John Chen Seow Phun
Singapore
“Sir, Singapore has signed FTAs with a number of countries, including the developed nations, such as the US and Japan. These FTAs give us better access to these developed markets compared to other countries for goods that need the rules of origin.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for asking the HDB to relook at the case I brought up, but I hope that he would not rule out providing the same loan amount to the family. I understand the need for credit assessment policy, and so on. But I think the policy should not be applied blindly.”
“It can also be stipulated that the grants can only be used to pay part of their mortgage loan monthly. I think this will go a long way in helping these families pay for their flats. I hope the Minister can look into this and see whether these families can be given such help.”
“My point is that the Minister should reconsider this case and exercise flexibility, so that the family will be helped. Otherwise, if the family was asked to sell their flat, it could be negative equity and the problem would come back to HDB. And HDB would be owed money and I do not think that is good for HDB as well.”
“We need to come up with a regular mechanism where older and lower income workers can benefit without the pitfalls of a crutch mentality. I think, in this regard, the Government has not spent enough time or thought to look into what other mechanisms that we can have.”
“On the other hand, at best, we get one Singapore pavilion with a dozen or so companies, and that is about it. If we are really serious with our globalisation effort, our Government agencies must put in more resources to encourage more companies to participate in such events.”
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“In the case of Sengkang, however, I do agree with the Member that the coordination did not work as well as it should. The key reason for this is that the ongoing construction of the North East MRT line and the LRT system has hampered the speedy construction of some major internal roads in Sengkang, giving rise to inconvenience to residents, and the situation was aggravated by the rapid growth of Sengkang. Dr Michael Lim also mentioned that the exit and entry roads of the town via the Expressway are inadequate. Because of the problems that the Member has fed back, LTA has worked closely with the MP and grassroots organisations to solve the problem. And with the stepping up of this effort, we have opened up some of these roads ahead of schedule, as mentioned by Dr Michael Lim. For instance, we have opened up Sengkang East Way, which was originally scheduled to open after the completion of the underground construction works in June this year. This was completed ahead of schedule in January last year. Sengkang East Road was also opened in January this year, as mentioned by Dr Michael Lim, almost a year ahead of the original schedule in end 2001. And with the opening of Sengkang East Road, there is another exit and entry point for Sengkang town via the CTE. I will continue to press LTA to come up with solutions to alleviate the congestion in Sengkang, even while construction works are ongoing. For Punggol, LTA will be building two more fringe roads. This is in addition to the internal road network that HDB will build in tandem with the town development. One of these two roads is the interchange at the Tampines Expressway connecting Sengkang East Road, and this will serve the connection between Punggol Town and TPE, as well as Sengkang Town and TPE.”
“If we were to allow unfettered competition in the bus market, this kind of unfettered competition can lead to unprofitable routes not being served, and a decline in viability for all the players. And the end result can be a decline in service standard. Nonetheless, I agree with Dr Vasoo that we should increase competition where appropriate. In this regard, some steps were taken last year to introduce more competition into the industry. For instance, the PTC called an open tender last year to select the operator who could offer the most competitive fares for providing public bus services to Jurong Island. The PTC also invited both private and public transport operators to submit proposals for introducing more night bus services. We can do more along these lines, if there is demand for such services. In fact, there are other areas where we allow competition. For instance, we have Scheme B bus services plying along certain trunk routes, and this was in response to complaints that these busy routes were not adequately served. We have therefore introduced Scheme B bus services in order to provide a higher level of service. So, if there is any complaint about poor services, we will get the PTC to closely monitor those routes and tighten the standards, if necessary, or maybe invite another operator to service those areas, if the existing operator cannot meet these standards. Sir, Dr Michael Lim questioned the implementation of the road network in Sengkang. Earlier, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang complained about the coordination problem between the Government agencies. Yes, today, there is a system of coordination between LTA, HDB and other agencies involved in new town development. And roads, for instance, are built in tandem with the development of a town.”
