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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“The inflexible way of classification of fruit trees has led to under-compensation for big trees and over-compensation for small trees, thus resulting in under-compensation in certain cases and abuses in other cases. I believe the Resettlement Department of HDB is now revising the fruit tree assessment and this has caused considerable delays in awarding compensation as well as a lot of unhappiness. All these delays and unhappiness could have been avoided if some commonsense had been used in formulating the rules or flexibility be allowed when implementing the rules. This example shows that the decision makers in the Ministry do not fully understand the problems at the grassroots. And the officers who implement the rules and regulations prefer to stick to the rules rather than question the suitability of the rules or making some flexible changes if necessary. This bureaucracy of rules and regulations resulted in a lot of unhappiness and misunderstanding. Sir, our public officers are not people without initiative. For example, I used to receive letters from HDB addressing me as Member of Parliament for Yishun. I first thought that a Parliamentary Membership Bill has been passed without my knowledge and Nee Soon is going to become like Farrer Park or Upper Serangoon. In fact, it is because some officers who are enthusiastic in promoting the Hanyu Pinyin managed to change Nee Soon into Yishun. This shows that there are people with initiative and who are willing to make changes. I suppose if they can apply their initiative in things like resettlement compensation, it will be most welcome. Coming back to the communication gap, Sir, often it becomes the duty of the Member of Parliament (of the ruling party, of course) to serve as a bridge to a gap, i.e.”
“In fact, they have been doing a great job in making Singapore one of the best places under the sun. But that does not mean that there is no room for improvement. Sir, I think the communication gap exists because the Ministry and HDB are such huge organizations where bureaucracy and red tape prevail and where rules and regulations are adhered to with little flexibility. Take, as an example, an application for change of use of premises. In Nee Soon there are a number of people who were asked to cease their trades in bean curd, kway teow manufacturing, pig-farming, etc. because their trades were found to be polluting the Seletar catchment. It took some effort to convince them to stop their trades. They did stop. But when they later asked for permission to change the use of their premises to other non-pollutive trades, I would have thought the Ministry would give special assistance and consideration to these people who had given up their livelihood so that the rest of Singapore could have water of better quality. But their requests were never approved. I can understand that the BCD must be strict in enforcing the rules. If someone were to request to change his residential house into a store or a factory, approval should not be given. But for the cases I have mentioned, for someone who had to discontinue his trade so that the rest of Singapore can have better water, I do not see why his request for change of use of premises cannot be approved. Another example is the compensation for fruit trees in resettlement cases. In the Budget debates in March 1981, I had commented on the unsatisfactory ways of computing the compensation for fruit trees. The rates have since been revised but the method remains unchanged.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me first support my colleague, the hon. Member for Alexandra, on his query on the HUDC prices. I remember two years ago in March 1981, in the Budget debate, the Minister for National Development said [Hansard, 20th March 1981, Vol. 40, col. 995]: 'We have taken the average selling price of an HUDC flat at $180,000. Some may be cheaper than $180,000 and some may be more than $180,000.' Sir, I believe that in 1981 most of the contracts for the HUDC flats at Pine Grove and Pandan Valley had been awarded. So the Minister then would have known more or less what the costing price of the HUDC flat would be. I just want to find outwhy, in just two years' time, the price has doubled. Is it because of a miscalculation on his part, or is it because of a change of policy? Sir, let me now turn to something else. In the debate on the Budget Statement on March 15th this year, the Member for Alexandra pointed out that there was, in general, a communication gap between the Government Ministries and the general public. I fully agree with his observation. My experience with my constituency and constituents indicates that there is this communication gap and lack of rapport between Government departments such as the Building Control Division, the Primary Production Department, the HDB and the general public. This communication gap inevitably leads to misunderstanding and unhappiness. On the one hand, the people at the grassroots level often do not understand the background of Government policies. On the other hand, the Government departments and HDB usually are not aware or do not understand the problems and grievances of the people who are affected by the implementation of the policies. Sir, I am not complaining about the Ministry of National Development or the HDB.”
“Sir, is the MINDEF's BEST programme compulsory, or is it a voluntary participation?”
“Sir, is the new market going to be a conventional one, or is it going to be the new air-conditioned type of market?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak. I would like to join the hon. Member for Bukit Batok in appealing on behalf of bean cake manufacturers, because I happen to have a few in my constituency also. I would like to ask the Hon. Minister, in view of the fact that these people have been asked to give up their livelihood, their traditional business, for the sake of the rest of Singapore so that we can have better water, whether he would be kind enough to assist in negotiating with the Ministry of National Development to give priority to these people in the allocation of either HDB or JTC premises? Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have in fact taken up the matter with the Ministry of National Development. However, the efforts so far have not been successful. Nevertheless, in view of the appeal of the Member for Nee Soon, I shall try again.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of State for National Development whether his Ministry will consider an increase in the rate of compensation to the resettlement cases whenever there is an increase in the prices of HDB flats.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether a name has been chosen for the new primary school. If he has, what is the name, and on what basis is the name chosen?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of State whether principals and teachers will also be asked to use their mandarinized names in Pinyin. If so, when will they be asked to do so? If not, will our students not be wondering why they should use Pinyin names and not their teachers and principals?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of State whether the Ministry has carried out or will be carrying out any study to find out what happened to these students who leave school before the PSLE, especially those who have lost interest in their studies.”
