Lee Yock Suan
Singapore
“The position will be clear when the regulations have been drafted. Right now we are debating it in the absence of actual wording of the regulations. The regulations will be fair, they are meant to maintain a level playing field, and we should wait for the regulations before we pass judgement. The intention is not to go after everybody.”
“I think the Member will be aware that Internet is a very dangerous place. We can have all kinds of poison letters and they will just spread like wild fire. So we must have some means to try and minimise this and make sure that everything is orderly and fair.”
“The other Members have no problem supporting the Bill, including Mr Chiam. I think the position is about 95% clear. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Lee Yock Suan].”
“Then we will have to see the actual situation. But, as I said, the intention is to go after the popular sites, the main sites of parties and non-party political sites. If it is an individual, eg, a young man posting up his own site and saying "These are my views", we are not going to go after those people.”
“The intention is to make the rules clear for the main parties involved in the contest, in other words, the party websites. These are the areas we are mainly after.”
“I thank Mr Chiam for reminding me about his question. On listening to his speech, I was under the impression that he was asking whether this ban on opinion polls applies to the mass media. The answer is yes, it applies to all media, not just the Internet but also newspapers, TV and so on. Thank you for pointing this out.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,595 lines we hold for Lee Yock Suan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 32.
“Mr Kenneth Chen has raised the issue of Internet commerce and its impact on public morale and so on. It is a very complicated and new field. In fact, it was a problem of where to put this cut because it covers so many Ministries, whether it should be under the Ministry of Information and the Arts or Ministry of Trade and Industry or Ministry of Law, because it involves legal matters. It ended up in my lap and I am asked to respond. In terms of the commercial areas, NCB is working closely to look at the technical aspects to see how we can make transactions more secure. For example, with the recent launch of the digital signatures, digital certificates and so on, when you deal with somebody over the Net, you are sure that that person is a bona fide person. There is a committee comprising different Ministries to look into the overall question of Internet commerce. This Committee is known as the Electronic Commerce Policy Committee and is chaired by MAS involving EDB, NCB and many other people. There are also sub-committees to look into the legal aspects as well as the trade and commerce aspects. As far as MTI is concerned, a lot is being done. As regards the other areas about censorship and so on, perhaps MITA can comment when it is their turn to reply. But I understand that they are taking the approach that where it impacts a large number of people, then MITA is more careful. But it is not practical to try and look into every web page. There is a certain amount of risk there. Singaporeans will have to learn and be selective on what they view. Time is running out. So I do not want to take up too much time. I am asking my Senior Parliamentary Secretary to take some of the questions. If there are some questions unanswered, let me know and I will come back to them later.”
“Take, for example, the heavy industries like petroleum and petrochemicals which use a lot of water, several millions gallons per day, for cooling purposes for their processes. So where it is possible to substitute the water with, say, sea water, we should encourage them to do so. There are other cases like wafer fabrication where the companies need a lot of fresh water for cleaning purposes and so on. The question is whether we can recycle that water because water is very precious to us. I agree with Mr Goh Choon Kang that we should not just use the price mechanism. We should also educate the public about the importance of water and this is in fact being done. The PUB has a comprehensive programme to work with the schools to teach the young children so that they will conserve water. I agree with him fully that the importance of water should be part of our National Education. I do not want to go into the details today about all the various PUB programmes. I have seen the list and I think PUB is really trying its best to reach out to the public to drive home the message of the importance of conserving water. But sometimes it is useful to also hit them in the pocket and they will take note and save water. In the past, whenever we have campaigns, they did not work very well. So if we raise the tariffs they will cut down water for a while, but they will go back again. This time round we have to do something really forceful and cost will go up by a factor of three, from something like 50 cents per cubic metre to $1.50 for the lower blocks. Whilst we need to help the lower income groups, we need also to have the tariff impact to make people realise that it will cost them to use water.”
“JTC has, in fact, been very liberal with subletting. Of course, they must control. But the extent of subletting is, to my mind, a bit excessive in some areas. So we have to have a check and balance. The question is: how to optimise land use through allowing companies to redevelop, subletting and so on? We have also allowed new uses like business parks to develop, where it is not only manufacturing but it can also be office services, training, R&D and so on. So mixed use areas have been designated in Jurong and Changi. Training can also be done in those areas. Mr Lim Swee Say brought up the question about differential premium and development charge pertaining to land use and land development. I understand this issue has been raised before with the Ministries of Law and National Development. My Ministry supports the overall intent of maximising land utilisation and will work with the two Ministries to review Mr Lim's suggestion. 5.30 pm Next, on the question of water. Lim Swee Say has asked what more can be done to encourage recycling and conservation of water. There is this Investment Allowance Scheme which currently allows up to 50% of the fixed investment to be offset against the company's taxable income. This is over and above the normal allowances. We will monitor the situation. If need be, we can allow a higher percentage. We also have various financing schemes to help them in the purchase of equipment for recycling. It is important for PUB and EDB to take a proactive approach in terms of conserving water. They should talk to the industrialists at the inception stage to see how to design the process to make more use of, for example, industrial water or sea water for cooling.”
“This is easy to do. But in the end, we will all be poorer. Next, on the question of land. I would like to inform Members that JTC has drawn up a comprehensive plan to intensify land use. One of the items of this plan is the en bloc redevelopment scheme, which the Minister for Finance alluded to. This applies to areas which are under utilised, the older estates, where JTC will go in and negotiate with the lessees to buy back the land so that it can be redeveloped. And we will also help them to relocate to areas where land can be built up more intensively. For example, you may have noticed that now we even build standard factories on several levels, with ramps going up so that heavy vehicles can access the higher levels. So these are examples of land intensification. On 5th August, I will be performing the ground breaking ceremony for JTC's new headquarters and I will be providing more details of the various schemes under the overall plan. Mr Choo Wee Khiang mentioned the case of JTC and the problem of one company in terms of subletting. JTC does allow its lessees, who are currently under- utilising land, to redevelop their facilities to achieve higher plot ratios. In fact, under the new comprehensive plan, incentives will be provided, eg, in terms of allowing higher subletting and so on, to encourage companies which have big plots of land which are under-utilised to develop the land. Of course, if they do not need so much land, they could return some of the land back to Government as part of the exchange. What we do not want to see happen is for companies to speculate on Government industrial land. Our industrial land tends to be priced lower than market. So there is incentive for companies to ask for more land than they need, and then to sublet.”
