J.F. Conceicao
Singapore
“Sir, first of all, I would like to express my agreement with the expression of sympathy, almost sorrow, expressed in this House for those people living in the older estates, especially in the one-room flats. I merely rise to seek some information.”
“Sir, I am very gratified that the Senior Minister of State will convey my sentiments to the Board. I think the matter is of great importance that more and more people are brought to the realisation, as I have said, of their past. And it is not just a question of a small number of people working on the Board.”
“I take the point, Sir. And I also take the point of his reference to the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. This is the whole point. It is not to the tourists that we want to give an impression of what Singapore is. It is our people that we want to give the impression to, of what Singapore is and how they are related to Singapore.”
“(v) What is the actual extent of the Centre's contribution towards the solution of the drug problem in the Republic? (vi) Are there plans to shift the present Centre somewhere else in a better and more conducive environment for such rehabilitation work to be carried out?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head U be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CBA 1101. I would just like to reflect a problem which has repeatedly been brought to my attention by my constituents. The drainage in the Tanjong Katong/Mountbatten Road as well as Poole Road, Parkstone Road, Goodman Road area is poor.”
“Sir, I suppose I shall have to do with the Minister's sympathy. With that I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr Ng Kah Ting - (7) That the sum to be allocated for Head U be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BGA 8401.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I crave the indulgence of this House to take the debate off the profundities of detailed and analytical scrutiny on to less deep waters of generalisation which it may still be useful for us to negotiate? I do not propose to cause hon. Members needless anguish by going over, unnecessarily, points already made in this House by others who have spoken on this Bill. But certain fundamental emphases must, I feel, be driven relentlessly home. I have, therefore, risen to make a few observations on the Employment Bill and the circumstances of its general design and intention. The Minister for Labour has already painted a graphic picture of the compelling necessities that face us all in Singapore. He has referred frankly to the grim possibilities of widespread unemployment unless rigorous measures are taken to enable us to fight ourselves out of this situation. Various economic measures have been mentioned, including more industrialisation, further encouragement of tourism, ship-building, ship repairing, all of which will certainly require the investment of public moneys. The imperatives resulting from the need to generate a defence credibility have also been dwelt upon. As has been pointed out frequently, the cost of this will be quite formidable. But our problems come, not apparently in single spies, but in battalions. For I would like to add somewhat to the picture that has been drawn of the stern demands of our circumstances. While we have to work hard and build up our defence sinews, we have at the same time to strive mightily to maintain the extent of our social provisions - health, education and recreation. These are indeed inextricably associated with what we are trying to do in the sphere of industrialisation and defence.”
“I shall not mention the discipline concerned because of the fear of having to make a reference to a specific department in the University. I found that area studies were not conducted in this particular discipline. Relations between the Institute and our universities would be more productive if area studies are encouraged as much as possible in our universities. I would like to underline my support for this Bill. 2.55 p.m.”
“This would certainly involve the acquisition of local materials, however poorly organised the local book trade of the region may be. In fact, this aspect may make the problems of translation into a lingua franca more urgent. I am sure the very latest devices will be used in the rapid study of local languages. Presumably, the erection of laboratories mentioned in the Bill would refer to language laboratories. Yet another point is the possible extension of the resources and facilities of the proposed Institute to a wider audience than that consisting only of professional scholars and their ancillaries. Perhaps some of the members of the general public in Singapore, who are suitably inclined, could benefit from the Institute's activities - perhaps through seminars, public lectures, lecture courses and the like. The general adult education potential of the Institute should not be ignored. I know that the publishing of books and other publications features among the provisions of the proposed Institute. But a layman like myself may find deterring the presence of footnotes, learned annotations, and similar rubrics which formidably characterise the work of scholars. It would be useful if books popularising area studies could also be forthcoming, with the contents of these books not in any way losing in accuracy and scholarship by the simplicity of their presentation. Lastly, and as a relevant corollary to all I have just said, could encouragement be given to area studies being actively extended in our universities? I say this because recently I received an enquiry about the possibility of someone following a programme of area studies in the University of Singapore in a certain discipline.”
