Lew Syn Pau
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, one of the greatest problems SMEs are facing in this downturn is the sudden decline in orders and decline in revenue and, as a result, some SMEs are not able to get enough cash flow to service the interest.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply. We look forward to increases to come. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $29,360,000 for Head F ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $3,716,700 for Head F ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head P -”
“If you take a look at the Enterprise 50 companies, Sir, a lot of them have gotten to where they are today without financial support from the Government, and it has taken them a long time, many years. Some of them have been in operation for more than 10 years.”
“This is especially important for the design-and-build projects where the contractors take the lead in a construction team which even includes the appointment of a QP and the payment of his fees. This amendment Bill does not seem to address this concern.”
“Thus, the Government is not in favour of awarding prestige or acknowledgement scholarship without the scholar making a commitment to serve in the public service. There is already much flexibility in the treatment of Government scholars.”
“Sir, there have been a lot of discussions in the papers about compulsory acquisition of flats. Does the Minister not think that the compulsory acquisition of a HDB flat is a bit too severe, because it punishes the family members who are innocent, rather than the offender himself?”
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“From the perspective of commuters, there is no better assurance that public interest will be taken into consideration than, firstly, having good alternative modes of transport, such as the MRT and buses; secondly, having free and friendly competition among the taxi companies; and thirdly, having complete and clear information on taxi fares being made available to all commuters. There are already six taxi companies in Singapore. There is no high barrier to further entry, except COE and a good track record of the company. Information can be made available through the media as well as on the taxis themselves. Sir, I strongly believe that the travelling public is now much more better informed and more sophisticated. Our competitive transportation infrastructure is also in place. The conditions now exist for the public interest to be safeguarded even without Government's involvement, and the time has come for deregulation of the taxi industry. The Minister raised this issue about two months ago. Will he give us more information on this subject?”
“Sir, before I begin, I would like to declare my interest in NTUC Comfort, the largest taxi operator in Singapore. Taxis in Singapore, and indeed all over the world, do not have a monopoly over the business of transporting people from place to place. They compete with the mass movers like buses and the MRT on the one hand, and private and rental cars on the other, on price, convenience and comfort. The commuter demand for taxis is very elastic, as the taxi fare and diesel tax hike episode in 1985 illustrated. When the Government raised taxi fares too high and too quickly, from $1.20 flag-down fare to $2.00, ridership plummeted so dramatically that taxi companies themselves wanted the fare reduced. Eventually, the flag-down fare was scaled back to $1.60. That episode further illustrated that taxi organisations and operators themselves have a much better feel of the market, both in terms of price and supply. In many developed countries and cities where the supply of taxis is heavily regulated through auction of taxi licences at astronomical prices and taxi fares are controlled by government or public regulatory bodies, the outcome has been intense political pressure from taxi lobbies to curtail the supply of new licences and high fare increases to enable the newer owners to get a positive return for the expensive licences. Taxi companies and drivers spend an undue amount of time lobbying and trading in licences at the expense of improving their services to commuters. The final impact on commuters is usually high taxi fares and poor service.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply and I withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $2,315,095,600 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $891,010,000 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LI 3200. I would like to ask the Minister about the admission criteria into the Medical Faculty of the NUS. I am not talking about the need for quota which, I believe, is necessary if we want a good spread of talents across all sectors of our economy. I am talking about the selection of applicants within this quota. Every year, I get cases of applicants with four As denied admission, while others with three As or worse results get admitted. Some of these applicants denied admission have no alternative but to venture overseas for their medical degrees. Many others, however, may not be so fortunate and have to settle for their second best choice and, at the same time, carry a chip on their shoulders for life. 2.45 pm I am aware that candidates, apart from having good results, have to sit for an aptitude test and attend an interview as well. Unfortunately, the latter bring with them elements of subjectivity which are not always transparent to the applicants. I would like to ask the Minister to consider making the whole admission process more transparent so that those denied entry can better understand the reasons and not begrudge the system.”
“I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their replies. I withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, rapid economic development in the Asia-Pacific region and the economic reform and open door policy in China have greatly elevated the status of the Chinese language, and will provide our ME3 students with plenty of employment opportunities. Being proficient in their mother tongue, they will have a clear advantage over others in this area, and every opportunity to excel themselves. This is certainly more meaningful than bracing themselves to struggle in the EM2 stream beyond their learning capacity, which could well result in their failing to make the grade in both languages. Thus, this kind of counselling service is necessary to prevent parents, who do not realise the importance of making the correct choice, from forcing their children to take up studies which are beyond their learning capacity. Sir, the Chinese Language Review Committee has spent a lot of time in reviewing the method of teaching the Chinese language. The main purpose is to enable our teachers to teach the students in accordance with their aptitude and thereby maximising our limited human resources and preventing wastage of such resources. I think the Ministry of Education should provide more counselling on the choice for ME3 and EM3 courses so that this recommendation of our Chinese Language Review Committee will not end up as a mere academic one. This will also help in making our education system a better one.”