“Sir, I thank Members for their questions. Dr Vasoo asked whether the present duopoly system in our public transport is good enough, and whether we can have another operator to compete with the existing two operators. Sir, we have two existing companies providing public scheduled bus services throughout Singapore. Between them, they are required to cover most parts of Singapore, and cover both the profitable as well as the unprofitable routes. The current industry structure has allowed the two bus operators to provide a generally high quality and comprehensive bus service, with affordable fares. How is this achieved? This is achieved through the Public Transport Council (PTC) requiring the bus operators to meet a set of quality standards, including service coverage, frequencies, operating hours and other aspects of operation to safeguard commuters' interest, even for unprofitable routes. This is what we call the universal service obligation (USO) that the bus companies have to meet. This USO is not without cost to the bus operators, and therefore Government needs to consider very carefully whether the industry can sustain more operators. Because, as it is, the bus operators have to service the non-profitable routes, and therefore they are, in a way, cross subsidising. If we allow another operator to come in, we have to consider whether that operator would also have universal service obligation, and if they do not have USO, then will it be fair to the existing operators? And if you allow the new operator to cherry pick the profitable routes, then the viability of the existing operators may be in question. Right now, there is already some form of competition between the two operators by way of the PTC benchmarking them against each other for service levels.”
“Sir, as I mentioned in my reply, affordability is a key consideration, and the Ministry is always mindful of helping the lower-income group. In fact, if Members can recall, not long ago, we introduced the Special Housing Assistance Programme (SHAP) for the lower-income group and people who are earning, say, $2,000 and below. They can now buy a 3-room buy-back flat and can get up to 95% in loans from the Government.”
“Sir, as I said, for the prices, we take into consideration the attributes of the flats. So, flats that do not have a good facing or are on lower floors in the same block and location, are generally cheaper. Flats that are not selected for, say, one to three years, would probably command a lower price too.”
“Sir, the reason why we do quarterly reviews is because we offer the flats quarterly. The Minister has mentioned that we are looking into a more flexible and responsive system of allocation according to timing and location. So we will take the Member's concern into consideration.”
“Sir, every quarter, when there is an offer of flats, we would review the prices. Mr Iswaran: Is there a case to consider more frequent reviews of flat prices, given that there is considerable volatility in the resale market?”
“Sir, HDB reviews the prices of HDB flats regularly to ensure that they remain affordable to Singaporean households. In pricing its flats, HDB does take the prevailing resale prices of comparable HDB resale flats into consideration. The other factors include the locations and attributes of the flats.”
“Sir, choosing a unit is a very subjective matter. People choose according to floor level, location, maybe even feng shui, I do not know. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD SHOPS (Oversupply) The following Question stood in the name of Mr Tay Beng Chuan - 6. To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether any prompt action has been taken to address the over supply of Housing and Development Board (HDB) shops in public housing estates; and (b) whether a general downward rental adjustment of HDB shops can be effected to ensure their continued economic viability and competitiveness in the face of increasing fierce competition from the fast growing private shopping complexes and mega departmental stores/supermarkets within and outside public housing estates.”
“Sir, for first timers, the waiting time is about one year to 11/2 years. The reason why we have so many dropouts, so to speak, is because during the boom period, 1996-1997, a lot of people queued up by paying a few hundred dollars and, because of the recession, they found that they really did not need a flat and they felt that the prices might not go up, so they dropped out of the queue. It is not fair to allow them to stay on the queue and deprive those who have genuine needs because these people simply, as I said, want to just wait until there are good units available before they select a flat. If there is none, they do not want to select a flat, but they want to retain their positions in the queue. I do not think that is fair.”
“Sir, under the RFS, applicants who have been shortlisted to select a flat are not allowed to stay on the queue. If they do not book a flat, when invited to do so, their applications will be cancelled. This is because HDB has committed the flat supply to them since the building contracts have already been awarded. Moreover, if we allow shortlisted applicants to hold on to their queue positions, many may do so in order that their queue positions will be ahead when good units in better locations are offered. So that is the reason why we require them to cancel their applications. And if they want to purchase a flat later, they would have to re-queue again. Dr Teo Ho Pin: Since the number mentioned by the Minister is 1,100, it is not really a big number. Why can the HDB not allow more flexibility because it is not fair for applicants to queue for three or five years because the number of flats offered at that time could be very few and might not be suitable, and if you cancel their queue positions, they have to go all the way back of the queue again?”
