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.”
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“I will ask the Ministry officials to clarify the points when parents raise the question. BILLS INTRODUCED ECONOMIC EXPANSION INCENTIVES (RELIEF FROM INCOME TAX) (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act (Chapter 86 of the 1992 Revised Edition)", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr S. Dhanabalan); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. IMMIGRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Immigration Act (Chapter 133 of the 1985 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Home Affairs (Prof. S. Jayakumar); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. MISUSE OF DRUGS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act (Chapter 185 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. LEGAL PROFESSION (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Legal Profession Act (Chapter 161 of the 1990 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Law (Prof. S. Jayakumar); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.”
“This may not be true. I do not have with me here the number of parents who have requested for their children to study Chinese. But I will certainly ask the Ministry officials to give the Member the number. It will show that the number of parents who have requested for their children to study Chinese is not too large.”
“The percentage is 64 divided by a total number of 32,000 students. Anyone with a calculator can calculate it. (The percentage is 0.2%). Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Is not that figure too small even to merit mention because obviously the policy is not flexible enough to allow more parents to exert their choice if they wish to?”
“We would urge the parents to consider again the usefulness of their mother tongue. Upon presentation of very good evidence that they do need to learn Chinese in their future study or career development, the Ministry does make exceptions. That is why we have 64 non-Chinese students taking Chinese.”
“I thought the sensitivity is the other way round. If we allow too many students to take Chinese, it could create some sensitivity problem.”
“We do consider all factors which affect the choice of language but the main thing is that if there is a mother tongue available for the students to choose, then they are required to take their mother tongue. If there are some other reasons that warrant consideration, we will consider them.”
“One of the reasons is mixed parentage. Pupils of a mixed parentage can also request to study Chinese. Even for the Indian minorities who are not Tamils, they can opt for one of the five minority languages or Chinese, Malay or Tamil. Pupils in that category can ask to study Chinese.”
“We do consider some of the benefits but, at the same time, we should emphasise on our bilingual policy, ie, pupils should know their mother tongue to retain their own cultures.”
“There are a variety of reasons. One is what the Member has suggested earlier that if the pupil or his parents feel that learning Chinese would be very helpful to him in his future studies or career, we will consider his request.”
“We do recognise the benefit of learning Chinese by non-Chinese pupils. But at the same time, we would like all pupils to know their mother tongue because that is the cornerstone of our bilingual policy. We do make exceptions when the parents insist or there are some other good reasons. In fact, in 1993, we have six Malay students and 58 Indian students who are taking Chinese.”
“The arts programme on Channel 12 will be maintained. Some light English entertainment programmes may move to Channel 5. As much as possible, the arts and information programmes on Channel 12 will not be affected. EXPRESSWAYS (Steps to ease traffic congestion during peak hours) 10. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Communications what improvements are being made to ease the daily traffic congestion along all the expressways during morning and evening peak hours.”
“No, I do not think the quality of the Malay programmes will be affected. It will give more time to Malay programmes and it will also be able to give prime-time slots to Malay programmes on Channel 12. So it is better off for Malay viewers.”
“Sir, SBC has to educate, inform and entertain all sectors of our society with a limited amount of airtime. It is not possible to have more Malay programmes on prime-time slots on Channel 5 because the demand for English programmes must also be met. SBC has to balance the needs of the Malay-speaking and English-speaking communities, and also take into account competing broadcasts from Malaysia. To alleviate the congestion on Channel 5, SBC will restructure Channel 5 and Channel 12 from 1st January next year. All Malay programmes will be telecast through Channel 12. It will then be possible to increase Malay programming hours per week from 9 to 15 hours. We will also be able to show SBC Malay productions like Tinjauan, Hiburan Minggu Ini, Sandiwara and Potret Keluarga on prime-time. The daily Malay News at 7.30 pm will be increased from 20 to 30 minutes. Channel 12 will continue to broadcast documentaries, arts and sports in English. Channel 5 will become an all-English channel. Channel 8 will stay the same. SBC will announce the details in a few days' time.”