“Will the Minister consider the recommendation to allow parents to decide only for marginal cases? Mr Peh Chin Hua( In Mandarin): Sir, I was once the Chairman of one of the sub-committees under the Chinese Language Review Committee. I am of the view that Mr Low Thia Khiang has not fully studied the Report of the Chinese Language Review Committee. I hope that the Minister of State would give him a copy of this Report so that he can spend more time studying it. Sir, the objective of ME3 and EM3 courses, as proposed by the Chinese Language Review Committee, is to allow those students who have difficulty in mastering the languages to concentrate on one language so that they could at least master one language. However, the response from parents is not satisfactory. The main reason is that many parents do not fully understand the system. They even misunderstood the intention behind it, and thus adopted a repulsive attitude towards it. The Ministry of Education should study the reasons why parents are not accepting the ME3 and EM3 courses for their children. At the same time, based on the streaming results, the Ministry of Education should only allow students in borderline cases to exercise the choice of courses. Students who do not make the necessary grade must be streamed to ME3 or EM3 courses so that they could at least master one language. This system is quite similar to the PSLE examinations at Primary 6 in which the pupils are channelled to the Special, Express or Normal streams in secondary schools, based on their PSLE results. The Ministry of Education should also try to convince the parents of students who are proficient in the Chinese Language but are weak in the English Language to go to the ME3 stream.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LC 1500. Presently, parents with children entering Primary 5 are given the option of placing their children in EM1, EM2 or EM3. They can choose to accept or reject the school's recommendation. However, the stream a pupil is placed in when entering Primary 6 is decided by the schools. I am told that teachers face some problems in their teaching because a substantial number of parents choose to place their children in a stream more demanding than that recommended by the schools. Many of the students who should be in EM3 are in EM2 because of their parents' decisions. Most of them are very weak and have genuine problems coping in EM2. To help them stay on in EM2 when they enter Primary 6, teachers have to intensify their efforts and conduct extra remedial classes. However, due to the limited number of teachers, this takes away the time and attention which should be given to other weaker students who are in EM2 upon the schools' recommendation. Sir, there is a great difference between a pupil who scores 50 marks and a pupil who scores 0. However, all students who score less than 50 marks, I am told, are lumped together under Band 4. This does not make any distinction between the weak and the very weak pupils. Principals and teachers recommend that parents be allowed to decide only for borderline cases. For example, parents can choose the stream their children should be placed in only if they score between 40 and 50 marks marginal cases. And pupils who score less than 40 marks should be streamed into EM3 automatically. This will be similar to the current practice of streaming students into Express or Normal classes in secondary schools.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their replies and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“These 3,000 to 3,500 Chinese characters are words frequently used, and the number is adequate for a secondary school student to use in writing. The Federation of Clans Associations is also actively examining and determining which types of reading materials should be extensively promoted. This will take some time. That is why there has not been any publication of such reading materials as yet. I believe some supplementary reading materials will be published, in the near future, for the use of our students. In summing up, I wish to say that the Ministry of Education has placed adequate emphasis on the boosting of morale of our teachers. The Ministry is seriously and actively implementing the various recommendations in the Report of the Chinese Language Review Committee.”
“In terms of teaching materials, we have also been actively revising the secondary and primary school textbooks and teaching materials. As for supplementary reading materials, the Federation of Clans Associations in Singapore has set up a special committee to encourage private publishers to publish more supplementary reading materials for our students. As for Hanyu Pinyin, with effect from 1993, Primary Two students will start to learn Pinyin from the second term onwards, and Primary Three students will start to learn Pinyin from the first term. On the use of Chinese dictionary, the Report recommended that students be allowed to use the dictionary during the Chinese essay-writing paper of the GCE 'O' level examination. The Ministry of Education has considered this recommendation very seriously and has decided to implement it. Of course, there are differing views on this recommendation. I read in the newspaper today that an Opposition Member of Parliament had remarked that once the students were allowed to use the dictionary during their examination, their language proficiency could not be accurately assessed, particularly in essay-writing. I think this is not quite correct because the dictionary is only a tool. If I were to buy a Japanese dictionary and gave it to this Opposition Member, I do not think he would be able to write Japanese immediately. Therefore, the dictionary is only a tool. As regards the other matters, for example, the list of Chinese characters, we have retained the existing word list, that is, 3,000 to 3,500 characters for secondary school students. In the revised textbooks and teaching materials, we will try to incorporate the words in this list and it will not result in losing the beauty of original articles written by famous writers.”