“Sir, I am not aware of this. If the Member has the details, please pass it to me. ASSISTANCE TO YOUNG COUPLES TO OWN HDB FLATS 10. Dr S. Vasoo asked the Minister for National Development whether further changes will be made to help young couples solve their housing problems and meet the financial outlay to own a Housing and Development Board flat.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we have other schemes to help them. In fact, we have a number of them. For instance, we have made it easier for elderly lessees of three-room flats to sublet their whole flat. Is it not better? And if they do not wish to move, and they have a three-room or bigger flat, they can sublet one room or more to derive some income. They can also sell their flat and purchase an affordable studio apartment from HDB. So there are many ways to help them. We feel that the insurance proposal at the moment is not favourable but if the insurance industry is more competitive in the future, we may re-open consideration of this scheme. Assoc. Prof. Toh See Kiat: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister of State whether he is aware that sometimes the HDB officials will send letters to elderly lessees, who are alone, as an almost automatic reaction to tell them to give up their flat and sell it away, and this really intimidates the remaining elderly lessees into action which may not be in their interest.”
“Sir, I think it is not prudent. There is a risk involved and if the elderly stands to lose his home, then I do not think it is prudent for Government to start this scheme because basically we want to encourage home ownership.”
“As it is still uncertain what would be the key 3G services, it would be very difficult for the regulator to define the service and technical criteria for evaluating proposals in a beauty contest. In the formulation of our 3G licensing framework, IDA has considered industry feedback and studied the 3G licensing approach taken by other countries, from both the operators' and regulators' perspectives. Operators will naturally prefer a beauty contest mechanism with minimal fees because obtaining the spectrum cheaply will mean an immediate windfall profit for them. However, the Government has a responsibility to obtain fair value for a scarce resource. The Government's main objective is to ensure a transparent and fair allocation mechanism, and not simply to generate revenue. Notwithstanding the large sums that have been collected in some earlier European 3G auctions, we expect that the participating telecom companies will have learnt from the earlier 3G auctions, and bid rationally in our auction.”
“Sir, we cannot have a system where the components never fail. There is no hardware in the world where its components never fail. When we talk about system failure, both hardware and software, we are talking about the system not functioning, as designed, as a result of any component or software failure. The LRT system is functioning as designed. The system recognises that there will be occasions for component failure and so on and so forth, and the system takes care of that. So, in this case, there is no problem in the system hardware and software. The problem lies in the human intervention part, where it is not strictly followed. 3G TELECOMMUNICATION LICENCES 18. Mr Chng Hee Kok asked the Minister for Communications and Information Technology if the Government will consider the award of 3G telecommunication licences based on "beauty contest" instead of auction. The Minister for Communications and Information Technology (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): Sir, the Government has carefully considered the pros and cons of the auction approach vis-a-vis a beauty contest for the award of 3G licences. Our conclusion was that the award of 3G licences through an auction is the most objective, efficient and transparent means of allocating the limited spectrum available. An auction will allocate the spectrum to the operators who value it most, and this in turn would spur them to use this limited resource as efficiently as possible. While several countries have chosen a beauty contest for selecting 3G operators, our assessment is that making a judgement amongst bidders for emerging technologies such as 3G is entirely subjective.”
“Sir, I do not think we have a problem of a missing operator.”
“If you want to start the train operation afresh, you will have to reset the system, otherwise the system will just freeze because there will be no power to all the trains when the computer system detects a fault and the trains will just freeze. So, in order to restart the system, you will have to reset it. And before you reset, you must ensure that everything is accounted for. That is the way an automated train system is run.”
“Sir, trains are detected by sensors and these sensors are under the car and attached to the track. It could be due to contact problem or it could also be due to foreign objects or dirt that comes into the contact. So it happened that the sensor failed although, in this case, there is redundancy in the sense that there are two contacts. But it is unlike MRT. For the MRT, they have a long train and the train has a long continuous contact whereas, here, it is a single car. So it is possible that, under exceptional conditions, it loses contact. And when it loses contact, the system is unable to detect it 100%. When this happens, there must be a procedure to rectify it. This procedure has been put in place, but, unfortunately, in this incident, the operator had not followed the procedure. So we cannot have an automated system without the train detection system. A train detection system means that we must have sensors, and sensors can fail and that is where human intervention comes in.”
