Low Thia Khiang
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, my question is for the Minister for Health. The official communication channel to the people who subscribe to the WhatsApp group quoted the Prime Minister saying that "Experts think that the Wuhan virus may be less deadlier than SARS". So, can we have some verification whether this is true so far?”
“In Mandarin, Sir. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] So, Member Mr Gan Thiam Poh meant to say that although the Minister has the decision-making power under this Bill, you can still go to Court to challenge the decision.”
“Mr Speaker, clarification in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I have stated clearly that the Government already has a lot of power under existing legislation. They can even shut down websites.”
“(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] First and foremost, you must follow the Minister's decision to take down the message, you cannot go to Court. According to this Bill, you must comply with the Minister's order. Otherwise, you will be charged.”
“In Mandarin, Sir. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Our Secretary-General is in the Committee. He told us about the contents of the Committee's discussion, so we know what was discussed in the Committee.”
“(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] You assume that the Minister will not do this, but is your assumption correct? It may be correct now, but will it be correct in the future? Even the Minister cannot guarantee that, he said he cannot be sure that future governments will not abuse their power. Can you be sure?”
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“Sir, I have two supplementary questions. The first concerns the price of water. The Minister, in his main answer, has said that any price increase in retail water, arising from the agreement would be manageable. I would like to know from the Minister what does he mean by "manageable". How much would he expect the retail price of water to increase and has the Government studied the impact before agreeing to pay Malaysian 45 sen per 1,000 gallons of raw water? The second question is: under what consideration did the Government agree to the additional 12 plots of land in Bukit Timah for Malaysia?”
“May I seek a clarification? The Minister just now mentioned that it will be clearer if the regulations are ready. I would like to ask him whether it is fair, since the regulations are not ready, to present a Bill in Parliament and he wants us to pass something that is not clear.”
“In other words, is the Minister saying that whether a website that is going to publish anything, any opinion, during the election period of any candidate or political party, there is a possibility that it can be liable under the Act, depending on the Government's reason or how reasonable the Government is? Is that so?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in other words, anything can happen because the Minister does not know what will happen. Anything could happen during the election period to any website that publishes anything that relates to political campaigns. Is that so?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, clarification. In other words, the Minister is saying that any website within Singapore and can be prosecuted under Singapore law will be brought under this Bill. Is that correct? Not only political websites with a Class Licence but any website?”
“Sir, I do not think the Minister is clear. What I want to know is, for instance, Talkingcock.com is not under the Class Licence Scheme. During the election period, eg, the website publishes some political speeches of opposition candidates or have certain comments on the election. Will the web master or whoever posts it there be liable under the Bill? That is what I want to know.”
“Clarification, Sir. I wish to clarify that whilst I do not have problem with the amendment on Multiple Nomination and do not have much problem with the ban on opinion poll, I do not support the amendment to regulate the use of Internet during election. Sir, what I want to know is if a website which is not under the Class Licence Scheme posts something on the web during the election period and supports a political party, for instance, is it liable under the amendment?”
“Sir, shall we allow and without strict regulation on that?”
“Sir, I wish to clarify that whilst I do not state clearly whether I oppose the Bill, I wish to clarify that although I have no problem with multiple nominations, which I support, and also on opinion polls, I have no problem with that, I do not think the Bill on the whole has enhanced or helped our position in any way by using the Internet. I am opposing that part. Sir, I have some clarifications for the Minister. I would like to know, first of all, for third party websites which are not under the Class Licence Scheme of SBA, if they publish during the election period, eg, a report on the election campaign or their opinion on a political rally, will that come under the Bill? Secondly, can he tell us what specifically will be the regulation? For instance, he mentioned just now that we can have our candidates' profile and things like that. May I know whether a political party website would be allowed to publish speeches of the rallies and report on election campaigns, for instance? Lastly, I would like to know whether the current regulations under the SBA are not sufficient enough to deal with whatever problems that may arise during an election. Why is there a need to have a different set of strict regulations, with very strict and wide definitions on election advertising, to restrict the use of Internet during elections? Is that not a restriction on the use of Internet by political parties? I do not understand how that actually enhances the usage.”
