Kanwaljit Soin
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to give a response to an exclusion in clause 2 (b) which amends section 10 to deem any maintenance payment received by a parent or a child under a maintenance order not to be income subject to tax.”
“Clarification, Sir. I realise that. But I would like to know what is the policy, what is the thinking, that you can allow a parent who gets maintenance not to have to pay income tax. A parent is an adult. But you do not give the same privilege or right, I would say, to a wife who gets a maintenance ordered by the court.”
“My point is no income tax is charged for maintenance payments received by parents. That is what the Minister said about clause 2. But yet when wives receive maintenance from their husbands, those maintenance payments are subject to income tax. Why is there a discrepancy?”
“So I would like to ask what is the Minister's thinking. Why is it that the maintenance of a parent is not considered income, because it is for the subsistence of the parent, while the maintenance for a wife which is for her subsistence is considered as income?”
“If the letter of authority is not stampable, then this may become a recourse of getting around the stamp duty and income tax rules affecting sub-sales. Another issue to be considered is the timing of the payment of stamp duty. With the amendment, this has to be paid at the time of the signing of the sale and purchase agreement.”
“Would the Minister have, in hand, figures to show how many Singaporeans who go abroad to study medicine come back to do their housemanship in Singapore for the last three years? Dr Aline Wong: I do not have the figures on Singaporeans who come back to do housemanship for the last three years.”
The complete record
Every one of 549 lines we hold for Kanwaljit Soin, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 11.
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LE 2500. Sir, I would like to urge the Minister to agree that the Ministry of Education should assume full responsibility for the education of disabled children, that is, special education. By full responsibility, I am referring to financial, curricula and resource provision for the education of disabled children. The 50/50 funding principle which is being followed now is for welfare services. Special education is not a welfare matter. Special education is strictly education and should rightfully be the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.”
“First, the PAP Community Fund is not receiving any grant from the Government. Mr Cheo mentioned about the fees of $75 to $300. This is inaccurate because we only collect $20 per month. Mr Low Thia Khiang( In Mandarin): I want to clarify with Mr Peh. What post is Mr Peh holding in the PAP Community Fund? Mr Peh Chin Hua( In Mandarin): The Community Fund is a trust fund. It is not a political fund. Mr Cheo Chai Chen( In Mandarin): Mr Peh said that the amount of $75 is not correct. But this was the feedback I received from a member of my staff. That was what she paid. I do not know whether it is the PAP kindergarten or not. I am not sure. According to my information, it is $75 per month. There is also an advertisement in the newspapers on a kindergarten class which is charging $300 a month.”
“According to a notice by the Ministry of Education in February 1992, the Government said that if kindergarten classes were to be run by the Government, then the Government's expenditure on education will be increased by 10%. Now, if we look at the educational expenditure for this year, it is approximately $3.7 billion. If we were to increase it by 10%, the additional amount is just $370 million. Take our budget surplus for this year at $5 billion, we have more than enough to pay for the small additional expenditure. As a matter of fact, the Government can also take other measures to reduce the expenditure. For example, the Government does not have to build new schools to run these preparatory classes. The Government can run the classes in the void decks of HDB flats, like what is being done by some private kindergartens today, and a lot of costs can be saved. It will also be convenient for the parents to send their children to the classes. Another point is that the Government can reduce its subsidy on private kindergartens, because if the Government were to run the classes, it will not be necessary for the Government to subsidise these private kindergartens. The Government can also collect nominal fees from the parents and therefore further reduce the expenditure. If you take a look at the present situation, the cost of attending kindergarten classes is higher than that incurred for children going to primary and secondary schools. This is illogical! As such, I hope that the Ministry of Education will consider regularising the pre-school education classes, and make them part of our formal education system. At present, this is being done in Germany and the United Kingdom. 3.45 pm Mr Peh Chin Hua( In Mandarin): I wish to clarify what Mr Cheo has said.”
“The other advantage is that we can inspire the wisdom of the children at an early age and inculcate in them the correct values. I suggest that pre-school education classes should be conducted by the Government, because the Government can provide subsidies and the people's burden can be lightened. At present, private kindergartens which are receiving Government grant charge about $75 per month. The fees at private kindergartens without Government grant can be as high as $300 a month. If pre-school education classes are run by the Government, then they will provide employment opportunities for retired teachers, so that our limited human resources can be better utilised. The other aspect is that if pre-school education or kindergarten classes are conducted by the Government since it has sufficient resources - more than the private resources - and the Government has the information on the population distribution, they can better adjust the number of places to be offered to the young children in the various towns and housing estates. The private sector does not have this advantage. Another point is that some private kindergartens are run by a political party. There is a possibility that the kindergartens may be used by the political party as a political tool. For example, in my constituency, if your children want to join a kindergarten class run by a certain political party, you have to approach the Member of Parliament or the advisor of a grassroots organisation for his signature. This is a very funny arrangement. If there is a place in the kindergarten, you should allow the child to join the class. Why must the parents be required to get the signature of the Member of Parliament or the advisor of a grassroots organisation? This is a major disadvantage.”
