Lim Hng Kiang
Singapore
“The company has made commitments to recycle the ash, and as for renewable energy, the gasification project is not an energy project, it is not a generation company (genco). It is to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide or, essentially, carbon. Because as feedstock to the petrochemical sector, you need more C and more H2.”
“The Government will continue to recover the IIA awarded if the company fails any conditions or breaches the legislative amendments. I would like to highlight that there are no errant cases in the last five years for IIA and the current amendments are, therefore, not reactionary in nature, but are being made for legislative clarity.”
“In addition, the IIA scheme will be extended till 31 December 2022. Clauses 10 to 13 give legislative effect to this change. The remaining legislative changes arising from our periodic review of the income tax system are either administrative or technical in nature.”
“Data on household and individual savings rates by income groups are not available. However, data on the aggregate level of household financial assets can be obtained from the Household Sector balance sheet compiled by the Department of Statistics.”
“The aggregate level of financial assets owned by Singapore’s household sector6 in each of the past five years is provided in Table 1 below. Data on the amount of financial assets owned by households and individuals in the different income percentiles is not available.”
“The Second Review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Second CECA Review) is ongoing. The review is taking some time as both countries have our respective interests to work through, such as in the area of labour mobility. Our agencies regularly engage Indian counterparts to work through issues collaboratively.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,677 lines we hold for Lim Hng Kiang, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 47 of 54.
“Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB has finalised its review of the allocation system for new flats to balance the interests of first-time applicants and upgraders. I will announce details of the review later on.”
“This scheme is meant for first-time families, not for single parents, or unmarried parents, or singles. SINGAPORE CHESS PLAYERS (Prize money) 15. Mr Chay Wai Chuen asked the Acting Minister for Community Development whether he will consider giving prize money as encouragement for Singaporean chess players who can achieve international grandmaster status, similar to the prize schemes granted by the Singapore National Olympic Council for various international games. The Acting Minister for Community Development (Mr Abdullah Tarmugi): Sir, it has always been the policy of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) not to give prize money to any athlete in any sport. SSC, however, does work with other agencies to give financial rewards to athletes who perform well in international competitions. Examples of such organisations are the Singapore National Olympic Council and the national sports associations (NSAs). The Singapore Chess Federation can, on its own, implement a similar financial reward scheme, if it so wishes. PLACES OF WORSHIP (Donations) 16. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Acting Minister for Community Development (a) whether temples, churches and all places of worship need to account for the donations they receive; (b) whether he will give some indications by groupings of the amount of money collected by religious bodies yearly from 1989 to 1993; and (c) whether there were cases of irregularities over the same period.”
“HDB buying back in this manner is a more practical solution because of some of the peculiarities in the resale market. Right now, as many Members know, most sellers of resale flats demand a cash payment upfront. For these low income families, even if we give them $30,000 into their CPF, to be able to afford a cash downpayment upfront may not be possible. So it is better for HDB to purchase them and allocate to the low income families. Then they can service the loans through their mortgage payments using CPF.”
“So far, we have purchased about 200 such units. The resale market is about 30,000 units per year. So the impact is minimal.”
“At this moment, we have bought the flats. We have not established the price. But as I announced in May, we expect that there will be a fairly deep discount of between $30,000 and $35,000 from the market price.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in May this year, I announced that HDB would be offering 300 3-room flats for sale to low income families in October. HDB has since appointed two agents to source for 3-room flats from the resale market for its Buy- Back Scheme. Based on the progress so far, HDB is confident that it would be able to offer the 300 flats in October as planned.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there are several principles on which to base car park charges. First, we start off by trying to recover the cost in which we provide car parks, because it is the principle of this Government not to subsidise the cost of owning cars. Car owners must fully pay for the privilege of owning cars. The second principle is of course the utility to the car owners. Many will argue that surface car parks provide more utility than covered car parks, in which case since there is greater demand for surface car parks, then of course the surface car park charges should be higher than that for multi-storey car parks. If you go along the same argument of utility, you could also say that car parking is the same, whether it is multi-storey or surface car parks, in which case, the rates ought to be similar or close. So we are moving in this direction of adopting both cost recovery, utility, as well as demand and supply in our next revision of car parking charges.”
“I am very glad the Member has raised this principle. We accept this principle. If there is greater demand, then car park charges will go up.”