“It will be quite inhumane to allocate only one flat to a family of, say, 10 members with grown-up children and teenagers. I remember the Hon. Minister commenting the other day that members of a large family did not arrive all at one time. I agree with him. But in the villages, especially before the days of family planning, people tend to have big families. To allocate to a family comprising a husband and wife with eight children who are teenagers, a three-room, four-room or even a five-room flat is not sufficient. Will the Minister therefore consider allocating more than one HDB flat to a large family affected by resettlement?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for allowing me to make some comments. I would like to support the hon. Members for Changi, Kaki Bukit and Punggol for their request to review and revise upwards the current compensation rates for resettlement. The compensation rates were last reviewed and revised in 1979. The compensation rates have been quite reasonable for some items but for others they are unrealistic. To cite an example, Sir, let us take fruit trees. I do not know whether the Minister for National Development eats durians, but judging from his appearance I would say he does. Am I right? [Mr Teh Cheang Wan indicated in the affirmative.] He should then know that the market price of durians is from $5 to $8 per kilogram, if we were to buy from a roadside stall or in the market. A full grown durian tree in a good season can produce at least about several hundred kilograms of durian. This comes to several thousand dollars worth of durian. Even in a poor season I think it should at least fetch the farmer about $500. But how much compensation is given for a full grown durian tree? It is just $120. We can imagine how unhappy owners of durian trees are when they are paid $120 as compensation for something which can fetch them a yearly income of several thousand dollars. I hope the Minister will consider our request to revise upwards the compensation rates for resettlement cases. Another point I would like to raise is the allocation of HDB flats as a resettlement benefit. The policy on priority is now based on the family unit. Each family unit will be allocated one flat. As it so often happens, in the rural areas a family unit can be quite large. One family may comprise five or six members; another family may comprise 10 or 12 members, and so on.”
“I sincerely hope that the Hon. Minister will brood over this well. Sir, I support the Motion. 4.27 p.m.”
“But what I want to emphasize here is that various performances staged by the many cultural organizations in the National Theatre, Singapore Conference Hall and the Victoria Theatre are performances of a cultural nature and of the proper colour, not yellow culture. And owing to the high expenses involved against a possible meagre income, they do not dare stage more and better cultural performances because they have to bear great costs for this kind of wholesome performances. So goes the saying, "once bitten twice shy," it may not be worth repeating. So I feel that the Government should, instead of increasing the duty on such performances, reduce it to encourage and support such cultural performances, because taxation on this kind of performance will not help to promote culture. Where is the merit of this measure for the propagation of culture and the raising of cultural standards? Mr Speaker, Sir, I would therefore like to express the hope that the Hon. Minister will, in addition to his tasks in the economic field, address his thought and effort to the cultural aspect of Singapore in order to propagate culture and promote the implementation of loyalty, filial piety, patriotism before love for one's family and all the other virtues. I feel that the Minister knows better than I do that, in spite of all the financial and material achievements, a country still needs a good cultural foundation. For a country devoid of culture or lacking in a sound cultural foundation, as the Member for Katong has just said, in the short-term, of course, we may appear sound and secure, prosperous and progressive since our independence for nearly two decades, but can it survive long and will it endure forever? Nobody knows. It depends on what we do now and the efforts of the people.”
“On Culture, the Minister for Trade and Industry said that he wanted to increase the tax on gambling. I said, "Good." I agree with him. It should have been done long ago and not wait until now to decide to increase the duty on lottery and gambling. It may be too late, but it is better late than never. But I do not agree to the increase in entertainment duty on performances, though only by a small margin. I want to ask him why. What is the rationale? Even though the amount is not very high, why should he impose such a tax on cultural entertainment? If the entertainment provided at night-clubs and restaurants is classified as yellow culture or yellow entertainment, then such a tax may yet be endorsed as a discouragement to such a culture. But if that is what should be done, then I would ask what is the Minister for Culture doing? What kind of performance is yellow and what is not yellow is, I believe, within the portfolio of the Minister for Culture. Where is the Minister for Culture? Why should the Minister for Trade and Industry take over his portfolio? Or does he want to encroach upon his territory? Sir, I do not mean to say that he knows only how to deal with finance without any capacity to deal with cultural matters. From the Budget Statement that he has delivered in this House, he is noted to be well versed and talented culturally. Just as what the hon. Member for Jurong has said, the concluding paragraphs of his speech have been so well written that I have particular admiration for them. The concluding portion is just wonderful and everybody must read it. I have already read it so many times that I can recite it by heart. From these paragraphs, I think he is also culturally endowed and he could even have bettered the present Minister for Culture.”
