taken by both Singapore and by ASEAN to remain on course in regional cooperation? As Singapore has taken over the chairmanship of the ASEAN Standing Committee this year, can the Foreign Minister outline the main agenda and focus that Singapore has set for ASEAN this year? ASEAN has demonstrated its unity in the face of differences with the European Union over Myanmar's participation in the ASEAN-EU Dialogue. Despite the differences with EU, ASEAN does have other avenues for dialogues with European nations through the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Is this observation right, or are there more costs to ASEAN than it appears to be? On Myanmar in particular, how successful has ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement been? Has it led to any substantial opening of Myanmar's economy? Has any progress been made in integrating Myanmar into ASEAN's political culture? How can ASEAN continue to stand united on Myanmar, and yet remain in constructive dialogues with other regional groupings? Sir, for the past seven to eight years, ASEAN has moved towards wider economic cooperation through the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). And I believe ASEAN is now working on the details to liberalise the flow of investments within the grouping. Could the Minister inform the House about the progress in these areas of economic cooperation? Has the regional economic crisis affected adversely the scope and speed of these efforts?”
“Against this backdrop, I would like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what the Government views as the regional security challenges in the next few years, and what steps would be taken to secure Singapore's interests in this context. Sir, very often, regional stability is contributed by a good network of bilateral relations. Singapore wishes to have, and must maintain, good relations with its neighbours. Of late, or rather from time to time, these relations are put to test when we face bilateral hiccups, for example, with Indonesia and Malaysia. We have been called names and accused of insincerity. Indonesia, in particular, has called on us not to be just a "fair-weather friend". This remark has arisen over its perception that our offer of bilateral trade financing and other economic assistance had not been forthcoming. We must maintain a bilateral relation that is based on mutual respect, irrespective of size, and mutual support. However, even if we see strains in our relations, we should always maintain an open communication channel. Could the Minister tell us about the progress in our relations with Indonesia, including the current status of our offer of the bilateral trade financing scheme? With regard to relations with Malaysia, what is the prospect of us settling bilateral issues in a comprehensive manner?”
“Sir, in the ASEAN region, the past year had been dominated by important changes in the domestic political situation. Succession issues, reform movements and changes of governments in ASEAN countries seemed to have conspired to bring a situation of political instability to some of our neighbouring countries. These issues have worsened the economic problems that these countries are already facing as a result of the recession. Governments which already have their hands full dealing with the fragile economies now have also to carefully manage domestic political problems. Pushed, so to speak, to a corner by the turn of events, some of these governments have responded by falling back on domestic issues as their number one priority. Foreign affairs now appear to have taken a back seat. In cases where foreign affairs matters were raised, these have been used to advance domestic agendas. The downgrading of the foreign policy agenda by certain ASEAN governments may lead to questions over the state of regional security. For instance, the collective defence arrangement, the Five-Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) exercise, had to be postponed last year. The Spratlys issue remains unresolved and a potential flash point. On a wider plane, regional instability can arise over China's negative reactions to the US-Japan cooperation on the Theatre Missile Defence system. An ASEAN less focused on external security and fragmented by bilateral squabbles would not be able to give a firm collective response to security challenges. This could lead to a lowering of stability and security in our region.”
“It must be a national effort which involves all sectors in our economy. I would like to ask the Minister for Manpower about the role that would be given to the trade union movement, Chambers of Commerce and Industry and self-help organisations so that our workers who need training to transit into a knowledge-based economy can get all the training facilities and opportunities they can get in future.”
