Lee Boon Yang
Singapore
“6 The other guidelines are that there must be a post office sited within 5 km of every private residential estate and within 1 km of any commercial or industrial estate. MAID LEVY CONCESSION (Applications by the disabled) 32.”
“Madam, can I quickly respond to the point on assistive technology? Certainly this is an area of interest. We cannot say that we have the capability at this juncture but we will certainly look into what is possible and work with our ICT sector.”
“Nevertheless, if the spouse of the homemaker is working, he will be eligible for WIS if he satisfies the criteria. Husbands of homemakers are further eligible for tax relief.”
“Sir, I do not think it is quite correct to say that we always expect our own artists to perform for free or do public service. There are, of course, occasions where we do seek Singapore artists and arts companies to contribute to the national causes. For instance, when we went international for Singapore Season in China.”
“Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for National Development (a) what checks does the Ministry or the National Environment Agency have in place to prevent mistaken payments to hawkers who cease operations due to upgrading works at hawker centers; (b) how did the mistaken payment of $18,000 to Mdm Lee Ah Muey come about; and (c) what will the…”
“While it was also true that initially the reaction or the response of the licensing authority was that foreigners should not participate in such an event at the Speakers' Corner - because there is already an existing prohibition against any foreigners taking part in any activities at the Speakers' Corner - subsequent assessment resulted i…”
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“Among the local workers retrenched in the last quarter of 1997, the females have a slightly lower re-employment rate at 62% compared with males at 64%. The job vacancy rate which measures vacant posts as a percentage of total establishment strength has also fallen to 2.7% in March 1998 from 5.0% a year ago. As a result, retrenched workers will have fewer choice in alternative jobs. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FUND 7. Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will consider independent applications for financial support from the Skills Development Fund to encourage individuals recently retrenched from corporations to go for retraining within a stipulated time frame and for those skills identified by his Ministry. Dr Lee Boon Yang: Two programmes are currently available to assist retrenched workers - the Skills Redevelopment Programme and the Back to Work Programme. Both are supported by the Skills Development Fund. (a) Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) Launched as a pilot programme in 1996 by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the SRP aims to help workers to remain employable through a systematic upgrading and certification of skills. Retrenched workers can participate in the SRP to acquire new skills and find alternative jobs. The SDF supports the course fees for pre-retrenchment training by the current employer or through employers who are taking in the retrenched workers. In the absence of employers able to take the retrenched workers, funding is provided through the NTUC and community self-help groups to defray the cost of retraining for new jobs. The pilot-phase of the SRP has produced good results.”
“A total of 7,131 workers were retrenched in the first quarter of this year. This is much higher than 4,278 retrenched in the last quarter of 1997. Among the local workers retrenched, 57% were women. 68% of retrenched women workers came from the manufacturing sector while another 32% came from services sector. 61% of the retrenched women workers were production and related workers, 23% were clerical and sales employees and the remaining 16% were professional and technical personnel. The Ministry of Manpower's Employment Service Department (ESD) assists unemployed Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents to find jobs. However, not all retrenched workers seek ESD's assistance despite our efforts to be present at companies carrying out major retrenchment exercises. In fact, over the past 4 months, only an average of 870 job seekers a month registered for assistance at ESD. Out of these registrants, about 20% were retrenched workers. In most instances, the Department was able to refer them to prospective employers for job interviews. However ESD had only been able to achieve 10% success rate in placing the job registrants. The low success rate is often a result of the mismatch between expectation of jobs seekers and requirements of prospective employers. Generally, workers with realistic expectations and who were prepared to make adjustments in respect of work patterns and changes to salary were more likely to secure re-employment. With the economic slowdown, retrenched workers are taking longer to be re-employed. Based on CPF Board's records, 63% of the local workers retrenched in the last quarter of 1997 were re-employed as at March 1998. This is notably lower than the re-employment rate of 72% for the previous two quarters.”
“Changes of CPF withdrawal conditions for West Malaysians in the context of this wider co-operation have also been discussed. The two Prime Ministers have not yet reached agreement on the package of co-operation. WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS VOTING AGE 1. Mr Shriniwas Rai asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider amending the Constitution to reduce the age of voting to 18 years.”
“Under current CPF withdrawal rules, a West Malaysian is allowed to withdraw his CPF savings in full if he is at least 55 years old and has left Singapore permanently to stay in West Malaysia. He can also withdraw his CPF from age 50 if he has not worked in Singapore for the 2 years before his withdrawal application. On the other hand, East Malaysians and other foreigners are allowed to withdraw their CPF at any age when they leave Singapore permanently. West Malaysians are treated differently from East Malaysians and other foreigners because of the historical links between Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. They are also treated differently from Singaporeans. They can withdraw their CPF from age 50 without setting aside the Minimum Sum, unlike Singaporeans who can only withdraw their CPF at age 55, after setting aside the prevailing Minimum Sum. All foreigners working in Singapore are aware of the rules of the CPF system. Contributions by foreigners to CPF in the past were made in accordance with the prevailing contribution rules. They enjoyed the privilege of tax-exemptions on CPF savings but are also bound by the withdrawal rules. Subsequent changes to CPF rules to exempt foreigners from CPF contributions cannot be applied retrospectively. These changes did not take away past tax benefits enjoyed by the foreigners, including Malaysian CPF members. Hence, foreigners and West Malaysian CPF members should be bound by the prevailing withdrawal rules, which they had accepted when they came to work in Singapore in the first instance. However, recently, the Prime Ministers of Singapore and Malaysia had met to discuss wider co-operation between both countries, including financial co-operation and the long-term supply of water to Singapore.”
“It is also one of the core ECA sports activity, but it is not compulsory: there are only 6 schools with swimming pools, while the schools situated near the 27 public pools are encouraged to conduct swimming lessons for their pupils. Presently, 145 primary schools (74%) and 70 secondary schools (45%) have swimming in their ECA. The Ministry has no plans to make life-saving and first aid an ECA in schools. Simple rescue techniques, but not life-saving, are taught as part of the swimming programme and in other water sports, like sailing and canoeing. Basic first aid, eg, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation is included in the PE programme of secondary schools. First aid is already among the training activities of all uniformed groups. There is no need to promote it as an ECA on its own. Like other ECA, pupils who offer swimming as a sport would be awarded ECA points based on their level of participation. SINGAPORE'S TRADE STATISTICS WITH INDONESIA 35. Dr Lee Tsao Yuan asked the Minister for Trade and Industry, in light of the proposed trade financing scheme for Indonesia, whether it is now time to make publicly available Singapore's trade statistics with Indonesia.”