“So we should consciously try and promote high value-added activities in all the different areas. Although the Budget does not have specific incentives for the manufacturing sector, as the Minister for Finance has explained, in fact, the schemes available are already very generous, I think amongst the most generous in the world, in terms of the kind of tax holidays we are able to offer, either as pioneer status or as development and expansion incentives, maybe going up to 20 years of tax holiday. We also have various forms of grants to support the R&D efforts, manpower training and so forth. We also have what is known as the Economic Development Assistance Scheme Fund where the total fund is now $1.3 billion in grants and $3.3 billion in loans. So we have enormous resources dedicated for the promotion of the manufacturing sector. Members may also recall that we have set aside $4 billion to promote R&D. Here again, this is a big sum which we could tap over the next five years to promote R&D and build up our technical capabilities. I can run through many other schemes. We have the Innovation Development Scheme of $500 million to promote innovation. We have the Cluster Development Fund which has increased from $1 billion to $2 billion. As I said, we have so many schemes that it is strange to hear people say that we are not doing enough for our businesses. I think it is not without reason that regularly the international rating organisations worldwide have ranked Singapore as one of the best places to do business. Of course, we must watch our costs. The whole purpose of development is to have high wages, better profits. So costs will go up. But whether we can raise our productivity so that we can justify those costs, that is the question. The approach is not to cut costs.”
“In addition, if the companies fear that they may lose money overseas, there is also the scheme known as the Overseas Investment Incentive Scheme which enables the companies to apply to the EDB to offset the losses that arise from the liquidation of approved overseas investments against their domestic income. The point is that they must go in and they will, of course, incur losses in the initial years. This is normal for any business. They would then make profits if their calculations are right and the market turns out to be right. But if their forecast and expectations are not fulfilled and they do suffer losses, they can apply for this scheme to insure themselves in the event of having to wind up the operations. I will next turn to the question of the manufacturing sector. I agree with Mr Lim Swee Say that manufacturing is a very important component of our economy, and we have no intention of doing anything to reduce its importance or its share in our GDP. Some people think that because Hong Kong has moved a lot of its labour-intensive operations to China such that manufacturing is now only about 9% of its GDP, therefore, we should move in the same way. But they forget that Hong Kong is servicing the huge Chinese market, in terms of transportation and services. Singapore is different. We have developed differently. We have, over the years, built up an important industrial base and we are constantly upgrading this base. So what we should do is to go for high value-added activities, whether it is in manufacturing or in services. And very often, in fact, these two areas are interlinked. Successful manufacturing projects create a demand for transportation, insurance, finance, computer services and so on.”
“Mr Inderjit Singh also suggested that the Government should make it easier for companies and individuals to remit overseas income back to Singapore. This is indeed the case. The EDB administers the Overseas Enterprise Incentive Scheme which provides 100% tax exemption on qualifying income from approved overseas investments. Double taxation relief is also given for the foreign tax paid on income remitted from the 34 countries that have concluded tax treaties with Singapore. For income from those countries without a tax agreement, companies can apply on a case-by-case basis for unilateral tax credits or for tax exemption under section 13(10) of the Income Tax Act. Mr Singh also suggested tax rebates for families to defray the higher cost of education for their children overseas. This is something which I will refer to the Ministries of Finance and Education to consider. Mr Shanmugam proposed in the debate on the Budget Statement and he repeated again today to strongly support the case for allowing companies going overseas to offset their losses from their overseas operations from the profits of a local operation. I think the Minister for Finance has already explained why he is not in favour. Although there are some countries which have taken this approach, there are also many other countries which are like ours and which do not have this approach. And it is a fact that the approach proposed by Mr Shanmugam does give rise to loopholes for abuse or tax planning. With our system of DTAs or incentives and so forth, we already have sufficient measures to help these companies.”
“I think this is probably the better approach, rather than for Government directly to assess and maybe overdo it. The main thing is that the investment should be viable and companies have to assess for themselves. During the implementation stage, companies can also obtain various forms of Government support. Firstly, there is the Regionalisation Finance Scheme for loans to acquire fixed assets. Secondly, there is a programme called Intech Regional and another called the Regionalisation Training Scheme to help companies defray training cost for both foreign managers and workers. In fact, there are so many schemes that I have lost track of them. Maybe we should not have any more schemes from now on. Singapore has recently joined the Multi-lateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a subsidiary of the World Bank. MIGA provides political risk guarantees to companies from member countries for investments that could be adversely affected by non-commercial risks. 130 countries are now represented in MIGA. So this may be of interest to Members and also the public who feel that there should be a scheme to insure businesses against non-commercial risks. Mr Inderjit Singh suggested that GLCs could consciously bring with them smaller local companies to handle smaller sub-projects. I agree fully with him and this is, in fact, the approach that has been taken. I believe it is beginning to happen on the ground. For example, Singapore Technologies (STIC) brought its core group of suppliers to Wuxi in China and paved the way for the small firms to form business tie-ups with the companies there. Very often, when the big firms move, whether they are MNCs or our own GLCs, they find it useful to bring along their supporting industries and so forth. So this is the approach we are taking.”
“While the Government will continue to facilitate companies' investments overseas, they have to assess the viability of each project themselves. Companies should not rush into overseas investment just because others are doing so. This is especially true for our SMEs. As the Minister for Finance has mentioned, we have a comprehensive range of incentives, not only to help companies regionalise but also in the other areas which are mentioned in this booklet here. For those who are going overseas, we have several schemes. One is known as the Investment Study Grant Scheme. Another is the Double Deduction for Overseas Investment Development Expenditure. These are helpful at the exploratory stage of projects and will help to defray the cost of our businesses who have to go overseas to assess the business opportunities. Mr Lew Syn Pau has asked whether we could provide more seed money for SMEs to enable them to grow. The Government already provides support for companies in this area. Firstly, the Regional Venture Fund incentives provide income tax exemption for fund companies that support Singapore companies which go regional. Secondly, for selective regional projects with strong linkages and economic spin-offs to the Singapore domestic economy, the Government is prepared to co-invest with companies through its Cluster Development Fund. So the approach the Government has taken is basically to promote the private sector, if need be with some involvement by the Government-linked companies and the Government itself to build up venture capital companies. We have given generous incentives to build up the venture capital fund industry, and these are the industries which assess the projects and the applications from the small businesses and from others who want to go overseas.”