“Yes, I would think that our local media should also give whoever has the right of reply a right of reply. MYANMESE AIRLINE PASSENGERS (Interception at Changi Airport) 6. Mr Lau Ping Sum asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will inform the House if the Government has investigated the circumstances under which 11 Myanmese airline passengers en route to Bangkok from Australia were reportedly intercepted at Changi Airport and sent to Myanmar instead and what is the outcome of the investigations.”
“It could be any other publication. But in the case of The Economist, it is the refusal to give us the right of reply. That was the reason why we gazetted The Economist.”
“It certainly serves our purpose. It would remind all the foreign magazines that when they circulate in Singapore, they have to report any facts, analyses or any other articles appearing in their magazines or newspapers correctly. Otherwise, their circulation may be restricted.”
“Can the Member repeat his question, please?”
“Yes, I think we should all be entitled to our right of reply. If somebody makes a wrong accusation, we should have the right to point out the facts and correct the mistakes.”
“It could convey unhealthy lifestyle. It could mislead our people about a certain way of thinking or management of the economy or of the Government.”
“Yes, Singaporeans are mature enough. But harmful publications will certainly produce a harmful effect on our readers. For the long-term benefit and interest of the country, the Singapore Government should not tolerate any interference from foreign publications in our domestic politics and other domestic affairs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we do not wish to gazette The Economist indefinitely, because it is not a regional publication like the Asian Wall Street Journal, Asiaweek and Far Eastern Economic Review, but an international journal like Time magazine which only reports on Singapore irregularly. Time magazine was de-gazetted after nine months. What happens with The Economist will depend on whether any further problems develop over the next few months. The Asian Wall Street Journal, Asiaweek and the Far Eastern Economic Review will remain gazetted because unlike The Economist, they are regional publications which report regularly on Singapore. Gazetting will remind them that they should not interfere in Singapore's domestic politics, and that they circulate in Singapore as a privilege and not as of right. However, while they will remain gazetted, we will only restrict their circulations if they continue to flout the rules. We regularly review the circulation limits of gazetted magazines, and when justified, we will increase the limits on those which abide by the rules, as we have done with Asiaweek and the Asian Wall Street Journal. Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Sir, does the Hon. Minister of State agree that Singaporeans are mature enough to judge for themselves what is true and what is false, and there is no need to resort to banning or restricting the circulation of The Economist?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Dr Soin for her motion and we agree with her that it is important to introduce Home Economics and Technical Studies to our school system. The Ministry has been working very hard since Dr Seet Ai Mee's announcement in 1991. We have decided that, in 1994, a common Home Economics and Technical Studies curriculum will be introduced to Secondary One students in the Normal (Technical) course. Students will continue to take the subject at Secondary Two because it is a two-year course. At the same time, the Ministry is also doing all that is necessary to equip more schools with adequate technical workshops and home economics rooms for the subject to be introduced to the Normal (Academic) course in 1996 and to Special and Express course students in 1997. Dr Soin has asked why it has taken such a long time, three years, to prepare the course. We have to construct physical facilities such as the home economics rooms and also technical workshops in order that the course can be introduced. These involve the modification and addition of structures which will have to go through the normal process of application for approval to change, and these would take time. At the same time, the course will be divided into phases. We will first introduce the course to students in the Normal (Technical) stream, then to the Normal (Academic) stream, and finally to the Special and Express students. So the Ministry has not forgotten what it has announced and it is continuing to work hard to expedite the introduction of the course.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the competent authority is studying the feasibility of setting up a cable vision system in Singapore. We have a feasibility study done and it will probably take another five or six years for the cable vision to be implemented in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Information and the Arts. I will answer the three points raised by Mr Chia as follows: First, the Government does not determine the number of local newspapers or local newspaper companies in Singapore. We already have 11 newspapers in the four languages providing domestic, regional and international coverage. Whether there should be another pro-Singapore newspaper group is for the market to decide. Second, foreign and regional broadcasting stations are already being received in Singapore. We receive all Malaysian radio and TV broadcasts and some from Indonesia. Currently, BBC World Service can be received 24 hours a day on FM radio, while Singapore Cable Vision's NewsVision channel carries CNN as well as news bulletins from International Television Network (one hour), NHK (half an hour), Australia Broadcasting Corporation (half an hour) and BBC (half an hour). When cable TV is introduced in Singapore, we will have the channel capacity to accommodate more foreign broadcasting services in Singapore. Third, SBC has been working hard to improve its regional coverage. It is a member of Asiavision, a regional news pool covering countries like Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and others. Through Asiavision, SBC has continuous access to reports on the latest developments in these countries. SBC also has bilateral arrangements with broadcasting stations of neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, China and Australia. Under these arrangements, SBC can directly lift any local story aired over their radio or TV channels. SBC has found these links very useful. It is also working on other ways to improve regional coverage.”
