Jek Yeun Thong
Singapore
“Would the Minister now consider it wrong to allow CPF members to use their CPF money to buy shares in the stock exchange, people whom the Howe Yoon Chong Report not so long ago would like us to believe that they could not be trusted to look after their own savings and yet they are now allowed to participate in the stock exchange casino, s…”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, could I ask a supplementary question which either Minister can reply? Is the Minister surprised that the Voice of America, an organ created by the US government to counter Communist propaganda world wide, has been used to cast critical views on a non-Communist government such as the Singapore Government which is, in fact,…”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, the Minister has not touched on my point regarding the tuition fees of University students. I do not know whether he would like to take this opportunity to answer or he would want to leave it to others to answer it.”
“Also, there is no danger that the students having taken the loans would abscond or not come back since at the moment all the male students going overseas are providing bonds because of national service. And as for female students, if we are still having too many of them, we can easily arrange bonds for those who intend to take the loan.”
“Yes, of course. I think the trouble with the press is that they missed my point on Education. The style they happened to like is what the Chinese call - wan shi bu gong (playful and not taking things seriously). So they really do not know what to do with me - I mean the press, not the Government.”
“Sir, since the Government is encouraging the people to have more babies now, the likelihood of these 3-room flats being unsold will be greater. Is it not a good point for the Ministry of National Development to try to convert these 3-room flats into, say, 6-room flats so that more babies could be accommodated?”
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“I must very seriously point out that there is no discrimination at all in the fees paid to the performers, whether they are English-speaking, Tamil-speaking or Malay-speaking and whether they appear in a Malay, Chinese or Tamil programme. There is no discrimination at all. There is only one table of fees in the RTS and that table of fees applies to every one group. The difference of fees applies to the grades. I am sure the Member will agree that in the case of an actor there are the leading actor, supporting actor and the temporary actors who are just one of the crowd in the background - we cannot pay every one the same fee. 4.30 p.m. Then there are singers with international reputation. There are also singers of a low grade. There are also amateur singers, and so on. If there is any difference of fees at all, it is based on the grade or according to the performance of the actors, and not based on the language that they speak or according to the programme in which they appear. That is complete nonsense. In fact, we are doing what the Member for Anson has suggested - that is to be fair. In the case of The script writers, the experienced script writers get higher fees than the inexperienced ones. The same principle apples to the actors, dancers, singers and others, The Member has also complained of the many rehearsals needed for the singers. It is very `unusual for an artiste or a singer to be asked to rehearse six or seven times. If that is so, the artiste or the performer must be a very bad one and, therefore, requires extra rehearsals. That may be the reason why he or she is paid a very low fee. Normally a good performer, especially a professional one, needs only one or two rehearsals.”
“When he says that the standard of production is low and lacks sophistication, I presume that he is referring to the content of the programmes and not the technical side of the programmes. If the engineers and technicians are rated "low" in their standard of production, the Member for Kim Seng will not be able to watch any programme on the TV screen. He will get a blank screen. So I presume he is referring to the content of the programmes. I think we must agree that the workforce in the production of programmes is comparatively new to the kind of media that they are handling and also, with the lack of good script writers and directors, it is sometimes rather difficult to achieve the degree of sophistication that we want. Coupled with this is the lack of professional actors and actresses and good professional singers and so on. Therefore, it is rather difficult to produce a programme of a very high standard. Most of the actors and actresses that we engage are amateurs and so their performance, shown side by side with imported programmes, like those from the BBC or NBC, will show itself to be rather poor. I must say that making a comparison with imported programmes is not fair if one considers the amount of money that foreign TV stations spend on a particular programme and the amount that we spend on our own production of a programme. There is really no comparison at all. A fairer comparison would be our programmes with those programmes produced by our neighbouring stations. Then the standard of production of our programmes would become obvious. The Member for Anson has raised this point about discrimination against Tamil actors and singers.”
“They have themselves created this credibility gap and they will have to answer to the readers. We cannot be made responsible for that kind of speculative reports. There is one point which we must make clear. For the sake of an efficient Government, we cannot run a Government by confirming or denying newspaper reports. Otherwise, we will have a Government by newspapers and not by a Government. The Member for Katong has raised the point about an incentive scheme for the News Producers and Programme Producers in the Broadcasting Department. I am afraid we are not able to consider this at the present moment because the number of people involved is very small and they are in a specialised field. It is also very difficult to judge the performance of a particular person in the production of a programme because in the production of a programme a number of people are involved. We need a good coordination of supporting staff in order to produce a programme. There is someone in charge of the wardrobes; someone in charge of lighting; the engineers, the script writers and so on. How are we going to judge the performance of a particular person if we were to have this incentive scheme? However, I am not saying that we are not going to consider this idea. As the staff of the Broadcasting Department grows and as the method to measure the performance of the people concerned becomes possible, then that may be the time to consider such a scheme. The Member for Kim Seng has complained of the low standard of production and the lack of sophistication in our programmes. Here I must agree that there is room for improvement.”
“Sir, I must thank the Member for Aljunied for bringing to my attention the erroneous identification of MPs in TV coverage. I must apologise for this. I agree with him that this is a slipshod way of presenting the photographs of MPs. I myself was rather annoyed to see my colleagues appearing on the screen with different names. We will take action on this, and I will get the person responsible for it reprimanded. Let me reply to the very important point regarding TV licence fees raised by the Member for Kim Seng. My Ministry has never put up any proposal for the revision or increase of TV or Radio licence fees. As Members are aware, the authority empowered to impose taxes and to revise or increase licence fees lies with the Ministry of Finance. As we all know, the Minister for Finance in his Budget speech has not mentioned anything about the increase of TV or Radio licence fees and I think we can take it as confirmed that there is no increase. However, the Member for Kim Seng has gone further to ask me that we must make some clarification on this. It is the New Nation which has published this speculative report. I cannot be responsible for what the New Nation may or may not print. If we were to jump up on any speculative report that the newspapers may print and quickly issue a confirmation or denial on what they print, then life would be very difficult for us in Government. There are hundreds of reports and stories which the various newspapers may print daily, but that does not mean that we have an obligation to issue any denial or confirmation of those reports. This would really be a waste of time. If a report of a newspaper has not turned out to be the truth, it would be better to leave it to the readers to take whatever action they want to.”