“They do consultation work and the university also sets up many local centres and institutions. These institutions and centres are normally run by the academic staff, either fully or partially, and some of these centres have nothing to do with undergraduate teaching. Based on the reasons given above, we realise that the actual operational cost of the university is much higher than the net operational cost for conducting undergraduate studies. I hope the Ministry would look into this and apportion a right amount to the operational cost for the running of the undergraduate courses. By doing so, perhaps the tuition fee could be lowered, and I believe it may be fairer for the students because they are the people who have to pay the fees. I would also like to ask the Minister about the operational costs of the local universities. Are they comparable with the Australian universities or even universities in the United Kingdom? Also, I would like to ask whether the Government has set any cap on the cost of operation of the universities. Mr Cheo Chai Chen (Nee Soon Central)( In Mandarin): Sir, more and more parents are sending their children to kindergartens for pre-school education. This has become a trend. I suggest we regularise pre-school education and make it part of formal education in our education system. There are many advantages in pre-school education. From young, the children can be taught good habits in life and good personal conduct like how to keep personal hygiene, not to litter, etc. The children can learn to lead a community life from an early age to prepare them for their future admission to primary schools, so that they will know how to adjust to school life and know how to get along with others.”
“The tuition centres are under the Sikh Advisory Board which is a statutory board. Could the Minister look into this matter, please, and see how it can liaise with the Sikh Advisory Board and other similar bodies, when it pertains to the other languages, and standardise the marks at each level so that they will be taken into consideration for the term and the year-end examinations, and the schools will then take these marks into account? This way, the non-Tamil Indian students will feel that they are being given the same consideration when they are making the sacrifice of taking the mother tongue outside the school. Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay: Sir, I would like to disclose my interest. I work for the university. Sir, the university tuition fee is set at a certain percentage of the operational cost per student of the university. At this moment, the undergraduate tuition fee ranges from about $4,000 to $5,000, depending on whether the course is laboratory-based or non-laboratory-based course, excluding Medicine and Dentistry. This figure is quite an unaffordable figure for certain students whose parents' income is low, say, below $2,000 per month. So it is difficult for them to afford it without resorting to the borrowing of money by taking up a tuition loan or using the CPF savings of their parents. Since the fee is a percentage of the university's operational cost, therefore, it is important for us to examine the operational cost of the university carefully. We know that the university's teaching staff are very versatile. Besides teaching the undergraduate courses, they also do many other things, for example, doing research, doing international collaboration, of which some of the objectives are more inclined towards the foreign university objective in research.”
“Sir, non-Tamil Indian languages like Punjabi, Gujerati, Urdu and Hindi are now taken by non-Tamil Indian students in both primary and secondary schools as a mother tongue. However, unfortunately, their status is still uncertain when it comes to counting their marks at each semester and year-end examination. Only grades obtained in the PSLE, 'O', 'N' and 'A' level examinations are taken into account for admission to the next level of studies and into university courses. I will now, for the sake of illustration, take the case of students taking Punjabi as a mother tongue but the same situation applies to the other non-Tamil Indian students. The practice of not giving weightage to Punjabi has certain consequences: (1) In some primary schools, the students who take Punjabi are not given a position in class because they are short of one subject compared to their peers who take Malay, Tamil or Chinese as their mother tongue. This causes the Punjabi students to have less self-esteem and feel left out even if they are good in their other subjects. (2) The next consequence is that in the promotion from Secondary Two to Secondary Three, not taking Punjabi into the counting may affect the child's streaming into either Normal or Express stream. (3) A third consequence is that at the 'O' level, a student's entry into Junior College for the first three months is determined by the preliminary results. And here again, Punjabi is not counted. All these examples illustrate that for a student, there is a disadvantage in taking Punjabi or any other non-Tamil Indian languages as a mother tongue. Also, I would like to say that for Punjabi, this is taught in five tuition centres and there are 1,600 students taking Punjabi.”
“We recently witnessed an unfortunate example of this in the telecast of the 1995 TV commercial awards when two TCS actresses, Zoe Tay and Fann Wong, could not and would not even read out the names of non-Chinese winners. Singapore has been blessed with inter-ethnic tolerance and harmony. Let us not tempt fate by going out of our way to segregate our young, especially the brightest, during their formative years. They have to learn from young to be tolerant and sensitive to habits, cultural practices and religious beliefs of the other ethnic groups. In addition, with our regionalisation drive, our present SAP students will in future be going to countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia to do business. Would it not be better to expose these students to other ethnic minorities in their school environment? It is high time that we re-thought the rationale for SAP schools and decide whether we should continue with the scheme. We should be bold enough to tackle this problem now rather than take refuge in the status quo and then pay for the consequences later.”