“On the point about computer games, I agree with Mr Ho that there are a lot of computer games which show violent scenes. We will take note of his suggestion and try to review computer games which have excessive violence. Mr Chin Harn Tong( In Mandarin): It is a very comprehensive answer by the Minister of State. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“We hope that these established groups can have their own censorship. But for the newly-established drama groups, they may not know the limit. They may tend to venture a bit more beyond the allowable limit. The National Arts Council would then read their script and advise them whether the script is allowed to be used in the play.”
“So from this incident, we can see that the problem is very deeply rooted in people's mind. Punctuality is quite difficult to achieve and we really have to put in greater efforts to make it succeed this time. On another point, Mr Ho suggested that we had to reduce the propensity to complain. Singaporeans are very fond of complaining about all the things they do not like. Last night, during my meet-the-people-session, a lady came in and complained about jet fighters flying over somewhere near her place. She felt that she had the right to ask the Ministry of Defence to divert our jet fighters to another flight path. On complaints like this and others, some valid, and some not quite valid, I do agree with Mr Ho that we have to find ways to try to educate and persuade our people not to over-complain on issues which do not have a valid reason to complain. On the censorship of plays, Mr Ho cited the incident of urine drinking. I must clarify that the urine drinking act was not part of a drama or show. It was done in connection with an art forum organised by a private art gallery in which Singapore artists, musicians and writers participated to present their views on the promotion of the arts. The National Arts Council has publicly spoken out against such behaviour done in the name of art. We all feel that it is not proper, and such kind of behaviour is really done to attract publicity. It was cheap publicity. So I hope that artists will not try to take that kind of action as a creative adventure and repeat it either on stage, or on other occasions. On the censorship of plays, the National Arts Council has been designated as the authority to vet plays. For established drama groups, they will be exempted from censorship.”
“In Britain, they have formed a Polite Society. They even published a book called "Good Manners Guide". In the book, they devoted the whole chapter 5 on the Courtesy Campaign in Singapore and our success. One of the important points in the book is that courtesy is closely related to the values of the society we have. And the values we have are, for example, respect the elders, respect our brothers, sisters, parents and be courteous to them, address them, deal with them with a certain formality and courtesy. It is very important to note that the Courtesy Campaign cannot be an isolated campaign. It is part and parcel of the overall value system we have, which we will continue to promote. One of the other two points which Mr Ho raised is his suggestion that we work with MCD on the Punctuality Campaign. I thank Mr Ho for his suggestion. Certainly, we will work with MCD to push ahead with the Punctuality Campaign. The Punctuality Campaign is important because if you are not punctual, you waste other people's time. But for it to be successful, it really has to depend on the concerted effort of all the people. Two weeks ago, I attended an association's opening ceremony. I was told by the organisers that it would be punctual and dinner would start at 8.00 pm. So I went there at 7.45 pm. By 8.00 pm, the organisers proudly announced that dinner would be served. We waited for another 10 or 15 minutes, but nothing happened. We found out later on that the manager and the cooks at the restaurant were not ready for the dinner. The organisers said that they told them to start punctually, but the manager probably did not believe that would be so. We have this campaign for so many times over so many years, but nothing has really succeeded.”
