Hon Sui Sen
Singapore
“Sir, I must inform the Member for Rochore that the companies are run on the basis of private sector companies, i.e. their budgets are drawn up by their boards of directors. I do not know to what extent their budgets follow Government budgets but they are certainly not regulated in the sense that Government budgets are rigidly enforced.”
“Perhaps the Member is referring to PIE's operations with respect to the Armed Forces. PIE provides some of the supplies for feeding our army and other armed forces. If the private sector is equally viable, equally able to supply foodstuffs, I see no reason why they should not also compete with the PIE.”
“Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for the Environment and Minister for Communications if he will request the Port of Singapore Authority to consider providing transport alternatively paying a transport allowance to all employees of the PSA who have been moved out of the PSA Staff quarters in Blair Plain and as a result of which have been put…”
“INTRACO is a company in which the Government has some equity. I believe the proportion is somewhere around 20%. So in a sense it is not exactly a Government controlled company, although 20%, of course, is a fairly considerable share. In the case of PIE, the answer is yes, it is a Government company.”
“The dividend yields for the three holding companies were nil, The yields for the operating companies were nil for 34 companies (including eight which have yet to commence operations), 1% to 10% for five companies, more than 10% but less than 20% for 10 companies, and at least 20% for nine companies.”
“Sir, the simple answer to that is no, for the purpose of this Bill. This Bill merely enacts legislation to implement the 1982 Budget concessions.”
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“The first two ships, I believe, were sold at US$3.2 million, which is roughly $10 million.”
“We tried to get the best terms possible and, in the end, it was found that the only way in which we could do this was by way of subsidy. Loan terms are also being provided for the ships, because these ships have to be sold. And in most cases, purchasers pay 20 per cent down and the rest of the 80 per cent would be on deferred payment terms. Again, these deferred payment terms would be on a percentage basis which is below the normal rates. But this is the practice in all countries which have shipbuilding industries.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the shipyard, of course, is going to be run by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries as one partner, the Jurong Shipyard as the second partner, and the Government and the Development Bank of Singapore as the third partner in equal shares. As far as the I.H.I, is concerned, there is nothing for them to learn and the subsidy is not really in relation to the I.H.I. but in relation to the training of our workers. The training, as I have explained, will be on another vote. But in this particular case, the subsidy is for the lower productivity which is the productivity not of I.H.I, workers but of the Singapore workers who are sent to Japan for training and who, on their return, will still not have the same productivity as their counterparts in Japan. So in order that we can sell ships at an internationally competitive price, the difference must be made up in some way, and this is the way in which we are providing the difference by a subsidy. Whether this is the best way of going about getting the capability is a matter of opinion. But at the time when we entered into this agreement, there did not seem to be an alternative.”
“The financial assistance which has been provided for training workers is a subject of a later question by the Member for Whampoa, and I will explain it in that amendment. The subsidy financing for initially lower productivity will cover the first 15 Freedom-type vessels and will be subject to a limit of $14 million. For the year 1971-72, the subsidy required and entered in the budget will be for two ships and will cost $6,030,000. Subsequent subsidies will fall very rapidly per ship in accordance with the learning curve of our workers.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore has for some considerable time been able to construct many kinds of small ships - tongkangs, yachts, fishing vessels, tugs, water boats, patrol vessels, customs launches, barges, etc. It has no capability as yet of constructing large ocean-going vessels of the more sophisticated kind. In view of the importance of the shipbuilding industry in stimulating the very wide range of skills required in industrial development and its effects on supporting industries producing machinery, equipment, fittings and other materials required for the ships, the Government has considered how best to acquire the capability of building these larger vessels. The answer would appear to be to start with the construction of standard-type cargo vessels. Training in such construction will be systematised and productivity can be rapidly increased with the construction of each succeeding ship of the same kind. By this means, it is hoped that after the first few ships, the cost of building large cargo vessels will have become internationally competitive. In the earlier stages, however, it will be necessary for Government to provide financial assistance, first, in training and, secondly, in subsidising the difference between international costs and costs in Singapore arising out of the initial lower productivity. The Government has, accordingly, jointly with Jurong Shipyard (Private) Limited, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Limited, and the Development Bank of Singapore, established the Jurong Shipbuilders (Private) Limited for this purpose. The shipyard will construct Freedom-type cargo vessels which are the standard type of vessels and are versatile in that they can take both general and bulk cargo with an approximate deadweight of 15,000 tons.”