“It is regrettable that the PAP is so very kiasu. This Amendment Bill once again reveals the true colours of the PAP - to make use of the power and convenience of Government to legislate to block all channels that Opposition parties could more effectively use to transmit their messages and to communicate with voters so that Opposition party and its supporters are not able to be effective during election. This is the hypocrisy of the PAP's claims to fair competition, democracy and openness!”
“That is the reason why the PAP Government wants to move this legislation to block all these expressions, articles and comments that are unfavourable to the PAP. This is the true purpose of this Amendment Bill to control the usage of Internet during election. Similarly, why is there a need now to ban the publication of opinion poll and exit poll? The PAP is worried about the effect of Internet. In the past, there was no need to legislate because all the media were under the control of the Government. We all know that during the election period, whether or not the party or the candidate could effectively transmit their messages to their voters is of great importance. All this while, the opposition parties, besides holding election rally, the only way of mass communication was to print and distribute flyers by inserting them into the letterboxes of the voters. It takes a lot of resources to print and to distribute these flyers, particularly in the GRCs. A lot of people, time, energy and money would be needed. Now, with the Internet, a relatively effective channel to transmit the messages is readily available. We do not have to depend on the newspapers and television to send our messages across to our voters. But the PAP Government is blocking this channel, and the Minister now can regulate and restrict the use of the Internet. Hence, the Opposition is again landed in a situation of being disadvantaged. Is this what the PAP Government claims to be fair competition? More apparently, in order to block all these expressions that are favourable to the Opposition, the Government has already classified the SINTERCOM, a non-political party website, as a political website - this move brings the website under the ambit of this amendment.”
“For example, if someone puts on the Internet, "Keep it up, Workers' Party", that can be regarded as election advertising too. If someone attends a mass rally and subsequently writes a review on it, it could also be regarded as election advertising. In other words, anyone who gives any view on the Internet, whether to support or to go against any particular party or candidate, can be deemed to be election advertising and come under their control. As to how to control and whether or not it could be published, it will be determined by the Minister. More importantly, this Bill has also given the Government the power to deal with the webmaster of the site who publishes these expressions or articles. As a result, no webmaster would be willing to accept for publication on his site any of these articles. Consequently, this Bill will disable the effective use of Internet during the period of the General Election. Why is it necessary to move this Amendment Bill now? This is because, in the past, only the newspapers and television have the capability to transmit messages to the voters and all these media come under strict control of the Government. During the elections, they all play the same tune. They will inevitably take the side of the Government, and there will be no coverage that is favourable to the Opposition or unfavourable to the PAP. But now, with the arrival of the new media era, the Internet is becoming more and more popular and has become an effective channel to transmit messages to the voters. People also have a new space and channel to express their views and comments. Inevitably, there will be no guarantee that someone who will publish something over the Internet that supports the Opposition party and criticises the PAP, and this may affect the PAP!”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the purpose of this Amendment Bill is to enhance the control of the form and manner of election campaigning so that the opposition parties and their supporters could not make use of the new technology for effective publicity during the election period, to suppress the limited space where the opposition parties have to communicate with the masses, and thereby reducing the influence of the opposition parties and their chances of winning. Although the Minister mentioned a moment ago in his Second Reading speech that this amendment has allowed the use of Internet during elections, this is, however, only the cosmetic surface of the Bill. What we should pay attention to is that this Amendment Bill redefines election advertising. Under clause 2 of the Amendment Bill, election advertising is defined as follows: "Election advertising means any poster, banner, notice, circular, handbill, illustration, article, advertisement or other material that can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or procure the electoral success at any election for one or more identifiable political parties, candidates or groups of candidates, . and such material shall be election advertising even though it can reasonably be regarded as intended to achieve any other purpose as well and even though it does not expressly mention the name of any political party or candidate." Sir, from this definition, any expression or article, so long as it is related to the election, can be regarded as election advertising and comes under the control of this Amendment Bill, if this article or expression is published on the Internet. The webmaster of the site can even be fined.”