“Sir, I am pleased to note that the Ministry of Manpower has already come up with the key features of the national life-long learning system in Singapore. With more than half a million workers who are above 35 years or so, who have low educational qualifications and low level of skills, a comprehensive training system is much needed. The Ministry has said that incentives would be given to employers and individual workers so that skills training can be provided and taken up by the employers and workers respectively. Currently, workers whose companies have signed up under the Skills Redevelopment Programme have better chances for training for higher skills than those in companies which have not signed up. Union members can take advantage of the NTUC's Education and Training Fund, but workers in the non-unionised sectors would have less opportunities for skills training. The proposed national life-long training system must take into consideration the needs of this group of workers. There are also those workers, especially the sole breadwinners, who fear a loss in income if they take up training courses. They should be sufficiently enticed to take up courses so that they can improve themselves. On the other side of the coin, Sir, are companies which may be reluctant to send their workers for higher skills training other than those provided by the companies themselves. Such companies may fear that their workers may job hop after they have got better training and better skills. How will the Ministry encourage such companies to send their workers for skills upgrading? Sir, the task to help our workers to transit to a knowledge-based economy is a huge one. I do not think it can be done by just the Government.”
“Sir, last year, about 28,000 workers lost their jobs and indeed we had just learnt from the Minister for Manpower that there were 23,000 jobs net loss experienced by December last year. The Ministry of Manpower has initiated a job assistance scheme to help retrenched workers secure alternative jobs quickly. Sir, I would like to know how successful has the scheme been, how many people have sought assistance from MOM, either directly on their own or through their Members of Parliament, and what is the proportion who managed to get jobs through the scheme, and how successful have the job fairs which have been organised at the CDC level. Sir, I think it is important for MOM to conduct a study on the retrenched workers, so that we know which types of workers face greater problems in getting alternative jobs. In the past year, Members of Parliament have been approached by more residents to ask for help to get jobs. Such cases are referred to MOM. But from the replies given by MOM to these residents, it appears to me that some of the retrenched workers did not take up the jobs offered to them. Some did not even turn up for the interviews to which they were invited. The question is: how many have actually got jobs on their own by the time they were offered jobs by MOM? Because many of these workers are low skilled and low income and if they remain unemployed for a longer period of time, their families will suffer. It is therefore important for us to know why they did not take up the jobs offered by MOM, when, in the first place, they were the ones who sought assistance from MOM through their MPs. It is important to understand this as we will continue to face unemployment and retrenchment problems even when the economy is doing well in future.”
“Sir, six budget sittings ago, the Minister for Information and the Arts announced in this House the formation of a working group to look into the establishment of a Malay Heritage Centre. I believe MITA has examined the working group's recommendations, and would like to ask the Minister whether the Government has made a decision on the matter. I personally think there is a need to set up a Malay Heritage Centre which can be a centre of reference for Malay culture. The Malay community in Singapore originates from many different parts of the region. In the past, living in their own enclaves, they showed distinct characteristics. However, in the past two decades or so, with inter-marriages and lesser use of their own dialects or rather languages, the young Singaporeans from these Malay sub-ethnic background may not be aware of their own cultural heritage. The Malay Heritage Centre, if and when established, could therefore be a reference centre for those who want to learn about and contribute to the understanding of the Malays in general and the Malay sub-ethnic groups - their history of migration, languages and dialects as well as their business and trade links. I would like to ask the Minster a few basic questions. If MITA supports the establishment of a Malay Heritage Centre, where will it be located, who will run it, and what kind of support will the Government give to the Centre?”
“Sir, in recent weeks, there have been some discussions about the position of Malays in the Singapore Armed Forces. Certainly, this subject has caught the attention of Singaporeans. As was recalled by Mr Sin Boon Ann, Malays are known to have made progress in the SAF. It is noted that the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Dr Tony Tan, has said that it makes no sense for the SAF not to appoint or promote officers simply because they are Malays. Like in other professions, meritocracy is the basis for appointment and promotion of officers. This is a principle which Malays, like others, have accepted and lived with. Bearing that in mind, Sir, could the Minister enlighten the House on how much progress have Malay soldiers made in the SAF? For example, how many Malay soldiers have risen through the senior ranks and won scholarships and study awards given by the SAF?”