“The rationale is economic. Right now, the recovery rate of multi-storey car parks is higher than for surface car parks, which means that the surface car park rates have somewhat more to go before we can fully recover the cost. Dr Wang Kai Yuen: Could I ask the Minister whether he would consider moving away from cost recovery basis for calculating car park charges to demand-based car park charges? In other words, for places where there is a higher demand, the rates will be higher, rather than base the rates on a cost recovery basis.”
“Recently, we raised the car park charges for surface car parks but not for the multi-storey car parks because the recovery rate for surface car parks is far below that of multi-storey car parks. So we are now moving closer to recovery rates.”
“Temporary structures within worksites are usually simple in construction and are exempted from the Building Control Regulations. However, there are other rules relating to the erection of such structures. For example, sanitary facilities have to be provided to meet environmental public health requirements. Structures of more than 3 storeys in height are required to comply with the provisions of the Fire Safety Act. Under the Employment Act, an employer is required to provide his workers with proper living quarters. HOSTING OF WORLD SPORTING EVENT 24. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Acting Minister for Community Development (a) if Singapore will host a world sporting event like the Soccer World Cup; (b) what are the constraints in so doing; and (c) whether the constraint of size can be overcome by teaming up with our ASEAN neighbours.”
“HDB does not keep records of such incidents. However, it is aware that there were a few cases where people fell from their flats while hanging clothes. The clothes drying sockets provided in HDB flats for residents to hang out their washing comply with building regulations. They are, therefore, safe for use. However, residents who are smaller in stature, or who are frail, should exercise caution while hanging out their washing. For example, they should not hang out heavy items like bed-sheets while standing on unstable stools, or lean too far out beyond the parapet. Residents generally prefer to dry their clothes using the present system, as it is more convenient and economical. A pilot project undertaken by HDB to get residents to dry their washing at their service balcony was not well received. Despite this, HDB will continue to examine other feasible means for residents to hang out their washing. TEMPORARY WORKSITE OFFICES AND LIVING QUARTERS (Rules governing erection) 23. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for National Development whether there are rules governing the erection of temporary worksite offices and living quarters; and whether they are adequate or a review of the rules is necessary.”
“The incidents of cheating by unscrupulous housing agents the hon. Member is referring to presumably relate to the recently-publicised cases where agents obtain power of attorney from sellers, to sell the flats at an agreed fixed price. The agents subsequently sell the flats for an amount that is much higher than the agreed price, and pocket the difference. MND would like to emphasise that, in the resale transaction for an HDB flat, HDB deals directly with the buyer and the seller; HDB does not require the involvement of housing agents at any point of the transaction. Sellers who choose, of their own accord, to use agents nevertheless, and who do not wish their housing agents to profit from the sale of their flats, should avoid giving their agents power of attorney, and retain the right to receive the entire sale proceeds direct from HDB. Sellers who wish to revoke the power of attorney which they have already given to their agents, can do so, if they write in to HDB at any time before the resale transaction is completed, and produce a Deed of Revocation, which cancels the power of attorney. HDB will then make out the cheque for the nett sale proceeds in the seller's name, and not in the name of the agent. Annex A - CLUBS AND NO. OF MACHINES (Cols. 79 - 84) Annex B - PERSONS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER AND DRUG-RELATED OFFENCES (Cols. 85 - 86) Annex C (Cols. 87 - 88)”
“HDB flats are meant to be owner-occupied. Persons who do not intend to stay in an HDB flat should not purchase one. If they do so, they will deprive others who are in genuine need of an HDB flat. Lessees who vacate their flats for valid reasons, and who want to sub-let their flats, should seek HDB's approval. HDB will consider each case on its own merits. HDB will compulsorily acquire the flats if the entire flats are let out without HDB's permission. HDB is aware that many lessees leave their flats temporarily vacant for renovation purposes. Some have to be away temporarily to take care of elderly relatives who are ill. Also, many Singaporeans go overseas on holiday, or to work or study. Therefore, HDB adopts a flexible approach to lessees who leave their flats vacant for valid reasons. It will not penalise such lessees. HDB may compulsorily acquire the flats of lessees who leave them vacant for long periods without valid reasons. However, HDB exercises its powers in this respect, very judiciously. Over the last three years, there have only been two instances where HDB initiated compulsory acquisition against lessees for such an infringement. In both cases, the lessees had left their flats vacant for five years. WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FULL-TIME NATIONAL SERVICE (Last six to nine months of training) 1. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for Defence (a) why full-time National Servicemen generally view the last 6 to 9 months of their National Service as less challenging and wasteful and (b) whether reviews had been made to improve the stint of NSF so that they will leave with a more positive feeling.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the objectives of the conservation programme have indeed been met. Almost 1,000 buildings in these conservation areas have been restored and revitalised. Areas such as Tanjong Pagar, Kreta Ayer, Telok Ayer and Boat Quay are examples where the shophouses have been given new leases of life. Close to another 1,000 buildings have submitted planning applications for restoration. With conservation now widely accepted and supported, the focus now is turned to improving the quality of restoration. The aim of conservation is to retain the character of the identified buildings. To try and conserve the traditional environment is a different matter. Some incompatible trades are not allowed in these core areas. Aside from these guidelines, the adaptive reuse of the shophouses is left to market forces to decide. The trades that go into the conserved shophouses have to be financially viable.”