“Every bank in New Zealand is Australian, American or international, and there is no need for a banking regulator because the banks are not incorporated in New Zealand. We do not think that is a good position for Singapore. We want strong local banks and a vibrant industry. To do that, the banks have to become large, they have to consolidate, they have to rationalise. And that is why the Government thinks that consolidation is a positive step. It will help to build Singapore as a strong financial centre, and it will also be good for our economy as a whole.”
“Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister has not answered my question on what is the Government's vision for Singapore to be an international financial centre, and whether or not the merger of banks and such liberalisation of the financial market will help us move towards that direction, and what is the vision that we could achieve by doing all these things. BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is a large question, but the brief answer is, our vision is to be a financial centre in which the Singapore banks occupy a significant market share and hold their own against foreign competition. We want to open up, we want to allow foreign banks to come, we want them to develop their regional business, also access the domestic market and prosper in Singapore. But at the same time, we want large strong domestic players to continue to anchor the banking system in Singapore. This is not something which can easily be reconciled. If we say the foreign banks stay out, keep this to the domestic players, then I think we are not going to become a financial centre, and that means many jobs and much GDP lost, and actually weak local banks, because they will not be competing against strong competitors and will not be able to test themselves against what is best practice internationally. On the other hand, if we just open up and everybody comes in, and we do not take special steps to strengthen the local banks and encourage them to become large and strong, then there is a real risk that we will become an economy in which there are no local banks, which is the position which New Zealand is in today. Because they have opened up, they have completely liberalised, there are no New Zealand banks in New Zealand today.”
“Sir, does the Government consider SBS and TIBS as private commercial companies, or are they required to provide a public service? (2) Why is the Government asking the bus companies to provide cross subsidies in order to achieve the so-called USO and seamless transportation system? Is the Government trying to have the cake and eat it? (3) Will the Government consider providing grants to companies to run unprofitable bus routes, and that opens up the market for competition for other operators to come in?”
“Could the Minister clarify further what sort of financial scheme he is offering to the employers?”
“Two supplementary questions, Sir. What service sector is the Minister referring to when he says that older, unskilled or lower skilled workers can be deployed? Secondly, would this sector provide the same kind of pay benefits or a lower pay, resulting in a lower income for these workers? I would also like to know specifically what are the measures that the Ministry is taking to help this group of workers to switch to another service sector.”
“Yes, there are checks. But is the Minister aware of the public perception that all these checks are done by the Government? There does not seem to be any third party or independent party to witness or actually conduct the check. So would he actually consider inviting an outsider, not within the Government, for instance, an auditor from outside the Government, to check the system?”
“Sir, does the Minister agree that there are important issues in this electronic voting? One is the issue of secrecy of vote, and the other is how the votes cast are recorded electronically and counted correctly. I think it is not enough for the Minister to just say that, "I assure you that the vote will be secret." Does he agree that, most importantly, we must convince the public how the system works, no matter how technical it is, and how the program is written in such a way that it cannot be tampered with? Because, for instance, someone has asked me, "How do you know that the program will not be written in such a way that for every two votes cast for an Opposition, one will automatically be converted to vote for the PAP?" I think these are issues which require more than just saying, "I assure you". On the other point which the Minister made about the job being done by civil servants and that their integrity and the human factor are important, does he agree that besides trusting the civil servants' integrity in implementing the system, it is also important that it has to be transparent so that the public know what they are doing are done correctly? And is there any safeguard that the civil servants cannot follow the rules for the PAP?”
“Sir, the Minister has not responded to some of the issues I raised in my speech. One is that I believe that the receipt system should become part of the electronic voting system in the future. I am also asking whether it is possible to actually simplify the process of e-voting. Right now, you have three panels - languages, the vote, and then "Yes" and "No". Can we do away with the first panel, and just have two panels, and also instead of "Yes" and "No" or in other languages, can we not use some symbols, which would be easier for people who may be illiterate?”
