Liew Kok Pun
Singapore
“For instance, when the Board asks the owners or proprietors of the affected workshops or factories to provide evidence to show that they were in business on the site before the cut-off date, the Board stipulated only evidence of their dealings with Government agencies and was not prepared to consider other evidence showing their dealings…”
“Now that the first group of Civil Defence volunteers has been trained, I would like to find out from the Minister how his Ministry plans to sustain the interest. It is absolutely necessary that the interest be sustained and not allowed to decline.”
“Sir, in a lighter vein and in response to the Minister's remarks about mangy dog, I can assure him that whether mangy dogs or Alsatian dogs, they all wag their tails to welcome the NPP officers. But in the case of mangy dogs, I would suggest to the Minister that he advise his NPP officers to keep them at a distance.”
“Sir, I am sure my colleagues would like to join me here in thanking the Hon. Minister - who has shown himself to be an expert in quite a number of things, from counselling in marriage, to culinary skills, to assessment of timber - for his reply, a reply that is sprinkled with a large dose of humour to our delight and, I am sure, Sir, to y…”
“Sir, I believe the pimps are not restricted just to trishaw riders and taxi drivers. I suggest the Member for Whampoa take a walk along Orchard Road where he will find that there are other categories of people involved. Sir, the point I want to make is this: no class of people can have a claim on the monopoly of virtue.”
“NPP officers should mesh in with such established organizations and not vie for attention, compete, run in conflict with them or pull in different directions. All must be seen to be working only for the good of the residents.”
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“So long as these foreign companies know that they can make a profit in Singapore, they will set up offices here and take over the agency rights from our local traders and agents, so that all the hard work of our local traders and agents over the years are lost and they will suffer great losses. Mr Speaker, Sir, for the sake of industrialization and our survival, we welcome more foreign investments into Singapore to help us industrialize and give our youths more employment opportunities as well as to impart to us more advanced technology from the more industrialized countries. This is a move in the right direction. But we have to take note that these foreign companies are competing with our local traders for the same type of business, thus undermining the interests of local traders, although it makes no apparent difference to our national trading system because foreign companies also have to pay 40% company tax. But, Mr Speaker, Sir, the question is whether these foreign companies operating in Singapore are really paying taxes on their profits? Are they paying taxes to our Government? This is a big question. When many of these foreign companies make a profit here, they send down their own personnel to become Deputy General Managers or departmental heads and paying them big salaries, overseas allowance, car allowance, housing allowance, personal allowance amounting to $10,000-$20,000 per month, when indeed most of the work is done by the local people. And the so-called Deputy General Managers or departmental heads spend their time on the golf course playing golf, the most expensive game. If these companies make further profit, they will arrange with their parent companies abroad to make expensive purchases from them.”
“When they feel that their own productions are priced beyond competition, they would use their trade offices in the various major cities in the world to look for cheap industrial products from Western countries. They would buy the products and sell them to other consumer countries so as to gain a lot of foreign exchange for their country. Our National Productivity Board should also conduct courses in international market survey and management so that we could cultivate our marketing talents to help our industrial products to gain entry into more foreign markets, and thus help our country to gain more foreign exchange and increase our economic fibre. Mr Speaker, Sir, over the last decade the Economic Development Board has been doing a great job in attracting foreign investments to our country. However, they seem to have neglected the smaller manufacturers and enterprises in Singapore who are suffering heavy losses or meeting with great difficulties. Under our open economic policy, many multi-national corporations have set up factories and offices in Singapore. With the setting up of these factories and offices, they have also brought in a good number of medium and small trading and service companies. These trading and service companies are backed by the factories here. They are also enjoying certain incentives from the Government and the financial aid of their national banks. They are virtually like tigers with wings. They have strong capital and very advanced management know-how. They came here fully prepared and very soon many of our local traders and agencies here would be overcome by them.”
“They are also trying their best to attract foreign investment by offering all sorts of tax concessions and establishing a favourable investment climate. These foreign industries, as pioneer industries, are now enjoying a five-year tax holiday here. Therefore, to take full advantage of the tax holiday, these industries keep working day and night to increase their production so as to make as much money as they can, but once the five-year period is up, they will probably leave for other places which can offer them better terms. Only our local industries will remain and be rooted in Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, from the Economic Survey, although our foreign trade in 1981 was over $10.2 billion, the growth was only 10%, whereas in 1980 the growth was 34% and in 1979 it was 32%. What a big contrast. It goes to show that our foreign trade is slackening. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that in 1981 the United States and Western European countries were facing economic recession. Their factories had closed down and many people were unemployed and they tightened their policy of protectionism. Domestically, we were affected by unfavourable factors, such as the appreciation of the strength of our currency and the rise in our bank interest. However, we should not be discouraged because of these setbacks. Our Trade Department should establish more offices overseas at important centres to collect trade data and introduce our local products to the foreign importers through trade expositions and also to introduce our trade delegations to meet the importers of the foreign countries so that our products could be marketed there. Take, for example, Japan.”
