Khaw Boon Wan
Singapore
“Motor vehicle dealerships and showrooms have been closed since the start of the circuit breaker. As COE bidding is done mostly by the motor vehicle dealers on behalf of prospective owners, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) suspended COE bidding for the months of April and May.”
“Though stressed by the financial pain, they press on with the immediate priority of fighting the virus and supporting essential services. Post-pandemic, we will see how public transport evolves. Will demand for public transport services simply return to the pre-pandemic level?”
“Under our rail financing framework, the Government fully pays for the cost of building new rail lines. In other words, we do not recover the cost of building the Cross Island Line (CRL) from commuters through fares. The CRL project is being implemented and the final costs will depend on tender bids.”
“There are around 5,000 private bus operators with a combined fleet of 13,500 private buses. As we do not track the number of private bus trips and passengers, we do not have data on their carbon emissions.”
“There are nursing rooms at 50% of our bus interchanges. We will provide nursing rooms at all new bus interchanges and integrated transport hubs. For the MRT network, we will provide nursing rooms at all new interchange stations. We will also explore providing such facilities when MRT stations undergo upgrading.”
“Over the last three years, Singapore carriers have reported a total of 20 incidents of food allergies on board their flights. None required the use of epinephrine or emergency flight diversions.”
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“With this infrastructure in place, I suppose the next step for them is to transfer the information to the suppliers real-time, so that raw fish can be replenished as and when needed! Sir, I do not know if you plan to turn this House into a wireless hotspot. If you do, then some of us can follow the development in Iraq real-time without having to walk in and walk out, even as we debate the Budget. Let me now reply to the specific queries by Members. Dr Tan asked about e-commerce. It has continued to gather momentum in Singapore. Last year, the total value of business-to-business (B2B) transactions remained above $100 billion, as in the previous year. Business-to-consumer (B2C) spending has grown by 20%, from $2.5 billion to $3 billion in 2002. Mr Loh asked about security concerns as they may hinder the growth of on-line businesses. I agree with him that we need to maintain a trusted environment for e-commerce to flourish. That is why much effort is put to developing on-line security technologies and policies. Our approach is to adopt a combination of (a) legislation by the Government; (b) industry initiatives; (c) self-regulation by the industry; and (d) user education. Time, however, does not allow me to go into the details here. Dr Teo asked about e-Government. As I said just now, we can be proud of our achievements here. Nine in 10 public services can now be accessed and transacted electronically, a total of over 1,500 public services. The e-citizen portal attracted nearly seven million hits every month. Dr Teo also asked about the National IT Literacy Programme (NITLP). The purpose is to help bring basic IT skills to Singaporeans who missed out on IT education. The target was to equip 315,000 Singaporeans with basic computer and Internet skills over three years.”
“Intel hopes that its Centrino will now allow us to use our laptop computers anytime, anywhere, any place. Now, that is cool! SUN Microsystem has its own vision of this future, of course, based on its Java solution. Scott McNealy was in town just a couple of days ago, and Members would have read about his plan in the newspapers. Microsoft and IBM are no less ambitious. Singapore is well positioned to ride on these waves, because of our consistent efforts over many years in promoting infocomm, from Intelligent Island, through IT 2000 to Infocomm 21. Dr Teo asked about Infocomm 21. We continue to make progress. In two years, our telecommunications bandwidth has expanded by 400 times. We now have 21 terabits of high-speed submarine cable bandwidth with direct connections to more than 100 countries. Full liberalisation, as Members know, has already brought telecommunication costs down sharply for both consumers and business. Globally, we are now a leading e-Government and have won various international awards. Our courts of justice, our libraries, our electronic road pricing system are world-class showcases of e-Government efforts. Today, one in three Singaporeans uses broadband to access on-line content from home, school or office. The number of broadband users will soon reach one million. There are now more than eight wireless Local Area Network (LAN) service providers and more than 240 wireless LAN hotspots throughout Singapore. Just last month, I patronised a Japanese restaurant at the Esplanade. It is one of such wireless hotspots. Customers can access Internet on their laptops at high-speed. Waiters are armed with PDAs so that customer orders are captured immediately and electronically, and transmitted on-line to the kitchen, and, of course, to the cashier.”
“Throughout the Asian crisis, from 1998 to 2000, it grew by an average of 5.6% per annum, higher than the overall economic growth rate. Even now, the industry looks healthy. Where is the evidence? First, infocomm investments remain strong. Last year, it was the largest contributor of investment commitments in the services industry, with $870 million of business spending, that will create $1.9 billion of total value-add and 2,300 new jobs. Second, infocomm salaries remain attractive. Last year, salary increments averaged 3.5%, higher than that for other economic sectors. Third, our global ranking (in terms of networked readiness) by the World Economic Forum went up from No. 8 to No. 3. In short, we can be optimistic about our growth prospects. As Mr Saw put it, the industry is resilient, being able to reinvent and rejuvenate itself. Indeed, Members should read the current issue of the Economist, where there is a special section on what it called "Telecoms II". Its conclusion is that "new wireless technologies that render bandwidth irrelevant could kindle a revolution in communications bigger than the Internet". Industry players are betting big money on this development. Just last week, Intel launched its latest chip, the Centrino. Intel already has its Pentium chips in almost all desk-top computers, and it is now betting on its Centrino chip to be in most laptop computers. It hopes that its "Intel inside" act I could be followed by a "Centrino inside" act II. Intel believes Centrino's spread will trigger a wireless revolution akin to the 1960s transformation brought about by the transistor radio. That revolution, you may remember, gave us all the freedom to use the radio anytime, anywhere, any place.”
“Sir, let me first reply to the cuts on infocomm by Dr Tan Boon Wan, Mr Loh Meng See and Dr Teo Ho Pin. Their cuts reminded me of a speech I made just three weeks ago at the Singapore Computer Society's Gala Dinner. My key message to them that night was this: "Let's get sexy again!" Sir, this is not my solution to our low birth rates. But like Dr Tan Boon Wan and others, I sense a certain loss of confidence in the infocomm industry. I decided that I should give them a pep talk to point out the positives and urge them not to lose heart. In infocomm, we have been sexy globally, and we can be sexy again. Just the other day, someone pointed me to a local website, a chat group. He said that there was some discussion about my speech after it was made. I remember reading this entry from, presumably, a lady. I think she wrote something like, "Actually, I rather get sexy with somebody like F4, one of the most popular boy bands now in Taiwan - tall, dark and handsome. But since that is not possible and Minister made the offer, okay lor, boh pian". Fortunately, my serious speech and message were correctly received and understood by the ICT industry. I received this e-mail from Mr Saw Ken Wye, Chairman of Singapore IT Federation. He thanked me for my speech and the message which he agreed. And he wrote, "The final chapter for Singapore's IT industry has not been written yet and we have barely finished Chapter one. And the beauty about IT is that it is an industry that can continually reinvent and rejuvenate itself." I totally agree with him. Let us look at some hard data. The infocomm industry is large. In Singapore, it made up 7.9% of our GDP. It is worth $28 billion and employs over 100,000 ICT professionals.”