“Let me assure the House that implementation of this scheme is done in a fair and equitable way. All those who have served three years in the various grassroots organisations as a committee member are eligible for this scheme. They approach their Advisor if they want to make use of this scheme. This is not a big scheme. So there is no need to make a song and dance out of it. Just to give Members an example. Not only is the number of flats very small - 745 flats over five years - but also the number of grassroots leaders who makes use of this scheme is, in fact, very very small. Less than 6% of the grassroots leaders have actually applied under this scheme. So 94% of all the grassroots leaders do not make use of it. They are not unhappy and complaining, as pointed out by the Member. People work for their community and they gain satisfaction from it. If they want to continue staying in the area and want to apply under the scheme, they can apply through their Advisors and all are treated fairly.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me assure the House that I was not being cheeky. In fact, this is the correct procedure. HDB is not allocating these flats on its own volition. If there is indeed concern that people working in charitable and social organisations feel that they are not recognised sufficiently, then I am sure the Minister for Community Development will, on their behalf, take up their case and ask the Government and Cabinet to extend this scheme to them. HDB provides this scheme, on behalf of the Government, and extends it to the community leaders. It is not that the HDB is doing itself a favour by looking after this group. Mr Chiam See Tong: I am sure the Minister is aware that there are letters of complaint from his own Citizens' Consultative Committee members and so forth that they themselves are dissatisfied because, amongst them, some of them are given priority whereas others are not. It would be more so ---”
“I will refer the Member's concern to the Minister for Community Development.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not making a ranking of the contributions. The people who serve in the various grassroots organisations work very closely in the community that they are serving in and we find it useful to retain their ties with the community. So when we give them priority allocation, they will remain in the area where they have been working for many years. I am sure there are many Singaporeans who do excellent work in voluntary and social organisations.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it is not a question of effort, money or contributions. The main purpose of this priority scheme is to retain the grassroots leaders who are serving the community where they are working in. So by giving them priority allocation of flats, they will remain in the community as RC members, CCMC members, or CCC members. As I said earlier, there are many Singaporeans who do excellent work in charitable and social organisations and we do recognise them in many ways, ie, National Day awards and other avenues.”
“Many of the appointees to these organisations are party members, but many are also not party members. We do not distinguish between them. We appoint them based on their contributions to community work, their ability to serve and their dedication to serve.”
“All the grassroots leaders are appointed by the People's Association.”
“Thank you. Under the Priority Allocation Scheme for Grassroots Organisations, HDB grants priority allocation to grassroots leaders who are members of CCCs, RCs, CCMCs, YECs and WECs. This is in recognition of their services to the community. Grassroots leaders are appointed by the Government through the People's Association. They are not PAP appointees, as misconstrued by the Member for Hougang. To be eligible for this scheme, grassroots leaders must be serving members of their grassroots organisations with at least three years of continuous service. The number of flats allocated under this priority allocation scheme has been very small. Since the introduction of the Booking System in July 1989, only a total of 745 HDB flats have been allocated under this scheme. This constitutes less than 0.7% of the 112,000 flats offered for booking during this period. Priority allocation for grassroots leaders therefore does not adversely affect the chances of success of the other applicants. The Member for Potong Pasir has suggested extending this priority scheme to cover charitable and social organisations. The nature of the charitable and social work is very diverse. It ranges from the occasional weekend volunteer help to paid social work. Many Singaporeans are involved in charitable and social work of one kind or another. It is not feasible to extend the scheme to all of them. The number eligible would be too large. The contributions of volunteers working in charitable and social organisations will be recognised in other ways.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, can I have your permission to take Questions Nos. 11 and 12 together because they are on the same subject?”
