Lai Tha Chai
Singapore
“I appreciate that the renewal of old estates takes time, as mentioned by my colleague, the Member for Bo Wen. But, Sir, do you know that HDB has been carrying out the relocation exercise since the 1970s in Henderson? Today, more than 10 years later, HDB has not built even a unit of new flat in the constituency.”
“Publications (10) That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IE-03 of the Main Estimates. Psychological Defence Unit (11) That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IF-03 of the Main Estimates.”
“Confucius says, "Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness. (" ") We try to be righteous. To repay virtue with virtue and we treat those who oppose us in a just way. Whereas those who have showered on us benefits and showed virtue to us we must repay in kind.”
“Perhaps it is too little for SBC, so much so that the people in charge of SBC have to push out their chest and say, "If you don't give us money, then we will have to embarrass you and make you lose face", as the slang goes.”
“On the other hand, if he thinks the money is of use to him and is of benefit to his members of family and he is also sure that after 10 or 20 years this saving will be good for his family, just like the CPF which after a period of accumulation can be used for purchasing of flats, on this account I will support the scheme. 6.04 p.m.”
“Sir, I notice that the Minister of State of Education has just answered the question which I intend to raise. So I do not think I should waste your time by repeating my question and getting the Minister of Education or his Minister of State to give the House the same answer. Because of this, I do not wish to speak on the amendment.”
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“I appreciate that the renewal of old estates takes time, as mentioned by my colleague, the Member for Bo Wen. But, Sir, do you know that HDB has been carrying out the relocation exercise since the 1970s in Henderson? Today, more than 10 years later, HDB has not built even a unit of new flat in the constituency. Sir, the officers say, "It is in the process of relocation exercise, and not much can be done at the moment." Don't do anything. I give you an example. Many parts of the roof of the market centre are leaking. The contractor says that it cannot be repaired because if he steps on the roof, more parts will leak. Sir, do you agree that nothing can be done but to wait for the magic years to come and everything will be all right? Sir, for those who are suffering, I am of the view that this period of waiting is agony. I believe the Minister who is so dynamic, so capable, will give me some satisfactory answers.”
“Sir, on this same issue, I want to emphasize that these people, as mentioned by my colleague, the Member for Boon Teck, who are better off financially have already moved out from rental to purchased flats or even to HUDC. But the less fortunate are left behind in their HDB rental flats. They work hard for an honest living from day to day. This is just what the Malay proverb says: "Kais pagi, makan pagi; kais petang, makan petang." But now HDB wants to move them out. Of course, not all of them will be moved out. For instance, if you have 10 blocks of 1-room flat dwellers, maybe 8 blocks will be knocked down and the dwellers resettled and the rest will be retained for the moment. But where will these people go? HDB officers will simply say, "You want fast? Yishun." Sir, can all these people move to Yishun? Of course, no. So when they ask for neighbouring blocks where there are a few vacancies, HDB officers also say, "No". They have to compete with the others who want to move in to the constituency from other constituencies. So, you see, some people are asked to move out, while at the same time people are moving in. It creates a lot of unhappiness to the people. And they have good reasons to be unhappy. Sir, shopkeepers are not happy too, of course. Their business gets from bad to worse. It deteriorates year by year. On the other hand, HDB raised the rentals since 1982 in stages. I will give you an example. In my constituency, there is one HDB shop unit which has been vacant since the end of 1982 when the last shopkeeper decided to close his business and he returned the shop to HDB. Today, after six years, there are no takers. There is something wrong somewhere, isn't it, Sir?”
“Publications (10) That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IE-03 of the Main Estimates. Psychological Defence Unit (11) That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IF-03 of the Main Estimates. Financing of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (12) That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IG-01 of the Development Estimates. Dr Arthur Beng Kian Lam:”
“Sir, I think we should change the topic now. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“And, finally, Sir, has there been termination of air services before and, if so, what has been the end result?”
“Without convenient air connections between Singapore and those holiday resorts in Malaysia, why should Singaporeans want to go through the massive jams at the Causeway, drive all the way down to Senai Airport, leave their cars unattended for days or even weeks, just to have a holiday either in Kuala Lumpur, Genting, Penang or the East Coast, when there are attractive holiday resorts nearby at competitive prices, such as Phuket, Lake Toba and Bali conveniently located, a flight away from Changi. The impact on the tourist industry of Malaysia can be expected to be immense. Singaporeans will then have to ask themselves whether all the hassle is worthwhile as far as taking a holiday in Malaysia is concerned. If I am not mistaken, Sir, about half a million Singaporeans go to Malaysia every year for their holidays. Besides, there are the many tourists who visit Singapore going to Malaysia for side trips. These trips will all dry up. The effect on the Malaysian tourist industry will be drastic. Sir, in spite of these obvious disadvantages, there would be some who would benefit from the cut in air links, those with monopolies or special interests. They are the people who are prepared to risk the close trading ties and relationship between the two countries. That is why they are pressing for this termination. We in Singapore must be prepared for this and take the necessary action so that we can safeguard our national interest. Sir, in this connection, I would like to ask the Minister, firstly, how many airlines fly into Singapore? What is the overall trend of air services agreements world wide? Is it towards an increase in more air links or is there an increase in protectionism?”