“I think you too, Sir, attended that function on the evening of 18th February. The Hon. Minister referred to the increasing number of old people, as was pointed out by the Member for Delta that if you have more and more old people retiring and idling, there will arise more problems of the aged. So the Hon. Minister then said that the children should look after their aged parents and that we should think of the source when we drink water. He quoted a number of Chinese proverbs on that occasion: all very well said and very moving. So I would like him now to apply what he has said outside this House on what he is supposed to do in his Budget before this House. There is a provision for annual tax relief for the maintenance of aged parents, but it is a mere pittance. Although we agree that the number of taxpayers should not be reduced, there should be an increase in the allowance for the maintenance of parents, because the Minister has said so outside this House. Therefore, he should act accordingly in this House. The PAP Government has always been noted for doing what it has said, practising what it preaches. Since the Minister has already said that we must take care of our parents, respect and love our parents, then it is for us to think of feasible ways to implement this policy and philosophy. For people like me, there should be no problem, but some younger people have forgotten this obligation to their parents. They may know how to use the computer but either they have not yet learned to look after their parents with computers or they have forgotten how. Although it may be a financial problem for young people to look after their parents, this is not just a financial problem alone. It is also a social and cultural problem as well.”
“Mr Lai Tha Chai (Henderson)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, originally I did not intend to say anything in praise of the Minister for Trade and Industry for his Budget Statement, but if one has read his Budget Statement over and over again, it would be going against one's conscience not to praise him. So I have to say something in praise of him. I only want to touch on two points. First, he told us about the tax rebate, as was referred to by the Member for Nee Soon just now, of 10% which was welcomed by all and made everybody happy, including me. The second point is the increase in the exemption ceiling for estate duty. That is also welcomed by the middle-income group. All these are reasonable measures, based on actual situations which nobody can say are bad. There is another point that he has presented to us. This is of a long term nature, It is the ten-year development plan. It is a very good measure. In the past we used to say, "how we are going to plan for the current year" or "how we are going to plan for the next year". But now he has enunciated a plan for the 10 years ahead to indicate to us the path that we should take in order to realize the present standard of living enjoyed by the Japanese. I think this is particularly praiseworthy and merits special study. But just singing praises to the long-term plan is not enough; we must also be able to see what are the good points and what are the bad points as well. The Member for Nee Soon pointed out that the Minister had indicated that he could say certain things only outside this House. On the evening of 18th February, 1981, the Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry particularly stressed, at a Chinese New Year Dinner, about a very particular point almost in the whole of his speech.”
“But it may not be fair, because those who earn more than the average will benefit and those who earn less than the average will be penalized. Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to comment on something which was not mentioned by the Minister in his Statement. It is the two-tier NWC wage increase. The two-tier system apparently has met with difficulty in implementation. Many people think that, instead of boosting the morale of the better workers, it might work the opposite way. The fact that it takes so long for the Government departments and the statutory boards to decide who should get the upper tier NWC increase is evidence of the difficulty encountered. It is perfectly reasonable to award better workers with higher NWC wage increase. The unreasonable part of last year's NWC scheme is the proposal to set the boundary at 25% from the bottom, and to assess the top 75% above-average. Statistically, such a distribution is highly improbable. In fact, one can be a relatively lousy worker, say, ranking 300/o from the bottom, and still gets the upper tier NWC. This will be demoralizing for the real top performers. A better system may be a three-tier system. For instance, the workers can be classified as: bottom 25% - below average, middle 50% - average, and top 25% - above average. However, I think the simplest way, one which will be welcomed by most employers, is to go back to the one-tier system. The good workers can be rewarded by merit increments, promotion or bonuses, the bad ones by some form of penalty. Sir, on this note, I support the Budget Statement by the Minister for Trade and Industry. 4.17 p.m.”