“I think this is something which the Ministry will look into and if it is a good idea, we can perhaps consider it. But the PSB itself is already doing the best it can and is working closely with EDB, JTC and others. Another example of the help given is in the area of retail trade where PSB has assisted in the formation of 46 franchises. I think the retailers must organise themselves to display their goods more effectively, make better use of space and have more interesting product lines, and franchising is one way to do this. 5.15 pm Another interesting event coming up in November is when PSB is going to organise what is known as the ASEAN-EU Partenariat. This is to bring together some 600 companies from ASEAN and the EU to facilitate linkages and to enable them to explore business and operational collaboration. So I hope our SMEs will take advantage of this opportunity where we bring in small enterprises from overseas, from Europe, UK, Germany and elsewhere to try and get them to work together with our SMEs, either locally or even overseas, in Vietnam, China and so forth. So I think it is completely untrue to say that the Government is not doing anything for SMEs. You can see from the Tables that we are doing our utmost. Personally, I would like to see our local industries grow because we are very dependent on MNCs which can move out if our costs become too high whereas our locals will have the loyalty to stay back and grow with us. To the extent that we can build them up, we want to do our best to do so. Next, I would like to talk about SMEs and regionalisation. There is a common line of argument that we should help our SMEs to go overseas.”
“Table 4 - EXTENSIVE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ORGANISED FOR LOCAL COMPANIES (Cols. 809 - 810) Mr Inderjit Singh said that it seems to be more difficult for our SMEs to get approval for their applications for assistance. In fact, PSB's data show that 90% of SMEs' applications for loans and grants were approved as compared to 85% approval rate for MNCs. I do not know whether the slower rate of approval, if it is true, is due to a lack of clarity in the forms, or whatever. But I agree fully that we should help the companies as much as possible by simplifying the forms and, if need be, even to help them fill up the forms so that they can qualify for the various types of assistance. Since April last year, PSB has raised the eligibility criteria to allow more SMEs to qualify for loans under the Local Enterprise Finance Schemes (LEFS) and grants under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme (LETAS). PSB now shares 70% of the risk under LEFS, up from 50% previously. The Technical Assistance Scheme grant quantum has also been raised from 30% to 70% for strategic activities, for example, for automation and use of IT. And the quantum has been raised from 50% to 90% for activities with industry-wide impact. An example of this is the Woodlands relocation exercise where we have to move a group of small industries in Woodlands to make way for our wafer fab factories. PSB and JTC took the opportunity to help the affected companies to plan their factory layout, organise their production lines, and so on. So this is an example of the efforts being put in by PSB to help companies on an industry-wide basis. Mr Lim Swee Say has suggested that we have some kind of economic restructuring scheme to help SMEs.”
“805 - 808) shows that the largest item is actually under the Local Enterprise Finance Scheme where the loans given out have increased steadily over the years. And last year, we lent out $590 million to 1,813 companies. Table 1 - ANNUAL GRANTS AND LOANS FOR LOCAL ENTERPRISES HAVE INCREASED (Cols. 805 - 808) The other big area is under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme. Last year, the quantum of grant given out was $12 million to 1,065 companies to help them hire consultants, and so forth, so that they can upgrade their technical capabilities. If you look at Table 2 (Cols. 807 - 808), this shows the cumulative impact of all these schemes. As at March this year, a total of $4.6 billion in loans and $163 million in grants have been approved for our SMEs. This works out to an average of $820,000 in loans and $41,000 in grants per SME. As you can see from the Tables, much has been done to help our SMEs. Of course, it is natural to want more help. But I think the SMEs should avail themselves of the schemes which are available. Table 2 - CUMULATIVE GRANTS AND LOANS EXTENDED TO LOCAL ENTERPRISES (Cols. 807 - 808) A point has been made that some of them are unaware of the schemes. Again, as you can see from Table 4 (Cols. 809 - 810), PSB has been organising various seminars and we have tried our best to reach out to as many SMEs as possible. Recently, the PSB has produced this booklet [indicating] which explains all the different schemes which are available. So if MPs are interested, we can make copies available to them. We are making this available to SMEs so that they can see what are the schemes available to help them. This booklet is in English. We will be producing one in Chinese very soon.”
“Several Members have spoken on this issue and made impassioned pleas for the Government to do more to help the small and medium enterprises. Let me assure the House that MTI is fully aware of their importance to Singapore. I have asked PSB to pay particular attention to them. We should assist wherever possible and help the promising ones to grow into larger firms capable of venturing overseas or, to use the words that were bandied about just now, to identify the promising SMEs and make them into Promising Local Enterprises (PLEs). The PSB will be concentrating on the smaller companies. There are many of them, 92,000 of them. The EDB is looking at the larger firms and we are targeting to create more and more of these home-grown domestic enterprises so that they can compete internationally. Just some statistics to show the extent of SMEs in Singapore. If we regard SMEs as those with $15 million or less in fixed assets, or employing 200 or fewer workers, then there are about 92,000 SMEs in Singapore. They employ about 53% of the workforce in commerce, services and manufacturing but produce only 35% of the overall value-added in these sectors. So you can see from these figures that there is considerable room for improvement and this is also an area where we have to do some restructuring and improvements. Over the years, we have built up a host of assistance programmes to help SMEs upgrade and grow. The EDB, PSB and NCB as well as other relevant agencies offer more than 60 such programmes, some of which are specially tailored for SMEs. I believe the Clerk may have distributed the Tables to hon. Members. May I refer Members to the Table which shows what we have done to help our local small businesses? Table 1 (Cols.”
“The situation now is very different from the situation in 1985, when owing to a confluence of several factors, high wage policy, high CPF, over-emphasis on construction, and so on, the economy really slowed down and we lost our competitiveness. The current situation is quite different. We are expecting a growth rate of 5%-7% this year and for an economy like Singapore, this is actually quite a good rate. Although for the manufacturing sector, because of the electronics slowdown and also because of the over-capacity in the retail sector, these are two areas where industries and businesses are feeling the impact of a slowdown. But if you look at the other sectors, financial services, the transportation sector, construction sector, they are all still doing all right. So there is no reason for us to take drastic measures at this point in time. Of course, we should monitor and do what we need and this is what the Committee on Competitiveness which I am chairing will be looking at, how to ensure the long-term competitiveness of Singapore. The solution is not just to cut costs. That is a very easy thing to do. The solution is to move our economy up to a higher level and that is the tougher direction to take. It is very easy to reduce costs but then there will be more pressures again on our limited resources. It is unavoidable that we must restructure and move our economy upwards so that, in the process, we are able to create better paying jobs for Singaporeans. Mr Choo Wee Khiang raised various issues concerning JTC. I will answer them later when I deal with the land issue. Next, I would like to turn to the question of small and medium enterprises.”
