Ker Sin Tze
Singapore
“In this connection, I would like to declare my interest that some companies, within the group which I am associated with, are involved in the development of industrial properties. I would still appeal to URA to consider allowing more space within each industrial unit to be used as offices.”
“The traffic volume has increased significantly and congestion is quite bad now. If a new road or road extension can be built, the congestion can be substantially alleviated. I must acknowledge that it is not easy to find suitable space to build road extensions or new roads in mature estates to join with main roads.”
“We must recognize and confirm the contributions by MPs in the past, and we hope that our present and future MPs will emulate the spirit of our predecessors in this House to carry out their duties outstandingly, as representatives of the people. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Prime Minister's motion. 5.02 pm”
“In 1997, it had increased to 4,888 cases, an increase of 80.5%. This has caused much misery and harm to the parties. On the other hand, there are many young people who have reached a marriageable age but they are unable to find suitable partners, particularly the ladies.”
“Although the residents are aware that SCV is a private company and so the laying of SCV cable is a private project, they take it that it is part of the Government's efforts in achieving the national objective of promoting multi-media communications in future. As such, their request is not totally without justification.”
“I agree with the previous speaker, the Member of Parliament, Dr Ker, that this need not be in terms of dollar aid only but our assistance should be tangible and sufficient.”
The complete record
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“By extrapolation, the number of males and females who are 35 years old and above and are currently single could have reached 100,000 by now. Such a number, though not socially worrying, is not entirely negligible. The factors which lead to a person remaining single are numerous and in many circumstances beyond their control, for example, the demands of their careers. It may therefore not be equitable to ignore the rights of singles to apply for a flat directly from the HDB on an individual basis, and I urge the HDB to review the policy. It is understandable that the authorities may consider it to be too sweeping a change to totally remove restrictions on new flat applications for singles and may also be rightly concerned that such a move will create unwanted incentives for people to stay single. As such, it is proposed that incremental changes be made to the existing policy guidelines for a start. As an example, we can allow singles on an individual basis to rent a flat first and after a specific time period, allow them to purchase a flat directly from the HDB. As to the aspect of economising on space, the HDB can consider building smaller flats, like studio apartments, for singles. We can then satisfy the housing needs of our population more comprehensively. So I hope the Government will review its housing policy for singles in the light of the above argument.”
“Sir, the HDB has done a marvellous job in providing quality accommodation to Singaporeans. Over the years, HDB flats have become valuable assets with values that have appreciated with economic growth. Current housing policy allows people to apply to the HDB directly for flats twice, and many have profited by selling both their first and second flats for capital gains and to upgrade to private property. The HDB housing scheme is thus a significant benefit to the majority of Singaporeans. However, a sizeable group of our citizens who have remained single has been unable to enjoy this benefit. Single persons are currently not allowed to apply for a flat directly from the HDB, although under the Joint Singles Scheme, they can submit a joint application with another single person when they reach 35 years of age. The rationale for such a policy could be that the Government wishes to encourage the formation of families and to safeguard marriage as a social institution so as to maintain a strong social fabric. A further possibility is that it is not economical and strain resources to allow a single person to occupy an entire flat even if it is a small flat. I would argue that, currently, Singapore is in no danger of becoming a society dominated by singles. Marriage is an institution which is still being embraced as a way of life and the number of singles has not reached such an unhealthy level as to warrant corrective actions. In the population census of 1990, it was reported that there were 44,600 single females aged 35 and above as compared to 17,800 in 1980. The census also revealed that in 1990, there were 18.1% and 10.9% of males within the age groups of 35-39 and 40-44, respectively, who had remained single.”
“Sir, is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary aware that in the last issue of The New Democrat, the SDP had criticised the Government for acquiring land as low as $1? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, this is typical of the SDP in trying to distort and mislead the people. It made it out that valuable plots of land were unjustifiably acquired at $1. Sir, I have explained the situation. In any particular case where an aggrieved owner feels that the land has greater value, say, that it has potential for independent development, there is an avenue of appeal under the Land Acquisition Act. SALE OF GOODS (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 12.40 pm”
“And without this access to right of audience in court, I think we lose a very big dimension of that. You would not think that a surgery lecturer would be any good if he never actually cuts somebody. It is the same thing with law lecturers that you have to give them this occasional right to appear in court to hone their skills and basically to provide another dimension which would improve the quality of their teaching so that the graduates' quality also improves. With these two very small suggestions, may I say that I support the Bill wholeheartedly.”
“The young graduate who comes out of our law school, he does very well academically, he does not feel that he is a proper lawyer until he has won his spurs on the field of battle, as it were, by appearing in court and actually arguing a case. And here we have closed the door to him. We are saying to him, "You can't do this. You can't take out your practising certificate. You have to join a firm as an employee." May I suggest to the Minister that some thought be given to this particular problem, that some amendments, when the Act is next amended, be put in to cater for these two classes of people - the ones who do not go straight into practice and the ones who remain in the Law Faculty. May I also ask the Minister perhaps to think about an amendment to section 34(h). The problem with the practising certificate route for academics is that it is very hard to police. Once the fellow has a practising certificate, legally you cannot stop him doing things like conveyancing, for example, all of which are not part of what the Faculty should be doing. If we could amend section 34(h) to give a limited right of audience to members of the Law Faculty, that would be, I think, the solution. Why Law Faculty? It is just like the Medical Faculty. We are training professionals and therefore we have to have this practical experience ourselves. I am not asking it for this kind of things for the existing members of the Law Faculty because these amendments do not affect the existing members of the Faculty. I am asking this for the future members of the Faculty so that we can keep our bright young graduates, the ones that everyone else wants. We want to be able to keep these people in academia to train our future lawyers in order to raise the standard of profession.”