“Sir, I did not say that I do not want money for Culture. I just said that cultural affairs in any country always come, if not last, fairly close to the last in the allocation of funds because of the other priorities. In a country like ours, just emerging from independence. the priority becomes even lower than the others. But this is not to say that we should not do anything about culture. For the amount that we have been allocated in the past and for the kind of activities that we have carried on so far. I would say that we have done quite a lot. However, I am sure there is room for improvement. In this respect, the need is to get people more conscious of this cultural aspect, When I compared culture to air, I was just not really trying to quantify the air that we breathe and so on. I think the Member for Katong has taken me too seriously. But to try and make a study of whether or not we have culture by listing the number of air-conditioners and television sets that we have, the number of people that attend concerts and so on would make a mess of it. It would even make it meaningless. I do not think that is what we want to do. We can always call in the academicians and the analysts to find out whether or not Singapore has a culture and at what stage of development has it reached. But that is not the purpose. It does not help us at all. As I have said, culture is something that we should not try to equate it with the amount of money we have spent on it. It does not mean that if we have mere funds, we get better culture and more cultural activities and if we get less, then the activities will come to nil. Money finances only a part of the cultural activities of a society. The rest of it is undertaken by the people.”
“So sometimes we cannot avoid the fact that they have put in the wrong dances But whether or not the People's Association should confine this item only to the southern Chinese dances, I have my doubts because, at the present moment, no one really knows what are the southern or northern Chinese dances, and what is a Mongolian dance. The steps and the movements are more or less the same; whether it is a southern or northern Chinese dance, the difference lies only in their costumes. If they wear a Mongolian dress, then it looks like a Mongolian dance. If they wear a Manchurian dress, then you can call it a Manchurian dance. The fact is that they are all Chinese dances.”
“Sir, I do not know how concrete the plans for cultural activities would be. As we go on, I think I can assure Hon. Members that with good support we would be able to get things going in this respect. As regards operas and wayangs. I regret that they are really disappearing on the streets, First, it is because of the lack of sites. Secondly. I think it is also because of the lack of talent and lack of supporters. We can see that many people of the younger generation do not have as much interest in these wayangs as the older folks. This lack of support is evident. Thirdly, very few people would like to go into the wayang business nowadays because learning to be a wayang actor or actress involves very hard work indeed. One has to be trained as an apprentice from a very early age. And in these days of full employment, it is difficult for wayang operators to get recruits for their operas and I think this also contributes to the decline of Chinese wayangs. As to the lack of sites, of course, this can be remedied by offering them proper wayang stages such as the one in the People's Theatre in Kreta Ayer. But the fact still remains that less and less people want to watch wayangs and still less want to send their children to learn this art, As regards dances by the People's Association, of course, they are trying to portray Chinese culture. There is a lack of a good choreographer in the People's Association and, in most cases, these dances are picked up from other places.”
“I am sorry, Sir, the Member for Sembawang has complained that a lot of undesirable publications on sex and violence are on sale either under the counter or above the counter in the bookshops. This is not the case. The Publications Section of the Ministry of Culture keeps a very close watch on publications. Books come in from abroad. Hard-core pornographic books, perhaps on the exploitation of sex, are not allowed for distribution in the bookshops. But the problem here is that some books and magazines may come in under the veil of sex education. As you know, with the rapid changes in Western societies, the demarcation line is so thin that sometimes these books that may be classified as sex education may just slip through the net. But whatever it is, it is not the deliberate policy of my Ministry to allow hard-core pornography to circulate in the bookshops. As I have explained just now, the kind of activities that we are going to have in the years to come include instituting the Award of Culture for meritorious activities in the cultural field. There would also be a lot of exhibitions and cultural performances that would get things going.”
“It is because of the Parliamentary Report.”
“Should there be any error, omission or inaccuracy in RTS' broadcasts, as a result of any fault or omission on the part of the news agency, the Government would have no protection against claims brought by the public, since the Government would be precluded from obtaining indemnity from the news agency. The new subsection (2) introduced by clause 2 of this Bill is to guard against such claims brought against the Government by the public. It will give the Government the same protection as the news agency seeks by its Agreement with the Broadcasting Department. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill -[Mr Jek Yeun Thong]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed~ WOMEN'S CHARTER (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 7.15 p.m.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, the Bill now before this House seeks to amend the Broadcasting and Television Act by adding a new subsection to section 3 of the Act to provide that the Government and any employee of the Government shall not be liable for any loss or damage sustained by a person as a result of an error, omission or inaccuracy in any broadcast matter transmitted under the Act. The news bulletins broadcast by TV and Radio are based, in part, on news supplied by international news agencies, such as Reuters. UPI and ASP. In the agreement between the Broadcasting Department and the news agency for the supply of news, there is a clause, which is standard in all such Agreements, that although the news agency will do its utmost to ensure the accuracy and prompt delivery of its news service, it will, however, not be liable for any loss or damage to the Broadcasting Department as a result of any error, omission or inaccuracy on the part of the news agency. This leaves the Government in an unsatisfactory position as there is no provision in the Broadcasting and Television Act to exempt the Government and its employees from liability for any loss or damage arising from any error, omission or inaccuracy in its broadcasts of the news supplied by the agency. It is unlikely that the news agency will not honour its Agreement to provide accurate, prompt and uninterrupted news service. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility of error, omission or inaccuracy in the news supplied by the news agency caused by the fault of their servants, agents or others.”
“Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Main and Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1975 to 31st March, 1976 and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“Sir, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society are both well established societies. The former was founded in 1823 in London for the study of History, Sociology, Institutions, Customs, Languages and Arts of Asia, the so-called oriental studies. The Malaysian Branch, which was first known as the Straits Branch, came into existence in 1878 as an affiliate to the parent body in London. The main object of these societies is to increase and diffuse knowledge concerning the territories of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Both societies publish journals which are internationally known and highly regarded. Contributions are being made to the Societies to help defray the printing cost of publication because of our interest in the study and research on our region. Our National Museum and the National Library receive copies of these publications free of charge.”
“Sir, there are a number of reasons why a community centre is not built in Boon Teck, it may be that land is not available. It may be that money is also not available. There arc also other reasons, but I can assure the Member that if the right combination of reasons is found and if there is a good case we would, of course, support his request to build a community centre at Boon Teck.”
“I think we would leave this request for consideration. It may be that the constituency is so small that it is unrealistic to have a community centre there.”
“In the case of Henderson, we have even gone out of our way to increase the subsidy, but the MP or the people there do not seem to like the design and so there has been some disagreement. Therefore, the project has been held up. We had an argument with the Ministry of Finance and finally we managed to secure more money for Henderson. We got $300,000 and the People's Association was also prepared to dig out from its savings another $100,000 to add to the building cost of the Henderson community centre. The second question which the Member asked is whether or not it is a good idea to have a standard type community centre. I personally think that it may not be a good idea to have the same type of community centre in every constituency. We should allow some free-play of design, since we have so many architects. In this way, we could find the, best possible solution for our requirements. I do not know about the delay in the building of a community centre in Paya Lebar, but I presume it must be a small rural type of centre. It is our policy to discourage the rural type of community centres. With better communication and so on, it is a good idea for community centres to pool their resources in order to build a good centre rather than to spread them out in too many areas and build a sub-standard type of centre.”
“Sir, may I reply to the Member for Henderson. There is actually at present a Development Committee looking into the facilities for community centres in all the constituencies. This Development Committee has the discretion to decide whether or not priority should be given to a centre. That is always the case in the People's Association. Let me emphasise here that there is no discrimination in the building of a centre or in attending to the work of the various constituencies. For example, the community centres which are now under construction are: the Jurong New Town Community Centre, the Sennett Community Centre, and the Joo Chiat Community Centre. I do not know whether any one of these falls in a constituency where the Member of Parliament is a Minister. I do not think Jurong is a Minister's constituency. So are Sennett and Joo Chiat. So neither has priority been given to any one of these constituencies. This is not because the MP of that area is a Minister but because of the urgency and the decision made by the Development Committee. It could be that funds have been made available by the hard work of the community leaders in that area. So the allegation of favouritism or discrimination has no grounds really. If there is discrimination, then the glaring example should be seen in Queenstown, where I am the MP. But anyone can have a look at the Queenstown Community Centre to see whether any priority or favouritism has been given to that centre. 7.45 p.m. The Member for Boon Teck has asked me to clarify certain points. First, whether any priority is given. I think we do, but not according to whether the MP is a Minister but according to whether that area has a centre or not. For instance, we have given priority to Henderson and Toa Payoh.”
“However, the People's Association finally told us that since there were no funds available we would not have a new community centre and whether we would be satisfied with a smaller one. I must stress the point that the People's Association must be consistent. There should not be any variation merely because of certain personal or financial relationship with the Ministry of Finance so that the People's Association could suddenly change its mind, thus causing delay in social development. How is the People's Association going to promote youth movement in this way? I hope the Minister will kindly convey my opinion to the People's Association that development planning must be consistently carried out.”
“In that case, I would not want to go further into it. Mr Lai Tha Chai(In Mandarin): Sir, 1 would like to clarify certain points. The Minister for Culture said just now that he had the impression that I am opposed to donations. I would like to say that I do not oppose because donations are given every year in connection with the activities of community centres. What I touched on was the building of community centres. I have even given figures to show that the funds required in each case range from $� million to more than $1 million. If a community centre wants to raise funds - in fact, many community centres want to do so - there are other organisations too that want to raise funds. What is he going to do about it? All I am saying is that the Development Committee of the People's Association should decide on the type and size of the community centre to be built, whether it should be square or round and matters relating thereto, After the decision is made, the People's Association must be consistent in the policy. They should not later argue that because a certain constituency is a Minister's constituency they should give it priority over a Backbencher's constitiency. What I am trying to say is that personal considerations should not be allowed to influence priority. This is important. Of course, flexibility could be allowed because of financial position. But, there must be some consistency in the policy to carry the job through to the finish. The second point is that - Sir, allow me another minute - in my constituency although I may get a moderate community centre with a $300,000 grant, last year's planning for our community centre was a budget of about $600,000 and the Development Committee of the People's Association had decided to approve it.”
“Sir, I think that is because all requests for funds usually go to the Board of Management for decision, and this Board sits once a month. Maybe they are now in the process of replying to his letter. Did I hear the Member say something about the holding of an exposition, in Gay World?”
“Let us deal one question at a time. The Member was saying that he requested permission to hold an exposition and this was ignored. This is not the case because my information is that they had actually replied.”