“But, in response to feedback from CASE and several Members of this House, MTI has been working with CASE on a consumer protection Fair Trading Act. I understand that under the proposed Act, consumers will have some recourse if sellers, and that would include car dealers, engage in unfair trade practices. However, as the intention of the Act is to protect small consumers who lack the resources or expertise to protect themselves, there is likely to be a cap on the amount that the consumer can claim. But I agree with Mr Yeo that the industry should promote greater transparency and self-regulate to cut out unfair practices. They should try to avoid the situation whereby the Government is forced to step in to regulate tightly. The best way to prevent this is for them to maintain a high standard of practice. LTA has been working with the Motor Traders Association and the Automobile Association of Singapore to promote transparency in the buying and selling of motor vehicles. LTA is also working with CASE to encourage more motor traders to join the CASE Trust Accreditation Scheme. Dealers who have signed onto the scheme would be required to observe a code of good practices. Nevertheless, I will ask LTA to discuss this subject further with CASE and the industry associations to see if more needs to be done.”
“Dr Chong suggested that taxi drivers be subject to a higher demerit points cap than other motorists. As he correctly pointed out, demerit points are managed by the Traffic Police under the Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS). The purpose of DIPS, as we know, is to promote safe driving and to get dangerous drivers off our road. Demerit points are levied on all motorists who commit offences, eg, beating the red light at junctions. Increasing the cap, I am afraid, would send the wrong signal. Yes, I agree that taxi drivers are heavy road users, but they shoulder heavier responsibility too, as they have the passengers' safety in their hands. We should, therefore, expect a high, not lower, standard of safety from taxi drivers. More importantly, the law must be applied equally on all motorists. To differentiate them for penalty would be invidious and unconscionable. But I take Dr Chong's point that there could be occasions, eg, he quoted the example of non-cooperation by the passengers, which may lead to a penalty being imposed on the taxi driver. In those circumstances, they need to look into it - in this case, by the Traffic Police, I presume - before they decide whether demerit points are to be imposed. As for Mr Yeo Guat Kwang's cut, he would like us to consider regulating the motor dealers to cut out, as he put it, "unfair trading practices", so as to protect car buyers. Although he talked about motor dealers, his comment could have applied to any other trading activities. But regulating trading is really a very big step to take. If we make more rules to regulate trading, we will increase business costs, which would eventually be passed on to consumers and that is why the Government has always resisted taking such a big step.”
“As I said just now, I am an engineer. So when faced with a problem, I straightaway zero in on what are the factors, rank them in priority and attack them. We will try to tackle the most important barrier first. Yes, there are countless barriers to employment. Right now, there is economic recession, jobs are down anyway, and so on and so forth. So there are many, many problems, especially for the elderly getting a job. I do not think fare concession is such a big barrier that we have to put in our efforts to solve it and, with that, you can solve the unemployment for the elderly.”
“But what we can do is that we will encourage the operators, as I think the Members do, and all the other civic organisations as well. And I think the level that they have reached today is a reasonable one. Off-peak traffic is less any way and, as we all know, seats are perishables. So the cost of subsidy is very much less during off-peaks. But to turn it into a peak period concession, that is a completely different kettle of fish.”
“We are progressively upgrading our stations. To-date, we have completed five stations, one of which is Novena, which is in my constituency, coincidentally. But the other 40 will be progressively completed by 2005. 12.30 pm Taxi is a very important mode of transport for the wheel-chair bound. I totally agree with her. Some of our taxi operators have begun to be doing that. In fact, yesterday, while driving here from MITA, at the traffic light junction, I saw one of the Comfort taxis with that Handicare Cab Service logo, a very kind looking taxi driver and very proud of this logo. They are providing very good service for those who require handicapped friendly taxis. But we will continue our efforts to work with the various operators to see how we can make the transport system to be even more friendly to the elderly and the disabled. I agree with her that this is a project not MOT alone can deliver. And I thought I made that point too some months ago when a similar question was raised here, ie, to ensure that it is seamless travel all the way requires contribution from everybody - MND, MOT - but we will do our part. Prof. Ngiam joined in the debate and talked about fare concessions. And I thought we discussed that too a few months ago. Fare concessions scheme for senior citizens is operated by the operators; we are not involved. As rightly pointed out, once we get involved, we have to do it nation-wide and cross-subsidise. Somebody has got to fund the subsidy. For us to intervene to say that the operators must have fare concessions and do it 24 hours, seven days a week, I think the load would then have to be shouldered by all the commuters. Whether that is fair, I think that there will be people who feel otherwise.”
“But we will continue to monitor what is happening elsewhere, and see if there are better solutions. Let me now come to the cuts by Dr Jennifer Lee and Prof. Ngiam. Dr Jennifer Lee asked if our public transport system is friendly to the elderly. Let me make it quite clear. The top priority of our public transport system is to cater to the needs of the masses. It cannot be helped, because large numbers have to be moved speedily from point A to point B, and that is fundamental. If we cannot meet that objective, we would have failed. Nevertheless, our public transport system does try to accommodate the needs of the elderly, the feeble and the disabled, for as long as it does not severely compromise the needs of the masses. Dr Lee talked about buses - when will we get all our buses elderly-friendly? I think we are doing it systematically and progressively. When buses are being replaced, they are required to become elderly-friendly. I think this is a practical way going forward, because the other alternative, which is, big bang, overnight, ask the few thousand buses to be replaced, that will be high cost. Somebody has got to bear that cost. I remember vividly our three-cent debate not too many months ago, and this will cost more than three cents. She asked what is the progress to-date. I checked. I think, right now, about one-third of SBS Transit and TIBS fleet of buses are elderly-friendly with low floors. Yes, she talked about bus drivers, that they have to be more careful when they have the elderly and the disabled on board and should not do sudden brakes or accelerations. I checked. Yes, this is part of the training for bus drivers. Actually this is common sense, but sometimes, common sense needs to be reiterated. As for MRT, the same thing.”
“The ERP system is audited regularly, both by the internal audit department of the LTA as well as its external auditor. The processes and transactions are all subject to audit. For example, the charge tables are meticulously checked both before and after they are downloaded into the system. In addition, the live transaction data are also checked as they come into the system to confirm that the ERP charges deducted are correct. Mr Steve Chia observed that increasingly car parks are adopting the ERP technology, much to the convenience of motorists. For example, I have been attending performances in the Esplanade, it is such a breeze - just drive through. But Mr Chia can be rest assured that the system is secure. He just has to remember to insert a valid cashcard into his in-vehicle unit. In fact, you can check it yourself quite easily, if you are worried about the system being faulty, or whatever. Just take out your cashcard, check what is your cash balance, and when you go through the toll gate, do it again. Sometimes, I do that, just to be sure, and it works all the time. But he made a new point and asked: are there gadgets that you can carry and go to the car park and start zapping away the money? You can try. But I do not think it will work. Next, let me reply to the cut by Mr Wee Siew Kim on alternative public transport. I agree with him that we should always be on the lookout for cheaper, less costly, alternative modes of public transport. We are not fixated on MRT or buses. But the fact remains that, based on current technology, a judicious mix of MRT and buses still serves our interests best. But we are not alone in this game. Every other city has to grapple with this problem. So, we have other cities' experience to study and to learn from.”