“If we want the people to be convinced that the Member of Parliament returned at the General Election for that constituency is the one whom the majority of the voters have actually voted for as their representative in Parliament, we must ensure that voters have the confidence of the election system when they cast their votes. Otherwise, the people may think the Government is playing foul. This kind of mentality is not conducive to our national cohesiveness, nor does it do any good to the Government or the people. To alleviate and eliminate this kind of negative mentality, the Government should convince the people that they have the right to vote for the Opposition. Civil servants should also be fair and impartial in the execution of their duties. They should not favour the ruling party. All citizens must know that voting is a basic right of the people. The people can exercise their choice without any fear of repercussion. All Singapore citizens should value the right and opportunity that under the one-man-one-vote system, every voter has equal power to vote for the candidate of his choice as his representative in Parliament.”
“I understand that during the initial stage of electronic voting to be experimented in some selected constituencies, the computer system will print out an acknowledgement slip as a kind of safeguard, and in the case of a recount it can be used as a basis for recounting. The voters can see for themselves that their votes have been acknowledged, and they will have greater confidence in electronic voting. I feel that this procedure of acknowledgement should be included in the Amendment Bill so that it will become a permanent feature of the electronic voting system in Singapore. Thirdly, on the display appearing on three screens, I feel that it is very confusing, particularly for those who are not used to new technology and the senior citizens who may be illiterate. The Government should consider simplifying the system with display on only two screens instead of three. In addition, symbols rather than words should be used. Fourthly, the electronic voting system only allows voters to vote for any of the candidates. The voters cannot express their discontent by casting a "spoilt" vote. If the Government recognises that the casting of spoilt votes is also a way of voting for the voters to show their disapproval of all the available candidates, then it should be explained clearly how spoilt votes can be cast and considered under the electronic voting system. Mr Speaker, Sir, the one-man-one-vote system, which returns our Government and representatives to Parliament, is very important for the Government and the country. It will show the legitimacy of the Government.”
“If the Government genuinely respects the people's right to vote, then it should work harder in convincing the people that secrecy of the votes can indeed be maintained by the electronic voting system and ensuring the voters that they have the right to vote for the candidates of their choice - whether they are from the ruling party or the opposition parties. In other words, the voters must be convinced that it is perfectly legitimate for them to vote for the Opposition as their representatives in Parliament. This is their basic right. Secondly, when they cast their sacred vote, there must be some means to indicate that their votes are recorded and accepted as valid votes that count towards the ultimate results of the poll. In the traditional way of paper voting, when a voter goes into the polling booth, he puts a mark against the name and party symbol of the candidate of his choice, and that gives him a sense of reality, an indication that his sacred vote will be counted as one more vote for his preferred candidate and be added to the final count of the votes. In the case of electronic voting, the voter merely touches the screen and the voting process is done, leaving the computer to do the recording, filing, and counting. The voter does not know, as a fact, whether his one vote has been properly recorded and counted as one more vote cast for his choice candidate. He may ask what would happen if there is an error in the process of recording, filing and counting by the electronic system. There are always doubts in the minds of the voters.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, my main problem on this Amendment Bill is on the electronic voting system. Yesterday, I heard my parliamentary colleagues expressing their misgivings and skepticism on the proposed electronic voting system. Personally, I do not think the electronic voting system is really that awe-inspiring. Three days ago I attended a briefing on electronic voting conducted by the Elections Department, and I feel that, basically, there is no great difference between electronic voting and the traditional paper voting system. With regard to secrecy of vote, reliability of software and hardware, as well as the accuracy of counting, so long as the civil servants in charge can abide by the principles of the Bill, and conduct themselves fairly and honestly, the electronic voting system is technically feasible. However, we cannot view this issue purely from the technical point of view. No doubt, electronic voting has already been used in a number of advanced countries, but our Government frequently reminds us that Singapore's conditions are quite different from the other countries. So in implementing electronic voting, we must not forget that we are indeed different from the other countries in a number of aspects. First, the voters do have doubts on their rights to vote. Some voters are still harbouring the belief that if they vote for the Opposition, they may have to face some dire consequences. That being the case, electronic voting will inevitably add on more psychological pressure on them.”