“Sir, in the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, Chinese and English are taught at a first language level, ie, CL1 and EL1. They were introduced because the Government believed that there was much in the traditional discipline and culture of the Chinese medium schools to inculcate desirable core values into Chinese children. It is not clear as to which Chinese core values the SAP schools are supposed to preserve and transmit to their students but one can assume that these values refer to some or all of the following: (a) respect for authority; (b) virtues of hard work, discipline and perseverance; and (c) filial piety. In my opinion, there is nothing characteristically "Chinese" about these values as the other ethnic groups in Singapore also subscribe to them. I believe that these same values are being taught to all our school children as part of their moral and civic education programme. Furthermore, the bright Chinese students can take Chinese at a higher level in non-SAP schools so that language proficiency can be acquired in non-SAP schools. Thus, it seems to me that the original rationale for SAP schools is no longer present. Furthermore, it is an anomaly that we should go out of our way to segregate our brightest students on an ethnic basis when they will have to function as adults in a multi-racial society. I am aware that the SAP school programme has been modified so that for extra curricular activities, students are encouraged to interact with their counterparts from non-SAP schools but this interaction time is limited. If we continue the practice of segregating bright Chinese students in SAP schools, we may be inadvertently encouraging inter-ethnic insensitivity.”
“This has led some participants at the dialogue session to feel that the schools are fast becoming examination centres. Everything is centred on examinations. Everything else is of secondary importance. If that is the case, then I think education would have lost its original meaning. This examination-oriented mentality is something which deserves our deepest concern. The ranking of schools is certainly going to aggravate this trend! 1.30 pm”
“My suggestion is that we should divide the subjects into two categories - the core subjects which are compulsory, ie, all students must take, and the non-core subjects which are elective subjects and the two categories must be given different weights in the calculation of scores for ranking. Secondly, there are some schools which have good track records in sports, cultural and ECA activities, and some with good traditions. The Ministry of Education should take these into consideration in their evaluation of the schools. I know the Minister had said this is very difficult to do. But I feel that if there is a will, there is a way. For example, the World Competitive Report is able to formulate composite scores for the competitiveness of various countries based on abstract criteria such as human resources, infrastructure, management efficiency, etc, and rank them accordingly. So ranking the schools according to their examination results as well as their performances in other areas will go a long way in promoting an all-round and balanced development of the schools and the students. As for the consequences of the ranking, it is certain that ranking would exert more pressure on the schools. Another possible side effect is manipulation: One example is preventing the students from taking subjects which are difficult to score. Also, some schools may even refuse to admit students whose results are not up to their required standard. The most obvious consequence is that many schools spend great efforts and time to force-feed the students, making them "examination smart". Relatively, moral education, sports and even the training of an analytical mind are not as important as the examinations.”
“To evaluate the success of a school, one should consider not only its academic results but also how well it fares in the development of character as well as the physical and mental well-being of the students. School ranking would create a situation whereby schools with less satisfactory performance are neglected. If the popular schools can exchange teachers with those not-so-popular schools, it will help the principals and teachers to acquire better experience. At the same time, principals and teachers from the popular schools will understand the difficulties encountered by the less popular schools and the difference in quality between students from popular and less popular schools. Dr Ow Chin Hock( In Mandarin): Sir, with regard to the ranking of schools, the Minister for Education should look into three questions. (1) What is the objective? (2) What is the method to be used? (3) What are the consequences? In a dialogue session on 21st September 1994 conducted by the Feedback Unit, some participants offered some suggestions on the ranking of schools. No doubt the ranking of schools is conducted by the Ministry with good intentions. The question is whether or not the parents and teachers can effectively make use of the information provided by the ranking. Perhaps some adjustments can be made to the method of ranking. Let us first discuss the method of ranking. The calculation of the average results in the 'O' level results may give rise to some deviations, because not all the students take the same combination of subjects.”
“Sir, I would request the Minister to take on this challenge of providing each student with his own personal computer in schools, and then the Ministry of Education would be a trail blazer in the field of learning, teaching and the maximization of human ability in the age of information technology. So please, Mr Minister, do consider it. Mr Peh Chin Hua( In Mandarin): Sir, the ranking of schools is basically a good idea. If we can examine the side-effects of this system and improve on them, then it will become a perfect system. Therefore, I hope that the Minister for Education would consider the following points: (1) Avoid having to transfer students from one school to another if their results are less than satisfactory. In order to compete for higher ranking and maintain the good record of success year after year, some principals from the "well-known" schools will deliberately raise the standard of the school by setting very difficult questions for their students. Those who are less proficient will fail to make the grade and will have to be transferred to the `N' stream. As the school does not offer `N' stream classes, these unfortunate students will be forced out of the school and transferred to another school. (2) Prevent unnecessary pressure on teachers and students. In its journal, the Singapore Teachers' Union pointed out that some principals had told their teachers to leave the school if they could not achieve good results for the students. As a result, many teachers have to spend a few additional hours each week to give extra lessons to their students. This has indirectly exerted extra pressure on the teachers and the students. (3) Do not over emphasise on academic results.”