“Sir, all countries in the region in Southeast Asia and East Asia, in general, have taken a beating as a result of the economic crisis that we are facing now. Some even face social and political turmoil and crisis. As some of these countries turn inward to overcome their own political, social and economic problems, relations between neighbours could become even more sensitive and, to a certain extent, some even more strained than before. Have all these had any effect on the strategic situation in Southeast Asia and East Asia as the region becomes more unstable than before the recession began? I could only assume so and therefore support our defence expenditure in order to enhance our own defence capability. Sir, could the Minister give his assessment of the strategic and security situation in our region?”
“At a time when we are worried about the vulnerability of our older workers to the structural changes of our economy, we cannot afford to see our young people wasting the educational and training opportunities open to them in our schools and institutions. Instead, we should push towards greater value-added performances by students and schools. Sir, allow me to go back to a point I made earlier about how people expect so much from the Government, both in good and bad times. At a time when we are talking about re-skilling our workers, instead of giving outright rebates, should not the Government consider giving away the goodies in the form that can be used for skills training by our workers? In short, we should re-visit the idea of "skillsave" for workers along the same line that we give Edusave to our students. Sir, NMP Mr Gerard Ee had earlier said that while we help our people prepare for the future challenges, we must not lose sight of their current difficulties. I would like to take a look at the other side of the coin. The point I am making is that while we earnestly help the needy in these times of difficulties, we must not lose sight of the long-term problems and challenges facing our economy. We must help our old and young Singaporeans to re-tool themselves with the skills that are relevant for the future. This is in their own interest and in the interest of our nation. In conclusion, the raising of these issues is fundamental to the kind of society we wish to progress towards. It is perhaps the silver lining in the economic recession that we are faced with today when such issues come into sharper focus and we realise the need to address them to advance. ADJOURNMENT OF DEBATE Resolved, That the debate be now adjourned. - [Mr Wong Kan Seng].”
“Legislation to implement the kinds of laws that enforce equal opportunity can be damaging to race relations which is already a sensitive issue in a multi-ethnic nation like Singapore. This kind of legislation can lead to the polarisation of society through confrontation as it dictates the correct responses with the likely result of anger and cynicism. The better path would be education and persuasion, that it is in the best interest of our society and our nation when there is respect for age, for women, for those who are handicapped and for people of other races. This can and should be taught, especially in a still developing, young society like Singapore. I am glad that Government leaders like Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Tony Tan, have spoken against discriminatory practices at workplaces. We must send the right signals that discrimination along the line of age, gender or race is also not acceptable. Singaporeans must be provided with the necessary education and training to see that discrimination in any form is detrimental to the refinement of our society. We should make it even more possible for Singaporeans of different racial groups and social status to work with and support each other. Our self-help organisations should be provided with the incentives to open the doors of their services to members of other ethnic groups. Sir, I think we should also try to ensure that what I consider as `manpower leakage' is reduced. I am talking about drop-outs from our education system. Over the years, our education system is designed to ensure that all young Singaporeans obtain a good basic education and skills training.”
“For union members, there are less problems as our network of unions has schemes to help members find alternative jobs and render relief assistance to the retrenched. But only about a quarter of our workers are union members, and in the larger context, we should help our fellow Singaporeans in a more coordinated way. In our vision of a caring society, we need more than just the solutions to an individual's predicament. We also need to provide the "doctor" who will bridge the gap between the "disease" and the "medicine". We need a systemic approach to the situation rather than the laudable but ad-hoc actions. We should have officers in agencies like the CDCs, officers with the heart in the right places, to guide and advise fellow Singaporeans who have lost their jobs and are facing difficulties. In an employers' market, the individual is helpless in the face of discrimination. Discrimination, be it along the line of race, gender or age, can become the root of contradiction to the bonds of citizenship that I spoke about earlier. When employers fall to temptation and take advantage of the present crisis to satisfy their prejudices against specific sectors of people, then Singapore as a nation becomes a sham. That is not what we aspire for Singapore. Luckily, this is not a widespread practice. I do not think that we are seeing the worsening of this situation. But when jobs are more scarce and the retrenched take more time to get alternative jobs, such form of discrimination becomes more glaring. The question before us then is: should we legislate against discrimination as in the United States? I would argue against this. We do have in place instruments to counter outright prejudices, like the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.”