“There are also other interesting and possibly profitable by-products. With improved and wider knowledge of the region, there may also be knowledgeable interest in the possibilities of investment and economic development in the region. Political and international decisions in other countries may also derive from a more informed public opinion. There is some testimony to the sad condition of uniformed public opinion about South-east Asia in far-away countries. Too often have our emissaries abroad been asked if Singapore is situated in South China. May I now mention one or two points relating to the development of the proposed Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. If initially the director of this Institute be a visitor to this region, a pundit so to speak from abroad, in other words, an expatriate, could we initiate steps as soon as possible to ensure that we have a director who is indigenous to the region, preferably a Singaporean? I make this point because I feel, and this feeling has been to some extent substantiated in conversations with one or two people, that scholars in this region would be more ready to establish rapport with somebody whom they feel may be more spiritually sympathetic with their aspirations. Whether we, in our prudent objectivity, like it or not, there are people in the region whose sense of nationalism has been so exacerbated by their experience of recent history that they even carry the fear of so-called neo-colonialism into the academic sphere. Another point I would like to make is that this Institute could also provide opportunities for the study of languages in the region. I notice that the erection, equipment and maintenance of libraries feature in the provisions of the Institute.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there would seem to be many factors in favour of setting up an agency like the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies which this Bill seeks to establish. It would be fair to say that our well-being, if not our survival, is related, to some extent, to the destiny of the countries in the region of which (to quote a most recent document) we are the fulcrum. It is to our advantage to encourage systematic garnering of more and more critical knowledge of the countries around us. It is appropriate for us to conduct regional studies in the way we propose to do. Singapore's strategic location makes it an eminently desirable and suitable spot to become not only a centre, but the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies. A successful Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies will certain1y reflect favourably on our national prestige, where previously we have had to note the existence of South-east Asian Studies centres in exotic places like Yale; Harvard: Washington - Washington, Missouri; Canberra; Hull; and London where I believe South-east Asian Studies comes under the generous umbrella of the School of African and Oriental Studies. It is good to envisage numbers of scholars, not only from the region, but also from the Far West, that is, from Europe and perhaps Africa and from the Far East, like San Francisco on the west coast of the United States, coming to Singapore to share their knowledge. But there is also the practical advantage that spreading knowledge of the region will result in more people with lay interests wanting to come to Singapore and to this region. And they will come here, Sir, not to seek the flesh-pots by which, alas, tourists are only too frequently beguiled, but to seek repast of a more intellectual kind.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I, in this my maiden speech, express my respect for the House and reiterate my support of Government. 5.33 p.m.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the lesson is quite clear that whatever the hue and complexion adult education has assumed in other countries, different national and social circumstances have thrown up peculiar, specific and indigenous adult education responses. Our own adult education scene has also been characterised by a gratifying ebullience, but more imaginative forms should be encouraged by the Government towards striking roots more deeply among the masses of our people. Remembering, too, that the better educated our people are, the more firmly we can make assurance doubly sure of our survival in the crucial years ahead. May I conclude, Sir - probably much to the gratification of hon. Members -by expressing my particular endorsement of the various details related to education in its different aspects, in several places in the Addendum to the speech by the President. I was happy to read the paragraphs on training in the section devoted to the Ministry of Labour. The Ministry of Culture's statement is welcome that "an appreciation for dancing, music, art and other cultural activities will be assiduously encouraged". May I suggest that there be not only presentation of cultural forms, but that explanation of their meaning and significance be also entered into more extensively. I am happy to note also that "the Museum which will now come under the Ministry of Science and Technology will be modernised to serve as an educational centre displaying in vivid manner the rich political, social and economic history not only of Singapore but of the whole region of which we are the fulcrum." Up to now the permanent exhibition in the Museum seems to have taken on an aspect of immutability.”