“With new section 75D, you cannot take out a practising certificate as a consultant unless you have 10 years' practice and that means that our young law lecturers are neither here nor there. They cannot take out a practising certificate in their own name because of section 75C. They cannot take it out as a consultant because of section 75D. They can only take out a practising certificate as an employee of an existing firm or as a partner of an existing firm. And may I suggest to the Minister that that is not desirable. The Faculty is not in the business of joining up with any specific firms. The reason why law academics take out a practising certificate is to appear in the occasional case where there is an interesting and important point of law to be argued as, for example, in the constitutional reference in which I was involved last year. The point is not to allow law academics to run a practice on the side. From the Faculty and University's point of view, this is certainly not desirable. The only reason why it is necessary for us to take out a practising certificate is so that we can allow our academics the occasional appearance in court to hone their skills as law teachers. It is doubly important when we are talking about young lecturers. Because, as the Minister well knows, we are constantly trying to retain our good people against the lure of private practice and now the lure of the Legal Service. And allowing them this right of audience in court gives us a little bit of an edge to keep these bright young people. The bright young people that we want to keep are in great demand outside as well. What we are doing now with this amendment is inadvertently closing that door.”
“As the Minister knows, we have had a tradition in the Law Faculty of some of our academics appearing in court - Prof. Tommy Koh, for example, in the 1970s and more recently, Assoc. Prof. Jeffrey Pinsler and myself. Under section 34(h) of the Legal Profession Act, full-time members of the Faculty may give advice. So there is no problem there. But to appear in court, one has to take out a practising certificate. Under the provisions, as presently drafted, before the amendments, we either take out a practising certificate as a sole proprietor or we take out a practising certificate as a consultant to an existing firm. The amendments do not affect anyone in the Law Faculty presently but they will affect the new recruits that we take in after the amendments become law. For these new recruits, it will not be possible for them to take out a practising certificate as a nominal sole proprietor, because of that three-year bar. And even if they have been with the Faculty for 10 years, they are still not allowed to take out a practising certificate as a sole proprietor. The reason why they have to take out a practising certificate as a sole proprietor is because there is no other provision in the Act catering for academics to appear in court. So we do it that way. The alternative to taking out a practising certificate as a sole proprietor is to take it out as a consultant. The reason why this is done is to make it clear that the affiliation is not an employment affiliation as such, that we take it as a consultant to a law firm on instructions of the instructing solicitor. For example, my colleague, Prof. Jeffrey Pinsler, did it that way when he appeared as amicus curiae in a recent case.”
“The amendments that the Minister proposed are all very good amendments and I think they will make the legal profession much stronger and better. But I would like to concentrate, if I may, on two provisions - new section 75C and section 75D and to relate that to a class of legally trained people whose interests have not actually been addressed in these amendments. I refer to people who after graduation do not go into practice or join the legal service but choose to do something else. Many of these people go out and join companies, for example, or they may go abroad and do other things. One of my classmates became a missionary. This kind of amendments, although the aim is clear and good, forgets the people who do not enter practice and legal service, because such people will not qualify either to be partners or to be sole proprietors, except by consent of the Law Society. For example, if you get someone graduating from the Law Faculty in 1997, he goes out, he joins a listed company, he rises through the ranks, he becomes chief legal officer of a large multi-national company, and he spends maybe 10, 15, 20 years there. When he comes out, he has not had a single year of practice and therefore has no right to be a partner or sole proprietor, unless he joins an established firm which he might not want to do or unless the Law Society and the Minister give him approval. May I suggest that is anomalous and that some provision should be made for people who have acquired this kind of experience to have, as a matter of right, the ability to set up practice on their own without the say-so of the Law Society, if I may it put that way. The other little problem, if I may point out, relates more specifically to the Law Faculty.”
“In a criminal case, it is not clear under what circumstances a defendant is entitled to engage a QC for his defence. It may be desirable to spell out clearly the conditions under which a QC can be admitted to a court in Singapore to argue a criminal case. By restricting Queen's Counsels to handle criminal cases only, clause 3 implies that QCs are allowed to be admitted in civil cases. This indicates that our criminal lawyers can adequately handle most criminal cases which involve factual evidence, where civil cases can be much more complicated. However, criminal proceedings can lead to serious consequences such as capital punishment. In such cases, the possible loss of a human life is involved. We should therefore ensure that we have adequate good criminal lawyers to defend defendants who may be innocent. In the legal history in Singapore, the late Mr David Marshall was an outstanding criminal lawyer. We should have more capable criminal lawyers like him before we totally depend on local lawyers in handling criminal cases. Hence, the term "a special reason" in the above quotation should be defined widely and clearly so that defendants can still benefit from the services of a QC. Singapore has been outstanding in the world in maintaining law and order. What distinguishes Singapore from many other countries is that the law here is transparent and fair and the enforcement of the law is effective. The Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill will no doubt further upgrade the quality of the legal profession and certainly deserves our support. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill. Assoc. Prof. Walter Woon (Nominated Member): Sir, let me at the outset declare my interest as an advocate and solicitor and a member of the Faculty of Law.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as outlined by the Minister for Law, the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill finetunes the issuance of a practising certificate to a solicitor who wishes to practise in Singapore. Amongst other measures, it spells out the conditions which can be imposed on a solicitor when he is issued a practising certificate and circumstances under which an existing certificate can be suspended. In the past, it was an all or nothing approach, either issue or do not issue. This modulated approach is to be welcomed as it would help to prevent wrongdoing by solicitors. The Bill also gives the Law Society new powers to act against solicitors who provide inadequate services. In addition, the Bill sets a new requirement that a solicitor has to be employed for not less than three continuous years after being admitted as a solicitor before he can be a sole proprietor or a partner of a law firm. I welcome these amendments which are aimed at upgrading the quality and maintaining the integrity of advocates and solicitors. I am sure that they will help to improve the overall standard of legal service in Singapore. Thus, the public interest will be advanced. The Bill also introduces an amendment to section 21 of the principal Act under clause 3 in respect of a Queen's Counsel which states, and I quote: "The court shall not admit a person under this section in any criminal case unless the court is satisfied that there is a special reason to do so." To a layman, it is not clear to whom the word "person" refers to in the above quotation - whether he is an internationally renowned criminal lawyer or a Queen's Counsel. The term "a special reason" is also too general and not adequately specific.”