“However, the Inland Revenue Department will have to give a clear definition of a disabled person. Or else MPs may have to do the job of certifying their disabled constituents in their meet-the-people sessions. The most welcome tax concession is, of course, the 10% rebate for personal income tax. The proposed reduced tax rates for 1982 are indeed something to look forward to. The reduction in personal income tax will leave the taxpayers with more money to spend, and is therefore beneficial also to non-taxpayers. I wonder what further concessions can the Minister of Education give when he presents the 1982 Budget. The raising of the exemption ceiling for estate duty on residential properties to $600,000 is another timely decision. To put it in the words of the Member for Whampoa, many property owners can now afford to die. But I believe this concession benefits relatively few people. I wonder if the Minister has any figures to show the number of Singaporeans who own residential properties of more than $200,000, and also how many of them are expected to die each year? While there are good news for the taxpayers, there are bad news for the tax evaders. I do not wish to name the professions of those who are likely to evade tax, and I think it is not fair to single out taxi-drivers and hawkers. Again, I do not know how many taxi-drivers and hawkers pay income tax honestly. I hope some do. But I think, as tax evaders, they, especially the taxi-drivers, are smaller fish. I hope the Inland Revenue Department will be able to net the big ones. The Minister mentioned the possibility of presumptive taxation. This is, of course, one way to compel some people to pay tax.”
“In fact, the Age of Computer has arrived in Singapore. All of a sudden you hear people everywhere, from Ministers to managers to school children, talking about computers and computerization, software and hardware; and we have a shortage of computer manpower. According to the Report of the Committee on National Computerization, we need to increase our computer manpower by eight times in the next 10 years. Had we not started the computer science subject at Nanyang University in 1975, the situation would be even worse. What I am driving at, Sir, is that although the Ministry of Science and Technology has been closed down, we must continue to maintain a high level of scientific competence, to produce good quality science graduates and to develop sufficient scientific facilities, so that these can support our future development in making Singapore a centre of technology and services. I hope that Government will continue to support with generous funds for the future development of the various scientific organizations, namely, the Faculty of Science of NUS, the Department of Scientific Services, SISIR, the Science Council and the Science Centre. Now that the Department of Scientific Services is within the Ministry of Health, the Science Centre within the Ministry of Education, and Science Council within the Ministry of Trade and Industry, I hope they will continue to grow and flourish. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me now turn to the Budget Statement. To most Singaporeans, the highlight of the 1981 Budget Statement is the section on Tax Concessions. The provision to allow married professional women to have their unearned income assessed in their names will certainly be welcomed by working professional wives. Increased earned income relief for disabled persons is to be commended.”
“If we are going to develop Singapore into a technology and service centre, we will need, in addition to technicians and engineers, people who are trained in various areas of science as well as modern scientific facilities. I am happy to note that the Government is considering several plans to promote industrial R and D, as mentioned in the Appendix I of the Budget Statement. These include the setting up of a Science and Technology Park and a few other projects. I am sure these plans will be implemented in the next few years as a matter of necessity. As a result of the upgrading of our industry, increased R and D activities, and increasing sophistication of our manufacturing operations, there will be increasing need for competent scientific services, quality scientific manpower and modern scientific facilities. It is, therefore, important for us to be prepared so that we will not face a shortage of scientific manpower and facilities when we need them. Take, for example, the current shortage of computer manpower, I remember it was in 1975 that we started to offer Computer Science as a subject in the College of Science at Nanyang University. It took us, myself and my colleagues, considerable effort to persuade the University to introduce the subject and the Government to allow the University to do so. There were objections and doubts from people within and outside the University. They wanted to know what we could do with unemployed or unemployable computer science graduates. We almost had to scrap the programme. But we managed to push it through. And today, only five years later, computer science graduates are in good demand. The average salary of a computer science graduate is at least 20% higher than that of a science graduate in other disciplines.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to congratulate the Minister for Trade and Industry for presenting, once again, a good budget which is welcomed by all. Sir, I am not an expert in budget or in financial matters, therefore I am not competent to criticize the budget. However, I would like to make some comments as a layman. The obvious part missing from this year's budget is the part on the Ministry of Science and Technology which is being closed down or will be closed down soon. The disappearance of the Ministry of Science and Technology has aroused in me, and I believe in other scientists also, a sad feeling. As mentioned by the Minister in his Budget Statement, the prime objective of our future plan is to develop Singapore into a modern industrial economy based on science and technology. It is ironical that the Ministry of Science and Technology has to be dissolved at this juncture. Apparently the Ministry has been unable to function as it should. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not commenting on the ability of those former Ministers for Science and Technology. In fact, they are all my favourite Ministers whom I respect. Someone has told me that this is a case of "Bad wind and water". In Mandarin, it is Feng shui bu hao ( ). But being a scientist I do not think I should believe in the wind and water theory. Sir, it must be one of the things which did not work out because of some complex factors. However, I hope that the closing down of the Ministry of Science and Technology is not to be taken as an indication of the low priority given to science. Modern technology and industry are science-based. All the progress, know-how, and development in modern technology are results of applications of basic sciences.”