“We have asked the Management Services Unit of the Ministry of Finance to conduct a comprehensive survey of the entire organisational structure and other related matters of the People's Association, with a view to improving the terms and conditions of service and to provide better prospects for career advancement. Once this is done, I hope that we will be able to further reduce the number of resignations. 7.30 p.m. The Member for Kampung Kembangan has raised a point concerning his community centre. He was saying that when his management, committee of the Kampung Eunos Community Centre asked for permission to run a Lucky Draw to raise funds, it was turned down whereas other community centres were allowed to do so. I think he was under the impression that his community centre was discriminated against. Before 1973 the policy of the People's Association was not to encourage the holding of lucky draws by community centres for the purpose of raising funds. But as a result of intensified development programmes, people wanted more money and we had to yield to this demand. Therefore, after 1973, we allowed certain centres to hold lucky draws. The request from the Kampung Kembangan Community Centre was made before 1973, and therefore it was not allowed. This is a matter of policy and not discrimination. The request just came in too early. That is all. The Member also asked about the request to stage an exposition in Gay World and said that there was not even an acknowledgment letter. My information is that the People's Association had actually replied to the Member's request on the 29th April, 1974, advising him not to hold the exposition.”
“Sir, as regards the number of resignations by the staff of the People's Association, I think this is not confined only to the People's Association. Many Government departments are facing the same problem. The People's Association is no exception. What I want to point out is that the number of resignations is not so serious as the Member for Bukit Panjang wanted us to believe. For the information of the Member, resignation figures of the full-time staff of the People's Association in the last three years are as follows: Year Resignations 1972 119 1973 92 1974 77 For the same period, the total full-time staff of the People's Association averaged about 1,200. Therefore, in terms of percentage, the number of resignations has shown a downward trend from about 10% in 1972 to about 6.5% in 1974. I must also point out that the majority of those who resigned are Division III officers. So this does not affect the working of the People's Association. We are trying our best and, in fact, it is the standing policy of the People's Association to improve the general performance of Divisions II and 111 officers. The Organising Secretaries and Assistant Organising Secretaries are sent for training in the National Youth Leadership Training Institute. On completion, they are put to better use. Sir, there are many reasons for the resignations. Sometimes it may be because of the nature of the work and of the irregular working hours, and maybe the salary is not as attractive as those offered by the commercial firms outside. In general, I would say that to work in the People's Association, especially the field workers, there must be a sense of dedication and a sense of sacrifice. They should not expect normal regular working hours like office clerks. However, what we have done is this.”
“He seems to be very critical of the way community leaders collect funds. Of course, they are trying their best. They may meet with a lot of difficulties but they are trying their best to collect funds to build community centres, It may be in the form of a variety show. It may be in the form of advertisements. But it is carried out in the good spirit of fund raising. Apart from that, I am not very certain of what his suggestion is. I think he is suggesting that we should build more centres but he also objects to the collection of money from the public. I am not very certain what he was saying. But I must say that his constituency of Henderson is getting very special attention from the People's Association. With $300,000, he can build a very good centre. The important thing is not how much money we should spend on a community centre. I agree with him that we should not have luxurious centres with air-conditioned rooms for the committee members, and so on. The important thing is, what kind of activities are introduced into the centre, and how well can the centre be used. I will just give Members an example. My community centre in Queenstown was built more than 10 years ago. I do not know how much it cost us. It should be about $20,000 to $30,000. But it is a place with a lot of activities going on. We have the Girl Pipers, a photographic section with a dark room, an orchestra, and many other activities too. I think it is how well we make use of the place. It is not how much money can be spent on the centre. Members should bear this in mind. If the centre is fully utilised, then I do not think that the amount provided by the Government is made inadequate.”
“The subsidy of $300,000 is given only to two constituencies, namely, Henderson and Toa Payoh. They were given this very special consideration because they were newly created constituencies and they were without a single community centre. In view of the inflation in building costs and so on, the Ministry of Finance has decided on an outright grant of $300,000 for the first centre in each of these two constituencies. But then, this does not include the cost of land which has got to be acquired. And, of course, the land cost would come to quite a lot more, which we have not worked out. From this, Members will appreciate the difficulty of building community centres. It is not possible in every instance to give an outright grant of a certain amount of money for a centre. This has to be measured by the number of people in the constituency and whether or not there is already an existing centre in the constituency. So this grant by the Ministry of Finance is very limited, and therefore we will have to utilise it very wisely. It is not possible really to give every constituency $300,000 to build a $300,000 community centre. I do not agree with Members when they say that there is discrimination in the distribution of funds. As I have already stated just now, we give a fixed sum for the building of community centres. A maximum has to be fixed, otherwise there will be no end to it. But above this maximum amount of Government subsidy, if the community leaders, and the people in that area can support or can afford to pay more for better facilities, then by all means they can raise their own funds. Otherwise they will have to be satisfied with the fixed amount. Sir, I am not very certain of the suggestion made by the Member for Henderson.”
“Sir, the policy of the People's Association is to encourage community participation and involvement in the building of a community centre. If the community can afford better facilities for their people, then they will build a better centre. If not, then they would have a standard-type community centre. There is no discrimination in this. Because of this, the People's Association has been encouraging the community leaders in the management committees and so on to collect funds for the building of their centres. This has been going on for many many years, and they find that this works very well. But at the same time the People's Association has found it necessary to upgrade the facilities in the community centres to meet the rising demand and expectations of the people. Therefore, the subsidy from the Government has to be increased. The Ministry of Finance, therefore, has been persuaded to increase the quantum of Government subsidy. This matter has been reviewed towards the end of 1973 and we have worked out certain criteria for the grant for building of community centres. The Member for Boon Teck is under the wrong impression that every constituency will be given an amount of $300,000 for the building of a community centre. I am afraid this is not so. According to the new criteria which we have worked out with the Ministry of Finance, for key centres, the maximum Government subsidy is $150,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For urban community centres, the maximum Government subsidy is only $100,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For rural community centres, the maximum subsidy is only $60,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis. This upward revision of Government subsidies for the construction of community centres took effect only in the last quarter of 1974.”
