Howe Yoon Chong
Singapore
“Accidents, unfortunate as they are, can never be completely eliminated, but the accident rate will be kept to the minimum. INQUIRY INTO DEATH OF PTE V. RAJENDRAN 8. Mr J.B.”
“I am not as sanguine as my friend, the Member for Delta, who said that if you encourage them to do breakdancing, they will break their necks; so you will have no old people and there will be no old people problem. No.”
“That is the reason why there is a sense of immediacy when we suggested that it should be implemented with effect from the 1st of July, although we have not even set down the framework for the Coordinating Department. There is also the statement that it is a breach of faith to defer the CPF withdrawal age.”
“They cannot even help themselves! You may want to pray for him! Let me now come to the Member for Kebun Baru who has moved an amendment. He, I presume, wrote his speech even before he heard me speak.”
“The Member for Moulmein was most vehement when he said, "You talk so much of it. How is it that when civil servants retire (he was referring to teachers, I presume) only a few selected are allowed to be re-employed and even these few, though they have the same qualifications, are re-employed at different rates?" Do I repeat you right?”
“The problem that he does not understand is that while we give dignity to our citizens, he wants our citizens to be cringing and crawling, begging for State doles and stipends and for politicians to dish out various things so that they can go round and say, "i now dish you this. I now dish you that." We do not want that.”
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“What is important, and I think he probably will see this point, is that whatever the demerits of the Abortion Act or the practice of abortion, we are today having less in our population to the tune of 116,000-plus. I am not a lawyer. I am not a doctor. I am not a moralist and I therefore cannot argue with him whether abortion, the destruction of a foetus, is murder. But I think that question was raised when the House debated the amendment to the Abortion Bill and my predecessor did tell him as a lawyer that there is nowhere in the law to state that abortion is murder. And since we are still governed by Constitutional provisions, by the rule of law, I think that statement has to hold. He makes the point that my predecessor, in introducing the Bill, had said that the provision of legalized abortion was for social and humanitarian purposes. I think that is so because even from 1969 when abortion was first legalized through 1974 when the Abortion Act came into being, this statement has always held - that abortion is a last stop, and there were talks about long shots and short shots. It is a last stop. We do advise every person who comes to our Family Planning offices for advice that they should not resort to abortion; that there are various other alternatives. But human errors are always possible and invariably it becomes necessary, and that is the area where we come in. I probably share his views that we are going in for a permissive society. That is something we are not likely to be able to shelter ourselves from because we are at the crossroads of various influences, particularly films, glossy magazines, books, radio, T.V., and video tapes.”
“And having paid for it, they go to the doctor and demand the full works, even though they have minor illnesses. The result is that insurance premiums go higher and higher. The costs for those who are provided by the state have been increasing over the years, so that today the American medical expenditure is something in the region of US$300 billion. And the medical service itself provides jobs for more than five million people. It is almost double in every respect to the amount that they spend on defence. All of us know how much the American defence bill is. 5.30 p.m. We are not going to get into that soup. That is the reason why Medisave is being proposed. The 6% that we are going to put aside for Medisave in our calculation will meet only the Class C charges. The people who want to go to a higher class ward will have to either resort to their employer's medical provision or paying out of their own savings. If they do not fall sick, then all that is set aside for them can be handed down to their son or daughter at a later stage. I am assured by my Second Minister who has been in charge of Medisave that there will be a further and more detailed debate on this subject. I would seek the indulgence of the Member for Rochore to reserve his final judgment on Medisave until that debate in May. The Member for Whampoa is a very staunch advocate. I respect his moral and spiritual views but I would plead with him that his views as a member of one religion must take into account the views of other Members of the House and also other people in Singapore who may or may not be of the same faith. There may also be a lot of other people who have no faith but rather are agnostics.”
“As the Chinese say, the chap is hanging for dear life, and you think that they are swinging or that he is a swinger. These are the things that we should try and get away from. The whole idea behind the National Health Plan is a simple one which our people will understand that it is no longer going to be an insurance policy, that what is going to be in the plan will be this: you pay for whatever services you get. But if you are unable to pay, because you are old, you are not working, you are an invalid, you are disabled, then the State will pick up the tabs. In addition to this, what we are doing is to advise members of the public, "Please take good care of your health. Good health is not something that the State can legislate for you or the State can offer you. Look after it, safeguard it, protect it, spend some time on it. In the ultimate, if you do not fall sick, that money is not swallowed by the insurance company to pay other people. But that money goes back to you. Therefore, it is not money to be spent." The Government using the taxpayers' money will continue to bear its share of the medical services and that is the reason why every year our votes for the Ministry of Health are increasing. But we must accept that in the years to come, things are going to change. The people's demand for medical services will be more sophisticated. Therefore, we will have to cater for this. The new developments in medical science and technology will be much more advanced and necessarily much more costly. If everybody were to be able to get all the modern medical screening or medical treatment for free and they can demand it as of right, we will then fall into the same kind of situation as in America where everybody pays for insurance.”