“Sir, the procedure, as I have said, is that before they reset, they will have to ensure that the train is accounted for. In this case, for some reason, the controller had forgotten to follow the procedure, and an error occurred. It is not a software or hardware system problem. It is a human intervention problem. This is the first part. The second part is how do we ensure that human intervention does not result in error. Therefore, the SLRT has recommended that we have a check-and-balance system. How do we have a check-and-balance system? We will have to ensure that before the controller can press the reset button, he must check with the shift manager. This is one step. So if both agree that they reset, then they will reset. Secondly, we are even thinking of asking the SLRT that perhaps they should have two buttons, just like your two-key system. So these are things that we can do, and will do, in order to make sure that, procedurally, there will be no room for error. Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, is it normal for the system to detect missing trains and, if the system can detect missing trains, under what kind of circumstances will the system prompt that there are missing trains in the SLRT system? So it must be the software, or there must be some reason for some system failure somewhere, that is why the system detects missing trains and that is why you need to do this manual reset.”
“Sir, if a train is found missing, the system will not allow the train to operate until the operator resets the system. So the correct procedure therefore is for the operator to find out where the missing train is, make sure that the missing train is accounted for or taken out of the system before he resets the system. Because the interlocking feature and the safety feature of the system are such that there will be automatic train protection and detection, prevention of collision, the right sequencing, and so on, if the system is operated, as designed, there will not be any chances of collision. But in this case, the operator overrode and reset the system without accounting for the missing train. That is why when the system did not detect any missing train after the reset, it would not take the missing train into consideration. Hence the accident. So this is to answer the Member's question on safety. What else did LTA ask the operator to do? LTA has, besides asking them to conduct refresher training and enhance training standards, also asked SLRT to review its management structure to strengthen the team in the area of railway operation and signalling. What we found out is that the personnel in the SLRT, prior to the collision, were mainly maintenance people from MRT. So we are asking them to strengthen the operation aspect of the management structure. Also, we have asked SLRT to review all its procedures requiring human intervention to deal with safety critical functions and ensure that these are clearly stated, that there is no ambiguity, so that procedures can be followed to the letter, so to speak.”
“To reduce the cost of ownership of "green" cars, a rebate equivalent to 20% of the car's Open Market Value will be given at the point of registration. In addition, hybrid and electric cars will be given a road tax rebate of 10% and 20% respectively. Based on LTA's estimates, the effect of the rebate would be to lower the difference in purchase price between a conventional car and a hybrid car from 16% to 10% and to reduce the daily operating cost difference from 7.3% to 2.5%. The "green" vehicle rebates for electric and hybrid cars will be implemented in early 2001. These rebates will be subsequently reviewed after three years. The Land Transport Authority, together with the Ministry of the Environment, will be announcing further details of the "green" vehicle rebates scheme for electric and hybrid cars within the next few weeks. The announcement will also cover the categorisation of green vehicles for road tax and Certificate of Entitlement purposes.”
“Sir, we cannot dictate how people should bid. Anyone, regardless of his or her income level, can bid for a car in Category A. But the fact remains that people are still concerned about the effect of having one single category. Therefore, as I said, we will consider doing so if the concern becomes negligible. ECO-FRIENDLY VEHICLES (Incentives) 23. Mr Gerard Ee asked the Minister for Communications and Information Technology whether he will consider granting incentives such as a 50% rebate on road tax to encourage the importation and use of eco-friendly vehicles. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications and Information (Assoc. Prof. Yaacob Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Communications and Information): Mr Speaker, Sir, eco-friendly or "green" vehicles generate substantially less pollution than conventional vehicles. The environmental benefits of using eco-friendly or "green" vehicles are: (i) lower emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) which contributes to the "greenhouse" effect; (ii) lower emission of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons and nitrogen and sulphur oxides, and particulates; and (iii) lower noise levels. My Ministry and the Land Transport Authority, together with the Ministry of the Environment and the Inter-Agency Committee on Energy Efficiency (IACEE), have reviewed measures to promote the importation and use of eco-friendly vehicles in Singapore. As recently announced by my Minister of State, Dr John Chen, the Ministry has decided to introduce "green" vehicle rebates for electric and hybrid cars. These rebates are intended to lower the cost differential between "green" cars and conventional cars.”
“Sir, from the transport management point of view, it is logical to have only one category. But as I said, there are still public concerns about merging the categories, because they felt that buyers of smaller cars will be squeezed out. In view of that, we are prepared to implement the open bidding system first and then review the results. And if what the Member says is true and that people feel that there is no reason to have more than one category, then we will consider the Member's suggestion.”