“If air travel is made difficult, inconvenient and time-consuming as a result of the termination of air services, this must obviously make Singaporean investors in Malaysia think twice about their investments. Furthermore, those already in Malaysia will have to re-do their calculations. They will have to decide if they wish to reduce or even cut their investments and withdraw their earlier commitments. For no businessmen - I know, Sir, you are a good businessman, a very successful businessman - can operate in today's fast changing economic climate without having easy access to supervise and manage their investments. The end result must mean a loss of investment for Malaysia and a loss of jobs and job opportunites for Malaysians. Sir, Singapore is also reported to be Malaysia's second most important trading partner. The termination of air links will mean that transportation of exports from Malaysia into Singapore will be severely impeded as the flow of land traffic of all categories will be severely curtailed. Massive traffic jams at the Causeway will discourage any flow. This must quite obviously affect the economies of both countries. Singaporean businessmen must gear up for such an eventuality. They will have to look to other countries for their imports. Sir, as we all know, large numbers of Singaporeans visit Malaysia for their holidays in addition to those who visit for business reasons.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocatd for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IA-01 of the Main Estimates.* Sir, after the lengthy discussion on the AWSJ issue, I would like to move to another topical issue, ie, the air services agreement. Sir, I read in the newspapers that some Malaysians are calling for the termination of the air services agreement between Singapore and Malaysia. We all know that the Singapore and Malaysian economies are very closely intertwined. According to a Straits Times article on 24th of last month, the 1986 Malaysian Industrial Digest reported that "Singapore is KL's second largest investor." Sir, we are the second largest investor in Malaysia, investing about Malaysian Ringgit 90 million in some 60 projects. This investment will create some 8,000 new jobs in Malaysia. This level of investment is much higher than last year when about Malaysian Ringgit 45 million was invested and about 7,000 new jobs created. Sir, cumulatively over the years, with the encouragement of our Government, Singaporean businessmen must have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Malaysia, creating tens of thousands of jobs for Malaysians. Such investment confidence is only possible when relationships between our two countries are on an even keel. Termination of air services agreement must result in investors being discouraged from investing in Malaysia. For who would want to put his money in a place that is so difficult to get to? Businessmen who put their money in projects or companies in Malaysia quite obviously would like to be able to visit these companies and supervise their operations regularly.”
“May I ask the Minister whether the private hire buses, including the Scheme A and Scheme B buses and the City Shuttle Service, will still have a role to play in the future when the MRT comes into operation at the end of the year?”
“The factor of human relationship refers to the cooperation among the people and the trust of our people in the Government and the confidence and friendship that other countries have shown to us. In 1984 and 1985, because of the international economic depression, the weather or the season was bad. So, our own economic situation was also going down. What could we do? A season is subject to constant changes over which we have no control. Geographical advantage is something that is fixed, and is not changeable. What is best is to depend on human relationship, that is on ourselves, for a remedy. The ancient Chinese philosoper Mencius said: "Opportune season is inferior to geographical advantage, and geographical advantage is inferior to human relationship" ( ). For over 2000 years, this saying has been repeatedly quoted. There must be some truth in it. So I believe the future of Singapore depends on human relationship. I hope with the cooperation of the people under the Government's leadership, and with concerted effort, we shall be able to attain higher achievements, to achieve greater success and scale a higher peak, based on a harmonious human relationship. Sir, I support the motion by the Finance Minister. 4.02 pm”
“I hope this will not lower their standard of service. I am also worried that this may adversely affect the employment opportunity of new school leavers and tertiary graduates in the next few years. This will mean that more tertiary graduates and young school leavers will have to look to the private sector for their employment. All along, Government and statutory boards have been the main employers of such people. The new measure now will reduce their intake. I do not know whether the Public Service Commission has any statistics to show the possible effect of this new policy. But I believe there will be more of such people looking for employment in the Government and statutory boards. Before our economy recovers, particularly in the next year or the year after, the private sector will not be able to absorb them. So this is the period when school leavers and tertiary graduates will find it difficult to get jobs. I hope the Government will pay attention to this problem and relax the policy of achieving 10% reduction in five years or extend the period longer when necessary. Sir, in Chinese culture and philosophy it has been widely have accepted that the success of one's enterprise depends on the three factors of opportune season, geographical advantage and human relationship ( ). In the past decade, Singapore's success was mainly dependent on these three favourable factors. But opportune season is something out of our control though it had been favourable to us in the past. It also relates to international and regional political, economic and social climate or conditions. In the past 10 years or more we have had this advantage. As regards geographical advantage, we are at the strategic crossroad of the eastern and western hemispheres. This is a factor to our advantage.”
“This is a result of sharing the fruits of economic prosperity, and is something to be proud of. But let us look at it from the point of foreigners. I have noted that some foreigners praise our achievement, some express admiration, yet some ridicule us as upstarts ( ). I think we do not like foreigners to look at us as upstarts. But let us take note of the behaviour of some Singaporeans. They do behave like upstarts. Some people spend a lot on the four necessities of life. It is quite common for salaried people to spend a few hundred dollars on a good brand of clothing or a famous brand of watch. And when they go to a restaurant, they must have expensive dishes like shark's fin, abalone, suckling pig and XO brandy in order to 'save' their face. In dwelling, they must renovate their dwelling flats at great expense. This is also very common. Even in transportation, other than having a car, they must now and then go abroad. This is again a popular practice. Their behaviour and mannerism abroad usually give foreigners a kind of impression that they are upstarts. At this juncture of economic recession, some foreigners also criticize Singaporeans saying that in the past Singaporeans, were upstarts but now they have become destitutes ( ). Of course, when they say we are upstarts it may be due to a case of sour grapes. When they ridicule us as destitutes, I think they are rejoicing at our misfortune. But we must also examine our own image. Maybe there is some truth in what they say. We should not appear like upstarts nor do we want to be destitutes. The Minister also announced the intention to reduce the number of permanent staff in the Government departments and statutory boards by 10% within the next 5 years, with the aim of reducing expenditure and increasing productivity.”