“Sir, it is not enough just to satisfy ourselves that we are Singaporeans. We must convince our friends, our neighbours and the whole world that we are Singaporeans. The promotion of moral education has been discussed a great deal recently. I think equally important is the promotion of cultural education. What I mean by cultural education is not only the cultivation of a true Singapore culture but also the promotion of an awareness of a Singaporean identity that should be reflected not only in the behaviour of the individual but also in mass behaviour, whether it be the crowd at a badminton match, the audience in a musical concert or at any other gatherings of Singaporeans, we should make ourselves to be seen and felt as Singaporeans. For the younger generation, cultural education can be introduced to the general public by incorporating into our moral education programmes the relevant concepts and ideas. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture to ensure, through its various activities and programmes, that the Singaporean public will be properly educated and that there is within each one of us a true Singapore identity. As pointed out by a number of hon. Members who spoke earlier, Singapore TV and radio, now under the management of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, will no doubt play an important role in the cultivation of Singapore culture and the promotion of a Singaporean identity. I am told that 80% of our TV programmes are imported, and these include the most popular programmes. I would suggest that the SBC look into ways and means of producing more Singapore programmes. Being a statutory board now, I am sure the SBC is in a better position to produce more and better local programmes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak. Sir, I would like to make some comments in connection with the various points raised by the hon. Member for Alexandra and the hon. Member for Punggol. Both Members referred to the recent friendly badminton match between Indonesia and the People's Republic of China and the subsequent comments in several Indonesian newspapers. I was quite disturbed by these comments, particularly the strong words used by some of the writers or editorials. They have made use of this incident to cast doubt upon our achievement in creating a Singaporean identity as well as our sincerity in subscribing to the ASEAN spirit. Sir, it is quite common for the spectators in a match to give greater moral support to one side than to the other. However, I myself did not attend the matches. I watched part of the match on TV live telecast and read some of the reports in our local papers. I noticed that there were some spectators who cheered for the Chinese players and some write-ups in the newspapers commented on their good performance, but there were also some who supported the Indonesians. I did not realise that the Indonesians were so unhappy to the extent of expressing resentment openly in the newspapers and accusing the Singapore public for being pro-China. Sir, I think this is a good time for us to look at the problem seriously ourselves. Have we really created a Singaporean identity? Are we the Singaporeans we claim to be? I have no doubt that the absolute majority of our citizens identify themselves as Singaporeans. In fact, many Singaporeans do not realise how Singaporean they are until they go abroad to visit a foreign country. I am sure most of the Singaporeans who have travelled abroad agree with me.”
“Sir, can the Minister clarify whether the imported second-hand cars have to meet a certain requirement or test for roadworthiness before they can be sold in Singapore, and whether our requirement is less strict than the Japanese such that cars which are not accepted in Japan are now imported into Singapore?”
“Sir, Question No. 4. The Acting Minister for Home Affairs (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Speaker, Sir, all traffic lights installed since 1977 include "green man" signals. The Public Works Department in consultation with the Traffic Police is installing "green man" signals at traffic lights installed earlier. Priority will be given to junctions where pedestrian flow conflicts seriously with vehicular flow. Todate 198 or 71% of the road junctions which have traffic lights also have "green man" signals. At junctions which do not have "green man" signals, pedestrians should only cross the road when traffic is flowing parallel to the road crossing which they wish to use. Since there is still confusion over the right of way between a pedestrian and a motorist at road junctions which do not have "green man" signals, I wish to clarify that under the Pedestrian Crossing Rules 1977 the pedestrian has precedence over all vehicular traffic at pedestrian crossings. A motorist who is in the process of turning his vehicle at a road junction must stop to give way to any pedestrian who is crossing or starting to cross the path of the motorist. MOTOR VEHICLES (Use of headlamps) 5.”
“To ask the Minister for National Development (a) if the development plan for Nee Soon New Town has been completed; (b) what is the number of projected housing units in Nee Soon New Town and when these units will be completed; and (c) how many units of flats will be built in Nee Soon New Town in the next three years.”
“To ask the Minister for National Development (a) if the development plan for Nee Soon New Town has been completed; (b) what is the number of projected housing units in Nee Soon New Town and when these units will be completed; and (c) how many units of flats will be built in Nee Soon New Town in the next three years. 38.”
“As our Prime Minister has pointed out, spreading the norms of social and moral behaviour is best done through stories, legends, myths and folk-lores so that the students will learn and accept the proper concept of human behaviour. Compiling textbooks of such a nature is also one of the important tasks indispensable to the promotion of moral education. Sir, this Education Report by Dr Goh is an important milestone in the development of our education for the future. We hope that the suggestions on moral education, like the streaming of students, will achieve the expected degree of success when they are implemented. 6.07 p.m.”