“HDB reviews the income ceiling for applicants of HDB flats regularly. We try to do this once in two years or when income increases rapidly. The review is due before the end of this year. PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST COMMITTEE (Setting up) 5. Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Prime Minister whether he will set up a Party Political Broadcast Committee, which shall include the opposition, to review the rules concerning party political broadcasts at election time.”
“Currently, the first-time applicants are given higher priority. They are given their flats ahead of upgraders. We intend to retain this feature when we revise the system.”
“It is not our intention to prolong the review. We will revise it as quickly as we can.”
“Yes, my Ministry will consider. The void decks of HDB blocks are kept free, and up to 1/3 of the void deck space can be set aside for social and community uses. This space can be used for old age homes, if the need arises. AFTER-SCHOOL CARE AND LATCHKEY SERVICES 14. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Acting Minister for Community Development what is the status of after-school care and latchkey services for children and what are the future plans.”
“Whatever the Government says and does, all these people will just criticise the Government, criticise its policies for very minor faults, for example, how we want to help the old people look after themselves by increasing the CPF Minimum Sum. They have been only criticising.”
“The Government has already formulated one set of formula and there are provisions which state very clearly what we should do to establish the correct family values. At the same time, the Government should allocate more resources and funds for the implementation of the programme. The other target group is the family. I think the family consists of parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, relatives and members of the family. On the social community, we have been asking people to cultivate the correct family values and we are all pointing the finger only at MCD. But there are a lot of social organisations like the women's groups and other civic organisations which can afford the time and the resources to coordinate the promotion of family values. But there is one common problem prevailing in Singapore: how to spread this concept to the people. Before we spread this, what will be the reaction of the people? Many people feel that all these should be done by the Government and they take things for granted. I want to discuss two aspects. One is implementation; the other is how to correct the attitude of the civic organisations and the civil servants. There are three frames of mind: one is reticence and reservation. Most people feel happy and satisfied with what the Government has done. But satisfied people do not express their appreciation because they do not want to praise the Government. So when people argue about policies and condemn certain Government policies, they do not come forward and speak for the Government. There is also the minority group who is anti-establishment and these are the people who are very outspoken and so they can get a lot of attention.”
“At the same time, I would like to appeal to the Ministry of Finance to consider allocating more funds to MCD so that the Ministry would have sufficient resources to meet the various needs in implementing long-term plans. When I look at the 1989 report of the Family and Social Community Advisory Committee, I notice that a lot of recommendations have been accepted and implemented, and the Ministry of Community Development has been very fast in doing so. The report has about 10 pages of recommendations such as creches which look after 20,000 young children; for the aged, they have the Community Clubs for the aged; all kinds of schemes like the Family Service Centres and subsidies for the poor families in terms of utilities, and, recently, we also have the Small Families Improvement Scheme. All these measures have been well implemented and I think we should appreciate the work done by the MCD. I am not singing praises of MCD for its own sake. I think many of the policies of the Government have not been transmitted to the various levels because many people are busy, so they tend to be rather absent-minded and even in this House, we can hear only complaints against the policies, but very few praises. There is one saying to the effect that good deeds are seldom known, whereas bad deeds spread very far. I think this is the problem that we have to face. We must be able to show care and love, respect, dedication, commitment and responsibility. I think the MCD has conducted many forums on these. But on family values, I think these are all very abstract concepts. We must know how we are going to link this with the reality of life. We have three targets for the propagation of family values. One is the Government.”