“Sir, it depends on the reactions of the bidders. If they choose to bid in a particular category because they just want to buy a particular category car, then it may not be. But if they choose to buy any car as long as its COE price is the lowest, then perhaps what the Member said is true.”
“We should therefore review whether to merge the two car COE categories into one after we implement the open bidding system.”
“Sir, the present two COE categories for cars, namely, Category A and Category B, were formed from the merger of four car COE categories in May 1999 following a review by the Government Parliamentary Committee for Communications. In its review of the Vehicle Quota System (VQS), the Committee considered merging the car COE categories into a single category as it felt that this would provide greater liquidity and reduce price distortions. However, public feedback raised concerns that with a single COE category for cars, buyers of smaller cars were likely to be outbid by buyers of big and luxury cars. The Committee therefore recommended that the merger of categories should be done gradually and, as an intermediate step, recommended that the four car categories be merged to form the two categories. Over the last 12 months, the COE prices of Category B were generally higher or comparable to the prices of Category A except on a few occasions, such as in the October tender, when the COE price of Category B fell substantially below that of Category A. This can happen and does happen because in a closed bidding system, bidders are not given any information when the bidding is in progress and they are therefore unable to follow up when the demand for a particular category of COE is weak vis-a-vis the supply. The Land Transport Authority will be implementing the open bidding system for COEs as a trial in the 2nd quarter of next year. With the open bidding system, bidders will be able to see the going prices during the bidding exercises and make informed decisions when bidding COEs. This will help to reduce wide fluctuations in COE prices like the sharp fall in Category B COE price in the October bidding exercise or when the price for the big car COE fell to $50 previously.”
“Subject to technical constraints we can look at the Member's suggestion. POLICE PERSONNEL (Conditions to open fire) 21. Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the basic conditions that must exist before Police personnel can open fire aimed to kill a member of the public.”
“Sir, the grassroots organisations can make an application to use the roof-top facilities, and we will consider it.”
“To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Government will consider a more moderate across-the-board increase in the salary revision for civil servants, in order not to drive up our overall wage cost too fast and cause a runaway increase in prices and charges which will cause more hardship to the low-income group and make our businesses even less competitive, compared with other countries.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, generally, ex-PPD officers were transferred to AVA under no less favourable terms. However, for a group of non-pensionable officers who joined the Service before 7th December 1984, they lost the opportunity to claim pension benefits under the CPF-Annual Allowance Gratuity Option as they will no longer be civil servants when they retire at the compulsory retirement age. This policy has been applied consistently in all past conversion exercises. The CPF-AA Gratuity Option is not an entitlement. Nevertheless, the Government understands the officers' concerns. MND, in consultation with PSD and MOF, recently worked out a lump-sum ex-gratia payment for each of the affected officers. The payment will be made to the officers' CPF account. The staff and the Union have been briefed on the matter. WET MARKET AT SERANGOON NORTH AVENUES 3 AND 4 20. Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for National Development when will the wet market situated at the corner of Serangoon North Avenues 3 and 4 be opened for business. Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the 2-storey development at Block 542B Serangoon North Avenue 3 is expected to start operating in 3rd Quarter of this year. HDB is currently discussing with interested parties such as NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd to operate the market and eating establishment in this development. SALARY REVISION FOR CIVIL SERVANTS The following Question stood in the name of Mr Tay Beng Chuan - 21.”
“Nonetheless, the decline in HDB building works will not have a significant impact on the construction sector as work on other public buildings is projected to increase this year. On the status of HDB tenders, HDB called tender for 32 building contracts in 1999 and 9 building contracts in the first quarter of 2000. Of these, 14 contracts are still under evaluation, and the majority of which will be awarded between June and October this year.”