“The HDB heartlanders who may not pay income tax or pay little of it, I believe, do appreciate the rebate on conservancy charges. I do agree with the Prime Minister and some speakers before me that we must help and take care of each other in times of difficulties. To start with, the social safety net in Singapore has been excellent. No one has been forced to be on the street when he is out of employment as the HDB allows mortgage repayment scheme that is sympathetic to them. The children of such workers would also not have to leave school as there are assistance schemes for them to pay their school fees. Those who fall sick and really cannot pay their hospitalisation bills, they too have not been turned away just because they cannot afford it. For individuals, especially the sole breadwinners affected by the economic crisis, ie, those who have been retrenched, forced into bankruptcy or those who have had their salaries reduced, a comprehensive scheme of referral and help would assist them to overcome the tremendous psychological impact of these difficult times. Again, there are several different programmes devised by the Government or community organisations, but the individual in despair is usually likely not to know where or how to begin. To be more effective, organisations like the CDCs could create a one-stop centre with trained officers to advise and counsel those adversely affected by the economic crisis, steering them towards Government and community programmes which are available and suitable for their needs. These officers could then cater to the individual's specific needs as such a person has certain problems which are particular and peculiar to him or her.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, at no other time than in the midst of an economic crisis do we feel most strongly the bond of citizenship that ties us together as one community, one nation, as Singaporeans. Through the economic and political uncertainties in the region, hardship due to retrenchments and reduction in income, and the sheer grit to be on top of the challenges and to stay ahead of our competitors, I believe Singaporeans have become closer together. While the feeling is that the people have become closer to the Government, their expectation of the Government has also grown. We begin to demand much more from the Government than we did when the economy was booming and growing, when times were good. So, in good times people expect a lot from the Government, and in bad times, perhaps a lot more. Perhaps this is expected of a good Government, which means so much more to the people in adversity. And the Government has indeed come through with several schemes and programmes to assist those in economic difficulty - to help our people deal with the difficult situation. These schemes and programmes comprise outright assistance to individuals as well as indirect assistance to keep businesses alive in Singapore, through incentives and tax cuts. For businesses, they are structurally well able to take advantage of the different Government programmes, some to maintain an existence until good times come again, while others take the opportunity to grow and generate more business. Sir, it has not escaped the people that this Government cares for them. The tax rebate and the rebate on service and conservancy charges are cases in point. They are really important at a time when our workers have sacrificed in terms of wage and CPF cuts.”
“Sir, does the Ministry have any other plans to help create the Malay cultural elite through schools? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: When we were discussing the Chinese Language review the Ministry has indicated that it would be prepared to consider a language elective programme in Malay at the junior college level if there is a demand for this. We have to study this. Some of the other measures which we were talking about include the bonus points for entry to courses in the university where Higher Mother Tongue would be useful, for example, in communications studies. These things would apply to all the mother tongue languages, whether it is Chinese, Malay or Tamil. This is still in discussion with the universities. SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PLAN SCHOOL IN NORTHERN PART OF SINGAPORE 2. Encik Harun A Ghani asked the Minister for Education whether his Ministry will build a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school in the northern part of Singapore. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has recently announced the establishment of a 10th SAP school, Nan Hua Secondary School, in the west zone. This, and the existing 9 SAP schools, have sufficient capacity and geographical spread to meet the needs of students who qualify for and wish to study in SAP schools. While there is currently no SAP school in the north zone, students living in the north can choose schools which are accessible by public transport, like Catholic High School and CHIJ St. Nicholas.”
“We must think beyond this recession and for the longer run, I think we will have to take a re-look at our cost structure and fine-tune our wage system, worker training system and pre-employment training system in order to ensure that Singapore remain competitive. When we work together even closer, we will not only be able to overcome the current economic crisis, but we will make Singapore society even stronger.”