“Of course, when different Ministries want to raise prices and fees, they have to get approval from the Cabinet. So there is overall coordination. My Ministry will continue to perform that role together with the Ministry of Finance. Mr Inderjit Singh asked quite a few questions. He asked whether JTC can further reduce rentals. The answer is that we have to monitor and see. The recent release of trade figures shows that in fact, in June, the exports of non-oil products have gone up sharply by about 8.8%, if I remember correctly. So we think that there are indications that recovery is on the way. One of the reasons why the local businesses and other businesses are suffering is because of the slowdown in the electronics sector. We think the recovery in that sector has started but we can only be sure after a few more months. Mr Singh also asked whether we can have strategic land pricing to enable companies to compete. This is something which we will have to study carefully. In fact, for certain industries which we are promoting actively, we have already gone out of our way to help them get land at competitive prices. Of course, for this area to be effective, we must be selective in the kind of companies and projects that we support. Mr Singh also asked whether there can be a one-off tax rebate for companies, just like for individuals. This is an issue for the Ministry of Finance to consider. But I think the answer from the Minister for Finance will probably be no, because our tax rate is already very competitive. Can the Government freeze levies and charges over the next two years? Again, we have to wait and see. If the economy recovers and in fact things are back to normal again, I am not sure whether we should take drastic action.”
“On 1st June this year, the second tier foreign worker levy for manufacturing workers was reduced from $450 to $400 per month and the first tier dependency ceiling was raised from 35% to 40%. The National Wages Council has recommended wage moderation in 1997 and the public sector wage increase was settled at a lower rate of 4.5% this year. To ameliorate pressures on land cost Government has been releasing more industrial land for tender in recent years. This has moderated tender prices since last year. This month, JTC has again frozen or reduced posted land rentals by an average of 16%. The posted rents for standard factories, flatted factories, workshops and warehouses have also remained largely unchanged. 5.00 pm To help businesses in general, the Government has reduced income tax and property tax significantly over the past five years. MTI will continue to monitor the situation closely and recommend further adjustments, if and when necessary. We should remember, however, that business costs are only half of the competitiveness equation and will continue to reflect Singapore's basic resource constraints. We will also need to focus on the capability factors and constantly upgrade the productivity of our workers and companies so as to sustain our economic competitiveness. Let me now respond to some of the specific questions raised by various Members on this issue. Mr Lew Syn Pau has asked whether there is overall coordination of all these cost increases, rentals, and so forth. My Ministry is carefully monitoring all these areas. We have the Department of Statistics which measures the impact of all these increases on the cost of living, the Consumer Price Index, and so on.”
“Sir, I wish to thank all the Members who have spoken, for their views and feedback. May I first start by assuring all of them that my Ministry will give their views very careful consideration. Several Members have raised concerns about rising business costs in Singapore and asked what the Government can do to help. The increase in business costs is essentially a reflection of Singapore's fundamental resource constraints and the fact that actual growth in recent years has been higher than our potential growth. Our medium-term growth potential is estimated to be 7% per annum. Actual growth between 1990 and 1996 was 8.3% per annum. The difference is showing up in rising costs. As a general principle, we should not artificially suppress cost increases because these would have the effect of inducing even more demand and causing even greater pressure on limited resources. Pricing of factors of production is best left to the market as much as possible. However, the Government is fully aware of the need to ensure that the rate of increase in our business cost does not outpace improvements in our productivity and capability levels. Otherwise, our international competitiveness will be eroded over time. So while we adopt the general policy of market pricing, the Government closely monitors our business cost levels and will not hesitate to help moderate increases, where necessary. Our businessmen are generally most concerned about cost increases in the two key areas of production, namely, labour and land. Where labour costs are concerned, the Government has relaxed the foreign worker policy since 1994 to allow employers in both the manufacturing and services sectors to bring in more foreign workers.”
“Sir, I am replying because this concerns the Ministry of Trade and Industry, whose supplementary budget the Member is proposing to cut. The Member first raised the point that there is a big increase in the item and whether this was foreseen. The Member may have forgotten the big debate we had last year over the rise in PUB electricity tariffs. The Government had corporatised PUB and found that, in fact, Singapore Power was undercharging for electricity and the return was below acceptable rates. Therefore, the tariff rate had to be increased and so that this would not be a burden on lower income families, the Government decided to give a grant to the lower income families, ie, those living in the smaller flats. It was decided that for 1- to 3-room HDB flats, the dwellers would be given $150 as a rebate of their utility bills, and for 4- and 5-room HDB flats, the rebate was $100. This amounted in total to $75 million. So the sum was not foreseen at the time when the budget was passed. At the time when this item was debated here, I think Mr Chiam did not object. In fact, he was probably one of those who welcomed this. No doubt, it was an election year but this is something that has been given year after year. In fact, when the economy is doing well, the Government has been sharing out the prosperity with Singaporeans through various forms of rebates, such as rebates on utilities bills, rental rebates and rebates on S&C charges of HDB flats.”
“The Linggiu Reservoir enables PUB to abstract up to 250 mgd of raw water during dry weather as provided for in the 1962 Johore River Water Agreement. In the 1965 Separation Agreement between Singapore and Malaysia, the Government of Malaysia guaranteed the 1961 and 1962 Water Agreements between the PUB and the Johore State Government. A Guarantee Agreement was also signed in 1990 under which both Governments mutually agreed to guarantee the due performance and observance of the 1990 Water Agreement. The security of water supply is clearly an issue of utmost importance to all Singaporeans. I wish to thank all Members and the public at large for their understanding and support for Government measures to ensure that our total supply of water from all sources will always be more than adequate to meet our needs.”
“Low Seow Chay's speech in Parliament, he referred to a recent report by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to indicate that it is possible to produce water by desalination at 70 cents per cubic metre and to build a desalination plant at $540 million to supply 150 mgd of water. He has just given me a copy of the report for study by PUB. Unfortunately, PUB's own studies indicate that our construction and production costs of desalination will be about five times the figures quoted by Prof. Low. A dual-purpose desalination plant, with a capacity of 30 mgd of water and which will also produce electricity, may cost $1 billion or $1,000 million. Roughly, half of this amount could be apportioned to the water desalination facilities. At current energy prices, the cost of water from desalination is estimated at $3 to $3.50 per cubic metre. I have confidence in PUB's estimates which are based on an engineering study. Actual costs will be known when PUB calls tenders to build the plant. On Monday, Mr Low Thia Khiang asked for some information on our water agreements with Malaysia. The 1961 agreement is for a period of 50 years and will expire in the year 2011. It enables PUB to abstract an unrestricted quantity of water from the Tebrau and Scudai Rivers and the Pontian and Gunong Pulai Catchment areas. The current supply from these sources is about 90 mgd. The 1962 Johore River Water Agreement is for a period of 99 years and will expire in 2061. This gives PUB the right to abstract up to 250 mgd of raw water from the Johore River. A subsequent agreement in 1960 enables PUB to construct the Linggiu Dam and other ancillary works at its own cost as a project under the 1962 Johore River Water Agreement, with the same expiry date unless mutually extended.”