“The pupils may be more interested in distracting background items, such as the way he dresses or the unerased diagram on the blackboard. In the case of the mass media also, full attention is not guaranteed, and it may be that other features are coming across besides the intrinsic information that it is desired to convey. Where any medium of communication is concerned, it is the whole medium that is the message. Adult education, therefore, has to come to the aid of the mass media to stimulate awareness and committed concern for our problems. It is easy to see from the experience and history of other countries how adult education has been brought to the service of national construction. In England, for example, adult education as a national movement for the education of workers contributed towards the redressing of balance of national and political influence in favour of workers. In Denmark, the folk high schools were created (and I am quoting learned authority) "for the express purpose of refashioning a national culture". In the Soviet Union adult education (and I quote again): `has served as an instrument of State policy directed at producing loyalty to the state and developing technical competencies required by national plans.' In the process of changing China, adult education has had two functions, namely (and I quote different authority now): `(a) breaking down the class barrier and fostering the union of workers and peasants and the patriotic intelligentsia, and (b) contributing to the construction of the new China.' Chou En-lai has himself issued "Directives on Increasing Peasants' Spare-Time Education". Israel is also an outstanding example of how adult education, in the Kibbutzim, in the Histadrut and in the universities, has contributed to national development.”
“At the same time, many children get little social reinforcement of these attitudes in the home. We want our children to exercise wisdom in their vocational choice. Yet parents with traditional views may insist on their own outmoded predilections. I hope the following may not be too trivial an anecdote for the House, but in a conversation with a school's dental officer, I was told that while our dentists are teaching our children healthy care of their teeth, some parents do not provide their children with tooth-brushes. [Laughter]. I am not intending to strike a note of levity, Mr Speaker, Sir, because I notice that in the section devoted to "Health", there is a paragraph referring to dental care. This little anecdote which I related just now has some bearing on what we intend to do. While we urge our children to help to make our city beautiful, these same children may be living in circumstances which are far from being aesthetic. It is highly desirable, to my mind, that continuing educational opportunity be afforded the parents of our children so that any discordance between home and school may be eliminated; not only this, but that indeed an understanding of public issues may be generated. In order to achieve this, more devices must be resorted to, besides the mass media. I would like to enter a mild caveat against exaggerating the effectiveness of the mass media as a means of communicating a specific message, especially in the circumstances of a free and open society like ours. Any teacher will be able to say that at any juncture of a teaching activity, it may not be the information that he is trying to impart which is percolating through.”
“On one occasion when I had a chat with some senior teachers and I suggested to them that perhaps they could institute certain discussion procedures in their classrooms, they agreed that it would be a good idea, but said that the cultural shock to their pupils would be so great that they would not know how to handle their classes after that! May I now, Mr Speaker, carry the point I am making about the necessity for discussion opportunities a little further. I have said that our teachers need discussion opportunities and our pupils need discussion opportunities. I would say that our citizens need discussion situations to be structured for them. We read in the Addendum to the President's Speech, under the heading "Ministry of Culture": `To get our people better prepared and to participate more in the immense national effort required in the crucial years ahead, the mass media of Radio, Television and publications will be improved and expanded.' It is intended that our mass media "will not only inform, entertain and educate but will also stimulate patriotism, public-spiritedness and the importance of increased productivity." Sir, may I suggest that an important ancillary to propaganda through the mass media - and I must stress that I am using the term "propaganda" in its neutral sense, without any pejorative implications - is adult education. In conjunction with the mass media, listening and viewing groups could be encouraged in our community centres, in the premises of voluntary organisations, in schools in respect of teacher-parent gatherings. Other aspects of systematic public education could also be encouraged. Sir, we are inculcating in our children in schools various attitudes and mores which we feel will help our national effort.”