“Sir, the Ministry of Education has taken a very commendable step in the field of information technology by starting multi-media teaching in six schools. But why do we not really revolutionize learning by doing what no other country has done, ie, provide each and every student in the primary schools, secondary schools and junior colleges with their own personal computer to be kept in the school on each student's desk? I can see that the Minister is smiling and shaking his head. But I am thinking of this very revolutionary step and Singapore is known to do things for the first time. So let us go into it in a big way. Right now, we have school computer laboratories where students have to take their turn at using the computer. Our main concern should not be the maximum utilisation of the computers, but should be the maximum utilisation of the students' ability and the students' time. There are only about 25 or so computers in one school and very few teachers are computer literate. So the students only get a limited time at the computer. If we really want to function as a wired and intelligent city in the global IT network, then let us start in a really big way. We have talked a great deal about surpluses and how to spend the money wisely. So let us take this step and in one decisive move, we will make all our students computer literate and completely comfortable with IT. All the talk about competitive advantage, human resource development, value added and high-tech industries, etc, all these will be realised if we provide a computer to each of our students. After the initial capital outlay, we would only have to upkeep the computers and upgrade them in stages.”
“Sir, the issue of granting pupils' Edusave to the fourth child in the family and to the disabled child has been raised numerous times by several MPs. I would urge the Minister to take a fresh look at the issue.”
“As it is said, "bearing a child and not educating him, the fault lies with the father" [ ]. So parents who send their children to school and relinquish their responsibility of educating them are not fulfilling their duties as parents. With the trend of our society moving towards the pursuit of material well-being and the emphasis on money and wealth, if we want our children to have the correct values and not drift with the tide, the family must play a supporting role with the school. Virtues like personal cultivation, loyalty to the country and other moral values must be cultivated from young. Only then can the children grow up to become good citizens. Should the Ministry implement some programmes and find ways and means to encourage the parents to exchange views on their children's conduct, character and behaviour, and to cooperate closely with the school in educating their children.”
“45 pm I am bringing up this old story once again to remind the Ministry of Education officials that "education of people takes a hundred years to bear fruits" [ ]. They have to give mature consideration to all aspects of the matter before making a move. They have to look far ahead. At the same time, I would like to know whether the subject of Civics and Moral Education taught in the primary and secondary schools today has incorporated the recommendations of the said report on moral education. Has any adjustment been made and what are the areas that need to be improved? Sir, in fact, the inculcation of moral values is not confined to lessons in civics and moral education. It can also be transmitted through other subjects such as language and history. The school spirit, discipline and the words and deeds of the teachers have great influence on the pupils too. Example is better than precept. If the teachers can play an exemplary role by practising what they preach to exercise the formative influence on the pupils' character, the effect will be better. However, in order to do this, the Ministry of Education should give the teachers the respect they deserve. Some teachers at the dialogue session pointed out that the Ministry of Education seems to be taking the side of the parents most of the time. At the slightest provocation of a complaint by the parents, they will put the teacher under investigation with total disregard for the feelings of the teacher concerned. This will undermine the teacher's morale, and it will also affect the students' respect for the teacher. I agree with the view of many of the teachers, that is, the inculcation of moral values is not the sole responsibility of the school. Parents should take up a large responsibility in teaching their children.”
“On 24th September last year, the Feedback Unit conducted a dialogue session on education with 58 representatives from the teachers' unions, tertiary institutions, student unions and cultural bodies. Most of the participants agreed that we should step up the inculcation of moral values on students. At the same time, they were concerned with the deterioration of discipline in schools. At that time, the press focused their report on the caning of students and omitted the participants' emphasis on the importance of family education and the influence of social trends on the students. As far back as 1979, the then Minister for Education, Dr Goh Keng Swee, appointed a Moral Education Committee headed by Mr Ong Teng Cheong. The Committee conducted very extensive and in-depth studies on the matter and made a number of recommendations. I was one of the members of the Committee. That is why I remember very clearly that one of the most important recommendations was to define the scope of values to be inculcated in the moral education programme. These included (1) personal behaviour, like habit formation and character development; (2) social responsibility like a sense of belonging to the community and respect for cultural heritage; and (3) loyalty to the country such as love of country and spirit of nation building. Subsequently, the Ministry of Education invited a number of Confucian scholars to compile a set of teaching materials on Confucianism. Unfortunately, when the Ministry of Education decided to abolish Religious Knowledge in 1989, the Confucianism programme was likewise affected and died a natural death a few years later. 12.”
“There are some voluntary organisations like the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association that offer to give talks but this is also dependent on the schools' discretion. I therefore feel that there have to be formal lessons where the two aspects of sex education - moral and biological - must be brought together and taught in a holistic manner. For this we need political will and the commitment by the Ministry of Education to underscore the importance of this subject for our teenagers for this will determine the sex-related attitudes we wish to pass down to them and this has been demonstrated very eloquently by Mr Peh. One possible way of drawing up the core content and presentation would be for the Ministry of Education to set up a special committee consisting of decision makers, social workers, grassroots leaders, educationists, sociologists, religious leaders and organisations like the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association. We would also like to give our teachers special training or designate special trainers for the task. Also, the fears of the public would have to be allayed and explanations given to them about the holistic nature of the subject and how vitally important it is for our children to develop healthy and right sexual attitudes. I hope the Minister will agree to look into this matter with a view towards implementation. Dr Ow Chin Hock (Leng Kee)( In Mandarin): Sir, yesterday, Mr Peh Chin Hua spoke on the eight points of discipline and the status of teachers. Today, I would like to raise only one issue, ie, moral education. Recently, many Singaporeans seemed to be concerned with this issue once again. Perhaps this may have something to do with the Prime Minister's speech on the family and values at the National Day Rally last year.”