“To reduce our potable water requirements, PUB encourages industries to recycle water, and to use industrial water and sea water. Industries now use 7 million gallons of industrial water a day for cooling and washing. Several power stations, oil refineries and other industrial and commercial organisations already use sea water for cooling. We are also studying a dual-reticulation system to supply new areas of development with lower quality water for purposes other than human consumption. Reducing demand for water is as important as developing new sources of supply. Per capita domestic consumption has been growing steadily, as people move into bigger flats, and their lifestyles change with affluence. PUB's save water campaigns have made the public conserve water, but the effect wears off after one year. Singaporeans have to make water conservation a way of life. For a start, homes and workplaces should install water-saving taps and fittings, and low capacity flushing cisterns. Water accounts for only a small part of the average household utility bill. But water is not just an economic commodity; it is a strategic resource. My Ministry is finalising a package of revisions to the water tariffs and water conservation tax and details will be announced soon. With these revisions, Singaporeans will be well prepared for the day when we will have to produce water from much more expensive sources, including desalination. We must encourage all water consumers including households to conserve water. Already domestic consumption accounts for more than half our total consumption of PUB water. In raising water tariffs and conservation tax, we also need to be mindful that we do not add too big a burden to industries which could affect their overall competitiveness. Yesterday, in Prof.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, several Members have spoken about the need for Singaporeans to conserve water, to seek alternative sources of supply (including desalination) and to reduce our dependence on Malaysia for this vital resource. I wish to thank Members and the public for their comments and suggestions and to assure them that the long-term security of our water supply is indeed a top priority for the Government. Recent events have added urgency to the matter. The PUB has studied and implemented numerous schemes to exploit local water sources. Half our land area is already used as water catchment. We have expanded our reservoirs in the Central Catchment Area. We have built storm water collection schemes in HDB new towns like Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Tampines and Yishun. We also collect rain water from the developed areas in Kranji, Pandan and the non-industrial parts of western Singapore. Together, these yield 150 million gallons per day, more than half our present total consumption. We are now studying developing supplementary sources from other local catchments. These small projects are expensive, and will require our people to observe rigorous anti-pollution measures. But they are still worthwhile provided their cost per gallon of water supplied is no higher than desalinating sea water, which is an alternative source of additional fresh water. PUB has commissioned an engineering study on desalination to be completed by the end of this year. It intends to build a pilot desalination plant to learn from the experience so that it can build more desalination plants, if necessary. We have also entered into agreements with Indonesia to develop the water resources of Riau Province in Bintan island and on the Riau mainland in Sumatra over the long term for our mutual benefit.”
“The NTU Act and its statutes provide the legislative framework for the regulation and management of NIE. The IE Act was, however, not repealed in 1991 as several outstanding matters relating to staff appointments and finance needed time to be resolved. As these matters have been resolved, the IE Act can now be repealed. Section 2 of the Bill seeks to repeal the IE Act. Section 3 provides that all assets, rights, interest, privileges, liabilities and obligations of the IE will be transferred to NTU. This is to deal with contingent claims, if any, for or against the IE. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Lee Yock Suan.] Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The purpose of this Bill is to repeal the Institute of Education (IE) Act (Chapter 140 of the 1985 Revised Edition) as the IE is defunct and its functions have been taken over by the National Institute of Education (NIE), an institution established under the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Act. The IE Act was passed in 1970 to provide for the establishment of the Institute of Education as a teacher training institute, replacing the former Teacher Training College. The IE offered two pre-service programmes, namely, the Certificate-in-Education for non-graduate trainees and the Diploma-in-Education for graduate trainees. It also conducted in-service training for teachers. In 1984, the College of Physical Education (CPE) was set up as an autonomous college of IE to train specialist Physical Education teachers. In 1989, following a review of higher education and teacher education in Singapore, the Government decided to merge the IE and the CPE to form the National Institute of Education or the NIE, an institute under the Nanyang Technological University. This was a milestone in the development and upgrading of teacher training in Singapore. The linkage of NIE to NTU provides a broader base of studies within NTU. The Certificate-in-Education programme was upgraded to the Diploma-in-Education and the former Diploma-in-Education was upgraded to the Postgraduate Diploma-in-Education. In addition, NIE introduced two new degree programmes, namely, the Bachelor degree in Arts with Diploma-in-Education and the Bachelor degree in Science with Diploma-in-Education. On 1st July 1991, NIE took over all the functions, as well as assets and liabilities of IE.”
“Sir, this has already been done as far as possible. But we must not put in too many children in the school; otherwise it would be difficult for the school to cope with the large number. Where possible, the schools have already done so. MEDICAL TREATMENT BY BEAUTICIANS (Measures to stop) 3. Mr Loh Meng See asked the Minister for Health whether more stringent measures will be taken by his Ministry to stop beauticians from giving medical treatment, including surgical procedures, to their customers.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not have the details but I will give it to the Member later on.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in the Primary 1 Registration Scheme, parents with school connections are given priority to register their children under Phase 2B. Since the registration exercise last year, I have limited the number of places in Phase 2B to 50% of the places available after Phase 2A. This is to ensure that there will be places available in almost all primary schools for children who live near the school and whose parents are not affiliated to the school. With this 50% cap on Phase 2B, children who live near the school already have an equal or better chance as Phase 2B applicants of getting into the school, In this year's P1 Registration Exercise, only 2,226 children or 4.3% of the total applicants secured places under Phase 2B. Out of our total of 193 primary schools, 192 schools had vacancies in Phase 2C for children who live near the school. There is therefore no need to amend the Registration Scheme to achieve what the Member wishes.”
“Children from Girls' and Boys' Homes attend regular schools as part of the rehabilitation programme. By attending regular schools, these children will be able to interact with their peers and participate fully in educational activities. This will help them re-establish their links with society later. The Ministry is not in favour of providing in-house schooling at the Homes as this will only serve to isolate them even further. Children from the Homes normally go to the schools themselves. With regard to parents sending their children to and from schools, this only happens at the parents' request. This should not be viewed as an inconvenience as it provides an opportunity for parents and children to strengthen their family relationship and will contribute towards the rehabilitation effort. OVERTIME WORK IN FACTORIES 5. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for Labour whether he is aware that some manufacturing companies are making their workers work twelve hours a day and thus affecting the workers health, and, if so, what are his Ministry's plans for stopping such practice.”
