Ho Tat Kin
Singapore
“The only other stadium with a retractable roof in Europe is the Amsterdam Arena, which has a capacity of 50,000. The stadium has an adjoining retail, leisure and pleasure development, including shops, restaurants, pubs and hotels. There is a full year-round programme of international and local activities.”
“For example, NAC did not fund the musical Rent as it presented homosexuality and alternative lifestyles as an accepted way of life. I would like to reiterate that MITA has clear guidelines and criteria for the support of art productions. They include artistic merits and track records of applicants.”
“Preparing for retirement with sufficient money is only one important aspect. There are many other variables to take care in ageing. Sir, the Ministry has over the years spawned a whole new industry in childcare centres. These childcare centres provide good care for children with working parents.”
“What is the Ministry's plan on this? To give our sports a boost and lift it to higher levels, foreign talents would have to be imported. While they can play a supporting and aspiring role with local athletes, challenging and motivating them to excel, they should not replace our local talents.”
“Sir, MCD reviews the public assistance given to the poor and needy once every two years. I believe, this year, public assistance will be up for review also. I would like to ask what adjustments will be made to increase the amount given out under the Public Assistance Scheme.”
“May I ask what progress has been made by this Inter-Ministry Committee? Sir, in dealing with juvenile crimes, we should focus on the child and to see how best to reintegrate the kids back into society.”
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“Is the point demerit system introduced last year for hawker centres also applicable to restaurants and food stalls in coffee shops?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Code MC 1000 of the Main Estimates. Sir, each month there are reports of cases of food poisoning and in certain months the number of cases is quite high. Let me highlight some months. In March last year there were 26 cases of food poisoning from four restaurants. In April 1987, there were 31 cases caused by food stalls. In November, there were 39 cases from one restaurant. In December, guests from two wedding receptions held at a restaurant complained of food poisoning. I was told about 300 people were affected and I understand eventually the restaurant had to pay for the medical bills. Sir, most of the food poisoning is due to cross-contamination between raw and cooked food during storage, poor personal hygiene, prolonged storage of cooked food at ambient temperature and food samples found to be bacteriologically unsatisfactory. This means that food poisoning can be prevented if those preparing the food take a little bit more care. Sir, I can understand why in a hawker centre food stall or a coffee shop food stall the limited space available for the preparation of food may at times give rise to cross-contamination of food. I feel that restaurants, for the higher prices they charge for food, should be more careful in the food preparation. I would like to ask the Minister if the present system of supervision of food control is adequate. Are the present guidelines sufficient? What else can the Ministry do to bring down the level of food poisoning cases? Will the Ministry publish the names of eating establishments convicted of food poisoning so as to alert the public?”
“When residents complained of insufficient space in the 1-room, HDB asks them to buy a 3-room or a 4-room unit. Most Singaporeans who can afford will buy their own apartments. Those who cannot do so are mainly in the lower income groups. Some of these families, particularly those with teenage children, will find a 1-room flat too small. HDB will not allow them to get a second flat. So the only alternative will be to apply for a 2-room rental flats. I would like to request the HDB to reconsider this practice of not allowing transfer to 2-room rental flats. I also hope that HDB could look into the possibility of setting aside some of the 2-room rental flats for sale to those in the lower income group so that they can also join in the home ownership programme. Finally, I want to talk about the relocation allowance given to the tenants. I have tenants who complain to me that HDB takes a few months to hand over the $500 relocation allowance or the $1,000 relocation allowance. When a 1-room tenant moves into a 3-room or 4-room purchased flat, the $1,000 relocation allowance is very important cash. If the HDB takes a few months to hand over this money, the relocated tenant will definitely have cash flow problems. So can HDB look into this matter and expedite payment such that on the day the tenant hands in his keys, he will get his relocation allowance?”
“Sir, I agree with my colleague, the Member for Bo Wen. But before we can have plans to rebuild, we must clear the residents first. In certain areas, I think the relocation exercise is moving a bit too slow, particularly around my constituency. When the number of occupants remaining in a parti- cular block of flats has been reduced to about 20-30%, the blocks become very empty. These residents who are still waiting for allocation of flats then become rather concerned about their own safety. Residents have complained to me of unknown intruders breaking into neighbouring vacant flats to steal electrical parts, and cases of young people breaking into vacant flats to consume drug have also been reported. With the reduction of manpower in the neighbourhood police post, these half-empty blocks of flats are now seldom patrolled. I would like to urge the HDB to accelerate the relocation programme once the remaining occupants in a particular block of flats have been reduced to below 20%. Sir, I often hear complaints from my residents waiting for offers of relocation that the HDB does not take into consideration their request for particular locations. People who have asked to be relocated anywhere in Toa Payoh, for example, were offered Sin Ming Estate and Chai Chee and all the other places. Those who have asked for Ang Mo Kio were offered Toa Payoh. HDB seems to be allocating flats at random. I would like to request the HDB to pay more attention to the people's request for allocation of alternative apartments. In the earlier part of the relocation exercise, 1-room rental tenants who request for transfer to 2-room rental flats have been allowed. But shortly after that, HDB has stopped transferring people from 1-room to 2-rooms.”