“If they had been in charge of the government in the early 5Os or the late 40s, we might be in the same soup as all these western social democratic countries today are in. I for one do not in any way envy them. In fact, if one were to analyze the situation clearly, they are like people cliff-hanging on a rope, swinging around yelling for help. And some of our opposition members are even thinking that they are having a fine time on a swing and that we should also follow them.”
“- not authority but fervour and vigour supported by fire and brimstone against abortion. I take these two Members first because the Member for Ayer Rajah's query is quite easy to answer. With regard to the points raised by the Member for Rochore, I think all that he has said is to a certain extent valid if we are to provide free medical services to the people. But the point is, in our case we are not. As you will well appreciate, western countries have been providing medical and social security allowances, as the Member for Rochore has enumerated a whole list of them, ostensibly free out of the taxpayers, money. What, in fact, has happened in the West is that the people have made the payment first, and this provided a system of insurance so that the enjoyment of the service or the special privilege is totally divorced from the payment for this service or privilege. Put simply, a certain amount of your income is deducted each month or each year, and from the total collections from the people, the money is used to pay various social security services, medical services, old age pensions, unemployment allowances, family allowances, the whole lot. We, in Singapore, have among our earlier generation of leaders, those who were contemporaries of the Member for Rochore. They were bleary-eyed about all his utopia or paradise on earth that the social reforms first ushered in by Lord Beveridge would bring to our society. I think some of them went to England immediately after the war and came back very much convinced that that is the wave of the future. Fortunately for them, and for us, they did not get to be in charge of the government in the early days until 1959 and subsequently 1965.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I must first admit that there is a certain temerity on my part when faced with the Member for Rochore who was my predecessor, having held the job of Minister for Health for a very much longer time than I have and probably with a much greater wealth of experience in the financing of health systems than I will ever want to know. I am also faced with a University don who speaks with great - An hon. Member: Authority!”
“The total outpatient fees collected in the hospitals and clinics outside the hospitals for the calendar year 1982 and the estimated running costs (ie excluding costs of land, buildings and amortisation of capital equipment) for Financial Year 1982 are shown below: Fees collected for Estimated Running Calender Year 1982 Costs for FY 1982 1. Hospitals (i) Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOCs) $13,475,570 $24,686,000 (ii) A & E Departments $ 3,128,460 $16,604,030 $10,248,000 $34,934,000 ----------- ----------- 2. Primary Health Care Services (i) Outpatient Clinics $ 5,973,100 $17,753,000 (ii) Maternal & Child Health Clinics $ 326,890 $ 6,299,990 $10,748,000 $28,501,000 ----------- ----------- 3. Dental Clinics $ 3,576,980 $15,852,000 ----------- ----------- TOTAL: $26,481,000 $79,287,000 ----------- ----------- WALK-WAYS AND PEDESTRIAN-MALLS 3. Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for National Development if he will give the total amount spent on the construction, reconditioning, renovation and renewal of walk-ways and pedestrian-malls in 1982.”
“Sir, in the initial period, we do not allow the soldier to go home for the first month. After the first month, he is allowed to go home once a week. In this case, the $90 is more than adequate for bus fares. But the parents protested - they have not seen their children for so long and they do not know what has happened to their children. So the period of one month was reduced to two weeks and, I think, there is now a move to reduce it to one week. Many parents, in fact, would prefer their children to go home every day. And they are meeting the problem by giving them more bus fares.”
“Sir, I am grateful to my colleagues for drawing all the logical conclusions for me. As I have said, the obligation is on the part of every able-bodied citizen to be trained to defend the country. The country is providing all the money to train him. Our rate is fixed. If there are a few cases of financial or economic difficulties, as my Minister of State has explained, there will be ways and means whereby we can assist them. To a parent who can afford it, the $90 is not very much. But to pay something more to 20,000 people is quite a considerable sum. If one looks at it that way, it can upset the amount of funds that are voted for Defence. By paying more allowance for more than 20,000 individuals each year, and since we maintain 40,000, it is quite a considerable sum. But if there are cases where there is financial need, special consideration will be given to them so that we can alleviate that need. I hope Members will be able to understand that defence is a function of what the State can afford. Coming to the Member for Chua Chu Kang, the answer is very simple. If we are able to afford it, the simple way is to have a standing army. But I can assure the House that for the type of defence that we need, we cannot afford either the manpower to be diverted to a standing army or the funds necessary to maintain the standing army. It is as simple as that. Everyone of us, as parent or as a young man, has a burden to bear in the defence of this country. Our job in the Ministry of Defence is to make sure that we have that capability at the kind of cost both actual and opportunity cost that the State can bear.”