“I think there is a difference because it is not so convenient to rent video tapes as there are many constraints, for example, you have to return the tapes within a specific time, failing which you may be fined for late return. Therefore, renting video tapes is not quite the same as watching the shows over TV which are readily available once it is switched on. For the time being, our stand is that we are not prepared to allow the telecast of dialect shows over television. But as the Minister has mentioned a moment ago, when cable TV is fully developed, there will be many channels, maybe as many as 100 channels. By that time perhaps we could have one channel in Japanese and also another in Cantonese for people from Hong Kong to watch. To sum it up, I would say that we would still actively promote the Speak Mandarin Campaign. We have achieved good results and we want to do even better in the years to come. (In English) Sir, Mr Ho Peng Kee asked what other measures were taken to promote courtesy in Singapore. The National Courtesy Campaign in Singapore enters its 15th year this year. The campaign is being directed by my Ministry and advised by an ad hoc committee comprising mostly civil servants. To generate greater enthusiasm and encourage wider public participation, MITA will form a Singapore Courtesy Council with members mostly drawn from the private sector. I am happy to announce that Mr Noel Hon Chia Chun, Managing Director of NEC Singapore Private Limited, has been appointed to head the Council for a renewal term of two years. Other members will be appointed later. 1.30 pm The Courtesy Campaign in Singapore has achieved great success throughout all the years. This has caught the attention of some British members of the Polite Society.”
“The Government does not object to the Federation of Clans Association or the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducting dialect courses for our people who intend to venture overseas. Acquiring the working knowledge of a dialect is like having an additional tool for communications and hence better competitiveness when we go out to do business overseas. We have no fundamental reason to object to this. Even in Singapore, we do not have the intention to entirely eliminate the use of dialects because, to the older generation, the use of dialect is more direct and convenient. The older generation may not understand Mandarin as well as they do with dialects. If we are to make ourselves understood by them better, it is more appropriate for us to speak to them directly in dialect. This is consistent with the Government's stand that we would continue to actively promote the use of Mandarin. We have not changed our policy on the Speak Mandarin Campaign. But when the need arises, we will still use dialects to communicate with the old folks. As for the use of dialects on TV or over the radio, I would like to give a simple comment. As a matter of fact, we are still broadcasting news in a number of dialects over the radio. We have also shown some operas and other forms of art performances in the various dialects on TV. Apart from their artistic values, they provide good entertainment for our older generation. Yesterday, Dr Wang Kai Yuen asked whether, with the introduction of cable TV in future, we would allow dialect movies to be telecast over TV. In his view, the broadcast of dialect shows over TV is the same with the renting of video tapes which are available in dialects.”
“Sir, with your permission, I will answer the first question in Mandarin and the remaining in English on behalf of my Minister. (In Mandarin): Sir, the Speak Mandarin Campaign has now gone into the 15th year. Since the beginning of the campaign, we have been actively promoting the speaking of Mandarin through staging various events. The Speak Mandarin Campaign is aimed at encouraging people to speak more Mandarin and less dialect. We have had significant success in this respect. Now we notice that most students use Mandarin quite naturally in their conversations in schools. The survey conducted by the Ministry of Education reveals the following result. In 1981, about 52.9% of the students surveyed used dialects in their daily conversations. But in 1991, this was reduced to only 3.6%. In 1981, among Primary One students, the use of Mandarin was 35.9%. But in 1992, this was increased to 62.7%. So, we can see that with the active promotion of Mandarin over the years, we have achieved good results. The Speak Mandarin Campaign does not necessarily preclude the use of dialects by specific groups of people such as businessmen who may find dialects useful. We do not deny that dialects do have their economic value, particularly now that we are encouraging our entrepreneurs to invest overseas and in places where dialects are used, for example, in Taiwan where Hokkien is used; and in Guangzhou and Hong Kong where Cantonese is used. What Mr Chin Harn Tong said just now was true. However, this does not mean that we have changed our stand on the Speak Mandarin Campaign. There is no fundamental contradiction between the two.”