“Pupils also imbibe desirable values through participation in sports and games, as well as other extra-curricular activities. Every school also has in place a set of school rules to guide pupils. Pupils who infringe school rules are counselled. When necessary, parents are also brought in to work with the school to help these pupils improve their behaviour. To successfully educate a child, parents play a crucial role. Whatever is taught in school has to be reinforced at home. In fact, good attitude and behaviour begin at home. There is a limit to what schools can do. Most schools do organise meetings with parents every semester. These are carried out mostly by levels. During these meetings, school expectations with regard to pupil behaviour are communicated. Sometimes, guest speakers are invited to speak on parenting. Because parents are the most immediate and closest adult figures, they exert a powerful impact on the lives of their children. Teachers may vary from year to year, but parents remain the constant adult figures in the lives of their children. And they must continue to be so. No one else can substitute for the role played by parents because of the closeness between parent and child. It is therefore vital that parents spend time communicating with their children, supervising and guiding them. WATER SURVIVAL, LIFE-SAVING AND FIRST-AID LESSONS FOR SCHOOLS 34. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider introducing water survival, life-saving and first aid lessons as extra-curricular activities for all schools, and accord more recognition for the participation of such activities. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Swimming as a water survival skill is promoted in the school ECA programmes.”
“The relevant topics in the Science syllabus include sexual reproduction, birth control, as well as the personal and social consequences of premarital sex, abortion, and sexually transmitted diseases and AIDs. Responsible behaviour and moral values in boy-girl relationships are further reinforced in Civics and Moral Education. The Committee on Discipline of Female Pupils will take a closer look at how sex education in our schools can be delivered more effectively for teenage pupils. PROMOTION OF GOOD PARENTING AND GOOD BEHAVIOUR OF SCHOOL CHILDREN 33. Dr Lily Neo asked the Minister for Education if his Ministry will actively promote (a) courtesy, respect and general good behaviour in primary school children as these values may be lacking, especially in some families where both parents are working; and (b) good parenting through schools and mass media campaigns to inculcate right values and good social behaviour in our children. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Schools consider the inculcation of moral values in our young an important role. Primary schools actively promote courtesy, respect, and general good behaviour through the Civics and Moral Education Programme, which is an integral part of the primary school curriculum. This is reinforced by talks by the Principal during the weekly school assembly, and guidance from teachers. Pupils also get to learn about good behaviour and desirable values through stories they read during their English and Mother Tongue Language periods. Many primary schools organise activities to encourage good behaviour. One such activity is the selection of the most courteous or best-behaved pupil in each level or class on a termly basis.”
“The committee will only complete its work at the end of this year, after which MOE will have to study the recommendations and decisions made to ensure the continued relevance of our JC education. TEENAGE PREGNANCY 32. Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Education what progress has been made in addressing the issue of rising teenage pregnancy and what kind of programmes will be adopted in our school system to enhance sex education among our young girls and boys. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: According to the Ministry of Health, the number of pregnancies among teenagers, defined as those under 20 years of age, has been declining over the last few years. From a total of 2,473 in 1992, the figure fell to 2,091 in 1995. It went up to 2,185 in 1996. Preventive action against teenage pregnancy is a shared responsibility between the teenager, the parents and the school. The Ministry has set up a committee under the Senior Minister of State Dr Aline Wong to look into the discipline of female pupils. One of the issues that the committee will address is how schools can help teenage pupils avoid this problem, as well as help those who are in that situation cope with it. In our schools, sex education is not taught as a subject on its own. Our schools adopt a cross-curricular approach to sex education which enables them to teach various aspects of the topic according to the maturity of the pupils. In the primary schools, it is taught in Health Education, with the objective of preparing pupils for puberty and early adolescence. In the secondary schools, it is taught in Science and Civics and Moral Education.”
“Over time, it could erode the positive work attitudes which are crucial for Singapore's continued success in economic competition. However, we are not leaving retrenched workers including those who failed to secure retrenchment payments to fend for themselves. Government has committed $50 million with another $50 million from the Skills Development Fund to extend the reach of the Skill Redevelopment Programme. This programme is specifically targetted at older workers, who would face more difficulty getting alternative jobs, to be retrained for new jobs. Apart from paying for the training cost, the Programme also bears part of the wage cost of the worker when he is undergoing training. This will make it more attractive for other employers to take in these workers. I am therefore of the view that it will not be in the interest of Singapore to set up a retrenchment fund to help ailing companies pay retrenchment benefit. BROADENING EDUCATION OF STUDENTS IN JUNIOR COLLEGES 31. Assoc Prof Chin Tet Yung asked the Minister for Education whether in the light of the attempt to broaden the education of university students, similar steps will be taken with regard to students in junior colleges. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Any review of the JC curriculum has to be tied with the University curriculum and admission criteria. A committee to Review University Admissions System, chaired by Prof Shih Choon Fong, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, NUS, has been set up. The implications of changing the University Admissions Criteria will go beyond the universities and will have an impact on all levels of education, including JC education.”
“In practice, companies which retrench workers will pay those with more than 3-years' service retrenchment benefits, depending on their collective agreement, contract of employment, or industrial norm as well as the company's financial position. The plight of the retrenched workers should be addressed by helping them to secure re-employment as soon as possible. For those who are unable to find jobs on their own, they should approach my Ministry's Employment Service Department (ESD) for assistance. Despite the slowdown of our economy, retrenched workers should be able to secure alternative employment if they are realistic in their expectations and willing to make adjustments. The proposal to set up a special fund to help companies which have difficulties in paying retrenchment benefit to their workers is not a sound long-term solution to the problem. Firstly, the fund has to be financed through additional taxes and levies and this will increase the costs of doing business and make it more difficult for companies to survive this economic slowdown. Secondly, it could encourage some employers to shed their responsibility of having to pay a retrenchment benefit to the affected workers. Thirdly, paying retrenchment benefits on behalf of employers would lead us closer to a system of unemployment benefits with all its undesirable side-effects. Experience of countries with welfare system including unemployment benefits has shown that there are serious disadvantages when the state assumes such responsibility. Apart from imposing a heavy financial burden on the taxpayers, it provides workers with a false sense of security, encourages prolonged periods of unemployment and reduces the sense of urgency in skill upgrading.”