“It is also heartening to know that 32% of the $1.9 billion, or $610 million comes from local capital. This is a record and a highly commendable achievement. This goes to show that we do have enough capital from local sources and that we have now built up in the commercial and industrial sectors stronger confidence and better recognition in our industrialization programme. From the Economic Survey, we note that in 1979 local investments were only $120 million, being $12.7% of the total investment, while in 1980 it rose to $226 million, being 14.4% of the total, Last year it was as high as $610 million. This is a vast improvement over investments in the 1970s. We must continue to encourage our local entrepreneurs to industrialize. The EDB and other Government agencies should also attach some importance to our local investors, instead of focusing all their attention on larger foreign investors. They should also find some way to encourage local industries to go into joint ventures with foreign investors so that we would be able to absorb their experience in production, technology, management and marketing. We must realize that local capital is important in our long-term industrial plan and needs protection. No advanced industrialists will invest in Singapore simply because we are a beautiful garden city. They do their calculations. They will study the various tax concessions available and whether the investment climate is favourable to them. They must make sure that their investments are well secured and profitable before coming here to set up factory and start production. In the meantime, our neighbouring countries are also moving towards industrialization.”
“To these people who live in public housing and another 10% who are waiting for public flats, their only hope is that the Government will not increase the prices of flats by 30-odd per cent in one year, particularly when they are still waiting for allocation. Even the announced 10-odd percent increase in prices of flats annually hurt them sorely. They only hope that the Minister for National Development could build more houses so that they may be able to buy the cheapest possible flat with their CPF contributions. Mr Speaker, Sir, on 3rd March, the Minister for Trade and Industry announced in Parliament that the salaries of Administrative officers will be increased by 22 % to narrow the gap of 40% between their salaries and those of the executives and professionals in the private sector in order to curb brain drain. However, there are more than 60,000 civil servants whose salaries are much lower than their counterparts in the private sector. Their salaries should likewise be adjusted from 1st April, 1982 so that the Government departments would not be functioning with only the head without any limbs to support. Mr Speaker, Sir, with the low morale of the subordinate civil servants, how are we to encourage team spirit and to increase productivity? No wonder the people in the middle and lower income groups comment that what the Government announced earlier this month is only adding wealth to the rich and is not giving assistance to the needy. Sir, despite the global economic recession, we in Singapore enjoy political stability. We have excellent facilities in trans- portation and communications and other services. We have able and trainable technicians and craftsmen with suitable education. In 1981, the total investments was $1.9 billion.”
“For instance, a person who is earning an income of $5,000 per month could arrange to draw $3,000 per month, thus paying a maximum CPF contribution of $660 per month, while the balance of $2,000 per month, totalling $24,000 for the year, will be drawn at the end of the year as bonus, for which he pays 22% totalling $5,280 as CPF contributions. This amount being tax free means that he could make $1,000 to $2,000 per year. In this way, those with higher incomes will be able to evade even more tax. Employees in the Government departments could not do so whereas in the private sector the people could arrange in such a way as to evade or escape payment of tax. This will result in a reduction in Government revenue. Sir, in 1979 estate duty exemption limit for a house was raised to a maximum of $200,000. This limit was further raised to $600,000 in 1981. The result is that the rich who could possess two or more houses with a total annual value of not more than $600,000 would stand to benefit, whereas those in the lower income group may not have any dwelling worth such a large sum of money. So it is correct to plug this loophole. I would only agree with the principle that in land-scarce Singapore every family should be able to own a house for posterity as implemented through our home ownership scheme, and that such a property should be free from estate duty. More than 70% of our population live in public flats. How can they benefit? They never aspire to live in a house costing hundreds of thousands of dollars which the rich can now better afford to possess or even excel.”
“As long as our annual revenue is enough to meet our recurrent expenditure, our economy will be in a sound state, because the development expenditure will bring more revenue when the various development projects are completed. Since we have achieved 9.9% growth in 1981, in 1982 we will have a surplus in our revenue to meet recurrent expendi- ture. Therefore, the Minister for Trade and Industry could, with justification, announce in his Budget Statement that for this year there will be no new taxes or any increase in existing taxes. There are only some minor adjustments in taxes with some concessions or marginal reductions. This shows that our economic policy has been correct, and what has been achieved has been the joint effort of our people. We should be glad about it. Sir, the end result of this adjustment in taxes with some concessions is that people in the middle and lower income groups do not actually benefit much, while those in the upper income group benefit more. In principle, I agree to the measure that compulsory CPF contributions should not be taxed just as the total CPF contributions withdrawn by a person on retirement at 55 years should not be taxed. But under the present CPF regulations the year-end bonus and other allowances are being taxed. However, there are some loopholes in the announcement that all CPF contributions will be tax free. Through manipulation, those with higher income will be able to pay less personal income tax.”
“With rapid obsolescence and the explosion of knowledge and technology, we can expect everyone to, need to undergo retraining several times throughout his working career. In the light of this, we can consider learning and retraining to be a life-long process. However, in the last analysis, I believe the onus of human resource development rests with management. No amount of training and retraining will benefit the company and the employee if management is unable to draw out the best from him. Management should provide both the motivation and the job enrichment to develop the employee to the fullest. What I am saying is that the key factor in human resource development is a management culture based on a sound philosophy of managing people. Mr Speaker, Sir, on this note I support the Budget Statement. Mr Yeo Toon Chia (Ang Mo Kio)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, when the Minister for Trade and Industry made his Budget Statement in this House on the 5th March this year, he said that in 1981 despite world economic recession and mounting unemployment in the Western countries, our economy achieved 9.9% growth. This is commendable indeed. The new financial budget provides $12.44 billion for expenditure. This is made up ,of $5.59 billion for recurrent expenditure and $6.85 billion for development expenditure. Our estimated revenue for the year is $7.64 billion. This alone is more than enough to meet our recurrent expenditure and there is a surplus of $2.05 billion to boost our development needs. On the resources estimates, the Development Fund will provide $1.74 billion, leaving a shortfall of $3.06 billion to be met by the Development Fund.”
