Koh Lip Lin
Singapore
“Or is the Government wanting to realise the policy of "pay as you use" first before building more libraries? In the Library 2000 Review Committee, it was stated that some libraries will be built in some estates. I would like to know whether any library will be built in Hougang. What is the priority?”
“" Their authority is not compromised by saying so! On the other hand, if the journalists and commentators are really concerned about Government policies and national affairs, so long as they do not give rise to racial and religious conflicts, they should not be too concerned about going out of bounds when they make their criticisms and co…”
“Due to the keen competition from the established fast-food chains, if there is insufficient provision of eating houses in the neighbourhood centre, it may be likely that the traditional fish ball noodle and the roti prata will be replaced by hamburger and fried chicken.”
“For this reason, I would like to ask what is the plot ratio the HDB is using for the construction of its flats nowadays, and since when has the HDB been adopting this present plot ratio. What is the plot ratio approved by the URA in respect of private apartments in the rural area?”
“Coming back to the topic of expensive shops, I do not know what can be done at this stage. Selling and renting out shops by tender has been accepted as a fair practice. Speculators are supposed to blame themselves if their business fails. Meanwhile, my town residents have no choice but to live with higher prices.”
“Sir, is the Minister or the PWD aware that the proposed shelter will benefit about one-quarter of the Yishun New Town population and that is equal to 2% of the Singapore population? The second question is: Does the Minister agree that the $100,000 is a very small sum of money to spend for the benefit of 2% of the Singapore population?”
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“Sir, I have noted that in this year's Budget paper, under the programme description of the Administration Programme of the Ministry, one of the two main titles is "Research and Statistics". I just want to ask the Minister to elaborate on the kind of research that is being carried out in his Ministry.”
“Sir, the decision of the Government to phase out pig farming in 1989 has some important consequences. First, it means that Singapore will have to depend entirely on imported pork or pigs from 1989 onwards. I would like to know what measures have the Minister taken to make sure that Singapore will continue to have adequate supply of pork of good quality and at reasonable prices. My second question concerns the future of pig farming and pig farmers. The phasing out of pig farming means the pig farmers have lost their last frontier in Singapore. It was only a few years ago that these pig farmers from places such as Nee Soon and Chua Chu Kang, were encouraged by Primary Production Department to pool their capital and resources together to invest in pig farms in Punggol. And they are now asked to cease their operations by next year. The Government has indicated that they will be compensated according to a scheme, details of which have yet to be announced. I hope the Government will be sympathetic in deciding on the terms of compensation because the Government is to be blamed for leading or misleading them into this dead end. Finally, I would also like to ask the same question as asked by the Member for Punggol, that is, whether the Government will be taking steps to encourage export of our expertise in pig farming which we have acquired during the past few decades, whether Singapore can provide consultancy and technical services in the field of pig farming to pig farms in neighbouring countries.”
“Sir, I just want to make some comments on the role of the Urban and Rural Services Committee (URSC). For many years, the URSC has been known to the MPs and the community leaders of various rural constituencies as the Committee which gives grants to construct or improve the basic facilities of rural areas. In the past, the major part of the URSC budget was spent mainly on projects such as upgrading of kampong roads, providing street lights, electricity and water, improvement of drainage, etc. With the gradual disappearance of rural areas in Singapore, the need for these projects is also disappearing. There are now very few kampongs or villages where such projects are needed. I therefore wish to ask the Minister what will be the future role of URSC. Sir, URSC has served a very useful purpose in the past. With only a small budget of a few million dollars a year, it has succeeded in providing the basic facilities in rural areas. I have the honour to be a member of the URSC for nine years and I can say that it is one of the most pragmatic, down-to-earth and most effective government committees that I have ever seen. The little money spent each year has contributed so much to the convenience and welfare of so many people in the rural areas. I hope the Ministry will not dissolve the URSC or reduce the funds given to the URSC. Instead, the role of URSC can be widened to include projects which previously do not come under the jurisdiction of URSC, for example, upgrading of facilities in public housing estates, improvement of environment of housing estates, and so on. I am sure the few million dollars each year given to URSC will bring about most fruitful results.”
“As commented by the Member for Chong Boon, HDB should not regard Town Councils as its competitors nor should HDB regard the formation of Town Council as a good opportunity to relieve itself of various unprofitable parts of estate management to the Town Councils. I would like to urge the Ministry and HDB to study the problem of transfer of estate management expertise carefully and come up with schemes which can ensure the smooth transfer of future management of the estates to the Town Councils. Sir, Ang Mo Kio New Town is a relatively new but established New Town. The flats are not too old and public facilities are good. The management of Ang Mo Kio Estate is therefore easier than older estates such as Toa Payoh or Queenstown. These older estates are likely to face urgent problems in maintenance and upgrading later on. The future Town Councils of the older estates should therefore be given more generous grants and support. I wish to request the Minister to take this into consideration when finalizing the legislation and procedures of the Town Councils.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I support the Member for Punggol for his motion of amendment. I also wish to support the Member for Chong Boon and to give some comments on matters concerning the town councils and public estate management. Sir, the Town Council pilot project has been implemented for about 1(r) years. Despite some initial doubts on the feasibility of the project, all indications have shown that this project at Ang Mo Kio has been quite successful, as commented by the Member for Chong Boon earlier. This temporary success should not be taken for granted. The fact that the Town Councils are able to run the Ang Mo Kio Estate without much problem and are able to deliver as good as or better service than HDB is due to a number of factors which include the capable leadership of the three Chairmen, the dedicated service of the Town Council members and the efficiency and hard work of the Town Council staff. I wish to commend in particular the Town Council members who are all unpaid and voluntary members and who have spent a lot of their time and energy in the service of town councils. Their enthusiasm and dedication have convinced me that the idea of letting residents manage their own estates is indeed workable. Sir, the Government has indicated its intention of implementing the Town Council scheme to all public housing estates. In doing so, the duty of estate management will eventually be passed from HDB to the Town Councils. It is essential that HDB, with years of experience in estate management, should try to transfer its expertise in estate management to the Town Councils.”