“Sir, since the Minister has decided not to amend the law, would he explain to the House why the legislature could not allow more discretion to the court in dealing with similar cases in future? Prof. Jayakumar: Sir, the Government also considered very carefully the suggestion that the court should be given discretion to decide when a vehicle should be forfeited. But the Government has decided that the discretion should be with the Ministry which administers the relevant legislation in accordance with the new guidelines, but subject to review by the Attorney-General. And there are sound operational reasons why discretion should be made by enforcement agencies. For example, forfeiture is most appropriate in cases where no offender is caught. This happens, for example, when a vehicle containing illegal drugs or contraband is abandoned. Since no offender has been caught, it is not possible to prosecute anyone for the offence. In other cases, the mastermind, who is the most culpable person, remains behind the scene and is out of reach of the law enforcement agencies. Tracing his identity often depends on intelligence reports which cannot be disclosed in the courts without compromising sources. These are two examples of circumstances where forfeiting the vehicle at the discretion of the Ministry is the best way to prevent the wrongdoers from escaping punishment. Let me give the assurance that forfeiture is not done randomly and routinely. There is a committee, and the Attorney-General's case is not just dependent on one public prosecutor, nor are all seized vehicles automatically forfeited. For example, in the five years from 1991 to 1995, 816 vehicles were seized by the law enforcement authorities and almost 380 vehicles were returned to the owners.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $899,183,500 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $513,102,900 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head W -”
“In this regard, I have observed that SCDF has deployed many Civil Defence National Servicemen to constituencies to perform civil defence tasks that are fairly simple which do not fully optimise their potential. Considering the overall tight manpower situation, these personnel can be better utilised if deployed more efficiently. I would like the Minister to tell us whether there are plans to review and improve the deployment of Civil Defence National Servicemen.”
“Sir, over the years, since its formation in the 1980s, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has made its presence felt among residents. It runs the emergency ambulance service which was recently improved with the introduction on of medics on motor bikes. It fights fire. It carries out rescue operation on collapsed structures and other incidents, and it prepares the population for national emergency. As a uniformed body, the SCDF is unique in its efforts to involve grassroots volunteers into its programmes. While it is a force to deal with disaster, SCDF also sees merits in educating our citizens in how to prevent accidents, fires, and how to deal with emergencies that can happen at home or in the neighbourhood. It is important that we continue to educate the public on civil defence measures and teach them first-aid and other basic civil defence skills. We should at the same time continue to ensure that the SCDF remains an effective force in dealing with major disasters in peace time and in war should the worst happen. I note the various improvements made to the Civil Defence National Servicemen training and organisation. They now have a new uniform which many tell me that it looks good. NS Commanders have been appointed to command rescue battalions. The basic training course for all full-time National Servicemen has been improved to incorporate more focus on rescue skills. The SCDF is now turning out its own National Service Force Officers. All these are significant improvements. The SCDF should continue to find ways to improve its operations and use more effective systems and equipment and make more meaningful use of NSmen.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“All right, Sir. [Dr Ker Sin Tze resumed his seat.]”
“As a result, some may not be considerate towards their neighbours. Water dripping from upper floors, excessive noise created and obstructing the common corridor by flower pots or abandoned articles are common complaints. There are also more disputes created between consumers and suppliers or contractors. It would be a heavy burden to the legal system if all these disputes are litigated in courts.”