“30 pm The Minister of State for Education (Dr Ker Sin Tze)( In Mandarin): The Ministry of Education attaches great importance to the Report of the Chinese Language Review Committee. As pointed out by the Minister just now, the Ministry also considers the results of the survey concerning our teachers' desire for further study and training seriously. The survey conducted by the Singapore Teachers' Union reveals that many teachers are interested in undergoing further training in the teaching of Chinese-related subjects so as to enhance their professional standard. The Ministry of Education will, in response to the desire of these teachers, provide all the necessary assistance possible to enable them to undertake further study and training. Under the present arrangement, our teachers may go to NUS or NTU for further study leading to a degree. In future, we may arrange for teachers to go overseas for further study and obtain a degree to enhance their professional standard. Apart from this, we have also some short-term courses. In 1993, the Curriculum Development Institute of the Ministry of Education provided eight different short courses for our teachers. The Report of the Chinese Language Review Committee has made a number of recommendations and the Ministry of Education accepts these recommendations and takes them seriously. We are now actively and positively looking into the implementation of these recommendations and we believe this will help raise the Chinese standard and boost the morale of our teachers. Briefly, I would like to give Members a brief summary of what we have done in the implementation of these recommendations. First, CL1 has been renamed as Higher Chinese. CL2 is now known as Chinese and CL3 is Basic Chinese.”
“I hope that the Ministry of Education could also give greater attention to the neighbourhood schools in terms of physical facilities, so that they could be as good as those accorded to independent schools. I do not object to better school buildings and facilities being given to independent schools so that our outstanding students could constantly improve themselves while studying in better environment. This would also help to cultivate a pool of talented people for our society. However, in this process, could we also improve the facilities of our neighbourhood schools, so that there would not be too much of a difference between the neighbourhood schools and the independent schools? Those neighbourhood schools with good examination results should be given better school facilities, so that they could be a model for other neighbourhood schools to emulate. This will encourage more neighbourhood schools to excel in performance, resulting in the increase in the number of good schools which are capable of producing good students. Neighbourhood schools are pillars in our educational system. Their performance will greatly reflect the success or failure in our educational system as the majority of our student population are attending such schools. Like the independent schools, neighbourhood schools also contribute to the training of talented people for Singapore. So long as we could provide the appropriate financial and educational assistance to them, I believe the neighbourhood schools would also obtain good results, as good as those of the independent schools. I hope the Ministry would provide better facilities to at least one good neighbourhood school in each constituency, so that their students would have a better learning environment and improve the school's performance. 1.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LA 2300. The Chinese Language Review Committee's report had recommended that, I quote: "the Ministry of Education should look into raising the morale and enhancing the career development of Chinese teachers. Special attention should be given to upgrading Chinese teachers professionally through courses conducted locally and abroad." A survey on Chinese language teachers by the Singapore Chinese Teachers' Union was conducted in October 1992. It showed that 45.7% of the graduates and 27.9% of the non-graduate Chinese teachers are interested in degree courses or courses that can be recognised as credits leading to a degree. The three most popular courses were "The Methods of Teaching Chinese", "Chinese Literature" and "Chinese Culture". Most teachers prefer Chinese to be the language of instruction. They felt that there are already enough courses in the market using English as the medium of instruction. The majority of these teachers want to upgrade themselves in order to be better teachers and to inject more professionalism into their teaching. I would like to ask the Ministry on the measures taken so far to upgrade our Chinese language teachers in response to the said report and survey. Mr Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar GRC)( In Mandarin): Sir, the Minister for Education announced yesterday that he had intention to make four schools autonomous schools next year, and I hope that he will keep his promise that the fees for the autonomous schools will not be too high.”
“I thank the Minister for his reply. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, the Minister has not replied to the question of air-conditioning of schools.”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Ministry for its decision to aircondition common rooms such as libraries, audio-visual rooms, music rooms, offices, staff rooms and lounges in all primary and secondary schools. This good news was welcomed by all schools as it would enable our teachers and students to work in greater comfort. The bad news, however, is that some schools may not see these airconditioners until three years later. I understand that this is because the Ministry is getting the PWD to put out tenders for the schools' airconditioners zone by zone. I would like to suggest that the Ministry consider giving the schools a budget to buy and install their own airconditioners so that they can all do it within a year. Surely, if we can trust the principals with the education of our children, we can trust them with the task of sourcing and installing their own airconditioners.”