“However, in fact, new taxes are inevitable because as the fleece comes out from the sheep, so does Government revenue come out from the taxpayers. But the people should understand that when the Government is a clean government, the revenue through tax will all be spent on the people. The more important thing is that the government in the imposition of taxes, should be fair in the scope and method of its implementation, so as not to give some people having some advantage while some others have to bear an undue burden. The shortage in revenue resulting from the reduction in income tax is to be made up by the imposition of consumption tax. This may cause some dissatisfaction to some people. This looks like the reverse of Robin Hood's method: taking from the poor to help the rich. From another angle, this is not so, because the principle of income tax is to tax on income while the consumption tax is just the reverse, to tax on expenditure. Reduction of income tax and increase of consumption tax are measures to encourage people to earn more and spent less. So the tax on consumption is to encourage more production and less spending and wastage. This has been a virtue of the Oriental people. Talking about wastage, let us examine whether our people has the habit of wasteful spending. In the past, due to economic prosperity, the standard of loving of the people of Singapore has improved a lot. In respect of clothing, food, dwelling and transport ( ), there has been a marked improvement. Now, we have a better standard of living than many other countries, particularly developing countries. Our people's standard of living is even comparable with that of some advanced developed countries.”
“Before entering Parliament one year ago, in December 1984, he was earning a salary of more than $50,000 a month but now he earns about $20,000 a month. He is earning less. Now he gets very little compared to what he was earning years ago. However, Sir, this does not mean that he is now less brainy than before he became a Minister. On the contrary, it serves to show that he has a kind heart besides a good brain. Sir, I am not saying that money is not the only measure for kinship. I sincerely hope that the Government would take practical measures, of course, including economic measures, to encourage the people to look after their parents as well as their children if we want them to remain orientals and not become "pseudo-Westerners". On that note, Sir, I support the motion. 3.51 pm Dr Koh Lip Lin (Nee Soon)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the main topics of the debate on Finance. Minister's Budget Statement this year are the Government's economic development policy and the measures to overcome the economic recession. The most notable ones are the reduction of CPF contribution, income tax, the restraint in wages, and the rebate in property tax and others. What the public is most concerned with is the proposed imposition of consumption tax. Undoubtedly many people are opposed to the consumption tax. The reduction in the various taxes will lead to unbalanced accounts. So there is the need to seek alternative revenue by some other channels. Of course, we should not be like many other countries where, when they are short of money, they will borrow from abroad or print a lot of currency notes which will cause inflation. So the only method is to impose new taxes. Of course, the people will then be alarmed. Everybody is afraid that new taxes will increase his burden.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the Finance Minister is very generous this year. He is particularly generous towards the taxpayers. In his Budget statement he has announced a 25% rebate on personal income tax for this year, and a bigger rebate for the same next year. Sir, in my view, his kindness and generosity serve to reflect the integrity and high morality of our leaders. They have built up a reserve of over $25 billion for the country and are now using part of the reserves to help the people in their present difficulty. Sir, had our national coffers been empty, or worse still, had our country been debt-ridden, such help would have been impossible. For even the cleverest woman cannot cook meal without rice, as the Chinese saying goes. ( ) (chiau fu nan wei wu mi zhi chui). It would have been a case of "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". ( ) (sin yiu yi er li bu tzu ). The people would have to suffer in the end. However, what I would like to point out, Sir, is that it appears that the income tax rebate is more a reward for individual talent than a reward for kindred feelings. I am all for giving recognition to individual talent. But at the same time rebate should also be given for the support of parents. It will be a good way to foster our oriental tradition. Sir, as we all know, the HDB gives priority to applicants of extended families. If the Finance Minister also gives the tax rebate for the support of parents, it will be a good way to show recognition of filial piety as well as brain power. Sir, I believe you will agree with me that a good brain and a kind heart are equally important. Neither of it should be overlooked. Take our Finance Minister, for example.”
“Confucius says, "Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness. (" ") We try to be righteous. To repay virtue with virtue and we treat those who oppose us in a just way. Whereas those who have showered on us benefits and showed virtue to us we must repay in kind. If we repay wrongs by our virtue, how are we going to repay virtue given to us? There must be the difference. So this is the way. I believe what we say here would be good for the electorate.”
“Sir may I be allowed to say a few words on the HDB because I have a subhead on TG-01. (In Mandarin) Sir, I appreciate very much the talks given by the Minister for National Development from this morning till this afternoon. Although the talks were given in an off-and-on disjointed manner, his humour has caused much mirth and interest in this House and made the sitting not dull. Earlier the Prime Minister said to the effect that the electorate's thinking is more complex now, it is not so simple and hoped that whatever we do here is for the benefit of the electorate. This reminds me of what I have learnt as a student of Confucianism for over a decade. I recall a very important matter, and that is, the Japanese have been very successful; it is mainly because they study the Four Books. The most important one of the four books is the Analects. It is saying that if only you have mastered half of the book of the Analects, you can rule the whole world. I would just like to quote one passage from it to express appreciation of what the Minister has said for half an hour about what principle he had resorted to and what criterion to be used to deal with the Opposition Members' constituencies in comparison to how to treat the PAP constituencies. These two different kinds of attitude have been described very clearly in the Book of Analects by Confucius some 2000 years ago. This shows that the Minister who has good Eastern culture has been making good use of Confucian thinking in administering national affairs. In Chapter 14, here it says: To the question "To treat injury with virtue, what about it?" The Master says, "If in this way, how to repay virtue?" To those who are good to us and supported us, how are we going to treat them?”