“It could lead to a situation in that people might take litigation as the only effective way to resolve conflicts. The consequence would be that Singapore may become a litigation-prone society. Singapore will have to spend more time and incur additional cost in settling disputes. With today's media coverage, more embarrassment and stresses would be created to the parties involved, especially the losing party. It is obviously not a desirable state of affairs for Singapore to evolve into such a situation. The laws of the traditional approach of resolving conflicts should be compensated by providing new channels such as institutionalised mediation, arbitration and conciliation mechanism. This is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). In Singapore, the most established form of ADR is arbitration. We have the Singapore Industrial Arbitration Court and other tribunals to settle disputes between disagreeing parties. Mediation is a process taken by a neutral party to facilitate negotiation between disputing parties for a solution. Many have made use of mediation to settle family and community disputes, but its scope can be further expanded and people should be encouraged to use mediation to settle their disputes instead of suing each other in courts. It will even be better if the disputing party could restore cooperation and goodwill after settling their differences, which is known as conciliation. The nature of conflict and dispute changes with the shift in socio-economic structure. When about 80% of the population live in HDB flats, human relationship has also changed. Instead of the kampong spirit of helping each other, conflicts arise among residents owing to the fact that residents do not see each other frequently and misunderstanding can easily be created.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head T of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, I note that the total expenditure of the Ministry of Law in fiscal year 1996 is expected to increase from $274.5 million of fiscal year 1995 to $411.6 million, an increase of $137.1 million or about 50%. Although I fully understand that the workload of the Ministry has increased significantly as Singapore's economy continues to grow, I wonder whether the trend of the rapid increase in expenditure can be moderated by some alternative measures. One possible way is to relieve the court's excessive burden by encouraging people to solve their disputes by alternative means. Although English laws were brought in by the British, the early community depended heavily on the traditional Asian way to resolve disputes. Wherever a dispute arose, the head of a clan association or a kampong chief would mediate until the dispute was settled. The social pressure exerted by the chieftain compelled the disputing parties to yield and agree to an amicable settlement. It was usually done in such a way that none of the parties would lose face unduly and both could claim victory over the other party. The traditional way of resolving conflict was cost and time saving and effective in promoting social harmony, which can still be relevant and useful in the context of contemporary Singapore. With the social transformation in Singapore, however, we have gradually lost our attachment to the traditional way of resolving disputes through mediation. There are no kampong chiefs and clan associations are not as strong as in the past. Moreover, people are more familiar with the western way of resolving disputes through litigations in court.”
“The new measures to be introduced to ensure that road accidents can be further controlled are developments which should be welcomed by all road users. Mr Speaker, I commend the steps taken to increase the minimum age to obtain motorcycle licences and car licences, mindful that the majority of lives lost on our roads involve our citizens who are still very young. In this regard, I would like to ask the Ministry of Home Affairs why is the minimum age for obtaining a motorcycle licence increased by two years, and not one year, in line with the increase in minimum age for obtaining a car licence. I make this suggestion because I am aware that a number of our people, aged between 16 and 17 years, and who are from the lower income group, need a motorcycle licence to earn a livelihood in order to support their families and parents. I am referring to those who are compelled to work as a result of not being able to pursue their education further. Therefore, Mr Speaker, I would like to know whether the Traffic Police can consider reducing the minimum age for obtaining a motorcycle licence from 18 to 17 years for this group of people. In other words, I would suggest that the Traffic Police consider increasing the minimum age by stages, say, by one year initially, and thereafter monitor its developments before raising further the minimum age. Mr Speaker, I support this Bill.”
“It is sad to see that so many young persons have lost their lives every year as a result of motorcycle mishaps. A motor vehicle or a motorcycle can be a killer or a suicide machine. The person who drives a car or a motorcycle should be a mature and responsible person. Judging from the casualty and fatality statistics, it is obvious that young drivers have the highest probability to be involved in accidents and as a result, suffer from injuries and death. It is therefore sensible to raise the minimum age of car drivers and motorcyclists in order to reduce the number of accidents. For this reason, I support the Minister's move in raising the minimum age of motorcyclists from 16 years to 18 years and the minimum age of car drivers from 17 years to 18 years. A motorcycle can be a convenient transport equipment as well as a suicide machine. It can also be a nuisance which creates disturbing sound and pollutes the air. The road can be a safer place without the zigzagging of motorcycles. We should therefore keep the use of motorcycles to the minimum which is necessary for supporting economic activities and traffic control. We should consider the possibility of confining its use to productive purpose and excluding it to be used for pleasure riding. No one, especially young persons, should be allowed to own and ride a motorcycle without proof that it is job-related and required in his work. If this is practical and feasible to implement, we can increase road safety, and reduce casualties and fatalities. We can expect to save many precious lives which are dear to their families and to the country. Sir, I support the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill. Mr Zulkifli bin Mohammed (Jalan Besar GRC)( In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill which is presently being debated.”