“By doing some simple research on customer traffic at certain hours, the store managed to cut down from two shifts to one. This reduced manpower and utilities costs. There is an increasing number of companies in Singapore which have been relooking into the operation and business processes. There have been many examples of QCs and Work Improvement Teams which have helped save their companies more than a million dollars. So it is good for companies to look into these areas to cut costs without first resorting to further wage cut or retrenchment. Sir, to put it bluntly, by agreeing to the CPF and other wage cuts, our workers have actually agreed to give part of their income to their employers. The Government's plan to reduce charges is also transferring the public's money to companies. These decisions have been made in good faith and for our common good - the workers, the people, employers and the state. The money saved should thus be used to enhance the workers' well-being - especially their future employability - and improve the companies' capability and competitiveness. The main thrust of my speech today is that we are in this together, and each of us - the worker, employer and the Government - must play our part to help our country's economy to recover. While wage cuts are inevitable, it will not be fair to let workers shoulder the burden alone. Employers can and should make that extra effort to do what they can to lessen the pain of wage and CPF cuts on our workers. Now that we have agreed to cut costs, let us not forget that human touch; that small act of kindness and that gesture of consideration. Let us take that extra step to make each other's journey a kinder and gentler passage.”
“However, Sir, I would like to caution that we should not resort to returning the savings to meet short-term objectives only. A larger part of the costs saved should be used to invest in skills training and retraining of their workers and in developing their capabilities to meet future competition and expansion. Investment in human capital can only rebound with positive results for employers. Over the medium to longer term, better trained workers will be more productive and more knowledgeable, which will enable them to contribute better to the companies. It is easy to take a short term view and think only of survival in these difficult times. However, I urge employers to take a long term view and help their workers transit smoothly to the knowledge-based economy. In fact, over and above the savings from CPF cuts and other wage cuts, the avenues and funds for skills training and upgrading are all there. It is for employers to take advantage and to make full use of such funds. So both employers and employees have no excuse not to take part in it. There are, unfortunately, those companies which continue to face financial difficulties despite wage and CPF cuts. I urge these employers to consider retrenching workers only as a last resort. Why not use other innovative ways to cut non-wage costs? For instance, employers can institute a shorter work week, or mandate a compulsory clearing of annual leave. Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of creative thinking. Like the example of the Safe Superstore in Sims Drive, which was quoted in The New Paper last Friday, 20th November 1998, by NTUC Secretary-General and Minister-without-Portfolio, Mr Lim Boon Heng.”
“Two key points in the mind of the Government, I am sure, are that Singapore remains stable politically and investors' confidence towards Singapore is kept high and further enhanced. On the part of the union leaders and workers, I am glad that our workers are pragmatic and responsible enough to understand that they have to make short term sacrifices, for longer term gains. They have accepted the need for wage cuts in order to save their jobs. By accepting to make these sacrifices, our workers have shown that they are willing to play their part to help ensure that their companies do not need to close down and that Singapore remains an attractive investment destination in order to create more jobs for their children. This is a case of our workers showing their willingness to take a smaller share of the pie when the pie itself has become smaller. But, Sir, let me, if I may, recall and emphasise the purpose of the cost-cutting exercise. The objective is to help companies remain viable and competitive and not to make companies to profit from wage cuts, including CPF cut, per se. While the economic crisis affects the bottom line of employers, there will exist some companies which are not in the red, and which are still able to stay afloat and make profits even if there were no CPF cut. I urge these companies to pass a part of the savings from the CPF cut back to their workers. This can be done in a variety of ways, for example, through a one-off year-end bonus, or variable monthly payment, or simply by topping up their employees' CPF accounts. This will be a much needed boost for those who rely heavily on their CPF savings to pay for their housing. Alternatively, employers can pay a performance-related incentive to encourage further improvement in workers' productivity.”