“REDEVELOPMENT OF SIT FLAT SITE IN DELTA 2. Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether there are plans to redevelop the area in Delta on which low-rise Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flats now stand; (b) what types of flats and facilities are included in the plans; and (c) whether the present tenants of the flats will be given priority in allocation of the new flats to be built on the site.”
“Mindef has constantly emphasized that the two to 2 1/2 years' national service should be an extension of the education of our young men. To this end, while discharging our main responsibility in providing military training, Mindef also trains our national servicemen in a variety of skills which will be useful in civilian life. The SAF itself inculcates strict discipline and adherence to the military honour code among our national servicemen. Mindef would like to believe that the young men put under our charge would have benefited in their moral, physical, and mental education while doing national service. I am happy to inform the House that there has been a dramatic improvement in the last five years with the reported cases of theft decreasing regularly each year, from 159 in 1977, to 106 in 1978; from 89 in 1979, to 66 in 1980, and to 32 in 1981. Of the total number of 452 cases over the five years, 1977 to 1981, about half were solved with the arrest of 240 servicemen. The remaining cases were not solved. Of the 240 servicemen arrested, half of these were educated up to only primary level. The other half were from various levels of secondary education. The measures taken to reduce the number of theft cases in the SAF include: (a) Briefing officers and NCOs on the common methods of theft and the preventive measures they can take. (b) Regularly reminding servicemen at parades to take precautions against theft and of the penalties for stealing. (c) More security patrols and spot checks, especially during weekends, public holidays, and in periods of field training and exercises, when most of the servicemen are out of camp. (d) Severe disciplinary action against culprits, with sentences in courts martial ranging from two to 24 months' detention.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the First Deputy Prime Minister remarked in the middle of January 1982 that theft was a common occurrence in SAF camps and that something must be done in our educational system to improve the moral fibre of our young men. I am sure Members of the House are well aware of the measures being taken by the Ministry of Education in this direction. For the SAF, this remark of the First Deputy Prime Minister should not be interpreted to mean that theft is more prevalent among our national servicemen than among similar groups of young men elsewhere. Every year, 20,000 or so young men of 18 years of age are recruited into national service. They come from different walks of life. Some are fresh from school and eager to go for further studies. Others have left school, on completion of their 'O' levels, one or two years ago. Many have left school prematurely at PSLE or Secondary I or Secondary 11 level. Most of these have been doing different jobs for one year or more. From this rather disparate group of young men there will bound to be different standards of integrity and moral behaviour and the incidence of petty thievery, breaking-in, and stealing cannot be avoided. What the SAF can do is to try, through strict military discipline, education and moral instruction to get our national servicemen to understand not only their rights and responsibilities as citizens but also their obligations. The SAF will not slacken in its efforts to instil discipline, integrity, and pride of belonging in our national servicemen. In this respect, Mindef is gratified to receive the support and encouragement of parents, teachers, community leaders, and others who can exercise influence over our national servicemen.”
“When a member of this team is absent during annual in-camp training, the work of a team will be materially affected. When the Reservist goes back the next year for in-camp training, he will have to do two years' liability instead of one and this adds to the burden that he has to discharge. MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1981 TO 31ST MARCH, 1982 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [7th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head L (cont) -”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, under the Enlistment Act, Reservist Officers are liable for service up to the age of 50, while Reservist Other Ranks serve until 40. A Reservist may be called up for Reserve Service up to a maximum of 40 days a year. In practice, however, the duration of the annual in-camp training is normally three weeks, except on occasions where the reserve units are sent for overseas training and exercises, in which case the in-camp training may stretch up to five weeks. A Reservist may be exempted from Reserve Service or in-camp training only when he is pronounced medically unfit for such service by a Medical Board. No exemption is granted on hardship grounds as any loss of income arising out of his in-camp training can be reimbursed in the form of make-up pay. Reservists are normally informed six to 12 months in advance of the dates they have to report for in-camp training. This is deemed adequate prior notice and should enable the Reservist and his employer to make arrangements to enable him to attend in-camp training. However, Reservists who are attending regular courses of study overseas or working abroad may have their liability deferred but they will have to make up for their deferred liability on return to Singapore. Deferment from in-camp training may also be granted to Reservists on compassionate grounds or when there are extenuating circumstances such as when they have serious family problems and the like at the time of their being called up for in-camp training. Although Reservists who are deferred from in-camp training can make up their training at a later date with another unit, the SAF does not grant deferment liberally because a Reservist Unit has to operate as a cohesive team.”
“Sorry, Sir, Member for Punggol. He has been mentioning too many Ministers. The Ministry of Defence has an arrangement with the Minister for Finance whereby the Ministry of Defence will justify those requirements necessary for the Ministry, and when all the procedures are thoroughly gone through, if the provision is found inadequate, measures will be taken to supplement it. This arrangement has been working satisfactorily for a number of years now, and I do not see any difficulty in the future.”