“In the last financial year, even with comparatively limited resources, eight or nine art exhibitions had been organised, four of which were international exhibitions. There were many other exhibitions for students, young people and so on. We recognise the need to expand the service in the National Museum, and there is Government support for this renovation. 6.45 p.m. Although the Member has- described the funds provided for the acquisition of museum exhibits as "peanuts", I do not think so because comparing it with the past provisions, there has been a great increase. For instance, in 1973 we had only $3,000 for the acquisition of museum exhibits, and in 1974 this was increased to $30,000, and for 1975 it is again $30,000. Compared to other projects, this may be a very small sum but it is a great improvement over the previous years' figures. There is, of course, a need for more to be done by the National Museum in the years to come, especially the staffing problem, and I agree that we should look into this problem.”
“Sir, for many years the National Museum has the unenviable reputation of being a quiet and mystic place, stuffed with dead animals and other objects. With the transfer of the zoological components of the exhibits to the Singapore Science Centre in 1972, we have taken the decision to modernise the museum and to have it renovated so that it may become an educational and cultural institution devoted to the technology, history and arts of Singapore and other countries in the region. The three basic functions of the museum are first, as a repository of the nation's cultural heritage. Secondly, a fine centre of display so that its exhibits may be better understood and appreciated. Thirdly, it serves as a centre of activities in order that museum-going may be an enriching personal experience of educational benefit, cultural value, and fun to everyone concerned. As a result of this, the National Museum has recently gone into two projects, which the Member for Katong has made some mention of it. The first project is to convert part of the Museum building into a modern art gallery. This is made possible by the contribution of the Singapore Arts Council. The Government also have a subsidy of $100,000 in it. The renovation work, I hope, will be completed by the end of May this, year. The second project is to renovate three small galleries at a cost of $355,000 by the end of this year. This is to provide latest display facilities to do justice to the art collection, which is being transferred from the University of Singapore, to be relocated and displayed at the National Museum. After being left alone for many years, these new projects will stir life back again in the National Museum.”
“If any specialist wants reference books on a certain subject I am sure he would not go to a branch library, because it is meant to serve the general readership in a satellite town. If the soil test experts, for instance, want access to specialised books, there are many methods by which we can get for them. The branch library staff would normally refer such enquiries to the National Library in Stamford Road where the collection of books is much wider. There are also other libraries in the universities and various Ministries, which have a very well coordinated system. If a certain book cannot be found in the National Library, the librarian will make enquiries for the public whether the book is available in another library. Regarding Tamil books in the National Library, I think we have quite a number of them. The only fault is that we do not have enough, because there are not enough publications in Tamil. The Member for Anson knows where these Tamil books come from. They are not published in Singapore. Only a very limited quantity can be obtained from Madras, India, and so on. The number of Tamil books in the National Library comes to about 61,000 volumes. This is about 8% of the total book collection in 1974, and this corresponds with the proportion of Indian population in Singapore, which is about 7%. And if only the Tamil reading population is taken into count, then the percentage would be lower. The National Library makes every attempt to supply reading material for its Tamil readers, but the number of publications in Tamil is very small compared to the publication in the other official languages.”
“Sir, first, the Member for Katong. He was doubtful of the Library Service scheme that we introduced to train librarians with `0' levels. May I correct him by saying that we are not really training librarians. They are called library assistants, not librarians. We are doing our best to maintain the present high standard of librarianship and we would not like to see it lowered. All recruits to the Government Library Service are graduates of recognised universities. Those who do not have the additional professional library qualifications, when first recruited into the service, are encouraged to obtain these qualifications by means of study at overseas library schools, either on scholarship or on no pay leave. The new scheme that he spoke about is for the training of library assistants, and not librarians, who would have GCE `0' level passes in at least five subjects. These library assistants will work under the supervision of professional librarians in the carrying out of the more routine work in Government libraries, such as the registration of readers, the loan of books, and so on. In this way, the professional librarians will then be able to devote their time 10 reference information and bibliographical services, as well as the promotion of reading, which their specialised professional training and educational background have enabled them to undertake. Far from lowering the standard of librarianship, we are actually trying to take away the burden of this routine work of the professional librarians, and we hope that this service scheme is going to work towards giving a better service to the public. The Member for Anson complained about certain books not being available in the Queenstown Library. May I say that the books he mentioned are of a very specialised category.”
“The reason is that the number of colour sets sold to the public is still very small and does not justify an in-depth study of this matter as yet. We will wait until the time when more colour sets are being operated. When �hat time comes, the House will be informed accordingly.”
“Sir, we have not made any decision yet on the licence fee for colour television sets.”
“In 1974, 26 films were banned because of violent themes and detailed depiction of crime. 5.30 p.m. For the same reason 80 to 100 censorship cuts are made every year. For this year, up to February, four films havc been banned and 23 censorship cuts made on grounds of crime and violence. Apart from this stringent censorship, the number of police and detective dramas scheduled is regulated. Of the 225 programmes in a week, an average of only six such programmes are scheduled, and these are not telecast every day of the week. For instance, no mystery or detective programme is currently being telecast on Mondays and Tuesday. Programmes featuring ]aw enforcement officers and crime investigators comprise, in fact, only 5.7% of �TS output. 94.3% of transmission time is occupied by other categories of programmes. Even for this small percentage of police and detective dramas depicting violence and the details of criminal activities, detailed scenes on crime and so on are censored. Programmes which are finally shown dramatise law enforcement and substantiate the saying, "Crime does not pay." Some of the more popular imported programmes telecast by RTS are also subscribed to by 50 or more countries and in many different languages. There is a concern, in some quarters as regards the possible effects these programmes may have on vievvers. Studies on the effects of violence and crime on television have been made, but as yet there has been no conclusive evidence that correlates the rise in crime rates with television programming. In view of the constraints already enforced, as regards crime and violence in television programming, it is felt that at present it is not necessary to have any change on the present format of programming.”