“Our Prime Minister has stated in his letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education that one important question we are concerned with is how to improve the quality of our citizens. "We have to give our young basic common norms of social behaviour, social values, and moral precepts." There must be an accurate sense of values and a moral precept acceptable by oriental society. To achieve such an objective, we need a group of teachers who can become models of good citizens. As was pointed out by our Prime Minister, teachers are the guides for our moral and social spirit. The basic mission of teachers is not only to impart knowledge but also to cultivate the moral character of the students. However, in a highly commercialised society, it is not easy to find teachers with such quality. In order to promote a good moral education, we must, first of all, solve the problem of improving the quality of teachers. Sir, to achieve perfection in education is usually an ideal. However, we often encounter various problems and obstacles in implementing our education policy. For example, our bilingual education policy, which we have been promoting in the past two decades, has encountered many problems and obstacles. This has been frankly pointed out in Dr Goh's Report. We have taught "Education for Living" in our primary schools and "Civics" in our secondary schools all these years. However, since the text of the EFL is more of a preaching nature, we do not seem to have achieved any tangible result. To succeed in promoting moral education, we also need a set of textbooks capable of exerting a great influence, besides good teachers who can set good examples for our citizens.”
“In this Report, we are very glad to note that moral education will occupy an important place in our future curriculum. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education has also emphasised that we must instil the good Asian cultural traditions in our young students so that they may understand the reasons for living a humane life. I think we all agree on this point. The ultimate aim of our education policy is to build a generation of healthy citizens possessing not only a rich knowledge, but also good physiques, and most important of all, a good character and a proper sense of values. This will be reflected in their attitude towards hardship in life, in mutual assistance and understanding. In general, the emphasis of what our refined Asian cultural traditions should be is whether or not a person in society has accepted his social or moral responsibility. But how are we to instil in the minds of our youths an accurate sense of values? We feel that rather than emphasise on certain abstract concepts, would it not be better if we try to influence them by the introduction of descriptive stories of the life and strife of model ancient people, their supreme devotion to society and country, their assistance to their friends and so on? This can be introduced to the students by narration in story-form. The students will surely be influenced by the great deeds and nobility of these heroic characters, and will adopt this spirit in their own way of life. Since our country has undergone great modernisation, and our economy still undergoing substantial development, there is all the more need to emphasise the importance of moral education.”
“This basic objective is to cultivate in our students a sense of national awareness, to dispel the sense of being immigrants, to enable the students to master two languages, and to provide them with the ability to learn a particular skill in order to earn a living. However, the problem now lies in the fact that in the past ten-odd years we have attained considerable achievement in economic development. We have social stability and full employment. The people are adequately provided for. Our younger generation of citizens has grown up in a period of peace and prosperity. They have not experienced the various kinds of difficulty and poverty, and so they would not appreciate that the spirit of hardship experienced by our ancestors is the foundation stone on which we built our prosperity which our nation enjoys today. Therefore, they tend to take everything for granted. Moreover, Singapore, being an international commercial centre, foreign influences are deeply felt. A distorted sense of values and inappropriate styles of life are exerting undue influences over our young citizens. They only know enjoyment and cannot withstand hardship. They care only for themselves and not for others. They become typically selfish people. Singapore is a young nation. The criteria for nation building have many limitations. We have to depend on the hard work of all the people and the peaceful co-existence of the various races in order to survive. Only in this way can the two million people be more cohesive and with this integration make a contribution to the progress of Singapore. Therefore, the wrong concept of values and inappropriate behaviour must be rectified. To attain this objective, it is undeniable that education plays a very important role.”
“Others who are not so good in languages can drop CL1 at Secondary 3 or Secondary 4 and concentrate on other subjects at Secondary 4 for the 'O' level examinations. One of the defects of the previous administration and system was the ineffectiveness of the feedback system. Very often, complaints and comments from schools, teachers or parents did not reach the Ministry or were not considered by the Ministry. On the other hand, schools, teachers and parents often did not understand the policy and intention of the Ministry. Steps have to be taken to promote better dialogue between the two ends. Education is a complicated business. Even with good administration in the Ministry, good education system, good curriculum and syllabus, the importance of good schools cannot be over-emphasised. Of course, all the schools cannot be equally good and some difference in performance must be acceptable. However, schools with consistently poor performance need special attention. It is hoped that, with the new system, the control and supervision of schools will be effective so that all Singaporeans will be ensured of a good education for their children no matter to which school they send their children. Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to congratulate the Education Study Team on a job well done. 5.58 p.m. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Chin Harn Tong)( In Mandarin): Sir, since Singapore's independence and the subsequent political and economic development, our education policy has undergone several changes. Yet our basic educational objective has not changed.”