“Perhaps it is too little for SBC, so much so that the people in charge of SBC have to push out their chest and say, "If you don't give us money, then we will have to embarrass you and make you lose face", as the slang goes. Therefore, I hope the Government, while paying attention to economic development, could also emphasize cultural development and accord it equal treatment so that the people may realize that after having food, clothing, accommodation, transportation and work, they should be contented and should try to be thoughtful people who can look after their families and can help other people and can become upright and proud Singaporeans who could dedicate themselves to the country. On this note, I support the Budget as the Member for Serangoon Gardens has done. 5.55 pm”
“Sir, what puzzles me is why should SBC not encourage our people to learn from somebody like you, the Speaker of Parliament, who is an internationally well-known surgeon. Why would SBC not encourage our people to learn from our Minister for Finance, a young leader who has given up a comfortable life of a millionaire to take up the onerous task of managing the economy of a country? If it is a difficult task or a delicate matter for the SBC to portray political leaders for emulation, it can leave them alone as this may be a difficult and controversial matter. Why can't SBC encourage our people to learn from those who are working in our port, those who do not sleep at night? Why does SBC not encourage our people to learn from our soldiers who protect our country and provide security to our nation? Why should SBC ask our people to imitate those fancifully dressed singers on stage and follow them to sing "You are my sweetheart"? Sir, of course, I do not mean you are my sweetheart. Sir, when I sit before the TV set and watch popular song programmes which have been bought from foreign countries, I am more lighthearted than when I see similar programmes produced by SBC out of money allocated by the Minister for Finance. Watching this type of local programmes makes my heart heavy. It is very heavily weighted down. Therefore, after the Minister for Finance has made his Budget Statement, I made a very careful study of the allocation for the Ministry of Culture. Only then it dawned on me how much the Minister for Finance had allocated to the Ministry of Culture and for SBC. It dawned on me that the sum allocated is too little, very meagre.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, although I am not an economist, from the viewpoint of an ordinary person I feel that the world economic development is not very optimistic. However, we are performing well. This is a fact that everybody knows. Since 1959, the Government has performed well. Whoever says to the contrary is talking nonsense. You can judge the present Government from any angle and by whatever standard. The Government of Singapore is at least compatible if not better than any other government in the world. The good performance is not only dependent on the good leadership but also on the efforts of our people. The Budget Statement made by the Minister for Finance and Minister for Trade and Industry on the 2nd March provides tax relief for individuals and for certain private establishments. This is an encouragement to them to work harder. It is good. But I have to point out one thing. Other than encouraging the people to work harder through fiscal means, I feel the Government should also mobilize cultural forces to inculcate in the people a correct attitude towards life, and to imbue in them a keen sense of patriotism, so that most of our Singaporeans if not all would not become mercenary or ugly Singaporeans but gratifying and righteous and upright Singaporeans. Talking about cultural forces, or the strength of culture, allow me to pick out the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation as an example. In November last year, SBC produced a Chinese programme called "Learning from Liew Weng Cheng". Sir, I believe you do not know who Liew Weng Cheng is. I also do not know who he is. Among our colleagues here, I believe not many of them know who Liew Weng Cheng is. However, I know he is a foreign male singer of popular songs.”
“On the other hand, if he thinks the money is of use to him and is of benefit to his members of family and he is also sure that after 10 or 20 years this saving will be good for his family, just like the CPF which after a period of accumulation can be used for purchasing of flats, on this account I will support the scheme. 6.04 p.m.”
“Not long ago the little girl met an accident and stayed in the hospital for some 3 months, after which the hospital sent a bill to them. The mother is unable to pay and the two other children who live outside are also not willing to pay. Under this Scheme, it is not possible for members of the family to help pay the hospital bill. Is it reasonable? I hope the Minister will give consideration to it. Another example pertains to an aged person who is ill and is suffering from diabetes. Every day he has to go to the clinic for injection and medication and he has to pay for it. In the meantime he could not work and so he could not afford to go on living in this way because of the great cost of medical treatment. Also he could not seek to die. Under such circumstances, could he make use of his Medisave savings to pay for his medical expenses when he is not hospitalized? Would the Minister consider this problem? The hospital would not accept him and he has to pay, what is he going to do? Although this Medisave Scheme may benefit the majority of the people in the long run, there are special cases. There are exceptions. The Minister should be cautious and pay some attention to such cases, particularly when such cases touch upon one's life and death, just as the Member for Rochore had mentioned. The Minister should consider that to save a person's life is worth all the effort. So we should try to save a person's life first, before thinking of asking for payment so that we do not make people think that "I have money in the CPF savings, yet when I am sick and almost dying I could not make use of the money, so what good is it to me?" Then there is no sense of security.”
“If the bread-winner goes to hospital because of illness, then he is out of job for the time being, and when his condition improves and is recuperating in his home, the hospital bill will then come to him for payment. In such a difficult situation, how is he going to support his family? Therefore, I fully sympathize with the two families. So if there is a requirement of 6% contribution to savings in one's CPF to help one to pay the medical bill, is it not good? To those unfortunate people, I think this 6% saving is good for them and it does them no harm. If anyone should feel unhappy, such as those whom the Member for Rochore has mentioned, i.e. the businessmen or bosses who think they have already given a certain degree of care to their employees in their own organizations and are now required to contribute further to the Central Provident Fund, then, of course, they would not be happy. Like anybody else, they do not like to put more money into somebody else's pockets, as they think they have already contributed 22% to the CPF. But to the employees, they do not have to incur any additional contribution, any more than just about 1% to the 23% contribution which, including the employer's contribution, will give them about 6% of the wages as savings in the CPF. Therefore, the Medisave Scheme appears to be very good for them. However, Sir, I would like to give two more examples to illustrate how the Medisave Scheme needs some consideration or review just as what the Member for Ayer Rajah has said. I give an example. There are four members in a family - a mother with three children. Two of them have moved out. Only one small daughter is living with her mother and is dependent on her for her livelihood.”