“Among local consultants, we engaged a firm to advise on the organisation and accounting practice of the Government Printing Office which, as we have just now disclosed, will operate on a commercial basis. The expenditure included contributions towards the experts' salaries, stipends, housing allowances, transportation claims, hotel charges, and fees in the case of local consultants. The expenditure on each expert depended, of course, on the agreement under which his services were obtained. The Member has also asked me to explain the increased provision of $62,400. When the provision was first considered, we thought it desirable to have the same provision as for last year, which was $200,000. The expenditure the year before was $187,900. We, therefore, thought that $200,000 was satisfactory. However, subsequently the Technical Education Department requested an extra $62,400 to meet the expenses of eight German experts who will be in Singapore from 1971 to 1972 to assist in the establishment of a printing school. It was considered more appropriate to make this provision under the Ministry of Finance instead of the Technical Education Department. This was how the provision of $262,400 was arrived at.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a central vote for the services of experts for the whole of the civil service. The number of experts provided by the various organisations from 1970 to 1971 was as follows: There were three experts from the International Executive Service Corps - one expert to assist in the establishment of the Anti-Evasion Unit in the Department of Inland Revenue, and two experts to help in the landscaping of parks and open spaces. We had two experts from the International Monetary Fund to advise on the setting up of the Banking Unit which now comes under the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We had one representative from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, who came on a visit to Singapore at our invitation. From the International Labour Organisation we have one expert to advise the Ministry of Labour on the collection of labour statistics. We had several representatives from the Asian Development Bank who came to Singapore in connection with the regional transport survey. We had two examiners from Malaysia to conduct Part II of the Membership of the Society of Radiography examination: two examiners to conduct the annual Health Inspectors' examination, and one expert to advise on actuarial matters. We obtained three experts from Germany to help the Ministry of Education in setting up a printing school at the Baharuddin Vocational Institute. We obtained from the United Kingdom eight experts as Directors of Studies and tutors in connection with vocation courses for teachers. We had one expert from Israel for the Primary Production Department in connection with the development of hydroponics.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson raised the question of uniforms at the last budget session and my predecessor had promised to look into the matter. In fact, action to change the material for the uniforms was taken in April last year. However, as the supply of uniforms to office boys and other Division Four grades is a matter of agreement with the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees, we had to consult them to see whether they agreed on this matter. Following an agreement on the change of uniform, a circular to this effect was issued in December. All departments were informed that when the present stock of the drill cloth was exhausted, uniforms made with a new material, composed of 65 per cent teteron and 35 per cent viscose, would be used. The following are the grades of officers who would be provided with these uniforms: the National Museum janitor, laboratory assistants, library attendants, messengers, museum attendants, museum collectors, office boys, office keepers and lift attendants. I think the Member suggested at the last budget sitting that there should be no increase in the price of uniforms. This is not possible and the estimated expenditure has therefore risen from $43,000 to $50,000 for the ensuing financial year. However, we will use the old stock to keep the initial cost low.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir, to some extent, the price must be the same as that for the Prime Minister's Office. The Government Printer is going to charge all departments for the work that he does. In some cases, it is not possible for this work to be done by printers outside, for example, confidential Gazette Notifications or, I assume, maybe even the Hansard. But in other cases we expect the Government Printing Office to be in a competitive position with printers outside. They will also be allowed to compete for business outside Government Ministries and departments. With regard to the amount that is being provided, there are two parts here. One is $18,640 which is expected to be for the requirements of the Ministry of Finance. Then there is a sum of $5,000 which is subject to Treasury sanction. We have provided for various small sums to be spent in the various Ministries and departments which may not have sufficient money for the necessary vote. In such cases we will pay out of this $5,000. Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, as long as there is some means of ensuring that the prices being charged by the Government Printing Office are competitive, I am satisfied. I beg leave to withdraw, Sir. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“The Deputy Secretary, who is a career officer, will do it. She is a lady and if you regard her as one of the permanent staff of the institute, then we have a permanent staff for this post. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Generally, I think the intermediate and advanced course instructors will be paid up to $25 an hour, while in the case of language instruction there are various rates; maybe the Adult Education Board scale of fees will be adopted. These vary from $4 to $10 an hour. Staff members of the institute who also give lectures will not be paid any fee. There will be some permanent members, but in view of the very wide field that we are going to cover, it will not be possible for us to have full-time staff lecturers in all the various courses that we want. In regard to equipment, the Member for Katong is quite right - at the moment we have no audio-visual equipment, but we hope that as we go on this can be provided. It is always possible, of course, to get it on loan from the various organisations. Until the need is proved, I do not think we should go immediately into the purchase of this equipment. With regard to what is meant by on-the-job training, it means that, instead of just getting new recruits into the administrative service thrown into the jobs, as was the case before, we will provide a more supervised kind of on-the-job training. We have, therefore, in the Ministry of Finance created a Deputy Secretary's post and the officer will be in charge of all matters relating to training as well as supervision. 3.15 p.m. The officer will see that the new recruits are properly looked after in relation to the courses attended. It is not so much a question of posts requiring to be filled by officers as the training of the administrative officers. Supervision will mean that from time to time there will be interviews with the administrative officer concerned to see that he is making progress.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the courses which are being run have been mentioned in my speech to which the Member for Katong has referred. In 1971 we will begin with an intermediate course in Management and Public Administration for administrative officers, and go on to advanced courses in Management and Public Administration for more senior administrative officers. We will induct and provide intermediate courses for officers in the General Executive and Clerical Services. We will have courses for Personal Assistants, Receptionists, Telephone Operators, and Counter Clerks. We have courses in the Outward Bound School and in the National Youth Leadership Training Institute for officers in supervisory positions. And we will have Language courses for officers required to pass language examinations. The instructors for the courses will come from various sources. I think the major part will be drawn from the civil servants themselves, but for the intermediate, advanced and induction courses, experienced and senior civil servants, together with officers from statutory boards, will give lectures. But we will also invite qualified persons from the private sector and institutions such as the University of Singapore, Nanyang University, the Singapore Institute of Management, and other bodies to give courses in their fields of specialisation, especially in relation to management practices and techniques which have been mentioned by Members in relation to the civil service. The allowances which will be paid to instructors and lecturers vary according to the level of instruction and nature of the courses.”