“Although the total number of casualties has declined, the number of fatalities remains more or less unchanged. From 1985 to 1995, there were more than 200 persons killed in traffic accidents every year. The number of motorcyclists and pillion riders killed in accidents accounts for more than 40% of the total number of people killed. In 1995, out of 225 persons killed in traffic accidents, 117 persons were motorcyclists and pillion riders, which was 52% of the total number of fatalities. In terms of the number of people killed in accidents, the traffic situation in Singapore during the last 10 years had not improved. If we look at it in another way, of course, we may say that we have been successful in preventing the number of fatalities from increasing, despite the increase in traffic volume during the last decade. Whatever is the case, the fact remains that we lost more than 200 lives on the road every year in the past 10 years and about half were motorcyclists and pillion riders. The trend is likely to continue, and it is a serious problem. If we look at the age groups of fatalities, one realises that most people killed were under 30 years old. In 1990, 102 persons who were under 30 years old were killed and out of which 64 were motorcyclists and pillion riders, accounting for 62.7%. The same pattern continued in subsequent years, except 1995, in which out of 103 persons killed, 80 were motorcyclists and pillion riders. In particular, the fatality rate for the 15-19 age group was the highest. In 1990, within the age group of 15 to 19, 13 persons were killed in accidents and out of which 12 persons were motorcyclists and pillion riders. In 1995, 25 persons in the same age group were killed in accidents and 22 of them were motorcyclists and pillion riders.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide greater safety for road users by amending traffic laws such as empowering police officers to take stern action against traffic violators and enhance penalties for traffic offences. The main points of the amendment, as outlined by the Minister, are raising the minimum age for drivers of motorcars and motorcyclists, making it an offence for a driver who drives a heavy motor vehicle or a public service vehicle to collide with any building or structure, and enhancing penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol. I would like to focus my discussion on the raising of minimum age of car drivers and motorcyclists. In recent years, despite the increase of motor vehicles on the road, the total number of casualties arising from motor accidents has steadily declined. In 1985, the total number of casualties, including motorcyclist casualties, was 9,506 and it declined to 6,727 in 1995. However, the number of motorcyclist and pillion casualties has remained high. Out of the total casualties of 9,506 in 1985, 3,899 were motorcyclist and pillion casualties. In 1995, out of 6,727 casualties, 3,538 were motorcyclist and pillion casualties, which account for 52.6%. In fact, for the last 10 years, the number of motorcyclist and pillion casualties had increased steadily and it has accounted for more than half of the number of total casualties since 1993. This shows that while the number of casualties caused by other motor vehicles has declined significantly, the number of motorcycle casualties remains high and is still increasing. This is a worrying problem which has to be tackled. It is even more alarming if we look at the number of fatalities.”
“Sir, many residents in Paya Lebar do not understand why they should pay higher fares for the North-East line. Would the Minister explain the rationale for the proposed higher fares for the North-East line?”
“Can the Minister tell us when will the recommendation be implemented? The Minister said that, in the long run, it would be desirable to abolish the scale fees. When will it be abolished? How many years from now? Prof. Jayakumar: Sir, the implementation will require amendments, I understand, to certain rules concerning remuneration of solicitors' fees. So this requires consultation between the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice and I expect that the implementation will take place soon after the necessary amendments to the rules are made and I do not expect a very long delay. As to the complete abolition of scale fees, as I have said, I am in favour of a gradual approach. Let us have these changes implemented and we examine what is the impact and how these changes have affected the nature of conveyancing transactions. And I think we should review it again in about four to five years' time.”
“However, under the able leadership of BG George Yeo, I believe TCS will be able to produce more quality programmes with distinct features so that they would shine not only in Singapore but also internationally.”
“Secondly, in Singapore we have a shortage of talents, particularly people who could write well in Chinese. There is an acute shortage. Therefore TCS is having difficulties in recruiting writers locally. They have to employ staff from outside Singapore. Thirdly, with keen competition following the opening up of the gigantic market in China, and people like Robert Chua who have started their production of Mandarin programmes and managed to offer a job to Moses Lim, it is not easy to produce the same number of programmes in Singapore. The producers should possess not only a good educational level, but also creativity. Such talents are not easy to come by. I hope that the authorities would do something about the remuneration of the staff and improve their working conditions so that we could attract more talents to come to Singapore. In a multi-racial society like Singapore, it is not easy to write the stories. Apart from sensitive issues like religion and language, there are other institutions like the police, teachers or nurses whose image cannot be portrayed negatively. If every character in the story is good and no one is bad, then the story tends to be very flat and uninteresting. Dr Soin said that we must protect the image of women. If the women in the story were all virtuous characters, then in every story the villains must be male. Television has a great influence on our people, particularly the moral values of our young people. So as a national television station, TCS has to be very careful. It is not easy to ensure that the programmes provide entertainment, education and information. They have a heavy responsibility.”
“The Feedback Unit conducted a dialogue session on the Chinese programmes on television. The participants had been critical of the TV programmes. Why is there such a phenomenon? I think this is because, firstly, it is a subjective matter. Everyone has a different educational and cultural background. So the expectations are different. While some think that a programme is good, others may find it objectionable. Secondly, the market survey was based on those who watched Chinese programmes at least once a week. Those who had such a poor impression of the television programmes would have switched off and had not even watched the programme. They were excluded from the survey. Thirdly, from March to September last year, some adjustments were made by the television station and the excesses had been corrected. Last year, I did not participate in the criticism against the television. It was not that I was entirely happy with the programmes. As it is said, "There is always room for improvement!" But in the last few months I was very glad to note that scenes on sex and violence had been more subdued. Moreover, the current affairs programmes are excellent and cater for the demands of a cross-section of the population. Just now, Mr Goh Choon Kang mentioned that there was a lot of Hong Kong flavour in the television programmes because many of the script writers were from Hong Kong. He might be a bit too strong in his criticism. Although many script writers were from Hong Kong, some of them are now already permanent residents or even citizens of Singapore. Of course, they are influenced by their background and perhaps some aspects of their Hong Kong style may not be acceptable to the Singapore audience.”