“Mr Steve Chia spoke about the increasing use of ERP technology in car parks and so on, and he was greatly concerned about security and whether some people will come along with some gadget and zap away all the money in our cashcards. This is certainly a valid concern. Let me give a little bit of background to provide a bigger picture. Cashcards were introduced in 1996, when we took a big step into the cashless society. We were not alone in this movement but we were among the early adopters. There are many reasons for promoting cashcards. Basically, handling cash is a very inefficient and costly business. To businesses, going cashless spells lower cost and higher productivity. To consumers, going cashless means greater convenience. A cashless society is, therefore, an ideal worth pursuing. But to gain consumer acceptance, security concerns of the type that Mr Steve Chia talked about have to be robustly addressed. People will be willing to use a cashcard only if they can be assured that they will not get unduly short-changed or have their money zapped away. That is why the usage and security of cashcards, or a more correct technical term, stored value cards, are governed by the Banking Act. Only banks are allowed to issue multi-purpose stored value cards. And MAS imposes very strict rules and regulations on them. Because we have taken these concerns seriously, cashcards have become widely accepted by Singaporeans. It is now very much part of our life and we literally cannot leave home without it. There are now 10 million cashcard transactions per month in Singapore - quite an achievement! For my Ministry, a key usage is for electronic road pricing (ERP) payments. How do we ensure security, in our case, for ERP transactions?”
“Sir, there is a hotchpotch of cuts. Let me take them chronologically. Let me begin with the cut by Mrs Fang Ai Lian. In principle, I agree with her that taxes and levies should be as simple as possible for easier administration and compliance. She asked whether we could continue to work and simplify further our vehicle taxes. Actually, our vehicle taxes are not that complicated. When vehicles are registered, they are subject to a nominal registration fee of $140. In addition, there is an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) and an Excise Duty (ED). Both serve the purpose of curbing car population. After that, you just pay the annual road tax. Collectively, these taxes allow us to achieve a balance between cost of ownership and cost of usage. Of course, it cannot be a static picture, and my Ministry will always work with Ministry of Finance to fine-tune this balance. Over the years, we have done so. But I take the point of Mrs Fang that the situation does change, and if it does, I think we should always be on the lookout. Especially, she mentioned about quirks here and there, which have distorted the consumer behaviour. Then we should try to fix them. I am open to suggestions. And some of those quirks that she mentioned, I do not have personal knowledge of them, but we will look into them. But she did make a point that we sometimes inadvertently contribute to business cost, and she gave the example of diesel tax. For diesel tax, we do not add to business cost. Goods vehicles and buses run on diesel, are not charged diesel tax at all, and precisely for the reason that she gave, which is we wanted to keep business cost low.”
“So far, about $10 million, and not $40 million as reported by the media, has been spent on this project. What were the main cost items? They were (a) a nation-wide radio communications system; (b) the equipment for a central computer system, and (c) the computer software. Although the project has been aborted, fortunately, the efforts, in this instance, put in have not all been wasted. The equipment which has been acquired will have useful use elsewhere. Specifically, LTA will be modifying the radio communications system to support its existing Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System (EMAS). In fact, this modification will then save LTA about $2.2 million every year in data transmission cost, as it will then no longer need to rely on a third party wireless service provider. 12.00 noon Mr Ong also asked if there were feasibility studies done before LTA embarked on this project. Yes, there were. As LTA would be breaking new ground, it did several smaller scale trials in 1995, 1997 and 1999, before the project went full scale. The trials were on smaller scales involving only a few buses. In the 1999 trial, the team was able to achieve accuracy levels ranging from 87% to 99%, which were quite acceptable. Unfortunately, major integration problems arose when the project was scaled up.”
“In short, the current transfer fare structure does allow for a fair matching of cost to fare, and nobody is unduly penalised. But I agree with him that we should regularly review the structure as circumstances change so as to preserve equity. Finally, let me reply to Mr Ong Kian Min's question on an aborted LTA project costing some $40 million. He was referring to the bus travel information system. This was a project initiated by LTA in 1999. The purpose was to let commuters know with better accuracy the arrival times of buses. Let me give Members the background that led to this project. At that time, several bus companies were, on their own, developing what they called "Fleet Management Systems" computer software to manage their fleet. The purpose was to locate the whereabouts of their buses, and there were thousands of them, at any particular point in time. LTA saw an opportunity to ride on this Fleet Management Systems by (a) making it nation-wide through integrating them, because there were several systems and operators; and (b) adding a new feature to predict bus arrival times for the benefit of commuters. The intention was good but, unfortunately, LTA and the bus operators had severely under-estimated the complexity of the project, in particular, the computer software to interface the different bus company systems turned out to be a lot more complicated, a lot more difficult. As a result, the project experienced major delays and would have resulted in significant cost overruns if the project were to run to completion. So, at a recent meeting, not too long ago, the Board of Directors of LTA reviewed the project. After evaluating its prospects, weighing the revised costs and benefits, the LTA Board decided to abort the project.”
“Specifically, Mr Wee wanted to be assured that commuters using feeder services, without any transfer to a trunk service, should not be unduly penalised. Let me explain how the transfer rebate came about. Years ago, feeder fares used to be lower than the minimum trunk fares. Actually, they were under-priced. In other words, the fare was lower than the operating costs of the feeder bus operator. This was clearly not sustainable as a viable bus operation requires fares to at least cover the cost. Effectively, feeder services were being cross-subsidised by trunk services. This has to be rectified. A simple solution was to raise the feeder bus fare to the right level, and be aligned with the minimum trunk fares which were correctly priced. But if we simply raise the feeder bus fares to the minimum trunk fares, commuters who transfer between feeder and trunk services will be overcharged. To overcome this, transfer rebates were introduced. So this has allowed the Public Transport Council to gradually align the feeder fares with the minimum trunk fares, without raising the cost of transfers. As we adjust feeder fares, the transfer rebates were correspondingly raised. The end result is that the net feeder fare payable by the commuter remains unchanged. It is easier if I can give you an example. When the feeder fare for air-conditioned buses was increased by 10 cents to 60 cents in the year 2001, the transfer rebate was also raised by 10 cents, from 15 cents to 25 cents. So the end result, the net feeder fare payable remains at 35 cents. Incidentally, Members may wish to note that this is the same fare, as what the bus operators charged in 1994 when feeder services were first introduced.”