“Sir, the reason for this allowance is that last year we recruited five officers, i.e., four engineers and one architect, from overseas. These officers, who assumed duty in March 1970, were appointed on contract terms for a period of three years and, in accordance with their terms of service, were eligible for Government quarters or housing allowance in lieu thereof. The eligibility for housing allowance only applies to the first term of contract. The rates of housing allowance payable are as follows: Single officer $250 per month Married officer $350 per month Married officer with children $550 per month The provision we have entered in the 1971-72 Estimates is to provide housing allowances for about 20 engineers whom we hope to recruit.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think we can go on arguing indefinitely how economists should be trained, or whether they should be sent overseas. We have sent quite a number of them overseas and some have returned; and we hope that the second derivatives will have already been in evidence.”
“I agree that this is a very serious matter, and I wish the University of Singapore would turn out their own Masters and Ph.D.s.”
“Sir, I was hoping that the University of Singapore would turn out sufficient economists for our use. In fact, they have been turning out economists in increasing numbers, but again we are in competition with the private sector for the recruitment of these graduates. I think the people who go overseas to study do not always all come back into Government service. In many cases, like the Member for Whampoa himself, they would rather serve the University upon their return than go into Government service.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the post of Senior Economist in the Economic Section has not been filled. This post was at one time known as the Director of Projects in the Economic Planning Unit and was converted to that of Senior Economist in 1969. It is not expected to fill this particular post easily. Our practice has been to try to fill it by posting from the Administrative Service. I should clarify the position that in our Economic Section there is not just one such post. In fact, a Deputy Secretary is in charge of the whole function of economic research, and there are quite a number of economists as well as engineers and others in our Economic Section. We have some difficulty in getting more economists to come forward, and we shall be glad if the Member for Whampoa can introduce any additional economists to us. What we have been trying to do is to get the Economic Research Centre of the University of Singapore to co-operate with us by seconding some personnel. They have, in fact, done so in the past. They have agreed to make available, on an overall supervisory basis a senior economist for our purposes.”
“Sir, there was no misunderstanding on the setting up of a consumers' association. At a later stage I made it quite clear that we would be prepared to help this consumers' association if they require assistance, either in the matter of statistics or prices which our inspectors can investigate, or in the matter of quality control which the Singapore institute of Standards and Industrial Research will help to test. The answer, therefore, to the first question - in what way can we help? - is to help the consumers' association help themselves. I think I made it quite clear that I would not be inclined to advocate price control, because this would be detrimental to further supplies coming forward and would not be a solution, but we will, of course, take cognisance of any increase in prices, and if there are possibilities of lowering prices by an increase in imports from cheaper sources, we will try our best to encourage this.”
“Perhaps I can make a counter comment. The position is that we will be prepared - in fact, we have considered the question of superscale salaries. I will take into account the opinion of the Member for Whampoa that increases are justified for the top echelons in the civil service.”
“That is all I have to add at this stage. Dr Augustine H. H. Tan: Sir, the Minister for Finance yesterday made the point that Government can never compete on an equal footing with the commercial and industrial sectors in the matter of salaries for civil servants. He said that even if he were to grant a 20 per cent increase in all the civil service salaries, this would not take care of the problem. While I do recognise that it is virtually impossible for Government to match salaries with the commercial and industrial sectors, I do hope that the Minister will not just throw up his hands and say, "No increase at all," because I do think that some inducement is necessary, and I do recognise that people are not solely motivated by higher salaries, as the Minister himself is an outstanding example of this, because, before he got into Parliament, he was apparently earning much more than he is getting now.”