“However, we must prevent competition which may bring about undesirable influences, especially on our younger people. According to the 27th February report of the Straits Times, in England, according to experts, they have ascertained that violence on television has a direct influence on children. Then on 28th February, the next day, I read a report in the International Herald Tribune that after a study was made, the experts in the United States also came to the conclusion that a lot of youngsters in the United States do imitate and learn from what they see on TV in respect of sex and violence. So the content of television programmes will certainly have some effect on the children. One television programme in UK even praised the young boy who ran away from his home and stowed away to Malaysia using his father's passport, and gave him the "incentive" to go to New York for a tour. This has given rise to some adverse reaction. This is the result of bad competition. I hope TCS or the electronic media will not go to such an extent. Mr Lau Ping Sum( In Mandarin): Last year, a number of my parliamentary colleagues, led by the former Minister, Dr Ahmad Mattar, launched an attack at the then SBC. They had a lot of criticisms on the various programmes by SBC from the pronunciation of the comperes to the content of the drama serials. In fact, nothing appeared good in the programmes then. In September last year, the television station commissioned a survey. About 500 people were interviewed. From this survey, it appeared that more than 70% of the viewers in Singapore did not seem to be unhappy with the Chinese programmes on television or felt that these programmes were lacking in educational value.”
“Whether they are Li Nan Xing, Gurmit Singh or whichever singer, when they get married, it is their own personal affair. Why should we spend so much TV time covering the event and waste the viewers' precious time? Fourthly, the extension of telecast time. TCS plans to telecast its programmes 24 hours a day eventually. Is it necessary? Because the longer the time of telecast, the more programmes you will need to fill up the time. Then the quality of the programmes will be adversely affected. You just cannot maintain the good quality of the programmes. So I would like to urge the Minister to pay more attention to quality rather than quantity. I understand that more and more TV channels will be offered. Who has so much time to watch 24 hours a day, without working, without reading, without doing something more useful? Fifthly, I would like the Minister to look into the interest of the senior citizens, people in the age group like my mother. These people are deprived of their previous delight of watching dialect programmes or dialect dramas which they used to enjoy. Most of them are already switching over to the Malaysian channels to enjoy their dialect serials. Over the years, Our Speak Mandarin campaigns have already successfully laid a very strong foundation of Mandarin-speaking in Singapore. So with the extension of telecast time we should try and make up for the needs of the senior citizens the kind of pain and sufferings imposed on them all these years. We must give them some chance to watch dialect programmes and let them enjoy some programmes to make up for what they have lost. Sixthly, I am talking about the adverse influence of television. The corporatisation of SBC is meant to generate more competition among the stations.”
“This is the way they think. Too much Hong Kong flavour is not what we want. I think this is a by-product of getting foreign talents. So we must try to rectify this. I have discovered that when our TV station was producing drama serials, they started off with local flavour but later on it was overcome by a massive Hong Kong flavour, that is, when more and more Hong Kong talents were being inducted into Singapore. I think it is time for us to go back to where we started - more local flavour, the Singaporean recipe. My second point is on variety shows. Some are good and some are bad. However, I feel that the bad ones outnumber the good ones. In my opinion, there are a lot of fuss and a lot of rubbish or junk in the programmes, as described by my colleague, Dr Ahmad Mattar. Of course, there are some good educational and entertaining items. One of them is quite good, like the "Singapore Pursuit". This is a very good programme which is very entertaining as well as educational. My third point is on the creation of "idols". I think there is too much idolization of our TV stars. This is unnecessary, and it tends to have adverse effect on our young people. They are crazy over their idols. They can wait for hours for their idols to appear at certain functions, and they went into a frenzy over them. They have this kind of vanity created in their psychic. Comperes in the TV programmes seem to be more prominent and better-known than our political leaders and statesmen like the Prime Minister. For example, there was extensive TV coverage on the wedding of certain TV stars and there was so much publicity about it. I do not know whether there is any educational or entertainment value in it.”
“The talent may not be available and the training for regional reporting is very costly. But it is a worthwhile step to take if Singapore is to develop into a regional news centre. It may also be a reliable and profitable service which Singapore can provide to the rest of the world in future. It is therefore my view that Government should allocate more resources to assist TCS and any other local TV network to embark on the development of a regional news coverage project. Mr Goh Choon Kang( In Mandarin): Sir, since last year, our television programmes have seen significant improvements. Scenes of sex and violence have been considerably reduced on the screen and telecast time has been extended. There are now more current affairs programmes and news time. This is indeed a positive development. But there is still room for further improvement, and I would like to bring up a few points. First, we should try and cut down the Hong Kong flavour in the programmes and use more Singapore flavour instead. It is good to import foreign talents to Singapore. But there are pros and cons. Therefore, we must identify the bad points and correct them. Perhaps we have too many Hong Kongers in the Drama Section of Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS). As a result, TCS productions of TV serials and dramas contain too much Hong Kong flavour. The so-called Hong Kong flavour or Hong Kong-styled production has certain characteristics. One of them is that they must always have some kind of love triangle, extra-marital affairs, violent actions and technical explosions, etc. These are meant to develop and push the drama into a climax. To them, these are the essential ingredients. The higher the explosion, the greater the entertainment value. Otherwise, they would say it is a very flat programme.”
“Sir, many colleagues spoke on SBC programmes last year in this House and many will speak on TV programmes today. One of last year's comments was the lowering of standards and quality of television programmes, in particular, Channel 8 programmes. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 4.06 pm Many changes have taken place since the privatisation of SBC which is now known as TCS. I understand that Channel 8 has been trying to raise standards by adding some new programmes such as jiang shan wan li qing [ ] or ba qian li lu yun he yue [ ] and more weekly documentary and current affairs programmes. Apart from these changes, TCS has also restructured the daily news programme. There are more neighbourhood news, adding appropriate soft items to the daily news programme. The present local news and reports on major international events are adequately informative. What is still desirable to add perhaps is an appropriate amount of regional news, especially news from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other neighbouring areas. Regional events are more directly relevant to us. It is important for our people to know the political and economic conditions in neighbouring areas, so that they can get the correct perspective of their own living conditions. It may also provide more information on the opportunity or pitfall in doing business in the region. At present, TCS depends on international news agencies to provide regional and international news coverage. It is more desirable to report world events with a Singaporean perspective. While the existing resources and talents may not be able to do international news reporting, TCS should begin to train its journalists to cover regional events. There are, of course, constraints faced by TCS.”