“To ask the Acting Minister for Health, in view of the worldwide concern over Aids, if there is any danger of the plasma-based Hepatitis B vaccine being contaminated.”
“Sir, what measure will the Ministry take to assist driving examinees achieve better test results?”
“But these clauses concentrate only on noise pollution caused by construction work. Does construction work here include renovation work of apartments? As this Bill now includes a section on noise control, I would have thought the amendment would cover areas of noise pollution caused by public performance or noise caused by people playing games late into the night near residential areas, also on aspects of noise caused by aeroplanes taking off and landing at airports as well as noise nuisance caused by heavy traffic movement near housing residential apartments. Will the Ministry please clarify why clauses 47 to 49 are restricted to construction noise only?”
“If the organization happens to dump the toxic waste near water catchment areas, thus causing pollution to water resources, they have to be prosecuted under the Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act. If they dispose of industrial waste by illegal incineration, they have to be prosecuted under the Clean Air Act. But all these deterrents do not solve the problem at its roots. Nothing could be done by the Ministry until the offender has caused pollution. Sections 24 to 31 of the Bill now require the industry to keep records of the industrial waste right through the disposal chain which therefore allow the Ministry of Environment to monitor very closely the disposal system of industrial waste. As early as 1976, the US Government has passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act which directed their environment protection agency to regulate hazardous waste requiring them to be tracked and handled from creation to disposal a licensed and inspected facility. In 1978, the ECC also published a document which spelt similar guidelines. It seems only now that we have finally caught up with these regulations. When this Bill is passed, I hope the Ministry of the Environment officers could play both an advisory role as well as a policing role when enforcing clauses 24 to 31 of this Bill. The industry will need some help as to how to comply with the new regulations. I urge the Ministry to set up an advisory committee on the handling and disposal of industrial waste to provide assistance to the industry, particularly to tell them where to go for help if they do not know how to treat and dispose the industrial waste. Sir, the other clauses that are welcome additions are, of course, clauses 47 to 49 which deal with noise control.”
“Sir, I support the Bill standing in the name of the Minister for the Environment. This Bill has vast improvements over the existing one, particularly in two areas - the control of the disposal of industrial waste and the control of noise pollution. The disposal and removal of industrial waste has been an important issue ever since our country started to industrialize. Industrial waste can be toxic, ignitable, corrosive and even dangerously reactive. These wastes are generated as paint slugs from appliance factories, as dregs of chrome and nickel from metal plating shops, as spent raw materials for varnish and detergents at chemical plants. Industrial waste from semi-conductors and micro-chip fabrication operations are highly toxic. It is, therefore, of extreme importance to our environment that industrial waste be properly treated, recycled and disposed of. In developed countries, industry is required by law to keep a record of the industrial waste they generate in terms of type and weight, how they dispose of it and to whom they give it to for disposal. The person receiving the industrial waste for disposal is also required to keep a record of the industrial waste he receives and his method of disposal. Up to the present, there is no comprehensive way to compel industry to conform to this practice. At present the Ministry of the Environment has no regulations to allow them to monitor the disposal of industrial waste. If an organization chooses to dispose of the industrial waste illegally, they can only be punished after it has caused damage to the environment. For example, if an organization disposes of industrial waste by illegal dumping, they can only be fined.”
“Hawker Control (9) That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead MC-05 of the Main Estimates.”
“Solid Waste Management (5) That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead MC-02 of the Main Estimates.”
“Mr Chairman, what I am referring to are modern built vehicles that can be used for street hawking, not the old type of street hawkers that the Government has spent so much and time to clear them away. This type of street hawking is, in fact, permitted in developed nations. They do not do any washing, as no washing is required; so they do not really have a lot of waste to clear or water to throw that will pollute the drains, and so on. It is, in fact, an extended form of the type of street hawking allowed for ice-cream stalls and things like that.”