“Sir, in answer to the Minister for Punggol's question - An hon. Member: Member for Punggol.”
“This has to be done and has to be consciously encouraged because we inherited, as I said earlier, from the past where the system was totally rigid, when the officer was a gentleman and the other ranks were not so that even when they go to messes and clubs, they were thoroughly distinct. They are slowly trying to unwind the battlements and hopefully to do away with all these differences that are brought about by differences in ranks in order to encourage greater cooperation among all ranks. 5.00 p.m. On the question regarding the encouragement to build up physical fitness, we have a very detailed programme to require every member of the reservists to be examined regarding this physical fitness twice a year. That has produced certain results. The Member for River Valley did say that they have a paunch. I think the paunch is not so much due to a lack of training but due to the affluence of our society. We will try to bring them back for physical examination and hope to be able to bring down their paunch. We will pay greater attention to physical fitness. In this respect we are working closely with the Ministry of Education to catch them young, to get them to be physically-fit conscious, right at an early age even before they are due for enlistment. And having got them, to persuade them to improve their physical fitness during the two or three years of national service and continue to keep themselves physically fit during their reservist years so that, in toto, we are able to make every citizen, every young person, conscious that physical fitness is a life-long commitment. I do not know whether we can succeed but the Ministry of Defence will give it every support and make every effort to bring this about.”
“This, I admit, is not ideal but has to be improved. Therefore, we will be slowly training different groups of people to concentrate not only on the welfare and recreational needs of SAFRA members and their families but also to provide certain activities that will encourage them to improve in the military areas. I am not very sure this will eventually be the result, but I can think of four or five possible activities. One is building up of physical fitness which the Member for River Valley has mentioned. The other one is to encourage aggressive spirit like taekwondo, karate, judo, jujitsu or maybe kendo, activities that are more associated with the military. And also to have military games so that they apply their minds to activities that are military so that from the SAFRA clubhouses there will develop a whole series of new activities relevant to the expected duties and responsibilities of reservist members. Members of the House may wish to know that in addition to the Toa Payoh SAFRA clubhouse, one new clubhouse is being developed to serve Brickworks, Bukit Merah, Queenstown and the surrounding areas. Planning approval is being awaited for a third clubhouse at Bedok/Tampines/Changi area. A fourth clubhouse is likely to come up in Ang Mo Kio. Hopefully, it will not be too far away from Hou Gang New Town. We are having a fifth clubhouse in mind for Woodlands. So I hope Members of the House will bear with me, and that we will make haste in this direction gradually. I thoroughly agree with the Member for Kampong Kembangan when he said that much more should be done in order to encourage a mixing of the various members of our national service, be they officers or other ranks or junior members.”
“If they are to be true to their name, they will have to be soldiers and they will not be able to work in the factories or in the other institutions and our economic wealth will probably decline. I do not think we can name them front-line soldiers. It is like one of the oddities of the English language that we meet, where the public school is a private school. So we may have to live with this word since we have inherited this language, and I hope when we jell, we will not be jellied but we will be real tempered steel. As regards SAFRA clubhouses which both the Member for Punggol and the Member for Kampong Kembangan are so anxious that we provide for the various areas, I can assure the House that, as the need arises, SAFRA club- houses will be developed. I do not think it is possible for me to convince the Minister for Finance that we should have one clubhouse for every constituency. We probably have to make-do with one clubhouse for a big group of housing estates where our reservists can go to a central place. Up to now, we only have six years of experience in running SAFRA clubhouses. Although the articles of association of SAFRA lay down the need to bring in the spirit of comradeship, the bond of friendship, the various encouragements for people to take pride in belonging to the society and to look after each other's welfare and the like, we have no earlier experience, and the people who are appointed to manage and run and to cater for the needs of members of the SAFRA clubhouses have all had their experiences from the community centres. And the result has been that most of the activities in SAFRA clubhouses are a duplication of the activities of certain community centres, depending on where the organizing people first had their earlier experience.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I will take the last question first. I admit being slightly amiss in not dealing with the Member for Punggol's question regarding streaming of students in the schools and how this will affect the eventual intake of people into the national service. There will be some problems with regard to people who eventually make the grade to go to the 'A' levels. Up to the 'O' level, there will be no problem. But I do not foresee very great difficulties there and if such difficulties do crop up in the years to come, there will be no difficulty in ironing them out with the Ministry of Education to defer those few who want to go for further studies or do their 'A' levels. So I do not expect much difficulty there. The numbers are there and we are well able to continue the kind of national service training that we have been doing, adjusting it all the time. That deals with the problem. Coming back to the Member for Punggol's query regarding the reduction of the provision for welfare services from $37,000-odd to $11,000, this is not the real item that is set aside for welfare services. We have been able, with the indulgence of the Minister for Finance, to work out other systems whereby there are welfare funds available for this purpose. And our request to the Minister for Finance for funds to build SAFRA club-houses have also been met with reasonably good support from the Minister for Finance. So I do not have much difficulty convincing my colleague, the Minister for Finance, regarding the need for funds for welfare services for our reservists. The Member for Bukit Ho Swee suggested that we call our reservists front-line soldiers.”