“Even if you consider the private sector, when you come to companies like General Motors or Imperial Chemical Industries, I think you will find that the need for uniformity in treatment, in service conditions and any other company practices are not dissimilar to those in the Government Ministries, and that the decisions have to be consistent, and if you have a precedent, you must be prepared to apply that precedent to all other employees in the company. There was also a comment that the grievances of the various civil service organisations were not being handled expeditiously. It was stated that there was only one Executive Officer to deal with the daily-rated workers. This is certainly not correct. If the Member will look at the Government Directory, he will see that, apart from the Permanent Secretary, the Deputy Secretary is also in charge of service conditions, and there is an Assistant Secretary dealing specifically with daily-rated workers, although a Higher Executive Officer also handles them. With regard to the claims of grievances of workers, I believe that last year we handled the problems of the technical services, as a result of which a new scheme of service conditions was implemented in October last year. I hope this gives some satisfaction at least to the Member for Telok Blangah. As for the other services, I think we have already stated that as far as education is concerned, we are ready to proceed with further discussions with the teachers after the budget session. The Cabinet has appointed a review committee to deal with the Police grievances, and we will follow in short order with the Fire Brigade, and the Customs and Immigration services, while in the Ministry of Finance itself we are looking into the clerical services scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, at the Moment of Interruption last night, I was trying to explain, in answer to the Member for Whampoa, that our civil service rules and regulations are not revised at specific intervals but are being continuously looked into so that revisions can be made as and when they are conceived, and they are then put into loose-leaf registers. 2.45 p.m. If the Member for Whampoa knows of any particular deficiencies in the service conditions, perhaps he will be good enough to let us know what these are and I shall be very grateful and make the necessary amendments. There was also some criticism by the Member for Telok Blangah of the manner in which personnel relations were being handled in my Ministry. The suggestion was that it was desirable to emulate the private sector in their personnel management practices and that we should introduce more modern management techniques. Like all institutions, there is room for improvement in our Ministry and we shall, of course, try our best to improve our techniques. In fact, my officers have already started courses in modern management techniques in the Staff Training Institute, and we shall try to include in them personnel management courses. At the same time, I think our officers are doing very well, in spite of the shortage that we have in the General Administrative Service, in tackling the various problems that are coming in from the Ministries. I think it is a comparatively less complex matter to be the personnel manager of a firm with 10, 15, 100 or even 500 workers than to be in charge of a Government Ministry where the workers are counted in tens of thousands.”
“Yes, I am aware. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (Control measures) 3. Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for Home Affairs how many illegal immigrants were detained during the period 1st January to 28th February, 1971; and what plans he has to stop the social and security threat posed by the unceasing inflow of such persons.”
“Sir, that is a philosophy which we cannot adopt in all cases. For example, Singaporeans have not carried out industrialisation previously, and if you apply that very simple philosophy to what Singaporeans have been doing in the past, then there would be no industrialisation. In the same way I do not think that the fact that some companies pay bonuses means that Western industrialised companies should do the same.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have nothing to add to what I have said. The position is that the employers will negotiate on bonus payments up to one month's wages in their collective agreements. Beyond one month, this is at present discretionary.”
“In our own situation, however, this could be against our main policy of attracting middle technology industries. We want more capital intensive high skills and high value added industries in Singapore. They come mainly from the Western industrial countries where the payment of bonus is not a practice. West European and American companies prefer to pay higher wages rather than bonuses. They want concealed benefits reduced to a minimum so that they know where they stand from year to year. This philosophy treats profits as the result of efficient management, and losses as the result of the ineffective use of expensive labour, since all employers pay their workers the same rate for the job. We shall make a decision after carefully weighing the pros and cons. Our decision must advance our purpose, namely, to raise the living standard of Singapore workers through higher skills and higher productivity.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, section 46 (1) of the Employment Act, 1968, (No. 17 of 1968) already provides that the contract of service or collective agreement between an employer and his employees may contain a provision for the payment of an amount not exceeding the equivalent of one month's wages of an employee as bonus or ex gratia payment. In addition, section 46 (2) of the Act states that nothing in subsection (1) of section 46 shall be construed as preventing an employer at his discretion from paying as bonus or ex gratia payment an amount that exceeds the equivalent of one month's wages as an incentive to his employees to increase their productivity or as a reward for their services. Bonus up to one month's salary is now therefore a negotiable item between employer and employee. And it is not necessary to request factory owners to set aside a certain percentage from the factory's annual profits to be given as an annual bonus incentive. In fact, the wise factory owner will also usually make an allowance for incentive or reward bonus in his calculations without being told to do so, although some timely urging on the part of the unions always helps. I have already stated in the debate on the Government financial policy that when the effects of the accelerated military run-down have been clearly overcome, we shall have to consider how best workers should be enabled to share in any increased profits where they result from increased productivity or from a general expansion of the economy. One of the ways would be to make bonus payments negotiable beyond the present limitation of one month's salary. This has been legislated for in certain countries and is the practice in others.”
“First of all. I think the question of when the rules and regulations of the civil service were revised - 8.00 p.m.”
“I think the Member for Telok Blangah is not really aware of the organisation of the civil service. Surely we have a Personnel Department; in fact, it is the Establishment Branch of the Ministry of Finance, and the Permanent Secretary is in charge. He has a number of Deputy Secretaries in charge of service conditions. There is a Career and Development Officer whom we recently appointed to take charge of the training of civil servants. The question which has been asked about the Higher Executive Officer in charge of the Training Centre - I do not know whether this is the same matter - but anyway I can categorically assure the Member that the Personnel Department and personnel matters are not being handled at Executive Officer or Higher Executive Officer level. Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask the Minister for Finance when was the last time that rules and regulations governing the terms and conditions of the entire civil service were revised or overhauled? It seems to me that some of these rules must be out-dated. Although they were meant to prevent abuses and so on, they do, in actual fact, considerably tie the hands of the brighter people, people with more entrepreneurial energies.”