“Sir, the credit assessment that we have is to ensure that people buy flats within their affordability. The 20% downpayment is also prudent market practice in the private sector, and this policy is to make sure that people have enough savings before they actually start thinking of buying a flat. So I think it is quite a prudent approach. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Demand and supply) 8. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the status of planned and actual demand and supply of Housing and Development Board flats from 1998 to 2000; (b) how many HDB building project tenders were called in 1999 and the first quarter of 2000 and not awarded till to date; and (c) what is the waiting time for both new flat applicants and upgraders. The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the HDB received 8,800 and 9,700 Registration for Flats System applications in 1998 and 1999 respectively, and an average of about 1,200 applications per month during the first five months of this year. As a result, the queue length for HDB flats has declined to about 37,000 as at 31st May 2000, compared to a peak of about 146,000 in the year 1996/1997. The shorter queue has enabled HDB to reduce the waiting time to about 1 to 1.5 years for first-timer applicants, and to about 3 to 4 years for upgrader applicants. In view of the lower demand for new HDB flats, HDB has reduced its building programme from about 28,000 units in 1998 to 22,000 units in 1999. It is planning for a further reduction of the building programme for this year.”
“Sir, the requirement of 80% is a prudent practice to ensure that buyers will buy flats within their affordability. We also have schemes to help low-income families to obtain a bigger mortgage financing. For ordinary first-timers, it is best that they stick to the 20% deposit. But if they have financial difficulty, they can always appeal to their MPs and we will look at the case on its own merit.”
“Sir, we understand that the aspiration to own cars is there and, of course, subject to the congestion objective, the Government will try to help Singaporeans fulfill their aspiration. As I said, at the moment, there is progressivity also in the ARF and the road tax, and the COE is not intended to accentuate that progressivity. But what we can do is wherever we can, subject to congestion level, we will try to give more COEs and that will lower the COE prices. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS (Complaints on ill-treatment and abuse) 4. Mr Thomas Thomas asked the Minister for Manpower if he will give figures of complaints received for the last two years on ill-treatment and abuse of foreign domestic workers in Singapore and state the actions taken by the authorities in addressing these complaints.”
“Sir, I do not think licensing is the solution to stray cats. The cat can still move around and create nuisance, or scavenging on food, and so on. So I do not think there is a need, at this point in time, to license cats.”
“Impounded cats which have been tagged, ear-tipped (to indicate that it has been sterilised), or have any other indication that it is owned, will be detained for five full working days after they are collected by AVA. Subsequently, cats that are not claimed from AVA will be put down humanely. Stray cats are usually found in areas where food is readily available. Hence, the effective control of stray cats requires cooperation of every member of the public to dispose food waste properly and also not to feed the strays indiscriminately. Very often, well-meaning citizens feed strays indiscriminately and leave food scraps lying around. Such unhygienic practice not only increases the stray cat problem, it also exacerbates other animal nuisances, such as crows, pigeons and especially vermin. The AVA is currently reviewing its policies and practices with a view to control indiscriminate feeding of animals as well as the abandonment of pets.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, cats are not licensed in Singapore. Unlike dogs, cats would not play an important role in the spread of rabies in the event of an outbreak in Singapore. Hence, the licensing of cats to enable quick location of the animals for disease control is not necessary. However, under the HDB Rules, lessees are not allowed to keep cats in HDB flats because it is difficult to confine a cat within a flat. By nature, they tend to wander around and can find ways and means to get out of the flat thus creating a nuisance to other residents. The Agri-food and Veterinary Authority's (AVA) policy on the control of stray cats is to promote responsible cat ownership within the community through a voluntary Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme implemented by various town councils. This scheme was successfully tried out as a pilot project in Tanjong Pagar Town Council in 1998. A survey of residents in this area showed that more than 80% of them were agreeable to having the stray cats around, provided the cats are sterilised and managed so that they do not cause problems. To date, 39 areas under 12 town councils are registered under the scheme. Under the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme, volunteers get the stray cats in their community sterilised. They assist town council officers to attend to complainants of cat problems and help to resolve them. The volunteers feed the cats in an organised and hygienic way. They clear away the food remnants after feeding the cats. The sterilised cats do not reproduce and their presence deters other non-sterilised cats from settling in the area. Unsterilised cats and cats causing nuisance can be removed from the area. AVA loans cat traps free of charge to residents who are bothered by stray cats and will collect the trapped cats without charge.”
“I will ask LTA to look into this. OPENING OF MORE SINGAPORE POOLS' BETTING OUTLETS (Effect) 2. Mr Noris Ong Chin Guan asked the Minister for Finance, in the light of the Singapore Pools' intention to open 50 more betting outlets in various parts of Singapore, whether his Ministry has considered that by allowing legalised gambling to be more accessible to the public, it can have a long-term unintended effect of indirectly influencing and promoting undesirable values amongst more Singaporeans.”