“We are now automating, mechanizing and computerizing our industries to bring about an increase in productivity. Surely we can think of a more productive delivery system of reaching out to more trainees at any one time. One of the more effective and efficient ways is through computer-assisted, self-paced learning which can even take place in the home or the work-place. The shortage of good effective trainers can then be compensated for by well-produced video-taped programmes which make use of the expertise of a master trainer. Government should also consider the certification or accreditation of courses that can lead to the award of a professional qualification. Credit points can be given for the successful completion of a course and the accumulation of a certain number of credit points will qualify the worker for a recognized professional diploma. Other incentives for workers to upgrade themselves should be examined, including time-off for retraining. Giving time-off for workers to undergo retraining is not an unreasonable proposal. It is not uncommon for management staff to do so. A manager is expected to spend time reading, thinking and reflecting. He has to find more creative and innovative ways of managing his company. Sometimes he has even to take study leave for this purpose because it is recognized that doing so would benefit the company. In the same way, giving workers time-off for retraining will, in the long run, benefit the company. Management must be enlightened to see and apply the benefits of retraining within the work environment. Perhaps study room facilities and other training resources can be made available in the company for the benefit of our workers.”
“What is needed, therefore, is for us to formulate a recruitment-to-retirement plan for human resource development to maximize the contribution of each worker. As for a manpower training and development plan for those in the labour force, I would urge the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Labour to initiate a comprehensive study of the training needs of major industries. Relevant training programmes can then be formulated and the training resources required to mount them provided. The sudden upsurge of interest in manpower training and development, triggered off by the restructuring of the economy and the collection of skills development levy by Government in 1979, has generated a great demand for different types of training courses, especially those relating to management and to computerization. In response to this demand, various training institutions, including the National Productivity Board and the NTUC, are stepping up their training programmes. There is, therefore, a pressing need for some form of coordination and planning in our efforts to provide for the continuing education of our workforce. In this respect, I would like to congratulate the Ministry of Labour for planning to set up an Institute for Continuing Occupational Development to retrain workers and upgrade their skills. It is a mammoth task to cope with the demand for professional renewal or skills upgrading. There are simply not enough training facilities and trainers. A far more efficient delivery system, appropriate for adult learners, must be used to replace the traditional system of training. The traditional chalk-and-talk method of teaching in a classroom is ill-suited for adult learners. Moreover, it can train only a limited number of workers at any one time.”
“Our economy is not going to move upstream and thrive unless there is a massive effort to upgrade our manpower at all levels. We have to embark on a planned programme to upgrade human skills. Workers who are not trained or who do not even have basic education remain part of the society. In the era of microprocessor technology and robots, what is to become of an unskilled, premature school leaver 20 years from now? To do nothing will be to create a social time-bomb. Human resource development is, therefore, the number one priority in the agenda of manpower and educational planners, personnel managers and teachers. Inputs into the labour market are from the education system. If there is a large number of premature school leavers who do not even have a good basic education with a minimum level of literacy, the quality of the workforce will be lowered. The problem of producing a higher-quality workforce must, therefore, be tackled at source, that is, in our schools. I shall take up this subject of how we can reduce educational wastage when we debate the Education budget tomorrow. If there is educational wastage in schools, there is also manpower wastage in the workplace. Manpower wastage is like a withered plant. If you take a plant, put it in the wrong type of soil and do not water or fertilize it, it will wither and die. In the same way, a worker may be given a job not suited to him. The work environment may deprive him of an opportunity to develop in his workplace; the management-style may stifle all his initiative. Each individual worker has an untapped potential in him which, in a labour-deficit economy, we cannot afford to ignore. Instead, we should find ways and means to maximize his potential.”