“Yes, we have done so in some cases. The majority of the children who go to these schools are either expatriates or they are children of mixed marriages, eg, European or American men married to local women. Their children may be allowed to attend international schools. There could be other cases of children with special problems, eg, they are autistic or they have other psychological problems, and if these schools offer special facilities, we may consider allowing them to go to these schools. MEDICAL BENEFITS CLAIMED BY CIVIL SERVANTS FOR 1994 AND 1995 The following Question stood in the name of Mr Lau Ping Sum- 6. To ask the Prime Minister what were the amounts of medical benefits claimed by civil servants for the years 1994 and 1995.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, international schools in Singapore are set up specifically to cater to the educational needs of the children of the expatriate community. Singapore citizens residing in Singapore should receive their education in our schools where citizenship education consistent with our national values and aspirations is taught. If they attend foreign system schools, they will miss out on the curricula and activities conducted in our schools which seek to inculcate in our students desirable social values and a sense of national identity.”
“My Ministry does not intend to accord priority of admission to university for donors to the Universities Endowment Fund. To do so would run against the principle of meritocracy. University admission will continue to be guided by the ability of the candidate to cope with tertiary studies and to benefit fully from the academic experience. BUS SERVICE THROUGH SIMEI TO CHANGI AIRPORT 27. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Communications whether the Singapore Bus Service (1978) Ltd has finalised its plans to introduce a bus service to go through Simei Estate to Changi Airport Passenger Terminals One and Two and vice versa.”
“Relief teaching is not a pre-requisite for admission to the National Institute of Education. SUBLETTING BY HDB SUPERMARKET TENANTS 4. Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for National Development whether the Housing and Development Board allows supermarket tenants to partition and sublet part of their unit to sell cooked food.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Mechatronics is a discipline which evolved from the growing trend in technology to merge electronics engineering with mechanical engineering. It is a multi-disciplinary activity involving the integration of mechanical devices, actuators, sensors, electronics, intelligent controllers and computers. The Mechatronics courses at the polytechnics, like other courses, are designed to enable their graduates to meet the needs of industry. The diploma may be accepted for admission into the second year of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering courses at NUS and NTU if the candidate meets the admission requirements. The universities currently do not have plans to introduce a Mechatronics course at the undergraduate level. The Professional Engineers Board in Singapore is the professional body which sets the criteria and guidelines for recognition of Engineering degrees for purposes of registering its members. It is up to the Board to decide whether to recognise any foreign Mechatronics degree. EXECUTIVE CONDOMINIUMS (Plans for development) 9. Dr Lee Tsao Yuan asked the Minister for National Development what the specific plans are for the development of Executive Condominiums and when the first few lots of the Condominiums will be ready for occupation.”
“I think a 30-year lease is adequate for school purposes and the schools have been able to function within this limit. If there is a need to renew the lease and there is no more urgent need for the land, I am sure the land would be made available. But this question really should be answered by the Land Office. MECHATRONICS COURSE IN UNIVERSITIES 8. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Education whether the Mechatronics course will be introduced into the universities to enable students who have completed the 3-year diploma course in polytechnics to continue pursuing this course to obtain a degree, and if this course is being pursued by students in foreign universities, whether the degree will be recognised by the Professional Engineers Board in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education has reviewed the funding formula for the building of Government-aided schools, taking into consideration the improvements in standards of school buildings and increases in construction and land costs since the current funding formula of 90:10 was set in 1990. To reduce the burden of fund raising by and for the aided schools, my Ministry will increase the capital grant rate for land premiums and building costs to aided schools and junior colleges from 90% to 95% with immediate effect. This halves the amount of funds to be raised by aided schools for standard school facilities and land premiums.”
“For the Nantah graduates, they can feel that now there is a rebirth of their old university on a new campus and that eventually it will grow into a world-class university. On the part of the NTU graduates, they can look forward to the support from the old Nantah graduates and also to the long history and tradition, and the Nantah spirit that supports the old university. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -- [Mr Lee Yock Suan]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.”
“Now that China is becoming stronger, in fact, the study of Chinese is becoming very important and the present Nantah is also emphasising the study of Chinese through its Chinese Language Centre, and so on. I think all this is very good for the future development of NTU. Instead of going back to recount what was given to NUS and what was taken out, which I think is pointless, we should all look forward to the future of NTU and not discuss whether certain pieces were transferred to NUS and should now be returned. It is very difficult to separate what has gone there, and what has been given. For example, now NTU has acquired the National Institute of Education (NIE) and there is further development to house the NIE, and the Government is pumping in so much money into the new NTU. So if there is a need to develop NTU further, let us develop it further; let us not look back and say this is ours, this is yours, separate them, and get the accounts straight. As regards the museum, in fact, the NUS has further built on that museum and has acquired a lot of new art pieces. So it is very difficult now to say whether it is an original museum or a new museum. The main thing is we are going to provide an exhibition area. NUS is going to provide a new exhibition area where this art collection could be displayed and could serve to be a place where students can go and learn about culture and arts and round off their education. This will be displayed in an area which is easily accessible to students as well as the public. I also thank Mr Sinnakaruppan for supporting the Bill. I think it is important for the NTU graduates to realise that it is good for the University to have this support from the Nantah graduates. The linkage is beneficial on both sides.”
“I wish to thank all Members for speaking in support of the Bill. I sense that there is overwhelming support of this Bill, which is regarded as a natural development. Let me give Members an example. Last year when this reunion dinner was held in the Nantah grounds, a total of 5,700 Nantah graduates attended the function, including 1,400 from overseas. This is out of a total of about 11,000 Nantah graduates. So it goes to show that the Nantah spirit is still very strong and alive. After our Prime Minister had given his speech announcing this transfer of the rolls to NTU, there was in fact a standing ovation for him when he left the grounds. I think on the whole there is tremendous support and I look forward to the support by the Nantah graduates to develop NTU into a world class university. As Dr Koh Lip Lin has clarified, it is actually not true to say that Nantah has closed and merged with SU to form NUS. In fact, both universities closed and merged, if you like. That is why in the NUS Bill we had to rescind both Acts and re-enact the NUS Act to form the merged University. As a result, you have NTI which remained on the NTU Campus and gradually developed into NTU, the successor university to Nantah, and the present NUS is in fact the successor to SU. So we should all look forward and not look back to the past, not to the reasons, the pains, sorrows and unhappiness of that time. I think many of the things that happened were the result of the economic situation and parental choice, that is, parents wanted their children to study English. They could see that in the context of Singapore people need to have a good command of English to get on in life and for our links with the world.”