“Sir, I am a first-time MP, but I would like to make a reference to what Mr Chiam said earlier about wage cuts. He said that our workers would have to endure up to 18% cut in wages. Let me just correct him because quite a lot of information has been given out to our workers during the dialogue sessions and speeches. I think Mr Chiam might have confused between a 10 percentage cut in the employers' CPF contribution and a 10% wage cut. What we are going to have is a 10 percentage point cut in the CPF contribution, and that constitutes about 8.3% of wages. With the proposal of the NWC for a 5-8% cut in other forms of wages, we could have up to 16% cut in wages, but do not forget, we have to subtract from that figure a wage increase of between 2% and 4% that we have enjoyed at the beginning of the year. That is just to correct the wrong impression that might have been created by what Mr Chiam said earlier. So it is very important that we get our facts right even if you have all the good intentions so that we do not confuse the people. When the union leaders saw the trend of increasing retrenchments over the past one year or so, they asked themselves: Will it affect our members and, if so, when? What will be the impact on their families? And what can be done by the three social tripartite partners to buck the trend? I believe that during the economic downturn our employers in general asked: How to cut costs in order to regain competitiveness? When will we recover? How can the workers and Government help to achieve it? The Government on its part wants to ensure that the economy remains healthy, companies remain viable, unemployment is kept small, and hardship due to the loss of jobs is controlled and overcome.”
“A reading of the amendments shows that the Syariah Court cannot grant leave to commence civil proceedings unless every party involved has been given seven days' notice. However, in case one party disagrees to transfer the matrimonial, maintenance or custodial matter to the Civil Court, what principles will the Syariah Court use in its decision to transfer the case? I did not find guidance in the Amendment Bill on this point. Mr Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, I would like to reiterate that although I commend the amendments as set out in the Bill, in the long term, other measures which I have related above, ie, increasing the manpower of the Syariah Court, an investigation into the inclusion of female judges for the Syariah Court and further clarification on the principles applied by the Syariah Court in deciding on the transfer of cases to the Civil Court in case one party disagrees, will serve better towards improving the efficiency and reputation of the Syariah Court.”
“In reality, however, even for cases transferred to the Civil Court, the rulings are to be consistent with the Muslim law. This system, however, can be further enhanced by the Civil Court concerned by appointing amicus curiae (Friend of the Court) to assist in clarifying the relevant aspects of the Muslim law. This Friend of the Court should be a Muslim scholar or someone who can advise the court on the Muslim law in order to ensure that the court rulings are consistent with the Muslim law. Sir, other than that, I think it is timely that, in conjunction with the current amendments being tabled, the Government should also look into the issue of providing additional funding to the Syariah Court so that it would not appear that the Government seeks to permanently undermine the reputation and image of the Syariah Court vis-a-vis the Civil Court. At the same time, to ensure that there is no perception of gender bias, the Government should look into ensuring that the Syariah Court has adequate female representation, especially in relation to Family Law. In this, we do not have to "reinvent the wheel" as in Indonesia today, there are approximately 100 female judges, known as "Ibu Hakim", who preside over civil but not criminal cases. This is especially pertinent in the light of the amendments empowering the Syariah Court to endorse its judgements. In this instance, the shortage of manpower would clearly be seen as an impediment to the greater powers accorded to the Syariah Court. Mr Deputy Speaker, one further concern which I have over the amendments applying to the Syariah Court is the lack of clarity on the basis of which the Syariah Court should act when an application is made by one party to transfer its case to the Civil Court.”