“Hence the urgency for re-training and skill upgrading especially for the older workers. FUND TO ASSIST PAYMENT OF RETRENCHMENT BENEFITS 30. Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Manpower, as it is foreseeable that more retrenchment exercise will take place, whether he will consider setting aside a fund to help companies which have difficulty in paying retrenchment benefits to their workers, following the practice of the Japanese government.”
“New jobs created through new investments will generally not match jobs lost. This is to be expected as the new jobs tend to be of higher value added requiring higher level of skills. Majority of jobs lost are in labour intensive low skill areas. The new investments coming on stream include wafer fab, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, telecommunications and electronics for the manufacturing sector, sizeable public projects in the construction sector, as well as investments in manufacturing-related services such as logistics and IT. The $8.5 billion fixed asset investments committed in the manufacturing sector last year was expected to generate close to 20,000 new high value added jobs over the next few years. Overall, we expect job creation to be relatively stronger in manufacturing, construction, communications, and weaker in the commerce, business and financial services. In terms of skill level, feedback and surveys conducted by economic agencies show that the majority of new investments require skilled workers with minimum NTC II certification. For example, companies are still looking for workers with NTC certification in mechanical servicing, precision engineering and avionics in the engineering area; wafer fab, instrumentation and computer technology in the electronics area; process operation and control in the petrochemical area. At a higher skill level, demand for technical and specialised skills remains sizeable. The estimated demand included more than 2,000 engineers, 2,000 diploma holders and 3,000 NTC II holders this year. However, in view of the demand for higher skills and qualifications in the new jobs, we are faced with a real danger of structural unemployment or job mismatch.”
“Mr Tay Beng Chuan asked the Minister for Communications whether his Ministry will request PSA Corporation Ltd to reduce its warehousing and port tariffs to help Singapore retain its competitiveness in the face of the regional currency crisis.”
“Medical leave granted by doctors is recognised for the purpose of enabling an employee to justify his absence from work and to be paid for the period of absence. It is not meant to grant additional payment to an employee if he is already on paid leave such as paid annual leave or any public holiday. It is also not intended to enable an employee to claim for salary on the day or days when he or she is on no pay leave or on a rest day. Hence, a female employee who is granted medical leave while on no-pay maternity leave will not be entitled to paid leave during the period of medical leave. This is clearly spelled out in section 44(4A) of the Employment Act. INCREASES IN DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRICITY AND WATER 15. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether there were increases in domestic consumption of electricity and water in February and March 1998 and whether he is aware of complaints of sudden increases in water and electricity bills for those two months. Mr Lee Yock Suan: The average daily domestic consumption of water and electricity has increased by 2.2% and 20.5% respectively during the 2-month period of January and February 1998 over the corresponding period in 1997. The consumption figures for March 1998 are not yet available. The increases in water and electricity consumption are mainly due to a 3.7% increase in the number of accounts compared to February 1997 and the hotter weather. My Ministry and the PUB have not received any complaints of sudden increases in water and electricity consumption for February and March 1998. If the member is aware of any specific complaints, he may wish to bring them to the attention of the PUB. REDUCTION OF WAREHOUSING AND PORT TARIFFS 16.”
“I will always be happy to entertain such a question. But if it is not within my portfolio, I will direct it to the appropriate Minister. 1.30 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not have these numbers on hand. But I am sure there are such statistics. If the Member would like to raise a Question on the number of handicapped persons in Singapore, the appropriate Minister will be able to give him the answer.”
“These include residential and respite care centres, hostels, day activity centres and provision of technical aids for disabled persons. We should address the needs of the handicap-care from a total perspective rather than simply waiving the maid levy which would increase households' reliance on maids and undermine the development of alternative care systems. It would also draw us into unnecessary debate on which other groups, for example, those who look after the aged or very young children, should also be granted a similar waiver.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the levy on foreign domestic workers is meant to dampen demand so that Singaporeans will not become over-dependent on them. We understand that some families require the services of a foreign domestic worker and our policy is not to deny Singaporeans of such service if they are able to afford it. However, there is still a need to ensure that the number of foreign domestic workers in Singapore remains manageable. Households employ foreign domestic workers for a variety of reasons. Some employ a foreign domestic worker to look after the aged and handicapped, others to look after young children, and yet others to attend to household chores or even to do all of these things. We should not favour any particular household or type of work by exempting them from the levy or granting a concession. The levy is a transparent pricing mechanism that applies equally to all employers. Waiving the levy for any particular group of employers will undermine Government's efforts to manage the demand for foreign domestic workers. Sir, I would like to point out that a working woman who employs a foreign domestic worker to look after a handicapped family member is also entitled to the double tax relief from the foreign domestic worker levy. Furthermore, the Government has provided various tax reliefs and assistance to help handicapped persons and their families. For example, the family member of a handicapped person is entitled to claim a handicapped dependant relief of $3,500 for the maintenance of the handicapped person. Government also provides other forms of assistance to voluntary welfare organisations which provide support and care for handicapped persons.”
“Nevertheless, Sir, I would like to emphasise that at the end of the day, CPF members participate in the CPF Investment Scheme at their own discretion and must be accountable for the outcome of their investment decisions. EMPLOYMENT OF MAIDS FOR HANDICAPPED PERSONS (Waiver of maid levy) 11. Mr R. Sinnakaruppan asked the Minister for Manpower if waivers will be given to the maid levy for households where a maid is specifically employed to look after a handicapped person.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the CPF Investment Scheme provides an opportunity for members to enhance their old age savings through long-term investments. CPF members participating in the Investment Scheme must, however, exercise prudence and judgement in their investments. Currently, CPF members who wish to participate in the Investment Scheme must first have sufficient CPF savings to meet the full Minimum Sum requirements. Thereafter, they can invest only up to 80% of the available savings. This provision serves to prevent CPF savings from being over-exposed to stocks and shares at the expense of CPF members' basic retirement needs. Sir, with regard to investor education, the CPF Board holds regular seminars for its member to encourage proper financial planning for retirement. Investor education is also provided by CPF Agent Banks and organisations, such as Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS). The Investment Management Association of Singapore has launched several initiatives to increase public awareness as well as educate the public on the benefits of collective investments and professional fund management. It has already provided fortnightly articles on investments in The Sunday Times and the Lianhe Zaobao. It is working towards providing more information and guidance at a website on the Internet. Sir, the Association is also working with Radio Corporation of Singapore (RCS) on investor education programmes over the radio. Other groups are actively developing TV programmes, seminars and magazine series for investor education. Such initiatives will help to educate the investing public and guide CPF members who wish to invest their savings. CPF Board encourages IMAS and other organisations' efforts to provide more investor education.”