“Sir, unfortunately, whenever the term "sex education" is brought up, it always sends the wrong signal, which is that we are teaching our kids about the biological art of procreation and this will encourage them to experiment. As a result of this fear, the whole subject of sex education is usually shunted aside. I would like, at the outset, to delineate clearly that sex education does not equal sex instruction. Instead sex education should include: 1. the physical aspects of sexual development; 2. the emotional aspects of teenage sexuality; 3. the meaning of a responsible and committed boy-girl relationship; 4. the consequences of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In 1994, HIV carriers went up by 800% in Asia; and 5. the importance of respected sexual constraints for those who are not married in order to have a future healthy marriage, ie, to teach our teenagers to be able to say no to pre-marital sex. If our sex education classes would include all these aspects, then it will definitely improve the quality of our children's and our lives. Unfortunately, however, sex education in the wider terms and in the context I have described does not exist in Singapore schools. The pilot pastoral care programme in 50 selected schools attempts to deal with some moral aspects of sex education. However, the actual quantum of sex education and family life education that actually goes in varies widely in schools even amongst the 50 selected schools and this is because of lack of appropriately motivated and trained teachers and heavy curriculum demands. The Science and Biology teachers are assigned the uncomfortable task of going through the lessons on human reproduction. The lesson focuses on biological fact and does not touch on ethics and moral values.”
“So the higher quantum was intended as an encouragement to married women to raise a larger family and at the same time to continue to work. Dr Tan also asked about donation draw tickets being subject to GST. Basically, as the Minister has explained, GST is a comprehensive tax on all consumption. Therefore, donation draw tickets would fall into the same ambit.”
“The savings from this tax relief would partially offset the cost they incur in looking after their aged parents. If they have two aged parents, then of course the relief is doubled. 5.15 pm Prof. Low's point is why a higher quantum of enhanced child relief is allowed for the second, third and fourth children only below the age of 12. The enchanced child relief was introduced in the Year of Assessment 1974. The objective was to encourage highly qualified and professionally-trained women to work and to have children. Up to the Year of Assessment 1989, the quantum of relief was the same for all eligible children regardless of age. The relief was also subject to the same maximum cap regardless of age. However, as the fertility trend was declining in the 1980s, there was an urgent need to encourage married Singaporeans to have more than one child and the quantum of enhanced child relief for the second, third and fourth children below the age of 12 was raised from 10%, 15% and 20% of the mother's earned income to 15%, 20% and 25% respectively with effect from the Year of Assessment 1990. The maximum cap for the relief per child below 12 years was simultaneously raised from $10,000 to $15,000 and both measures formed part of the Government's comprehensive package of procreation incentives. The increase in quantum was confined to children below 12 years because mothers are more likely to give up their jobs to stay at home to look after these younger and more dependent children. Hence, the incentive was made larger for this group. In view of the tight labour market in Singapore, it would not be desirable for these highly educated and skilled women to withdraw from the labour force at this time.”
“Sir, I would like to echo Mr Chandra Das' plea for singles to get relief for their maid levy. I recognise that the tax relief for foreign maid levy was originally introduced to specifically encourage married women to join the workforce and, at the same time, to have children. But this is no reason not to extend the ambit of the maid relief to other worthy situations. This will in no way diminish the original purpose. As Mr Chandra Das has said, there are many single men and women who look after a sick elderly parent or relative at home with the help of a foreign maid. Without the maid, one option would be to put the sick elderly person in a nursing home and this would necessitate more nursing homes to be built. And we would be propagating the ethos of devolving the care of the elderly to institutions instead of caring for them within the family. Thus, if we want to propagate the philosophy that the young should continue to look after the old and in the home, then let us give some fiscal encouragement to the filial son or daughter who is single. I know that there is an income tax relief available for dependent parents but the maid relief will help a little further. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, first, on the question of maid relief raised by Mr Chandra Das and Dr Soin. The tax relief for foreign maid levy was introduced to encourage married women to join the workforce and, at the same time, have children. It is not meant to help all employers of foreign maids. However, the Ministry recognises the difficulties which singles face in taking care of their aged parents. Singles who maintain their aged parents are allowed a tax relief of $3,500 for each dependent parent.”
“Activities like marriage preparation talks, family disputes, drug addiction and skills development of older workers may need an ethnic-based approach. But I cannot understand why we want to extend this ethnic approach to tuition classes for our young generation. We are courting the danger that the cumulative result may be the formation of racial and religious enclaves. Even if SINDA, CDAC, etc, think that their tuition classes have helped their students, there is no reason to believe that school and subject-based tuition classes which are not ethnically segregated will be less academically effective and may even be more cost-effective. Integration of young people in all their activities strengthens social tolerance and harmony and this is what we should be working towards, and not spending our money to segregate them in educational activities. So I do hope that the Minister will look into this matter.”