“Sir, let me first reply to the two cuts by Mr Wee Siew Kim yesterday. Mr Wee spoke on licencing conditions that we impose on public transport operators. He said that we should avoid over-stringent licensing conditions as they will inevitably lead to higher operating costs and transport fares. I agree with Mr Wee that every regulation has a cost and that we should avoid over-stringent licensing conditions. Hence, in formulating rules and standards, we go for the minimum that will ensure an acceptable level of service, safety and operational efficiency. The operating principle is to keep the cost of public transport low, without sacrificing standards of safety and comfort. But as the needs and expectations of commuters do change with time, regulations will also have to evolve with time. For example, air-conditioned buses were considered a frill when we were young, but this is now a basic item. So, we have to raise the standards to allow for air-conditioned buses. Mr Wee added that regulators should work closely with transport operators on such regular reviews as they have useful ground experience and would be in a better position to advise on which licencing condition should be further relaxed. I totally agree with this partnership approach. In fact, it was through such industry feedback that we decided, not too long ago, to extend the life-span of public buses from 12 years to 15 years. The extension saves the bus operators a lot of money, with downstream benefits for commuters. We will continue to consult the transport operators on such matters. Mr Wee's second cut was on transfer rebate. He said that transfer rebate should be regularly reviewed to ensure equitable treatment for all. I agree with him that transfer rebate should be based on the principle of equity.”
“So that is the reason why in Singapore, we go for cabling as against allowing domestic homes to put up dishes. It is a unique situation that we are facing, and it is a unique advantage that we are exploiting. Whether the market, as I said, can accommodate a second pay-TV operator using some other platforms, it is for the industry to decide. Technologically, it is possible to go on a second platform using copper wires (telephone wires), which are already into every home with ADSL technology. But that is for the market to decide. Mr Steve Chia's second point that there is a contradiction, that with Internet, we seem helpless because you can get any content that you want, then why bother to tighten up on satellite transmission of broadcasting materials? If Mr Steve Chia truly believes that through Internet you can get all and sundry - I do not know whether he subscribes to cable TV, but I do - and there are 300,000-over families in Singapore who do the same thing - if he is right, that you can already get anything that you want through Internet, then they must be fools to subscribe to cable TV. So, obviously, this banning of dishes has been effective and serves a useful purpose. And for as long as it does, the ban stays. IRIS RECOGNITION SYSTEM 3. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the reason for developing and testing an iris recognition system, since Singapore already has the Immigration Automated Clearance System (IACS) which is working effectively; (b) how much does it cost to develop each system; and (c) what will happen to the newly setup IACS.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the market is small, and Mr Steve Chia therefore argued that it is more cost-effective to just allow households to put up satellite dishes. The most cost-effective means for them is to subscribe to the existing pay-TV operator. Mr Steve Chia may have the impression that putting up satellite dishes is a cheap proposition. It is not. The fact that we are able to go for this current policy of disallowing satellite dishes by wiring up is because we are quite unique. We are a very small and compact country. This is one of those few advantages of being small. If we have a huge hinterland, like most other countries, our current policy will be harder to implement. But because we are small and compact, it is quite inexpensive for us to wire up. There are one million homes and, in fact, more than 90% are high-rise HDB flats. The cost of wiring up a home works out to less than - I am relying on memory here - $300 per home. If you put up a dish, a good dish costs almost $1,000. And one dish can only receive a particular satellite up in the sky. So if you want the full works of things, then you need several dishes per home. So it is not cost-effective at all. But, of course, if you have a large country with huge rural areas, that is a different proposition. Then insisting that banning the dishes and wiring up everybody may not be a good solution. More importantly for us is not only it is cost-effective to cable up, cabling up allows us new opportunities because at the end of the day, optic fibres can provide a much wider spectrum of frequencies than wireless can provide. It is not quite there yet today because the signals are still analogue but, in due course, I expect the cable network to turn digital. Then you would have a wide spectrum of channels to work with.”
“On the other hand, if we succumb to the current economic slowdown and wring our hands in despair, success will also escape us. So, Straits Times' Chua Lee Hoong is right. In her 5th March "Budget 2003" article, she hoped that this Budget debate would generate the right buzz, by focusing on the big picture shift in direction that we are making. Instead, if we wallow in self-pity and talk ourselves into a depression, we deserve to lose. Last week, I had the pleasant duty to give away the Woman of the Year Awards to Olivia Lum and Elim Chew. Several parliamentary colleagues were also there. Wonderful choices by the judging panel, especially at a time like this. These two ladies did not wallow in self-pity when they were down. They had gone through very tough times, but they picked themselves up and succeeded against great odds. And that was also how modern Singapore was built by our parents, despite poorer endowment and more hostile neighbourhood. Surely our generation can do better, given better education and stronger resources. In last year's Sing Singapore song, Dick Lee had this to say: "Look where we are, we've come so far And there's still a long, long way to go With all of my heart, I will care I'll play my part, I will share With family and friends, together we'll stand And in the end, hand in hand We will get there" I share his optimism and his spirit of confidence. Rain will not last forever. While we may not like getting wet, rain also clears the air and nourishes new growth. Singapore has all the conditions to grow and flourish again when the sun comes up. Sir, I support the motion.”
“Everything else is unnecessary bureaucracy." He may have over-dramatised, but I agree with his key message that we should focus only on things that matter to customers and cut out unnecessary bureaucracy as an effective way to reduce cost. Save every single cent and invest on the great stuff. Acquire the culture of being frugal. Look at our first generation entrepreneurs. They are famously frugal. And this is not a uniquely Asian value. The most successful American companies in modern history are ferociously competitive on cost - Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Walmart, Cisco, South West Airline, just to name a few. Up until at least 1998, Bill Gates flew economy, not first class. Walmart employees, including their executives, share rooms when on business trips. These companies have built a strong corporate culture that recognises and rewards employees for being frugal. They know that over the long haul, being cost-competitive is a key competitive advantage. In the absence of some natural advantages, we will always need to be cost-competitive, not necessarily to be the cheapest, but must provide the best value for our customers. My sense is that during the boom years of the last decade, we seem to have forgotten the wisdom of the ancient sage: Ju an si wei, ju sheng si gan ( ). In victory, remember defeat. In time of plenty, we should be especially mindful of deprivation. We should work to make frugality a national culture and regain quickly our cost competitiveness. In conclusion, let me return to the question: will the ERC Report bring in another decade of strong growth? And the answer is really in our hands. Good is the enemy of great. If we are complacent, thinking that we are good and have arrived, then success will escape us.”