“Members can choose from more fund managers and unit trusts. The fund managers of CPF-approved unit trusts will have greater flexibility to diversify portfolios to maximise risk-adjusted returns for CPF investors. In addition, the new rules to require greater disclosure of investment information by the fund managers will enable CPF investors to make better informed investment choices. Details of the changes will be announced soon. CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND MEMBERS (Education programme on investment) The following Question stood in the name of Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon 10. To ask the Minister for Manpower, in view of the fact that members of the Central Provident Fund Board can use their funds to buy stocks and shares and as they may not be familiar with the operation of the stock market, whether he will cause (i) an education programme on investment to be conducted for them and (ii) safeguards to be introduced to prevent their funds from being unduly exposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, 12 per cent of total CPF investors or about 50,000 CPF members made net realised profits from October 1996 to September 1997. 90 per cent of these members or about 46,000 members achieved less than $5,000 each in net realised profits. Although about 83 per cent of total CPF investors made profits on their CPF investments, about 310,000 of them had profits which were less than the CPF interest they would have earned in their CPF accounts, had they not used their CPF savings for investment. Hence, after offsetting for the CPF interest, these members do not have any net realised profits available for withdrawal. The remaining 17 per cent of CPF investors incurred realised losses, even before offsetting for the CPF interest. Of these, 76 per cent or about 56,000 members made losses of less than $1,000. Sir, the depressed stock market has added to the poor performance of CPF members' investment. It is also noteworthy that CPF members usually choose to invest on the local share market themselves rather than place their savings with professional fund managers in the form of unit trusts and fund management accounts. Secure and successful financial investments require adequate pooling of funds for more efficient portfolio management to reduce investment risks and achieve good returns over the long term. Most CPF members may not have a good understanding of financial investments and hence are unable to construct sound long-term portfolios to diversify investment risks. They also have relatively small balances to construct a meaningful portfolio of investments. Sir, the Government is therefore looking into the further refinement and liberalisation of the CPF Investment Scheme to give members more options to invest with professional fund managers.”
“Sir, it is not easy to offer such placement services to foreign workers. We have placement services to assist Singaporeans who have been retrenched or who have lost their job for other reasons. In the case of non-traditional source foreign workers who are in Singapore, we have had, in the past, on compassionate grounds, tried to place some of those workers who were in fact asked to leave by the employers. We found to our disappointment that our efforts were usually unsuccessful. The number of foreign workers who could be successfully placed and the number of employers whom we could persuade to take up these displaced foreign workers were minimal. As a result, most of the foreign workers had to go back. I think we should stick to this fundamental policy that they come to Singapore to work with valid work permits and with prior approval. If, for whatever reason, the employer is unable to keep him in employment, then he will have to go back. This is the risk that some of them had paid money to come here and this has to be their own look-out. They cannot assume that Singapore streets are paved with gold and they can come here and just continue to have a good job, earn a high salary, and regardless of what happens, they would be able to remain here on various pretexts. UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES 5. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the Government has made any study on the possibility of using underground water resources in Singapore to supplement our water supply.”
“Sir, our approach towards the non-traditional source workers coming here to look for work is that they must have prior approval before they enter Singapore. For those who are here, once their work permit is terminated, and unless there are very exceptional circumstances, they should leave the country. What we cannot afford to have is a very large pool of non-traditional source workers hanging around in Singapore and saying they are looking for work and seeking extension for their immigration permits in order to remain here. They are dragging the process over a long period of time, which means that the number of such people hanging around and looking for jobs will increase. That will cause a lot of the problems that I have mentioned earlier on, ie, social problems, and law and order problems. How are they going to support themselves when they are here looking for jobs? What is there to guarantee that they will find a suitable job in two weeks? In fact, our policy has always been that, for work permit applications, if you are a foreign worker, you must apply for prior approval before you come to Singapore. If you do not have prior approval, we will not entertain any application for work permit in Singapore.”
“Sir, we understand that some of the foreign workers have to pay certain sums of money to the agents in their home country in order to make the necessary arrangements to come to work in Singapore. But such arrangements are completely beyond the control and influence of my Ministry. The concern and arrangement of a foreign citizen with a foreign agent is totally beyond our control. For those who come to Singapore to work, they enter on the condition that they can only remain here so long as they have a valid work permit and so long as the employer requires their presence here. There is no promise that they will be here for the full duration of the two years for which we grant a work permit, because there is no way that my Ministry can assure every foreigner who comes to Singapore that his employer will have a job for him for four years or six years or whatever period of time that he has indicated. It is entirely up to the foreigner whether to accept or not to accept the job offered by his employer in Singapore. If, for whatever reason, the employer is unable to retain the foreigner in Singapore on a particular job that he has in mind, then he has to cancel the work permit and the foreigner has to leave Singapore. This is the risk of coming here and they are aware of the risk. They have to be prepared to take this risk.”
“Sir, I do not see the relevance of the point that the Member has raised. But just to answer him, those who enter the country illegally to work, of course, face the penalties under the Employment of Foreign Workers Act and also under the Immigration Act. In the case of foreigners who enter Singapore legally to work and had their work permit cancelled by the employer, they are given a special pass for a short period, during which they should make preparations to leave the country. The understanding with the foreign worker is that he can remain in Singapore so long as he holds a valid work permit. If his work permit has been cancelled or revoked for other reasons, then he must leave the country. We will give them a short period to make the necessary arrangements to leave the country.”
“Sir, while that may be so from the figures that I have just given, we should not be complacent. There is always an incentive for some illegal immigrants to sneak into Singapore to look for employment opportunities. We will continue to maintain the pressure of enforcement action at the work sites where such illegal immigrants tend to crop up.”