“Sir, I just want to ask whether the Minister is happy about the current situation. I would imagine that he is unhappy because there are so many people committing offences but, on the other hand, he should be happy because each month the Ministry is collecting a lot of money in fines. Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, it would not be correct to say that we are happy because we are collecting a lot of fines. We very much prefer a situation where motorists obey the parking regulations so that there is a minimum need to impose penalties on those who either use invalid coupons or overstay their parking duration. The rules are made not because we want to raise more fines but because it is necessary to benefit the vast majority of law-abiding motorists who dutifully use the correct coupons and park within the limit that they have paid for. ORDER OF BUSINESS Resolved, 'That a Ministerial Statement be made by the Prime Minister after Item 1 on the Order Paper. - [Mr Wong Kan Seng]. NEWSPAPER AND PRINTING PRESSES (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 11.34 am”
“How much money, in terms of fines, are collected each month from these offences?”
“Sir, will the Minister tell us what are the criteria for PA to decide on whether a temporary community centre should be a shophouse centre or a void deck centre?”
“Sir, can I ask the Minister to urge the relevant authority to try to expedite the completion of the sports complex and stadium because Yishun is now a very large new town with 5% of the total population of Singapore living there and most of them are young people to whom the sports facilities are very important.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I ask the Minister a couple of questions concerning the proposed checking system for structural designs, plans and calculations? The first question is, will it bring about any difficulties to the developers other than the slight increase in cost he mentioned earlier? Secondly, will it cause any delay in the approval of the building plans?”
“I hope the Minister can look into ways to rent the lands to farmers who are interested in making good use of these lands on a short term basis. In connection with this, I wish to ask the Minister to consider the possibility of setting aside some areas in Singapore for use as farmland or for agricultural activities on a more permanent basis. Singapore is a land scarce country. It is not possible for Singapore to set aside large areas of land for farming. However, under the overall planning of the use of land, it may be worthwhile to consider assigning certain areas in Singapore for agriculture, not for the conventional type of farming but for the development of high technology, high density farming. These agricultural areas of farmlands can serve a number of purposes. First, to serve as green zones like catchment areas or golf clubs or nature reserves. Secondly, to produce a certain amount of food supplies so that we have something to fall back on if there is any sudden shortage of foreign supply in certain items like the recent case of vegetables from Malaysia that contain too much pesticides. And thirdly, to be used as the base for developing consulting and technical services in agrotechnology which is an area Singapore can serve and develop as a regional centre. I understand that last year the Ministry of National Development earmarked certain areas to be used as agrotechnological parks. This is a step in the right direction. But I hope the sites were chosen with care and foresight to avoid the same mistakes made with pig farms in Lim Chu Kang, Jalan Kayu or Punggol. I also hope that the lease of these lands should be long enough so that those interested can really find it profitable to invest in high technology agriculture.”
“Sir, I would like to support my colleague, the hon. Member for Punggol, for his comment and his questions. In addition, I would like to make a few points regarding the acquisition of farmlands and the use of these lands. In answering the question by the Member for Punggol the other day, the Minister of State for National Development stated that some of the State lands which were acquired but not immediately needed for development had been leased out for commercial farming on a short term basis. This is, of course, the correct measure to take to maximize the use of land. I hope the Government can apply this principle more freely, and with more flexibility, on farmlands which have been acquired for development. Over the past few years, a number of areas in Nee Soon Constituency, namely, Mandai Tekong, Lorong Sunyi, Lorong Pelita, which were traditionally very good farmlands in Singapore and which used to produce substantial quantities of vegetables and farm products, have been acquired by Government and have been cleared with the intention of developing public projects. However, owing to changes in planning or delays in projects, these acquired lands are now left vacant and unused. It is, therefore, a great pity and a great waste to see these formerly productive farms now left useless. Requests by farmers to rent these lands for farming on short term basis have not received positive response from the Government. Sir, if a piece of land is to be used immediately for development, there is no justification to allow farming to continue. However, if the land has been acquired but is left unused for two or more years, it means the Government has acquired the land too early. And to leave these lands lying useless for a number of years after acquisition is yet another mistake.”