“Sir, if the Member is so interested in these details I will get HDB to give him a private tutorial and give him all the codes and teach him how to key in. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1994 TO 31ST MARCH, 1995 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [8th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head J - 1.58 pm Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua)( In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, for the past few weeks, we have heard many comments from our colleagues in this House on the problem of family violence, juvenile delinquency, divorces, aged parents and other issues. But at the bottom of them all, the problem actually arises because of changes to the family structure and family values. As the Chinese saying goes, "Cultivate oneself, raise a family, govern the country and there will be peace to all under heaven." You must be able to keep a family well before you can govern a country and have peace and harmony. So we must be very clear in our mind about the right values and the right concepts. The Ministry of Community Development has to take care of many issues apart from politics and economy, such as the livelihood of the poor, the aged, the sick, the deaf, marriages, family disputes, feedback, etc. All these are very wide ranging issues handled by one single Ministry and very often you can see the result of newly implemented policies only after three to five years. In this very pragmatic and utilitarian society, we still have a group of people who are prepared to sacrifice their time to work for the community and to maintain social cohesiveness. I think I should salute these volunteers and social workers.”
“Sir, as I have explained, there are two categories of priorities. The first category is whether you are a first-time buyer or you are an upgrader. If you are a first-time buyer, as I have explained in this House many times, you are given a year's headstart. So you join the same group of people who have applied one year ago. So new applicants are given one year's headstart compared to upgraders. Secondly, within that same group of people who apply in the same quarter, the computer will ballot through random number generators who gets the first number to be selected and so on down the line. As for the process of balloting, these are the people who form the queue positions in selecting the flats. It is quite a straightforward process.”
“Sir, the system controls are the standard controls put in for all computer applications: separation of different programmes, code words, code entries, ie, the standard controls for system applications. As for the auditors' reports, I am sure they are available. I would ask HDB to consider whether this can be made known to the public. As to what the public can see when we run the system, again I would ask HDB what they can actually witness when HDB runs the computer. Do they visit the computer room and hear the whirring of the computer being operated? I will check it out and see whether it is worthwhile to invite the public to witness it.”
“Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates for the financial year 1994/1995, and ask leave to sit again on Monday, 21st March 1994.”
“That is why town councils have a sinking fund. The differential settlement does occur over time and you have these funds to make good the properties. That is why you collect S&C charges and that is why you put 40% into a sinking fund.”
“As I have mentioned, all these are the responsibilities of the town council because it is common property. But HDB is always ever willing to help the town councils and therefore we create goodwill. If the problem is very serious, HDB does intervene to help out. And, of course, if there is damage to the sewerage lines, even though it is your responsibility to maintain the sewerage lines, HDB will consider on a case-by-case goodwill basis repairs to the sewerage lines. But the re-rendering of the apron will have to be done by the town council in their repairs and redecoration cycle as part of the re-rendering of their common properties. So HDB will intervene only on a goodwill basis if there is a structural problem, a design problem, or there is a hygiene problem where sewerage lines are affected, even though it is your responsibility to repair the sewerage lines. 5.45 pm”
“I think Mr Low fails to get the key points of my Senior Parliamentary Secretary's answer. The first key point is that the aprons are common property and they are the responsibility of the town councils. Having formed a town council, the aprons constitute part of the common property and it is the responsibility of the town council to maintain and repair it. That is why you have the sinking funds and that is why you collect S&C charges. The second point that my Senior Parliamentary Secretary has made is that where the problem has arisen very drastically, the HDB, on a goodwill basis, will intervene and help out the town councils. And HDB has strict criteria on when such intervention takes place. For example, if there is differential settlement and does not affect structural safety and, more importantly, does not affect the sewerage services to the block, the HDB will not intervene because it is not a life and death or a health issue. And HDB will insist that the town council do the re-rendering of the aprons. If the settlement of the aprons is due to a design fault and the whole apron sinks by X-cm, I cannot remember the actual centimetre, then HDB will re-render the apron because it is a design fault. So there are strict criteria when HDB will intervene. As to the taking over of town councils, Mr Low took over when he won his election. Let me assure him that his predecessor who took over from HDB when the town council was first formed had a proper handing/taking over. All the common property was checked and any item which his predecessor was not happy about was made good by the HDB, as with all town councils. When he took over from the previous town council when he won his election, that is his good luck.”