“All these fall back on the problem that we do not have a very highly professional military cadre of officers backed up by a strong military tradition and, if possible, reinforced by a considerable number of victories over a period of time. Ours is a total start-off from scratch in a hostile environment. We should be very glad that today we have the numbers, Give us a little bit more time in order to build up the quality. In this respect I would appeal, through the Members of this House, to the population of Singapore that they have a part to play. It is no point criticizing our youngsters who are bearing the brunt of the defence by saying that they are not good soldiers. It is not their fault. It is the fault of our inheritance. Give us a bit of time. Give these youngsters the encouragement, the support, the assistance, to bolster up their spirit so that when they have tried and tried well, give them at least the respect and kind of praise that is due to them, and not to run them down and say that they are not very good soldiers, or that they are not as good as the Japanese or the Germans we have seen in whatever wars, or as good as the Israelis who won the fight in the Six-Day War. We have not got the same kind of circumstances on which to build a national army. Please encourage our youngsters, praise them. Give them more support so that their spirit, their enthusiasm and their pride in belonging to either the SAF or to the reservists can be properly sustained.”
“I am glad the Member knows it. Therefore, it has been up till now an uphill climb. Because our resources are limited we cannot, as the Member has said, build a strong standing army of big numbers. We have to rely on national service to be our main defending force. But, at the same time, it is not easy, in a period of economic expansion where everybody can get a job, to get good candidates to come in to become officers so that at least the officer-cadre of the defence forces can be strengthened. So in the initial years we have the difficulty of having to build our national service by using the framework that we have inherited from the past - either the infantry regiments that were there or the volunteers that were used to train the local militia. Neither of these is suitable for the type of military structure that we need for our defence. In the early 70s, special care was taken to divert groups of our more intelligent youngsters into the SAF through scholarships, training awards, and overseas training, in order to build up this cadre. When we have built up this cadre, it is possible that slowly, and gradually over a period of years, we will improve the framework within which the quality of our national service and of our defence forces can be raised. The Member for Punggol has mentioned Switzerland. May I remind him that in the case of Switzerland their national service has been built up over 500 years. We hope that we do not need 500 years to build a national service as good as Switzerland has got. But give us a chance. Give us a bit more time. He has suggested that the reservists take their training lightly. That is true.”
“Every man, woman and child has a part to play. So I hope I have disabused the interpretation of the word "reservist" to mean that reservists are only required when those on active duty or the regulars can no longer fight or when they require support or reinforcement. Now, the Member for Punggol has suggested that we should inculcate a sense of "commitment" and "dedication" in the reservists. In this regard I would say that this is a long-term measure requiring basic changes in our social values, our thinking, our nationalistic and patriotic ideals and fervour. Without these changes, it is not easy to build a strong sense of "commitment" and "dedication" in the reservists, I would remind the Member for Punggol that, here, reservists mean front-line soldiers. Unfortunately for us, our independence is but only 15 years old or slightly more, and the build-up of our national service or our defence forces is only one or two years less than that. We have no long- standing militaristic traditions. Our people, in fact, do not consider the Military with any respectable status. "Hau nan bu dang bing" ( ).”
“Sir, the Presidential Address also mentions and I quote: 'Our citizens must not regard the defence of Singapore as a two- or three-year affair, after which the national serviceman can put aside his uniform and leave it to others to carry on. No one will defend Singapore except Singaporeans. No one will fight for us except ourselves. This is the stark truth.' I hope that answers the Member for Punggol regarding Mindef's attitude towards national service. We in Mindef have never at any one point considered national service to be just the training of our young men from the age of 18 to 20 or 21 and ho d that he would have finished his obligation to defend the country. We look upon national service as a long-term life-long affair where he will be required to shoulder his responsibility right up to the age of 40 or 50 years, depending on the rank that he attains in the service. I would like to pick three words that have been used by the Member for Punggol in his illuminating address to the House. The first one is Reservist. It is unfortunate that the quirk of the English language has permitted the use of the word "reservist" to connote a certain meaning, and we have been accepting its usage to apply to our national service. The public thinks of a reservist as the twelfth man in the football team where if one of the other 11 members is injured or overtired the twelfth man comes in. 4.30 p.m. In our Singapore context, reservists are in fact front-line soldiers, as the Member for Punggol has mentioned. Our whole defence is based on a national service army which has to fight to defend us. Nay, I would go one step further. Our whole defence is built on the basis that, when it comes to defending Singapore, it will be a total mobilization.”