“May you allow me to comment on one thing? I am very happy to hear the Minister announce earlier that traditional names of Singapore places will be used in naming future or new developments at these places. I do not know whether he proposes to change Yishun back to Nee Soon. But there is one particular name in Singapore which I strongly feel should be changed, and that is, the Kandang Kerbau Market, now known as Zhujiao. There are two good reasons why I think the name should be changed. First, the word Zhujiao in Hanyu pinyin is exactly the same as the word Zhujiao that means pigs' legs. So Zhujiao Market to someone who comes from outside will mean the Market of Pigs' Legs or the place where they sell pig's legs. But another more compelling reason for change is that Zhujiao is a trans-literation of the Hokkien name Tekkah into Mandarin; and unfortunately the translation is wrong. Because what Tekkah means in Hokkien does not mean the "legs of the bamboo". I checked with the botanists in the NUS and they told me that bamboos do not have legs. The Kah in Hokkien means "underneath" or "below". So Tekkah means "underneath the shade of the bamboo trees", a very beautiful poetic name. And it also reminds us of the history of the place where, in the early years, the first settlers traded under the shade of the bamboo trees. So the Kah is a very frequently used name in Hokkien. We have Tek Kah, Goh Chang Cheu Kah, Lau Chi Kah, Mang Kah Kah and also the common min cheng kah toh kah. The kah here does not mean "leg" but it means "underneath". So I would like to know whether the Minister is prepared to change the name Zhujiao Market back to Tekkah Market.”
“All these questions seem to be decided upon by the Government. It is about time Singaporeans learned to think for themselves and to contribute more to assist the Government in decision-making.”
“As a Member of Parliament, I find it necessary, very often, to file Questions for Oral Answer in this House to find out what is being planned for my constituency, and quite often the answers given are incomplete or incorrect. The Ministry of National Development has the full authority to decide on planning matters and the development of projects. But I think that, for any development that affects the local community, there should be channels for consultation and getting feedback from the ground. Such channels appear to be lacking. As Singaporeans become better educated, there is an increasing desire for them to participate more in public decision-making. The Town Council pilot project and the National Agenda discussion are new developments in this direction. I think we should expect more to come. I would therefore like to suggest to the Minister for National Development to think of some ways to allow the local community, ie, the CCCs, the RCs and other grassroots organizations, to have a certain degree of participation in planning and development at local or constituency level. This can be done by having frequent forums or dialogues between the planners and the community or other forms of discussion or consultation. Recently I was quite surprised at being invited by the Public Relations Department of the PWD to a briefing on expressway projects affecting Nee Soon Constituency. I found the briefing very useful. This type of briefing should be conducted more often and extended to community leaders and grassroots organizations. For the last 20 years Singaporeans have depended too much on the Government for making so many decisions for them, be it the question of to smoke or not to smoke, to have one, two or three children, to speak Mandarin or to speak dialect.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I just want to comment on one area under this Head, ie, planning and development. The Planning Department of the Ministry of National Development is in charge of the overall physical planning of Singapore. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Department on its achievements in transforming Singapore into what we are today, a modern, beautiful and ideal city state. However, at local or constituency level, the planning and development does not seem to proceed as smoothly as one would expect. There are frequent changes in the plans resulting in various projects being delayed, shelved or postponed, and this creates a sense of uncertainty and confusion among the local community. In the Nee Soon constituency, for example, as early as in March 1982, I was informed in this House by the Minister that a certain area was acquired by Government for the development of a middle-income housing estate, and another area was also acquired for the development of the so-called Seletar New Town. In 1983 I was also informed that another area was acquired for a Ministry of Defence development project. It has been four or five years since, and nothing has happened. Changes of this nature have generated a lot of anxiety, confusion and hardship among those affected. I shall comment more on this under another amendment. Sir, I do agree that social and economic conditions change. There is often the need to change the plans, and quickly also. In fact, that is how we Singaporeans survive, to be adaptable, flexible and changeable. My complaint, Sir, is that in the initial stage of planning the use of the land as well as in a decision to change the plans, the local community, including the Member of Parliament, was not consulted or even informed.”
“Sir, can the Minister explain why there is such a long delay in the opening of the Yishun North Area Office in view of the fact that the building itself was completed many, many months ago?”
“Sir, does the Senior Parliamentary Secretary know that Yishun New Town is not served by SBS but is served by TIBS?”
“Sir, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary where will the four additional post offices be sited?”
“We hear very very often complaints such as lack of incentives, lack of recognition of service, lack of support and encouragement, and also the risk of being removed from the job without warning or reasons given, etc. So I hope the Ministry can look at the service conditions of principals and that sufficient incentives, encouragement and support must be given to the principals. 11.15 am”
“Sir, I am glad that yesterday the Member for Bukit Batok and the Member for Moulmein brought up the problems of school principals. I am also happy to hear from the Minister of State that the Ministry is taking steps to make sure that we are going to have good principals for our schools. I just want to draw the Minister's attention to some statistics as contained in the book entitled "Key Education Statistics 1984" published by the Ministry of Education. On page 36 of the book, Table 28 gives statistics on the length of service of school principals. Of the 402 principals, 121 (30%) have fewer than four years' experience, 16 (4%) have experience between five and 19 years, 137 (34%) have experience between 20 and 29 years and 128 (32%) have experience of more than 30 years. In other words, our school principals are all old principals of 20 or more years of experience or new ones with little experience. It makes me wonder what happened to those appointed as principals during the past five to 19 years. The only conclusion I can draw is that it must be a very tough job for school principals. They just do not survive. The question is what will happen when the old principals retire and they will retire very soon because some of them have got more than 30 years' experience. It looks as if we are heading towards a crisis, and I am glad that the Ministry is aware of the problem. But I would like to point out that just by identifying the potential principals and giving them training may not be sufficient. The Ministry may want to review the service conditions of principals.”