“In 1991, it was upgraded to become the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Despite this, many Nantah graduates still cannot accept the fact that Nantah has been thoroughly remoulded and transformed into the NTU. The love of Nantah graduates for their alma mater is completely justifiable and understandable. Like a mother who came from a humble origin without any qualifications, she is nevertheless their respected and beloved mother. However, we must be forward-looking. Nantah must have a new life to carry on its development to become an important institution in the tertiary education of our nation. As such, I urge all Nantah graduates to seriously consider the possibility that if the then Nantah was allowed to carry on without disruption and restructuring, it would have aimed to develop into a university with the same substance and magnitude of the present NTU. We must look at the present NTU as a continuation of the former Nantah. Otherwise, the glorious records of our forefathers toiling to found Nantah will gradually fall into oblivion. The former Nantah and the present Nantah must be linked together so that Nantah can retain its place in the history of Singapore. The Government is now encouraging the use of the Chinese acronym Nantah (Nanyang University) instead of Li Da (Technological University) , and is allowing the Nanyang University Alumni Register to be transferred back to Nantah, thereby showing, once again, that the Government treasures the past contributions of Nantah, and understands the feelings of the Nantah graduates. As graduates of Nantah, we should support this decision for the proposed transfer of the Alumni Register. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Transfer of the Nanyang University Alumni Register Bill.”
“Dr Ker Sin Tze (Aljunied GRC)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, from the time of its inception in 1956 to its merger to form the National University of Singapore in 1980, the Nanyang University had produced more than 10,000 graduates. These graduates are spread all over Singapore and Malaysia in the fields of industry and commerce, culture and education, and politics. In Singapore, many of these Nantah graduates have become middle-ranking and senior civil servants, teachers and managers. Their contributions in the social and economic development of Singapore are significant and cannot be ignored. No doubt, some graduates have not been doing well in their career paths. Even then, they continue to work hard despite what others say about their ability. Over the past 40 years, Nantah graduates have become a strength to be reckoned with in the Singapore society. However, there is one thing that Nantah graduates cannot help brooding upon, that is, their alma mater is no longer in existence. Nantah was a university founded entirely by the community. It went through many bad patches in its initial period of founding. After it started, it received no recognition nor support from the Governemnt at that time, thereby giving rise to a lot of problems. Subsequently, owing to the gradual decline of student enrolment, Nantah had to merge with the then University of Singapore to form part of the National University of Singapore in 1980. Since then, graduates of the former Nantah have lost their sense of attachment, and every time the name of Nantah is mentioned, they just cannot help feeling a sense of regret. In 1982, the Government established the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) on the former site of Nantah.”
“These efforts include adopting the Chinese abbreviation of Nantah for NTU, opening of the Chinese Heritage Centre on the NTU campus and the erection of Nantah's archway in the campus garden. The association of Nanyang University graduates has proposed, and the Government has agreed to transfer the Nanyang University register of graduates from NUS to NTU. The Prime Minister announced this at NTU on 3rd June 1995 at the 4th Nantah Global Reunion Dinner which attracted a large turnout of Nantah graduates. By adopting NTU as the successor of Nanyang University, Nantah graduates can contribute to the further development of NTU. I will now highlight the key aspects of the Bill. Clause 3 of the Bill will enable the transfer from NUS to NTU of the registers containing the names of all persons who immediately before 8th August 1980 were members of the Guild of Graduates of Nanyang University or its subscribers. The register of all students in the academic year 1979/80 who had met all the requirements for graduation and received degrees of Nanyang University will also be transferred to NTU. Clause 4 of the Bill empowers the Minister to make rules generally for the purpose of removing any difficulty which may arise from the transfer of the registers and other documents referred to in clause 3 of the Bill. Clause 5 of the Bill consists of consequential amendments to the Nanyang Technological University Act and the National University of Singapore Act which are required to effect the transfer. It also provides for a representative from the former Nanyang University to sit on the NTU Council. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the transfer from the National University of Singapore (NUS) to the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of that part of the NUS Register of Graduates which relates to the graduates and subscribers of the former Nanyang University. The establishment of Nanyang University, commonly known as Nantah, in 1956 was an important milestone in Singapore's history. Over a period of 24 years, many young men and women have received a valuable education from the University and gone on to contribute to our society. Nantah graduates have played and will continue to play a big role in the political, social, cultural and economic life of Singapore. On 8th August 1980, the Nanyang University was merged with the former University of Singapore to form the National University of Singapore. The Nanyang University register of graduates has since been kept with the NUS. The campus of Nanyang University was upgraded and redeveloped to house the Nanyang Technological Institute as part of the NUS. Students of the Institute were awarded NUS degrees until 1991 when the Institute became a full-fledged University, the Nanyang Technological University. Nantah Alumni retained a strong sentimental attachment to Nanyang University and to its former campus in Jurong where NTU is situated. The old Nantah campus, with its lake and garden and some distinctive buildings which have been conserved, provides a historical and emotional link between Nanyang University and the Nanyang Technological University. Many Nantah graduates have welcomed the Government's efforts to revive the Nantah spirit.”
“As an old boy of ACS, I understand his concern for parents of ACS. But we have to bear in mind that if we do allow these children, say, from ACJS and ACPS to cross-register in the other schools, there is a possibility that at Phase 2A the capacity could be reached and then there will be no places left for the children in the neighbourhood. The purpose of our introducing the 50% cap at Phase 2B is to enable children living in the neighbourhood, firstly, within one kilometre, then within two kilometres, and so on, to also have a chance to gain admission into popular schools. If we were to adopt his suggestion, we may be forced into a situation where we have to even cap Phase 2A which may not be desirable. And that is the reason why we have to be rather specific in giving priority to children only in the particular school where their parents went to. Generally, these changes have been well received and many parents are happy with the scheme. I am therefore reluctant to make any changes and extend the Phase 2A to children of affiliate schools. Once we do that, there will be many schools which can claim affiliation. Dr Ong Chit Chung: Sir, I thank the Minister for the reply and beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I thank Dr Ong for supporting the supplementary intake at Primary Four level, which we started this year. The scheme has been well received and I am able to give him some data on the response. Based on the selection test for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), 750 pupils, not in the GEP, were invited to apply for admission to the two popular schools of Nanyang and Rosyth. Of these pupils, 176 applied. Eventually, 76 were taken into Nanyang Primary and 65 into Rosyth. The Ministry is looking into other good schools to see whether there is room for them to expand. And if there is, we will do so and provide for more enrolment at Primary One as well as the supplementary intake at Primary Four. Next, the question on registration for Primary One. Encik Harun Ghani asked whether we should give priority to Singapore citizens over permanent residents in registration of primary schools. Permanent residents contribute to Singapore's economic well-being. We want to attract prospective permanent residents with relevant skills and professional expertise not only to work in Singapore but also to become Singapore citizens. For these reasons, Singapore citizens and permanent residents are grouped together in the same category in the Primary One registration Priority Scheme. In the 1995 Primary One registration exercise, only 1,166 children of Singapore permanent residents were registered in Phases 2A, 2B and 2C where balloting was conducted. This represents only 4.2% of the total number of children of Singapore citizens and permanent residents registered in these phases. For the reasons I have just given, I am therefore not in favour of changing the scheme at present. I come now to the point made by Mr Lew Syn Pau.”