“Sir, Mr Goh Choon Kang agrees that a shophouse means a shop on the ground floor and a house on the second storey. That is the intended use: that you are the owner of the shop who lives above your shop, and you man your shop. The reason why URA is reluctant to allow the conversion of the residential use on the upper storey to an office use is that it will end up with a ribbon development along the road. That will create a lot of disamenities and requirements like parking and other requirements which the area is not designed for. In the case that Mr Goh cited in Brighton Avenue, it is in Serangoon Gardens and, in fact, it is a residential area. So the intention by the planner in 1948 was to have a shophouse there for local shopping for the Serangoon housing estate. I do not think the intention of the planner then was to have an office complex in Serangoon Gardens. Why do we allow hair dressing salons and not office? Again, if you ask me for my personal opinion, I think that would have been a mistake. But in the 1970s there was a lot of pressure. People were operating hair dressing salons in their homes and it was more through a lot of repeated requests that URA allowed it and regularised the infringement. But we should not allow a proliferation of offices and end up with added traffic in these areas. So for the majority of such land uses designated as shophouse, we will want to keep it as a shophouse intended for local shopping for that area. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair] 5.10 pm”
“Sir, PWD is aware of the traffic congestion along Braddell Road as well as Boundary Road leading into the CTE. That is why we have made provisions in the Budget to provide for grid separated interchanges at these two junctions. PWD is in the final stages of evaluating the traffic requirement and also the design to minimise the acquisition needed to implement these two interchanges. When this design and the final decision is taken, we will then inform the people who are affected, including the MP. If we were to start this year, then it will take us three to four years to complete. But no decision has yet been taken because we are still trying to make sure that we have as tight a design as possible to minimise the acquisition needed to construct these two interchanges.”
“I think it is a good suggestion to have a speed limit in the banks so that people will observe this speed limit. I will ask PWD to evaluate whether in fact that can be implemented. Similarly, for the flashing green man. I think what is needed is a certain amount of discipline among our pedestrians in the interest of pedestrian safety. But we are always open to new ideas. I would get the PWD to study the Member's suggestion of a countdown system together with the Japanese system of differential stripes. We will see whether, in fact, it is better for pedestrian safety. But if there is no discipline, I think whatever system you have, people will dash across and that will undermine our whole effort.”
“So wherever possible, we will have a proper junction. As for Mr Chng's suggestion about countdown for crossing, in fact, we do have a countdown system. We have a flashing green man. The idea is that when the green man flashes, you should not cross. It is not when the green man flashes, you dash across. The timing of the flashing green man is such that it allows people who are in the middle of a crossing to walk a bit brisker and complete the crossing. The idea of the green man flashing is not to say that when the green man is flashing, it is time for you to run across the road. In Japan they have three green stripes. It is a countdown system. Three green stripes mean you have got plenty of time, two, and then one. If we implement such a system, I think it will encourage more people to dash across. They will all know their running speed. In a countdown system, if they think that they can dash across 100 metres in 15 seconds, they will dash across. This is not in the interest of pedestrian safety.”
“On filter lanes into expressways, I think the basic thing we have to realise in Singapore is that our expressways are called expressways but they are not expressways. We do not expect our motorists to be speeding on our expressways like the autobahns in Germany. We have to accept that we are a city state and our so-called expressways must have a speed limit. This is because land in Singapore is very scarce and especially in some of the older expressways, we built them upon existing roads. And to have very easy filter lanes into such expressways will mean huge acquisition of surrounding land. So we have to recognise this constraint and educate our motorists to merge at a slower speed. But wherever possible, we will, of course, design the filter lanes in a more comfortable way so that the speed will be commensurate with the expressways. 5.00 pm Similarly, for curved roads which are banked in a different direction. Again, PWD takes great care to design all curved roads to bank in the right direction. Sometimes motorists feel that the curved roads are banked in the wrong direction because they are driving faster than the designed speeds. But let me assure the Member that if he comes across any such cases, do let us know and we will definitely make a check and make sure that the curved roads are banked in the right direction. Similarly, minor roads which join major roads at acute angles. Again, let us know where these areas occur. Where the side conditions allow us to realign the roads, you can have my assurance that we will do so. But again, let me say that many of these roads in the old estates, unfortunately, are at such acute angles and to make it at right angles will mean the acquisition of the house next to the road, which is not possible.”