“The ERC Report contains many sensible recommendations, but actual implementation and the speed of implementation is the key. Third, learn from our successes and our failures. We need to apply our knowledge more widely in Singapore and build up new knowledge faster. We have pockets of excellence. I may be biased, being from MITA, but I think our libraries have done a remarkable job. We should apply what they did to other areas. Likewise, NETS, Tradenet are all remarkable successes. We should apply our knowledge in cluster information integration in other areas, for example, in healthcare. But we should especially learn from our failures. This follows from the need to move fast. When you move fast, you must be prepared to make some mistakes. We must then be willing to readily admit mistakes, change quickly and correct them. For if we do not learn from our mistakes, we would have wasted our tuition fees and, worse, repeat the mistakes. Fourth, be frugal. We should try to do more with less. Even as we aim high, our feet must be firmly on the ground, focusing on the bottom line. If our feet are not on the ground, we will merely be creating bubbles like the dot.commers. And, if we are not delivering value at realistic prices, someone else would. A CEO friend of mine had this to say about management: "In my 26 years of working life, I have seen us jumping from one management fad to another. Each launched with great fanfare and consultants made tons of money from fees. All the while, I stuck with simple ideas of: (a) productivity = maximise output, minimise input; (b) quality is defined by the customers; (c) value = maximum perceived quality at lowest possible cost; (d) the role of management is to help the frontline staff deliver maximum value to the customers.”
“But because we plan it and we run it to serve 400 million, we have Changi. It is a perfect example of the abundance mindset, focusing on opportunities. Had we adopted the scarcity mindset of focusing on constraints, Changi would not be there and we will all be poorer for it. Last week, Matsushita Refrigeration Industries, the world's No. 2 maker of compressors for household refrigerators, celebrated its 30th anniversary here in Singapore. At a time when many companies are crying their lungs out about the challenge of manufacturing in Singapore, Matsushita is expanding its activities here. It aims high. It aims to make Singapore the world's No. 1 R&D Centre and Manufacturing Solution Hub. Its Singapore factory is the largest facility in the world, making more than half of Matsushita's global output. Last week, it launched the world's most efficient compressor, designed by the R&D team in Singapore. The Esplanade is not of the same scale as the Sydney Opera House, although it is not less charming. Like Changi Airport, we built it to serve a larger hinterland. To attract the clientele, our facilities, especially acoustics, have to be world-class. Last December, tenor Jose Carreras performed in our Concert Hall and he was all praise. He said, "It's probably the world's best modern hall and one of the world's top concert halls of all times." Second, let us move, and move faster than the fastest in China and elsewhere. Those of us who visit China regularly know how fast some of the cities there are moving. Just look at broadband connections in hotels. They are now fairly common in China, but our own hotels here are still slow to implement it. At the end of the day, we win a race only if we can run faster than our competitors.”
“So, unless we have a forum to debate such concerns, we will remain in ambivalence and under-perform. Hence, our recommendation to set up a Ministerial Committee on Services where such issues can be connected and trade-offs made. I am cheered by Deputy Prime Minister Lee's decision to chair this Ministerial Committee. Many hard choices will have to be made, going forward. But there is one major difference between 1985 and now. Then we were truly way ahead of the region. But over the years, the others have caught up. We are still ahead in most areas, but the gap in capabilities has narrowed. We have good hospitals and good schools, good universities, but it is no longer sufficient to be good, as the others have also built up good institutions. Somebody pushed me this book, Good to Great by Jim Collins. Collins spent five years looking into why some companies become great but many others do not. His key insight is: "Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great." This is his observation: "We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools.The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem." Applying Jim Collins' insight to the ERC Report, my take is that being good is not enough in our next phase of development. We need great institutions, and many more of them, going forward. We need to do four things. First, we must aim high. Good is no longer good enough. Without the resources, critical mass and low cost structures, we will not be able to compete if we are merely good. To illustrate this point, look at our Changi Airport. For four million people, we do not need and do not deserve a world-class airport.”
“Mr Speaker, I speak in support of the motion. This year's Budget is ERC-inspired. It is an important first step to re-position our economy for the future. The ERC is a reincarnation of the 1985 Economic Committee, but its karma is different. Almost a generation has passed between the two. The 1985 Economic Committee Report and the changes it launched led to more than a decade of very strong growth for Singapore. So, the question is whether the ERC Report will be just as successful. Will it too lead to another decade of robust growth for Singapore and well-paying jobs for Singaporeans? The ideas are out there in the ERC Report. But, as a friend remarked recently, ideas are a dime a dozen. The ability to execute is what is worth millions. Whether the ERC Report will lead to success depends crucially on our collective attitude and joint efforts towards restructuring. Many of the ideas in the ERC Report are not new. You can find them in the 1985 EC Report. For example, my Services Sub-Committee's idea of making education and healthcare services engines of our growth was not new. It was a major recommendation in 1985. So, why are they being recycled in 2003? Obviously, it means that the old recommendations were not fully exploited. I was in the Ministry of Trade and Industry during this intervening period. I can testify that it was not for lack of trying. But the economic agencies did bump against many obstacles. For example, in the case of health services, there is genuine worry that if a large number of foreign patients are here, competing with local patients for the attention of our doctors, they may drive up healthcare cost. In other words, there is a trade-off between economic objective and social priorities.”
“The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Khaw Boon Wan]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. STRATEGIC GOODS (CONTROL) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 2.55 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Chay for his comments. I take it that he supports in principle this Bill. He made a number of points. I noted three important ones. First, he made a philosophical point. He said, yes, while he understood the need to place restrictions on non-public transport activities of licensees, we should not go overboard and stifle entrepreneurial activities on the part of licensees. That I agree. The clear dos and don'ts are easy to define, but there will be a lot of grey areas. So, it is one of those things where it is very difficult to codify. Therefore, occasionally, it has to be on a case-by-case basis. And the way to go about doing it is to make sure we have wise men and women sitting on the board of LTA, so that they can apply their wisdom, expertise and experience when a case crops up. The second point he made was about performance yardsticks - that licensees should be subject to measurement, whether they meet up with their expectations, and he made a point about making those indicators public. I agree. We already have sets of performance indicators governing SMRT or SLRT, and I will ask LTA to think about going forward to the next step of making them public and make the process transparent. The third point he made was about financial penalty - the point that, yes, we have the power to cancel a licence in the event of a major default in activities. To him, that is a very drastic step, which I agree. In fact, one of the objectives for moving this Bill is to build in this financial penalty framework so that we can have a more discriminatory way of governing the performance of the licensees. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.”