“Ho Peng Kee (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the objective of the Emergency Ambulance Service (EAS) run by SCDF is to bring victims of accidents and persons who require emergency medical care to hospital as quickly as possible. All persons picked up by an SCDF ambulance would be conveyed to the nearest hospital with Accident and Emergency facilities. The SCDF would respond to the call of a private medical practitioner for an ambulance provided it is an emergency case and the patient has to be sent to the nearest hospital. The ambulances of SCDF are heavily utilised. They respond to about 160 calls a day. If they are also to be used for non-emergency medical cases, then given the limited number of ambulances, there will be occasions when there are not enough ambulances in readiness when emergencies like road accidents or fires occur. Where lives are at stake, we must ensure that there are always enough ambulances on standby for emergency cases. For non-emergency cases, SCDF has always advised patients to use private ambulance services or even taxis, if possible. Presently, the private hospitals as well as some voluntary organisations, such as the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance, have ambulances which serve the public. There are also private ambulance services, for example, Heng-Gref, Civics Ambulance Services and Grace Vision Ambulance and Transport Services. I would encourage private medical practitioners to use these services if they want to bring their patients to a hospital in non-emergency situations. REVISED ALLOCATION SYSTEM FOR NEW HDB FLATS IN NON-MATURE ESTATES (Statement by the Acting Minister for National Development) 1.17 pm”
“Girls in school do learn home-making from their home economics. I would think that girls would learn more from their mothers to be good mothers in future. REGISTRY OF SOCIETIES (Review of rules on qualification of membership for alumni associations) 17. Mr Robert Chua Teck Chew asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Government will review the rules of the Registry of Societies affecting the qualification of membership for alumni associations so as to allow full-time National Servicemen and full-time students of tertiary institutions to join their alumniassociations, thereby contributing to the further development of their alma mater. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the Registrar of Societies does not currently disallow full-time students of tertiary institutions and full-time national servicemen from joining their alumni associations. However, there are some alumni associations registered in the 1960s' and 1970s' and perhaps even in the 1980s' with constitutions which disallow full-time students attending institutions of higher learning from joining them. If these alumni associations wish to remove such restrictions, they could amend their constitutions and submit the amendments for approval by the Registrar of Societies. SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCE'S AMBULANCES (Use by private medical practitioners to ferry patients to private hospitals) 18. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether ambulances of the Singapore Civil Defence Force can be used by private medical practitioners to ferry their patients from their clinics to private hospitals. Assoc. Prof.”
“Yes, the Ministry will allow them to take as long as they meet the conditions. But judging from the statistics last year, the number is likely to be small. There was no school candidate in 1993. There were some private candidates, but the number was also very small. There were only three private candidates who took Higher Malay at 'A' level in 1993. MEDISAVE (Contribution by part-time self-employed people) 3. Dr Wang Kai Yuen asked the Minister for Health why is a person engaged in a second job of a self-employed nature on a part-time basis required to contribute to Medisave even though that person is already contributing to Medisave in respect of his regular full-time job.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in the past three years, no school candidate has offered Malay as a first language (now known as Higher Malay) at 'A' level. Instead, about 200 Malay students each year take Malay language (formerly known as Malay as second language) at 'A' level. Pupils who passed Higher Malay at 'O' level are encouraged to continue studying Malay at a higher level beyond the minimum compulsory 'AO' level. Encik Harun bin A. Ghani: Sir, suppose some of them offer to take Malay as a first language at 'A' level, will the Ministry allow them to do so?”
“According to last year's PSLE, there were only 163 Malay pupils who were in the top 10% bracket. MALAY STUDENTS TAKING HIGHER MALAY AT 'A' LEVEL 2. Encik Harun bin A Ghani asked the Minister for Education how many Malay students are taking Malay as first language at `A' level and what steps are being taken to encourage them to do so.”
“Sir, after the announcement in this House of a new library in 1989, a library consultant was appointed to study the project. The consultant studied the details and came out with a building brief. That was completed some time ago. But since we set up the Library 2000 Review Committee and we were awaiting for the Committee to come up with its recommendations, the project was held back to take account of the recommendations of the Committee. Now that the Committee has made its recommendations, we will start to work on the new brief very soon and get the consultants to re-design and submit the building plan. 5.45 pm I assure the Member that at the Ministry, we are working hard to get the new library started. Hopefully, in two months' time, we will have a new plan completed. The new plan will take into consideration the recommendations of the Committee to have an arts library and a business library. Also, the new National Library will house the headquarters of the Library Board. All these will make additional changes necessary. On the date of completion of the National Library building, it will take at least five or six years from now for it to be completed.”