“If there is a runaway car in any location, we cannot possibly design for such situations in every area. Nevertheless, in vicinities of schools, PWD pays special attention to pedestrian safety. First of all, PWD ensures that there are proper footpaths so that the students will be walking on footpaths which are raised above the road surface. And this raised kerb would separate the vehicles from the pedestrians. Secondly, in all schools, PWD will ensure that there are proper pedestrian crossing facilities, such as zebra crossings, signalised pedestrian crossings and pedestrian overhead bridges to enable pedestrians to cross roads safely. As I said, in this case in the National Junior College, the runaway car mounted the footpath and in the process, knocked down two students. Further protection to the pedestrians and students can, of course, be provided if we were to install guard rails between the road and the footpath. But if we do so, the guard rails will get in the way of the students alighting from and getting into cars and school buses which usually wait along such roads near the school entrances. And we are worried that in such cases, the students will then be tempted or forced to walk along the road which is less safe. Nevertheless, PWD has made an assessment of all the schools and the particular site condition and where applicable, they will install guard rails for additional protection. For example, in certain schools which are along high speed roads or located near road bends where there is a greater likelihood of vehicles losing control, the PWD will install such guard rails to give students better protection.”
“PWD has done its research and is confident that our standards meet the requirements in our area and are not over designed. But they are keeping up with the developments and they are doing a joint research with NTU so as to make triply sure that whatever we have in our codes are more than adequate. So let me assure Members here that we have a very good set of design codes and they are adequate. Secondly, to prevent the kind of problems that we see in the Highland Tower case, the design codes are stringently observed, because we have an accredited checking system to make sure that the design is checked by another independent person. At the third stage when it is constructed, we have qualified professional people to make sure that the critical stages of the construction are done by professional people and again they are inspected. Finally, when it is all constructed, the PWD Building Control people check the building for the soundness before it is certified fit for occupation. The final stage is during the occupation of the building itself. We have regular inspections and maintenance requirements in our Building Control Act which require these buildings to be periodically inspected. Since the Act has been instituted, all buildings which are required to be inspected in this regular inspection have been completed and we have not detected any problems. Let me assure the House that we have a good system in place and PWD implements this diligently. On improvement in road design, I am grateful to Mr Chng Hee Kok for his many suggestions, particularly for drawing our attention to pedestrian safety in the vicinity of schools. As we all know, the accident near the National Junior College was caused by a runaway car. There is no way we could design against runaway cars.”
“It takes several steps. The first step is the design standards. Our design standards are international standards and revised regularly to make sure that we adapt to the latest materials and latest issues. So the design standards are international standards and meet all our requirements in terms of structural safety. The issue is: do we have design standards to cater for snow? Do we have design standards to cater for earthquakes, when snow and earthquake do not occur in Singapore? Obviously, if we have over designed, it will impose a cost to all our buildings. So PWD makes sure that our design standards are safe but not over designed. What happens in the case of earthquakes? The explanation given to me by PWD is that we do not lie in the earthquake zone. The earthquake rim runs through Sumatra and the Indonesian islands. Whenever there is an earthquake in that area, there are two types of waves that propagate from the centre of the earthquake - the short waves and the long waves. The short waves will create the destruction around the area. The long waves, being longer amplitude, will travel further and sometimes Singapore does feel the effects of the long waves. Whether the long waves affect a particular high-rise building depends on what is known as the resonance amplitude of the building. In the recent case, you find that residents in a particular building felt a bit of the tremor, whereas residents in the neighbouring high-rise building did not feel anything at all. Every building has a resonance frequency. If it coincides with the long waves of the earthquake, then you will feel the slight tremor. So it is not necessary for us to over reinforce our tower blocks just to minimise this feeling of the tremors which are caused by a coincidental resonance.”
“Sir, as we all know in this Chamber, we will be implementing the heavy vehicle parking certificate scheme. Under this scheme, the 40,000 heavy vehicles in Singapore will be required to park in designated heavy vehicle parking lots, so that they do not present a safety problem to other roadusers. I share Dr Tan Cheng Bock's concern that we must provide enough lots when the scheme is implemented, and PWD is taking all measures to make sure that this is so. Besides the existing heavy vehicle lorry parks, the PWD intends to allow the private sector to operate 13,000 heavy vehicle parking lots within their factory premises. The car parks in the factories will be used for cars in the day time and at night they can be used for heavy vehicle parking. This will minimise the cost for the owners and will also make better use of our car parks in factories which tend to be vacant at night. We will also allow parking along less utilised roads. But in such cases, we have to be careful to make sure that these do not present a safety problem to other roadusers. The HDB and URA are also tendering out more land to be used for vehicle parking lots. This is an entire exercise and I assure Dr Tan and other Members in this House that before we implement the heavy vehicle parking certificate system, we will make doubly sure that there will be enough lots to go round for all the heavy vehicles. Let me now turn to Mr Chin Harn Tong's concerns about earthquakes. Maybe it is easier to talk about cut slopes because, as Mr Chin Harn Tong himself said, the PWD was able to demonstrate what is done to the design construction of high-rise buildings built near slopes and, in fact, it has reassured him that all is well in Singapore. Our building control rules are very stringent in Singapore.”