“In this connection, the grounds of appeal by licensees have also been expanded under section 17. Mr Speaker, Sir, since its beginning in 1987, our Rapid Transit System has grown to become an important part of our public transport system. It now serves one million commuters a day. When the North East Line opens, more commuters will get to benefit from this form of transport. Our regulatory regime has to keep pace with developments, both in the industry as well as the changes in RTS technology. In this way, we can better safeguard the interests of the commuters, while ensuring transparency and fairness to the industry players. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Clause 2 Clause 2 of the Bill amends section 15 of the Act to empower the LTA to impose: (a) conditions on its licensees on matters relating to corporate governance; (b) restrictions on the licensees' involvement in non-public transport businesses; and (c) standards on the licensees' performance in areas such as the provision of RTS services and their maintenance. LTA has a duty to retain regulatory oversight over key issues of corporate governance and other business activities of its licensees because the RTS infrastructure is paid for by public funds. Such LTA oversight ensures that the huge capital investments and the public interest are adequately safeguarded. Clause 3 Clause 3 of the Bill expands the statutory powers of the LTA in three areas. First, it empowers the LTA to issue codes of practice and directions, under sections 15B and 15C, in areas such as the operation and maintenance of RTS systems. This is necessary as changes in the industry and advances in technology may require new codes of practice. Second, it expands the definition of events of default to include, among others, non-compliance with Codes of Practice and LTA's Directions (under section 16). It also makes provision for financial penalties to be imposed in the event of any occurrence of default. The ability to impose financial penalties will provide LTA with the means to take deterrent action if the operators fail to perform to regulatory expectations. Third, it empowers the LTA (under section 15A) to add, delete or modify the conditions of the licences granted under section 13. However, any such change can only be effected in accordance with the due process as set out under this clause. The proposed amendment also allows licensees aggrieved by the new conditions to appeal to the Minister.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Our Rapid Transit System (RTS) has expanded over the years. In 1987 when we started, we had less than 70 km of network. With the opening of the Woodlands extension in 1996, the Bukit Panjang LRT in 1999 and the Changi Airport extension this year, the network is now nearly 100 km long. When the Northeast Line (NEL) opens next year, the network will further expand to about 120 km. Meanwhile, changes have also taken place in the industry. The SMRT Corporation, the holding company of SMRT Ltd (SMRT) which operates the existing MRT network, was listed in 2000. SBS Transit Ltd, another publicly listed company, will be operating the NEL. Rationale Our current licensing and regulatory framework for rapid transit systems must keep pace with these changes so that it remains relevant in the light of actual experience. This is the reason for introducing this Bill. The Bill will empower the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the industry regulator, to impose conditions, restrictions and performance standards on rapid transit licensees, both existing and future, through a legislative framework. The imposition of these conditions, restrictions and performance standards on the licensee is not new. Currently, they are provided in the Licence and Operating Agreement negotiated between LTA and the licensee. What this Bill will allow us to do is to put these conditions, restrictions and performance standards on a legislative footing. In this way, we achieve greater transparency in our regulatory framework. Let me now highlight the two key provisions in the Bill.”
“It is just like flying or driving on the road. You know that they are safe, but you cannot eliminate or nullify accidents. There will still be accidents. Like in the case of the Bishan MRT, a boy decided to jump in front. There is nothing we can do to prevent such kind of incident. But like all things, we do our best. There are procedures and our job, as human beings, is to minimise errors, and processes are put in to minimise errors. And that is what we will do. ELDERSHIELD SCHEME 10. Mr Gan Kim Yong asked the Minister for Health (a) what were the main reasons for the large number of people opting out of the ElderShield Scheme; (b) will his Ministry consider improving the Scheme so as to encourage more people to participate in it; and (c) what can his Ministry do to help those who have opted out of the Scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would not use such strong words. Like all things, you can test and test and test, and never start the system. And what is the limit for testing? At the end of the day, someone has to make a judgment on when to stop testing. You are satisfied and you proceed. A decision was made three years ago to open at that point in time. On hindsight, everybody is now wiser. The more important thing is that after the Bukit Panjang LRT incident, we decided, and to use Singlish, to be more kiasu here. So we tested a lot more, which is what we are doing with Sengkang.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there is a Chinese proverb, "mou shi zai ren, cheng shi zai tian". It is for human beings to design and plan but, like all things, you cannot guarantee success. I cannot. I will be dishonest to say that no incident will happen. This morning, I happened to have to officiate at a seamless transport conference and as a habit that I acquired when I was in Istana, I always make sure that I am there five minutes before a function. But, today, I was four minutes late. So, there was a nine-minute disruption. Why? Because, half way through my journey, I noticed that the temperature of my 7-year old car was rising beyond the normal level. I had no choice but to stop, and I discovered that the radiator almost ran out of water. So, I had to find some water to top it up, and that accounted for the nine-minute disruption. As Members can see, even in private transport, I cannot assure 100% that there will be no incident, but we will do our best. If everybody plays his part, there ought not to be such incidents.”
“Yes, indeed. That was almost the first task that was done.”
“If your maintenance is not top-class, then occasionally, there will be lapses and disruptions crop up. Having built the system and run it, let us now focus on the operation and make sure that maintenance is top-class. Today, it is not quite there yet but there is no reason why they cannot achieve top-class if they put their hearts and souls into it and we intend to make sure that they do.”
“The lapses could have been avoided and I think resources will now be pumped in to make sure that those mistakes do not crop up again. What is the scope of audit by LRT? It will be as wide as necessary. The key question to answer is: are there faults in the maintenance regime? Are there shortcomings there which can be fixed? Preliminary, looking at things, for example, looking at this guide-wheel incident, the procedures are correctly worded. In fact, because cotter pin is such an important piece of component, the SOP in the maintenance requires two signatures - the one who inserts the pin signs it off; the one who supervises it signs it off. Both signatures were there. But what happened? We discovered that the one who supervised, the second signature, did it without actually looking at it. That is bad and that has to be fixed. I do not think that there is any design problem. This is not the first time Bombardier installed an LRT. There have been many Bombardier systems all around the world. I do not think we can say that that was a design problem. I did make a comment when I toured BPLRT that I would have preferred not to retrofit an LRT into an existing town because I have travelled on BPLRT. Two weeks ago, I took a trial run on the Sengkang LRT. The Sengkang LRT is planned and built together with the new town. When you do so, you get a simpler system. The tracks are by and large, level. Whereas if you take a ride on our BPLRT, not quite a Disneyland roller coaster, you get ups and downs, twists and turns. As an engineer, I know that such twists and turns, ups and downs exert a lot of stresses on the system. It causes much more wear and tear. It does not mean that it cannot be made to work, but it means that your maintenance must be top-class.”