“Sir, I would therefore like to focus my response to the 1982 Budget Statement on the most crucial and critical factor in the restructuring of our economy upstream, It is also the most decisive element in the survival equation for Singapore. This factor is the quality of our workforce, the quality of our people. My contention is that we can build a higher-quality economy only with higher-quality components. It is going to take more than physical investments to increase productivity. If this is so, we cannot afford to have manpower wastage in the labour force, much in the same way as we must minimize educational wastage in the education system. This point is significant in our labour-deficit economy, and it becomes increasingly crucial with a declining pool of indigenous workers caused by declining birth rates. The 1980 Census of Population of Singapore has outlined, among other things, the educational profile of our workforce. It has revealed that in 1980 Singaporeans were generally better educated than in 1970 and have enjoyed greater social mobility than before. However, it has also shown that we are still short of trained and qualified manpower because of the rapid expansion and diversification of our economy in the past decade. A startling feature that emerges from the Census Report is that we have more than half a million persons aged 10 years and above who were without any qualifications. Those with primary level qualifications accounted for 68%. The proportion, however, decreased with each higher level of qualification. The proportion with secondary and upper secondary qualifications declined to 19.1% and 8.8% respectively. Only 4.1% had tertiary qualifications.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me begin by congratulating the Minister for Trade and Industry for having presented the Budget Statement. It is one which could be described as a no-pain-now-but-heavy-weather-ahead Budget. Singaporeans must be relieved to know that our economy is on an even, steady keel, despite the downturn in the world economy and a deepening world economic recession. Here, Sir, I would like the Member for Anson to note this important point. We have, as a nation with positive political leadership, sound economic planning and a disciplined workforce led by the NTUC, weathered several world economic storms and we have also chalked up impressive economic records over the last two decades. We have not been haunted by the spectre of unemployment that looms so large over many developed countries. However, we cannot afford to be complacent or contented with our past achievements simply because we have become so used to progress and affluence. What we have built up over the last 23 years through sheer hard work, grit and perseverance, can crumble overnight if we do not put in sustained efforts in our drive for greater productivity in all sectors of the economy. A country devoid of any resources other than its manpower can survive only if it has a rugged, resilient and resourceful people. They are also usually a people who have forged for themselves an intense and dynamic culture. There are ample examples in modern history to support this observation. The north-eastern Asian countries comprising South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, despite their scarce resources and inhospitable geographical terrains, have been chalking up good economic progress. What makes a country tick is, therefore, the quality and calibre of its people.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I just wish to make a point of clarification on the remarks made by the Member for Jalan Kayu. The reason why I used the phrase "education engineering" is that I thought I was talking to a group of systems engineers and I want to be attuned to the same wave length. "Hardware" refers to school buildings and "software" refers to curriculum. Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Sir, I am not very happy with the way the Minister of Education has brushed aside my fears with regard to labelling. When I asked that question, I was thinking of the human element in education. We have been overwhelmed by statistics displayed by the Ministry, and I wonder whether the Ministry is dealing with people or with digits. I am trying to draw the attention of the Ministry that there is another aspect of our education objective, that is, to build a cohesive and balanced society with individuals capable of responding and interacting with one another, irrespective of race, creed and intellect.”
“I contend that if the Ministry can get 500 principals to be fully committed to the cause of education and be prepared to give of their best, then I say that it has solved most of the problems because educational policies, however well formulated at the highest level, often fall through when they are implemented. This is because principals do not understand the rationale and the need for such broad policies to be implemented. So the Ministry of Education should consider ways of identifying these 500 principals. It is a very crucial task and I urge the Ministry to spend more time on it. Just one last item on educational changes. It is not easy to bring about educational changes, especially if it affects the classroom teachers. Teaching habit is the most difficult to change. A teacher used to chalk and talk would never switch to the use of audio-visual aids unless we go through the tedious process of teaching him or her how to make use of the overhead projector. Chalk and talk in a classroom is a very unproductive method. The teacher spends hours writing on the blackboard. The time could have been usefully spent in giving individualized tuition. Hence the need to use the overhead projector. Last year I read about the Ministry of Education pushing very hard to get the teachers to use the overhead projector. From feedbacks that I get from my friends who are school principals, I know that this has not been very well received because there are a lot of problems. As I said just now, it is because of the habit that has been ingrained in the teaching profession. The education service is a conservative one. It is not an easy task and I hope the Ministry of Education will continue to do more to persuade the Minister for Finance to give more money for the good of our nation.”
“The Ministry of Education has taken some steps to bridge the communication gap. May I suggest for the consideration of the Ministry some measures that it could take to further improve the communication between schools and headquarters. Perhaps it could make use of educational television that each school has and explain the policies and the findings that it has done to the principals and teachers. In this way, it can reach out to a larger number. May I also suggest that the Schools Council be broadened. It can be decentralized by having more regional workshops on a consultative basis. In the Katong district or in Boon Teck they could hold a consultative discussion with teachers in Toa Payoh. In this way, it is possible to reach out to quite a number of teachers. My next subject is the attempts by the Ministry to professionalize the teaching profession. This is certainly a laudable objective. May I suggest for the consideration of the Minister that the Ministry appoints what I would call Master teachers. A Physics Master is a master in his own right because he has got an intimate and in-depth knowledge of the subject and this Master teacher could serve as bare-foot doctors going out and influencing his colleagues on how to teach the subject well. Give them an allowance. Give them the status. I am sure this will go a long way towards professionalising the teaching profession. Two days ago I read about the Education Ministry making the hard decision of taking out some of the Education Officers who were school principals. I think it has taken the right step and it was a hard decision to make.”
“Our taxi drivers speak a coded language and in order to reach out to them I must learn the coded language. With the working class children, they have got a coded language. They cannot express and communicate in the way that children from a rich background and with plenty of books in the home would be able to do so. I hope and I urge the Ministry of Education to do longitudinal studies on whether children from the lower socio-economic bracket are being disadvantaged because of their impoverished home environment and because their parents do not speak English or Mandarin but dialects. And that is where I think we may be siphoning off some of the talents into the monolingual stream. I would have been siphoned into the monolingual stream. I was never good at language. I think I did well in Science and Mathematics and it was only at the secondary level that I caught up, and caught up I did. It is with this in mind that I urge the Ministry to look closely into the children streamed into the Monolingual stream. Perhaps something can be done about it. But I think the Ministry of Education has taken the right step in allowing for a transfer back to the other streams that the parents insist. Sir, educational measurement is not a perfect science. There is always an element of error in it and the Ministry of Education has rightly made provision for lateral transfer back to the main stream. The Ministry of Education faces a lot of problems that I was most intimately involved with. One of which is communication. Let me explain to the House why we have this problem. We have got to deal with 20,000 teachers, 500 schools and almost half a million children in schools. Everyone is concerned with education in one way or other.”