“Yes, I have just said that there is a formula, depending on the floor area of the vehicles.”
“Sir, I think the present penalty is stringent enough. Let me just give the Member the figure. The punishment for first time offenders is a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three months.”
“Sir, as I said, there are traffic regulations, whether it is the proper lighting of the vehicles, or whether it is our road conditions, road lighting, and so on. And, of course, there are measures that we can look further into, for instance, fixing of luminous tape at the back of the vehicle. All these can be measures to enhance safety.”
“According to Traffic Police statistics, they have monitored accident rates involving goods vehicles, but they have not divided them, eg, whether the injured are open back passengers or passengers in the vehicles. But even this figure shows that the number is quite low compared to, for instance, motorcycles. If you are concerned, motorcycles are even more risky. But, of course, the point is that if you observe safety rules, then there is no concern about safety. The reason why motorcycles have high accident rates is that a lot of them speed and do not observe traffic rules. My point is that as long as we observe safety rules, there should not be any safety concern. And if the Member is interested in the actual figures, I can give him a comparison. For instance, number of passengers killed in 1999 for pick-ups and lorries, 2 (and we do not know whether they are the open back passengers or the drivers); number of people killed for motor-cycles, 11 (5 times). So I do not see the concern. Dr Teo Ho Pin: May I ask the Minister of State so far, how does the Ministry enforce the rule that the workers are safely transported during the night, especially during the early morning where construction works are going on along the roads?”
“It is not just a message. We have stringent rules. For instance, depending on the floor area of the vehicle, there is a formula that calculates the permissible number of passengers. The fines are also quite steep. And we are also looking at other measures, for instance, hand straps or hand holds and, if practicable, we can get them installed.”
“Sir, in the same way that we enforce traffic rules, speeding, and so on and so forth. Just to give the Member an indication, in 1998, 206 goods vehicles were booked for committing these offences and in 1999, this number has increased to 486. So we will continue to send a strong message to these companies. Dr Vasoo: Sir, is message enough? That is what I am trying to find out. Because many of the passengers are perched in very dangerous positions, and if safety is one of the basic requirements, then other alternative arrangements would need to be undertaken. So I want to know what plans there are for improving transportation conditions for these workers.”
“Yes, indeed, LTA and the Traffic Police have been stepping up their enforcement and will continue to do so. We will also publicise the rules so that companies know how to behave.”
“Sir, I think the answer is no. What is more important is safety. So if safety is not compromised, and if they are seated properly, I think it is an acceptable way of transporting workers in this part of the world.”
“Sir, may I remind the Member that Parliament passed the Public Transport Council Act, and the objective of the Act is to balance the interest of both the operators and the commuters. And we have debated this at length in this House. If we are to balance the interest of both, then we must make sure that it is, in the end, a win-win situation for both. If we say that bus operators cannot increase fares, then in the end, it may become a lose-lose situation. INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS (Review of ownership retention policy) 30. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for National Development when his Ministry intends to review the 30% ownership retention policy for industrial and commercial developments. Assoc. Prof. Koo Tsai Kee (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, the 30% retention policy was introduced way back in 1979 to address the serious problem of poorly constructed and maintained commercial and industrial buildings. By requiring developers to retain a substantial stake in the developments, it was hoped that this would encourage better quality buildings and higher standards of building management and maintenance. Given the higher standards of construction and better maintenance standard of buildings in recent years, the Ministry is prepared to lift the 30% retention policy for both commercial and industrial developments. The URA will work out the operational details and announce them soon. 1.30 pm”
“Sir, as MCIT is overseeing the transport sector, so I speak for the transport sector. If we look at the inflation figures since 1997, although we have been through the recession, there is still inflation. And if we look at investments in buses, TIBS, for instance, has spent $100 million in acquiring 300 new buses and it is going to expand its fleet by 30% this year. SBS is going to buy more superbuses and have a system using technology to improve fleet management and so on. All these are reasons for a revenue increase. If we do not allow fare increases, then what it means is that profitability and viability are going to go down, and there will be no incentive to improve the system.”
“I am aware of the situation and I am of the view that the returns are reasonable. If you look at the return on assets of the bus companies, you will be surprised that it is quite low. And even if they put the assets into bonds, I am sure, without the hassle of all these bus operations, it would give them a better return.”