“Hopefully, with the new Normal (Technical) stream, we will be able to come somewhere close because the new method that we are using in this stream, with their more practice-oriented teaching and the use of computers, seems to have caught the interest and attention of the pupils. So these are the ways we have to address the root causes of the problem, and not hark back to legislation or try to chase after the children.”
“We are rapidly raising the level of our manpower. The only point of difference between us is whether we should have compulsory education. My point is that, in our case, because we value education so much and parents are aware of the importance of education, there is no need to legislate. Even without legislation, we already achieve enrolment rates much higher than countries which have compulsory education. It is only a form. You can have compulsory education but can you achieve it? I disagree with him that it is not going to be a policing problem if you have a law. Just read the newspaper reports about children skiving off and going to the video arcades. If we have compulsory education, we must enforce it and it is going to take up a lot of time of the teachers, the Police Force and so forth. What we have been trying to do is to identify, for example, every year amongst the Primary One school registration, how many parents may have failed to register their children for one reason or another. We counsel them. If need be, we will assist them. That is a better approach to the problem. Dr Kanwaljit Soin has asked whether we can monitor the children who have dropped out from school. It is a practical problem. The schools are doing the best they can. But at some point, I think the school's role must end and society and the family must take over. These children are grown up, they have gone to do their jobs, they are doing other things. It is not a feasible idea for the schools to be pursuing them all the way. If we do know, for example, of children who want to come back to school, we are more than happy to welcome them back and help them to adjust, as in the case she quoted. So our efforts are directed towards trying to keep every child in school for at least 10 years.”
“Our school results have been improving year by year. For example, in terms of five `O' level passes, we are achieving something like 70% or more and in terms of three `O' level passes, it is something like 90%, and some schools achieve 100%. Many countries would dearly love to have our results. The other point he raised is about compulsory education. We have to discuss this again after so much time has been spent before. We do not differ on one point, ie, education is very important. We must make sure that as many children as possible enter school and remain in school for 10 years. But as children grow older, some of them are distracted. They may not be so good in their studies. We do our best to counsel them. In fact, if you look at our drop-out rates, it is very low. For Primary schools, it is now less than half a percent. Even at the secondary school level, after 10 years of schooling, it is only something like 2,000 a year. So the figures are actually very small and when you classify them as "drop-outs", you may not be quite fair to these children. They are actually premature school leavers and they are people who actually learn later on. They may, in later life, go back for night classes and learn on-the-job. So actually they are not wasted. Mr Chiam made the point again that our workforce is lowly educated and he attributes this to our not having compulsory education. The fact of the matter is that the average education rate is still pulled down by the older generation - the older people who never had the chance to go to school because there was insufficient capacity. So that group only had primary six education. If you look at the younger generation, they are all going through 10-year schooling, 12-year schooling, polytechnic and university.”
“The problem with many places in developed countries, for example, is that students are not prepared for lessons. In the same class, we may have pupils of very wide ability. So very often, they may even need a special assistant to sit by the side of one of the students to coach him as the other teacher is explaining. Our situation is very different from that in other countries. In our case, we recognise that in neighbourhood schools, there are some children who are disadvantaged. What we do is to draw them out early, at P1 level, and we give them remedial lessons in English, and so on. And we find that it has worked well. After maybe six months to a year, they are able to fit back into the mainstream and do not require further coaching. I think this is a better approach. 2.30 pm Even if we do have the manpower, and hopefully with the new measures, we will be able to get more teachers, we should deploy the teachers in the most optimum manner, for example, in enrichment programmes, remedial lessons, as school administrators, and maybe to help out teachers who have a heavy marking load. I accept his point that for certain subjects like English it is very difficult. If you teach English you have to set essays and mark every essay laboriously. So maybe that is an area for us to vary the teaching load amongst teachers. But we should not just go for small class size because everybody thinks this is a great idea. It is very expensive and there is no evidence that it is really worthwhile. The studies in the west have in fact concentrated on very small class sizes, below 20. If you are talking about reducing from 40 to 30 or 35, you might as well forget about it. He made another point that our failure rate has been high. There again, I have to correct him.”
“Sir, Mr Chiam See Tong has again raised the problem of class size. I do not propose to enter into a long debate with him today as time is very short. First, I would like to clarify a few points. He said that neighbourhood schools have a class size of about 40 and independent schools have a class size of 30 or less. This is actually incorrect. A lot of neighbourhood schools have smaller class sizes because of shrinking enrolment. It is the better schools that have bigger class sizes. For example, among the independent schools, RGS has a class size of 40 and it is the top school in Singapore. The other independent schools started out with 30 pupils but they are gradually creeping back to 40. Most of them are around 35 now, because it is very expensive to have a small class size. For example, if we follow his advice and cut down our class size from 40 to 30, we will need 7,000 more teachers. If we have that number of teachers, why do we have to raise the salaries so much, as announced yesterday? It is completely impractical. The research evidence shows that there is no conclusive correlation. Many people intuitively feel that a small class size must be better, but they have not actually considered the evidence. Take the example of a teacher who teaches a class size of 40. The pupils are attentive. They follow the lessons. They are systematic. They are of similar ability. Supposing a teacher had chosen to do the same thing in a different situation and divided the class into two classes and done exactly the same thing, he would have just wasted his time, would he not? He would have taken twice as long, worked twice as hard. In the end, the results would be similar if the methods have not changed.”
“As it is, we are short of teachers for our schools and many of our university staff are recruited from overseas. To the extent that we can build up our capacity and have a room to spare, we can certainly do more to regionalise our educational services. The last item I want to touch on is the value-added awards raised by Mr Low Thia Khiang. Since last year, the Ministry has been giving monetary awards to schools which have helped their pupils perform better than expected based on their PSLE entry scores. These are so-called high value-added schools. The top 10 schools in the Special, Express and Normal courses receive $20,000 each, while the next 10 in both categories receive $10,000 each. The Ministry likewise intends to reward the high value-added schools for the Normal (Technical) Stream. As it is desirable to use the national examination results for the purpose, my Ministry will rank the schools only after the first batch of Normal (Technical) pupils have taken their GCE `N' level examinations in 1997. Schools are conscious of the fact that they should meet expectations in the academic output in relation to the quality of pupil intake and are channelling their efforts in this direction. Pupils' academic performance fluctuates from year to year in some schools. Patterns of performance are monitored closely by the schools and by my Ministry. More focus is placed on schools which have difficulty in making improvements. They will receive more guidance and assistance from school inspectors and subject specialists for the particular departments or for the school as a whole. I hope this will address his concern. We will certainly do our best to help those schools which have problems.”