“Sir, first of all, I do not know why the Ministry of Finance should be blamed even for graduate teacher vacancies not being filled. Quite obviously there are vacancies, and the Minister for Education, I believe, has made it quite clear that he cannot get enough teachers. And if the Member for Moulmein has got any graduate teachers knocking at the door, I guarantee that they will be let in. There will be no passing of the buck in this case. As to the stipulation laid down by the Ministry of Education, I am afraid I do not know much about the circumstances in which the old and the new salary scales were formulated. But if it will give him any satisfaction, I will look into this and see whether it is the Ministry of Finance that is responsible for this.”
“Yes, the buck stops there. I do not think there is any question about it. This was the decision of Members of Parliament here when the Public Service Commission Ordinance was passed. I still think that however much we like to be able to promote the officers, the neutrality of the Public Service Commission is something which we still accept and would like to see continue. On Master's and Ph. D. degrees, it has been considered that two and four increments respectively would be sufficient, because it is a matter of opinion whether or not we are getting enough Ph.D.s. But we have quite a number. Those whom we send overseas on study courses, when they come back, are usually bound to the Government for three or five, or even eight years in some cases. Our problem really is not to recruit them into the service but rather, after they have been recruited into the service, to retain them in the face of the blandishments of commerce and industry. I say that is very difficult because the private sector can always pay a little bit more than whatever we may want to pay them. The final test really is whether the man likes the administrative work in the civil service or whether he wants to go outside and try his luck in commerce and industry. Perhaps there are very big rewards obtainable there, but at the same time there is the great risk that his paper qualifications may not, after all, make him a good industrialist.”
“Well, that is being done. Perhaps there has been some complaint that we do not consider the seniority principle too sacrosanct, and we have sometimes promoted fairly young officers to Permanent Secretary grade, if not substantively, at least to act in the Permanent Secretary's post even though they have not had 20 years of service. If there are officers with five to seven years' service and with outstanding ability, and if they can perform the job of the Permanent Secretary, I, as Minister for Finance, will have absolutely no objection to their being rapidly promoted. I think I have answered most of the questions.”
“On this point, we must consider not whether the paper qualifications are a Master's, a Ph. D's or an Honours degree, but whether the applicant or the present holder can fill the job, and on this there is no other test than actual performance of the job. For quality in the civil service, it would be very desirable that we should be able to pay civil servants a remuneration commensurate with their value, but the difficulty in dealing with, say, 4,000 senior civil servants - that was the figure of Division One officers which I gave is that we cannot compete with the commercial firms which want only one or two officers and can therefore pay 10 per cent above whatever may be offered in the civil service. Even if we increase the senior civil servants' salaries by 20 per cent, the commercial firms can always up this by another 20 per cent. An hon. Member: Give them rapid promotion!”
“As the Minister of State for Finance has already said that he will be prepared to give assistance to the consumers' association, I think I need say nothing more on this. We will give assistance. I would like to answer the comments of the Member for Telok Blangah in which he blamed the Ministry of Finance, but not the civil service, for the present condition of the civil service and their terms and conditions of service. As far as the acting appointments are concerned, and their being done away with, this is not within our dispensation. The substantive filling of posts, especially the superscale posts, is a matter for the Public Service Commission. Unless it considers that the civil servant can fill the post substantively, the only course of action we can take is to fill it on an acting basis or an officiating basis or a temporary basis. With regard to quick solutions to the civil servants' salaries, of course, it is very easy to suggest that we should do this in a very rapid way. I suppose the most rapid way is to give everyone a 10 per cent increase. On this basis, we can then really get rid of the committees inquiring into the salary scales of daily-rated workers, the senior civil servants and the staff of the Fire Brigade! Perhaps we should take some of the blame for not dealing with these matters as rapidly as possible, but I suppose the test of any Minister for Finance, or any of his officials, is whether or not they are accused of giving in too easily to requests for salary increases! The Member for Whampoa suggested that it would be necessary to give salary increases for a Master's degree and a Ph. D. degree beyond the two to four increments that have already been conceded.”
“So some action is being taken, perhaps not as fast as the Members would like us to take, but we are looking into these salary scales. In view of the shortage of staff which I have mentioned, and the fact that we do not always have people in the grades doing the work of looking into the salary scales, I think our civil service, instead of being criticised, ought to be given some praise for the work that they are doing and for the very large amount of overtime which they are doing. In regard to the Ministry of Education and the teachers' proposals, this is not something which has been set aside. I hope that after consideration of the budget has been gone through, we shall get in touch with the Ministry of Education and come to some arrangement on the new salary scales which have been under examination. 7.30 p.m. The Member for Jurong asked why fisheries are not pioneer industries. The reason for this is fairly simple. The fishing industry is really a very old industry, if not the oldest industry in the world. It certainly is not a modern industry, and therefore we did not think that it was appropriate that it should come under pioneer status. We wish to encourage fisheries. In fact, we make large amounts of finance available to anyone who wishes to engage in deep-sea fishing. The loans which have been approved by the Development Bank for some of the industries have been to the extent of 80 per cent of the cost of the assets.”