“Therefore, I agree with what our Minister has said earlier that if we are talking of some issue which pertains to a situation 10, 20 or 30 years later, a National Health Plan for the future, then I will support it because what will happen in the future nobody can tell. But if we are prepared now, then no matter what happens in future we shall be ready to meet it. There is the saying "The weather is unpredictable. Fortune or Misfortune may befall any person at any time." So if we are prepared for any eventuality, it is much better off for all. Let me illustrate this. In 1959 when the MP for Rochore was also on the scene, our Government had the foresight to raise the 5% CPF contribution some 20 years ago to 46% today. This has given many people in the middle and lower income groups in Singapore the necessary funds from the CPF to buy flats. Had the Government not implemented such measures before, then many of our people today would face housing problems because prices of houses and commodities are very expensive. If people in the middle or lower income group have some savings to help them meet expenses that will arise in future due to illnesses and so on, this will only help them and not harm them. Let me give an example. In the past 18 months constituents of two families came to see me at my meet-the-people sessions. They showed me two hospital bills. Each bill ranged between $200 and $400, both under $500. They were not able to pay these bills. To you, Sir, or to any Member here in this House a few hundred dollars is a very small matter. But outside this House, there are many families who have only one person to depend on for a living.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not a doctor and therefore I cannot speak like the Member for Ayer Rajah in the capacity of a professional analysing the Medisave Scheme. And I also cannot speak like the respectable Member for Rochore who could draw on his vast past experience in administration and as an academician to analyse the NHP from the economic and health point of view. I can only look at this issue through a simple conception. I feel we should understand what is most important in one's life. Sir, I remember when I was young my life was not easy because I lived in a difficult environment. I could not have good medical care, and I had also seen in many places, not in Singapore, that many people had not been given medical care as we have been enjoying in Singapore. Sir, what I mean to say is that living in this world if one could be in a situation where the young are nurtured and the able-bodied can be of use while the aged can be accorded security, then one should feel very lucky and contented. If we who live in Singapore look around we will see that a normal child could have the opportunity to go to school or to be taken care of and to live healthily and develop healthily. We find that he is actually in a fortunate situation. If a youth is healthy, both mentally and physically, it is not difficult for him to get a proper job. And if an aged person is alone and without any support or if he lacks financial means, in the present circumstances in Singapore, he still has the opportunity to be accepted into a home for the aged to pass his twilight years. In other words, in our present circumstances, we have almost solved all the basic problems of livelihood of our people here.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Hon. Minister has not answered my question. My question is whether he could waive the 1973 ruling so that MPs around the Anson area can help the residents living in Anson Constituency.”
“(2) That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JA -01 of the Main Estimates.”
“(8) That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead M B-05 of the Main Estimates.”
“Sir, I share the sentiments expressed by my colleagues, especially the Member for Whampoa. The PAP Government has been subsidizing hawker centres since it came to power in 1959. One of the original reasons was to solve the unemployment problem which occurred in the fifties and sixties. The other was, and still is, to provide good food for the people at a low price- But time has changed. We have reached full employment since 1972. Everyone can get a job if he or she is willing to work. On the other hand, hawker centres such as the Membina Barat Hawker Centre which is in my constituency, continue to offer cooked food at low prices, while others, like the Newton Cooked Food Centre, offer food which can no longer be considered as economical. The Government does not intend to subsidize the hawker centres. I support this policy if it applies to the hawker centres which cater mainly for the tourists, such as the Newton Cooked Food Centre as has been mentioned or the newly built and modern hawker centres. Do you think that the Government should subsidize those hawkers whose income is more than a top civil servant? However, not all hawkers are that lucky. Some of the stalls situated in old HDB estates do not make much money. They can only hawk for short hours in the morning, but not in the afternoon when the housewives in the area do their marketing. These hawkers will not be able to survive if their subsidy from the Government is withdrawn. Those hawkers who are very old may not be able to change their trade at this juncture. May I ask the Hon. Minister what steps he intends to take to help those hawkers who will be badly affected by the withdrawal of the Government subsidy starting next month?”
“Sir, I notice that the Minister of State of Education has just answered the question which I intend to raise. So I do not think I should waste your time by repeating my question and getting the Minister of Education or his Minister of State to give the House the same answer. Because of this, I do not wish to speak on the amendment.”
“This policy has, in fact, been studied very carefully and it took us several months of study before we eventually arrived at the conclusion that we would not be able to sustain this policy and therefore we have to change it. I am sorry we have to change the policy with retrospective effect. I do it most reluctantly, but it is essential that we change the policy.”
“Sir, I entirely agree with the Member for Toa Payoh when he said that we are not arguing with the policy changes which are made from time to time and that most of the policies adopted by the Ministry are right. But I want to emphasize one point, Sir. Sometimes the Hon. Minister for National Development may make mistakes. I will give him an example. Only a few days ago he said that the two types of parking coupons, one issued by the URA and the other by the HDB, could be used for either car-park. We know that he has rightly changed the policy because it was a mistake to issue two different types of parking coupons to the motorists. There is also another example. CCC members or CCMC members sometimes use the parking lots when they go to their constituency. Some of them have been given convenience, and some have not. I do not see the logic. I think the Hon. Minister should look into this. Sometimes he thinks correctly and he makes the right policy. I hope he will ask his officers to study any policy changes carefully, as he has repeatedly said so just now. Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Sir, I think the HUDC will look into the case mentioned by the Member for Thomson, because there are exceptions to the general rule. If certain single applicants warrant special consideration, such as the case brought up by the Member, we will look into it and if it is justified we will allow her to apply even though she has not reached the age of 40 years. To the Member for Toa Payoh, I must say that I am very sorry that I cannot reverse this policy. This is a very important policy and we cannot reverse it.”
“But there are no one-room flats in a new town like Clementi. Am I right? I do not know. Perhaps many of my colleagues can tell the Minister or maybe he knows better. Of course, the Minister has his reasons. I know the reasons too. I support his idea that we should not build any more one-room flats. I am not suggesting that we should build more one-room flats. Sir, what I am trying to point out is that the Hon. Minister should encourage people to save money for a rainy day and, therefore, encourage the people to live in smaller but comfortable flats, like the three-room flats or even the four-room flats, rather than to encourage people to live in luxurious and bigger flats like in HUDC flats. Sir, I would like the Hon. Minister to enlighten this House why he adopts such a policy.”