“Sir, I have got an amendment under Subhead LB-01. May I speak now? The Chairman: Yes.”
“With that assurance, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $367,213,470 for Head T ordered to stand part of the main Estimates. The sum of $5,576,675,500 for Head T ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for his replies to the questions and requests made by Members. Before I withdraw my amendment and since there are a few minutes left, may I make one last request? Sir, I would like to request the Minister to look into some complaints about the market and food centre at Yishun New Town. This market and food centre is very well designed and good looking, but not practical. It is not sun-proof and rain-proof. In the morning and afternoon, the stalls suffer from sunshine. During the rain, the stalls suffer from rain water and stallholders have requested the HDB to rectify them. But the answer was that they could not do anything. They suggested that the stallholders themselves put up the design and then get approval from HDB. But they have to pay for the cost themselves. I think it is the responsibility of HDB, as the designer, to make sure that the building they build is suitable for the purpose it is meant for. If there is any rectification to the structure, HDB should bear the cost.”
“I just want to ask whether the Minister will relax the rules regarding the eligibility for purchase or rental of HDB flats for those who are affected by resettlement and whose hardship conditions merit special consideration. These are people with very large families.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for his replies. But before I withdraw my amendment, I just want to ask the Minister to clarify a simple point. I am glad that he has agreed to review the 20% downpayment for the purchase of HDB flats. But will he also relax the rules regarding eligibility for purchase or rental of HDB flats for those who are affected by resettlement and whose hardship circumstances merit special consideration?”
“Those between 40 and 55 years old, the participation rate is 60% whereas in Singapore only 47% and 26% respectively. In Japan, 50% of the children of working mothers are being looked after in the creches, 47% by their grandparents or relatives while in Singapore 43% of children of working women are looked after by their grandparents or relatives and about 2% are looked after by the creches. Although women in Japan are working a half-day system, according to what I have read the so called half-day working system is actually a 6-hour day. Women in Japan, quite unlike what we think, play an important role in their economy. As early as the Second World War, women had played an important role in the Japanese economy while their men were in the armed forces engaged in the war. Here in Singapore, ours is an unique society where we may need to accept and absorb Western science and technology and management skills but at the same time continue to preserve our good traditional values and culture, that is the eight good traditional virtues of loyalty, filial piety, humanism, love, courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame-consciousness. So we need not be worried about any undesirable consequences if we want to encourage our women to come out to work. If we want to increase our national productivity and economic progress and raise the living standard of the people and reduce the gap of wealth between the rich and the poor or to help those poorer people, I feel that the best way is to give them work. So I appeal to the Government to appoint a special department to coordinate, promote and implement various measures to encourage women to come out and participate in various kinds of work in the society. 11.53 am”
“The ratio is 1:9. For children between three and five years old, one out of four can be accommodated in a creche. The ratio is 1:4. But in Singapore, out of 133 children between two years and six years old, the creche can accommodate only one child. The ratio is 1:133. The HDB's three-tier family method can also be improved upon. Young couples living away from old parents after having children of their own should realize the advantage of staying together with their parents. When there is a flat available nearby for sale or resale, priority should be given to such couple or aged parents to stay together. On the full-day school, it will be useful to parents and students particularly older parents. The full-day school should thus not be given up just because of failure in the first experiment. To make it attractive, we should consider the various factors like locality, transportation, teaching facilities, the contents of curricula and time-table. I would also like the Government to encourage private enterprises to respond to the Government's measure in giving married women one or two years' unpaid leave to enable them to look after their children. I hope that more systematic aid can be given to the womenfolk who intend to come out. to work, to guide them in lessening their psychological inhibition. There are certain women's organizations which are helping the womenfolk to come out to work but they lack human resource and financial assistance. Let me quote some examples from Japan for reference. The rate of female labour participation is nearly 50%, slightly higher than ours. What is to be noted is that for those between 25 and 29 years old, the participation rate is also about 50%. That is to say, 50% of the mothers also come out to work.”
“In 1981 the Government implemented a half day working scheme for women and in 1983 it allowed female civil servants to have one year's unpaid leave to look after their children. In order to help married women the Government also implemented full-day schools for children and reduced their income tax contributions. Encouragement has also been given to three-tier families by HDB, and so on. You may say that since much has been done by the Government there is no need to do anything more. However, we need to review and assess the results of those measures in order to make adjustments, changes and improvements wherever necessary. I would like to add that the Government should appoint one particular department as a coordinating body to coordinate the measures carried out by the various departments, such as the Ministry of Community Development, the Ministry of Education, and others which have been dealing with the related matters under their respective portfolios. This central coordinating body will be able to coordinate and promote all the various measures. Here, I would like to suggest some improvements. In respect of the half-day working system, for instance, we could make certain adjustments to allow for flexibility in the working hours or in the working conditions of the women. On the question of setting up creches to enable women to work, although the Government has given financial assistance at the moment, there are only 37 creches in the whole of Singapore, compared with Japan, where there are 22,000 creches. In Japan, the creche accommodation ratio is as follows: For one out of 49 children under one year old, there is one creche that can accommodate him. The ratio is 1:49. One out of nine children between one and two years old can be accommodated in a creche.”