“I believe the principals know their own schools' needs best and would be in a better position to meet those needs if greater autonomy is given.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LA 1500. Today, school principals do more than just ensure that our children can read, write and count. For example, the Ministry of the Environment wants them to check for mosquitoes in the school compounds. The Ministry of Health wants teachers to check for obesity and faulty eyesight in pupils. But the Ministry of Education is not giving them enough manpower support, especially administrative staff, to get the job done. Currently, I am told that there is no provision for an Executive Officer (EO) to assist the principal in his administrative duties of running the school. At the moment, I believe there are 10 schools, one of which is a primary school, which have EOs on a pilot project basis to run the administration for them. I am told that these schools have found them very useful. Would the Minister tell us the results of this pilot project? I would like to suggest that the Ministry consider providing more schools with administrative executives, especially for schools with larger enrolments. Next, I would like to touch on the subject of junior non-teaching staff, such as clerks and office attendants. Their recruitment is presently centralised at the Education Service Commission. As a result, many schools go without such staff for long periods of time as the Education Service Commission finds difficulty recruiting them at such low salaries. This further aggravates the manpower shortage of schools, especially during peak periods such as opening of the school term. Would the Minister consider devolving the responsibility of recruitment of non-teaching junior staff to the schools? Give them a budget to work with.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply. I am glad to note that for scholarships, the fourth child in a family will not be discriminated against. With that, I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I must confess I do not quite follow the argument the Minister put forward that Edusave should not be given for the fourth or subsequent child because our current population policy is to have three or more, if you can afford it. Edusave has never been linked to affordability or income level of the parents, which is why Edusave scholarships will be given out to students based entirely on their results, and not on the background of the family they come from. So I would like to ask the Minister to confirm that the fourth child in a family will not be given any Edusave scholarship to go to an independent school even though he may be in the top 25% based on PSLE results and even though some of his friends getting the Edusave scholarships may be from more well-off families. Does the Minister consider this equitable from the child's point of view? Would it not leave an impression with the child that he is being discriminated against or being unwanted by society?”
“Some of them even sit for PSLE and GCE 'O' and 'A' level examinations and some even further their studies to the university. It is hoped that the Government will be more flexible in implementing the Edusave scheme, so that these students aged 6-16 years, who are children of Singapore citizens studying in full-time non-Government schools, could also enjoy the Edusave scheme. I think the Ministry of Education could find ways in which we could allow this group of students to enjoy the scheme and to enable the administration to follow the Ministry's curriculum. When these students grow up, they are going to be citizens of Singapore who can contribute to the progress and stability of our country in all respects.”
“One way to solve this problem is for the accounts of young primary school pupils to be saved for the children to use when they are older, say, upper primary or secondary schools when the students can fill up their own claims forms. This will lighten the administrative workload of our teachers. The other way is for claims to be allowed only when it exceeds a certain quantum. So I would like to ask the Minister whether they have studied the cost of administering the Edusave scheme. Encik Harun bin A. Ghani (Hong Kah GRC)( In Malay): Sir, Singaporeans are aware of the Government's aim in providing, through the Edusave scheme, incentives for the educational development of Singaporean children aged 6-16 years and who are still in school. The Edusave scheme provides opportunities for all students to improve themselves academically as well as in their extra-curricular activities. I think Singaporeans are very grateful to the Government for providing this form of assistance for the educational development of their children. Unfortunately, however, there are some children in our midst who are unable to benefit from this generous act of the Government. Singaporean children aged 6-16 years who are studying in full-time non-Government schools, who also ought to enjoy the scheme, are unable to do so even though they need to attend tuition classes and take part in extra-curricular activities and visits to historical sites, camping, and so on, just like other students. Like other students, they too will become part of the national mainstream in social, economic, educational, developmental and security terms. I have been informed that 30% of their school curriculum is the same curriculum adopted by the Ministry of Education.”
“Sir, the Edusave Scheme proposed by the Prime Minister in 1990 has been welcomed by most parents of school going children. The concept has been modified several times, even before its implementation. Today, I would like to suggest two further modifications to refine the scheme and make it even more effective in sharing Singapore's growth and success with all Singaporeans. Edusave is aimed to give all young Singaporeans an equal chance for a good start in life. Hence, a child should not be denied an equal starting point with other children just because his parents had deviated from or, worse still, supported enthusiastically the Government's current population policy. I am talking about Edusave for the fourth and subsequent children of Singaporeans. There should be consistency between our population and our education policy. Therefore, I urge the Ministry to allow all children, regardless of their birth orders in their families, to enjoy the benefits of Edusave. Let the focus of Edusave be on the child and his education, not on the size of his family. Next, I understand that Edusave involves a great amount of paper work, as there will be about 500,000 accounts for every child between the ages of 6 and 16. There is expected to be many withdrawals, although the value of every transaction will be small, as the fund will be low in the first few years. I am told that teachers will be responsible for all this administrative and clerical work related to Edusave on top of their existing chores. As the amount in each child's account may be very small initially, the cost of administering the scheme in the first few years may outweigh the benefits.”