“Sir, there have been some recent developments that are worth noting in the tuition classes of SINDA and CDAC. According to press reports, 16% of students left SINDA's tuition classes in 1994; 8% of students left CDAC's tuition classes in 1994. Both these figures were given in August 1994 and the attrition rate may have gone up further. Some of the reasons for the attrition were distance from home and inconvenient times. Because of the attrition rate, SINDA will now start tuition classes for students in their own schools either before or after their sessions. A spokesman of CDAC said that many of its students left because their own schools conducted compulsory remedial classes and students could not therefore attend CDAC classes. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 4.12 pm Sir, it would appear that it is now time to look at the whole system of tuition classes for students, how we can integrate the classes of SINDA, CDAC and other self-help groups with the remedial tuition classes offered by the schools themselves and under the wing of the Ministry of Education. I think the self-help groups and the MOE should work out a coordinated plan for their tuition classes so that students can have the required tuition in their own schools, instead of being confused and having to go all over the island according to the ethnic base. We may be stressing the students and their parents with the various tuition efforts of the self-help organisations and those offered by MOE. Also, the cost effectiveness of all these efforts comes into question. Furthermore, although I understand the history of the ethnic based tuition classes and how they came about, I still feel that students should not be segregated for tuition according to their ethnicity but according to their academic weakness.”
“Sir, first, I would like to ask the Minister about his intention that GST should be revenue neutral in the medium term. How many years is "medium term"? And secondly, if GST has been implemented to change our tax philosophy and system, then why do we want it to be revenue neutral in the medium term, considering all the trouble that we are going through to implement GST? Next, I would like to say something about GST and voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) and here, Sir, I would like to declare my interest as a Board Member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). I am aware that there is a Government grant on GST for VWOs. The Ministry of Finance has allocated $163,000 to MCD to help NCSS and VWOs offset the input of GST. For this, I would like to say thank you. However, I wish to point out to the Minister that these voluntary welfare organisations which are mostly run by dedicated volunteers have to do a great deal of paper work to get the offset for the GST. Would the Minister be able to implement procedures so that the administrative burden is minimised and thus, the volunteers or staff of the VWOs can concentrate their time and energy in serving the needs of the community and not doing so much paper work?”
“It is especially important for the victim that the first contact and the first person to whom the statement is made by the victim should be a woman Police officer. I hope that the Minister will be sympathetic to this request as it is in the interest of the victim of the crime and it may also help to encourage more victims to report to the Police so that the offenders will be brought to justice. This will reduce the number of crimes against women in Singapore and improve the quality of our life further.”
“The Police management of rape in Singapore has greatly improved and the Police have to be commended for this. Some reasons for the improvement are: (1) The establishment of a violent crime squad by the Police Land Division. This squad specialises in the investigation of rape and thus the standard of rape investigation has improved. The squad has a good mix of men and women officers and this gives greater depth to Police investigation of rape. (2) There are regular liaison meetings between the Police and affiliates of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) and other VWOs. These meetings have not only improved the VWO's understanding of Police procedures but with the training provided by SCWO for Police officers in victim counselling and rape management, our officers have become more responsive to victims' needs and improved the Police standard of service. Sir, this is an excellent example of how non-Government organisations and Government organisations can work together to fulfil a community responsibility. Now, I would like to quote some statistics on offences against women and this is what is happening in Singapore. Two cases of rape reported each week; 50 cases of spousal violence each week; 20 cases of molest each week. Therefore, the problem on offences against women is a worry and a concern. Understandably, after a woman has been raped or molested by a man, the last person she wants to face, especially in rape cases, is another man. To respond to this with sensitivity, I would like to suggest that every police station ought to have one or two appropriately trained woman Police officers on duty.”
“The head of the Manila arm of the organisation, "End Child Prostitutes in Asian Tourism" has been quoted as saying, "Westerners tend to go for young boys but when it comes to the girls, Asian men are just as guilty." The head of the Bangkok based "Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights" has been quoted as saying, "Many Asians have the wrong idea that only Westerners go to child prostitutes. The truth says that there are many Asians who go to child prostitutes and the numbers are increasing." Does the Minister agree that child sex tourism is unacceptable and something has to be done about it?”
“Thank you, Sir. Singapore men are among the growing number of Asians flocking to child prostitutes (some as young as 10 years old) in places such as Thailand and the Philippines. From reports in the New Paper, these Singaporeans range from middle-class professionals, on regular weekend visits, to retirees. Children, whether they are Singaporean, Thai, or Filipino, are the weakest victims in any society. What can we do to deter our men from child sex tourism? Our value system must abhor this type of behaviour and so we have to send the right message to our errant Singaporeans who commit this perversion. Two countries in the Asia-Pacific region have done something about this problem. They are Australia and New Zealand. The Australian government has recently passed laws making it punishable in Australia for citizens or residents to engage in sexual activities with children under 16 years whilst overseas. These new laws cover individuals and organisations and include the crime of engaging in, encouraging and profiting from child sex tourism. The penalties range from 12 to 17 years imprisonment for persons and fines up to A$500,000 for corporations. Australia has amended its rules of evidence to allow child victims to testify by a satellite video link. We, in Singapore, could be the first ASEAN country to introduce similar laws. The effect of these laws would be to make those persons or organisations who commit sexual crimes against children overseas responsible for their actions. After the legislation is passed, pamphlets on the offences and penalties should be available at airports, railway stations and other departure points from Singapore.”