“The average screening time for a Tamil film is about 2 1/2 hours, and so it is very difficult to fit it into any standard television time slots, in order to make the programmes interesting to all sectors of the population, the programmes in Tamil would have to be allotted in a proportionate way. The Member has also mentioned about the punctuality of the programme. We have taken every step to see that the daily programmes are telecast at the times published in the press. Sometimes due to unforeseen factors, as for instance, the time needed to cover the Parliamentary report, the actual length could not be determined. Therefore, in such an event subsequent programmes have to be telecast at times later than scheduled. But it is not true to say that the programmes are put on earlier than scheduled. It may be later than the scheduled time because of the earlier programme being a bit longer than expected. Now, regarding the query on, the Tamil "request" programme on radio, it is the practice of RTS announcers not to mention more than 10 names for each request. For special "request" programmes, such as those relating to festive occasions like Christmas, Deepavali, Han Raya and Chinese New Year, more names need to be mentioned because there are more requests. But in a normal broadcast of such a programme, this is not done. In the allocation of air time, the size of the audience has to be taken into consideration, as has been the case for many years. Our schedule of programmes in the afternoon takes into consideration programmes for housewives, youths and students. The Member for Potong Pasir has spoken on filnis depicting violence and very undesirable elements in TV programmes. May � say that imported TV programmes for screening in Singapore are subject to very careful vetting.”
“It also telecast live and in colour the World Cup soccer final and the opening of the Asian, Games in Teheran via satellite last year. As regards the sale of colour TV sets, I think it is a matter of opinion whether the volume of sales of colour TV sets is poor or otherwise. Statistics show that as at 31st January, 1975, there are about 11,738 sets licensed for colour TV. The licences for colour TV are issued by the Inland Revenue Department. I do not know how the Member got his figures when he said that out of 10,000 sets sold, 9,000 were bought by the hotels. I think it is completely untrue because the figures I have here show that the issue of colour TV licences averages about 1,200 per month. In the month of January this year, out of a total of 1,300 licences issued, only 15 licences were issued to the hotels; and in February out of a total of 1,637 licences, none was issued to any hotel. I do not think it is true to say that 9,000 sets had been taken up by hotels. But with the increase of hours of colour TV programmes the sale of colour TV sets may be pushed further. When the present switching system has been converted to colour in about two months' time, it is planned to telecast in colour the news and a few local programmes, apart from documentary. It takes time to train people and we have about 200 technical staff to train for this very sophisticated piece of technology. It is very time consuming. I would not say that there is no colour programme in Tamil. But I agree that it is not enough. Colour programmes in Tamil are very limited.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the point raised by the Member for Anson regarding the fees paid to RTS part-time news readers on radio and television is very pertinent. This has been a matter of concern to the Department of Broadcasting in recent months. However, no immediate increase in fees has been possible so far because the sum budgeted for is not enough. But in the coming financial year we have asked for additional funds. A revised rate of fees has already been proposed and, if approved, then the revised rates of fees for the news readers, i.e, the increased rates, will be put into effect in, the coming financial year. Regarding colour TV project, Members were informed during the debate on this subject in last year's Budget that as most of the equipment at the televi sion station was over ten years old and due for replacement, it was, therefore, economically sound to introduce colour television. It may be pointed out that compared with last year's prices, the cost of some professional television equipment has increased this year by about 25%. In last year's Budget debate, it was also stated that only overseas films, programmes and some local documentary films, totalling one to two hours' broadcast time, would be telecast daily in colour with the introduction of colour television,. This was effected on 1st August last year. The colour television programme now averages four hours daily on weekdays and six hours on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. In terms of the overall weekly output, colour programmes now average almost 31%. In addition, in spite of the lack of full switching facilities and trained personnel, RTS undertook outside broadcast by telecasting the National Day parade, the opening of Parliament and the Chingay procession in February this year.”
“" I think there is a lot of harm in it. In the first place, why should I interfere with the internal labour dispute between the management and the union? Why should I, as the Minister in charge of issuing licences to newspapers, interfere with the promotion or non-promotion of a journalist in a newspaper company'? This should be left to the management and the union to sort out between them, and if they cannot come to an agreement then there is always the Industrial Arbitration Court to seek redress. Most of the points that the Member has mentioned concern the working conditions of the journalists in a news-paper company. That is labour dispute and it is not right for me to interfere. As to the standard and content of the newspaper, maybe we can as MPs raise our criticisms. But what right do we have to interfere with the internal dispute between the management and the union? The same question also applies to any other commercial firm. What right does the Minister have in interfering in those matters?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on the first point, I think the Member for Moulmein most probably does not read Chinese newspapers. When I said that speeches of Members are faithfully produced in full, I had actually qualified it by mentioning the Chinese newspapers. If he reads the Chinese news-papers, he would find that they are not properly edited. There is no objection to publishing the speeches of MPs in full. I am not saying that they are printing them in full. I am saying that they are not doing their job - speeches are not edited, and whatever written material is handed out, whether it is a Government statement or any other matter, it is always faithfully produced. But we do not find this situation in any other newspapers. Speaking as a journalist, if we want to do our job well, we would first pick up the very interesting points in a speech and play them up. But in the case of the Chinese newspapers, maybe it is because of pressure for time or a shortage of manpower, we find that it is always poorly done. I am not saying that they are producing too much of the MPs' speeches. Maybe the MPs feel that they do not produce enough of their speeches, but that is a matter of opinion, What I want to say is that the speeches should be properly edited and rendered in a readable form and not squeeze everything into one whole page and leave it to the readers to interpret. As a journalist, I do not think we can tolerate this kind of reporting in a newspaper. But since there are only a few Chinese newspapers, there is very little we can do. The Member has also very eloquently spoken as a trade unionist for the Singapore National Union of Journalists. He has asked, "What harm is there for the Minister to tell, say, the Straits Times management, to do this and that?”