“Sir, can I respond to Mr Peh's question on history and geography teaching?”
“Sir, "R(A)" film lives to its real name of "Restricted and Artistic". In deciding whether to let a film to be passed and to be screened in cinema, the Board of Film Censors makes sure that the film has basic artistic value. Of course, artistic is something very subjective. But with a group of very knowledgeable people representing different segments of the society, I think their collective decision is dependable. As long as there is artistic value, the Board, with the concurrence of the Ministry, will allow it to be shown in Singapore. But I do not expect that there will be too many of such films to be shown here because from last September up to now, there were only eight "R(A)" films shown out of a total of 160 films. So it is a fairly small percentage.”
“For the curious people, their curiosity can be very easily satisfied after they have seen one or two more films, because if they are looking for something which is the real thing, I am sure they will be disappointed because we have very strict standards. For the mature people, they are older people and they appreciate a good movie with a good story line and they are not going to be excited by what they see in the movie. What we have to worry are the teenagers who may not be able to resist whatever influence they get. For that, the Ministry has already raised the minimum age requirement from 18 years to 21 years and we also have moved the movie classification from "R" to "R(A)". We think that we have very strictly enforced this requirement and it will minimise whatever bad influence to the young people in our society. Let me assure the Member again that the novelty of "R" or "R(A)" films has faded. The number of viewers has been stabilised and up to now, we have not received too many complaints about our censorship policy.”
“Sir, censorship is a very interesting and very sensitive topic. Dr Vasoo is worried that we might have relaxed too far our censorship policy and that we will be flooded with many soft pornography in our cinemas. Sir, this is not the picture. We have moved from our past very restricted standard (the last review was done in 1980). We have moved from there, but it does not mean that we are going to relax much more in future. In terms of the number of films submitted from last September to now, there were about 30 of them. But out of 30 of these "R" or "R(A)" films, we rejected about 12 of them. And 17 or 18 of them have some violent scenes or sex, so we have cut a certain portion to make them suitable for our viewers. 4.15 pm Sir, let me emphasise that the Ministry is mindful of the effect of pornography on our viewers, especially the young. But as a global city in a modern world, Singapore will have to move with the time and we will have to encourage expression of contemporary desire and acceptable values in various artistic forms and publications, with no unnecessary restrictions. About the young, we do have to communicate with them, we have to understand them. At the same time, we have to be mindful of the basic values of our society, the sensitiveness we should have with respect to racial, cultural and religious diversity in our country. The policy we have is to strike a balance between moving with the time and preserving our traditional values. I can also tell Dr Vasoo that the impact of these "R(A)" films on our society is not really a very damaging one up to the present moment. There are two groups of viewers - one is the curious, the other is the more mature people.”
“In short, we have to strike a balance between the conservative attitude of the East and the liberal thinking of the West towards sex, so that our students will not lose their directions in the midst of these two main trends. This is something we have to bear in mind when we commence the teaching of sex education. Sir, I would urge the Ministry of Education to seek the views from all quarters in its planning of the "sex education" programme so that the teaching of sex education would achieve its desired results.”