“Moreover, it cannot be denied that the amendments go a long way to clarify the confusion over jurisdiction in some cases earlier this year where it was unclear whether they fell under the purview of the Syariah Court or the High Court. I refer to the case of Madiah bte Atan v Samsudin bin Budin in January 1998. The case of Salijah v Abdullah Teo in 1995, as mentioned by the Minister and my colleagues, raised concern as to whether the Muslim community could continue to refer their cases to the Civil Court as they did in the past. This amendment to AMLA, therefore, merely restores the choice that they had enjoyed before. However, in the long term, are these amendments sufficient in themselves to correct the problems without jeopardizing the reputation and image of the Syariah Court? Although the amendments go a long way to solving the backlog of cases, it does not solve the original cause of the backlog, ie, the shortage of manpower in the Syariah Court. It is this shortage, if continued, which will lead to the impression not only in the Muslim community, but also in the professional law community of Singapore, that the Syariah Court is inefficient and lacks the expertise and knowledge to enable it to clear the cases under its jurisdiction in a speedy and systematic manner. The enhanced power to be given to the President of Syariah Court to transfer documents, for example, in cases of settlement of matrimonial properties and custody, will help to strengthen the enforcement power of the Syariah Court and improve its credibility. Some quarters believe that the concurrent jurisdiction between the Syariah Court and the Civil Court dilutes the power of the Syariah Court.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend and support the Minister's decision to refer the Bill to a Select Committee. There have been reactions from members of the Malay/Muslim community on the amendment to the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA). Committing the Bill to a Select Committee will allow these feedback and views to be heard and debated. In speaking to support the Bill, I am mainly concerned with the amendments proposed in the Bill which will affect the Syariah Court, firstly, by providing it with wider enforcement powers and, secondly, by conferring parallel jurisdiction between it and the Civil Court on matters relating to matrimonial, maintenance and custodial issues. I support fully the proposal to enhance the power and roles of the Islamic Religious Council (MUIS). But I would like to focus on the issue of parallel jurisdiction as it is widely considered as the most controversial aspect of the Amendment Bill. To me, the proposed amendments are laudable in that they address the current shortcomings of the Syariah Court. Further, Muslim women will receive enhanced protection not only with the greater power of the Syariah Court President, but also because they can continue to refer matters of division of matrimonial properties, maintenance and custody to the Civil Court. Sir, as has been widely known, the Syariah Court has been suffering from a tremendous backlog of cases, of which those pertaining to matrimonial and custodial issues form the bulk. In the short term, the granting of concurrent jurisdiction to the High Court in these matters will ease the pressures on the Syariah Court as well as allow many Muslim couples to settle outstanding issues arising from divorce proceedings as soon as possible.”
“Sir, I would like to know what measures the Government will take in order to attract more foreign investments to Singapore so that we can create more jobs for our workers.”
“Sir, does the retrenchment figure that we have learned include workers in all types of companies or companies of different sizes or only companies of certain sizes? Encik Othman bin Haron Eusofe: These are figures which have been reported to us. There may be companies with few workers which may not have reported to us. But, generally, this is quite a comprehensive figure.”
“Sir, according to recent press reports, Singapore motorists have been taken to task by Malaysian authorities for not paying traffic fines there. Will this be a bilateral issue between the two countries?”
“Sir, we have overshot the target by two months to reach an agreement on continued water supply. Can I ask the Minister whether a new target date has been set and when can we expect an agreement to be reached between the two countries?”
“Sir, I was encouraged to note that 91% of 6,740 students from the Normal (Technical) course have applied to get into ITE. I would say that 91% is quite a high proportion. Without the finest training implemented some four years ago, many of these students, who are generally weak academically, would probably have joined the labour market with very little knowledge and skills. However, what happened to about 600 students or so who did not apply to enter the ITE? They could be unemployed now or have joined the labour market with no technical skills. The number may be relatively small but, taken cumulatively over the years, we will have a large number of Singaporean workers who have low or no skills, the problems among older workers, which the National Trades Union Congress and the Government are now working hard to address. Considering that education and skills training are not compulsory here, I would urge both the MOE and ITE to do more to encourage all Normal (Technical) students to take up courses at ITE and help ensure that these students do not drop out halfway. In the same vein, Sir, what would MOE and ITE be doing to encourage more students to take up apprenticeship programmes, a problem which the Minister of State for Education said existed now? [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 4.35 pm”
“This has to change. Professional bodies must take a more enlightened view about what is required for professional competence. Third, the home universities must provide the wherewithal in terms of facilities and teaching to foster the academic tradition. There must be intellectual autonomy, intellectual curiosity and intellectual rigour to inspire and motivate the students. The worst thing that could happen is a broad curriculum, badly taught and half-heartedly learned. Finally, there must be recognition of the quality of the home universities - that its faculties are comparable to some of the world's best. That recognition must be shown through the award of prestigious scholarships and to the top students in Singapore. I hope that the Ministry of Education would do its best to persuade the top students, the scholars, that the home universities are equal to the task of providing for their tertiary education. Sir, the Government has been farsighted enough to continue to invest heavily in the tertiary institutions. We are still on course in respect of the objective. For our home universities to be world-class, let us also ensure that our graduates are world-class.”