“However, my Ministry will monitor the situation closely and, if necessary, adopt more deterrent measures to check illegal employment.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry's enforcement officers arrested 1,884 illegal foreign workers in 1997. This includes 333 foreigners who had entered Singapore illegally or had over-stayed beyond the validity of their social visit passes. For the first two months of this year, an average of 234 illegal foreign workers were arrested per month compared to the monthly average of 157 last year. Out of the total 468 illegal foreign workers arrested in January and February this year, 117 were immigration offenders. The presence of illegal workers creates social problems, affects our law and order and undermines economic upgrading. In view of the current threat of illegal immigration, we will intensify our efforts and work closely with the Police to ferret out the illegal foreign workers. Illegal foreign workers and those caught employing them face stiff penalties under the law. They can be fined or jailed. Employers of more than five immigration offenders will be caned. My Ministry prosecuted 540 employers for employing illegal foreign workers in 1997. While the Employment of Foreign Workers Act provides for mandatory imprisonment for a second offence, my Ministry has sought deterrent sentences on some first-time offenders. This had resulted in three first-time offenders being sent to jail in 1997. The maximum jail sentence meted out was 100 weeks to a proprietor of a construction company which employed more than 100 illegal foreign workers. The principal contractor of that particular work site was also fined nearly $1.5 million. Furthermore, three employers of immigration offenders had been caned. Notwithstanding the increase in the number of illegal workers arrested recently, the penalties are still adequate.”
“Employers have to be more open, more innovative, as I said earlier on, with regard to attracting workers, particularly women, back into the workforce. They have to accept that some women would only want to take on part-time jobs and they will be equally committed, equally dedicated and equally reliable compared to full-time workers.”
“And for Members' interest, the level of social and welfare support provided by the Swedish government requires extremely high tax revenues. 90% of the employees pay approximately 30% of their salary in income tax, and the remaining 10% of the employees pay more than 30% of their salary as taxes. And that is not the main source of the revenue for the state. The main source of revenue for the state is, in fact, the 25% value-added tax, which every consumer pays. With such high rates of taxation, they can afford to redistribute to all these welfare services. In comparison, in Singapore, only 30% of individuals pay income tax. 70% do not pay income tax. According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the effective tax rate in Singapore is only about 8.1% in 1997, 8.2% in 1995 and our GST is only 3%. So we are looking at two totally different systems. While they may have some good points, we should be careful about which are the ones that we want to adopt and modify for our application in Singapore. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that one of the problems facing women who want to take on part-time jobs is that employers do not have the right attitude towards part-time workers. Very often, employers consider part-time workers as being less committed and less reliable. They see their employment as being supplementary and transient in nature, and hence many employers are not prepared to hire part-time workers. And if they do hire, they are not prepared to invest in training or upgrading the skills of their part-time workers. I think this mindset has to change, if we want to promote part-time and flexible work arrangements.”
“However, part-time employment is still not prevalent in Singapore and constitutes only 3% of employment in Singapore. So there is still a lot of room for improvement and we will make greater efforts in order to promote this idea of having more part-time jobs or flexible work schedules, particularly for women. The Productivity and Standards Board is, in fact, planning a job redesign programme. This job redesign programme will provide a framework for organisations to enhance productivity in continuous work process improvement and skills upgrading, as well as to help organisations address the issue of manpower shortage and an aging workforce. Under the programme, basic job redesign models will be developed by consultants hired for this purpose. And once the models are developed, we will share them with employers so that they can help employers to restructure the jobs in their workplace. The models will certainly include options for part-time employment and flexi-work arrangements. The Ministry of Manpower will work closely with PSB in order to promote this programme. The Member for Bukit Timah also mentioned the example of Sweden where many women are able to work. In fact, Sweden's female labour force participation rate is almost equal to the male labour force participation rate through the various age groups, suggesting that Swedish women do not withdraw from the workforce upon reaching marriage or child bearing age, unlike women in Singapore. Swedish women are able to enjoy, what the Member described, an excellent set of benefits to enable them to stay in employment while at the same time raising a family. This support system, I must point out, is sustained by very high tax rates. Therefore, the model s not wholly relevant to us.”
“We would have to work on new initiatives and invest more resources in order to achieve this level of skills training and retraining. So MOM will endeavour to put in place a system for continuing education and training for all our workers, whether they are young or old, unskilled or skilled, including even those who are better educated. Every worker needs to continuously upgrade his skills to be relevant to the changing needs of the industries. 1.45 pm Finally, I turn to the Member for Bukit Timah, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, who commented on the need to promote flexible or part-time work, particularly for women who have to balance the needs of the family and their career. Sir, the promotion of part-time and flexible arrangement is very important, given our objective to increase the labour force participation of married women aged 30 to 54, because this is the age group of women where we are seeing a very rapidly declining female labour force participation rate. Sir, part-time flexible work and teleworking, which has been mentioned by the Member, are all viable options that would enable women to balance their family needs with a career. In the 1997 Labour Force Survey, half of the 37,700 economically inactive persons, who indicated that they wanted to seek employment within the next two years, said that they preferred part-time work. I think that was why in 1996, we formulated the part-time employees regulations to provide a legislative framework to facilitate the creation of more part-time employment. These regulations spell out the rights and obligations of employers and part-time employees, and provide flexibility in terms of encashing certain statutory benefits.”
“Mr Lim Swee Say raised several points about ensuring employability, particularly of the lower educated workers and problems faced with reskilling the lower skilled workers, and also the need to look at the redeployment of workers as they get dislocated from one sector, for instance, manufacturing, into another sector. I would say that I agree entirely with the views of Mr Lim. I think these are valid issues which must be considered and we must not take the full employment that we have enjoyed since the 1970s for granted. I think we were very fortunate that we had been able to achieve steady economic growth and to maintain full employment over such a long period. Our current economic slowdown is in fact a timely reminder that we cannot take full employment and steady economic growth for granted. It is also a timely reminder that the problems of our neighbours can very well become our problems too. As a result of the currency crisis and the economic slowdown in the region, we are likely to see slower growth this year and retrenchments are likely to rise as the regional crisis takes its toll. So the Ministry will adopt a proactive approach to quickly address the threat of structural unemployment or retrenched workers as well as the long-term employability issue mentioned by Mr Lim. Yesterday, I have already explained the roles, responsibilities and priorities of the Ministry of Manpower come April this year. I will not repeat these points other than to emphasise that MOM will work closely with our tripartite partners to achieve our vision of a world class workforce and to ensure that Singaporeans gain a higher level of skills to remain employable. I think ensuring lifelong employability for our workers will have to be a key priority of the new Ministry.”