“However, I hope that the Ministry of Education would complement the teaching of sex education with the inculcation of the correct values because if we were to teach sex education like a science subject or health science, then the effect may not be satisfactory. As such, we have to inculcate in our students the "moral values of sex", so that they would realize that behind "sex" there is this value of "responsibility" that they would have to bear in mind. They should not take sex lightly! This would prevent teenagers from committing sex-related crimes or indulging in casual sex, owing to their ignorance or curiosity in sex. This would also help our students to have a better understanding of the true meaning of "sex". On the other hand, I suggest that the teaching of sex education should be made as plain and simple as possible, such as the use of "educational video tapes". At the same time, I hope that when teaching this subject, the teachers would not avoid the important and dwell on the trivial, or simply touch on it lightly, giving the students only a hazy notion on the subject. The teachers should not tint the teaching of sex education with obscenity, to the detriment of the students. Otherwise, this will run contrary to the object of the sex education programme. We can also include an introduction on the cause and types of venereal diseases, and some of the common social problems such as promiscuity, abortion, pre-marital sex, etc. This would give the students a clearer picture of these problems and provide them with proper guidance in the way to look at these problems and how to deal with them.”
“According to the Ministry's estimate, the 3,500 places will be adequate to meet the demands for primary one student intake in 1993, 1994 and even 1995 because children born in the Dragon year will be admitted in 1995. We estimate that the demand by that time will be 3,420 but we have 3,500 places. So it is adequate to take care of all the demands. As to the number of schools, it is difficult to have so many schools within the constituency of Hougang. But in the Hougang New Town and the nearby areas, we have altogether about 11 schools with 88 classes. The total number of places will be adequate to meet the demand. As to whether students can go to school within the 2 km requirement, I think it is a bit difficult because of the location, building and the distribution of population. We try to provide places as close to the residence as possible. But physically, I am sure the Member for Hougang also appreciates that there is difficulty in setting up school at the doorstep of the students. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1992 TO 31ST MARCH, 1993 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [4th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head L (cont.) - Resumption of debate on Question [13th March, 1992], "That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LC 1500 of the Main Estimates." - [Mr Peh Chin Hua]. Question again proposed. Mr Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar GRC)( In Mandarin): Sir, last Friday, I mentioned that I welcome the Ministry of Education's decision to include sex education in the curriculum for Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 students from 1993.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Hougang has asked the projected intake of primary one students residing in the constituency of Hougang in 1993 and 1994. The Ministry of Education does not plan student intake at the constituency level. It is planned according to a new town's demand for places. For 1993 and 1994, there will be about 3,500 primary one places provided by schools in Hougang New Town and the vicinity of the new town. This will be sufficient to meet the projected demand for about 2,500 places in 1993 and 2,900 places in 1994.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, while we have to place more emphasis on market mechanism and the free enterprise system to mature as a developed country, we also have to counter-balance the effect of individualism and mercenary attitude which are by-products of the system. The success of Japan over the United States can be partly attributed to the spirit of team work and their positive cultural value. We can draw useful conclusion from the Japanese experience. Mr Speaker, Sir, we are confident that we can achieve a developed nation status in the not so distant future, but we have also to ensure that our society develops and retains the values of concern for one another and a strong civic pride in our country instead of descending into coldness and ruthless competition. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion to thank the President.”
“Within a country, market mechanism is believed to be the best guide to what, how much, and for whom to produce. Hence, as we have seen, a number of policy options have been left to market mechanism to find their own way. But market mechanism works well only when no imperfection is present or is at its minimum level in the system. When imperfection such as monopolistic influence exists, market mechanism may not produce the best result unless it is properly "managed" to offset the effect of imperfection. Moreover, there are other factors, socio-economic and cultural, which may also have bearing on the performance of the system. If we compare the overall performance of the two free enterprise economies, namely, Japan and the United States, one realises that other factors such as team spirit and positive cultural value, besides market mechanism, are responsible for making the difference. Mr Speaker, Sir, the privatisation of statutory boards and Government-owned companies represents a significant aspect of decentralising decision-making power. For companies, decisions will largely be made by the professional managers after privatisation instead of Government officials. The setting up of town councils is another important aspect of decentralising decision-making power. The management of properties within the boundary of a town is now vested in the hands of town councillors instead of HDB officials. Decentralisation will lead to a greater variety of views and choices which will create greater stability for the system. The greater decentralisation of decision-making power and the resultant greater stability are helpful towards the perfection of the market economy system, which in turn helps to smooth out the process in the transition to become a developed country.”