“But I feel that the Government and the social organizations have the responsibility and duty to take every possible measure to enable married women to make a better choice between looking after the family and coming out to work or even better to be able to take care of both so that all the people concerned will benefit. On the question of working mothers in relation to child development, some say that when the mother comes out to work, it will affect the development of her children. But we have real examples as in the case just after the Second World War, when many married women and widows came out to work yet their children were brought up quite well or satisfactorily. Of course this may not necessarily be so in every case and is certainly debatable. But the point to note here is that there are two viewpoints on the matter. The more optimistic one stresses on quality parent-hood with working parents still able to provide good care for their children. Social organizations and the Government have an important role to play here. We must promote various measures to take care of the situation. Let me just mention some measures that have been taken in Singapore to encourage women to come out to work and have a better social standing. The Government has contributed much in the past 25 years during which period many changes and reformations were made. First of all, in 1961 Parliament passed the Women's Charter and the next important reformation was when the Government implemented equal pay for equal work for men and women in the Civil Service. Before that, female civil servants after marriage would be treated as temporary workers. There were also other measures such as the setting up of creches in housing estates and family planning.”
“There is of course some relevance in the view that the increasing rates of divorce and juvenile delinquency could be partly attributed to women working outside their homes. This is because with economic independence women may be less tolerant in their marriages and this may lead to higher rates of divorce. But the problem of divorce in a society actually related to many factors. One's perception towards this issue is usually moulded by the prevalent social norms, family values and cultural background, etc. For instance, in our conservative society, divorce is normally regarded as an unpleasant and even shameful thing and quite often because of this family members may also intervene to help salvage a marriage. But to the West, it is a personal matter, that is entirely a personal choice. Maybe the more divorces you have gone through, you will, perhaps, become the more popular. Talking about women coming out to work, in Japan as in the United States 50% of them are in the workforce. In spite of this, the divorce rate in Japan is five times lower than that in the United States and juvenile delinquency cases are also fewer than in the US. Compared with the other ASEAN countries, the female participation rate in Singapore is higher, so also is the divorce rate. As regards social and crime problems, I think you all know the answer. Finally, let me say that whatever measures we take to encourage women to come out to work, I still would stress on personal choice. I am not saying that every woman must come out to work otherwise she would be at fault. What I am saying is that it depends on the individual.”
“Talking about this topic, it reminds me of the fact that there are 300,000-odd women who have not come out to work. Even worse, some 100,000 working women drop out of the workforce every year because of marriage or childbirth. Manpower is Singapore's only resource. Today there are equal opportunities for education and work for both men and women. To maintain a healthy economy those who are able must participate actively in it and it would indeed be a loss for Singapore if this tremendous potential in its womenfolk are not tapped. Only through economic progress and development can we realise the objective of raising the living standard of our people, Personally, it is thus my view that every human potential must be utilised and developed to ensure Singapore's continued economic progress and development. From a social view point, to ensure social stability we should work towards having our own local workforce comprising entirely of Singaporean workers. That I believe is the aim of the government and this objective could somewhat be met by encouraging the 300,000-odd women who have not come out to work into the labour market. However at present of greater importance is how to retain the women who are already in the workforce. Before I suggest any solutions or proposals however, I would like to say that before trying to solve a problem we ought to be clear in our minds what our objectives are. We should then have the right perceptions and have confidence in achieving these objectives. Why did I say that we ought to have the right perceptions? This is because there have been many views expressed on the pros and cons of women working outside their homes.”
“I understand that the SDF has planned for more than 200 courses, including courses on cookery and fashion designing. People may say that the SDF has already collected a lot of money. However, it has to be pointed out that the contributions for 1984 has totally been committed to the various training schemes for 1984 and 1985. In other words, the funds which are available at present are accumulations from 1980, 1981 and 1982 because during those periods there were not many comprehensive training schemes that were formulated or proposed. Therefore, the money has not been spent. In order to move towards hightechnology development, the SDF should continue to increase its fund. Another important point is that in order to minimise retrenchments we should look into ways of increasing productivity and raising the quality of our products to increase their competitiveness in international markets. We should put greater efforts into training our workers so that we could elicit the best from each individual. Without proper training workers may not be able to meet the challenge of high-tech development and this may be one of the contributing factors for retrenchment. This problem is greater for older worker. Therefore, when the economy improves I am of the view that we ought to restore the SDF contribution to 4%. In a period of economic downturn we understand the Government's rationale to help companies to overcome their present difficulties. But in order to meet future challenges in high-tech industrial development, we should restore the SDF levy to 4% in order to ensure that training schemes will continue. Now I would like to touch upon the question of shortage of labour.”