“Sir, I wonder whether the Government has the moral obligation to help these second-hand goods traders, since the measure has now affected their livelihood. Secondly, will the Minister of State consider making some alternative arrangements within the port to allow second-hand goods traders to continue to trade and deliver second-hand goods into the fishing vessels. I think it not only affects Singapore's second-hand goods traders but also the Indonesian fishermen as well.”
“Does the Ministry consider that since the second-hand goods traders are allowed to trade, and they have been trading there since the early days, the decision suddenly to bar them from entry, effectively, it is to say that they have to get out of the trade? That is the first question. The second question is that I understand that the port still allows vehicles to deliver goods like rice, etc, to the fishing boats. Is this an attempt by the Government to phase out the second-hand goods traders? Thirdly, I understand that no alternative arrangement has been made. You just tell them to go to Jurong Port or whatever. How do you expect these second-hand goods traders to make their own arrangements? Their livelihood is being affected, and quite a number of them are facing financial difficulties because of that.”
“Is the Minister of State aware that on 1st February, a letter sent by AVA to the second-hand goods traders stated that the reason for barring vehicles carrying second-hand goods was because of traffic congestion? The reason is not because the port is not suitable for the trading of second-hand goods. In January 1992, the then PPD wrote to the second-hand goods traders to say that if they wished to deliver their goods, they could do so, and they were given the procedures. How did the Government suddenly find out that the Jurong Fishing Port is not the proper place for carrying on this trade? Dr John Chen Seow Phun: Sir, in the early days when the fish landing activities were not very active, the then PPD gave special consideration for the second-hand goods dealers to use the port. But since then, the fish trading activities have increased. In fact, it is not just for fishing vessels. We also have trucks from Malaysia and Thailand bringing fish to the port. So the port is pretty congested now and therefore by allowing these second-hand goods dealers to continue buying and selling second-hand goods there, it does contribute to unacceptable congestion and therefore affecting the efficient operation of the port.”
“Sir, when did the AVA decide that the Jurong Fishing Port is not the proper place for trading in second-hand goods?”
“Sir, on this specific issue of runaway maids, how does the Ministry help the employers to locate the maids, besides giving advice?”
“Sir, the Minister of State has not answered my question. Besides providing advice to the employers, what other services does the Ministry of Manpower provide to the employers who have paid the foreign workers' levy every month to help locate the maid?”
“All right, Sir. As long as the employer eventually repatriates the maid - whether it is six months later or one year later, he locates the maid and repatriates her - can the Ministry not consider refunding the full security deposit to the employer? It serves the same purpose.”
“I do not think the Minister of State has answered my question. My question is what assistance specifically, besides advice, is there to help the employers to locate their maids? Employers pay foreign domestic workers' levy to the Ministry. Does the Minister of State not think that it should provide certain services to the employers in the event that the maid runs away and the likelihood that the deposit would be forfeited? Secondly, regarding the period of time, to the Ministry four months is sufficient. I understand that the purpose of the security deposit is to make sure that the employer takes full responsibility for repatriating the maid. So as long as whichever month ---”
“Sir, firstly, why is the flexibility given for locating the maid and the refund of the deposit restricted to only four months? Why is it not that as and when the lost maid is found and repatriated, the security deposit will be refunded? Why restrict it to four months? Secondly, I would like to know what assistance would the Ministry of Manpower provide to employers whose maids have absconded, ie, help the employers to locate the maids.”
“With particular reference to Woodbridge Hospital, given the type of patients who stay in the hospital, does the Parliamentary Secretary consider that the ratio is satisfactory?”
“Sir, what is the current ratio of nurses to patients?”
“Basic public services such as public transport, residential telephone service and electricity supply are all added with the profit element. In the end, the consumers will have to pay higher charges, and the burden of life will surely be heavier. Some people may think that I am asking the Government to subsidise public service. No! What I am asking for is that the Government does not earn the people's money from the public services. The Government should provide the basic public service to the people at its operational cost rather than profiteering from the privatisation of public services and adding on more burden to the people.”