“I would like the Minister's assurance that in such an event the Ministry could still provide the essential service to maintain a clean and healthy environment. Sir, I think the Member for Buona Vista has touched on the matter of allowing the hawker centres and markets to self-manage. I agree with that suggestion and I hope the Ministry could look into it. I would like to turn to illegal hawking. Sir, in the last few years illegal hawkers seem to be on the increase. I think this is because the illegal hawkers find the business rather lucrative. But I think the business is lucrative because they are organized and I think they know where to sell, what to sell and when to sell. They seem to be able to site themselves at places where business is good and people patronize the illegal hawkers because they are conveniently located. Could this mean that our hawker centres are sited in the wrong places leaving the better hawker sites vacant which could then be taken up by the illegal hawkers? I would think that if the Government could allow some form of street hawking ---”
“Has the Ministry explored the feasibility of using the waste heat to desalinate sea water for human consumption? I would also like to know if the Ministry has made studies on the amount of domestic refuse generated per person per day. Has there been an increase over the last 10 years? What is the projected amount of refuse generated up to the end of this century? I understand that after 1996 there will be a shortfall in incineration capacity against the projected quantity of incinerable refuse and this shortfall may be quite substantial after the year 2005. There may be a need to look into the building of a fourth incineration plant. Will a fourth incineration plant be sufficient? Will it not be better to educate the public to reduce the amount of refuse generated by trying to recover and recycle some of the wastes that are now being discarded, particularly metallic wastes and glass wastes. Sir, I understand town councils are looking into the possibility of allowing private waste collectors to collect and dispose of solid wastes. I believe a certain amount of competition will be good for the Ministry of the Environment and may even help the Ministry to improve its productivity. But I would like to caution the Ministry not to allow 100% privatization for solid waste management. The entrepreneurs are in business to make money, not to do a social service. So long there is money to be made in rubbish, they will be in business. With the shortage of labour, when they find the cost of labour to be too high to make rubbish business viable, they will pull out of the market. What will happen to the rubbish then? Solid waste will still be generated every day.”
“Sir, the Member for Changkat has spoken on the individual refuse chutes. What I want to know is that with the shortage of labour in the workforce, how long can the Ministry keep up with such labour intensive methods of waste collection? Will it be necessary in the future to move away from individual refuse chute system? Has the Ministry worked out more productive methods of waste collection? Currently the refuse is disposed by two methods. Around 64% is incinerated and around 36% is dumped. I would suppose that the composition and the content of the refuse would influence the method of disposal. If the composition of the refuse is analysed, I think it could be roughly divided into vegetable content, paper content, matter content, rags, grass, plastics and unclassifieds. I would expect the components of plastic content and paper content to have increased. I would like to know if the Ministry has done any studies on the composition of the refuse by content over the last few years to see if there has been any variation in the composition of the refuse. Sir, this information may seem trivial but I think it helps to a great extent to ensure that the waste disposal methods used are appropriate. For example, if there is a great amount of matter content, should the matter not be extracted by mechanical extractors before it is dumped or it is burnt? If all the hawker centres switched to disposable crockery, will the increased content of polystyro foam affect the existing matter of waste disposal? Or if there are more paper or plastic contents in the waste, will it not be better to incinerate rather than bury the waste since there will be a greater calorific output during the incineration process? When the refuse is incinerated, I believe there is waste heat generated.”
“Sir, is the Minister willing to consider back-dating the reduction in shop rental to the time when construction work began at the worksite?”
“Sir, I just want to ask the Hon. Minister if there has been any change in the regulations regarding foreign workers who intend to marry Singaporeans. When a Singaporean applies to the Ministry of Labour, he or she is usually told that the work permit holder has to be working in Singapore for at least five years. I have come across many cases of Singaporeans who have waited patiently for more than five years, some 7-8 years, and yet no approval has been given. Will the Hon. Minister be able to advise us if there has been any change of policy? And under what conditions will Singaporeans be able to get approval to marry a foreign worker with work permit?”
“I would like to suggest that all new licensees for cooked food stalls and all cooks for eating establishments be sent on a compulsory course on the hygienic process of preparing food, raw food preparation methods and cleanliness control in the cooking area. And any hawkers or cooks violating such prescribed practice should be sent back for retraining. Sir, there is also the need to educate the consumers to let them know what to expect so that consumers themselves can check if food is being properly handled and properly prepared. Sir, more and more people are turning to caterers for cooked food. Even our army is using caterers now for preparing the food and caterers preparing food at central kitchens have to transfer the food to the consumers. Sir, our country is hot, and food that is being transported to and fro, if not properly kept, will deteriorate. What I am really concerned about are the small-time caterers who are really hawkers but who have branched out into catering and who may not possess enough know-how on mass food preparation and enough knowledge on how to keep the food and preserve the food properly. I hope the Minister could brief Members of this House and the public on the measures that are being taken to ensure that cooked food being transported to consumers are maintained in good condition.”