“Excelling in the subjects that are seen to be most relevant to employers appears to be uppermost in the minds of most students. The proposal to broaden the curricula of the university is seen to promote other objectives, besides job competence and economic competitiveness. It is to arm the graduate with life-long learning skills and a better appreciation of the world around them. Additionally, these subjects serve the more traditional functions of university education, namely to build civic responsibilities and cultivate tolerance, in short, to produce a well-rounded educated person. There are several points, Sir, that should be made concerning these broader aims of university education. I hope the Ministry will see fit to comment on them. First, and most important of all, unless the consumers buy the product, that is to say, unless they believe in the aims, all will come to nought. Subjects are learned, examined on and discarded by semester. At the end of the day, only the grade counts. To avoid this, our university students have to internalize a different set of values, a sense of pursuing knowledge for its own sake, a sense of civility, a sense of culture, a sense of community. Without a new perception on the part of our students, there will only be the appearance that we are doing the right thing. This should be avoided at all costs. Second, the employers must believe in the broader curricula. Many enlightened employers do look at the totality of the graduate's time at the university, not only in what grades he has obtained, but how broad the sweep of subjects he has taken and the intellectual maturity that he displays. But there are also many who take a blinkered view and who would hire only graduates who had done the subjects most relevant to the jobs.”
“Sir, there have been concerns expressed that the private educational institutions conducting twinning programmes with overseas universities may fall short in the high standards expected of a university. In such an important area of quality control, I do not think we should completely allow the market to decide. The Government can make the Open University a model for standards of distant learning courses and a benchmark for comparison against private educational institutions. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung (Sembawang): Sir, I would like to state that I am currently an academic staff member of the National University of Singapore. Sir, a total of $1 billion is provided to our 2 universities for the financial year 1998. The average annual subsidy per student is stated to be, at NUS, $18,300 per student, and at NTU, $15,200. These are major investments on our universities and their students. The aim is to provide Singapore with graduates having the requisite knowledge and skills for employment and to promote research and innovation. The broader vision sketched out by DPM, Dr Tony Tan, last year in the debate on the President's Address, is to make the two universities world-class and its graduates more responsive to life-long learning and changing circumstances. One of the proposals was to broaden the curricula of the universities, to have courses such as history, regional cultures or language and expository writing. Sir, university or tertiary education is regarded as the pinnacle of one's educational career. Graduates usually join the workforce after university. At the university, the student takes a degree course that may determine his career. Economic competitiveness plays a large part in the student's perception of what he or she should be reading at university.”
“What would the vacated facilities at NTU be used for in the future? Would there be any difference in the fees payable and the entry requirements between the two universities of NUS and SMU? Will there be an overall increase or decrease in the number of places for students pursuing business courses in NUS and SMU? Would SMU be strictly a university for business and finance related courses? What would be the future of the programmes currently run under the Singapore Institute of Management? Sir, with regard to the Open University what would be its status with the establishment of SMU as a private university? How successful has the Open University been? How many students have signed up and graduated from the Open University? Can the Open University be more flexible in its entry requirements to cater to working adults who have made good progress in their careers? We should be open-minded and make it easy for mature students to qualify for admission into the Open University courses. Is it really necessary for applicants to have relevant "A" level subjects to apply for courses in the Open University Degree Programme? We are already facing a shortage of English Language and Literature teachers. If non-graduate teachers who have "A" levels in other arts subjects and have the interest to do a degree in English Language and Literature, we should allow them to do so, provided they pass the entrance examinations. After all, they need to work hard to earn their degrees. May I also ask the Minister whether there are plans to expand the range of courses in the Open University to encourage more working adults to take up continuing education programmes?”