“Sir, Members of the House must find it anomalous if I do not speak on this subject, having spent some 12 years in the Education service. First, a word of compliment to what the systems engineers have done. I maintain that credit must be given where credit is due. In both hardware and software, the Ministry of Education has made some progress. It has got the school building programme through. Probably this must be due to the stature and status of the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Education. In software, I think it has taken the right step in setting up the CDIS, which previous educational planners and administrators have tried to do so but without any success. Education engineering is not an easy task. It is more an art rather than a science, and rightly so, because it deals with the emotions and passions of the people. Every parent is concerned that his son makes his way to the university. Streaming is a contentious and emotional subject. First of all, let me set the records straight. There was already streaming in schools long, long ago. I remember that I was streamed into the Science stream, having got a liking for Science and Mathematics We had streaming at all levels. We were streamed to A class, B class, C class and D class. My concern with streaming at Primary, 3 is this, and I think we have got to look at the subject dispassionately and objectively and leave out the emotions and the fears of the parents. Let us explain to the parents what streaming is all about and why it is good for the children. My only concern, having come from what I would call a working-class background, is that working-class children at that level have got a coded language, what Bernstein called a coded language.”
“I would like to discuss a subject of great importance to our country. May I ask the Minister for Culture whether he can inform the House what overall plans he has in the pipeline for the development of a national cultural identity? Could we not extract the best from the various cultural and racial groups in Singapore and, like the great American cultural melting pot, bring about a synthesis or hybridization into a national culture? May I also ask whether there is any attempt made to bridge the two cultures, to make the scientists see beyond the walls of the test-tube or the artists to be scientifically literate. Presently it is disquieting to note that we have got three cultural percussions - eating out, shopping, and watching video tapes. I maintain that in times of adversity it is the cultural strength of our country that determines its viability.”
“Sir, with your permission I would like to join in the discussion.”
“Sir, just a point of clarification. I think both the Member for Toa Payoh and I did not press for an explanation of building one-room flats with communal chutes. We fully understand the imperative, the dire need for housing at that time. There is no doubt about it. What we are pressing for is an improvement of existing one-room flats. Times have changed. We have a new generation of voters who are more vociferous, more articulate, more demanding. Hence, our request to make improvements to the communal chutes. I am afraid the Minister for National Development did not answer my suggestion whether it is possible to allow the flats next to the communal chute be left vacant and convert them into tutorial rooms or a library? We have plenty of spare rooms in one-room flats in Toa Payoh. We allow Thai workers to use them and this is creating a lot of problems. I will let Members know what problems we face outside the House. But would the Minister first consider my suggestion that flats adjacent to communal chutes be left vacant and be converted into a tutorial room or a library?”
“I think it is a feasible solution. I sincerely urge the Minister for National Development to consider my suggestion, otherwise I would definitely lose more than 5,000 votes in the next election.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, perhaps the Minister for Labour might want to examine the root cause of job-hopping, I believe it has a lot to do with the state of personnel management in Singapore. Personnel management, as it is, is still an art. I think it is because line managers do not know how to manage, do not know how to motivate the staff, that gives rise to the workers leaving the company. So may I suggest that the Ministry of Labour, together with the National Productivity Board examine the possibility of conducting a course on personnel management. I think personnel management is going to be very important in Singapore and we should not take workers for granted. I think this is where the Ministry of Labour officials can do something about it and just do not leave it to the companies. Of course, companies can go bust if they do not manage well. Maybe the Member for Cairnhill can transfer some of his technology on Japanese expertise to the staff of the Labour Ministry and hopefully bring about a new era in personnel management in Singapore.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister of State what steps is his Ministry taking to speed up the conciliation process?”
“Of equal importance, what can we do to build in a filtration system to choose the best, especially from Japanese culture which is such a shining example of the right blend, a balance of Western technology and indigenous culture? What I am basically saying is this. As a nation we have proved that we can take adversity within our stride. We do not get weather beaten a little, as the Minister for Trade and Industry has said, but we have come out again none the worse for it. Given this experience, can we not learn from hindsight to also take within our stride as a nation the dangers of the comfort line? In conclusion, I would like to join my colleagues in this House in supporting the Motion standing in the name of the Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Health. 6.24 p.m.”
“To telescope within a few years or a decade what takes generations to achieve is a tall order. But we have no choice. The alternative - a bloodbath or being reduced to boating around the high seas - is too horrendous. And yet, we all know that while there is good in Western culture, our less perceptive youngsters are aping what even the serious Westerners condemn, the frivolous, the fads, the fetishes. Now, having invested millions on audio-visual hardware. TV in particular, we find that this is used to transmit foreign and Western culture. Why, may I ask, do hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans sit glued to their television sets to watch such programmes like Man in the Net? We can imagine how emotionally involved these viewers are with the way such programmes reflect their life-style, their thinking and actions as human persons. With such a potent medium right in the living room of the Singaporean, could we not try to produce programmes that can capture his attention as well? Could we not have local programmes that reflect our own life-styles; our problems, experiences, and moods; the texture, rhythm, colour, spirit of our own society? This is a more meaningful and attractive way of putting across relationships between manager and worker, the model worker, the model citizen, productivity - a whole range of themes which may be classified under the three tasks spelt out for us in the President's Address. My main point is, given the dangers of the comfort line, what can the Government do to provide alternatives such as those I have mentioned, which are convincing, powerful, and which at the same time appeal to the better sense of our people, Singaporeans, who in general are sensible, intelligent and appreciative of quality.”