“If the charges go up, the Government could justly and forcefully say, "If the charges are not raised, the company will not make profits, how can we account to the shareholders?" Prices are raised so that the company can make profits. This argument has become acceptable to the shareholding people. The Government's argument is that privatisation is a mechanism to introduce competition to the market, to make the charges for services more reasonable, and even lower. However, from the past experience of privatisation of the public services, it is apparent that the competition brought about by the so-called market mechanism is very limited. For example, the privatisation of public transport service. The present situation is two bus companies each sharing one-half of the pie, with the same fare structure. Take a look at telecommunications. SingTel is still the main telephone service provider. Residential lines are all controlled by SingTel alone. Newcomers, M1 and Starhub, can only compete in mobile phones and international calls. Yet, the main cables and telecommunications are still in the hands of SingTel. Under this type of competition, the others can only be the "also-runs". The privatisation of electricity supply is supposed to bring in more companies to enter the market competition. Just how many electricity supply companies can Singapore accommodate? Perhaps it is the major shareholders - the Government competing with itself. Then, with corporatisation, electricity tariffs are fixed with profit in mind. I doubt very much that the electricity tariffs will be really lowered in the long run to the benefit of the consumers. In fact, the real purpose of privatisation is to go for investment returns, that is, how much profit.”
“Sir, the setting up of the Energy Marketing Authority of Singapore is a prelude to the privatisation of electricity supply in Singapore. Soon, electricity supply entities which are hitherto solely owned by the Government would be split into three private companies. Except for water supply, almost all the basic public services have been privatised. For a Government which is good at calculating profit and loss, the advantage of privatisation is that Government does not have to take on the responsibility of providing basic public services to the people. After privatisation, the Government is still the major shareholder. All the profits earned by these privatised companies will conveniently flow into the Government's pocket. The rationale behind the Government's privatisation effort is that these companies will be governed by market forces and, therefore, be cost-effective and efficient. There will be less wastage and the cost would be lower, so that all the services provided would enjoy better economic benefits. But the real effect is that, after privatisation, the charges for all the services will get higher and higher. In the end, it is the people who suffer. With the restructuring of the Government hospitals, health cost escalated, forcing the Government to provide the Medifund to assist Singaporeans who cannot afford the medical charges. The result of the privatisation of telecommunications is that consumers have to pay higher charges. The burden of life is getting heavier and heavier. Another wonderful effect of privatisation is that once a Government corporation is privatised, shares are sold to the people. The Government even distributes some of the shares to the people to make it as "shares for everyone".”
“Sir, I will just ask a few questions regarding the upgrading of hawker centres. I would like to know, first of all, after the centres are upgraded, whether the rental will be increased and, as Prof Low has asked, whether any compensation would be given to tide the hawkers over the difficult period during the upgrading process. How long does the Ministry expect to upgrade all the hawker centres in Singapore, and what is the schedule of the proposed upgrading?”
“Sir, the Government has decided to implement compulsory education. I would like to know the following: (1) What is the framework set up to monitor parents who fail to register or send their children to school, after registering their children? (2) Under what circumstances will the parents be charged in court for failing to send their children to school? (3) I would like to know what help the Ministry would provide for parents who fail to send their children to school because they are having difficulty in coping with family, financial, emotional or psychological problems. Is there an action plan worked out by the Ministry to coordinate other key social service agencies for the purpose of implementing compulsory education? (4) A lot has been reported on this. I understand that some quarters of the Malay community are still not comfortable with the implementation of compulsory education. They are concerned about how the implementation would affect the long-term existence of madrasahs and whether, with the new requirement, it might also dilute the religious character and objective of setting up madrasahs. Would the Minister tell us what he thinks the issues are and how he proposes to resolve the issues in a satisfactory way to allay the concerns of the Malay community?”