“Sir, the answer is yes. In fact, the Outward Bound School has just been reorganised and a new committee has just been appointed to run it. We hope to be able to expand the facilities so that more people can benefit from the facilities that are available there. We are appointing new instructors who have been sent overseas to places like Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia for training. When they come back they will impart whatever benefit they get from the courses that these countries teach their young people. There are now a total of 14 instructors in the School running courses for the people whom I have just mentioned. They also take courses in sailing, canoeing, water survival, navigation, expedition and physical training. We hope that this School will gain in popularity as more and more of our younger men and women get to know about it.”
“We do so much training and we have so many instructors. I hope that answers the Member for Punggol.”
“They help to make each young person realise that he can do infinitely more than he thinks he can, if he is mentally disciplined. That is the beginning of the Outward Bound School. It has been with the Ministry of Defence since. As to how many people are being trained by the provision of $390,000-odd in the estimates, I would like to inform this House that the following types of instruction are given. There is one standard course for men between the ages of 19 and 25 years, and this lasts 21 days. There is a similar course for women of 19 to 25 years. It also lasts 21 days. There is another one for boys between the ages of 14 and 18 and one for girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years, and the courses also last 21 days each. In the case of courses for adult men and women, the following departments have made use of them: the Public Service Commission, Vigilante Corps, People's Association, Police Force, Singapore Armed Forces itself, CSSDI and SIA. In the case of the courses for young people, the groups that have used them are the National Cadet Corps, the Scouts' Association and various community centres. There are other courses like the Executive Course, which is co-educational, for people of 25 years and above, and they have been made use of by PSA, PUB, JTC and SIA, Then there is a sea-oriented course of 10 days where most of the SAF Boys' school people use it. As to the numbers, I am not very sure if I can give them. The capacity for each course is 70 trainees at any one time. 6.30 p.m. As the Member for Punggol can see, this Outward Bound School is not part of SAF. It has got nothing to do with defence as such. We are running it because the Ministry of Defence has the necessary instructors and organisation and the supporting facilities to run such courses.”
“Sir, may I say that the Outward Bound School is not part of the SAF. Historically, I think, we inherited the Outward Bound School. I did a bit of research and found that the Outward Bound School grew out of a holiday camp, which was established in Pulau Ubin in 1958 by the Social Welfare Department but came under the administration of the People's Association in 1960. That is the historical beginning of the Outward Bound School. It was a holiday camp in Pulau Ubin run by the Social Welfare Department. It was set up in 1958. In 1960 it was handed over to the People's Association. But in 1967 when the Government of Singapore was discussing how to build a rugged society, the Minister of Defence announced that the Outward Bound School would be established as a permanent feature to help build such a rugged society. The direction of the school was taken over by two experts from New Zealand who were sent under the Colombo Plan in November 1967. In the following year the Board of Governors for the Outward Bound School was set up under the Chairmanship of the then Minister of Defence, Mr Lim Kim San. That is the history of the Outward Bound School. The principles for the establishment of the Outward Bound School are to give young people of all walks of life an opportunity to train through challenges inherent in the sea, the hills and the elements. Such training helps them to develop a capacity to face hazards, difficulties, hardships and emergencies of all kinds. Thus each young person is presented with a set of conditions necessary to give him for the first time an opportunity to discover himself. These conditions demand self-discipline, team work, adventure, and some hardship and risks.”
“As for those who are unable even to take care of their own family and home, I do not think they can be relied upon to take care of the country. These comprise only a small number. I am indeed very disappointed that the Minister has persistently refused to consider these few requests. He has just assumed his office as Defence Minister. Perhaps after he has encountered more problems, he will be moved by them and will be more sympathetic. Under these circumstances, I beg to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Encik Mansor Haji Sukaimi - (3) That the sum to be allocated for Head V be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead Code VB-02 of the Main Estimates,”
“One is the driver of a school bus. Even if we allow him to report for reservist training during the school holidays, it is still not satisfactory. The other case is the tailor who has now been called in. The Member said even after two or three personal appeals, I am still so hard-hearted. He appealed that in spite of the very severe strains and pressures on him, because his brother had died in camp and his mother is not well, his wife has to help in the shop, I am so hard-hearted as not to allow him exemption. I say that there will be no exemption, because if we give exemption to one, we will have difficulty in rejecting other requests of a similar nature. Everybody who is on his own, or doing his own business, will always say, "My earnings are affected", or "My business is affected." If he is a doctor, he will say, "If you take me away from my clinic for three weeks, then all my patients will go to the next clinic and I will not be able to keep my patients." These are all the requests we have to turn down. We say, "You make arrangements for somebody to take your place because we are paying you what you are earning. You are not being made to lose." So I would ask Members to bear with the defence requirements of the country, explain to the people that this is a necessary responsibility which every citizen in Singapore must bear. We can no longer employ mercenaries or depend on other people to defend us. We ourselves must defend our country, with our own lives, if necessary. Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon( In Mandarin): Sir, it is often said that only when our country exists can we hope for our home to exist. Under this slogan, nobody can object to national service.”