“Finally, if the scheme is found to be helpful in making schools more efficient and effective, will it be extended to all schools?”
“However, the Ministry indicated that students would have to match this by paying a little more miscellaneous fees than they would at Government schools. I would like to ask the Minister how much more this amount will be. Will it be a uniform figure for all autonomous schools or will it be determined by the individual schools? Next, I would like to ask the Minister what decision has been made about the selection of the schools and the number of schools to go autonomous. Will primary schools also be included in the list? Feedback has indicated that principals would like to have more say over the choice of schools to go autonomous rather than for the decision to be made entirely by the Ministry of Education. When independent schools were started back in 1987, several schools were asked to submit proposals on their plans to go independent. A similar method can be used for selecting autonomous schools. This is because when a school wishes to be autonomous on its own volition with the support of the school's board of management or governors, then the chances of success would be much higher. I would like to suggest that autonomous schools should not be picked from just the top schools, because top schools will usually continue to perform well with or without autonomy. We should include samples of neighbourhood schools and schools that have achieved high value- added performance. In selecting the schools, consideration should also be taken of their academic and sports achievements and the quality of the teachers and principals. Chosen schools should have strong principals and advisory boards. I would like to ask the Minister the type of autonomy being contemplated for such schools.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. In the last 10 years, we have seen exciting improvements in our school system. From just having Government and Government-aided schools, we now have SAP schools, junior colleges and independent schools, and the results speak for themselves. Today, more students obtain passes and distinctions at both GCE 'O' and 'A' level examinations than ever before. These students come from all walks of life, from all levels of society, and this is possible because admission to the SAP schools, independent schools and junior colleges are based entirely on merit. The Government has assured that no child who qualifies for a choice school or college will be denied the opportunity because of financial hardship. Many scholarships and bursaries are available to those who need financial assistance. Therefore, there is no room for envy among the less well off, as the Opposition has been trying to generate, because equal opportunities are available for both the rich and the poor. The results of the independent schools so far have indicated that we are moving in the right direction. The performance of similar schools in the UK and elsewhere testifies to the same fact. Hence, I believe introducing autonomous schools is another step in the right direction. The Education Ministry announced in January this year that the first autonomous schools will start in January 1994. As they will receive a larger subsidy than other Government schools for each child admitted, fees will be kept below those charged by the independent schools which range from $70 to $200.”
“Sir, my question on the $75,000 tax deductible ceiling for owner-occupied properties has already been asked by my colleague, Dr Ow Chin Hock, and the Minister has replied, although not favourably. So I will bring up the matter again next year.”
“Will the Nanyang Polytechnic also conduct part-time courses at the diploma level for mature workers who have missed out on a post-secondary education in the past? This can be done by using the credit system which allows working people to take courses at their own pace and at their own time. Although Nanyang Polytechnic is the fourth polytechnic to be established, I certainly hope that it will not be the fourth choice for our students. Nanyang Polytechnic should quickly develop its own character and reputation and carve out a niche for itself among the four polytechnics in Singapore.”