“Sir, to cut the matter short, 1 think it should be the MP's responsibility to make himself known to his constituents. I am not saying that the MPs are not doing their job. But 1 think MPs should be ordinary people. Why should they want their faces to be plastered all over the place? If an MP has done his vrork, so be it. The people will remember him for �he good work that he has done. That is my personal view. But if Members think that having more posters will help them in their work, then we will try to help within our resources. In the matter of calendars mentioned by the Member for Telok Blangah, in 1973 we spent over $31,000 for the printing of the 1974 calendars. Last year, as a measure of economy, we had only $5,000. This sum is obviously not enough to print good quality calendars worthy of distribution to Government departments, individuals and overseas missions, and so on. So we decided not to issue calendars for 1975, because a calendar of inferior quality would be counter-productive. Diaries issued by the Ministry of Culture for use in Government and quasi-Government departments contain data for use in the civil service. For example, the 1975 office diary contains metric conversion tables, postal information, tide tables and so on. We have to price the diaries in order to recover the printing cost, because nothing should be given for free. 1 do not think any profit was made out of this. It is just a nominal cost that we wish to recover.”
“I am not saying that the Member for Anson does not know his constituents or that they do not know him. When people from other constituencies go to him and tell him that they do not know their own MP, then something is wrong with their MP and not with the Member for Anson.”
“Sir, it is not my intention to attack the Member. What I am saying is that there should be a rapport between the MP and his constituents. If he is a good MP then every one should know him. He does not have to rely on a piece of paper to get his face across to the constituents. If he has done work for them, they should know him. Whether they have seen his face or not is irrelevant. When the time comas for the next election, they will put an X against his name.”
“Sir, I am not putting the blame on Parliament House. What I am saying is that we have not printed these posters in the past. So if the Member wants more, he should ask Parliament House because they printed it. May I also add this? I think a Member of Parliament ought to know his constituents and he should get his constituents to know him, with or without the help of posters. If after having been elected as an MP and for some time the people still have difficulty in recognising him as an MP, then something is wrong somewhere. The MP should find out the reasons himself, and not blame Parliament House or my Ministry for the lack of posters. I personally feel that this a source of embarrassment.”
“The other point which the Member for Anson has mentioned is about posters of Members of Parliament including the Speaker and Ministers. These posters are not produced by my Ministry, but by Parliament House. In fact, this matter should be raised in the House Committee.”
“In the old days, journalists were trained in the very hard and tedious way. They were recruited but not put to work immediately; they were called cub reporters. They were sent to the courts to learn about court proceedings and the process of the law, and so on. Slowly they worked their way up and then finally became editors. But this is not so today. The newspapers recruit people from the university, and they seem to have great expectations over what work they should be doing. After a short employment if they are sent to cover very simple stories, they become bored and if there is a good job such as a public relations officer in a hotel or a company, they would resign immediately. I think that is one of the reasons why we find that the standard of the newspapers is going down very gradually. This is not just the case with the English newspaper. It also applies to the other language newspapers, the Chinese newspapers especially. The journalists are not doing their job well. Speeches are not edited at all but produced in full. Of course, many MPs benefited from this because the speeches which they wrote are faithfully reproduced the next morning. Whether the public wants to read it or not does not matter. So long as the speeches can fill up the newspaper, they are happy. They have done their job. It is the same with the editors. 4.15 p.m. This is a very sad state of affairs. But how are we going to redress it? I think readers should demand better newspapers or allow others to form a company to run a newspaper. Unfortunately again it is not on the cards, because it costs quite a lot of money just to set up a company to run a newspaper. So much for the newspapers.”
“Sir, the Member for Anson has raised a question to which he himself has already replied, that is, we have no control over the press, and he knew it very well. But strangely enough, many people still believe that we in the Ministry of Culture do have overall power to control the press. May I take this opportunity to say that this is definitely not so? However, I think what the Member has raised has some truth in it, especially the statement that the standard of our newspaper has gone down. I agree with him that the purpose of a newspaper is to carry news and that advertisements in the newspapers should not be of such a proportion as to exceed the news coverage. But I presume the advertisements help to defray the increasing cost of producing a newspaper, and especially in times of rising cost of newsprint. If we want to keep the price of the newspaper down, we have to bear with the very boring advertisements. As I have said, the Ministry of Culture is only a permit issuing authority for the newspapers and we have no control over them. We have no say as to what should or should not be put in the newspapers. If the newspapers print too many advertisements out of proportion to news articles and yet people still want to buy and read it, then good luck to them. As for the Member's comment on the photographs and headlines in the newspapers, I am sure he will agree that this comment should be addressed to the editor of the newspaper concerned. But may I add this? Many of the points mentioned by him depend on the taste, perception, educational background and experience of the editors and journalists. But unfortunately the newspapers seem to have lost many of the good talented journalists, and good replacements are not in sight in the foreseeable future.”