“If we were to keep 168 hectares of land for a bird habitat, it would mean taking away housing for 17,000 units. So if the Nature Society of Singapore can give me a petition to take out 17,000 applications of upgraders from my waiting list, then we will keep the Senoko land and keep it for the birds. But with the pressing needs of Singaporeans, I think Singaporeans' needs come before birds. This is not to say that we have not preserved the area for conservation. We have formed this committee and we have tried our best to prioritise the areas for conservation. We have acceded to their request in priorities and we have conserved Sungei Buloh Bird Sanctuary and Khatib Bongsu. By having identified these areas you now say you want more areas, I think it is not reasonable, especially since we are investing so much money in reclaiming the land and building the MRT in order to build the Sembawang New Town in this area. So although the Nature Society of Singapore has put up a very passionate case for Senoko, I am afraid it is not possible for us to preserve the area. This is very similar to the case that they put up for Marina South. As you know, we reclaimed Marina South as the area for a future city. But, in the meantime, it is kept as a grassland. And, of course, there will be grassland birds coming and it is more than 10-15 years. Two years ago, the Nature Society put up a strong case to preserve Marina South as a grassland for the birds. This is a prime estate that we reclaimed and it cannot be that because it is left to fallow for some time that it ends up being a conservation area. Dr Tan Cheng Bock: I thank the Minister for his reply, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“The identification of these areas was done by a work group on nature conservation, which had the representation of a cross-section of Singaporeans, set up to select a list of nature areas. The work group has carefully considered all the nature areas worthy of conservation before coming up with its recommendation of the 19 nature areas which represent a good coverage of the natural habitat in Singapore. I know there is some unhappiness why Senoko and a few other places are not included. Let me just take Senoko as an example. The Nature Society of Singapore wanted the Ministry of National Development to conserve 168 hectares of land in Senoko because they argue that it is a very good habitat for birds and other species. Let me give a history of the area. This was not a nature area for 100 years and, therefore, we ought to preserve it. In fact, the area comprised old ex-British forces' land which the Government had taken over. Part of the land was also farming land which the Government had acquired for an industrial estate and for housing, and part of it was State land occupied by squatters. So 20 years ago, this was the composition of the land. In the 1980s, the plan was to develop this area into an industrial estate and public housing and, therefore, the land was acquired. The British military installations were cleared, the farmers were resettled and we were about to embark on building the industrial estate in Senoko. Unfortunately, there was a recession and, therefore, the plan was put on hold. So while the plan was put on hold, the birds came, other species came and have squatted and claimed ownership of the land. Meanwhile, we are building a MRT line with a MRT station very close to this area.”
“Low Seow Chay asked what happens if people rush into purchasing these properties. This is something that we cannot control. What we can do is to release this information, let people know the supply, let people know the historical demand, and let everybody assess for himself what price he is prepared to purchase the property. As Prof. Low highlighted, the demand in 1993 was 6,000 but the supply in 1995 will be 14,000. I mentioned 14,800. So this is the number of units that are coming on-stream. He asked whether we would have measures to dampen demand, especially those from the foreigners. I have asked this of Dr Richard Hu, the Minister for Finance, whether there ought to be controls in the financing of property. His view is that the lending of banks to the private property market has not exceeded the levels of due prudence so there is no need for the Government to intervene in controlling the financing arrangements. 4.30 pm Prof. Low asked why is it that PRs are allowed to buy landed property. This is an area under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law and I will pass his information to Prof. Jayakumar. Finally, let me take up nature conservation. As Dr Tan said, we have set aside 5% of our land for nature areas. This is a significant portion of land set aside considering Singapore's small size. We are prepared to set aside land for nature conservation but the bottomline is that we have to be pragmatic and we have to strike a balance between nature conservation and the socio-economic needs of Singaporeans. So setting aside 5% of our land area, or approximately 3,000 hectares, is already a very significant move.”