“Because also in a discussion context, people have the opportunity for their human worth to be given recognition. Therefore, I say, Sir, let us structure devices and generate the mood and style, as a result of which our teachers can have opportunity for discussion among themselves, and transmit thoughtful proposals to our educational planners. I have already mentioned what I consider to be the necessity for an independent educational research institute. It may be possible for there to be attached to this institute an educational liaison council which would be responsible, on a continuing basis for the reception and processing of memoranda, which could ultimately indicate fruitful lines of practical and productive educational investigation. We wish all our citizens to be habituated to the democratic procedures of thoughtful discussion, wherein respect for the opinions and potential contribution of others may be a significant feature. Why not act with our teachers who are key people in the inculcation of healthy attitudes in our children? At the same time, measures should be taken to see that in the classroom our pupils are not simply being made recipients of information from their teachers. One aspect of education, perhaps not given sufficient consideration in the past, is the necessity to get our children to ask questions, and not simply lap up devotedly what the teacher says as the last oracular word. That discussion techniques seem to be notable rather by their absence from the educational scene has been brought home to me with some force on several occasions. When discussion time comes up, for example, in adult education classes, there is a vast sticky silence.”
“In quantitative terms the target has been achieved, but in all the tremendous drive to achieve this physical triumph, have we jettisoned certain important psychological considerations pertaining to the need of teachers to feel that they are given adequate recognition of their role in the educational progress of our society? Do our teachers feel mere cogs in the educational machine that has been grinding out more schools, more laboratories, more equipment, more students even? Are they just being fed and perhaps fed up with directives and expected to respond to these impersonal instructions? It is possible that in the near future we may want to make further demands on our teachers, in the national interest. Let our planners enter into a dialogue with those who are going to implement plans. When an idea, for example, strikes our planners that senior members of the teaching profession require civic or political orientation, do not let these teachers be gathered indoors and lectured to for hours with little respite, and with even less respect for the fact that they are teachers who have been taught to make lessons interesting and pupil-centred - and here they are in a situation where scant consideration is paid to basic canons of teaching practice. If we wish to change attitudes, then we must have discussion. Exhortation, purely and simply as such, is going out of fashion even from the pulpit. Over the past two or three decades especially, studies in social psychology have very plausibly and, to my mind, quite conclusively indicated that when people participate in discussion, they are more ready to change their behaviour when they move out of this discussion context than when the channel of communication has been a one-way process.”
“When plans are laid, not enough of the opinion of the rank and file has been solicited. There are scarcely any devices or procedures whereby the feelings and views of those who are going to work the educational system are sought. Without discussion there cannot be that full and wholehearted commitment, that understanding zeal that is necessary to galvanise our educational system into ever-ready responses to the needs of our society. Whenever decisions are made, whenever plans are laid, we need more than a resigned acquiescence to these decisions and plans. We need the participation of our teachers in the thinking out of our problems. In the last few years I have had occasion to receive feedbacks about the quality of our teachers. I must say that where those of our teachers are concerned who have finished their training and have had experience enough to be matured in the process of exposure to the joys and tribulations of teaching, they are adequate in their knowledge, competent in their practice (where circumstances allow scope for pedagogical application), and potentially alert to the possibilities of improvement. In other words, our experienced teachers would compare favourably with their counterparts in other societies which have a more sophisticated educational set-up. We have achieved remarkable progress in the provision of educational opportunities for our children. This is a matter for profound congratulation. I am sincere and I do not wish to be taken as being condescending in this matter.”
“On the question of quality at all levels of education, may I suggest that every encouragement be given to the setting up of an educational research organisation which, while it is in a responsible way sensitive to the needs of our educational situation, should be independent of administrative control by civil servants in the education sector. May I hasten to add that I have, in general, a profound regard for the professional competence of our educationists who are also administrative civil servants. And their expertise and experience would be valuable in research projects. But their resources should be made available for research purposes in an undivided fashion, and they should not be exposed to the possibility of bureaucratic considerations affecting the direction of their research recommendations. It may be feasible for our institutions of tertiary education and the Teachers' Training College to be jointly involved in this research enterprise, by way of an Institute for Educational Research, to which could be seconded officers from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology. A Cabinet Committee will now exercise supervision over crucial aspects of our education policy. Whatever the planning that is worked out, I must say, even at the risk of appearing trite, that it is basically the teachers in our schools who will be the human operatives on whose performance and contribution will depend the success of the plan. Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to stress that I want to express myself as cautiously as possible, but I must say that it is my belief that not enough of the potential enthusiasm and zeal of teachers have been released towards the vigorous improvement of our educational system.”