“Sir, from the statistics for the four years from 1990 to 1993, some alarming facts about the rate of crime by ex-convicts are disclosed and should be of concern. Sir, with your permission, I will ask the Clerk of Parliament to distribute the relevant Table. [Copies of Table distributed to hon. Members]. I will give the average for four years. For the offence of robbery, ex-convicts comprise 55% of offenders. For the offence of housebreaking, ex-convicts comprised 53% of offenders. For motor vehicle theft, the figure was 52%. For murder, the figure was 49%; and for rape, 42%. Thus, for these offences and from the statistics for four years, half or nearly half the offenders were ex-convicts. The other half were presumably non-convicts. Thus, it appears that there is a high rate of serious crime being committed by ex-convicts. These ex-convicts have been punished by imprisonment and may have been fined and caned as well for their previous offence and yet they comprise 50% of the offenders for the offences I have enumerated. I am sure the prison authorities have a programme of rehabilitation and reformation for them but from the statistics, the reformatory part is not effective. Ex-convicts are making a second or even a further strike against society by committing another serious offence. Theoretically, if we could prevent ex-convicts from committing these serious offences against property and person, we would he halving the number of offenders. Would the Minister please explain this high rate of crime by ex-convicts and also what appears to be an ineffective reformatory process, and what can we do about it?”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment but I am not completely satisfied with the reply. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $36,781,400 for Head E ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $10,397,800 for Head E ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head O - 1.00 pm”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head E of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the Women's Charter provides for maintenance payments to wives and children after divorce and many husbands fulfil this duty. Also, the newly established Family Court will help further with the mediation of such disputes. However, there are husbands who fail to pay maintenance. Some of these men change employers and do not disclose this to their wives and, therefore, when they default on their maintenance payment, the wives are unable to locate them or trace their employers. Would the Minister please introduce rules and regulations so that the CPF Board will disclose the name of the husband's employer to the courts or to the wife or her solicitor to enable the maintenance payments to continue? Here, it will be instructive to heed the recent warning of the Chief Justice who was reported in the Straits Times of 26th February this year as saying that the court's "integrity will be severely diminished when summonses or orders such as payment of fines or spousal support orders are routinely ignored."”
“It is the question of how we are to help working Singaporeans, and especially the women, find a better balance between the demands of the workplace and the home. That we need our women in the workforce is undeniable. Singapore's labour shortage is so great that a sizeable chunk - almost 20% - of our workforce comprises foreigners. The economy needs all the womanpower it can find. Singapore women, meanwhile, need to work not just because they want to apply the education and training they have received but because their income is, in many ways, vital to the family economy. The Statistics Department found that in the decade from 1980 to 1990, the number of dual income couples doubled. In 1993, there were 260,000 dual income couples out of a total of 550,000 couples in Singapore. In his report on dual income couples in Singapore, the Chief Statistician Dr Paul Cheung said the working wife contributes on average 41% of a couple's income. Among lower income couples, the wife's salary is even more important - as many as 43% of the lower-income couples derive at least one-half of their combined income from the wives.”
“Dr Richard Hu's Budget Statement has been described in various ways. Mr Speaker, I found it comprehensive and visionary. He spelt out the short-term and long-term challenges facing Singapore. In my opinion, where short-term issues are concerned, the Government has its finger on the pulse and is reading it correctly. We can confidently look forward to more good years in the short-run and we can commend the policy-makers for this. However, it is the long-term challenges that are more problematic and we should be focusing on them now so that we can take pre-emptive measures. As outlined by the Finance Minister, these long-term challenges are both global and local and to a large extent they are inter-related. Mr Speaker, the key challenge for Singapore is to develop its only resource - its people. Much has been done for the education and training of our people and more is planned. By the year 2000, we should see 85% of our population with post-secondary education. This is very impressive. It will give us a workforce equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for value-added and competitive economic effort. But, Mr Speaker, there is one problem. A good number of these workers - possibly as many as half of them - will have to hold two jobs: they will have to shoulder the double burden of earning an income to ensure their families have the best possible in life while also taking on the bulk of the responsibility of caring for the children, the home, the aged, or the disabled relatives. I am speaking, Sir, of a matter that has been raised in this House and in general public discussion time and again in recent years.”
“Sir, in view of what the Minister has said that it is the overall development that is more important, would the Minister consider doing away with academic ranking and just have a qualitative report of the best 50 schools without ranking them academically, but ranking them as the best 50, including academic and other activities, but not giving them a rank as number one, two or three?”
“Sir, would the Minister clarify what is the cut-off point for Medifund? For Singaporeans who may not qualify for Medifund, but yet may not have enough Medisave or MediShield to pay, what are the other means that can help Singaporeans pay their hospital bills?”
“Sir, I would like to remind the Minister that I was just referring to motor bikes and not cars. Would the Minister agree that, culturally, the best foreign workers we could have are Malaysians and that, even if we had to go out of our way to make them come and work daily, it would be in our interest? Would the Minister please reconsider the matter and maybe talk with the Minister for Labour and see what sort of compromise one could arrive at because I think this is an important matter for Singapore?”