“These shows not only helped to foster a closer understanding between the people of Singapore and other countries but are also a source of revenue for the Trust. I must point out that with a very large stage and with a seating capacity of over 3,000 people, the National Theatre can only be used by large troupes which do not require good acoustics. However, the National Theatre. Trust will continue to strive for optimum utilisation of the Theatre by various means. The financial position of the National Theatre Trust has improved steadily during the last two years. The Trust incurred a deficit of $19,000 in the financial year 1970-71. But there was a surplus of $37,000 in the financial year 1971-72. This was further increased to $140,000 in the financial year 1973-74. The Cultural Centre at Canning Rise does not come under my Ministry. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Adult Education Board, which is a statutory body. I can assure the Member that it is not haunted. I see that many drama groups are still using that place to stage their plays and so on. However, because of the very limited seating capacity - it can only accommodate about 200 or 300 persons - it is, therefore, not being patronised by other groups which want to stage shows for commercial returns.”
“The reason may well be that they are enjoying TV programmes in their own homes. They may not be interested' any more in the open air Aneka Ragam shows. Members must remember that Aneka Ragam was introduced before 1961 when we did not have television. The Aneka Ragam show , was then the only form of free entertainment for the people and, therefore, it enjoyed popular support. But now since TV has been brought to their homes or in the community centres where they can enjoy good television programmes, there is no reason why they should go to very far away places to watch the Aneka Ragam shows. On the question of the Singapore Arts Council, the original objective was to establish an Art Gallery and an Academy of Arts to promote, encourage and advance cultural activities. Towards this end, about $1.1 million was raised. Obviously this amount was not enough for such proposals, and it was decided to utilise the money to build an Art Gallery in the National Museum. After that, the Singapore Arts Council will again utilise the remaining fund to establish a Fine Arts Library in the National Museum. The Singapore Arts Council has also given financial support to various cultural bodies. For instance, in the last two years it had sent one or two cultural troupes to Hong Kong. It has also supported the Singapore Youth Orchestra, piano and vocal recitals and other performances. They have supported all these activities. The National Theatre is also doing its best to promote cultural activities. The average occupancy rate of the National Theatre is about 15 days a month. The National Theatre Trust has been staging shows from overseas in order to increase the occupancy rate.”
“I must thank him for reminding me. We hive no plans yet to set up a National Symphony Orchestra. An ad hoc advisory committee comprising several knowledgeable persons in the music field was formed to advise, the Ministry on this matter. They have put forward two proposals to my Ministry and also to the Ministry of Finance. The first proposal was a very modest 39-piece orchestra which would require slightly over $1 million. Under the second proposal the scale was reduced to a 20-piece string orchestra and the annual maintenance cost was correspondingly reduced by half. Yet it would still cost half a million dollars a year to maintain it. 3.45 p.m. We have considered both proposals and we have decided that the cost is too prohibitive. In this time of inflation and recession it is not easy to convince the relevant Ministry of the intangible benefit of having a national orchestra. Apart from the financial aspect there are also other problems, such as recruitment of key musicians, training of local musicians and maintenance of public interest, which require careful study. So we have decided to keep the whole proposal in view. But I promise the Member that we are still keeping this proposal in mind, and in case we have a windfall from somewhere and if the public is ready for such an orchestra, then we would reconsider it. We have no plans to send the national dance troupe to foreign countries this year because we have decided that the money could well be spent in Singapore itself. In reply to the Member for Anson on the question of Aneka Ragam shows which had been discontinued a very long time ago. I think it is not advisable to revive it. He asked why very few people are interested in our cultural shows.”
“Everyone agrees that more money should be spent on cultural development, but then the same applies to every other department in the Government. In these days of inflation, it is necessary to economise and there is no exception in the matter of culture. The Member for Sembawang wants us to have more locally produced television programmes. I think some other Members will be raising this matter later on and I prefer to deal with it when the time comes. But at the moment I have this to say. We would like to have as many locally produced programmes as possible but it is not possible in view of the cost of production. The Member is also worried about the comics in the five-foot-way stalls which the children are reading. I do agree with him that it is harmful for children to read such material, particularly when the comics are unhealthy in content. I would like to assure the Member that the Publications Section of the Ministry of Culture keeps a very strict check on the import of comics. All imported comics must be declared at the various Customs check-points and have to be approved by the Publications Section before they can be released. The Section exercises very strict control on this, but unfortunately there is always the question of smuggling. I understand that these undesirable comics have been smuggled in by bookshops through devious means. We would, of course, keep a check on this by conducting periodical surprise raids on the bookshops, and if Members have any information they are always welcome to pass the information to me. I would like to assure him that we are taking all possible steps to prevent them from appearing in the market. As regards the National Symphony Orchestra, he has raised this question many times - almost every year.”
“It is now possible for my Ministry to give more active support to original literary and artistic productions. Our young people especially will be encouraged to participate in these creative activities, not only because they constitute more than half of our population but they are also more malleable to change and instruction. We recognise the role of culture and education as constant companion in the process of life-long education. Culture is not just something that happens. We have to educate or prepare the people for it. The Ministry of Education has helped to promote aesthetic creation and appreciation through aesthetic education. Similarly, our National Library, besides providing the essential reading services, has played an important role in raising the literary and cultural standards of our young people through exhibitions, concerts, film shows, lectures and demonstrations. The National Museum and educational institutions in itself also implement various cultural and educational programmes. It is for this reason that the funds allocated to the National Library and the National Museum have all the time been on the increase. For the National Library, the total provision in the Main Estimates has increased from $2.6 million in the last financial year to $3.1 million for the current financial year. This will be further increased to $3.6 million in the next financial year. Even provision in the Development Estimates for the National Library will be increased from about $0.6 million to $1.8 million. For the National Museum, the provision in the Main Estimates was increased from $2l0,000 to $360,000 for the current financial year. It will again be increased to $420,000 in the coming financial year.”