“We are not going to forfeit the bond immediately. In general, we will give the employers a grace period of up to a month after the cancellation of the work permit to try to locate the foreign workers. Even after the security bond has been forfeited, a refund can still be considered if some months later, the employer can provide some information or assistance which leads towards the repatriation of the run away domestic worker. So we are fairly generous and we understand the difficulties of some of the employers and we will try to help them. Mr Goh Choon Kang suggested a foreign labour fund. He suggested that 20% of the workers' wages should go towards this fund which would then be paid back to the workers when they leave the country. I would like to point out that, as it stands today, there is nothing to stop an employer of a foreign worker, whether he is a worker in the construction sector or a foreign domestic worker, to strike up a contract with the foreign worker that if he completes his term of contract for two years, or whatever it is, he will be paid a contract gratuity and this contract gratuity will represent so many percent of the wages that he earns over a period of time. This is entirely possible. But I would advise employers that if they want to do this, the contract gratuity should be clearly spelt out in their contract of service with the foreign worker so that in future there will be no argument about unlawful salary deduction or retention. This would meet the objectives spelt out by Mr Goh. It will ensure that the foreign worker stays on to the end of the contract, completes the contract properly and then collects his contract gratuity before he leaves the country.”
“Because if they have no obligation to repatriate their foreign workers, if they do not have to post a security bond or if the security bond will not be forfeited, then they may just abandon their workers to their own devices and say, "You find your own way around." The number of cases of missing foreign domestic workers is small, considering that there are more than 100,000 of them working in Singapore currently. To date, the cumulative number of foreign domestic workers who have gone missing is only about 500 compared to the several hundred thousand foreign domestic workers who have worked in Singapore over the last 20 years or so. So on balance, we should retain the system of the security bond. There is no reason for us to change the security bond requirement. It has worked well. It has kept the number of such cases and abuses of foreign workers down to a minimum. The Member also asked what assistance or advice my Ministry would give to employers when their domestic workers go AWOL. I would like to advise employers to promptly inform the Work Permit Department when their foreign workers run away from the homes. They can also seek assistance from the employment agency which brought in the foreign domestic workers in the first instance and also check with the respective Embassy because, very often, these domestic workers would go to the Embassy to complain or to report their grievances they may have with the employers. When they inform the Work Permit Department, we will allow the employers to cancel the work permit and give them time to locate the foreign workers without having to pay the foreign worker levy during the interim. They can in fact also apply for a new foreign domestic worker thereafter. We will exercise flexibility with regard to the bonds.”
“Overall, our revision of the foreign worker policy that was announced in November last year, will result in a levy saving to employers of more than $200 million a year, both in the manufacturing sector, service sector and construction industry. There is a potential to have enormous levy savings. And in fact, if contractors move to recruit more skilled workers and put them on a lower levy of $100, the savings would be far more than the $200 million that we have estimated. Sir, Mr Goh Choon Kang and Mr Ong Ah Heng both spoke on the problems faced by employers of foreign domestic workers whose domestic workers run away from their homes. I think all Members are aware and the employers of foreign domestic workers are also aware that they have to post a security bond, which is $5,000. The security bond is a safeguard to ensure that the employers take full responsibility for their foreign workers, including foreign domestic workers, and that they repatriate these foreign workers when their contract or work permit expires. This condition is made very clear to each and every applicant of a foreign worker, including the applicants of foreign domestic workers. It is the responsibility that the employers have to factor into their decision in employing a foreign worker. Without the security bond, the employers may not exercise proper management and supervision on their foreign workers resulting in more missing foreign workers and creating more social problems. Furthermore, we may even see the emergence of another problem, namely, employers wilfully abandoning their foreign workers.”
“They need in total fewer workers to meet the demand of the construction industry there. Furthermore, I also want to point out that having a low level and unproductive construction industry totally dependent on large numbers of unskilled and inexperienced foreign construction workers has also resulted in high rates of accidents at construction sites. These people come to Singapore to work without any experience and training and very often, they are involved in unnecessary work site accident. We have provided an alternative to contractors. If they have difficulty meeting the higher levy from 1st April this year, they should make greater efforts to recruit skilled workers or send the existing workers for some training and trade testing so that they can qualify for the lower levy, which is $100. I have to stress that the levy saving for each skilled worker is more than 12 times the levy increase for an unskilled worker. So it is well worth the while of the contractor to make a special effort to bring in a skilled worker or to upgrade the skills of the existing workers. Our announcement since November last year had already started to take effect. Since the announcement, we have been seeing more contractors sending their workers for training and trade testing at the construction industry training institute. This is a very good trend. It should be encouraged. If we defer the levy increase, the trend might reverse itself and the contractors could well go back to the past practice of recruiting more and more unskilled workers. Therefore, my Ministry has decided to proceed with the levy increase on 1st April. I would like to point out to the Member that in fact in reviewing the foreign worker policy, budget neutrality is really not a factor.”
“And we are also seeing an increasing number of these foreign workers being deployed to work illegally in other sectors, such as food establishments and cleansing work. This has obviously distorted the demand for construction workers. The levy increase, coupled with enforcement measures and the new work permit allocation system, is necessary to curb the rising number of unskilled foreign construction workers and to tackle the problem of construction workers working illegally in other sectors. Sir, foreign construction workers have contributed, as Mr Chuang pointed out, to the bulk of our construction workforce. In fact, foreign construction workers also contribute to the bulk of the increase in foreign workers, from more than 350,000 in early 1996 to more than 450,000 currently. Most of the increase came from the unskilled foreign construction workers. The heavy dependence on unskilled foreign construction workers is not sustainable economically and socially in the long run if we want to remain competitive. The negative productivity growth in the construction sector for the last three years clearly illustrates how the heavy dependence on foreign unskilled labour had retarded the growth of the industry. One indicator of the low level of the construction industry here in Singapore is seen in the fact that only 14% of the workforce are considered as skilled workers. In other words, they are on the current low levy scheme for skilled workers. In other countries, with a much more productive and efficient construction industry, there are many more skilled workers. For instance, in Australia, skilled workers represent 40% of the construction workforce; in Finland, 60% of the construction workforce. They have so many more skilled workers. They are so much more productive.”