“Sir, would the Minister agree that although the rationale for the increased VEP for motorcycles is perfectly valid from a land transport policy basis, it may not be valid from our labour shortage point of view because the Malaysian workers who commute daily do not strain the social infrastructure of Singapore, like housing, etc? So would the Minister consider, for motorcyclists who commute daily to Singapore (and I think the figure is 10,000 to 16,000), whether it might be in the interest of Singapore not to look at it purely from a land transport policy point of view?”
“, feeder services to MRT stations; and (iii) to promote better driving on the part of some bus drivers and more courteous service from them, bearing in mind the need for bus companies to balance profitability with quality service to the public.”
“Sir, could I remind the Parliamentary Secretary that we talked about the appearance of bruises and to have an examination 24 to 48 hours after the interrogation, and the Parliamentary Secretary said that he would look into it. Could I please ask what has been done about that? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have also asked Police to consider the suggestion made by Dr Soin. Police has done so and their considered view is that it is better to keep things as they are. If we examine the accused person later, I think other problems may arise. For example, who is to say that the injury, if any, might not have been inflicted by the accused himself, ie, self-inflicted after the investigation? Or for that matter, if there is a time lapse between the time of investigation and the time of medical examination, some people may argue that this time lapse would have allowed Police to threaten, to persuade, to cajole the accused person not to complain. So I think it is better to leave the position as it is. But, having said this, if the doctor finds that there is a need to re-examine the accused person, say, after one or two days, this will be done. PUBLIC BUS SERVICES (Improvements) 6. Dr Lee Tsao Yuan asked the Minister for Communications, in the light of the Prime Minister's 1995 New Year Message on the provision of the ``best possible transport system'', what improvements to the public bus services are being considered by his Ministry (i) to reduce waiting time by increased frequency and regularity of bus services; (ii) to provide more direct and less circuitous routes, e.g.”
“Would the Minister agree that some older workers, especially women, may miss the net and go back to their homes without making use of these facilities and would the Minister have some other means to make the net a little wider to catch everybody?”
“Sir, would the Minister consider that it may be better for the consumer if the conditions for getting a credit card are tightened up so that credit card companies will have less bad debts and people who use credit cards will not be charged exorbitant rates for roll over balances?”
“Point of clarification, Mr Speaker. The Minister did not answer my query about the training given to the people who do the examination of unfenced machinery.”
“Singapore cannot afford a reputation of unsafe labour practices resulting in the unnecessary loss of human life.”
“Sir, the Minister is to be commended for moving this comprehensive and important amendment to the Bill and I support the Bill. But I have some comments and queries for the Minister. On clause 10, which amends section 23, it is highly commendable that the requirement of the person who carries out the examination and lubrication of unfenced machinery is now not limited only to a male. Thank you for being gender sensitive. However, I am puzzled at setting the minimum age at 20. What is the rationale for this? It is not even the age of majority. Secondly, who gives the training to this person who carries out the examination, and do we have a uniform and accepted system of training? And also, is there continuing education as machines change with technology advancing? Clause 35 amends section 89 to raise the maximum fine to $200,000 for a contravention of the Act which results in the death of two or more persons. Why do two deaths have to occur to incur this maximum fine? In the original Act, the reference is only to the "death of any person". Why have we increased this to two deaths in the amendment? Is not one death already a death too many? So I think we should change this amendment to "death of any person" instead of "death of two or more persons". On clause 40, why are we replacing "maximum permissible working pressure" with the words "safe working pressure"? Should not the maximum permissible working pressure be a safe working pressure? Which of the two is more safe? Finally, in view of the recent spate of shipyard accidents resulting in many deaths, can the Minister assure the House that the new amendment will minimise the causes that led to these very accidents?”
“Sir, how would concerned citizens know what are the out-of-bound markers? And the second question is, because of not knowing the limits, would some concerned citizens then be reluctant to speak up if these limits are not well known?”
“Sir, would the Parliamentary Secretary consider having speed regulating strips at the stretches where there are cameras so that the cars will slow down? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, I am not sure whether motorists will really like that because they will talk about possible damage to their vehicles' tyres. And also that will be an overkill because once you have the speed detection cameras, they know that the message is for them to stop speeding. I think that will suffice. We do not want to impose too many different types of mechanisms.”
“Sir, for the patients who are on the waiting list, is there any priority given for non-medical reasons, for example, if the patient is the breadwinner of the family? Are there any such criteria?”
“Would Singapore be any less poorer culturally if we were to ban topless shows? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Like I have mentioned, we have to take this in the context of general censorship law. It is not a matter of whether or not people see topless shows or whether that particular incident will have any significance. But generally, as Singapore opens up to the world, we would have all these pervasive influences coming in through the media. So we want to strike a balance, and this is the balance that we have struck which we think is appropriate. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Compensation upon expiry of lease) 7. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Acting Minister for National Development whether lessees of Housing and Development Board flats will be compensated for the return of flats upon the expiry of their 99-year lease.”