“Again, this cannot be reckoned in dollars and cents that we may benefit society with. Rather, what is important is the hard decision to make as to whether to withdraw support from those thousands of cases that should not be on the dole. The Social Affairs Ministry has yet another crucial role to play. As we cry out for more workers, we are faced with the success achieved by family planning. Now, with the two-child family as a norm, is it not natural for parents to feel how precious their children are? Is it not natural for good, loving mothers to want to devote their whole time and energy giving these children their personal attention? If we consider creches as the hardware by which to attract women into the labour force, it must be accompanied by the type of software that will set the mother's mind at ease, knowing that their tiny tots are truly well looked after. And I do not have to remind hon. Members that it is the first five years of the child that are the most crucial to his becoming what he is as a man. While on the subject of education, may I also be allowed to raise two points. First, whatever provisions are made to improve physical facilities and educational hardware, the whole crux of the matter in education lies elsewhere. It lies in what goes on between teacher and pupil. It lies in their relationship, in how much the teacher is prepared to give off himself. Secondly, there is the problem of the split between the moral education provided by the Ministry of Education and the kinds of conflicting attractions and distractions the school-going child is exposed to outside the classroom. Which brings me to the Ministry of Culture - for education is not confined to the class or the school alone. Perhaps time is not on our side in evolving our own culture.”
“But it is not too late to recognize one obvious fact. Design, layout and facilities have a way of influencing the types of relationships, the life-style of flat dwellers. It is not too late to apply a more comprehensive approach to public housing. What do I mean when I propose this total comprehensive approach in the terms associated with computers? Two simple points come to my mind. First, each Ministry or statutory board in varying degrees provides the hardware as well as the software. Second, what each of them does must be plugged into the national network, using the same languages, tying the efforts of one with the other. The Ministry of Finance in evaluating budget proposals appear to base judgements on stringent dollars and cents criteria. But sometimes it must be remembered that cost benefits alone are not enough to justify a project. The effectiveness of a project may not be reckoned in numbers. Take the National Stadium which was looked upon as a non-economic proposition. Very true. But anyone who has witnessed the national soccer team taking on another team - and win - can feel the excitement of the Kallang Roar, that sense of pride that our boys are down there playing their guts out for us and that we belong together. The hardware is that huge Stadium and the software, the watch of the evening. Similarly, $1,470 million or 15.28% of the total 1981 budgeted expenditure is spent on the Defence Ministry. This is a huge chunk. But all the military hardware must be fully used to ensure one thing - the programme, the software. And it is when our boys are being conditioned to lay down their lives for their country - that is the crucial point. Today, our attitude is to stress the need for society to take care of the destitute.”
“If we have been blessed by visionaries in the first generation leadership who have the foresight to anticipate problems as far as ten years ahead, we of the second generation should at least learn from hindsight. For one, we should not allow ourselves each to do his own things like a parking coupon for URA car parks and another for HDB ones. This is hardly an elegant solution. For another, we should not be too hasty in making decisions. Whereas the ban on visors might have cost us the lives and limbs of a few motor cyclists - tragic as this may be - a hasty solution to the problem I am asking hon. Members to address their minds to would be disastrous to us all. These things would not do. We have to think through the problems and work out alternatives thoroughly. If I may be allowed to borrow an analogy from our Hon. Prime Minister, in building our infrastructure, in being forced to develop physically, we have taken care of the hardware. It is high time we looked into the software. And this is not as simple as it sounds. As we all know, when we order computer hardware without really knowing what we want to do with it in terms of software, we get into a terrible jam. One example is the HDB flats which, because we had to build rapidly, were designed at first as physical structures only. These were meant to house the homeless. Unfortunately they could not become homes. There were no void decks, no playground for the children and the family. One-room flats had communal bin chutes which became centres of disgrace. Home ownership did not take into account the need for the extended family to be allotted flats close-by. Of course, that is not all there is to the HDB. The feat it has performed is undoubtedly worthy of praise and emulation by other countries.”
“This is the difficult part of the simple problem I have just raised. But let me stress this. It is not enough to throw around such heavy and abstract technical jargon like better management-labour relations, productivity, and the like, and turn them into so many new but meaningless cliches to be mouthed in the next year or so by every MP, civil servant, teacher and pre-university student. What, if I may suggest, we need is a workable step-by-step plan, to solve the problem. That is why I find the Minister for Trade and Industry's concluding remarks so beautifully apt. He pinpointed the crucial issues. He has also succinctly set the directions we may be able to take. First, to get our bearings right - everyone of us lives and moves within the orbit of three or four spheres. The first is the family into which we are born or the family we have created. The second is the school or the work place. The third is the society with its physical, human and spiritual environment. Our social structure is based on the building blocks of the family. Our economy is based on the life, relationships and experience in the work place. Our survival as a people is based on the nation as a cohesive society. Each sphere is uniquely vital to us all as well as to the other two spheres. A man lacking a good family life will be torn between problems at home and problems at the work place. He cannot be expected to be an effective worker. Nor can he be expected to provide the kind of home in which his children may be nurtured into stable, secure and positive persons and citizens. This is my basic premise. Since each sphere is vital to our life as a nation and its link with the other spheres is equally vital, it is necessary for us to have, not a piecemeal, but a total approach to the problem.”