“We stay ahead of our competitors by tapping higher value-added, higher technology industries that have the capacity to pay our workers higher wages. Our workforce must have the education, the training and the skills to meet the requirements of such industries. With higher wages, our people can then expect a higher standard of living and a better quality of life. Mr Speaker, Sir, the quality of an educational institution is not just determined by the quality of the buildings or the students, but also the quality of the teaching staff. I would like to ask the Minister: with Temasek Polytechnic set up just two years ago and taking up a substantial pool of teaching staff from the labour market, would Nanyang Polytechnic face problems in recruiting qualified professionals for the various schools? Are we looking overseas in view of the shortage of labour and expertise in Singapore? Secondly, with the four polytechnics competing for the same pool of teachers, is there coordination among them to prevent staff poaching of one polytechnic by another? In order for polytechnic education to remain relevant to industry, our teaching staff must continue to maintain their links with them through industrial attachments. At the same time, industry professionals should be invited to serve on the Advisory Committees to ensure that course curricula remain relevant to their needs. Education is a life-long experience and it is important that our graduates continue to upgrade themselves even after they enter the world of work. In this respect, I would like to ask the Minister whether Nanyang Polytechnic will also play a role in providing continuing education in selected fields for working people.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Nanyang Polytechnic Bill before the House. The GPC for Education welcomes the establishment of the Nanyang Polytechnic which will help to produce more better educated, middle-level professionals and staff with highly marketable skills to meet the demands in the various sectors of our economy. I am pleased to note that the courses offered by Nanyang Polytechnic will complement the existing polytechnic programmes, as well as broaden the range of options with the introduction of the Health Sciences programme. Over the last few years, the 'O' level and 'A' level examination results have been improving constantly and this year's results are the best ever. Naturally, high standards will fuel greater competition among our students for a limited number of places in our tertiary institutions. It is timely, therefore, that the number of our polytechnic places be expanded to take in as many qualified applicants as possible. The Nanyang Polytechnic provides this expansion without compromising standards. In addition to meeting the demands of the labour market and the students' aspirations for higher education, the Nanyang Polytechnic will also contribute towards levelling up the standard of education of our workforce to match that of the developed nations. There is, however, some apprehension that the glut of polytechnic and university graduates in the labour market may arise in the near future leading to disappointment, frustration and even disillusionment. I do not share these sentiments. Singapore does not stay competitive by holding down the potential of our students and our workforce. On the contrary, their potential must be maximised.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Code IE 3100 of the Main Estimates. Sir, first of all, I would like to declare my interest as a member of the Public Transport Council representing taxi operators. In Singapore, taxis are classified as public transport for the purposes of the Public Transport Council Act. There are many types of taxis in Singapore - big taxis, such as Toyota Crowns and Nissan Cedrics; small taxis like Toyota Coronas and Nissan Bluebirds. We have also special taxis like the London Cabs and the Opel Omega station wagons. They all provide different levels of comfort for commuters and they serve different special needs. And they do so at the same price, except for one or two surcharges allowed, even though their costs are very different. The big taxis, for example, cost 50% more than the smaller ones. A London cab costs three times that of a small cab. Taxi operators would also like to differentiate their service by allowing the use of credit cards and corporate accounts. These special services come at a higher cost. Taxi operators should, therefore, be given the flexibility to set different taxi fares to differentiate the different services provided. At this point, I am not suggesting that taxi fares be totally deregulated. What I am proposing is that the Public Transport Council should perhaps just set a more generous upper bound and allow the taxi industry the flexibility to set different fares for different services. This is already happening in Japan where the flag-down fare for the big taxis is higher than that for the small taxis. I believe that too much regulation stifles innovation and competition in the industry. I hope the Minister will consider my suggestion. 12.45 pm”
“It appears that this regulation was made more out of administrative convenience rather than equity. I would like to suggest to the Government to change the regulation and allow taxi operators to pay only 70% of the quota premium when they replace their taxis. Finally, I would like to urge the new Minister for Communications to do a comprehensive review on the taxation of taxis. There are many inequitable anomalies which need to be removed.”
“Sir, first of all, let me declare my interest because I am the GM of NTUC Comfort, a taxi operator. For the purpose of taxation, a vehicle has always been classified according to the function it performs and not its physical shape. For example, not all buses are public transport and hence do not pay the same taxes. A scheduled bus pays a different tax compared to one used for school children or one used for private hire. A scheduled bus is regarded as public transport and hence exempted from the need to have a COE. A car can be a taxi, but a taxi may not be a car. Some countries allow mini-buses, jeeps and even motorcycles to be used as taxis. Hence, a car should also be taxed according to its function and not simply because it is a car. To be consistent, therefore, taxis, being public transport, should also be treated like scheduled buses and be exempted from COE. Furthermore, the number of taxis on the road is already controlled by the issue of licences to taxi operators. Is there a further need therefore to control them through COEs? Next, the diesel tax of $6,600 a year on taxis is also another inequity which cannot be and has never been satisfactorily explained. Factories and buses also use diesel, but they are not required to pay this tax. So this tax is really a taxi tax and not a diesel tax. Next, the Government imposed a statutory life span of seven years on all taxis. This means that all taxis must be scrapped or replaced with a new car by the end of seven years. Yet, when the COE system was imposed upon taxis, taxi operators were told that they have to pay a prevailing quota premium valid for 10 years, and get a refund of quota premium for the remaining three years when they scrap their taxis after seven years. I find this regulation extremely inequitable.”
“Sir, Mr Othman Haron Eusofe has already touched on the point I am planning to raise, and that is to amend the Employment Act to cover white collar workers earning more than $1,250. This ceiling of $1,250 was adjusted way back in 1980 when the average monthly earning for clerical, sales, service and related workers was only $561. This same figure has gone up 90% to $1,067 in 1990. Since then, the ceiling of $1,250 is still unchanged. This means that more and more white collar workers are not protected by the Employment Act as wages go up, especially those in the non-unionised sector. So I would like to suggest that this ceiling be adjusted to at least $1,750, up 40%, so that the majority of our white collar workers will continue to be protected by the Employment Act. Secondly, I hope the Ministry will review and adjust this ceiling more frequently instead of once in every 12 years.”