“In the circumstances, it is not possible for the posts to be filled by officers who have the requisite experience and qualifications. In 1959, our civil service had 1,255 Division One posts. Today there are 3,907 Division One posts, an increase of more than three times, and we are not able to keep up with the expansion of the services. Therefore, we have had to resort to acting appointments. Where these appointments are more than two grades higher, then the persons who fill them are said to be officiating. The supernumerary appointments are, of course, necessary. Under various circumstances, officers going on very long leave or going on leave prior to retirement, or officers who are understudying other officers before taking over the duties, and officers in excess of requirements naturally will have to be shown in the estimates, especially when they go off on national service. These various designations are there because there is a need to show them as such, rather than as permanent officers. Of course, we would like to have a civil service filled with officers of the right quality and calibre in substantive appointments, and we are trying our best to do what we can to train our civil servants so that they can be fully qualified for their duties. In regard to the salary scales and conditions of service and their determination, this is one of the important matters we have to look into in order to get a full complement of substantive holders of the posts, and we will give consideration to the various salary scales. Consideration of these scales is being done. In fact, it has been mentioned that we are looking into the scales of daily-rated workers, the Police Force, the Fire Brigade and so on.”
“As far as the increases in some other cases are concerned, they may not be justifiable. We have not agreed to these increases. For example, in the case of bread, the impression that has been given that we have accepted the increase in the price of bread is not correct. We have asked why there has been this increase, and we have found that even if there is an increase in raw materials, it does not justify an increase of five cents. There may be an increase in the price of flour which might justify a one-cent increase. We are looking into all these matters and we shall try to do what we can. At the same time, I do not think we can accept the idea of price control, because the experience of people who lived with price control just after the war should make it clear that this is detrimental to the supply that is coming on to the market at reasonable prices. But we will give such help as we can in the collection of statistics, although there is some doubt about the figures that we produce. I think our inspectors in the market are just as able to find out about prices. The Trade Division and the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research will look into the quality and nature of the materials that go into the finished products. I will now come to the matter of the civil service. I am in some sympathy with the Member for Telok Blangah when he says he is confused by the many appointments - acting, officiating, temporary, supernumerary, etc. These, of course, are not there because we like to confuse Members or ourselves. But they are just the result of a very rapid increase in the number of civil servants. In fact, 50 per cent of the administrative officers have less than three years' service. They are probationers.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, because of the shortage of time, I am afraid I will not be able to answer all the questions. I will take the suggestion of the Member for Telok Blangah that I should not concentrate too much on the rise in the cost of living. This is not because I do not consider it important. In fact, this is one of the many problems that we shall have to consider during this year. Perhaps I should say to the Member for Sembawang that I do not live on fresh air and sunshine, and that I also consume some of the commodities that he has mentioned, like rice, bread, oil, salt and so on. My wife tells me that there has been some increase in prices of goods that she buys.”
“MSA is now preparing a five-year development plan which, subject to scrutiny and approval by the Government, will be implemented vigorously. I understand that consideration of the purchase of wide-bodied aircraft is one of the highlights of the plan. Employment opportunities in a wholly- owned Singapore company should grow at a rapid rate. Management will be given a free and unfettered hand to carry out its tasks under the effective control and supervision of the Board of Directors. With good management and run on the basis of efficiency and profitability, our national airline has considerable growth expectations. It should be at least as profitable as and probably larger than Hong Kong's airline. Unlike Cathay Pacific which is not allowed to cut into BOAC's profitable international routes, we shall circle the globe. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1971, TO 31ST MARCH, 1972 Order read for resumed consideration in Committee of Supply [3rd Allotted Day]. Resumption of debate on Question (19th March, 1971), "That the sum to be allocated for Head 0801 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 2109." - [Mr Ho Kah Leong]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] 2.41 p.m. Head 0801 (contd.) -”
“It is the intention of the Singapore Government that this transfer should take place as soon as possible. It is the Singapore Government's intention that there will be completely separate financial accountability in respect of domestic services under the Malaysian Government, and international services under the Singapore Government, by 1st. January, 1972, or that the national airlines of the two countries should be on their feet by the 1st January, 1972. I have dealt with the distribution of the Fokker and the Boeing 707 aircraft, but not with the Boeing 737 aircraft. These aircraft are used extensively on services between Singapore and Malaysia as well as on international routes stretching to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Djakarta, Bali and Sumatra. Clearly, a sharing of these aircraft will have to be worked out on the basis of the requirements and interests of each Government. This basis will be decided at separate negotiations on an air services agreement which are scheduled to be completely by the end of this month. It is appropriate for me to outline the policy of the proposed Singapore national airline. We have conveyed to the Malaysian Government the fact that the Singapore Government will inherit the corporate entity of MSA which is; a Singapore registered company, as was its precursor, Malayan Airways. There should not be any hiatus in the rapid growth of the airline. Since the bulk of MSA's international services are operated on Singapore traffic rights and as a considerable proportion of traffic originating in the Singapore-Malaysia region is derived from Singapore, the proposed restructuring of the company will not impair its growth prospects.”