“2 million workers in the labour market who need training. About 300,000 of them have only below Primary 6 education. When we talk of training, some employers may laugh because of the current spate of retrenchments. On the other hand at other times when the workers are busy, employers will say that they do not have the time to be retrained. However, in my view we should take the opportunity now that we have a slower economic growth to retrain our workers. In the long run, the training and retraining of workers will be beneficial to companies as they will then be better able to manage any new technology introduced by their companies. Thus without a skilled workforce, a company certainly cannot mechanise or automate smoothly. Why should we urge the companies to train their workers? Because workers are closely connected with the company in which they work. Therefore, it is only through the company that workers may be trained quickly and conveniently. Most companies or manufacturers know their businesses and market conditions well, but unfortunately often forget that it is equally important to train their workers for their own viability. An example is the BEST courses that we are promoting at present. Apart from the PAP branches and the NTUC, the BEST Courses Council has also encouraged more than 1,000 corporate employers to set up such courses. However, only about 20 over percent of companies responded to the call. Therefore, the best way is to make companies pay to the SDF so that the cost of training expenses can then be reimbursed from such fund. The small and medium companies may find it less beneficial to set up such training courses for their employees. However, collectively with assistance from the Fund they can provide training for their employees.”
“This year, there is only $11 million to be spent on this item. Allocation to library and other culture related fields are similarly in the same state. The actual expenditure has been less than the budgeted figure. I do not know whether this trend will continue. I feel that the small sum provided is not enough for the promotion of culture. Divide it among the whole population, each Singaporean would get only a few dollars. I hope the Government could be more positive in the support and promotion of culture and try to help promote the traditional cultures of the various communities in Singapore in order to develop them into a Singapore culture. 11.37 am Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Budget announced by the Minister for Finance other than the question of an increase in tax for taxis has generally met with good response. Here, I would like to touch on two matters. One is about the contribution to SDF, now reduced from 4% to 2%. In the present circumstances when there have been some economic slow-down and frequent retrenchments the business circle generally feel that the reduction is very welcome. The idea of SDF arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s when we reached a certain stage in our economic development which made it necessary for us to restructure our economy. To do this we need to upgrade the skills of our workers. At the same time we had to raise the wages of the workers to the extent of compelling employers to accelerate the process of mechanization, automation and to promote high technology industries. To implement this corrective wage policy the Skills Development Fund was then set up and a 4% levy was then imposed on employers. Although the Government could train about 20,000-odd workers in one year, there are 1.”
“These facts have proved our worries to be unnecessary. For instance, in recent years the Government has allotted a lot of money for upgrading the building, facilities and increase in teaching staff of the National University, Nanyang Technological Institute and the two polytechnics. As a result more and more students have been enroled, more and more people are receiving science and technology education to provide the necessary manpower resources for our nation building. The next item worth mentioning is about computerization. The Government has set up a National Computer Board to implement the promotion of computerization throughout the nation. It has made much impact on public and private sectors. The Government has also been active in promoting the development of advanced science and higher technology through the Economic Development Board and the Science Council. They have made great contributions. Other measures relating to promotion of advanced science and high-tech industries, include the setting up of the Science Park, R&D Assistance Scheme. Funds have been set up which have also given a great impetus to the rapid progress of our country in the fields of science and technology. So science and technology continue to receive the Government's support despite the abolition of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Therefore, I also believe that the Government will continue to provide assistance for the promotion of culture in our country, despite the dissolution of the Culture Ministry. But I am still a bit worried, perhaps unnecessarily, because the fund allocated to culture has always been very small. Last year, the allocation for promotion of culture was $13.5 million but the actual expenditure was only $8.8 million.”
“Some people are willing to save for a car at the expense of other things such as food and entertainment. There are many suggestions on how to prevent the number of cars from increasing. But I feel that the best and most important solution is to provide a good and efficient public transport system. Our MRT and bus systems should be able to provide our people with a safe, comfortable, convenient, economical and efficient transport service. Only then you can basically solve the problem of car ownership or the number of cars on the road. I hope bus companies or operators would not at this juncture try to increase bus fares to make money to take advantage of the time when taxi fares and petrol tax have increased. They should not try to make use of the opportunity to make too much out of the public, but should try to improve and provide a more efficient service to the public. The other problem I would like to raise is about the Ministry of Culture. This year's budget does not relate to the Ministry of Culture because this Ministry has been disbanded. People in the cultural circle naturally feel that the Government does not give priority to matters of culture. Some people say that Singapore lacks culture, or the Government of Singapore has got no culture. Culture and Education are two pillars of nation building. Education prepares the people for their role in nation building and Culture ensures that the Nation will last long. In this connection, I would like to mention about the abolition of Ministry of Science and Technology in 1981. At that time we were worried about the provision. Yet, for several years thereafter the Government has continued to spend a lot of money and effort in the promotion of science and technology.”