“Sir, I would like to ask a related question. Since we are on the subject of CPF, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would consider allowing CPF to be used for funding Open University courses. I asked this question earlier of the Minister for Education and he has directed it to the new Minister for Labour.”
“Sir, in 1956, the retirement age was 55. And at that time the life expectancy at birth was 60 years of age for males. Today, 36 years later, the retirement age is still 55 in many companies in the private sector, especially in the non-unionised sector. However, the life expectancy at birth has improved to 74 years for males. So the average retiree at 55 has 19 years to live in retirement. This is a waste of human resources, given our tight labour market today. The progress of raising the retirement age from 55 to 60, as mentioned by Mr Othman Haron Eusofe, has not been good, especially in the non-unionised sector. In the unionised sector, our records show that about 75% of companies have raised their retirement age to 60 or above. In the non-unionised sector, however, according to the NWC survey of 1990, only 6.2% provided for retirement age of 60 and above. I believe the employers have been given enough time to raise the retirement age voluntarily. Unfortunately, the non-unionised sector employers have not responded to persuasion. The Ministry of Labour must legislate now, otherwise we may be sending the wrong signal to employers in the unionised sector who have cooperated with the unions on the issue.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LD 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, in view of the shortage of time, I will make it very short. We all know that the present admission criteria of the primary schools are controversial and they are not perfect. In my view, the population policy of the day should not be part of the admission criteria. Why should a child be denied an equal chance of admission into a choice school just because his parents chose to deviate from the existing Government population policy. In my view, the new admission criteria should take into consideration the convenience of parents and children and parent's record of social community work. I have been told that the present admission criteria are under review. Could the Ministry announce the criteria early so that the parents have time to prepare for their children's admission this year?”
“Sir, I am happy to note the progress made on many of the issues raised. I thank the Minister and the Senior Minister of State for their replies, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Then the teachers will exert pressure on the students and when the students go home, they bring the pressure home with them. As a result many parents, who are afraid that their children might not do well in their examinations and be streamed to the normal stream, take leave during the examination time to supervise their children in their studies. Some even give up their jobs to stay at home and help their children to revise their lessons. All this pressure is created by our education system. Every time the '0' or 'A' level results are released, the teachers are very nervous. Because when the results are not good, they would have to write reports. They would be asked to analyse the reasons for the poor results and to draw up plans to improve their teaching. Of course, administratively speaking, these are good measures. But if we over-emphasise the results of the examination as a criterion for the performance of the school, then this would exert tremendous pressure on the teachers. Many university graduates are not willing to join the education service. There is another reason for that. The social status of our teachers in Singapore is very low, unlike their counterparts in Taiwan or in Japan. In Taiwan and Japan, teachers are held in high esteem and command great respect. Many parents respect the teachers who teach their children. I think we should conduct a thorough study into this problem so that our teachers can have the same type of respect and social status as given to the other professionals in our society. I believe if we could improve on the points that I have raised above, we would be able to attract more graduates into the teaching service. 3.45 pm”
“Mr Chin Harn Tong (Aljunied GRC)( In Mandarin): Sir, the Ministry of Education faces a very serious problem, that is, the shortage of qualified teachers. Many university graduates with good results are not willing to join the education service. And for this reason, the Ministry of Education has spent a lot of money advertising over the mass media. This is a very good way of recruiting teachers but we do not know what is the effectiveness of such advertising. The unwillingness of university graduates to join the education service is influenced by the market forces. But if we were to compare the salaries of our teachers with those in the other professions, we will find that teachers are paid quite well. In fact, our teachers are paid better than their counterparts in Taiwan. Their salary is comparable to that of the teachers in Japan. With such good remuneration, why is it that we cannot attract enough graduates to join the education service? There must be some very special reasons for that. Teachers today have not only to teach well, but they also have to take charge of ECA and other miscellaneous duties. As such, the workload of the teachers is rather heavy. Apart from this heavy workload, a more important reason is that the teachers have to face tremendous pressure. The Ministry of Education fixes a very high standard for the schools to meet. They want the schools to have good examination results. For that reason, very often the results of one school are matched against those of another. The schools have to face tremendous pressure. The principals, in turn, will exert pressure on the teachers. Many teachers who cannot cope with the stress develop a fear for the teaching job.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L by reduced by $10 in respect of Code LA 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I think we all know the critical role that teachers play, not only in imparting knowledge to the students but also in inculcating in them desirable social values. They are very important role models for our young. We must have good teachers in our schools. We must improve the working conditions of these teachers so that we can attract good teachers. Every year, Mr Lawrence Sia, the former MP for Moulmein, raised two issues regarding improving the morale of teachers in schools. The first one is regarding the employing of non-teaching staff for schools to relieve teachers of administrative work so that they can concentrate on teaching. The reply last year was that the Management Services Department had just finished its report and the Ministry of Education was still awaiting their response. Could the Ministry tell the House the progress made on this matter? The second issue is regarding the air-conditioning of school facilities. In such a humid climate in Singapore, air-conditioning of offices is a necessity, not a luxury. I do not know of any Government office which is not air-conditioned, except perhaps the military camps. The Government should therefore provide a budget for air-conditioning school facilities such as staff offices, library, music rooms, AVA rooms, and so on, and not leave this to the School Advisory Committee to raise the money to do so. The money raised by the School Advisory Committee should go towards better facilities in the schools and more enrichment programmes for the students. Could the Minister comment on this?”