“And I say, Mr Speaker, that opportunities abound in our society. A chauffeur can queue up overnight, book a flat, wait a couple of months and make $40,000. And every day and night, this is being drummed into the minds of our tiny population with tremendous force - the more money you have, the more you make. Who would want to be a fool to slog long hours when you can become rich almost overnight (or so many people think) those people who spend their lifetime gambling, speculating, fooling around with prices so as to line their own pockets. Even without time-lapse photography, everyone watching a particular advertisement by one of our banking groups can see money growing on trees! Then what about our children? The straight and narrow path of their education is the examination. That is their road to salvation, a sure ticket to the paradise of a cushy job. Which parent does not want the best for his or her children? If society says the best in life is a piece of paper, that is what they are going to make their children strive for. Then, like horses that must not be distracted, they put blinkers on their children. Look only at the model answers. Think nothing else. You do not have to do the housework. Do not spend hours and effort going by bus in the sun and rain. I will fetch you in my airconditioned car. As I have said, Mr Speaker, Sir, this distracting, this ironic dilemma is simple. It is obvious. The evidence is clear on both sides - success, affluence, modern facilities on the one hand, and the very appalling symptoms of softness, pleasure seeking, pursuit of money for its own end, withdrawal into self-centredness - the dangers of the "comfort line" - on the other. The question I would like to pose to this House is what do we do about it? Where do we go from here?”
“We have become the model for other nations, which have the resources, on which to build their own plans and chart their own destinies. But then the kick-backs, or rather, the failing back, the drawing of lines - I work so many hours and no more. Don't press me any further. Give me a five-day week. An airconditioned office - the sun is so hot and so humid outside. Overtime? Night shifts? Oh no, don't ask me for that, I've got better things to do. I want to watch Man in the Net HDB flats, yes, they are cheaper than private apartments, but then the Government, in all my life, has made things easier for me to be a house-owner. But don't give me an estate that's too far away from my work place. It's so inconvenient. So is the top floor. And then if I come home late at night, what I want is a parking lot close by, you see, so that it won't take me five minutes to reach my block of flats. And then we have the clock watchers, the time servers during office hours looking at the latest sales in the big department stores, planning what to buy, at a bargain, in this shoppers' paradise of ours - planning how to spend the evening, the weekend, so as to enjoy themselves. Now, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this. But if it becomes a regular habit, an escape, to compensate for what people think to be the limits they have already been driven to at work - to make up for what they consider to be the boredom of work, the demands of their jobs, the burden - if this should become a general attitude, then I say we are in for trouble. Then I say we are heading for what the Hon. Prime Minister feared most in those days - Singaporeans getting and getting, spending and spending, as though happiness lay in pleasure, as though work were a curse we were born into.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I congratulate the Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Health for his Budget Speech. I would like to draw attention particularly to his concluding remarks which moved me in such measure. I do not know why. Perhaps it touched several chords and conjured in my mind vivid images of what is true to fact. Economic growth as a means to forge a durable society - the old and the young taking care of one another, the able supporting the disabled, the employers and workers looking after each others' interests, the Government working for the people and the people pulling together with the Government, the bonds of mutual love and support in the family as both the very concrete base and spirit of our society's life, the courage with which we should weather the storm, get wet, and without fuss get indoors to put on dry clothes again - these, Mr Speaker, Sir, are images which are beautiful in their truth. These are the concepts that we must translate into step-by- step action if we are to endure the hardships ahead of us. But I cannot also help recalling the Hon. Prime Minister, about a decade ago and more, envisioning the distracting dilemma we are facing today. For example, in 1973, he predicted that with rapid economic growth and affluence we would reach - as we may now have done - what he called the "comfort line" with all the dangers that cushy comfort would bring. "We may," he said, "lose our keenness to work, to strive and to achieve . . loosen social and work discipline . . become a people who only want to enjoy life." This dilemma we face looks simple. In the 60s and 70s, we pushed hard to survive. We succeeded. More than that, we went beyond everybody's expectations. We have become more modern. We are well-to-do.”
“Relationship Between Management Culture And Economic Growth Finally, let me now touch upon the relationship between management culture and economic growth. Employers in both the public and private sectors must note that productivity hinges on the quality of the relationship between employer and employee. Materialistic reward is not the only motivating factor. The quality of the working environment is a decisive factor in raising productivity. Workers should not be taken for granted by management. There is a pressing need for more consultative discussions to be held between management and workers if productivity is to be increased. Government, as the largest employer, should take the lead in showing the private sector how this can be achieved. A new era in personnel management and industrial relations based not on a conflictual but consensus relationship between management and labour would then emerge in the 1980s. Conclusion Mr Speaker, Sir, it is my contention that to successfully carry out the three major tasks outlined in the President's Speech, the Government, in formulating policies and development plans, cannot avoid taking into account the three relationships I have brought up which, in essence, is to maximize our human resources for survival and renewal. 3.42 p.m.”