“Just like what the Member for Siglap has mentioned yesterday, the living standard of the people of Singapore has risen. So everybody wants to have a car. Although not everybody can afford a car, but car owners would like to retain their cars and those who are without cars now aspire to have a car of their own. Car possession has become a status symbol of one's standing in the society and one's wealth and success and symbolizes one's prestige. So, having a luxurious car is better than having an ordinary car; having a big car is better than having a small car; and having a smaller car is better than without any car. It has come to my knowledge that in some well-known elite schools pupils often discuss about whose parents' cars are bigger and more luxurious, and so on and so forth. After school, some pupils would go home and ask their parents to buy a better car because their classmates have bigger and more luxurious cars. I would like to give another example. A young lady is being courted by some suitors. One suitor comes on foot, one by bus, another by trishaw, yet another by car. Who has got a better chance? If you come in a nice car, you are likely to stand a better chance, other things being equal. Most people, having got a flat, a spouse and children, would next aim to own a car. With a car, one will be able to take his family for an outing or for shopping. It would also give his children and wife some feeling of status. Sir, I do not mean to say that the people of Singapore are rather vain and unrealistic. What I am trying to say is that unless our social value concept has changed, our aim of life is still to own a car, after having obtained other necessities of life.”
“The increase in road tax and petrol tax, I think is for the purposes of controlling the number of vehicles on the road and make the use of taxis more efficient. But I feel that the rates should not be so high and it could have been implemented over a period of years in gradual stages of small increases each time. If, all of a sudden, you increase the tax to a great extent, it would appear that you have not taken note of the situation all along and only until now, at the last minute, do you try to increase the tax all of a sudden, overnight. Or, you might have noted the situation but was unable to come to an early decision. I think this is not what an efficient government should do. I hope in future there would not be such a large scale increase of taxes, by 100% or 50%, particularly in the areas of income tax, price of HDB flats and other major matters. The increase in taxi fares will affect the commuters generally. It will perhaps affect certain people more, such as the old and those in the lower income group, particularly those who have to depend on the taxi as the means of transport for a livelihood. The increase in Road Tax and Petrol Tax will have some effect in reducing the number of vehicles, but after a few years the effect will be forgotten and there will be more and more vehicles on the road. Because in Singapore, owning a vehicle is a status symbol, whether it is a necessity or not. Some people must need a car in their job. The Ministers here cannot go about their business without cars, otherwise they would not be able to function properly. The Member for Bukit Ho Swee of the previous Parliament was perhaps the only one who went about without a car.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, yesterday in Parliament, the Member for Khe Bong said that he had at first wanted to talk about road tax and the increase in diesel tax and taxi fares but since other Members have raised these matters, he did not want to talk about them. But I look at it differently. I feel that any important issue should be repeatedly brought up, so that the more people talk about it and giving more opinions, the more helpful it would be to the formulation of policies and measures. Moreover, these are matters which the people of Singapore are concerned about. Therefore, as representatives of the people, we must try our best to make use of every opportunity to talk about matters that concern the people. While the reduction in certain taxes and levies, such as payroll tax, SDF levy and the like, are giving great relief and confidence to the business community, the increases in road tax, petrol tax and taxi fares have brought great burden to the general public. As some Members have mentioned, this would in turn bring about a chain reaction in a rising cost of living and higher prices in consumer goods and services. So this double-sided measure in both increasing and reducing taxes gives people the impression that the Govern- ment is just taking from one hand and giving it to the other. In Chinese colloquial, it is scooping out a piece of flesh to patch a wound, like you have some wound on the left arm and you try to scoop out a piece of flesh from your right arm to mend the hole in the left arm. So this is actually not a practical way to solve the problem. I wonder whether the Minister for Finance i? applying the same kind of medication.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is only one minute left and I would certainly need more than one minute to make my speech. Would you rather adjourn the sitting now?”
“Sir, will the Minister consider the possibility of allowing single persons who are brothers and sisters, whose parents are owners of property or HDB flats and whose family members exceed a certain number, to apply for HDB flats because it is too difficult for them to live in one HDB flat?”
“$156 for a big durian tree is an example of an extreme undervaluation of a tree. It is, therefore, no surprise that farmers had to resort to planting small trees so that they could cover the losses due to the under-compensation of their big trees. I would like to urge the Minister to review the rates of compensation for fruit trees as well as the farm related items, such as fish tanks, chicken sheds and so on. I hope this time those who are appointed to do the revision are people who have some common sense and know, ledge about farms and fruit trees. Sir, I beg to move.”
“But many of them resorted to this practice because the compensation they would get would be too little because their big trees were not fairly compensated for. I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. Why was compensation for fruit trees based on the number of trees before 1982? Did the Resenlement Department think of the possibility of abuse then? Is the Minister aware that the present rates of compensation for fruit trees are unreasonable and do not represent the economic value of the trees? To illustrate what I mean, let me explain how the trees are compensated. Fruit trees are classified into various categories. They are also classified into various heights. Trees below one metre in height are classified as small trees. Those from one to three metres are medium trees, and those above three metres are big trees. The rates also vary for each category and height. This looks great on paper, but it is not practical at all because the same yardstick for height is used for all fruit trees, regardless of the kind of fruit trees. This is most unreasonable. For example, a three-metre coconut tree is classified as a big tree. Anyone who has seen a coconut tree knows that a three-metre coconut tree is a young tree and not a big tree. And a full grown lime tree (suan kan su) of two-metre height is classified as a medium tree. Anyone who has cultivated a lime tree knows that a two-metre lime tree is a full grown tree. I sometimes wonder whether those who were responsible for drafting the regulations had ever seen a coconut tree or a lime tree in their life. For a given category of trees, the compensation rate for a small tree is usually too high, and that for a big tree the compensation rate is grossly undervalued.”