“Sir, I will answer the Member for Bukit Ho Swee first, because he seems to haVe got the impression that when somebody is drafted into the army full-time, he is not paid. That is not true. He is paid, and he is paid according to his rank. He also seems to think that when we ask the reservist to go back for in-camp training, he is not paid. That is not true. He is paid. He is paid, what we call, make-up pay. If he is earning as a doctor, he gets the salary of a doctor. If he is earning as a tailor, and he can prove to us that he earns that much six months before, we pay him exactly what he has been earning. Sir, we do not have to ask for money to pay them because Members in this House have very generously voted taxpayers' money for that purpose. Our army is, by all standards, at least in Asia, very well paid. As regards the. Member for Jurong, he reminded me that there is the PDF and that some of the hon. Members here are officers of the PDF. I am aware of it. But I know that those officers know that in the PDF the numbers are getting less and less. The Member for Serangoon Gardens requested this: can we not divert some of our national servicemen into this PDF, so that they can do part-time soldiering? My answer to him just now is that for the time being we cannot because we want to build up our defence capability. If Members would take a look at the situation in the surrounding areas and the turbulence that is developing in them, they will not disagree with me that it is necessary for us to build up this defence capability as soon as possible. Coming to the sob stories that you and I hear during the meet-the-people sessions, I say, yes, but I do not close the door, I say, we can make arrangements for deferment. Two cases were given by the Member for Tiong Bahru.”
“Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon( In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I said just now that in order to ensure that these reservists are in peak form of readiness and capability for any emergency, this annual return to camp for retraining is essential, as otherwise the full-time training of 2 1/2 years will be wasted. I think everybody agrees and accepts the fact. But I would appeal to the Minister that in the exceptional cases where because of problems of the family or livelihood, he would give sympathetic consideration. But unfortunately the Minister has said he would not. Since there are other Members who want to speak on this subject, I am not withdrawing my amendment for the time being.”
“Out of the 4,000-odd requests for deferment, I think we have granted more than 3,000. So 75% of the requests are granted. I am sorry to say that total exemption from deferment is not on unless there are basic medical reasons for it. If one can be exempted, then all of them will request exemption. On the point raised by the Member for Serangoon Gardens about part-time training, our present build-up of defence capability does not allow us the luxury of having part-time soldiers. We hope that maybe in a few years' time when we have built up our reserve battalions sufficient enough for a sizable defence capability, we may be able then to take on or divert some of the reservists into the part-time service. For the moment, our efforts have to be spent building up this defence capability. So I am sorry to say that proposal is not possible. I hope Members of this House will bear with me. Instead of listening to the sob stories that come to them all the time in their meet-the-people sessions, they should try and explain to these people that the purpose of two years of national service is not to inflict a burden on their children but it is a part of their obligation to the State. In fact, the State spends very large sums of money training their children, in one way, to become better human beings. The reserve training is, therefore, the major base on which our defence capability is built up. It is not a continuation of the "infliction" that we are putting on them. Therefore, to allow them exemption would not be in accordance with our defence policy.”