“Sir, we have heard Members of this House talking a lot about the housing problem and we have also heard over the last few days the Minister for National Development repeatedly emphasizing his housing policy. It seems to me, Sir, that he is very happy about his housing policy. I am very proud of our Government's achievements on its housing projects. I believe not only me, Sir, but you and the other Members of this House share my view. I would like to go further by saying that if there were no PAP Government or the PAP lost in the 1963 general elections and in the 1965 Hong Lim by-election, there would not be such a beautiful Singapore as we see it today. I strongly believe that no other Government, except the PAP Government, could solve the housing problem in the 1960s. That is why today we have about 70% of the population living in HUDC/HDB/JTC flats. But, Sir, we must not only look at the past, we must also look at the present and think of the future. On the present housing policy, may I, Sir, give you only one example. On the one hand, the Hon. Minister allows a single person like the hon. Member for Alexandra to apply for a HUDC flat which costs from $100,000 to $200,000 or maybe $300,000 in the next few years. But, on the other hand, he does not allow an old HDB flat dweller with a big family of about 10 persons to apply for a one-room, two-room or three-room flat, the reason being that the total income of the tenant and his wife's may exceed more than $800. Where is the logic? I know the reason but it is not very convincing. 5.30 p.m. We know now that the HDB is building less and less one-room and two-room flats. That is why about 40% of the housing units in the old housing estates like Henderson are one-room and two-room flats.”
“This provision enables the SBC to take the initial steps to tap and encourage talents to make greater contributions, This is a right move if we are to improve and progress, The talents must be recognised and rewarded. Clause 5(2)(c) states that the duty of the Corporation is: "to ensure that nothing is included in the programmes broadcast by the Corporation which - (ii) offends any racial group or may promote ill-will between different races or different public groups:" This provision illustrates the concern that the SBC bears on our multi-racial society. What I mean is that even programmes, such as those in the Tamil language, which only serve a minority and hence lose money, will continue to be telecast over TV or broadcast over the radio. As a matter of fact, we should also produce better programmes in such minority languages. On the other hand, all the dialect programmes such as the 'Romantic Swordsman' ( ) which is very popular should be gradually and slowly discouraged as we are now encouraging the use of Mandarin to replace dialects. The provisions of clause 6 (h) and (n) in the Bill mean that, unlike the Broadcasting Division working within limited resources, the SBC will be able to expand its services and make further progress with the greater flexibility and with more resources than they now have. I can see that the SBC has a great role to play in shaping the cultural destiny of Singapore. It will take a lead in the promotion of the varied cultures of a multi-racial society of ours. Sir, I support the Bill which is to be committed to a Select Committee for further study.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the establishment of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation marks a milestone in the era of cultural development in Singapore. The SBC will take over the functions and duties of the Broadcasting Division of the Ministry of Culture. Like other statutory bodies, the Corporation hopes to be able to provide better broadcasting services for the people, as the Acting Minister for Culture pointed out just now. It has to be so, for why else should it be formed to replace the present Broadcasting Division? We have been watching the TV programmes of RTS since the 1960's. There has not been much remarkable improvement in its quality. Perhaps the only worthy improvement it has achieved is the introduction of colour TV. Very often we hear grouses and complaints from radio listeners and TV viewers. The Broadcasting Division is aware of its shortcomings and failings and is itself desirous of remedying them, but it faces constraints such as financial resources, lack of expertise and for many other reasons. This does not mean that the staff of the Broadcasting Division at present are not working hard enough, or there is a lack of suitable personnel whose talent can be tapped. Most of the constraints against improvement are due to lack of financial support. The Broadcasting Division could not get sufficient funds from the Ministry of Finance. That is why the Ministry of Culture has now decided that the broadcasting services should go on its own and be self-reliant. I wish to comment on two clauses in the Bill. Clause 49(2)(a) states that the Corporation may prescribe "schemes for the award of scholarships and other financial assistance to employees attending courses of training".”
“Minister for Communications and Acting Minister for Culture will like to share my views on this subject. Sir, I support the move.”
“SSO is unlike SIA (Singapore Airlines) which is capable of making profits every year. I know that the Government supports SSO's expenditure for the first two years. After that, it will have to depend entirely on public donations. I do not think it can survive and make continuous progress year by year if it has to depend solely on donations from the private sector. SIA and other profit-making statutory boards should come forward to make substantial contributions to SSO. We now ask people to support the Singapore Cultural Foundation (SCF) on the one hand and, on the other, we also ask them to support the SSO. I do not think that is practical in the long run. I propose that all donations for cultural activities from the private sector should go to the SCF. SCF should then allocate a proportion of its collections to SSO every year. By the way, the SCF should get support, as it should be, from all walks of life. It should aim to collect $10 million instead of $5 million over the next few years. Everybody knows that material investment in cultural activities will never yield any financial returns. It is just like the vehicles of the Parks and Trees Division watering the plants along the roads every day. We cannot get the water back to the vehicles but we can see the results on the plants and trees. They grow bigger and greener - this is what the Ministry of National Development is doing now - and this provides a better and healthier environment for us all. So I hope that people from all walks of life will give their support to SCF. I have full confidence that through the SCF we will have more colourful and lively cultural activities that will help us to build what we want to call our "Singapore Culture". Sir, I do not know whether the Hon.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me a chance to say a few words. Sir, the Ministry of Culture has radically changed its policy since last year. It changes for good. I quote two examples: (1) the formation of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and (2) the establishment of the Singapore Cultural Foundation. Let me first deal with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra's operating expenses run to more than one million dollars a year. This may be the most expensive cultural activity in our Republic. My friends have been frequently discussing with me as to whether it is worthwhile to spend such a large sum of money on an orchestra. I am not a musician nor a music fan. I know nothing about the great works of Beethoven or Schubert. But I support this idea. We should have something best we can find in Singapore, not only in London, Paris or New York. We should have ballet or an orchestra. These are few of the best things in the world. I remember in early 1967 when Dr Goh Keng Swee initiated the idea of forming the Singapore Girl Bagpipers in the People's Association, it was said that such a band was irrelevant to our Singapore society. But today it has become part of Singapore culture accepted by the people. 3.45 p.m. For this reason, I wish to praise two gentlemen in particular, who have devoted their time and energy towards the formation of our SSO. They are Mr Tan Boon Teik, the Attorney-General and Chairman of SSO, and Mr Choo Hoey, the Conductor of SSO. They have been responsible for the success of the SSO and I hope they will lead the SSO to greater successes. We must succeed in building up our SSO to be one of the best, if not the best, orchestras in the world. The question now is: where do we get our financial support for the SSO?”