“Member for Ayer Rajah to set up a research unit to find out what has happened to those who have lost their means of livelihood because of resettlement. I am not referring to the resettled squatters who live in the villages and work outside. I am referring to those who live in the village and who make their livelihood in the village. I am sure my colleagues from the rural constituencies will support my request. The third point I would like to raise is about farm compensation. There are not many farmers left in Singapore now. Most of them are not young men and will have difficulty in finding a livelihood after resettlement. They should be adequately compensated for. In the past few years, farmers as well as my parliamentary colleagues have requested that the compensation for the farm licence be pegged to the price of a three-room flat. The request was not acceded to. I would like to take this opportunity to make the request again. 2.45 pm The compensation of fruit trees is another topic which has caused a great deal of unhappiness. Before December 1982, fruit trees were compensated by the number of trees. After that date, a coiling was introduced to set the upper limit per hectare of land. As a result, quite a few farmers who had signed agreements for their compensation had their compensation reduced, some as much as 60%. To these farmers, this is an act of breach of promise by the Government. However, the Resenlement Department claimed that they had to do this because many farmers were planting big numbers of small tress to increase their compensation. It may be true that some farmers had planted an excess number of trees just to cheat the Government.”
“Instead of trying to resettle these residents and owners quickly, HDB's Land Management Unit starts to collect very high TOL rentals at commercial rates. My question is: If the lands are urgently needed, why are these people not resettled immediately? If the lands are not required urgently, why bother to acquire them so early? In general, I would like to ask the Minister to ensure that there is better coordination among the various departments, such as the Resettlement Department, the Engineering Department and the Lands Management Unit. The second point I would like to raise is about the assistance given to people who have lost their means of livelihood because of resettlement. In his written answer to a question raised by the hon. Member for Ayer Rajah in the sitting of this House on 12th March 1984, the Minister said that there were very few people who were resettled who found difficulty in adjusting to the life-style in HDB estates. He also said that farmers who wished to go into business were given priority for HDB shops, industrial workshops, hawker stalls or kiosks. I beg to disagree with him. During my five years' service as Member for Nee Soon I have written at least several hundreds, if not, thousands of letters to HDB on behalf of people who were affected by resettlement, to request for priority allocation of hawker stalls, shops and kiosks. I have to inform the Minister, that other than a few cases where HDB Resettlement Department had deemed to qualify for priority allocation, almost all the requests were unsuccessful. Apparently, these people are not as happy as the Minister thinks they ought to be. Sir, I would like to urge the Minister to reconsider the request of the hon.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead TA-01 Object Group 1100 of the Main Estimates. Sir, the purpose of moving this amendment is to ask the Minister whether he would review certain aspects of the practices of the Resettlement Department which deals with the clearance and resettlement of lands and people affected by public projects, such as new towns, highways and reservoir catchments. Nee Soon is one of the constituencies which is very much affected by these projects. I have received numerous petitions and complaints on matters related to resettlement. I would be grateful if the Minister would consider taking measures to improve the following matters. First, planning of clearance and resettlement. Often there are cases where lands are urgently required by the authority and the occupants are chased out in a very short time. There are also cases where people are informed that they are to be resettled soon and yet after a number of years they are still waiting. For this group of people their future is very uncertain. They are not able to develop their farm or business because they may be asked to quit any time. Meanwhile, they can only wait and watch the prices of HDB flats and shops going up each year. There are cases where a whole village has been resettled leaving only one or two families, and these families become isolated and have to worry about security, transportation problems and so on. They appeal to the Resettlement Department for early resettlement but usually they are not successful because the one or two houses happen to fall outside the lines drawn on the maps of the Resettlement Department. There are also cases where private lands are acquired by HDB.”
“Wasting people's time! Question put, "That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by the whole sum of Subhead TE-01 of the Main Estimates."”
“Sir, I fully understand the situation and that is why I have brought up the matter. People who formulated the original rules should have some commonsense. As pointed out by the Minister, a durian tree would need about 80 sq metres and there are people who are planting durian trees at densities of 5 sq metres per tree. I know of cases where trees are planted at higher densities, maybe 2 sq metres per tree. But the problem is that they should have the foresight to anticipate that people are going to abuse these rules, and so they should have come out with a ceiling long ago and not as late as at the end of 1982. An hon. Member: Yes.”
“to act as interpreters of Government policies and advocates for the people. I think all PAP MPs enjoy playing this role but a lot of effort can be saved and unhappiness minimized if this gap can be reduced. I would like to propose that a Council or a Committee, similar to that of the Schools Council in the Ministry of Education, be formed. Members of the Council may include senior officers from the Ministry or HD9, representatives from grassroots organizations, such as CCCs, CCMCs and RCs, and of course, the Minister, the Minister of State, Senior Parliamentary Secretaries and MPs can also sit in. The Council can meet regularly, say, bi-monthly or quarterly. During the meetings Government policies can be explained and discussed, problems and complaints from people can be looked into and queries can be answered. Because of the large number of constituencies, it would not be possible to have one council for each constituency. Perhaps one council for each district will be feasible. With the establishment of such a Council, I am sure the communication gap will be eliminated and the rapport between the Government and the people improved. Sir, I hope the Minister will consider my proposal.”