“We take in people for training for two years or 2 1/2 years. But the number of people who come in for national service is very small. The major defence capability is in the reserve battalions. That means we keep on building up our reserves so that eventually, when the need arises, everybody is ready to take up arms to defend the country. The defence capability is spread equally on the shoulders of every able-bodied person in Singapore. That being the case, we take this very seriously. But unfortunately a lot of our people think that national service is a chore. "I send my son in for two years and after having served two years, that is the end of it." "National service is a chore because you take my son away from his studies (or from his work) for two years." They do not realise that, as taxpayers, they are paying very huge sums, even for these two years, to train a national serviceman; in fact, two years spent in learning the military skills to be able to defend the country. When a national serviceman is in training, we provide as good a training in military skills as is possible for the two years. Then we put him in reserve for ten years, or up to the age of 40, so that every year we call him back for training. The basis of this training is that he comes back as a unit. Therefore, the policy does not allow for people to be exempted from reservist training. He can be allowed deferment if he gives enough reasons. The advance notice of six weeks is given by the unit to which the reservist is attached. If for some reason or other he cannot make the necessary arrangements to be in camp with his buddies for training, he can ask for a deferment, and, if there are good reasons, deferment is normally granted.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a Member of Parliament representing Potong Pasir, I would like to say that I sympathise with all those Members who have met the people and have listened to all the sob stories asking for either exemption of their children from national service, or transfer of their children from full-time national service to part-time, or transfer to the Special Constabulary, or deferment of reservist training, or even exemption from training. There are 1,000 or maybe one million-and-one sob stories. As a Member of Parliament, I meet them just as other Members do, and sometimes I have no answer to give them that will be accepted or satisfactory. I am sympathetic. But as a Minister charged with the responsibility of ensuring that there is a proper build-up of the defence capability of our country, which has not inherited any army of any kind, and also to build up a defence capability in as short a time as possible and with the very limited resources that are available in the country, and with the very limited numbers of people, the big majority of whom are traditionally against military service in this country, I cannot sympathise with all these requests. All I have to say is that it is necessary for every citizen to realise that defence is now his responsibility. Nobody should be allowed exemption, other than the few odd cases of medical grounds or on some other special grounds that are permitted by the Advisory Committee to get exemption or a transfer from full-time to part-time, or to get deferred from reservist training or exemption from reservist training. That is the position from the Minister's point of view and from the Government's point of view. Sir, let me explain. Our defence structure is a very simple one. We have full-time national service.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a continuation of the debate. As far as the SAF is concerned, we have a seven-week Basic Drivers Course. This means that we put our national servicemen through a seven-week driving instruction period. During this course, each driver is given a minimum of 60 hours' practical driving on a three-ton truck. At the end of the course, the trainee driver is given a test conducted along the same lines as that for the ROV Class IV (heavy vehicles/lorries) driving licence. The test includes knowledge of highway code, practical road driving, parallel parking, reversing and three-point turn, After passing the driving test, the trainee driver is given a further week of experience driving a Land Rover before he is posted to a unit as a qualified driver for motor vehicles. In the unit he is given a further one-month continuation training course before he is allowed to drive three-ton trucks to carry SAF personnel from one point to another. PURCHASE OF HOUSING BOARD FLATS (Raising of income ceiling) 9. Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for National Development, in view of the rise in total family incomes in recent years, if the Housing and Development Board will consider raising the income ceilings for all types of flats.”
“Sir, I have stated just now that one of the measures that we take is regular maintenance and strict inspection of our vehicles. I can assure the Member for Punggol that Mindef vehicles are properly maintained and very strictly inspected at all times.”
“Sir, I do not think we can disagree with the Member for Punggol that even one accident is one accident too many. But I would like to submit for the information of the House that accident rates are dependent on a lot of other considerations besides drivers. Accidents depend on the number of vehicles on the road, the condition of the road, the condition of traffic, the condition of the drivers; and sometimes it may be due to the negligence of the other drivers as well. So we in the Ministry of Defence will try to train our drivers to be as proficient as possible but, as they say, accidents do happen.”
“Sir, we in the Ministry of Defence consider driving as part of the instruction which national servicemen should have, because should we go to war we cannot say that we should have professional drivers to drive our lorries. I agree with him that the drivers are all very young because they come in only for a stint of two to 2 1/2 years of national service. This is something we cannot avoid. If we want soldiers, we want soldiers who are not only able to fight but also soldiers who are able to get others to the front to fight. Therefore, it is necessary that we continue to employ only national service drivers.”
“By the middle of this year it is hoped that a special driving circuit will be ready at Keat Hong to improve the training facilities for SAF drivers. This driving circuit has been specially designed to enable trainee drivers to be exposed to all the possible road hazards and to prepare all SAF drivers adequately to drive safely and carefully on our public roads.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in answer to the question from the Member for Punggol, the figures he has requested are as follows. In 1976 SAF vehicles involved in traffic accidents totalled 1,457. Of these accidents, three resulted in fatalities and 175 involved serious injuries. The corresponding figures for 1977 were 1,271 with eight fatalities and 190 involving serious injuries. For 1978 there were 1,351 accidents with four fatalities and 232 involving serious injuries. I think all of us are concerned that these figures should be reduced as far as possible. The Ministry of Defence is taking various measures to curb the SAF accident rate. These measures include: (a) strict enforcement of speed limits on military vehicles by military police motorcycle squads; (b) imposition of fines on drivers and vehicle commanders found guilty of speeding and negligence; (c) special instructions on defensive driving to teach SAF drivers how to handle road hazards, such as skidding; (d) restriction of movement of heavy military vehicles like low-loaders, to only off-peak hours under military police escort; (e) proper vehicle maintenance, with strict inspection at regular intervals to ensure road worthiness of every MINDEF vehicle. In addition to the above, certain preventive measures are also taken. These include: (a) incentives for accident-free regular driver; (b) qualification for civilian driving licence on completion of two years' driving provided that there has been no blemish of more than two traffic accidents; (c) withdrawal of accident prone drivers for proficiency tests and transfer of those who cannot pass such tests; (d) transfer of drivers away from driving immediately after an accident involving death until after the Traffic Police or the Civil Courts have exonerated them.”