“BPLRT has a life of about three years now and I think it is useful to break it up into various stages. People always criticise the LRT about the 50 disruptions, much of it were teething problems in the earlier period. If you look at this year's performance record, it is quite different. We were not responsible for the earlier opening of the BPLRT. If you ask me, as an engineer, I would have preferred to test the system thoroughly before we opened it up because, like all complicated systems, there will be problems. There are bound to be teething problems. For example, the Esplanade has roofs that leak. When I opened hospitals, I remember that for the first six months, we have to fix several leaking roofs. This is normal for any sophisticated project. And for a public utility like transport, my preference would have been to: test, test and test again, until we are very sure, then we open it. And that is the approach we are taking to the Sengkang LRT and that will be the approach we are taking to the North-East line. On hindsight, perhaps BPLRT should not have been opened prematurely. If they had done that, I think all those 50 disruptions probably would have happened during the trial period rather than when the system was open for revenue service. Anyway, that is history now. What is more important is to focus on the way going forward. My point is this. Until the October incident, for four months, they have been able to deliver on the very high standard of 99.7%. Let us not demoralise the existing management team. They are working their guts out. I know because I have seen them working. They are serious people. I think they are not proud of what happened on October 21st.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member has asked four questions. I hope my memory can hold. Let me answer in reverse order. The last question was: how is the 99.7% measured? As I have said, 99.7% is measured on a daily basis. In other words, over a 20-hour operating period - it runs a 20-hour operation period - any disruptions, cumulative or a single incident, cannot exceed four minutes. So it is a very, very stringent service level. And the system has been able to deliver that until the October 21st incident. The third question was on the giant team and the cost of maintenance and whether it would be passed on. I think the cost of maintenance has to be part and parcel of running the BPLRT system, both the LRT as well as the SMRT. Fare revision is a separate issue and that is why we have the Public Transport Council (PTC) to review what is the cost and whether there are justifications to revise fares. That is a separate issue altogether. But as we have always maintained, safety and reliability are key priorities. When you provide a public transport system, if it is not safe, if it is not reliable, every other day it breaks down, exceeding the four-minute disruption standard, it is a terrible system. But whatever is the right level of cost, you just have got to float up to that level. Of course, there is no reason for us to pad up the maintenance crew so that the cost is higher than necessary. It is the job of the operator to make sure that they deliver that level of safety and reliability at minimal cost. And as I have outlined just now, my thinking is, to deliver that optimum level, there is a case for centralisation rather than splitting up. Splitting up will inevitably raise costs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in my main reply, I have assured Members that LRT is safe. Even in the case of the guide-wheel where it dropped off, it was in the central trough and there was never a safety concern. I do not know whether it is necessary for me to go beyond this. The system is safe and that is an assurance that I can give Members.”
“In fact, I was at a conference this morning and met the SLRT management there. My suggestion to them was: why not consider seriously, as in my own experience in hospital management, centralising their maintenance so that they have one team that runs both the MRT and LRT? Of course, from the financial point of view, we have to split up and account their operation separately. But that does not prevent us from running certain supportive operations centrally. And that goes with maintenance, human resource management, training, etc. That would be my advice to them but, of course, it is a decision for the company to take.”
“As I have said, it has to do with the quality of maintenance. I have been very much involved in looking at this project over the last few months since our last Budget debate, and I have seen the quality improving. It is quite a different team now. They are serious about what they are doing. But like all things, it cannot be fixed overnight. Until the October 21st incident, indeed, the quality has improved. They have put in significant engineering resources, at great cost, from the parent company into the subsidiary. But the October 21st incident shows that they are not quite there yet. My own take-away is this. I have been involved in running hospitals for many years and was helping Minister Yeo Cheow Tong at that time in restructuring the various hospitals. Initially, when we started restructuring hospitals and splitting them up into individual hospitals, the immediate reaction was to go independent on everything - maintenance was split up, PR, HR, CFOs, and so on - all decentralised. And what was the result? The result was that for large hospitals, like the Singapore General Hospital or the National University Hospital which I was running at that time, they had enough critical mass. They were able to accumulate a very professional team. But it was the smaller hospitals that suffered because of their lack of scale of operation. They were not able to recruit a giant team as they needed to, as in the large hospitals. My own observation about this whole BPLRT incident is this. As they split up into SMRT running the larger system and, inevitably, you have a much smaller team running SLRT. With a smaller team, it is not just budget constraint, but also career development for the staff. It is harder to recruit top maintenance staff.”
“Sir, I share the disappointment of Members and commuters affected by this latest disruption. But this recent incident is not quite similar to the earlier problems. The earlier teething problems of the LRT have been largely resolved. That is why it was able to achieve 99.7% service level for several months. This did not happen by chance. I know that SMRT has seconded significant engineering resources to SLRT and has engaged Bombardier, the train supplier, to provide technical training. As a result, the maintenance standard of the operator has improved significantly in recent months. But the 21st October incident shows that it still has some way to go. We will continue to press the operator to improve its standard of maintenance.”
“Second, SMRT and SLRT will follow through the various recommendations put up by the Panel of Inquiry. These were technical matters and were already announced by the Panel last week. I would not repeat them, except to highlight one key recommendation. The Panel has recommended that SMRT and SLRT should work closer together in cross-training their maintenance staff so that they can reinforce each other in the event of any major service disruption. This will speed up service recovery and minimise inconvenience to commuters. This is a good arrangement. In fact, I see value in integrating and centralising the maintenance functions of SMRT and SLRT, to achieve economy of scale and, more importantly, in raising professionalism of the maintenance team at the LRT level. But this is really an operational matter that the operator should think through and decide. Dr Teo proposed that the BPLRT be shut down for a period so that a thorough investigation and testing can be carried out. But this is not necessary. This incident is not due to a flaw in design. Neither does it point to a safety risk. It is caused by a lapse in maintenance. It is human error. The way forward is to tighten up on maintenance and to prevent such human errors. Dr Teo also asked about the key safety features and performance standards that we impose on the LRT. Let me assure Dr Teo that the BPLRT is safe. It has adequate safety features, and one example is the Automatic Train Protection System that regulates the distance between trains to prevent any collision. As for performance standards, they are set out in full in the Licence and Operating Agreement between LTA and SLRT. They relate to service quality, safety and operations of the system.”
“Without the cotter pin to hold it in place, the castle nut may turn loose and, in extreme cases, can result in the guide-wheel falling off. After the incident, SMRT and SLRT staff searched the entire site. They could retrieve all the components of the guide-wheel assembly, but not the cotter pin. This has led the Panel to conclude that the most likely cause for the guide-wheel to be dislodged was a missing cotter pin in the guide-wheel assembly. So, the second question was: why was the cotter pin missing? The Panel considered the possibility of the pin breaking or dropping off through wear and tear. But it ruled out such a possibility as neither the pin nor its broken parts were recovered. The Panel concluded that the cotter pin was probably never inserted during the last overhaul maintenance in August 2002, two months before the incident. This is despite the fact that the maintenance procedure does require the maintenance staff to sign off after inserting the pin, and the maintenance record did contain their signatures. This finding would suggest to me that the quality of preventive maintenance is not up to the mark. First, the failure to insert the cotter pin, an important component of the guide-wheel assembly, should have been noted at the time of the overhaul in August. Second, daily checks for excessive free play of the guide-wheel assembly by an experienced team could have detected the loosening of the guide-wheel before it became completely dislodged. As a result of this incident, there are several actions being done. First, LTA is conducting an audit of the maintenance regime of the BPLRT. The objective is to identify the shortcomings so that they can be corrected.”