“Secondly, in the new HDB estates, there are no flats on the ground floor of each block. Instead, void decks are provided for children to play games. Residents can also hold functions there. Through the use of these void decks, residents will be able to make contact and, hence, come to know one another better. In the old HDB estates, however, there are no void decks. There are very limited empty spaces around each apartment block. It hurts the eye to see children playing ball-games along the common corridors. We also hear of residents complaining about shelters or tents being put up by their neighbours in front of door-steps to flats for funeral functions. I know the Government has taken steps to improve the living standards of the people in the old city area. The HDB is building modern flats for the middle income groups. The young people would, therefore, stay on in the old city instead of moving out. I hope the Minister would look into the problems in the old HDB estates. We should improve the living standards of these people if our GNP continues to grow year by year. Of course, if there is no economic growth, we do not have money to do anything, including the HDB estates. I would like to know what plans the Hon. Minister has in mind to improve the living standards in the old HDB estates in the near future.”
“Sir, I want to raise one question concerning the Housing and Development Board. Before I do so, would you please let me congratulate the Honourable Minister for National Development. He has risen to his present position by climbing up the "HDB ladder". He was the chief administrator of HDB before he came to this House. The House has no doubts about his great contributions to HDB. But the situation has changed, Some of his works which were considered 'good records' in the 1960's may not be so today. Some of them may even become problems now. We can see these happening in the old HDB estates. Let me quote two examples. Firstly, there are lots of 1-room flats in the old HDB estates; the percentage of such flats may even be as high as over 40%. These are rented flats. There are two phenomena in these old HDB estates: (1) The residents do not like to live in these 1-room flats for too long. Many of them want to move out as early as possible. (2) The young residents will move out of these 1-room flats once they are married, leaving their old folks (i.e. parents and grandparents) behind. On being left behind, these old folks will face increasing financial problems day by day. In fact, some of them came to see me seeking Social Welfare aid and others came to apply for hawker stalls. Because of this particular situation, the general standard of living in these old HDB estates is degenerating gradually. They have become estates fit only for the lower income groups. For example, Kreta Ayer, part of the old city, has 441 public assistance cases; (This figure was given to me by the Ministry of Social Affairs recently) Henderson, an old HDB estate, has 160 public assistance cases; Marine Parade, a new HDB estate, 34 cases.”
“e, buildings, and perhaps because of the absence of a person on the Board strongly committed to history, the Board has yet to turn its attention to important locations and events, places and happenings not related to buildings, places and happenings that should be commemorated for their historical value. One illustration that comes to mind is that this year is the centenary of the planting of the first rubber tree in Singapore. The site is known. I think it is very close to the University of Singapore. And I think it is worthwhile memorialising the location as rubber has had so much historical and economic connotations for Singapore, recalling to mind people who have been brought from India to work in the plantations in the region and the assiduous industry of the Chinese workers, including women workers and entrepreneurs who have contributed to the development of our economy. Another point is that because of financial limitations the Board has not brought itself adequately to the general notice of the people. In other words, it has not been able to give enough attention to the third of the four objectives set out by its legislation, namely, to stimulate public interest and support. Institutions like the Science Centre, the National Library and the National Museum have an adequate capacity for public relations with schools and other institutions. It is not enough merely to have a list of buildings and monuments and to spend money to preserve these places. Thought has to be given to bringing such places constantly to the mind of the people especially our young people in a way that can repeatedly suggest to them how they are identified with one another and with Singapore.”
“Sir, I beg to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Mr Conceicao: Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head O be reduced by $10 in respect of item (b) of subhead AAA 3020. Sir, since the Preservation of Monuments Board was set up in 1971, it has done commendable work in relation to the objects of the Board in view of the constraints, especially financial constraints, which it faced. The Board has gazetted and placed under its protection more than a dozen buildings including places of worship, the Telok Ayer Market and the Thong Chai Medical Institution building. The Board has viewed the possibilities of placing under its protection other monuments including government and civic buildings, buildings of public resort and residential buildings. All these will serve to remind us of our cultural roots and of how our forebears lived and worked and worshipped and contributed towards what Singapore is today. However, there are a number of points that I would like to raise about the work of the Board. First, the objects of the Board as stated in the relevant legislation seem to focus the Board's interest on buildings and this has come to be reflected by the prominent position of architects on the Board. It is good that there should be architects and planners because in the process of renewal of the city such people are important in helping the preservation of the old amidst the re-building of the new. But I think the Board needs at least one person with a very strong historical orientation: a historian, because how we have come together is history. Then, because of the orientation of the Board to monuments, i.”