“Secondly, staff of the company, contractors, agents, suppliers and clients would find a long transitional period unsettling not knowing where exactly they stand. Thirdly, Government officials as well as the staff of MSA who are directing, planning and undertaking the arrangements for the restructuring of the company cannot have their attention distracted from their normal duties for a prolonged period of uncertainty and restlessness pending the final hiving off into two separate airlines. Negotiations between officials of the two Governments have resulted in a measure of agreement. There are a few points on which further talks are to take place. It has been agreed that, first, the restructuring will be completed by the end of 1972 or any earlier date that may be agreed upon by the two Governments; secondly, that the Fokker aircraft will be transferred to the proposed Malaysian national airline and the Boeing 707 aircraft to the Singapore national airline; thirdly, that projects approved will be implemented and that projects required for the orderly growth and expansion of the company will not be held up on account of the proposed restructuring of the airline. The Governments have also appointed, through MSA, a reputable firm of accountants to value the assets, both tangible and intangible, of the company; the report of the accountants is to be submitted by 30th June this year. The Singapore Government has proposed that, to facilitate the establishment of the Malaysian national airline, the internal operations of MSA should over a period of time be separated, and placed under the control of a "Malaysian Division" of the company. In the near future, such a Division would become the nucleus of the Malaysian national airline and would be handed over as such.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it has become common knowledge that the policies and objectives of the Governments of Singapore and Malaysia towards Malaysia-Singapore Airlines have become divergent. Differences have arisen from time to time in recent years. On the 2nd September, 1970, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a note to the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur requesting the Singapore Government to designate a committee of officials to discuss with their committee the creation of a Malaysian Domestic Airline. On the 13th November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a note in reply to the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore nominating this committee. The differences of objectives between the two Governments have become irreconcilable. A parting of the ways was unavoidable. Continuation of the partnership would only have led to constant friction and unnecessary conflict. The Singapore Government's interest is centred upon a fast-expanding commercially viable operation with flights on international routes to Europe and the United States. The Malaysian Government has different priorities. A major point of disagreement was the proposal to expand MSA domestic air services regardless of the loss forecast by management. Now that the decision has been taken to dissolve the co-ownership and joint control of MSA, it is in the best interests of both Governments that the proposed restructuring of the company should be proceeded with as expeditiously as possible. There are good reasons for proceeding with deliberate speed. First, in the airline business nothing stands still. The transitional period before restructuring is completed is not conducive to the taking of important decisions on the expansion of services and the acquisition of new aircraft.”
“If the employers enforce safety standards and the employees are prepared to adopt them, it will be to the benefit of all concerned. From the economic development point of view, a skilled worker has had a lot of capital invested in him by his employer, by the state and by himself, because any investment which is made in learning skills ought to produce a return and the worker should not jeopardise his investment by being careless. There was another point regarding the protection of local industry. The Member for Whampoa thought that we were over-protecting certain industries. In my budget statement I made it clear that protection would be accorded only if a case is clearly established. I used the word "clearly" and I mean clearly. I do not mean that any industry could call for protection in the early stages of establishment. In the case of dressed leather - I think the Member for Katong read some press statements in connection with it - we have lifted the import duty and in many other cases we will probably do the same. We do not intend to protect an inefficient industry even where investments have been made either by Government or by the Development Bank of Singapore. Dr Augustine Tan rose -”
“This is therefore not a matter for the employers alone to pursue, but also for the workers to be educated. A lot of industrial accidents are due to carelessness on the part of the workers. An hon. Member: Then enforce safety standards!”
“In addition, our national servicemen have also some claim to preferential treatment in the choice of Government jobs. But we shall do what we can for these workers. In fact, until 1969, our concern was to see that there were enough jobs and the conditions did not seem quite so important. Now that we have reached the position of almost full employment, the conditions of workers are quite rightly given greater consideration. In my budget statement, I gave emphasis to training. This is one way in which we can improve the conditions of workers so that they can have an increase to their wages through greater productivity. There was a suggestion by the Member for Moulmein that it was not desirable that I should use the payroll tax for the purpose of giving incentives to employers for training workers. On the other hand, the Member for Whampoa disagreed with this suggestion. My own opinion is that, as this payroll tax is collected in connection with workers employed in industry, it is a very proper basis for using the tax collected to reimburse the employers who are creating the skills, and who may, after having given a lot of training to their employees, find that they may be lured to another similar industry. Some concern was expressed in connection with the safety of workers. On this I am in entire agreement that we should increasingly emphasise to all employers that they should implement schemes to ensure greater safety for their workers. I am, however, informed that the workers themselves sometimes prefer not to employ safety measures. Helmets are provided for them, but they do not use them. Guards are provided to prevent the workers from being hurt, but, in some cases, in order to improve the speed of working, they are removed by the workers themselves.”