“I remember reading a speech several months ago by one of our Ministers who gave it as his opinion that certain subjects in the curriculum could well be removed from the compelling grip of the examination syndrome. In my opinion, this is a most fruitful line of thinking. Perhaps we could further exercise better control over the effects of our examinations policy if we conducted all our examinations ourselves, whenever we have, at all, to conduct examinations. If we were to apply a cost-benefit analysis to the suggestion that we have our own school-leaving examinations system in the English stream, and if we were to take all factors into consideration (and not only those particularistic factors pertaining to immediate financial expenditure and administrative convenience), we might find our own examinations system a more economic and educationally productive proposition. With regard to the question of bilingualism in schools, I endorse the principle outlined in the relevant sections under the heading "Ministry of Education", of the Addendum to the Speech by the President. I must emphasize, however, my view that knowledge of the principal medium of instruction must be carried to the highest standards of sophistication possible and desirable in relation to the appropriate levels of schooling. For example, Sir, one of the reasons why many of our English-educated youths are so hazardously exposed to the fads and blandishments of the mass-media in English is that their command of English permits them only to respond to base appeals in basic English. Many of such youths are not able to assimilate superior cultural notions that could come through the English medium simply because their ability to use this medium is just not adequate.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the country needs in the field of vocational training, as much as in the field of technical education, the optimum potential that it can recruit, not pupils who will enter their training tasks with a consciousness of their having failed in some other educational sector. We want our factories and industrial workshops manned by people assured of their capacities and confident of their skills - not by people who are apologetic about their academic short-comings. It is hoped, also, that the type of training given will be sufficiently flexible to allow our technical workers and technicians to be adaptable to quite certain scientific changes in the future. Confident as I am of the far-sightedness of our Government, I am sure also that the creative side of the development of our workers will also be seen to. So that not only do we adapt technically to changes imposed on us somewhat from the outside, but that we may initiate these adaptations ourselves for our own benefit. May I express my view that the new direction of emphasis in our educational policy (from the academic to the technical-vocational) will achieve the highly desirable result of largely removing from our educational system the unpleasant feature of many pupils being, in the final analysis, coached for failure in examinations. The diversification of our educational system will, I hope, provide opportunity for pupils of varying aptitudes to develop those capabilities which can be best developed to the satisfaction of the individual and the welfare of the State. In this connection, it should also be hoped that there will be such qualitative improvement of our examinations system as will not result in examinations being the principal, if neurotic, goal of classroom endeavour.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I express my warm support basically for the measures that this Government will implement in the crucial years ahead, as outlined in the President's Speech, in the addendum to the speech by the President, and in the Ministerial broadcasts entitled, indeed, "The Crucial Years". May I also, however, enter some observations on portions of the documents referred to, respectful as I hope I am of the President's injunction to speak in forthright terms. It is likely that my comments will focus themselves on particular details of implementation of Government's measures in respect of one or two Ministries, details which may have already suggested themselves to the officers of the Ministry concerned or the Ministers themselves; but I feel that certain problems must be underlined so that the fullest attention is given to them. I note, and I note with feelings of congratulation, that in education one of the targets of Government's attention will be a reorganisation of the secondary school system to divert a much larger number of students to technical education and vocational training. It is hoped that the selection of candidates, especially for vocational training, will be on the basis of a scientific assessment of their potential for this type of development. I make this point because customary attitudes in the past have resulted in drop-outs from the academic stream finding themselves saddled with vocational training as a rather poor and second choice. Such outcome has been somehow or other based on the dimly-conceived assumption that if one is no good for a white-collar occupation, then why not give training (or so-called training) for a blue-collar job a desperate bash?”