“Sir, I would like to discuss some points regarding food hygiene and the control of food cleanliness in the hawker centres and other eating establishments. Sir, eating out in Singapore is very much a way of life for Singaporeans. It is therefore very important for us to be assured that adequate measures are taken by the Ministry of the Environment to ensure that hawkers and cooks preparing the food are of good health, the raw ingredients used in preparing the food are of good quality and the food is prepared in a hygienic manner and the cooked food is properly kept after that. Sir, to most consumers and to many hawkers and cooks, the idea of bacteria is rather remote. I do not think many people have seen bacteria under a microscope. Bacteria in food can lead to diarrhoea in minor cases and food poisoning in more serious cases. I remember some years ago the Ministry of the Environment took some measures to improve on hygiene practised food centres. For example, those preparing the food are supposed to use tongs and not hands to pick up food for preparation, and for some time such practice was seen. But there seems to be some relaxation of such hygienic practice. We can still see hawkers using hands to pick up food for preparation as well as picking up cooked food. We can still see hawkers cooking with a cigarette in their mouth. I have also seen cooks preparing food and handling cooked food with bare hands rather than tongs, even at fast food chains. Sir, the hawkers and the cooks preparing food need to be educated on the need to practise hygiene in food preparation.”
“But at the same time, HDB must do something about the 1-room and 2-room rental flats left vacant. In my constituency nearly half of these rental flats have been vacant for the last year, and therefore the few shophouses which used to serve a clientele of around 7,000 are now serving less than half of that. One shopowner told me that he could only sell an average of 16 cups of coffee a night from 6 pm to 11 pm. And another shopowner told me that business was so bad that he could not afford to open after 6 pm. So the main problem is that those who have the buying power are those who have left. Those who cannot afford to leave are those who lack buying power. Business is so bad that these shopkeepers are wondering how long they can afford to stay in business. These shops are mainly family operated, with very minimal employed labour. Hence the cuts in payroll tax, skills development levy, and reduced CPF contribution have greater impact on their operating costs. Sir, I think HDB will need to make a decision fast as to what they want to do with these flats. Does HDB want to fill the vacant flats with tenants or to demolish them or to rebuild better flats there, or does HDB want to convert these 1-, 2-room flats to bigger flats? But meanwhile, Sir, can HDB help by giving these shops special rental reductions, maybe a reduction that is based on the average percen- tage of vacant flats in the last year? Sir, these small traders and shopkeepers in the old housing estates still provide a very essential service to the residents. I think HDB must help them to survive.”
“Sir, while the recession hits everyone in Singapore, there are two groups of small shopowners in housing estates which are affected by MRT work, as well as the moving out of 1-room and 2-room tenants. Sir, in my constituency I have two such groups. One group is the small retailers which are affected by the construction work of MRT stations in front of their shop houses. Before construction began, the car park in front of the shophouses was very convenient to consumers and residents to stop by to purchase goods. When construction work started two years ago, the car parks were taken over for construction work. Consumers and residents found difficulty in getting access to the shophouse. The dirt and the mud that were dug out piled in front of them, blocking the frontage of the shophouses. So this type of work has been going on for two years and it is expected to continue till 1988. While their business have dropped tremendously, rental charges by HDB have not changed and it seems that in April HDB will want to increase rental some more. Sir, while I can understand why MRTC is not compensating the shopowners, I cannot understand why HDB cannot help them by giving them a reduction in shop rentals, at least for the period during which construction work is carrying on. Sir, another group of small shopkeepers badly affected are those in the old towns like mine, where there are many 1-room and 2-room rental flats. I have in Boon Teck 11 1-room rentals and 2 blocks of 2-room rentals. HDB has succeeded in upgrading many of the 1-room and 2-room rental tenants directly to purchase 4-room and 5-room apartments in new towns. There is real progress and I think we are all very proud of it.”