“Sir, I have touched on only one point, i.e, the hawkers problem, while many other Members have touched on various problems. But from the reply given by the Senior Minister of State, we know that the HDB faces many problems and we also know that the Chief Executive Officer of the HDB is now the Chairman of JTC. One deputy Chief Executive Officer has just been appointed to run the show. My question is actually to ask the Senior Minister of State to give an assurance to the House that the HDB would find ways to strengthen its organisation. So far as I can see, many problems need deeper discussion. If views can be obtained from grass-roots level, for instance. representatives of CCC or the hawkers' association or other organisations, maybe the HDB will have to make radical changes to cope with the important needs in future. We used to hear the Senior Minister of State replying, "Well, we will look into it." Then what happens next year? This same problem will be brought up again and he will give the same reply, "Well, we will look into it." I do not think that is a good reply as such. I hope the Senior Minister of State will give us a positive answer on this.”
“Wherever possible, I hope that the Minister would spare no efforts in attempting to improve the living conditions of our people.”
“Yes. I am talking about the administrative efficiency of the HDB. Sir, let me explain. From time to time, we can see officials from two departments issuing summonses to hawkers - one from the HDB Maxwell Road office and the other from the HDB Area Office. I quote two examples. These two examples occurred very recently. In the first case, one early morning at about 8 o'clock, HDB officials from the Maxwell Road office came down to issue about 20 summonses to hawkers. The second incident occurred only last week. Officials from the Area Office issued summons on one hawker. The summons was undated. I have got a photostat copy here. The summons required the hawker within three days to do this and to do that. Mr Speaker, Sir, we can see here that the HDB officials from two departments are issuing summons to hawkers from time to time. There must be something wrong. Hon. Members and Ministers might be interested to know that in my Constituency, there are not only hawker centres under the HDB but also hawker centres under the jurisdiction of the Hawkers Department of the Ministry of the Environment and the Jurong Town Corporation. But I find that the HDB hawker centre has given me the most trouble. I am not Justice Pao and neither do I want to see the Minister's axe fall on the officials mentioned just now. I do hope that while the Minister is dealing with these officials with leniency, the working efficiency of the HDB must be improved. Otherwise the life of more than half of the country's population will be affected. Sir, among other things, the problems of the aged and the young living in the HDB flats and the problem of families with only one breadwinner striving hard to support their dependants, are always worthy of our concern and attention.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 0 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) of subhead AAA 3020. (The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs Chin Ham Tong. Ho See Beng, Cheong Yuen Chee, J F Conceicao, Ahmad Haleem, Ch'ng Jit Koon and Teo Chong Tee). Sir, last year, I , spoke about the outstanding achievements of the Housing and Development Board. At the same time, I proposed that the HDB should set up a special duties unit to deal with special problems raised by MPs from time to time. But it was turned down by the Senior Minister of State. Sir, I do not want to repeat what I had said. But I would like to emphasise one point here, and that is, the administrative efficiency of the HDB seems to have slackened, perhaps due to the rapid expansion and the increasing numbers of flats which have been built. My Constituency of Henderson is a HDB estate. On the one hand, we can see the oldest type of one-room flats and, on the other, we can see the latest newly designed four-room flats. The area of my Constituency is very small but there are three HDB Area Offices to handle the Board's day-to-day affairs in the estate. I have received a lot of complaints from time to time. One complaint I want to cite here is the hawker problem. Sir, we can see and many MPs who have HDB flats in their Constituencies know that the HDB officials have to issue summonses to the unruly hawkers so that the rules and regulations can be maintained and strengthened. I am quite convinced that their actions are legal and they deserve our support.”
“Sir, a point of clarification. I only spoke on Lu - Fu Lu Shou. Lu is not so simple as mentioned by the Minister. If he refers to the Chinese dictionary, he may go deeper and find that it describes a man too ambitious for powers, for a higher position. Well, basically I am saying whether we want to copy the right things from foreign countries and discard the bad things. Like the word Chingay, if the Minister agrees that Chingay is right, well, it is up to the Minister to decide. But if the Minister says, "Better correct it to Zhuang Yi procession" or some other transliteration, it is up to the Ministry of Culture to decide. Sir, in view of this I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Eventually items in the procession included giant triangular flags, colourful lanterns and banners, musical bands, decorative floats, stilt walkers, troupes and so on. The Member is not happy that the three Chinese legendary figures Fu Lu Shou are being presented in Chingay. I do not agree with him that this is feudalistic in nature. What is the meaning of Fu Lu Shou ( )?. Fu means good living, presumably. Xin guang ti pan ( ) that means "a very broad waist". But I do not think that that is a good thing nowadays. Lu is good opportunity in life. Shou is "long life". Now, what is wrong with having all these?”
“I think it would give our people a very good opportunity to learn about the history of China, or for that matter the history of other countries, if we are able to get those programmes. It is not possible for us as yet to achieve the same standard of production as the foreign programme as the funds and the number of professional script writers and artistes is greater in Hong Kong and Taiwan. They even pay more for the production. As a result the standard of local production is not as good as that in Hong Hong and Taiwan. But surely the Member for Henderson is not suggesting that we should therefore stop producing dramas or that even if we continue to produce dramas which are directly related to our milieu and reflect our values, aspirations, and problems, we should never produce them in this form. I think we are trying to produce these programmes in the best way we can. I can assure him that we are not really copying or lavishly imitating what the foreign artistes are doing. 5.45 p.m. The word "Chingay" is a transliteration of the Chinese characters zhuang yi ( ) in the Hokkien dialect. Zhuang means "makeup, hua zhuang ( ). Yi ( ) means "art". So translated literally, it means the art of making-up. In fact, this procession is to commemorate a festival which originated in Penang. One authoritative definition of Chingay is that it is a sort of a carriage borne on the shoulders of men. It is a gorgeous representation of some historical scene. This Chingay procession is a religious-cum-secular festival originally held in Penang, usually in the middle of every first lunar calendar month dating back to the second half of the last century. As time goes on the occasion became more and more festive in nature.”