“Sir, I thank the Minister and his Minister of State for their replies, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“I would like to ask the Minister how they plan to share the development of this pilot project with private kindergarten providers, so that our pre-schoolers can continue to benefit from this investment already made by the Government. Has the Ministry any other plans to help upgrade the private kindergartens? Sir, I move on to the next cut on the promotion of healthy lifestyle in schools. A healthy lifestyle is important as it not only makes us more productive and alert, it also cuts down on expenditure on health care. A healthy lifestyle should be inculcated in our children from young, both at home and at the schools. I would like to ask the Minister how is healthy lifestyle being promoted in our schools. Will the Ministry, for example, require all school children to take up one sport as an ECA? I have been told that many school children are leaving school without learning any sport at all. Running and swimming, for example, are essential skills for our boys going to national service. How are the schools helping to prepare our boys for their stint in the Army?”
“Sir, it has been announced that the Edusave fund will award scholarships to the top 25% of students going to independent schools based on their PSLE results, and these scholarships will be valid for the entire four years duration of the students' stay in these schools. While this gives financial security to each student who opts for independent school at the point of admission, it is unfair to other students who work hard and do well later in the school. I would like to suggest some fine-tuning of this scheme to achieve both objectives. We could break down the Edusave scholarships into two groups. The first group of scholarships, say, 15%-20%, could be awarded on admission using the PSLE results. The second group of 5%-10% should be awarded on a yearly basis to those not already receiving these scholarships, using the year-end examination results. In this way, our students in the independent schools would be motivated to continue to perform their best every year. This same concept can also be applied to Edusave scholarships for the Government schools. The schools should be given the discretion to administer the yearly scholarship awards. Next, Sir, I would like to move on to my next cut regarding preparatory year in primary schools. The preparatory school pilot project was such a success that the demand far exceeded supply. The Government has decided to stop running preparatory schools and let the private sector take over the provision of pre-school education. Doing this will enable the Government to focus its attention on the 10 years of formal schooling for all children in Singapore. I support this decision. However, we have been told that $1.3 million has already been invested in the development of school curricula for this pilot project.”
“Secondly, admission should not be based entirely on 'A' level results. Workers without 'A' level results but with many years of working experience should be given special consideration. For example, a matriculation examination could be set for such applicants in order to ensure that standards are maintained. Lastly, since most students would be working people with CPF savings, would the Minister also consider allowing them to use their CPF funds to pay for their school fees?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. In Singapore, the percentage of each cohort graduating from university is still small, at about 12%. Our target is to raise this to 20%. Many workers in Singapore have missed out from an university education. Some did not go on to university because of financial hardship in the family. Others who were qualified could not find a place in NUS or NTU because of keen competition. There are still others who develop the interest and desire for a university education later but found the doors of NUS and NTU firmly shut to older working people. Hence, the announcement of an Open University in Singapore was welcomed by many. According to the 1990 census, the possible target group (that is those who have completed post-secondary schools) of the Open University is about 187,000 people. Even if just 10% of this group wants to go on to Open University, we still have about 19,000 people. With an enrolment of about 1,000 a year, it would take 19 years just to clear this backlog. If we include a portion of each new cohort, with just 'A' levels or polytechnic degrees, who might want to enrol, which is another about 30% to 40% of each cohort, then the number becomes quite staggering. So the point is this: we are going to be short of places in the Open University. What priority scheme would the Ministry use to admit these students? I would like to suggest that priority be given to people who have been working for some years. The Open University should not become a third university for fresh 'A' level students who have not been able to gain admission to NUS or NTU. Therefore, a minimum age of, say, 25 years should be imposed.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for agreeing to consider our request and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $120,399,570 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $777,129,900 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head U -- 3.15 pm”