“Information technology has also been identified as a future new growth industry by the NICs. Taiwan has embarked on it and is slightly ahead of us. South Korea is not far behind. China is quietly catching up very fast. To be able to give our competitors the run for their money, we must continue to have an honest, efficient and stable Government besides a good investment climate. Sir, yesterday when the Government announced the measures to help the industry, the Government also announced a major shift in its policies. I hope the Government will give the people an assurance that these changes are not temporary measures and the policies will not be reverted in two years' time as the impact of the policy changes will need time to take effect. The low cost in doing business must be maintained even when the recession is over if we want to stay competitive.”
“When the Government started its computerization programme in 1980, there was a need for computer awareness and literacy among the population. There will be a similar need now to bring information technology awareness to the people to prepare them for the emerging information society. People need to be educated on information technology - what it is, what can it do, how can we use it and how can we use it to make money? Information technology is a very clever use of both computer hardware and software systems in all aspects of information flow. Without the software to drive the hardware, we do not get information technology but we get a lot of junk around. The software required is sophisticated and for the time being it will need to be imported. There is much technology transfer needed. But Singapore today suffers from a bad reputation as a software copy centre and reputable software houses overseas are hesitating to export their products to us. There is therefore an urgent need for the Government to speed up its copyright laws so that developers of information technology software will feel safe to export or invest here. With good copyright laws enforced, local software writers will also be encouraged to embark on developing software for information technology. Sir, with the development and mass exploitation of information technology there will be sharing of data base. This data base will contain much information of individual people. Computer security and privacy laws will need to be introduced to control the right of access to the information, to prevent the abuse of information and to protect the privacy of individuals. Here I would like to add a word of caution to the entrepreneurs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion moved by the Member for Changkat. Sir, yesterday the First Deputy Prime Minister ended the speculation of many Singaporeans with his announcement of the Government's package to help entrepreneurs cut costs and restrain wages. I would think most, if not all, entrepreneurs should be satisfied with the concessions the Government gave. On the other hand, many employees are rather disappointed, disappointed because the Government did not consider at all a cut in CPF contribution for them. Of course, the First Deputy Prime Minister has assured us that, with the changes in CPF contribution regulation and the bridging loans that would be available, most home owners do not have much difficulty in meeting housing instalments. The First Deputy Prime Minister has also promised that HDB will allow hardship cases to defer housing instalments. But, Sir, what are these hardship cases? I believe HDB will need to come out quickly with some clear guidelines on how they define "hardship cases". Sir, while the Government can help to cut costs to entrepreneurs and help to restrain wages, the main battle to stay in business has to be fought by the entrepreneurs themselves. Our First Deputy Prime Minister has called upon our entrepreneurs to carve a niche for themselves in the world economy. While the entrepreneurs must be able to identify the market niche in which they can try to capture, the entrepreneurs themselves must also learn to recognize changes in market trends and react fast enough to exploit the changes in market trends. Sir, the Economic Committee has helped by identifying information technology as a new growth industry. Information technology is a comparatively new concept to many people in Singapore.”
“Sir, would the Minister please confirm that the parking facilities will be ready when the occupants move in?”
“When a person puffs a cigarette, about 75% of the smoke from the burning cigarette goes straight into the air, while the remaining 25% goes through the cigarette and the smoker breathes it into his lungs. But unfortunately the smoker breathes out half of it again. So a non-smoking bystander is forced to breathe in about 85-90% of smoke from the cigarette. While the smoker has a choice to smoke or not to smoke, and whether or not to use a filter on the cigarette, the bystander is forced to breathe unfiltered smoke which contains three times the nicotine which causes addiction, three times the tar which causes cancer, and five times the carbon monoxide which starves the body of oxygen. Here, I would like to congratulate the Ministry of Health on its very big step forward in discouraging people from smoking in hospitals. I think it is time a further step was taken to preserve the health of non-smokers and the general public. Let the Government show an example by being the first to ban smoking from all government offices, and eventually as the public gets educated on the dangers of smoking and its related ill-effects to non-smokers, ban smoking from all public places. I think it is time the non-smokers stood up for the right to breathe in clean air. Sir, in conclusion, I support the motion, 12.50 pm”
“Sir, I would like now to refer to the Addendum to the President's Speech issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. In the Addendum, the Ministry states that "the PUB will continue to look for alternative sources of fuel like natural gas and coal to diversify energy sources." But we have a vast source of energy so far untapped - solar energy. In Japan where sunlight is not as intense as it is in Singapore and where sunlight hours in the winter are extremely short, they have started experimenting with the use of solar energy as a clean and cheap alternative source of energy. In the Tsukuba Science City they have installed solar cells to the street lamps. In the daytime these cells capture the solar energy and in the evening it is used to drive the street lights. Singapore has sunlight throughout the whole year and very intense at times. Yet we have not exploited this form of energy. It may be time the PUB thought of tapping this source. Sir, if all the objectives that were spelled out by our President could be achieved in the next few years, life in Singapore can be more fun. But in order to enjoy the fun we must, first of all, be in good health. To maintain good health we have to be vigilant in our diet and living habits. But unfortunately we are constantly exposed to very dangerous fumes, fumes from the exhaust of cars, from chimneys of factories and, worst of all, from the smoke emitted by cigarette smokers. The ROV is trying to control the fumes through car inspections and the Ministry of Health has started a campaign to encourage people not to smoke in hospitals. Sir, let me briefly explain the dangers facing our non-smokers today when they are in the vicinity of a smoker.”