“The poor response and high dropout rate of the Basic Course in our schools are probably not due to the defects in the system but rather to the lack of confidence of the parents and their children after being classified as such. Anyway, let us hope that parents as well as the children can be convinced that proper streaming is best for them. In the suggested system, the first streaming will be done after three years of primary schooling. I would expect pupils with better family background to do better as in the case of the PSLE examination. It is also suggested that the first three years of primary schooling will concentrate on language learning. I suppose it is not possible to teach the pupils nothing else but languages. Some mathematics, general knowledge, art and other subjects must also be taught. In order that pupils with poorer family background or poorer linguistic ability do not lose out, the "intelligence test" should be well planned and lateral movements between streams should be allowed, whenever possible or necessary. In the suggested secondary school system, streaming seems to be based entirely on teaching and learning of languages. I have to emphasise again that education is not just the learning of languages. A pupil who is good at two languages is not necessarily a brilliant one. He may be good at nothing else. On the other hand, one who is not good at the second language or even the first language can be good at other subjects. The L1, L2 and L3 levels in the various streams need not be fixed. For example, in the brilliant or good category, students with good linguistic ability can study CL1, or for that matter, ML1 or TL1, up to the present CL1 'O' level.”
“The suggested new education system, in which pupils are allowed to proceed at different speeds according to their abilities, is theoretically sound. The streaming of pupils into three categories with a possibility of lateral movement among the streams,is good design. However, the system is a very complex one and there are bound to be problems on implementation. Technical and administration difficulties will be overcome, I presume, in due course. The most difficult problem, I think, is the explanation of the system to the public and parents so that they can accept the system. Most people would agree on the advantages of streaming according to the abilities of the pupils. But any parent will be unhappy if his or her child is not classified as above average or average, and certainly will be extremely disappointed if the child is classified as poor. There will be a tremendous pressure on the pupils to drive towards better classification. I can imagine in future Members of Parliament will have to face long queues of parents asking for reclassification of their children in their Meet-the-People sessions. Another point not to be overlooked is the effect of classification on the pupils themselves. The psychological impact or suffering of being classified as belonging to the lowest grade is something which I believe no Member of this House has ever experienced. As a teacher for many years I have some experience through observation of my students. It is very frustrating, humiliating and sad to be classified as the lowest grade. Sometimes it may lead to insanity or suicide.”
“Therefore, the higher the morale of the teachers, the better the performance of the pupils. Or, is it the other way round? I am afraid I have to touch on the morale of teachers again. I agree with quite a few of the hon. Members that the morale of teachers is actually low. I think most teachers would not admit freely their low morale in the interviews, because such admission might have an adverse effect on their standing. According to the figures given, with 72% of the teachers not satisfied with their social status, 92% worrying about too many changes in education system, 80% complaining of no chance to air their grievances and 74% thinking that there is no chance for promotion, I just do not believe that only 18% of them have low morale. The defects in the existing education policies and systems are mentioned in Chapter 4. I agree with most of the findings. Chapter 5 is perhaps the best chapter in the Report. The various shortcomings of the Ministry's administration were identified and analysed. It must be a surprise to those who are not familiar with the Ministry of Education to know that there are so many problems in the Ministry. However, to many in the educational circle, the findings are not surprising at all. I have heard comments such as, "We know that all the time", "It has been like that all the time". And yet the whole problem was exposed only after a study by the Team. That somehow reminds me of the story of the Emperor's new dress by Hans Christian Anderson. Let us hope that the major overhaul now going on will succeed so that the Ministry will be in a position to tackle the problems arising out of the proposed new education system.”
“In writing or adopting future textbooks, it is important to make sure that the language used in textbooks of the various subjects should not be more difficult than that of the language textbook. The curriculum must also be designed such that the content courses can supplement the language courses in the learning of languages. On the high attrition rate in our education system, I do not think it is fair or meaningful to compare it with that of other countries. Our attrition rates at various levels are set by the vacancies in secondary schools, 'A' level classes and tertiary institutions, and not according to performance of the pupils. Our real problem is, as aptly pointed out in the Report, low literacy and ineffective bilingualism. Perhaps we need to find out why. It is a well known fact that some schools are better than others in respect of academic performance of their pupils. I suppose the language proficiency of their pupils also runs parallel with their academic performance. It is easier to understand why this is so with some secondary schools because they are usually more popular and prestigious and they usually admit pupils with better PSLE results. Variation in performance in primary schools is more difficult to understand. Home background of the pupils is, of course, one of the factors. The fact that government-aided schools are better than government schools is again well known. But what we need to know is whether this is due to the better home background of the pupils in the aided schools or to other factors, for instance, tradition, better teachers and principals. One possible factor is provided in the section of Chapter 6 of the Report entitled, "Morale of Teachers". Apparently, the morale of teachers is higher in the better schools.”