“A history of modern Singapore should be produced and made compulsory reading for all students. Relationship Between Education, Training And Economic Growth Let me now discuss the relationship between education, training and economic growth. Although criticisms have been levelled at the education system, I must say that much has been achieved in the past decade as reflected by the 1980 Census of Population in Singapore - where the literacy rate has increased from 72% of the population aged 10 years and over in 1970 to 84% in 1980. Those literate in two or more official languages have increased from 13.8% in 1970 to 31.5% in 1980. To speed up economic growth in Singapore, quality in education should be the focus in the 1980s. The PAP Government had in the 1960s and 1970s solved the quantitative problem of providing every child of school-going age with a place in school. In the 1980s, educational wastage will be reduced, with the provision of a more diversified curriculum in the education system. More students will be able to reach tertiary levels, and hence bring about a further qualitative improvement in our workers in the 1980s. The direct correlation between the economic growth of a country and the educational level of its people has been well established by several well-known economists. Education should be looked upon as a lifelong process. It is a far more complicated process than many others. With an exponential growth in knowledge, it is necessary for every professional and worker, whether he be a teacher or a taxi driver, to seek profession-renewal or retraining periodically to prevent obsolescence. This is an important prerequisite to the success of our plan to bring about a quantum jump in our economic restructuring.”
“In the 1950s and early 1960s unemployment was a thorny problem in Singapore. When we embarked on our industrialization programme in the early 1960s, jobs were created and people worked hard. They were not choosy about what their jobs were, so long as they could earn a living to survive. Hard work and loyalty to a firm became a tradition, a way of life. Today the tradition is being threatened by the tendency to be choosy and to job-hop. In the 1980s, as we forge ahead towards the second industrial revolution, with higher investments in machinery, a corresponding socio-cultural change must come about in order to increase economic growth. In fact, far from being too demanding or choosy, to ensure survival we need to develop a work culture in which the worker will be prepared to work overtime or go on shifts. In the 1980s Singapore must also work out a programme to ensure that our younger generation, nearly all of whom are now in English-stream schools, are not culturally uprooted. One way is to put all students and national servicemen through a socio-cultural awareness course. To do this effectively, it may be necessary to produce films recording our roots and our cultural heritage and depicting the real events and crises that our founding fathers, our leaders, our senior citizens had to live through - first, braving the unknown in search of a livelihood, driven together by the force of circumstances to survive through sheer hard work, thrift, sacrifice and then having to fight the imperialists to achieve internal government and self-rule; next, to be threatened by subversive communist forces and, finally, having battled and won against all odds. These are our roots. These are the sources from which we must draw our life-blood.”
“management culture and economic growth. Relationship between Socio-Cultural Environment and Economic Growth First, on the relationship between socio-cultural environment and economic growth, Members of this House are familiar with the argument that the Protestant ethic was instrumental in the rise and spread of industrialization and in the economic growth of Western countries. With the rapid economic growth of East Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, which are essentially Confucian societies, the notion has gradually emerged in the last two decades that societies based upon the Confucian ethic may in many ways be superior to the West in the pursuit of economic development. Why is this so? The answer lies in the strength of the Confucian ethic in a modern industrial economy. The Confucian ethic is able to foster loyalty, dedication, commitment and responsibility and, more importantly, to reinforce identification with one's role in the organization. All this makes the economy and society operate in unison with each other. However, a totally different picture is obtained in Western societies with their emphasis on personal interest above group interest. There is extreme hedonism, self-indulgence and selfish and reckless individualism. What lesson does this have for Singapore? The answer is provided in the President's Address. We must preserve "the basic values, the essentials of our philosophy of life", that is, our Asian moral and cultural values. We must synthesize the traditional and the modern. We must try to bring about a marriage of Western technology and Oriental morals. The two are not incompatible. Japan has shown that this could be done. Modernization has not changed their essential Japanese character.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I begin by congratulating you on your re-election to the Chair and saying how pleased we are to see you there. Sir, in rising to support the Motion moved by the Member for Mountbatten, I am also expressing the sentiments of the community leaders and constituents of Boon Teck. As a new Member I am thankful for the advice that the President in his Speech, the Prime Minister in his note to all MPs and also the Leader of the House have given on the functions of Parliament and the role of its Members. I am reminded that Parliament is the sounding board on which to reflect public anxieties, criticisms and preferences to Government. It also provides the platform for clarifying the decisions and actions of Government to the people. This rapport the Government has with the people through Parliament must be strengthened to bring about a more responsive and cohesive society. The trust the electorate has placed on the PAP Government for the last 21 years, this faith, this massive support, must not be taken for granted. That is why the responsibility falls on Members not constrained by ministerial office to scrutinize all Bills and legislations, and to speak their minds in all honesty and courage for the sake of the nation - more so in a one-party Parliament. In this way, Parliament becomes the crucible in which public opinion is forged. Sir, I am in agreement with the contents of the President's Address which outlines the three major tasks confronting our country in the 1980s. The three major tasks are interrelated. They call for a total approach involving what may be examined under the following three headings: 1. socio-cultural environment and economic growth; 2. the relationship between education, training and economic growth; and 3.”