“However, the regulations should be periodically reviewed to update them with the development in the business world so that a healthy business environment conducive to further growth can be maintained. Mr Speaker, Sir, besides the claim that the Singapore Government over-regulates business activities, some people also complain that the Government has widely encroached upon business domain through quasi and wholly-owned Government corporations. The implication is that Government companies compete unfairly with private companies. It is true that there are many Government-owned companies which are active in the business arena. They have helped shape the development of the Singapore economy through their various activities. As a way to improve performance and to increase the degree of competition, the Government has decided to privatise a number of statutory boards. The newly created companies will be run by professional managers after privatisation although its equity will still be held by the Government and private investors. The reward to management personnel should be tied to the performance of the company. Professional managers will then manage the company on the same basis as private enterprises. An "arm's length" approach where no special advantages or favours should be expected by those newly privatised companies so that no accusation of unfair competition can be made. Mr Speaker, Sir, to privatise is to show confidence in the efficacy of the market system. It is widely accepted that market mechanism can bring about the best allocation of resources. At the national level, the comparison of economic performance between the former Soviet Union and the United States has clearly illustrated the point.”
“There are, however, two factors which may delay the operation of the backward-bending labour supply curve here, namely, the less progressiveness of personal income tax and family bonding. The steep progressive income tax rate in the West is an important factor which makes people to opt for more leisure than work. Individualism is another factor which creates disincentive to more work as the individual takes care of his own needs only. The incentive to earn more in order to help his family members is not strong. Mr Speaker, Sir, we should therefore avoid the pitfall in this regard in our deliberation on policy options which may affect the supply of labour in Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, the term "developed country" also conveys the image of the existence of many big and successful business corporations. With continued economic growth in the last two decades, many local companies have grown and a few of them have expanded their activities to regional and international markets. However, the bulk of local businesses are still small and medium-sized enterprises and the larger companies are mostly foreign or Government-owned corporations. The Government has been trying to help small and medium-sized enterprises to grow further and to encourage the development of local entrepreneurship. The critics have always attributed the slow success in this respect to over-regulation by the Government. Hong Kong has been cited as a classic example that entrepreneurship flourishes with minimum government regulation. Should the Government minimise regulations and turn Singapore into a "Paradise of Adventurers"? The answer is clearly 'no' as regulations are necessary to weed out undesirable and unethical business practices.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion of thanks to the President. As the President has said, we are half-way up to becoming a developed country. Although the remaining half is difficult, reaching there is a matter of time if we keep up with our rate of progress. We should have a vision of what the final destination will be. The term "developed country" refers to a country in which its economy, institutions and infrastructure have been adequately developed. It also implies that its income per capita and living standards of the people are high. Besides modern buildings and facilities, one of the things which strikes a visitor is that labour cost is high and services are expensive. In general, wages and salaries are much higher in developed countries than those in the developing world. Will the same phenomenon exist in Singapore once we reach the stage of a developed country? With the continued rise in income, people will normally prefer more leisure to more work. According to a well-known economic interpretation, the supply of labour will not increase but decrease when wage rates rise beyond a certain critical point. The curve of labour supply will not be positively sloped but bending backward. People may ask for a four-day work week, instead of the five-and-a-half day we are having now. Wages will be high and the wage differential in our favour compared with other developed countries will be reduced. Manpower will be in short supply and expensive that further investments, foreign as well as local, may be discouraged. The consequence will not be helpful to the efforts to sustain steady economic growth in Singapore.”