“The levy increase is necessary to ensure that the cost of employing a foreign domestic worker keeps pace with the rise in income of Singaporeans. Otherwise, the number will continue to increase and it will reach unmanageable proportions. As it stands, there are already more than 100,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. If we do not implement any measure to moderate demand, the number could increase much drastically. 1.30 pm Sir, real income level, as measured by the average monthly income for Singaporeans, rose by 9% cumulatively for 1995 and 1996. And if you compare this to the proposed increase in foreign domestic levy which is only 4�% increase, this seems to be totally reasonable. In fact, it means even if income growth were to be slower this year because of the slow economic growth, the foreign domestic workers have already become relatively more affordable compared to 1995 when the levy was last revised. If we defer the levy increase this year, it will hamper efforts to control or to moderate the rising demand. As the intention is to increase the levy to keep pace with rising income, we should make this adjustment regularly so that it is a small increase, small steps, along the way, rather than defer it for a few years. Then a few years down the road, we would have to bring in a very hefty increase which would lead to even more unhappiness and greater difficulties for the families to adjust. As for Mr Chuang's call to defer the increase in levy for the unskilled foreign construction workers, I would like to point out to the Member that, despite the economic slowdown and the Ministry's announcement of the impending levy increase, the demand for work permit applications for unskilled foreign construction workers is still very strong.”
“Sir, in a tight labour market, as what we have been experiencing all these years, employers have to be innovative in order to recruit the workers that they need, and they should not omit the potential of recruiting more women workers to join the workforce. I think we can satisfy some of our labour requirements if we make a special effort to recruit more of the women who are presently not working to rejoin the workforce. And, in fact, this is the main thrust and target of our Back-to-Work programme. The Ministry of Manpower will continue to develop this programme to enlarge its outreach, so that it will be more effective in getting the women back into the workforce. Sir, I next turn to the Members who spoke on foreign workers, in particular the foreign worker levy. First, Mr Inderjit Singh has asked whether the lower levy which we are granting to skilled workers, with effect from 1st April, will be extended to workers from all sources. Yes, I would like to assure Mr Singh that, in fact, the lower levy which will be pegged at $100 per month will be extended to foreign workers in all sectors and from all sources, including skilled workers from the non-traditional sources. Next, I would like to address the point raised by Mr Magad and Mr Chuang on reducing the foreign worker levy. Firstly, both Mr Magad and Mr Chuang have suggested to defer the levy increase for foreign domestic workers. This was the increase of $15 which we announced in November last year. It will take effect on 1st April. Sir, I want to point out that the adjustment is on account of changes in income levels of Singaporean employers of foreign domestic workers, and also because of the increase in foreign domestic workers, since the last levy revision in 1995.”
“As a result, the average years of service and experience of women remaining in the workforce will naturally be shorter compared to their male counterparts, consequently their wage levels will be lowered. Sir, discrimination in employment exists only when persons of equal capability doing the same jobs are paid differently by the same employer on factors unrelated to their performance. Hence, we must understand the basis for the national occupational wage data and not conclude that there is indeed a discrimination on basis of gender or that women, in general, are being disadvantaged. This is because the occupational wage data are based on the aggregate of similar jobs, regardless of the level of authority, job complexity, responsibility or work experience. In Singapore, women who do the same job as men are paid the same wages as men. This is clearly reflected in the practice of the public sector when men and women in the same position, with the same years of service, receive the same remuneration. The Member for Kreta Ayer-Tanglin has also raised many other issues relating to the difficulties of the challenges facing women in employment, including the difficulty of balancing work with family responsibility and also the general mindset of employers with regard to the role of women in the workplace. These are relevant issues. These will have to be studied further. Yesterday I mentioned that my Ministry had already appointed an Advisory Committee to our Back-to-Work programme, and this Committee would, in fact, look at some of these issues. And I will certainly convey the Member's concerns to the Committee so that they could be considered in totality.”
“Sir, allow me to, first, reply to the points raised by the Member for Kreta Ayer-Tanglin, Dr Lily Neo. She has observed that according to the Department of Statistics' data, the income ratio between male and female declined from 73% in 1990 to 59% in 1995. I would like to point out that the Department of Statistics' findings reflected the income of the total workforce, which included all the foreign workers. The statistics, therefore, has been somewhat distorted by the increasing number of lowly-paid female foreign domestic workers over the years. To better reflect the trend, we should look at the wage data of our resident workforce. These data are captured in the occupational wages survey, CPF Board earnings data and Labour Force Survey data. These data are for resident workforce and they have, in fact, shown a narrowing of the overall wage gap between resident males and females in Singapore over the years. For instance, based on CPF records, the average monthly earning of resident females rose from 68% in 1987 to 76% in 1997. So, in fact, the gap is actually getting narrower. Factors which could account for the wage gap include the differences in job nature and job level, as well as years of service, working experience and educational attainment of the jobholders. Statistics from the latest Labour Force Survey showed that female labour force participation peaked at 82.4% for the 25 to 29 age group, and thereafter declined, as was also observed yesterday by Mdm Claire Chiang. These data, in fact, suggest that women tend to drop out of the workforce after marriage to take care of the family responsibility.”
“(2) Employment security provisions that inhibit the expansion of employment in the private sector be reformed. (3) Unemployment and related benefit systems be restructured to achieve society's fundamental equity goal, such that - and this is important - the infringement of the efficient functioning of labour markets would be minimised. Sir, the OECD study and its recommendations clearly demonstrated that rigid and over protective labour legislation would undermine the efficient functioning of the labour market, stifle entrepreneurship and retard job creation. Hence, we must learn from their experience and avoid making the same mistakes. Sir, with the liberalisation of the world economy, global competition has intensified. We must therefore guard against the tendency to introduce protective and popular policies that will in fact introduce rigidity into our labour market and undermine our long-term competitiveness. Mr Jeyaretnam's question on workers' rights, therefore, sounds hollow and irrelevant. If workers had their rights removed unfairly, why did Mr Jeyaretnam, as leader of the Workers' Party, wait 30 years to raise this issue? The Workers' Party should have campaigned in every general election for the restoration of these so-called rights. Perhaps he knows in his heart the danger and foolishness of taking a course of action that can only lead to more disputes and upheaval.”