“Until the service disruption on 21st October 2002, the Bukit Panjang LRT had overcome its initial difficulties and has begun to meet our service expectations. In the four months preceding the recent incident, it had met the service availability standard of 99.7%, ie, a delay of not more than 4 minutes over each 20-hour operating period. The 21st October service disruption occurred at around 6.40 am. Service was partially restored on 24th October. Full service resumed on 26th October. While the incident caused commuters a lot of inconvenience, at no time was safety of commuters compromised. What happened? Each LRT vehicle has eight guide-wheels to help position the vehicle centrally on its track. Guide-wheels are not the same as the running wheels on which the vehicle travels. On 21st October, one of the eight guide-wheels got dislodged and fell off. The spindle that held the guide-wheel grated against the rail, damaging about one kilometre of it before the vehicle came to a stop. SLRT had to replace the damaged portions of the rail. It was a major repair, and it took them several days to complete. Immediately after the incident, the Land Transport Authority directed SMRT, the parent company of the operator, to set up a Panel of Inquiry. The Panel's findings were released just last week. Let me highlight the key points. First, why did the guide-wheel drop off? A guide-wheel is normally held in place by a castle nut and a cotter pin. A cotter pin is about five centimetres long and is inserted through a castle nut to prevent the castle nut from loosening as a result of vibration. It is an important component of the guide-wheel assembly.”
“To provide better comprehensive and integrated services to its customers, to improve working conditions for its staff as there was a severe space shortage at the previous office at Bukit Merah; and, finally, to facilitate the comprehensive redevelopment of Toa Payoh. HDB has appointed five marketing agents to lease out the premises at the previous office at Bukit Merah. In view of the current economic situation, HDB expects the demand in the short term to be weak. Nonetheless, HDB will continue to actively market the vacated premises. The overall HDB retail sector has not been spared the problems that the local retail sector has faced over the past few years. These problems include a weak external demand due to the regional economic slowdown, leakage of spending by Singaporeans going overseas and keen domestic competition with the emergence of new shopping malls and hyper markets. The business of the eating establishments and the retail shops at Bukit Merah had also, to some extent, been affected by HDB's relocation to Toa Payoh, although they are still quite well patronised by office workers from the nearby Henderson Industrial Park, CMPB and SPRING. HDB will try to rent out the vacant retail premises to other retailers who complement the existing trades and who have a regional demand. In this way, we hope to increase human traffic and therefore have a positive spillover effect on the businesses of the existing shops.”
“Lest we get carried away, the disabled is a whole spectrum of people with different degrees of disability, from mild to severe, and wheelchair-bound. I think for the bulk of the disabled population, they can make use of our public transport. Years ago when I used to run more regularly, 10 km each time, I ran from my house in Upper Thomson to Newton Circus, and I would then pass the junction where the former Toa Payoh Hospital used to be, and the Association of the Visually Handicapped is located. So, very often, I will encounter them alighting from buses, crossing the overhead bridge, and the pedestrian crossings, and they can do so unaided. But I think what is more heartwarming for me is that, every now and then, I will see strangers who offer to help them cross the bridge, or the pedestrian crossing. I have played my part myself. And I think this is what it ought to be. We all want a user-friendly system for all, but everyone must play his part. MOT will play its part. HDB HEADQUARTERS (Vacation of Bukit Merah building) 5. Dr Chong Weng Chiew asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Housing and Development Board (HDB) Headquarters' move to Toa Payoh was well conceived as the vacated building in Bukit Merah is still unoccupied; and (b) as retail businesses in the Bukit Merah Central area are suffering as a result, whether HDB had anticipated the loss of business and planned possible measures to revitalise the area. The Minister of State for National Development (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB decided in 1995 to move to Toa Payoh. There are several reasons for this decision.”
“I do not know what transpired three or four years ago. That time I was up there in the gallery happily as Permanent Secretary (MTI). But from what I could gather from the Member's comment, she was saying that the arguments used by MCIT then against MRT being made disabled-friendly was on ground of productivity. By that, I presume she meant fast loading, boarding and alighting. As I explained, I think trains are quite different. A train is not a bus. One key difference is a train has many doors. So, at the same time, you can admit and alight passengers easily. Each train has to stop at a station for at least a few minutes. So, even though a wheelchair-bound may take up to two minutes, it is all right. It does not hold up traffic. But buses are quite different. Earlier I made the two implications - one is cost, and the other is time. These are serious implications. These are not frivolous that we imagine out of thin air. The problem, therefore, cuts two ways. Either there are a lot of such users who are on wheelchair, in which case, the cost will be better spread out. But if there are a large number of users, the problem of cumulative waiting becomes a big one. Or if the numbers are small, in which case the impact on queuing or the productivity she talked about is marginal. But in that case, the cost is high. So it is no wonder that mature cities like New York and London have come to the conclusion that they still need a dedicated service. Yes, they will try to make the routine bus service as friendly as possible, but you have to override that, you have to supplement it. In fact, more than supplement it, that is the dominant mode of travel. It is a dedicated service for those on wheelchair.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I really would not want to pre-empt the discussion about the inter-agency report, which is led by MCDS, because they are still finalising their recommendations. In due course, maybe we can have a discussion about it. In any case, NCSS does not come under MOT. It comes under MCDS. But the key point is this. Yes, I think for a dedicated service, funding is one of the key elements that has to be resolved. Let MCDS and this Working Group discuss through on how they want to bring them about. Obviously, it has to come from various parties. The Member is right. He quoted the NCSS' annual report about they setting aside a budget for transport needs. The current system is this. The various VWOs have their own individual systems to serve their own members. It is highly unsatisfactory because there are a lot of duplication and wastages. So I think what the inter-agency Working Group is working towards is some sort of centralisation, so that it can be a shared service and, hopefully, we can cut down on duplication and stretch our limited dollar longer. We hope that they can succeed. But, I think, implicit in the Member's supplementary question was, what is the role of the bus operator? The bus operator's role is to operate. It is an operator. We have a big debate in this House not too long ago. Let us acknowledge that different people play different roles. There is a regulator, there is a commercial player, and there will be NGOs with objectives to help and, of course, the passengers themselves who can be means tested. I think for a system to work properly, we need everyone to play his part. I cannot play your part, neither can you play my part. But I think when all of us play in harmony, we would have a marvellous system.”
“So the whole burden is now loaded onto the individual, the family and the public at large. I know, but I may be wrong here, MCDS also has been trying its best to push this along but it does not seem to have much progress. My concern is that this dedicated service would end up an interesting exercise on paper. But when it comes to implementation, the wherewithal, the funds, would not be available. What would be the obligations for public bus operators to, at least, help in supplementing or complementing the funds required?”