“Dr Soin asked about the registration of private tutors. The purpose of registering them is to give them training and upgrade their teaching skills so as to ensure a higher quality of private tutorial services. The Ministry of Education agrees with Dr Soin's observation. But on the practical aspect, I think it is very difficult and not practical to enforce. As regards private tutors who are from the private tutorial colleges or schools, we require them to register. For institutional tutorial services, like CDAC, SINDA, or MENDAKI, we can encourage them to give training before they take up tutoring. But for home tuition it is very difficult because their service is very personalised. They have to go to the home and it all depends on what type of subject they teach, the duration, and the number of students. If we require them to register, quite a number of them will not register because most of these tutors have a full-time job besides tutoring and many of them take tutoring as a part-time job. If we do require them to register, they will probably stop tutoring. That will result in fewer tutors and higher tuition fees. Although we share Dr Soin's view that we need to have a better quality of private tutors, we find it not practical requiring them to register with the Ministry of Education. 3.00 pm”
“We are not sure that that is not an ineffective exercise. SMALL FAMILIES IMPROVEMENT SCHEME (Progress on implementation) 10. Dr S. Vasoo asked the Minister for Community Development if he will state the progress on the implementation of the Small Families Improvement Scheme.”
“Like all exercises, "walking on stones" is one exercise that is meant to produce some effect in improving the health condition. So there is nothing wrong if there is no proof that it is harmful or ineffective.”
“I will have to look into the details of the incident.”
“I do not know which incident the Member is referring to. I will have to check with the Ministry to find out which incident the Member is referring to.”
“We will certainly ask the PE teachers to pay attention to whatever exercise that will be carried out. I believe that in that primary school it involves the PE teacher there. Mr Chia Shi Teck: Recently, there was a report that the physical fitness exercises were not what they should be, ie, they were not good. For example, the sit-up exercise is bad for the spinal chord. Why were the physical fitness exercises allowed for umpteen years until they recently found that those exercises were bad for health?”
“Like all schools, there is a set of guidelines for all applicants who apply for admission. For Nee Soon Central, the percentage is already 68.3% which is a fairly high percentage. If more residents of Nee Soon Central meet the criteria, then they will be admitted. SIMEI AVENUE (Construction of right-turn opening) The following Question stood in the name of Mr Teo Chong Tee - 7. To ask the Minister for National Development whether the Public Works Department will construct a right-turn opening along the centre road divider at Simei Avenue to enable motorists and other vehicles like ambulances and fire-engines to enter into Simei Estate via Simei Street 3 without having to make a long detour.”
“In the 1992 PSLE, 91.2% of the pupils passed the examination. 9.6% were eligible and opted for the Special course, 48.7% for the Express course and 33.0% for the Normal course. The Normal course refers to the Normal (Academic) course. The Normal (Technical) course will only be introduced in January 1994. RISING NUMBER OF RAPE AND MOLEST CASES 11. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the introduction of R(A) films over the recent years has caused the number of rape and molest cases to rise.”
“In previous matriculation exercise, a sizeable number of Sikh and Sri Lankan students put themselves under the "Others" instead of "Indian" category. This posed difficulties for the collation of student statistics. To facilitate the collation, the present categorization of students has been introduced. The University is reviewing the categorization to see how it can be improved. PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS IN SPECIAL, EXPRESS, NORMAL (ACADEMIC) AND NORMAL (TECHNICAL) COURSES FOR 1992 10. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education what percentage of students were streamed into the Special, Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) courses in 1992.”
“The required information on Secondary 4 Express and Special Course and Secondary 5 Normal Course students who took or will be taking the GCE `O' level examinations is given in the attached table. "BREAKDOWN OF STUDENTS IN SECONDARY 4 SPECIAL/EXPRESS COURSE AND SECONDARY 5 NORMAL COURSE BY STREAM, SEX AND YEAR" Course Sex 1990 1991 1992 1993 No. % No. % No. % No. % Arts Male 4349 33.5 4233 35.4 4345 38.0 4224 39.1 Female 8648 66.5 7729 64.6 7088 62.0 6571 60.9 Total 12997 100 11962 100 11433 100 10795 100 Science Male 7346 51.7 7250 51.3 7431 50.8 7254 50.4 Female 6850 48.3 6877 48.7 7203 49.2 7128 49.6 Total 14196 100 14127 100 14634 100 14382 100 Commerce Male 1020 30.4 1175 34.3 1288 34.2 1320 37.5 Female 2333 69.6 2251 65.7 2473 65.8 2204 62.5 Total 3353 100 3426 100 3761 100 3524 100 Technical Male 6002 89.4 5117 87.0 4873 85.2 4653 79.9 Female 714 10.6 762 13.0 844 14.8 1167 20.1 Total 6716 100 5879 100 5717 100 5820 100 Total Male 18717 50.2 17775 50.2 17937 50.5 17451 50.6 Female 18545 49.8 17619 49.8 17608 49.5 17070 49.4 Total 37262 100 35394 100 35545 100 34521 100 NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY BOARD TRAINING VOUCHERS 7. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether any new measures have been taken to increase the uptake of the 20,000 training vouchers issued by the National Productivity Board.”
“FIRE SAFETY BILL "to make provisions for fire safety and for matters connected therewith and to repeal the Fire Service Act (Chapter 110 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and certain sections of the Petroleum Act (Chapter 229 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and to make consequential amendments to the Civil Defence Act (Chapter 42 of the 1985 Revised Edition), the Consular Conventions Act (Chapter 52 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and the Diplomatic Privileges (Commonwealth Countries and Republic of Ireland) Act (Chapter 83 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", presented by Prof. S. Jayakumar; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. GOODS AND SERVICES TAX BILL (As reported from Select Committee) Order for Third Reading read. 1.07 pm”