“The suggestion that, to avoid deculturisation, pupils of each ethnic group be taught early history of their ancestors seems to be a little narrow-minded. I suppose a brief history of all ethnic groups should be taught to all pupils; and the content should not be limited only to early history. Anyway, details on what to teach the pupils will have to be taken care of by careful designing of the curriculum and syllabus. The Prime Minister expressed his surprise at the finding that when Mathematics and Science were taught in English in Chinese primary schools there was no improvement in English, instead there was a decline in the standard of Science, and, I suppose, of Mathematics also. This phenomenon has actually been known for quite some time. Perhaps because of poor feedback, no one has ever ventured to tell the Ministry or, perhaps, the authority in the Ministry did not wish to hear it. Here, I would like to offer my simple explanation for the phenomenon. The English used in the teaching of Science and Mathematics, particularly the language used in the textbooks, is different from the English taught in the English classes both in respect of expression and vocabulary. The Science and Mathematics classes therefore do not supplement the study of English, and the extra language exposure time is then wasted. Furthermore, the English text in Science and Mathematics textbooks is usually more difficult than those in the English textbooks. As a consequence, the pupils do not understand the language in Science and Mathematics textbooks. Science and Mathematics happen to be subjects which require complete understanding to master. When taught in English, the Chinese school pupils could not understand and, therefore, they did not learn.”
“During the course of its study the Team consulted and interviewed altogether about 300 people. That, I think, is a good number. But one thing that disappoints me is that representatives of professional organisations, such as the Singapore Teachers Union, Singapore Chinese Middle School Teachers Association and a few others, were not interviewed. It happens that the presidents of two of these organisations are Members of this House. I do not know how they felt; but if I were in their position, I certainly would feel hurt for not being consulted. My next comment concerns the section in Chapter 1 entitled "Nanyang University". It is very unfortunate that it has become a practice to associate the name "Nanyang University" with the problems of Chinese stream schools and the failure of bilingual education. The result is that people tend to be misled to think that it is because of Nanyang University that we now have problems with Chinese schools and bilingual education. Actually the situation is the other way round. The problems of Nanyang University are caused by the problems of Chinese schools and the failure of bilingual education. This section of the Report also contains some statements about Nanyang University which I would call incorrect or inaccurate. In fact, I think the contents of the section could be made clearer if references to Nanyang University were omitted. Under the section entitled "Moral Education" in Chapter 1, comments were made regarding courses in "Education for Living" and "Civics". I think these courses are not meant for the promotion of moral education but rather to teach the pupils some general knowledge. This knowledge could be quite important to the pupils, particularly those from poor family background.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, altogether 12 hon. Members of the House have spoken. Many of the points I intended to raise have already been touched upon or discussed in detail. However, I still wish to run through briefly what I intend to say. Mr Speaker, Sir, the announcement in August 1978 that a team of systems engineers from the Ministry of Defence would be studying the problems of the Ministry of Education came as a surprise. A number of questions were naturally raised by the general public, particularly those in the educational circle. Questions such as the following were asked: "Who are these systems engineers?", "What do they know about education?", "What are they going to do to our education system?", etc. Now, after six months, the Report of the Education Study Team is released and made public. The copy of the Report that I received did not contain any biographical data of the Team members. However, the Straits Times did publish a brief sketch of the Team members. I take it that the information given is correct. Although it was stated that the approach the Study Team took was that of the generalist, many people felt uncomfortable about the fact that all the Team members were very young, except, of course, the Chairman. Many, especially those in the educational circle, felt that it would be better if a few older and experienced educators were included in the Team, I did share their point of view. But after careful reading of the Report, I have to admit that the job could not have been done better even if some older and experienced educators were included in the team. However, that does not mean that I agree with everything that is said in the Report. I shall now give some of my comments.”
“Sir, I have got a case which is quite unfair. It concerns a young man who was married before the cut-off date but, owing to the lack of foresight, the address of the wife was changed only after the cut-off date. So he was not able to enjoy the privilege. When he made a protest to the Resettlement office, they wanted him to show documentary proof that the wife has been living with him since their marriage. So they came to me to ask if I could support him by writing something to prove that the wife indeed was living with him since their marriage. Can the Hon. Minister enlighten me on how to solve the problem?”
“Sir, if I may be allowed to make some comments. I share most of the views of the hon. Member for Jurong and the Member for Khe Bong. I fully agree that the morale of our teachers is now at an all time low. This is not so much because of the salary of the teachers. I think this is mainly due to inadequate promotion prospects, lack of recognition of their service, and the declining status of teachers. I remember once upon a time a teacher was considered a very respected person in the community. Unfortunately it is no longer so. The low morale of our teachers not only affects their efficiency but more importantly, I think, it also discourages our capable young men and women from joining the teaching profession. I can fairly say that no graduate who is worth his salt will take up teaching as a profession. I think the situation should be rectified as soon as possible, otherwise we would end up with the Education Ministry having good generals but no soldiers.”