“Sir, the President has also set the target that, in the next five years, 80% of our population will be HDB home owners. He has also indicated that the HDB will build 180,000 units in the next five years. These figures provide some indication of the volume of work that will be available to the building industry, and hopefully this news will provide sufficient incentive and volume for the building industry. The President has also indicated the need to help the 113,000 rental tenants to purchase their own flats. Many of these rental tenants are self-employed or engaged in odd jobs, without CPF. The hon. Member for Leng Kee has suggested the provision of interest-free loans to help this group of people. I support him again, and I would like to add that the repayment instalments of the loans must be realistic and it must be within the means of this group of people if the loan scheme is to work. Sir, the President has also stressed the need for special attention for our aged. Our senior citizens need better facilities to keep themselves socially active and healthy. Today, the TV is a basic appliance in the home. Our senior citizens should be able to tap this as a simple and inexpensive form of entertainment. But yet many of them are unable to do so because they do not understand the programmes. Ever since the SBC phased out the dialect movies and series from the TV, many of the senior citizens could only stare at the TV screen in despair. I strongly urge the Government to consider allowing some dialect movies and series for the senior citizens. These programmes need not be telecast at prime time. They could be telecast in the afternoon hours when the younger people are either at work or in school.”
“They want to automate their process and they want to upgrade their manpower. But I think many of these small companies do not know how to upgrade. They do not know how to automate. Many of these small companies would include the small retailers in the Housing Board estates providing very essential services like small laundry shops, provision shops, coffee shops, etc. Take the case of a simple coffee shop. How much automation can they have? Another example is the provision shop. How much automation can they do? The days where they can use robots to distribute goods are still not economically feasible. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to suggest to the relevant Ministries concerned, together with the different trade associations, to set up an advisory committee to draw up plans for automation and retraining of the staff to help these small companies and traders. I further suggest that the Government should review the need for all traders and companies to pay the SDF levy. On top of the payroll tax and the SDF levy, there is also our very high CPF payments. To the employers it is a high overhead. To the employees it means less take home pay. The hon. Member for Clementi has urged the Government to review policies that blunt Singapore's competitiveness in the world market, and I wholeheartedly support him. Sir, I recommend the Government to seriously study the possibility of abolishing the payroll tax and a temporary suspension of the SDF levy for at least a year to give our industries and traders a chance to counter the economic recession. The CPF contributions for both employers and employees are high enough. I urge the Government not to further increase the CPF contributions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion moved by the hon. Member for Ayer Rajah thanking the President for his speech delivered at the opening of this Parliament. Sir, in his address to this House, the President outlined the Singapore Government's objective for the next five years. Among the objectives indicated by the President is a target for economic growth rates of between 5-7% per annum. One of the most important means to achieve this rate is to work hard. The Government has been saying that again and again. But I think working hard is not sufficient. Our employers, our industries and traders must have a more competitive edge over others, and the Government must assist by reducing their production cost. One of the main elements of the high production cost is the very high labour overheads currently borne by our employers. Singapore employers today have to pay a payroll tax which is levied at the rate of 2% of the employee's monthly pay when this exceeds $500 per month. But at the same time, the Government's economic restructuring encourages the high wage policy to facilitate a transition to higher value added and less labour intensive industries. Then there is the Skills Development Fund levy, a 4% surcharge on that part of the payroll which goes to the employees earning less than $750 a month. The SDF levy was aimed at funding approved manpower training and provide interest subsidies for automation schemes to improve labour productivity. If we look at the report of the SDF, we find that the spread of training so far has been concentrated on the bigger companies employing over 50 people. Of the 50,405 small companies employing less than 10 persons, the spread of training has only reached 1.5%. Many of these small companies want to use the SDF.”