“Sir, we have used a lot of money on IT for schools. I have asked in my speech whether or not the Ministry of Education has made an assessment in terms of application of IT in teaching. In particular, I would like to know how the application of IT has enhanced and added value to the quality of teaching. Secondly, how does the application of IT in teaching of language help students learn the language? Was there any study done as to how application of IT in the teaching of language can achieve a specific teaching objective? 2.00 pm RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, the use of IT in education is a relatively new area and there are not very many definitive studies that have been done on the effects of the use of IT in education. But we do know that, for example, if you go to a language laboratory and you use headphones and listen to tapes, and if you watch Chinese movies, it is likely that you will gain some benefit. And if you get the vocabulary, it is more interesting and you will be learning something, and it probably helps to improve your language ability. This is what we are also trying with the use of IT for mother tongue learning. I believe that the students who are using it will probably find it more interesting. They have a wider range of resources available. And if they can read books which are animated, I think it is all very useful. Even looking up the dictionary is a pleasure today compared to looking up a dictionary which is non-IT.”
“What I want to know is whether or not this computerisation of Chinese teaching would be worthwhile and whether or not it has added value to the teaching of Chinese in Singapore? Or is all this fuss being kicked up just because the officials concerned are trying to fulfill the objectives set down by the Ministry of Education? I hope that we will review the effects of this IT application in the teaching of Chinese.”
“Sir, in order to attain the IT 2000 objectives, the Ministry has required that a certain amount of time be set aside to apply IT in the teaching of the various subjects, including Chinese. Development of software for the teaching of Chinese in Singapore has to start from scratch, as the softwares previously developed in Taiwan and China are not suitable for Singapore because of the low level and narrow syllabus of Chinese in the schools in Singapore. Over the last few years, our Chinese teachers have suffered all kinds of torment. Apart from learning computer and IT knowledge, they have also to spend a lot of time in the development and design of software for the teaching of Chinese in Singapore. However, I do not know how effective, or whether there is any value-added effect to the teaching of Chinese with these softwares. First of all, the teaching of language is different from the teaching of other subjects because in language, the main emphasis is on listening, speaking, reading and writing, whereas for the other subjects, the emphasis is on the absorption of knowledge. Secondly, there are many multimedia softwares in the teaching of Chinese. What effects have they on the teaching of Chinese? Would they really arouse the interest of the students in the learning of Chinese? I think it is the way it is taught and the personality of the teachers that make the difference. A resourceful teacher can bring life to the classroom and command the respect and attention of the students. Only then can the students find the learning of the subject interesting. I am not against the use of IT technology for the teaching of Chinese.”
“Sir, I am not challenging your rulings. I am just wondering why it is applied in such a way. The Chairman: I have already informed Members on the principles on which I allocated the time earlier on when I made the announcement at the commencement of the Committee of Supply. You were not present in the House then. I suggest you check the Hansard so that you can understand how I conduct these proceedings. I am also surprised by your query because you have been a Member of this House for many years and you do not seem to understand how the Committee of Supply is conducted. Dr Neo.”
“Sir, I note that you have applied the "guillotine" time on the first amendment on the Ministry of Manpower to allow the remaining amendments to be moved on. Whereas, in yesterday's debate on PMO, you did not apply the "guillotine" time on the first amendment, resulting in the remaining two amendments not being moved. I would like to ask the Chair the principle that he would apply or the discretion that he would exercise on the "guillotine" time for each amendment.”
“Sir, may I have your indulgence to make a clarification from you?”
“Sir, I would like to know from the Minister whether or not enough efforts have been put into reaching this group of workers to take up the skills training or re-employment opportunities.”
“Sir, may I have your permission to seek one clarification?”
“May I seek clarification from the Minister? Sir, I understand there were various programmes, like Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP). My point is whether these programmes are focused enough to solve the problem of the unemployed older workers. I understand that only about 23% of older workers have participated in the programme. Is the Minister satisfied with the participation rate of the older workers in the training programme? The Minister is correct in saying that the unemployed older workers are the main problem now. I would like to know from the Minister what he has in mind in reaching out to this group of workers specifically, and design programmes for them in order that they can be re-employed. Lastly, I would like to know from the Minister what is the macro level of the problem and what is the magnitude of the problem of this group of workers who are older and less educated. And what is the target, ie, whether the Ministry has set any target to reach them and to resolve the problem?”