“The Member for Changi was very concerned about what could be done for the workers in Changi who would be greatly affected by the run-down in 1971. His concern was that the conversion to commercial operation of the Changi facilities would not be adequate to deal with the loss of employment in the area. I think the successful conversion of Sembawang Dockyard to commercial operation shows that where there are skills, there would be no difficulty in absorbing workers. If there are skilled workers in the Changi area who can be absorbed into the aerospace industries, the Lockheed and the Grumman Pacific organisations which are trying to develop repair facilities would take any number of these skilled workers. As for domestic workers, the problem seems to be that, from a general consensus among employers, there is a shortage of them and that there need be no concern about what is going to happen to them. The real crunch would be for the clerical workers, the storekeepers and other white-collar workers especially if they are of the age of 40 and above when it would be very difficult to retrain them for industrial jobs. The response to the training courses which have been started for these workers has been rather poor, and it has been decided to discontinue the course specially arranged for them and to allow them to make use of the ordinary facilities. This is a very difficult problem and I confess that it would be very difficult for us to place redundant storekeepers and some of the clerical workers, though not all of them, in industrial employment. I do not think that the suggestion which has been made that jobs in the civil service should be reserved for these workers is feasible. In any case, there are not enough storekeeper jobs in Government service.”
“There has been some reference to the matter of bonus payments, the attitude of the banks in negotiations on bonus payments, and suggestions that certain amendments should be made to the Employment Act. These matters are being considered at present and it is hoped that some reasonable solution will be found to the whole problem of what should be done in regard to bonus payments as against an increase in wages. I think it would be desirable that the effects of the British military run-down should be gauged before any adjustments are made to the present equilibrium between the employers and the workers. There are many considerations in promoting the economic development of Singapore when suggesting that bonus payments should be greatly increased. There are certain countries which are not accustomed to the idea of bonus payments. There are others, like Japan, which have made it a practice to pay bonuses. These have in the past been considered to be of value in promoting savings and in promoting fixed capital formation in Japan. At the same time, it may be advisable that the practice in Western countries that there should be a relationship of wages to productivity, which is more direct and the yearly increase payment should be instituted. I believe that the setting up of a wages. council, where the employers and the employees get together and settle what may be a desirable increase year by year, may be the best solution to the problem. I hope it will be possible that some solution to this problem can be found for implementation after the British military rundown which will take place this year. Certain Members have emphasised the effects of the rundown upon the workers.”
“My colleague says a token charge. In any case, if you are seriously ill, the token sum which may be considered more than token would be negligible as compared with the actual cost to the Government for providing the services. In the same way, the cost of education remains relatively the same. The number of bursaries and scholarships has all increased in number. There again the cost of education has not really increased. There has, therefore, been some isolation of the citizen from the increase in the cost of living over the last ten years. While it may be correct that prices have risen to a great extent for certain sectors of the population, I would say this would be for the higher income group. To the worker in the same position as in 1960, I would say that the increase has not been really all that great. This brings me to the position of workers today. I am obliged to Members who have reminded me that I have not paid tribute to the workers in my budget statement. I hasten, therefore, to say that the progress which Singapore has made would not have been possible without the hard work and self-sacrifice of the workers. Table VA referred to by the Member for Bras Basah, shows a considerable reduction in the number of man-days lost through industrial disputes. I therefore believe that the trade union movement has played a very responsible role and has been instrumental in a very large measure in making Singapore more attractive to the international companies which have come to Singapore. The industrial peace which has been maintained has been reinforced by the restraint which the National Trades Union Congress has exercised in demands for wage increases. This very responsible attitude will, I hope, meet with an adequate response from employers.”
“It will be possible to publish it if there is enough interest in it. The information is valuable to some extent, but in most cases you will find that the housewives shop near their homes, it being more costly to take a bus or a taxi to do shopping. In practice, whatever may be the difference in prices between, say, Changi market and Orchard Road market, it is not very likely that housewives will go to Changi and buy their foodstuffs there. One of the ways in which the Government has tried to prevent an increase in the cost of living has been to ensure that the social services remain relatively the same as they were in 1960. I think the rents for flats, for example, have not really gone up in all this time. The standards of the flats have improved so that if you now live in a Housing and Development Board flat and pay $20 a month, I believe that the standards have increased so that for $20 you probably have a higher standard of living without an increase in the cost. The cost of medical services also remains, to a great extent, the same. There was mention of some charge now being made.”
“At the same time, I do not think that is the criterion on which the Singapore cost-of-living index should be constructed. As regards the increase in prices in 1970-71, Members are quite rightly concerned about what should be done. There was a suggestion that a commission of inquiry should be constituted. I do not know whether this suggestion was made seriously. The investigation which has to be made is really into the basis of the index. As far as the prices are concerned, this is a fairly simple matter. It is very easy to get inspectors to go to the markets and find out the prices of various types of foodstuffs. In fact, it is being done all the time. If Members are interested in the details and which markets sell the cheapest foodstuffs, it will be very easy to make the information available to them. An hon. Member: Why not publish it?”