“Sir, our ability to strike a fair and equitable balance between the interest of employers and workers within our legal framework has enabled Singapore to be consistently rated as one of the most attractive places for investments, and has often topped the world competitiveness ranking. Our favourable legal framework has also been a key factor in Singapore's workforce being regularly rated by BERI as number one in the world. Sir, let me take this opportunity to quickly explain to the House the dangers of over protective labour laws. The experience of many European countries has shown that over protective labour legislation has caused labour market rigidity, leading to unsustainable cost of doing business. They impede companies' efforts to restructure and upgrade their operations to meet new challenges. As companies are unable to operate efficiently, many of them had, over time, become uncompetitive. The end result is loss of jobs, economic stagnation and higher unemployment. Sir, an OECD study on unemployment in May 1994 concluded that employment protection legislation, which is designed to discourage dismissal by raising the cost of releasing workers, has made employers more reluctant to hire new workers. Many countries in Europe, which have particularly stringent or restrictive labour legislation, generally have a higher unemployment rate and employers frequently resort to temporary contract and other non-standard forms of employment to meet their needs for workers during times of market upturn. The study made many recommendations. I will just quickly highlight three for Members' interest. (1) Wage and labour costs be made more flexible and that unnecessary restrictions be removed.”
“But then he has already admitted to this House that he does not read NTUC News. I know that he is not likely to read the Lianhe Zaobao. I am not sure if he reads the Straits Times and many other publications issued by the Government and even from my Ministry from time to time. Generally, I find that he is quite ill informed on many issues. If he had been more widely read or taken the trouble to research his topics that he wants to speak on, he would have discovered that such a tribunal already exists in our system. When a dispute, involving a trade union on the one hand and an employer on the other, cannot be resolved through conciliation, arbitration of the dispute would be heard by a tripartite panel, comprising representatives from the trade union and employers and presided over by a neutral third party who is a High Court Judge. This tripartite panel is our Industrial Arbitration Court. Mr Jeyaretnam says that he hardly heard of disputes being dealt with by the IAC, and then implies that the mechanism is not functioning properly since he has not heard of disputes being dealt with. The main reason for the lack of disputes and the low number of cases having to be referred to the IAC is the result of cooperation and amicable resolution of differences at every level. Because of responsible union leadership and enlightened management, most of the disputes had been settled amicably through discussion, either at the company level or conciliation at the Ministry of Labour. We should keep it this way.”
“These rights continue to be enshrined in the Trade Unions Act. The only difference is that a union which intends to take strike action must first obtain the consent and mandate of its members through a secret ballot. I would like to inform the House that the need to seek a mandate of members through secret ballot before an industrial action has also been introduced in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. The requirement of the secret ballot is in line with democratic principle that such an extreme action must reflect the collective wishes of the members of the union. Sir, Mr Jeyaretnam has advocated a return to confrontation and adversarial labour-management relations. He fails to notice that many countries all over the world are trying hard to promote industrial harmony so that they could provide a favourable investment climate for economic growth and job creation. Would Mr Jeyaretnam like to see a return to the industrial strifes of the 50s that resulted in low productivity, economic stagnation, poor working conditions, low wages and high unemployment? When he called for the restoration of workers' and trade unions' rights in the 50s, does he realise that he is in fact setting the stage for abuses of rights and labour-management confrontation and job losses? On the other hand, the PAP Government's effort over the years resulted in close labour-management cooperation, discipline and higher productivity. This has helped us to attract high quality investments and better paying jobs for Singaporeans. Singapore has been enjoying full employment since the early 70s. 12.45 pm Sir, Mr Jeyaretnam also commented that there was a need to set up a tribunal with representatives from employers and trade unions. I find that strange.”
“Sir, the labour laws, prior to 1968, had inherent weaknesses that caused low productivity and inefficiency which were often subjected to abuse by workers and their unions. This was the era of highly adversarial and confrontational labour-management relations. There were more than 40 strikes a year paralysing trade, commerce and, indeed, the lives of ordinary citizens. In 1955 alone, there were 275 strikes resulting in the loss of almost 1 million man-days. The damage inflicted on the economy was devastating. The outcome of confrontational and adversarial labour-management relations was a poor investment climate, economic stagnation, unfavourable working conditions and terms, high unemployment and the bleak future for Singaporeans. It was for this reason that the labour laws were amended in 1968 to provide a more rational basis for industrial relations. The distinction was drawn between the functions of management and trade unions for balancing the interests of both parties. Thus, under the new provisions in the Industrial Relations Act, matters like promotion, transfer, hiring, right to retrench, dismissal and assignment of duties were excluded from collective bargaining between trade unions and employers. To prevent abuses by employers, the law enables workers and trade unions to seek redress through conciliation and adjudication including appeals against unfair dismissal. Sir, under the Employment Act introduced in 1968, the basic terms and conditions of employment as well as the rights of employees were rationalised. I must, however, point out that while employers were given the discretion to carry out fundamental management functions without being subjected to the process of collective bargaining, the rights of unions to take industrial action were not removed.”
“Sir, yesterday, Mr Jeyaretnam spoke of workers losing their rights as a result of amendments to our labour laws in 1968. It is unfortunate that he is not here this morning to hear the response to his allegations. He spoke of the Lim Yew Hock era when, according to him, workers had rights. He waxed lyrical when referring to those days and perhaps, should I say, through the haze of time, the picture looks rather different. Sir, I feel obliged to complete the picture for hon. Members in this House. Mr Jeyaretnam forgot to tell Members that in the Lim Yew Hock era, workers faced great difficulties in getting jobs. Unemployment was very much higher than it is today. Workers who had jobs were paid poorly. They were indeed at the mercy of their employers. This was the case because, with so many unemployed people, employers could pick and choose. Workers and their families lived in squalid huts or over-crowded tenements. Many workers' children had to leave school early to help the family eke out a living. The economy was going nowhere. The future was bleak. Mr Jeyaretnam also forgot to inform this House that in those days, trade unions often took industrial actions without securing a mandate from their members, the workers, and without giving due regard to the viability of the company or the welfare of the workers. Trade unions also intervened in issues which should rightly be the management functions, such as hiring, promotion, transfer, dismissal and assignment of duties. The union's intervention had resulted in endless disputes leading to confrontation and strikes at the workplace. They did so because many unions had a political agenda and workers' rights and interests and welfare were the least of their concerns.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Main and Development Estimates for the financial year 1998/1999, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”